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Goodbye Google Search!

Remember last year when I quit Google Mail and also quit Google Docs? Well, my efforts to DeGoogle didn’t end there…

I quit Google Search.

Yeah, Google Search… which I’ve been using for a quarter of a century. I even had a Google t-shirt back in… 1999 I think? No more.

I switched to DuckDuckGo, which is a bit more focused on privacy and doesn’t use my search history for advertising purposes. I don’t even have an account to log into. You can still change some settings, which should persist across browser sessions thanks to cookies in your browser. (Though you then have to set them in each browser on each device you use. I think that’s a small price to pay.)

DuckDuckGo does have some AI features, but allows you to turn them off. Searching the web, not seeing any AI garbage, it feels like… like Google used to be, or like the web used to be. It’s pretty nice. Occasionally if I cannot find what I need I will open a private window and do a Google search, but it’s rare I need to do that.

While I’ve been happy with DuckDuckGo, I also try not to be complacent. I’ve installed SearXNG onto my home server which can also search the web.

SearXNG is a free internet metasearch engine which aggregates results from up to 251 search services. Users are neither tracked nor profiled. Additionally, SearXNG can be used over Tor for online anonymity.

So SearXNG goes out and does the searches using all sorts of search engines but protects your privacy by being a middle-agent. (There some public instances you can try, though they may be hit or miss, and localized results may be off.)

I’ve also had someone suggest I try Mojeek which claims to be “The alternative search engine that puts the people who use it first.” and unlike SearXNG does not rely on existing search engines but instead uses the Mojeek index of the web, so it is independent. (And, not into AI.)

I’ve left out a few options you could use instead of Google, but for those of use remember Ask Jeeves, Lycos, Alta Vista, Yahoo, and all the other search engines of 30 years ago, I think it’s our duty to find alternatives and try them out and see if we can move away from big tech, either by choosing self-hosted alternatives, more ethical companies, or way to subvert the existing system.

Tags google, search

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I made some Bagels!

Hey, look! I made some bagels! I was a bit intimidated by this one, but I’ve made those pretzel buns a few times now so these were not too different from those.

I got 8 bagels, just around 100 grams each, which seems a little smaller than the ones we’d get from a bagel shop.

The boiling water had barley malt syrup in it, instead of baking soda which I use for the pretzel buns.

The topping I used were “everything bagel seasoning” and kosher salt. I did a poor job here. I learned that when you buy bagel seasoning to sprinkle on top of things, well that’s the wrong thing to use for this…

The seasoning has garlic and onion pieces that are too small, and tend to burn. So you need to make your own. Also, “bagel boards” are a thing, which are cedar board with “food grade” burlap attached and then soaked to prevent seasonings from burning.

The ones on the right side were weird ones where I just sprinkled on things like Old Bay, and other random seasonings from the cabinet. They didn’t add much, but hey… it was an experiment! Toppings are the most difficult part of this process. (I would love to do asiago parmesan bagels!)

So… yeah. Here’s what happened when I tried to hold one in my hand to slice it. I did not use an egg wash and press the bagels into a seasoning bowl. So more things to try next time.

There are a few of the recipes I looked at. I tend to read a bunch of recipes and use bits and pieces from each.

I just made another batch today, but I think with practice it’ll become easier and I’ll get the hang of it. I’d also like to try a long(er) fermentation time with less yeast like I do for pizza dough.

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Tags bagels, food

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This is the Pain (Part V)

Post author By Pete Prodoehl
Post date 2026-04-24
No Comments on This is the Pain (Part V)

See the previous post… Done? Okay!

I waited three weeks. Well, technically I waited 20 days, but on that 20th day I had the exact same excruciating and debilitating pain I had before the injections. And since the injections I’ve not had a day without pain.

Some days were definitely better! Almost… normal. Minor pain, mild discomfort, but I could mostly go about my daily routine, which starts with an hour (to a few hours) of pain, then mostly pain-free the rest of the day.

I say “mostly pain-free” because certain things still caused pain, like putting on socks and shoes, or driving, so there’s something lurking still, waiting to hurt me.

Some days were worse, and I noticed that again, the pain was shifting. Upper leg, hip, buttock area… not just ankle and lower leg. AND! I started getting pain in my left leg, which was never affected. A few nights I could not walk or go upstairs without a heap of pain. As if my legs just… didn’t work.

So on that 20th day, I emailed my doctor’s office, told them all this, and said I will not make it to July for the “13 weeks later” follow-up appointment. So I’ll be seeing them next week. Fingers crossed!

Tags life, pain

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Just 5 More MPH, Bro…

I got called a “weenie” and a “nerd” for admitting I drive the speed limit. I don’t care. My number one concern is that everyone arrives at their destination safely. If it takes a bit more time, I am fine with that.

I get passed all the time. I was on the parkway going approximately 25 (meaning, I may have been going 24, or 25, or maybe 26 or 27!) and a car got in the oncoming lane, sped up to pass me, and kept going fast. I’d guess they were going between 30 and 35. I saw them turn right, I turned right, they were way ahead of me, until… yeah, guess who I pulled up right next to at the stoplight?

I cannot tell you how often cars pass me only to speed up to a stoplight, hit the brakes, and have me right behind them. They never fucking learn. Meanwhile, they speed, they hit the brakes, and I go the limit and coast to a stop. I save wear on my vehicle, and I get better mileage.

I was told that “everyone goes 5 or 10 over the limit, and we don’t need to worry about those people, we need to worry about unsafe drivers” but what makes an “unsafe driver”? Could it be excessive speed? I’m sure in some (many?) cases it is.

I guess we should raise the 25 to 30 so the people going 30 in the 25 can go… 35? And then the people going 35 in 30 can go 40… and on and on.

Honestly I am just really sick of driving and wish I was back on my bike riding to work. It’s so much more calming and enjoyable than being on the road with car-brained people.

Tags cars

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Dining with a Baby

This is a short post about something that happened, which is in no way remarkable, but I thought it was important to write down and share.

Last week my wife Dana and I went out to eat. After we were sat a man showed up with a stroller and a small child. He got the child out of the stroller, folded it up, and stowed it out of the way. (It’s a restaurant without a lot of space.)

A height chair appeared and the child was sat in it. And then I realized this guy was on his own. I thought perhaps his wife would join him and three people would have dinner.

Did you catch all the wrong assumptions I made?

I’ll also note the child was very well behaved, and pretty cute! She gave Dana and I a few stares and we waved back at her. I don’t think the man said anything to the child. (At least not anything loud enough for us to hear.)

I said to Dana it seemed weird to see a man (probably a father?) going out to eat with a toddler. At one point the guy took the child out of the height chair and put them on his lap. He was eating, making sure the child was eating, and seemed to just go about his business all on his own.

She said “You probably see it all the time, but it’s a woman, and you either don’t notice, or though nothing of it.” And damn… she was (probably) right! She continued with a bit about the unseen labor of women, and how men should not be praised for doing the bare minimum or for caring for their own children. (I know these things, and agree with them, but sometimes a reminder is helpful.)

Later, after thinking about it again I said “I think maybe I sort of identified with the guy since he was, (A) a man, and (B) had a child with him. It’s been decades since my kids were small, and I remember going out to eat with them, but only when they were a bit older, or at least along their mother. Maybe I felt it wasn’t something I could handle on my own?

Of course the stroller could have been a clue… maybe they lived in the neighborhood and it was easy to walk there for dinner. And the child was very well behaved.

I also felt like we mostly made meals at home when the kid(s) were little, as money was always tight.

It seems wild I put that much thought into the whole thing but… here we are.

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Tags food, kids