Gifting.

I find this time of year to be rather frustrating. Not only are ads being flung at us at a high velocity, informing us that we must buy, buY, BUY to show our love, but we’re also asked to not buy anything for ourselves so that folks can show their love by buying something for us in the way of a gift.

My husband starts a moratorium on buying things around Labor Day. “We need more toilet paper!” “Don’t buy it, Christmas is just around the corner”.

Now, I’m a guy that knows what he wants, right down to the finest detail. I want a certain pair of shoes or I want a specific book or I want a particular piece of tech. I plan, I consider, I purchase; this is the way I do things. I fully appreciate the intention of someone giving me a pair of shoes or a book or a piece of tech, but because of my somewhat obsessive nature about these things, as well as my perfectionist tendencies, I sometimes struggle with waiting for a gift instead of just buying something for myself, especially since I know exactly what I want. I don’t want to be the guy that gives details on a gift right down to the serial number, but it takes a lot of restraint for me to refrain from doing exactly that.

Hence, the most frustrating time of year.

Personally, I’m happy with warm regards, a small token of a gift that makes me smile, and maybe a card. That’s it. All in all, I just want people to be happy this time of year, no matter the reason for the season, and I don’t find the crass commercialism of throwing things at one another to be a fair substitute for the warmth I’m looking for.

I guess I’m just an overly sentimental, old-fashioned kind of guy. I’d rather enjoy a drink with friends or a nice meal with the family. When I see a small card sitting on my shelf and it makes me smile, I find all the holiday greetings I really want or need.

6 December 2023 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Testing 1-2-3.

So, this is typewriter mode on IA Writer on my iPad Pro. The editor is clean and simple and best enjoyed with some breezy, easy music in noise cancelling headphones while one is composing their latest missive.

Is that the correct word, missive?

I like idea of a digital typewriter, especially when paired with a mechanical keyboard reminiscent of the 1980s IBM Model M keyboard or something equally poundy.

The only issue with my Velocifire mechanical keyboard is the spacebar has a certain rattle that I don’t enjoy. I need to figure that out. Or, I need to buy a new keyboard, something that would not please my husband. He doesn’t understand these things.

I’m typing away and acting like this is going to be a blog entry. It’s more exciting than “Hello, World”. And it’s much more exciting than typing out the script for an American test of the Emergency Alert System. I can do that by memory, you know, because 30 years ago it was my voice that recorded that for the group of radio stations I worked at. My claim to fame.

5 December 2023 by Geek 0

Starbucks.

I’m about a month into using a Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 with Ubuntu Linux. I alternate use with my M2 MacBook Air, which is a luxury few people can afford. I’m grateful for this gifted laptop that was headed for the recycling bin.

Ubuntu Linux 22.04.3 LTS has been holding up remarkably well compared to previous experiences with Ubuntu Linux. Updates haven’t broken anything, with a few tweaks the default GUI leads to productivity, and the Surface Laptop 2 is a quality piece of hardware. Battery life could be better, but it’s not awful.

The experience is enjoyable but it is not as polished as MacOS. The Gnome Desktop comes close, but there’s some incoherence that I notice from time to time. And while it does have its problems, MacOS is yards ahead when it comes to integration with my other Apple devices. It’s nice to be able to take a photo with my iPhone and have it immediately available on my iPad Pro or MacBook Air. With Linux I’m reliant on Dropbox or my Western Digital MyCloud NAS that’s stationed back home.

A quick survey of this Starbucks indicates I’m the only one using a non-Apple device. I’m not getting glared at.

5 December 2023 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Shopping.

We did a little Christmas shopping on Saturday. Even though this is our third holiday season in the desert, I’m still not used to shopping in the warmer fresh air while listening to Christmas carols and seeing the various decorations.

4 December 2023 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Print Slower.

I really miss dot matrix printers, especially in the retail world. When we purchased our new vehicle last weekend, the finance manager processed all the paper work using pre-printed forms fed through a dot matrix printer designed for that sort of thing. It was earlier technology magic that has no need for replacement; it does what it needs to do it and it does it well.

Restaurants still use dot matrix printers as well because the thermal printed tickets would be rendered useless by the heat of your typical kitchen. When you place your order at the counter of a fast food restaurant, to hear it print out on a printer in the kitchen is music to my ears.

Can you imagine if retail establishments still had to use dot matrix printers today? No longer would CVS receipts be measured in feet with useless marketing messages. Kohl’s cashiers couldn’t write on the receipts with their fingernails. We wouldn’t be bombarded with surveys and coupons and the like.

It’s worth the screech of the dot matrix printhead and the challenge of threading a roll of receipt paper between the ribbon cartridge and the platen.

2 December 2023 by Geek 0

Caturday.

Truman was head of the supervisory committee overseeing holiday decorating this week. He positioned himself in strategic locations throughout the house as various trees were assembled, lights were lit, and decorations were installed.

After the many trees were installed and the like, he went back to monitoring the back stairs for activity. He keeps an eye on traffic going up and down the stairs from this vantage point, as well as birds coming and going from the roof area directly outside the door at the top of the stairs.

As long as kibble is supplied as requested, he is content.

2 December 2023 by He's A Feline. 0

Hockey.

Earl and I went to watch the Tucson Roadrunners play hockey in the desert tonight. Tonight we won against the San Jose Barracuda, 5 to 1. It was a good game.

We have a half season of tickets; basically a bundle of tickets we can use when we wish throughout the season. Sometimes the two of us ago, other times we bring others along. We are always in Section 105. The section can be a little rowdy.

Attendance seems a little down this year compared to last year but we’re still having fun.

1 December 2023 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Ex.

I haven’t paid much attention to Twitter (now called X) in a while. After Elon Musk purchased the platform and started doing crazy things and other shenanigans I decided it was time to leave. I deleted all but one account on the service; I kept my aviation related account in case I wanted to touch base with other aviators.

Other than a post a couple of weeks ago, I haven’t done much of anything in the way of scrolling or sharing posts. After the recent weird comments from the owner I logged out and haven’t looked back.

But notice that I haven’t deleted that last account yet. I really don’t have an answer as to why I haven’t gone ahead and just deleted everything. Nostalgia? Hope? I really don’t know.

Apparently Space Karen tweeted some antisemitic remarks over the past couple of days and is now on some PR tour to do some damage control. The Verge reports that Space Karen claims advertisers are boycotting the platform by not spending ad dollars with X (formerly known as Twitter), because of his antisemitic tweets. Space Karen then specifically told the advertisers what they can do, naming Bob Iger of Disney specifically.

I’m really tired of Space Karen. I’m really tired of hearing about Twitter (apparently now called X) and I’m really shaking my head at CEO Linda Yaccarino trying to gaslight the entire planet that Space Karen’s remarks are something normal.

Yet, here I am writing a blog entry about this.

The truth is, I really hope the entire platform collapses and is gone by mid-2024. Like, completely gone like “MySpace”. I also hope the U.S. Government comes to its senses and stops putting all its space eggs into Space Karen’s basket. The thing is, one Twitter (now beckoning the name X) is gone, will journalists know how to be journalists? I mean, if it’s not on Twitter (X, if you will) they don’t know how to report on it.

May you live in interesting times.

30 November 2023 by Ponderings and Musings 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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