Weeknotes #8

  • Finally, I’m getting the hang of Reaper. This week’s Worst Community Report was finished well before deadline this time. I still spent longer than I’d like to on it, but with some practice, it should keep getting better and better!

  • Had another one on one meeting with my new boss. Well, new as of around a month ago anyway. We talked a little about my performance. He complimented my gung ho attitude in wanting to dive straight into the work. I told him it’s the best way for me to learn. Most of the rest of the meeting was talking about office culture and how unique our position is as contracted employees “working for” a service provider but embedded with the client. Overall, I’m really enjoying the new job. It feels much more interesting and fun than wrenching on wheelchairs and I feel like there’s a lot for me to look forward to learning.

  • Somewhat related to my new job, I’ve been getting more prone to headaches. I feel like it’s probably from the increased screen time. I’ll increase the strength on the blue filter on them and turn the brightness down a touch. I had the screens bright and higher contrast because I hadn’t dialed in window scaling for my eyesight. Now that I’ve started working with bigger fonts, I’m going to start working on comfort. Maybe since my glasses will be less prone to damage now, I should get some new ones with an anti-glare coating. That said, I have never really noticed or been bothered by glare on my lenses, so it might be a waste. Maybe something I try once.

  • Speaking of getting used to things, though, I am getting better and better at typing on my Lily58. The quibbles I have with the layout still bug me, but overall, I do like it. I wonder if the ergonomic benefits are actually helping or not. Now that I no longer turn wrenches for a living, my RSI pain is less intense most days anyway, so it’s tough to tell if the keyboard is actually helping or not. The one thing I don’t like about it is the very small battery in each half. It’s pretty simple to upgrade and it’s not a HUGE deal if it’s small, but I would still like to have it be a bit better. Right now it’s good for a couple days at the most, a far cry from the Logitech keyboards that can run for a year on a couple AA batteries.

  • I’m thinking I want to get in the market for a cheap used laptop to put Linux on. It sounds like some of the nicer Chromebooks would be a really good pick for it, since the OS kills consumer interest in them. A laptop that would be $400 with Windows can be had for less than a hundred bucks. That said, this is a project that will have to wait a bit. I have a lot of other project irons in the fire, so to speak. This will have to wait unless I see a really great deal.

  • Like I put in my notes last week, I want to start reading more, so yesterday I set up Calibre on my home server. I’m planning on starting with a few of the books Joel has been reading lately. From his reviews and talking to him, I feel like I’d enjoy them.

Playing

  • I picked up Soul Hackers 2, the sequel to the spinoff of the spinoff of Shin Megami Tensei. First impression is pretty good. It has an interesting way of encouraging you to not focus down enemies one at a time, which is a staple of FF/DQ JRPGs.

Watching

  • My wife and I have been watching the original Star Wars trilogy. It’s fun to go back to those movies, even if the readily available versions have some really awful “improvements.” To be frank, I’m surprised Disney doesn’t list the original theatrical versions on their streaming service.

  • I watched all of Apocalypse Hotel in preparation for the Community Report we recorded this morning. It’s a fantastic show for lovers of little guys. A fantastic rec from Emily and Zeno.