Dyshidro­sis (/dɪs.haɪˈdroʊ.sɨs/, also known as "acute vesicu­lob­ul­lous hand eczema," "cheiropom­pholyx," "dyshidrot­ic eczema," "pompholyx," and "podopom­pholyx") is a skin condition that is char­ac­ter­ized by small blisters on the hands or feet.

    — Wikipedia

I've oc­ca­sion­al­ly had little blisters appear on my fingers and palms in hot weather in the past. These vesicles are filled with clear liquid, annoying and a little bit sore, and they sting when my hands are soaked in water.

In August, they came back and they were larger and more swollen than ever before. My doctor diagnosed a case of dyshidrot­ic eczema and prescribed clobetasol propionate ointment. The eczema promptly cleared up, but …continue.

My mother's mother's sister, known to all of us as Auntie Pat, was born on January 2nd, 1915, in London. My mother and a few other family members will join her today for her 100th birthday party. I understand that the Queen has been notified and will be sending a telegram of con­grat­u­la­tions, but can't attend in person.

Pat is frail but her mind is still good, and she continues to live by herself in her own home in Bournemouth, England. In the last decade, Pat has twice emigrated to New Zealand, but it didn't work out either time.

Pat married only once, in her sixties, to a Polish émigré who …continue.

In most of the world, as I write this, it's already 2015. We in Seattle will enter the New Year in 4½ hours.

For me personally, it was a reasonably good year. My health remained good, I had a new job, we had a good summer vacation, and generally enjoyed ourselves. Emma's health was not so great, but she's set up an Etsy shop for her knitting and started modeling for artists.

I look forward to 2015.

30 years ago today, I sat down at a computer for the first time, and I wrote my first program.

I was in Fifth Year of secondary school in Ire­land—the equivalent of eleventh grade. Personal computers were just coming into Ireland; few people had them. I had been taking an ex­tracur­ric­u­lar course in computer pro­gram­ming, in the school's physics lab. We wrote code on paper at our desks, as there were no computers in the room. Somehow, I hadn't realized that there was another room with computers, in a normally off-limits part of the school, until late January.

Once I sat down at a computer, I was hooked. PRINT 2+2? 4! Writing …continue.

It's the 100th an­niver­sary of the 1911 census of the United Kingdom, which was taken on the night of Sunday, April 2nd. Ireland was still part of the UK and hence was included in the census.

The census results are online. The Irish results are freely browsable. The UK results cost money.

Three of my grand­par­ents were born in the 18 months following the census.

George Clery

My maternal grand­fa­ther, George Victor Clery, was born on March 30th, 1900. He died on March 3rd, 1965, twelve days before I was born. I am called George after him and Vincent after my father.

Gen­er­a­tions of Clerys worked for the Munster & Leinster …continue.

This year is the 24th an­niver­sary of the Seattle AIDS Walk. A whole generation has passed since the Northwest AIDS Walk began. AIDS used to be the un­stop­pable disease that killed much of a generation of gay men.

AIDS is still a serious problem, but the de­vel­op­ment of an­ti­retro­vi­ral drugs in the Nineties means that people with HIV are living longer, healthier lives than before. More than 1.5 million Americans are now living with HIV/AIDS: 9,000 of them in King County. 40,000 people are infected every year, and most new infections are among African-Americans. The U.S. is getting off relatively lightly: about one-quarter of the adults in southern Africa have HIV!

The Lifelong …continue.

Twelve years ago today, Emma and I met face-to-face for the first time. We had been talking on the phone for about three weeks after I had answered her personals ad in The Stranger. We might have met a little sooner, but she was busy meeting the other guys who had responded, and I was undergoing the IIS 4 deathmarch at Microsoft.

We were both nervous and we each responded char­ac­ter­is­ti­cal­ly. Emma babbled; I said very little. She told me later that she thought that she had scared me off. She hadn't, though. We had already talked several times on the phone and she had been less nervous. I liked her and …continue.

Two months after our memorial for Frank Maloney, we took the ferry over to Vashon Island to scatter his ashes. It was a beautiful September day, sunny but not too hot, and a 20-minute ferry ride was most pleasant.

Kim and Holly fed us lunch at their place and we all fell in love with their six rescue kittens. We drove to a secluded beach and each of us scattered a teaspoon of Frank's ashes upon the waters. We sat there for a while and talked and wandered. Then, back to Holly and Kim's for cake and coffee.

I know that Frank would have thoroughly enjoyed the day: the fine weather, …continue.

Paying bills always makes me grumpy. More than just the drain on my wallet, it's also the sheer hassle and tedium.

I think it was last year that I finally switched over to using electronic billpay. (I'm not always an early adopter.) The hassle is less and I seldom write checks now.

I'd like to know why electronic payments take days, not mil­lisec­onds, to clear. More predatory bank practices, no doubt.

I wrote several checks tonight. For months I had been putting off renewing my membership in various do-gooder or­ga­ni­za­tions like the ACLU, the EFF, and GLAAD. Some I wrote checks to, others I used their online forms.

I'm going to be …continue.

I held my annual fundrais­ing barbecue for the AIDS Walk today. Actually, the weather was so wet this morning that we cooked and ate inside.

I am happy to report that thanks to the generosity of my sponsors, I have raised $982 of my original goal of $1000. With three weeks left until the walk, I am predicting success in reaching my goal.