April 2021

Comforts.

I’m settling nicely into my new office. I’m even settling into my new work hours. Having a daily “stand up” call at 6:00 AM MST doesn’t kill my productivity one bit. I get up at 5:30 AM, throw on clothes from yesterday, do the stand up call, and then go upstairs and take a shower, change my clothes, etc., eat breakfast, and get back to work. My workday ends anywhere between 3:30 and 5:00 PM. This gives me time to spend with the family, relax, and such before heading to bed and getting up to do it all over again the next day.

As I get my office set up to my standards, I realized the bigger space has a bit more echo than my old home office back in Chicago. This made my mechanical keyboard sound even louder than usual during Zoom/Teams calls with team workers. Since I try to be as paper free as possible, I often take notes by typing them out while the meeting is in progress and the louder keyboard was not helpful in this situation.

Enter a quieter keyboard from Matias Products. Matias makes a beautiful, ten keyless keyboard that looks like it was made by Apple. The touch is great, the sizing is perfect, and the keyboard is quite sturdy. The case is aluminum and uses the same font that was used by Apple up until the latter half of the 2010s.

I’m quite pleased with it.

For my every day keyboards I opt to not have a 10-key keypad on my keyboards. I like having the mouse closer to center so I don’t have to reach far out to maneuver around. The new keyboard matches my Magic Mouse in black quite well.

I’m quite pleased with this new keyboard and it’s surprisingly affordable. I believe I paid $48 plus shipping, though it’s no longer on sale as of right now at $55. Still, it’s much cheaper than Apple’s wireless counterparts.

Highly recommended.

14 April 2021 by Apple. Geek 0

Sonos.

Whatever you do, don’t buy a Sonos speaker unless you’re absolutely sure it’ll remain in the exact same location, on the same exact wifi hotspot, in the same house forever.

I had a Sonos One speaker in our master bathroom back in Chicago for years. I enjoyed listening to news, podcasts, music, etc. while doing the things one does in the bathroom. It rarely faltered. I had a choice between Amazon and Google as my home assistant; Alexa worked fairly well.

And then we moved to Tucson.

I installed the Sonos One speaker in the master bathroom once again and tried to go through the necessary steps to join the new wifi hot spot in the new house.

Oh my god.

After the eight hard/factory reset of the device I decided to just give up. I gave the Sonos One to Chris (who was a couple that he’s been dealing with in a similar manner) and went ahead and ordered a HomePod Mini.

The HomePod Mini is installed and was setup and running in less than five minutes. I still don’t get the hate directed at Siri or Apple’s HomeKit, our experiences in both Chicago and now Tucson have been flawless. The HomePod Mini has surprisingly robust sound and I’m quite pleased with its performance.

I like it when It Just Works.

13 April 2021 by Geek 2

Relaxing.

Among many other perks, I enjoy being able to step out onto the roof and enjoy the view after a day back at work. Being able to hear the sound of the wind as it blows across the desert is a wonderful thing. I find it very relaxing.

The photo above shows the view from this relaxing spot as I look to the south. Without the urban sounds of living in a major city, I can almost hear Mother Nature sing.

12 April 2021 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Visitors.

We had a group (or squadron) of javelinas stop by the gazebo this morning. They apparently enjoy our rosemary bush and other small plants in the area. Truman was not amused, opted to puff up and then went running upstairs. They stayed around for a few minutes before sunrise, making a stop around front in the landscaping near the driveway before moving on to their next activity.

Truman remains upstairs.

12 April 2021 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Twice.

I did two days of cycling this weekend. These were my first rides in the desert and I can say without hesitation that the air is quite dry.

Tucson has a nice assortment of cycling paths and lanes, at least in our little corner of the city limits. It can also be quite hilly in spots. Today I reached 31 MPH on a downhill. Coming back up the hill to get home was a bit of challenge but I was able to get my act together by taking it in “chunks” and riding from shady spot to shady spot along to road. Before I knew it I had completed 11 miles in 48 minutes. Not awful for an old guy.

It’s quite nice to ride bike again, but I already know I have to do it early in the morning. It’s a good thing this Mountain Standard Time thing has me on an earlier schedule during the work week; I just maintain the fun on the weekend.

11 April 2021 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Anxiety.

Earl and I went shopping at one of the many locations of The Home Depot in Tucson today. There were a lot of people milling about doing their Saturday chores. The vast majority of them were wearing masks, as required by Pima County and The Home Depot (despite what the governor says).

A few folks were not wearing masks and I maintained an extra amount of distance from them and gave them an eye roll. They probably didn’t notice, they were too wrapped up in their false sense of importance in this world.

Even though I was wearing a mask, maintaining distance, and on the vaccination path for COVID-19, I still feel a great deal of anxiety when out in public. Every person I see, masked or not, is a walking petri dish of God knows what and I have not desire to sample their sickly soup. As a society we have too many people that can’t be bothered to park in one parking space let alone take care of one another by wearing a mask during a global pandemic.

I hope that I’ll be over this anxiety by the end of the summer so we can enjoy all our desert home city has to offer.

Right now I’ll just maintain my distance.

10 April 2021 by Life In Motion. Ponderings and Musings 0

Instasnap.

I’ve been following folks without abandon on Instagram lately. Here’s a picture of Tom Holland (the latest Spider-man, among other things) foaming at the mouth. He seems bewildered by the acts of shaving.

9 April 2021 by Gayish. 0

City Lights.

I do love the City of Tucson’s desire to control light pollution. In Chicago I always felt like the new LED street lights would sear my retinas; here in Tucson the lights are doing their job but not intrusively. Plus, it’s wonderful to be able to see stars again.

8 April 2021 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Wait, Weight, Don’t Tell Me.

My husband unpacked our bathroom scale today. It’s awaiting the great revealing in the morning. I haven’t weighed myself in over three weeks.

I’m terrified to see what numbers are going to spin up on the display. I’m hoping for something that will be like winning at the casino. I’m probably not even going to get my quarter back.

7 April 2021 by Fitness. 0

Fast.

While out for my morning walk I was awestruck by the scene of this routine day in the neighborhood. Garbage and recycling bins are out, per the Tuesday routine, neighbors were cleaning brush out off their property, and the ambiance was subdued.

This is life on a weekday in our little corner of the desert.

I remarked to my husband that we managed to move out here so quickly that my I feel like while I thoroughly enjoy the concept, my brain has not completely realized that we live in Arizona. The Real ID in my wallet is from Arizona. The temporary license plate is from Arizona. The computer time zone says “America/Phoenix”, the air is dry, and the temperatures are warm. There’s no “ding dong, doors closing” coming from the nearby Brown Line and the vibe is so much more relaxed.

I love it here. I just feel like it’s not quite permanent yet. However, it is permanent and I’m quite happy. It’s an odd feeling but nonetheless joyous.

Our rather limited interactions with our fellow citizens have been very friendly. I’ve always considered Chicago to be quite friendly for a major city, but folks here seem really laid back. On my one pass through a drive thru (for a drink) the attendant apologized profusely for neglecting to give me a straw without a reminder. All of our neighbors wave to one another. Several of our neighbors have come up to the house with a pastry or such and introduced themselves.

I wasn’t expecting that; it was a very pleasant surprise.

I have to keep reminding myself that COVID-19 is still out there and the country should be functioning in relative isolation. I’m looking forward to getting out and exploring all there is to explore in our desert home. We have online friends to meet in person and airplanes to fly and canyons to hike and rocks to climb and trails to ride bikes on. We’re almost done unpacking boxes.

I’m ready to unpack life in the desert.

6 April 2021 by Tucson 0

About J.P.

Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.

Weird? Eccentric!

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