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  • 5 min read

Red Light Ticket

The setting: June 2025, a clear day. I'm in my convertible but with the roof up, driving through the confusing streets of San Francisco, just minding my own business and trying not to die. I turned right at an intersection and next thing I know BAM! A flash of light! What was that? A traffic camera? Was I speeding? Was it someone else? After I got my bearings, I realized I was doing nothing unsafe. A little shaken, I continued on with my day and forgot about it.

Let me preface this by saying I've never had a moving violation before in my life. Of course, I will follow the flow of traffic on highways, but I will always stop at stop signs, use my turn signals, give other drivers and pedestrians plenty of space, constantly be aware of my surroundings, buckle up, and never go on my phone while driving.

  • in Journal
  • 1 min read

Composting

I've been practicing trench composting for over a year now in my small garden. It's been a good way to eliminate waste and improve soil health. By putting food scraps back in the ground, it adds nutrients to the soil, sparking life and feeding my plants. It also gets me going outside and a good discipline to hold myself to - not to mention the more time I spend at my garden, the more I'll inadvertently care for it. However there's some plant-related topics I want to get off my chest.

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  • 5 min read

2024: A Year for nicfv

2024 was a big year! I completed and exceeded both of my New Year's resolutions, did a lot of running, visited 2 new countries, and worked on a lot of cool projects. Let's go over the 2024 recap for this mysterious individual named Nicolas Ventura.

  • in Journal
  • 8 min read

Owning Property, (Almost) Two Years Later

It's crazy to think, but coming up on two years now, I purchased my condo. I absolutely love it and have no regrets, but there are some things I wish I had considered. Here's a short story of what I wished I could tell myself those 2 years ago, and things (specific to me) that are really important in finding a place to live.

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  • 14 min read

Supercomputing Conference, Atlanta

Every year, thousands of tech giants, computer nerds, and NERSC staff alike flock to the conference on Supercomputing. Normally, from NERSC there's such high demand to attend that many staff are denied travel assistance. Maybe since it was my first time, I got a free pass. Several of my colleagues went the year prior and only had good things to say, so I wanted to know what it was like for myself, and maybe learn a thing or two along the way.

  • in Journal
  • 2 min read

Resolution Update

We just started week 45 of 2024! Isn't it crazy that there are only 58 days left of this year? A bit over 2 months ago, I wrote about my 2024 New Year's resolution progress. I'm pleased to announce that I have made some great progress on this, and I am well on track to fulfilling my resolutions by the end of the year.

  • in Journal
  • 4 min read

Public Transit to Work

I'm fortunate not to need it, but I tried taking public transit to work today! Simply as an experiment. I had mapped out a few different routes and decided on one that would have the fewest transfers, even if it took a bit longer. This will read a bit less like a story and more like a bulleted list of chronological events. So, if that's not your cup of tea, you might want to skip this one.

  • in Journal
  • 5 min read

Bay Area Bridge Travel

This weekend, I traveled far and wide within and around the San Francisco Bay Area, locally known as the Bay Area. On Friday through Monday, I traveled over 200 miles, and crossed 6 bridges to visit 5 cities, including my hometown. Despite all this commute, I only ended up paying $14 total in bridge tolls! Let this story be your guide on how to effectively navigate the complex and expensive web of Bay Area FasTrak.