We voted! 🇺🇸👍🏼

Early voting started yesterday but when I drove by the line was 2 blocks long to get in. Today when I drove by the line was like this so my wife and I seized the moment. 1,486 people voted in this location yesterday, a couple hundred would be normal.

I replaced my MBP+Monitor setup with a 27” iMac. Freed up desk space and eliminated a bunch of cables.

One radio is monitoring 2m VHF, the other FT8 on 14m.

October 13, 2020 | 1:05PM CDT | My study near Dallas, Texas

Posted for a day in the life #adayinthelife

Once we broke the seal on our hotel room everything inside was quite normal, i.e. clean with no odd smells. The staff and guests all followed CDC guidelines. This combined with nightcaps led to my wife and I sleeping 12 hours last night. 👍🏼🛏🏨

Ahhh Manhattan

Our first night at a hotel since February. 🏨 Nice to get away if only briefly.

Parents could change in-person vs at-home learning for the kids starting the period beginning next week. They published the results today and I’m a bit surprised to see significant increases in all elementaries for the in-person option. On average ~8pp. 🏫 I expected status quo.

I hate working on plumbing. But I guess I hate spending money more because I just spent an hour disconnecting and cleaning the pipes under our teenager’s sink. Not pretty… Time for 🥃

Our long-awaited family member arrived 🖥. For once I didn’t even have to wait all day for FedEx (arrived at noon).

Every single time my wife makes a roast we end up eating early. The fact she lets it cook all day creates a smell that permeates the house and drives us all to distraction!

I wonder what to do for the photo project on the 13th. Apple announces so that would be easy but of course “mailing it in”. I could post a mundane photo of something during my day which is what would most accurately represent my current situation. Or go for a “photograph”? 📷

Homemade lumpia with our dinner 🍽

The good news is I have my memory upgrade now. The bad news is there is no sign of Apple shipping the iMac it is intended for. 😢

Latest parenting achievement unlocked: help our 16 year old apply for her first job.

Our 6th grader writing a short story at school. He prefers his iPad and keyboard to a laptop. 🏫 Socially distanced and all masked up.

Hooray for procrastination! I decided to pull the trigger on Ghost of Tsushima and - drumroll - Sony has it on sale starting today.
cc @gabz

Apple usually seems to deliver backordered and preordered products early in the estimated window, or even in advance of it. Not so with the iMac I ordered. And the interval for new orders is nearly a 1 month wait.

In other news I think I’ll name the new 🖥 ‘flux’.

Ever since the last OS update my Apple Watch shows no respect. Always when I am about halfway done with my timed workout it asks me if I’ve finished as if I forgot to stop the workout. Even though my heart rate is still >100, as usual, and I have been in continuous motion.⌚️

It feels great watching some college football today 🏈

I have never seen so many handles and grade choices on a gasoline pump before.

Life is so complicated these days 😉 🚙

I still can’t believe how solid AirPod switching is amongst my devices. Even with multiple devices open it still does the right thing. It’s like it reads my mind.

Being the nerd that I am, I was very excited to see Apple added the XLOOKUP function in the latest release of Numbers. Some of my work just got a whole lot simpler. ⚙️

I wish in iOS 14 the home page could have a folder that automatically collected all apps with a badged icon (e.g. Mail with the unread count). Once the badge was gone the app would go back to the App Library section. I.e. a folder showing apps that need attention.

Speaking of mobility, our teenage daughter finished the final hurdle today and is now the proud possessor of a driving learner’s permit. Due to Covid it was a long time coming. Her official driving lessons start on Tuesday, so look out! 👀 🚙

Our 11 year old son has hit a stage of mobility that we thought he needed a phone. It makes us more comfortable and of course he is delighted. We picked up an iPhone SE tonight - those things really are a delightful size and weight, especially for young hands.

I am buying a 27” iMac with an 8 core CPU and a nice GPU. It still feels a bit uncomfortable breaking my tie with a laptop but the reality is my laptop has been glued to my desk for a long time. They seem in demand so I have a wait of 2 weeks before it arrives. 🖥