J.P.

Maintain.

It’s been a while since I’ve given Linux on the laptop a run. My mid-2015 Apple MacBook Pro has been wheezing and slowing down under the latest version of MacOS. I decided to wipe it out and give Ubuntu Linux a run on the machine and honestly, it’s running faster than it has in a couple of years. I’m pleased thus far. I’ll probably write a geeky entry later in the week detailing the specifics of what’s running on the machine. Almost 30 years later I can still say that using Linux on the desktop is not for the faint of heart. It’s come a long way, but it’s not as easy to use as MacOS or Microsoft Windows. But it does afford geeks like me the ability to tweak and tune the computer exactly as we want it and to see all that’s happening under the hood. And I like that sort of thing.

I also like the fact that I can probably use this computer for a few more years even though I’m pretty sure Apple will be dropping support for it next year. MacOS Monterey is coming out this fall and it’ll run on this computer, but if MacOS Big Sur is any indication, it won’t be a pretty experience. When I bought this computer in early 2016 it was the most tricked-out MacBook Pro one could buy from Apple. It’s served me well for a number of years.

I look forward to it continuing to do so for a number of more years. It doesn’t need to go to a landfill and it doesn’t need to be recycled. It needs to be used until it can’t be used no more. I’ve put my “it’s time to by a new computer” plan on hold.

My husband breathes a sigh of relief.

16 August 2021 by J.P. Geek 0

Old Data.

I was going through some old files this weekend and found this photo of me from 2008 or 2009. I was DJing in a local bar at the time. The photo is all grainy because it was taken in a darkened DJ booth before the days of really good cameras on smartphones. I actually think it was a snap from a webcam.

Coming across old photos like this is like discovering a box of photo albums in the attic. While I believe we should live for today and plan for tomorrow, there’s something special about looking at history, even if it’s our own history. We should never stop growing and learning, and there’s a lot to be learned from history.

Outside of this blog I’ve maintained a private journal for over a decade. Every once in a while I’ll read my writings from days gone by and, like reviewing old blog entries, realize I’m just the same guy I’ve always been moving forward in this life.

There’s nothing wrong with that.

As a youngster I always thought life would bring about drastic changes from time to time as we grew older, but now that I’m older I’ve found that for the most part this hasn’t happen. My experiences today are similar, if not hopefully wiser, as to those of 25 years ago. The moral foundation is the same, my belief system, while adjusted from growth and world experience, is pretty much the same. I can’t help but think I’ve been very lucky to have such a grounded life. I attribute my success to many things, including young parents who were just trying to do the right thing with these two youngsters they were raising.

I read about the awful things going on in the country and all over the world and I realize I have no reason to be cranky. Life is as good as we make it.

And making a good life is the success of living.

15 August 2021 by J.P. Ponderings and Musings 0

Details.

We are remodeling one of the rooms in our upstairs. On the blueprints this room is called “The Observatory”. It was originally designed to house a giant telescope. There’s counter level electrical outlets every two feet, the room is reinforced by concrete, and the room underneath contains a reinforced concrete pad to support a large telescope. The room never came to fruition as an Observatory; the previous owners of the house used it as a kid’s bedroom. It has my flight simulator and gaming computer.

We removed a shop-quality fluorescent light from the ceiling and two shop style LED lights from the walls today. Underneath, a very dark red paint. As we have seen throughout the house, when the previous owners painted a room, they left all fixtures and electrical or other coverings in place and painted around the accessory.

We now have to paint the ceiling and walls in this room.

It’s not a big deal, but it’s one extra step we didn’t plan on. Another fun discovery was the lack of an electrical box underneath the shop fluorescent lamp. We now need to fashion bracing up there so we can install a ceiling fan where the light once was.

It’s a good thing we’re all fairly good at home improvement projects.

14 August 2021 by J.P. Fun and Games Dept 0

20!

It totally slipped my mind that my blog turned 20 years old on the 4th of this month. That’s right, I’ve been babbling in this space since August 4, 2001. Wow. I was 33 years old at the time. Where has the time gone.

I occasionally go back and read old posts, especially when I’m feeling a little lost. Looking back over various entries I realize that I like to think I’ve grown, I haven’t really changed that much. I was bald then and I’m bald now. My facial hair (when I let it grow) is a heck of a lot more grayer. The crows feet are nothing to be ashamed of and I’m still looking for the best way to get through life.

A lot can happen in 20 years. I look forward to writing about my 40th anniversary 20 years from now. Maybe it’ll be in 3D or something.

13 August 2021 by J.P. Fun and Games Dept 0

The Expanse, Part Two.

My husband and I have been making our way through season one of “The Expanse” and I’m really enjoying the series. As mentioned earlier this week, I’m a big fan of Shohreh Aghdashloo’s portrayal of UN Deputy Undersecretary of Executive Administration, Christen Avasarala.

Tonight I told Earl I also have a bit of a crush on Thomas Jane, who plays Joe Miller/The Investigator. He said, “of course you do”.

Perhaps I need to find some more photos of Mr. Jane on the Internet. I just enjoy he way he carries himself and admittedly, he ain’t bad to look at.

12 August 2021 by J.P. Gayish. 0

Afternoon Delight.

I was eight years old when the Starland Vocal Band released “Afternoon Delight”. Of course I had no idea the song was about sex. At the time, my mom and her friend Janice would take us to a diner uptown called “Donna’s Restaurant” in the morning. I think Janice was seeing a guy from the telephone company or something and they’d stop out there before fixing the local dial tone. Donna, the owner of Donna’s Restaurant, and a big bleached beehive bouffant type hairdo. I went to school with her daughters. This song was on the jukebox and we’d play the song while we drank hot chocolate with whipped cream on top. From the sugar and such we’d then lick the ceilings before Mom paid Donna (who was still using a hand cranked cash register) and then we’d head home and run around the cow pasture that surrounded our mobile home.

Good times.

It’s funny, even though it’s been 45 years and I know the song is about sex I still think about hot chocolate and whipped cream when I hear this song.

Maybe that’s about sex too.

11 August 2021 by J.P. DJ 0

The Expanse.

A while back Chris and Mike started watching “The Expanse”. Being the dork that I am, I casually watched the show from afar, but there was a husky voiced woman swearing like a sailor with all sorts of swagger that got my attention. When I saw her move across the screen she had a regality that I adored. After watching a few episodes in the middle of the run I felt in love with Shohreh Aghdashloo’s portrayal of Chrisjen Avasarala.

Earl and I started watching from episode one this past weekend. Science fiction is really not Earl’s cup of tea, but he enjoys sitting on the couch watching television together and he is most tolerant of my selection of television. Since Chris and Mike are in season four and we’ve just started season one, I can safely say the production quality of season four is much better than what we’re seeing. As I understand it, Syfy cancelled the series after season three and then Amazon Prime picked it up. Apparently the Amazon Prime episodes have a bigger budget.

I’ve never read the novels, but the reality of this science fiction series is intriguing. It’s the 24th century, humans have colonized the Solar System, Earth is run by the U.N., Mars is its own thing (and in a cold war with Earth) and precious commodities are mined and collected by the “Belters”, folks that live in the Asteroid Belt. The tech is most intriguing. The physics are well done; the tech of the 24th century makes sense. And the human attitude pretty much adheres to where we’re probably headed: while tech has evolved, humans have repeated history and the same mistakes over and over. The far future feels (too?) familiar.

I’m looking forward to watching this series over the next few months. And as Chrisjen Avasarala would probably say, “I fucking love it”.

10 August 2021 by J.P. Geek 0

Privacy, Part 2.

With the Apple privacy discussions taking place on the Internet, undoubtedly led by those referred to as the “screeching minority”, I’ve had a couple of people tell me I’m crazy because of my stance of digital rights and privacy. I’m used to being called crazy; one of my greatest fears of all my life is folks discovering how crazy I really am and throwing me into some sort of group home or mental ward because of this discovery. But that’s for another blog entry.

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, Apple is going to start scanning photos destined for their iCloud Photo service. This scanning will take place directly on the device that you, the consumer, purchased from Apple. They’re not looking at the contents of these photos, they’re looking at the “digital fingerprint” of these photos and comparing it to a third-party list of “digital fingerprints” to identify illegal photos of children. It’s a noble cause, but with the scanning taking place on your personal property, it feels like guilty before innocent to me. In these discussions of “I have nothing to hide” being propagated by those that want to remain in Apple’s good graces for PR purposes, they claim what difference does it make if Apple does these scans on your device or after they arrive at their destination. When I liken the practice to old-style books of photos and Apple coming into your house to flip through the pages of your photo albums in person, I get downvoted on Reddit, told I’m hysterical, and that I might have something to hide.

I have nothing to hide. I live my life pretty out loud, and while there are many aspects of my life I haven’t outright shared, there’s plenty I have shared. However, no one was rifled through my closet looking for things to share. It’s been my choice.

Look, if I ever cross an international border again and a border agent asks me for my phone, two things are going to happen. I’m going to refuse to unlock my phone for the official and either I’m going to erase the thing with the panic switch or I’m going to hurl the phone at the ground so hard it’ll smash and be useless for all involved. Or both. There is no reason for anyone to go through my phone. Ever. With the constant push from big tech to move our wallet and our photos and our passports and our IDs and our correspondence and our family history and our health information and god knows what else into these maddening little devices, it’ll be a cold day in hell when someone scans my phone potentially carrying all this information. I don’t know why anyone would do that. Would a woman hand over her purse? Would a man hand over his wallet? Would you unload all the cartons of photos in the moving van so the border agents can take a look? I certainly hope not. Your smartphone is no different.

I don’t care what you do with your data. I don’t care who you share your data with. But your cavalier, irresponsible attitude should not set the precedent for those of us that still care about privacy and believe that as a human being we are entitled to privacy. I don’t care if it’s convenient for you to run around with your credit cards attached to your phone and you’re glued to your little screen 23 hours a day. You do you, I’ll do me, and those of us in the “screeching minority” will continue to screech about the importance of privacy, all the while you give it away to corporations that’s couldn’t care less about you.

9 August 2021 by J.P. Apple. 1

Routine.

Because I’m such a lover of the feline set, I’m always fascinated by the routines house cats seemingly adopt.

For the past 10 days or so, Truman has begun sleeping in our bedroom, as pictured above, from approximately 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM. No longer does he sleep under the bed, or on the couch, or on one of his cat perches. He has decided that this is the spot for sleeping during this time and the displayed pose is to be assumed when awakened from a nap.

Cats are fascinating to me.

When I go down to pet him he starts purring as his head bobs around while I’m reaching down. It’s a quirk he has; the only other cat I’ve ever seen do this was a cat I had as a kid; her name was Cinders. She’d bob her head around too. I think it’s a way of bringing the hooman into focus.

8 August 2021 by J.P. He's A Feline. 0

Madera Canyon.

We went for a ride south of the city and ended up in Madera Canyon in the Coronado National Forest. It was our first time in the area and it was a beautiful ride. I mentioned to Earl that I’m looking forward to hiking in these parts once the weather calms down a bit and is a little cooler come autumn. He’s looking into cabin rentals.

I’m looking forward to our next experience here.

7 August 2021 by J.P. Fun and Games Dept 0

Maintain.

Old Data.

Details.

20!

The Expanse, Part Two.

Afternoon Delight.

The Expanse.

Privacy, Part 2.

Routine.

Madera Canyon.

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