I previously linked to a local skimboarder who runs a YouTube channel and he was showing the crack that had formed along PCH between the border of Laguna and Newport. I’ve been following his channel ever since. He’s done a good job of documenting the combined effects of strong a El Niño, Kelvin Waves, and King Tides.
They’ve actually gone through historical photos in Google Maps to show how our beaches looked then to how they look now. It is absolutely stunning and heart breaking to see.
Our favorite beach, Goff Island/Treasure Island, is partly inaccessible because the ramp going down from the Montage is starting to crumble.
His predecessor, Tim Cook, gained stature on the world stage as a power broker deftly navigating global politics, markets, and supply chains. Cook’s predecessor, Steve Jobs, was a rock-star visionary who sold the world on the deeply personal and even spiritual nature of tech creations. Ternus is different from both: a private, detail-oriented engineer, little known outside the company until he became a senior hardware executive in 2021.
Looking forward to how Ternus (a mechanical engineer, like me!) runs Apple.
I love the Life of a Line Cook series from Bon Appétit. It goes behind the scenes during various restaurants’ dinner services. This video follows a line cook’s first day of doing dinner service. I find it hard to believe they would throw someone working the grill on their first day, but this is probably the closest, most accurate look at what working on the line looks like. I can feel her exhaustion at the end of her shift.
The first part of this video covers a stretch of Coast Highway that my younger son used to take every day on his way to school. The fact that this huge gash showed up so quickly is very concerning. Like the guy filming said, I can’t imagine the side of this cliff lasting past winter.
And in the next part where he shows Aliso Beach, the water comes all the way up to the parking lot. The lot was already closed since a previous storm flooded the parking lot.
I took this picture of my daughter at Aliso Beach in December 2025. She is standing maybe a hundred yards from where I took the picture. Granted, the video was taken when it was high tide and we are dealing with Hurricane Rachel, but all that sand, all that stretch of beach from the parking lot is now gone.
I watch a lot of YouTube. If I had to get rid of all of our paid streaming subscriptions, YouTube would be the last one I would get rid of. I have a ton of channels I subscribe to from tech, travel, van life, vlogs. Just anything that I find interesting and can hold my attention for the whole video. I thought I’d share some good vids.
The Pacific Crest Trail is a hiking trail that goes from the Mexico border in San Diego all the way to the Canadian border. Titus Humphreys filmed his two attempts to finish the entire trail. I love hiking and to think that there are people who set out to do this epic hike is insane.
One of the smaller channels I follow, Garret the Nomad is a van lifer who travels around the country in his Storyteller van. That’s it. That’s his channel.
Harman Hoek will say he’s a hiker who films his hikes, but I’d argue he’s a filmmaker who hikes. Beautiful cinematography, music, and nature sounds. Great to leave on in the background while I work.
There’s a whole genre of YouTube channels that just go around filming their drives in real time. I know I’m lucky to live where I live when the drive along Coast Highway through Laguna Beach tends to come up as a frequent subject of these videos. Relaxing Scenes Driving is one of those channels.
This one is a weird one. I like to listen to something while I fall asleep. It could range from subliminal, motivational speaking to ambient sounds to sound baths. John Michael Godier is an author who does videos on science, astronomy, and mysteries of our universe. He has a low, calm voice and the way he narrates his videos easily makes me fall asleep. It’s weird, I know, but it works and his content is fascinating.
On the morning of September 20th, Chad Everett Gilbert passed away peacefully in his sleep,” the band wrote. “He left this world surrounded by friends and family and took his final breaths with his wife and mother by his side, just as he wished.
The Florida group continued, “We are devastated and shocked by how quickly he left us, yet so grateful for how peacefully and smoothly he went. The amount of visitors that crowded the hospital lobby at a moment’s notice is a testament to how beloved and cherished Chad was, and always will be. He was a legendary musician, but his favorite accomplishment was being a husband and father. His biggest dreams came true.
If blink–182 was my first favorite pop punk band, NFG was the first band I was introduced to after getting into the genre. I immediately latched onto their music and if blink was ranked 1a on my list of favorite pop punk bands, NFG is definitely 1b.
During my time at the Apple Store, I met the lead singer of NFG, Jordan, on one of my shifts. It’s not the same as meeting Chad, but I definitely let him know that they were one of my favorite bands.
Thanks for all the music and memories, Chad. Rest in peace.
On September 1, Tim Cook stepped down as CEO of Apple. John Ternus was appointed CEO, having previously served as SVP of Hardware Engineering.
Apple recently updated their leadership page. Turns out I have something in common with John Ternus. At the end of Ternus’ bio:
Prior to Apple, John worked as a mechanical engineer at Virtual Research Systems. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.
I, too, have a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.
