Jonathan Mertzig
@mertzigzag.bsky.social
Madison, WI. - Professional destroyer of software. Sewer Socialist. Queer geek. Wannabe polyglot. Car avoider/Walker/Cyclist/Transit Enthusiast. 🦩🍻 same handle on Fedi @urbanists.social and (formerly) Xitter...
Well hey, Woodmans got a farewell shipment. Haven’t seen Rogue around here in a bit. 🫡 RIP. www.beervanablog.com/beervana/202...
November 22, 2025 at 2:47 AM
Well hey, Woodmans got a farewell shipment. Haven’t seen Rogue around here in a bit. 🫡 RIP. www.beervanablog.com/beervana/202...
Noticed “Falcon Lake” is finally available on Kanopy, so I’ve poured myself a very Quebecois G&T to celebrate. All ingredients available at your local SAQ! 😉⚜️
November 17, 2025 at 4:24 AM
Noticed “Falcon Lake” is finally available on Kanopy, so I’ve poured myself a very Quebecois G&T to celebrate. All ingredients available at your local SAQ! 😉⚜️
The new One Social Food Hall seems pretty nice, but if you’ve got AT&T good luck finding out your food is ready… they text you but there was no signal! 🤦 Well I eventually got my lobster roll, which was quite good—and incredible value considering you get 2! 🦞
November 16, 2025 at 1:10 AM
The new One Social Food Hall seems pretty nice, but if you’ve got AT&T good luck finding out your food is ready… they text you but there was no signal! 🤦 Well I eventually got my lobster roll, which was quite good—and incredible value considering you get 2! 🦞
Exploring “new” Madison streets I haven’t walked through before. Complete streets! 2-way cycle tracks! Apartment towers with fancy food halls! Lake views! Uniquely Madison and yet like basically every hipster city. 😁
November 15, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Exploring “new” Madison streets I haven’t walked through before. Complete streets! 2-way cycle tracks! Apartment towers with fancy food halls! Lake views! Uniquely Madison and yet like basically every hipster city. 😁
A gauntlet of anti-Elon/anti-Trump protestors up ahead, getting a lot of supportive honks by the HyVee Supercharger. The most “liberal suburbia”-ass protest imaginable. 🪧🚗
November 15, 2025 at 9:03 PM
A gauntlet of anti-Elon/anti-Trump protestors up ahead, getting a lot of supportive honks by the HyVee Supercharger. The most “liberal suburbia”-ass protest imaginable. 🪧🚗
An exciting new addition to the office Foam(er) Fleet… finally some Wisconsin representation!
November 14, 2025 at 3:39 PM
An exciting new addition to the office Foam(er) Fleet… finally some Wisconsin representation!
The evolution of these blocks on Park St fascinates me. During my student years this was a wasteland of auto garages and parking lots. And that brick building was literally for handling nuclear waste. 😂 Now it’s a rather nice dense student housing district. But somehow people lament this change. 🤷♂️
November 14, 2025 at 3:06 PM
The evolution of these blocks on Park St fascinates me. During my student years this was a wasteland of auto garages and parking lots. And that brick building was literally for handling nuclear waste. 😂 Now it’s a rather nice dense student housing district. But somehow people lament this change. 🤷♂️
Notably as the cladding here goes up, Humanities Building’s days left become numbered…
November 14, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Notably as the cladding here goes up, Humanities Building’s days left become numbered…
And like all UW students know, nothing quite energizes you for the day quite like passing a wall of Brutalist buildings. (Bonus BRT Bus cameo). 😄
November 14, 2025 at 1:31 PM
And like all UW students know, nothing quite energizes you for the day quite like passing a wall of Brutalist buildings. (Bonus BRT Bus cameo). 😄
Arrived downtown way too early for an appointment (Route D running fast this morning!) so I guess I’ll do a lap around the Union…
November 14, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Arrived downtown way too early for an appointment (Route D running fast this morning!) so I guess I’ll do a lap around the Union…
Also this “elevate the playoffs” thing is horseshit. So now MLS is gonna be fighting for sports viewing share with the NBA and NHL. Under the current schedule they mostly avoid clashing with other American sports, except a bit of the tail end of MLB.
November 13, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Also this “elevate the playoffs” thing is horseshit. So now MLS is gonna be fighting for sports viewing share with the NBA and NHL. Under the current schedule they mostly avoid clashing with other American sports, except a bit of the tail end of MLB.
The famous Great Lakes Brewing product for the evening was sold out at my local bottle shop so I went with something from Superior instead for my 6:10 toast. 🫡 (Earth Rider “Caribou Lake” IPA. Quite good. 🍻)
November 11, 2025 at 12:17 AM
The famous Great Lakes Brewing product for the evening was sold out at my local bottle shop so I went with something from Superior instead for my 6:10 toast. 🫡 (Earth Rider “Caribou Lake” IPA. Quite good. 🍻)
WOW! Apparently my privacy is worth a lot... $4.01 exactly. That court really threw the book at Zuck. I'm sure he learned his lesson.
November 9, 2025 at 5:53 AM
WOW! Apparently my privacy is worth a lot... $4.01 exactly. That court really threw the book at Zuck. I'm sure he learned his lesson.
At least yesterday’s *actual* big city commute culminated in this moment of brilliance (after 2 hours of tarmac delays).
November 7, 2025 at 11:03 PM
At least yesterday’s *actual* big city commute culminated in this moment of brilliance (after 2 hours of tarmac delays).
Well that’s utterly puzzling. The bus on the left on this map, headed down Maple Grove, being “tracked” real-time by Transit App… it does not exist. I’m literally looking at where it should be. Not there. What the hell is it tracking?!? I’ve never had a “ghost bus” claim such exact realtime tracking
November 7, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Well that’s utterly puzzling. The bus on the left on this map, headed down Maple Grove, being “tracked” real-time by Transit App… it does not exist. I’m literally looking at where it should be. Not there. What the hell is it tracking?!? I’ve never had a “ghost bus” claim such exact realtime tracking
Yelling “CUOMO IS A SEX PEST!” as loud as I can so everyone below gets out and votes today. 🗳️
November 4, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Yelling “CUOMO IS A SEX PEST!” as loud as I can so everyone below gets out and votes today. 🗳️
At the Dane County Airport, where between the many ads for various Epic hangers-on, there’s a new campaign to exhort me to move back to the homeland…
November 4, 2025 at 1:24 PM
At the Dane County Airport, where between the many ads for various Epic hangers-on, there’s a new campaign to exhort me to move back to the homeland…
9:45 kickoff for SEA-MIN. Yeah sorry, no, I’m not watching that when I’ve got a flight to catch in the morning. Heck, I don’t think I could stay awake for that on a normal night.* 😴
(*special exception made last week for a historically absurd World Series game)😂
(*special exception made last week for a historically absurd World Series game)😂
November 3, 2025 at 10:41 PM
9:45 kickoff for SEA-MIN. Yeah sorry, no, I’m not watching that when I’ve got a flight to catch in the morning. Heck, I don’t think I could stay awake for that on a normal night.* 😴
(*special exception made last week for a historically absurd World Series game)😂
(*special exception made last week for a historically absurd World Series game)😂
Vibes are good on State—feels like the good times before things turned ugly mid-aughts. 🎃 Hopefully it stays that way (not that I’ll find out… I’m old! I’m waiting for my much-delayed bus outta here. 👋)
November 1, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Vibes are good on State—feels like the good times before things turned ugly mid-aughts. 🎃 Hopefully it stays that way (not that I’ll find out… I’m old! I’m waiting for my much-delayed bus outta here. 👋)
Ah, they even give you a little zine on the way in! 😍 And Rocky Horror 50 buttons too!
November 1, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Ah, they even give you a little zine on the way in! 😍 And Rocky Horror 50 buttons too!
Had a burger at the Union Rathskeller for the first time in like 20 years… it’s actually really damn good! Top notch sandwich and good fries too. Feel like it wasn’t this high of quality back in my student days. Bonus points for the house-made sauces… a Wisconsin school should have good Ranch!👨🍳
November 1, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Had a burger at the Union Rathskeller for the first time in like 20 years… it’s actually really damn good! Top notch sandwich and good fries too. Feel like it wasn’t this high of quality back in my student days. Bonus points for the house-made sauces… a Wisconsin school should have good Ranch!👨🍳
Some quality spooky skies as I leave the office. Pretty much perfect Halloween weather—that crisp air and moody sky but no rain for trick or treat hours. ☁️🎃👻
October 31, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Some quality spooky skies as I leave the office. Pretty much perfect Halloween weather—that crisp air and moody sky but no rain for trick or treat hours. ☁️🎃👻
Of all my transit swag, I think this might actually be my favorite—a lens cleaning cloth from Montreal’s STM. Not only is a totes adorbs “map” of the system, but it’s actually a really effective cleaning cloth too! Downside: now I’m craving an Orange Julep. 🍊
October 30, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Of all my transit swag, I think this might actually be my favorite—a lens cleaning cloth from Montreal’s STM. Not only is a totes adorbs “map” of the system, but it’s actually a really effective cleaning cloth too! Downside: now I’m craving an Orange Julep. 🍊
Real puzzling spam call phenomenon: got a backup VoIP number I rarely give out that every few months gets clusters of robocalls that leave messages just repeating the same thing in (very shrill!) Chinese. A few calls a week… then nothing for months… then it starts again. No idea what the goal is.
October 27, 2025 at 1:43 AM
Real puzzling spam call phenomenon: got a backup VoIP number I rarely give out that every few months gets clusters of robocalls that leave messages just repeating the same thing in (very shrill!) Chinese. A few calls a week… then nothing for months… then it starts again. No idea what the goal is.
Just noticed the wide-angle option on my phone really captures the groundscraper-glory of Humanities to the fullest extent (including its brutalist brother Vilas Hall in the distance). Nice to see the ugly shoring scaffold is gone... must've stopped its collapse for now. Days are numbered though.
October 26, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Just noticed the wide-angle option on my phone really captures the groundscraper-glory of Humanities to the fullest extent (including its brutalist brother Vilas Hall in the distance). Nice to see the ugly shoring scaffold is gone... must've stopped its collapse for now. Days are numbered though.