Chaos.

I see a lot of chaos in this photo. I’ve scribbled the family’s Chinese take out order on my the notebook adjacent to my work computer. The left margin is not flush. I’ve written the letter “e” in two different ways. The blotted out area is my Tucson phone number, written old school without an area code, and of course this is all mingled with a few scant details about a work project I’m working on. This particular work project is one of several projects I’m coding in parallel.

Luckily, the Chinese Food was very good.

16 June 2021 by Ponderings and Musings 2

On The Other Hand…

So yesterday I declared I was moving from away from the Day One journaling app to something different, most likely Diarly.

Yeah, that experiment did not go well at all.

I fired up the new app on my iPad and the screen started flying around with crazy carriage returns and other random characters just populating with no rhyme or reason. I took my iPad Pro off of the official Apple Magic Keyboard setup, rebooted it, and tried Diarly again with the on-screen keyboard.

Same problem, no joy.

I promptly canceled my Diarly subscription, which was at the very beginning of its trial period and decided to stick with Day One and a “wait and see” attitude around the company’s acquisition.

Sometimes an emotional response is not the best response. Let’s see what happens.

15 June 2021 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Acquisitions.

As part of my never ending quest for personal growth, I have maintained a personal journal for many years. I usually grab a snapshot of how I look for the day and write a paragraph or two of how the day went, where my mood was, that sort of thing. For this activity I’ve relied on Day One, available of Mac and iOS devices, to accomplish this feat. When I first started using Day One there was an option to sync using iCloud; later on they moved to a subscription based plan with encrypted storage on their own servers. I’ve gone with this subscription for the past year or two. I’m not a huge fan of subscription based software but I was pleased enough with Day One so I paid the yearly fee.

Today Day One announced they had been acquired by Automattic, the same company that owns WordPress (the software that powers this blog), Tumblr, and some other things. This acquisition gives me pause. I’ve been becoming less enamored with WordPress as time marches on. What was once a very fairly simple blogging experience has turned into something a little too convoluted for my taste. WordPress has thrown a lot of bells and whistles into the platform and the experience is starting to feel “bloated”. Plus, I’m really sure WordPress would preferred my hosting of the blog on their website instead of using the standalone version that I use today. I don’t want to trust my information to a third party like that. This blog turns 20 years old in August. That’s a lot of data. In fact, I’ve been looking for a different solution for the blog and hope to migrate to a faster, less cumbersome experience by the celebration of the aforementioned anniversary.

I’m a bit concerned WordPress will start to add bloat and unneeded “features” to the Day One app, so without an evidence of changes on the horizon I’ve started looking for a replacement. I’m currently looking at Diarly, which stores information in Apple’s iCloud instead of relying on yet another syncing service. This approach involves putting a lot of faith in iCloud, but if any tech company is worthy of my trust, it’s Apple. So I’m going to give Diarly a try for the next week and see if I enjoy it.

I wish Automattic all the success they seek with the acquisition of Day One. I’m just not sure I’ll be part of that success.

14 June 2021 by Geek 1

Discovery.

Despite the 110ºF and above temperatures, we decided to march around the desert a little bit. Colossal Cave Mountain Park is a short drive from our new home, so we decided to check it out to see if it’s some place the entire family would enjoy visiting in the future, and ideally, when it’s not quite so hot here in the Arizona desert.

We didn’t explore the cave yet, we wanted to save that for the family outing, but we did enjoy the Visitor’s Center and the surrounding area. We’re looking forward to our next visit. It’ll be a target for outings when we have friends and family visiting.

13 June 2021 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Float.

As a road geek I’ve noticed ADOT has installed these reminder signs advising motorists not to drive into flooded washes, gullies, and other low lying areas of the desert. Apparently they’re a reminder of the “Arizona Stupid Driver Law” or something of that nature. I guess there’s video of a Volkswagen being swept away as the driver tried to navigate through six feet of water or something.

It would never occur to me to drive through water rushing across a roadway. The road approaching our house has some pretty impressive dips passing through washes. I can’t wait to see what this year’s Monsoon brings.

12 June 2021 by Desert Life. 0

No Fear.

Truman has decided he’s a big fan of the bannister. He enjoys looking down on the dining room. I have concerns about him falling but he’s insistent on enjoying his new perch.

10 June 2021 by He's A Feline. 2

Warm.

The weather is suppose to reach 110ºF and higher starting Saturday. When telling folks about our move to Arizona we’re often warmed that it’s going to be hot. Then someone in the conversation says, “But it’s a dry heat”.

It IS a dry heat.

I try to get my morning walk in before 8:00 a.m. Sometimes my work schedule does not allow this but I won’t go for my walk of the neighborhood after 9:00 a.m., the sun is just too intense and uncomfortable for me.

Earl bought me a hat more suited for the desert sun and I’m finding it enjoyable. The walks are pleasant, but when I get back to the house the first thing I do is wipe the collected sweat off the top of my bald head.

Neighbors are friendly when our paths cross in the neighborhood; everyone says “good morning” and folks driving by all wave. I wave back. I’m happy to be in our little development here. We’re a few degrees cooler than the more urban areas of Tucson. It’s still very hot but I find it enjoyable. I’ve just had to adjust my schedule to enjoy the sunny weather accordingly.

After all, it is a dry heat.

9 June 2021 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Serenade.

My husband and I were out for a short ride tonight and this song came on Sirius/XM 80s on 8. I sang the entire track for him in full voice. He’d never heard it. Now he has.

From 1987, here’s The Other Ones with “Holiday”.

8 June 2021 by Fun and Games Dept 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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