My wife decided to enlarge and re-configure our backyard vegetable garden. With the weather nice and chill I got out and tackled some brute force work as well as breaking out my metal cutting power tool to re-shape a bed. For me it has been a relaxing day. 🌢 🌽 πŸ…

Walking down the memory lane of old photos this morning has been a great reminder of what is precious as our 11 year old son’s birthday draws near.

#mbnov

I guess it will astonish people that, although I have strong feelings about my desired outcome, I won’t let the result of today’s elections ruin my day. It seems my life prepared me for dealing with bad situations. It’s possible to care deeply while remaining even-keeled.

I’m trying to concentrate on getting a few tasks completed today because I think I’ll be highly distracted the next couple of days due to the election.

#mbnov

My mood and energy are definitely lowered by a series of dreary days like we had last week when it was also cold (lows in the upper 30s). I would not do well in the PNW.

#mbnov

I finished Ghost of Tsushima over the weekend. The open world is really lovely and scene transitions were pretty quick. Game mechanics weren’t hard to master. It’s a 5 star game for me.

Now I’m wondering if I should do a re-play or a NG+. Or chill until AC Valhalla is out?

Neither my wife nor I have ever made a cake from scratch. Today we tried imitating my mom’s coffee cake I loved so much. Mistakes were made but we recovered and the result was good. Definitely have ideas on how to make it better. Just wish we had mom’s recipe.

Our 6th grade son had to give in and start taking a laptop to school in place of his iPad. The school still relies on some Flash sites πŸ˜– Not only that but he can’t even use Safari on the laptop because Safari 14 won’t allow Flash. Frustrating.

We voted! πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡ΈπŸ‘πŸΌ

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. πŸ‘πŸΌπŸ›πŸ¨

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 πŸ₯ƒ

Our long-awaited family member arrived πŸ–₯. 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”? πŸ“·

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 πŸ–₯ ‘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.⌚️