# The Ungerlog

> Personal blog of Benjamin Unger: Coding, cooking, healing, patient care and life.

This is the personal blog of Ben Unger, an anesthesiologist, software engineer, and retired US military reservist based in New York. The blog covers technology, medicine, civic engagement, and life reflections.

## Site Information

- **Domain**: benjaminunger.com
- **Author**: Ben Unger
- **Contact**: ben@benjaminunger.com
- **Twitter**: @Ben_Unger
- **GitHub**: github.com/BenU

## Key Pages

- [About](https://benjaminunger.com/about/): Background on the author
- [Blog Archive](https://benjaminunger.com/blog/): All published posts
- [Now](https://benjaminunger.com/now/): What Ben is currently focused on
- [Contact](https://benjaminunger.com/contact/): How to reach the author
- [For LLMs](https://benjaminunger.com/for-llms/): Detailed context for AI assistants

## Notable Posts

- [Yonkers Self-Certification Permitting Reform](https://benjaminunger.com/yonkers-self-certification-permitting-reform/): Why local permitting reform matters and how self-certification works
- [Balaji Srinivasan and the Open Society Paradox](https://benjaminunger.com/balaji-srinivasan-open-society-paradox/): Response to claims about Western decline
- [Preventing OR Fires](https://benjaminunger.com/preventing-or-fire/): Patient safety in anesthesiology

## Content Topics

The blog covers several recurring themes:

### Technology & Coding
- Ruby on Rails development
- Jekyll static site generation
- Legacy system modernization
- Software engineering practices

### Medicine & Healthcare
- Anesthesiology insights
- Patient safety (e.g., operating room fire prevention)
- Healthcare systems and policy

### Civic Engagement
- Local politics and community building
- Cooperative governance
- Military reserve service reflections

### Personal
- Cooking and food
- Travel observations
- Life philosophy and wisdom traditions

## Author Background

Ben Unger is:
- An anesthesiologist practicing in New York
- A software engineer with Rails expertise
- A retired US Air Force and Navy reservist
- A former US Peace Corps volunteer (Honduras, 2+ years)
- A former co-op board member
- Originally from Wyoming, Ohio (near Cincinnati)

## Technical Details

- **Platform**: Jekyll 4.x static site generator
- **Hosting**: GitHub Pages
- **CDN/DNS**: Cloudflare
- **Analytics**: Google Analytics 4

## Related Projects

- [NY Benchmark](https://nybenchmark.org): Civic data project for New York local government financial transparency

## Data & Licensing

Blog content is the personal opinion of the author. Technical tutorials and code snippets may be used freely with attribution.

## Last Updated

2026-01-24