Cancelled Plans, Better Adventures

Morning routine. Automation debugging. Deployment system refactoring. Cancelled meetings. Spontaneous pizza in Monroe. Jam session in Eugene. Valley River Inn overnight.

Technical morning gives way to unplanned evening

Events and activities that occurred on Wednesday, January 28, 2026

The day began with a familiar challenge: automated scripts had failed overnight due to a permissions issue. The deployment system needed attention, leading to substantial refactoring work that transformed it from manually-maintained scripts to a manifest-driven approach. Now adding new deployments requires only editing a single markdown file rather than touching multiple scripts. 

Both scheduled conversations cancelled: Fernanda had a conflict, and Steve was recovering from a medical procedure. The cleared calendar created unexpected space, and when I floated the idea of Beer:30 to the usual group, most declined. Then Joey reached out with a better suggestion: Benny's Pizza Joint in Monroe.

The drive there provided good listening time for the audiobook We are Legion (We are Bob), a pattern that would continue throughout the day's travels. At Benny's, their deal of the day offered a two-ingredient slice of pizza and a trip to the salad bar—an impressive spread that produced a delicious salad. Over the meal, beer, and whiskey, Joey and I discussed our upcoming New Zealand trip. The planning conversations are becoming more concrete as the departure date approaches.

The jam session at Happy Hours

Joey suggested extending the evening to Happy Hours in Eugene for a jam session there. The music was good, the atmosphere casual. During a break, I walked down the road hoping to grab food from Toxic Burgers, but they had closed early despite their posted hours. Countryside Pizza, attached to Happy Hours, provided a worthy alternative—the server there loaded us up with an extra root beer float along with Joey's burger and fries.

The jam fragmented around nine or ten. By then, neither of us was in condition to drive home safely, so I got us a room at the Valley River Inn. The room was comfortable, and the front desk sold me a contact lens kit—solving the immediate problem, though keeping one in the Xterra would prevent future scrambles.

The day demonstrated a familiar pattern: planned structure dissolves, spontaneous alternatives emerge, and the result often proves more interesting than what was scheduled. Technical foundations get laid in morning solitude, and evening adventures unfold through responsive invitation rather than rigid planning.