The order was placed a while back. Delivery was a bit delayed due to Covid protocols but I arranged to take possession this evening. Boy is she a beauty. She’s christened, “Le Belem”. Looking forward to many excellent adventures out on the Sound.
So what happened was, Tiffany sent me this like a year ago, but by the time it arrived, the office was closed and they weren’t allowing anyone to come by and grab their things. This month they finally got around to scheduling times for people to collect their mail items.
I really don’t know what I’m going to do with it long term.
It’s been a good long while since I’ve written one of these, so here’s a dump of photos from the last several adventures, at home and abroad.
Maaagic
Comin’ in cold.
I do skydiving now.
Such grace.
So long, Ol’ Silver.
Oh I also have a temporary boarder now, he’ll be around till early May. Keeps to himself mostly. Which works for me.
Tomorrow I aim to finish up the skydiving jumps where they require an instructor to accompany you. After that I just need to learn how to do stuff like pack a parachute, jump 25 times, then fill out a written exam and I have my A license. Wheeee.
Anyways. I’ll be coming back into town shortly, to kill Grandma’s dog. See ya soon!
I’m showing my age. About two and a half weeks ago I passed out on my couch (been doing that a few times lately), and in the morning it was evident that I’d slept on my wrist wrong, bent all the way back. A younger version of me would shrug it off and go about his business, but these old joints don’t take kindly to such punishment, and even now the wrist smarts whenever I use it to support myself too much when getting up.
Conference was a thing that was fun. Had the sister missionaries, a recent convert, and an investigator over to watch both sessions. Aside from the great talks, one thing stood out to me: they still used the “all opposed, please indicate by the same sign” mechanism for indicating opportunity to voice dissent. I think it’s been clear for some time that, with the global nature of the Church, this gesture has been a relatively perfunctory cultural hold-over. But there’s ostensibly been an opportunity to actually get there in-person to raise your hand if you really care (or do more than that if you really really care).
Now though, with an in-person audience of approximately zero, the gesture is conclusively pro forma. I kinda wonder what sort of conversations have been had on the topic. On the one hand, if they stop even verbalizing an offer to dissent, it could be construed as “we don’t care.” On the other hand, it seems like they’d need to invest quite a few resources in building up robust online infrastructure for collecting, collating, dispatching, tracking, triaging, and resolving registered “opposition” votes, for something that has really been a formality for some time anyways. Shrug.
The evening of conference I went to what I learned to be a regular Sunday-night get-together at Bishop’s place, to watch Book of Mormon videos. We watched the one where Ammon meets and converts King Lamoni. I couldn’t help but compare the video to the Living Scriptures rendition, and the comparison was not that favorable to the modern take. If I had to make an analogy, it would be the modern-day Lion King to the animated original. I won’t wax poetic or anything, just not my cup of tea.
Biked out to Juanita Beach on a dark and foggy night.
My team, like most others at Google, works remotely. However, unlike most other teams, we periodically need to come in to the office to perform certain regular maintenance tasks in a secure room. I went in to help out this last week, and got to see what was going on next door.
This used to be a bit of a strip mall, but has been demolished and will soon become the eighth Google office building in Kirkland. Hope we’ll be able to use it…
While I was in the office, I spent some time swapping desks. Ever since we first moved into the building my team now occupied, I’d admired my teammate Carl’s desk location – perfect view out the window, plenty of room to lean back and swivel. He’s since moved to a new team, and I asked him and my manager if I could swap desks. Mainly for fun given that I would spend very little time there, but it was enjoyable rearranging things anyways.
Speaking of work. I got cc’d on an email chain initiated by a neighbor to our HOA board. They were having complaints about a neighbor who was not keeping their walkway and gutters clear of vegetation, with concerns about liability (delivery people were stepping on their walkway to get to their neighbor’s) and property value. Technically a violation of the CCRs, and apparently there’d been some prior effort on their part to refer the homeowner to outfits who could help out, to no avail. I volunteered to stop in and chat with the neighbor before escalating to any written warnings or anything. Things became more interesting though, when I realized that this person I had to drop by and chat with happened to be a coworker. Not one I knew in any sense, Google is a big place. But it’s put me in a bit of a weird position. I’d like to say “hey actually I work with this guy so could someone else from the board take this on,” but I also don’t want to highlight the association and besmirch the Google name :). I’ll just suck it up and head on over one of these evenings this week.
In sadder news, my trusty 2015 Macbook Pro has reached end-of-life and is no longer supported by Google. I was issued one of these when I first joined, and had it stolen out of a rental car while on a business trip in 2017. At that time Apple had refreshed their MBP line with the shnazzy new touchbar and the “butterfly” keyboard, which cost them quite a bit of public goodwill for being incredibly flaky and prone to breakage. I told them please, I’ll wait weeks if I have to, but could you possibly scrounge up a 2015 model to replace the stolen unit. They helpfully obliged, and the replacement unit has been serving me well ever since.
But I recently noticed my regular backups had been failing, and tech support basically refused to dig into it because the machine was so old. So, replacement time. Luckily at this time Apple has gotten their act together a bit with the keyboard, and upgraded back to one that has much more key travel and reliability than the butterfly model. However, I do have some greivances:
While the keyboard is much better than the butterfly one that plagued the lineup since 2016, it really has no redeeming qualities when compared to the old 2015 model’s keyboard. I’m finding myself mis-typing many times an hour because, in Apple’s quest for thin-ness, the keys can’t travel as far when they press.
The touchbar is completely useless to me. I never want to use the context-sensitive controls, so I customized it to only contain buttons for the actions I use that row for: screen brightness, keyboard brightness, and volume. So now I’ve traded physical buttons for touch-sensitive ones with zero haptic feedback and a propensity to get mis-clicked when I brush my fingers near that top row. Also the driver must be buggy because many times I find the touchbar using a button layout I did not order. Also, I used to be able to turn the keyboard brightness all the way down on-demand when watching a movie, but that’s gone, since the touchbar does whatever it wants brightness-wise.
The trackpad is enormous. Like the touchbar, the palm rejection software is a bit buggy, and several times I find myself zooming when I really just wanted to scroll. Nowhere to rest my fingers below the keyboard either.
The USB-C ports have taken over. No USB-A, no HDMI, no SD-card slot.
No more Magsafe charger. As handy as it is to occasionally plug the charger into the right side (as you can now charge from any port), it is not worth my fumbling with the charger late at night, wishing for the days when I could just dangle the charger near the port and have it catch.
There are a couple pros though:
Sound quality is intensely good.
Screen is a bit bigger, 16″ vs 15″, for the same form-factor.
Battery life, especially when it gets low, is much improved. My old machine was struggling in that area, which is to be expected for such an old boy.
Oh well, zeroth-world problems. On a positive note, I picked up a pretty groovy new toy: an antique toaster (whose design harks back to the 1940’s) with an ingenious mechanism for toasting and actuating the bread elevation. It also looks pretty spiffy.
Also recently acquired a portable A/C unit from a Googler for a song, will come in handy next summer. Tossed in some artwork as well.
This evening I had a couple of kittens come by for a visit. They’re being taken care of by a friend in the ward, since the shelter can’t have as many volunteers come by as usual. Really seemed to enjoy the change in scenery.
The little one’s name is Cinnamon, and her big brother is named Nutmeg.
Last night was the finale of Lower Decks – been watching it with Dad each weekend, and it’s been a hoot. Saw an article where the showrunner describes season 2, and I’m looking forward to it. Also Discovery season 3.
I recently decided to do something about a few items that needed doing around the house. Recall that I put a fresh hole in my wall while doing cable routing. I also had a deck that frankly needed cleaning when I first moved in 2.75 years ago. And finally, there was a hole in the roof of my garage that I inherited when I bought the place.
If you recall from a couple of posts ago, I met a fellow in a Home Depot parking lot looking for handyman work. I had him come by for an estimate. He arrived in a run-down sedan, which off the bat didn’t inspire a huge amount of confidence. He took a look around and scribbled a few notes on some loose-leaf paper, then came up with an estimate. He noted that I’d need to pay half up front, and pay in cash – a check wouldn’t do it, since it takes two weeks to clear. To be polite I said I’d let him know when I got the cash, sent him on his way, and immediately fired up Yelp looking for a more reputable outfit.
Found a group that did everything I was looking for. Let me know though that at this time of year, with the rain so frequent, they’d need to really thread the needle to get the work done. To resurface the back would need one day to pressure-wash everything, two days of clear skies, a day to apply sealant, and a day – ideally two – afterwards to let it cure.
Luckily a stretch of sunlight came up on the scopes, so they headed over to pressure-wash. Looked fantastic afterwards.
There were a few boards in the back that the handyman mentioned could use replacement, so I headed out to Home Depot to grab some.
When it came time to stain, there was a bit of drama. He knocked on my window and had me come out and see that the pressure washing had not gotten all of the old stain removed, and the semi-transparent stain I’d picked up would not look the best in those parts of the deck. That’s what you get with aged wood.
The ironic part of all this was that I’d originally picked up some redwood solid color stain+sealant, but had a change of heart the night before because I liked the natural look of the wood. Now though, I was hearing that one really should go with a solid color when working with this sort of wood.
So, I left the handymen at my place and rushed off to Home Depot to return what I could of the semi-transparent (bought two cans, returned the un-opened one), and swapped back to the redwood.
When all was said and done, the stain looked awesome on the front gate, but… not so much out back.
It’s kinda loud, clashes with the vegetation. In retrospect I really should’ve gone with a brown or dark green. Oh well, that’s a very expensive lesson I’ve learned: always test your colors out before paying people to come by and paint with them. And find someone who knows colors.
The other projects finished up nicely though.
Now, with all this foot traffic in my place over the last while, I’m growing a bit paranoid. See, I’ve somehow misplaced basically all of my socks.
Pictured here is essentially my entire collection of day-to-day socks. I really do not know what happened to the rest. Could’ve sworn I had a ton piled up down in the laundry room, but I’ve looked everywhere and cannot find anything besides these.
Let’s just say that I’m now one of those old folks who really enjoys receiving socks for Christmas.
Shorter update this week. Prior to my last trip home, I’d developed a bit of a coping mechanism for dealing with Covid restrictions. I’d open my garage door, set out a folding lawn chair in my driveway, and work outdoors. Great way to get some Vitamin D and meet the neighbors.
This last week has been comparatively insular, since we’ve been blessed with a caustic blanket of smoke, courtesy of global warming and poor forest fire management. Thankfully we’re through the worst of it up here.
During the week I had the sister missionaries over – one of them needed a blessing of comfort and counsel, to help her deal with this latest set of conditions entirely inimical to conducting productive missionary business. Afterwards I treated them to a ride in Shadowfax, and we had a great time zooming around a local church parking lot. Pretty proud of myself for not hitting anything, given the density of obstructions and the lateness of the hour.
Friday it drizzled, and Saturday it poured, washing away the worst of the smog. That evening I had the sisters over for dinner and then went with them to a get-together in a park with several others, where we all played cards at a park bench under a roof. Last time I hung with this crowd I taught them Scum, and it’s a new favorite.
We got inventive with light sources.
Sunday has been pretty quiet. Watched the 1998 animated Mulan film, and it is so good. Plenty of jokes I never got as a kid.
There’s a couple of presentations at work I’m enjoying preparing for, related to post-quantum cryptography. Very fascinating stuff. I’ll have to regale you all next time I’m in town.
To finish off this post, I’m rewatching bits of the edited Shawshank on Plex, and I got curious on a few parts the edited version skipped over. Turns out there’s this fantastic scene that the editors decided to leave out, and I have no idea why. I’ll quote it here.
121 EXT -- EXERCISE YARD -- SHAWSHANK -- DAY (1954) 121
Andy reads the letter to Red and the others:
ANDY
P.S. Tell Heywood I'm sorry I put a
knife to his throat. No hard feelings.
A long silence. Andy folds the letter, puts it away. Softly:
RED
He should'a died in here, goddamn it.
122 INT -- PRISON LIBRARY -- DAY (1954) 122
Andy is sorting books on the cart. He replaces a stack on the
shelf -- and pauses, noticing a line of ants crawling up the
wood. He glances up. The ants disappear over the top. He pulls
a chair over and stands on it, peers cautiously over.
ANDY
Red!
Red steps in with an armload of files. Andy gingerly reaches
in, grabs a black feathered wing, and pulls out a dead crow.
RED
(softly)
Is that Jake?
123 INT -- WOOD SHOP -- DAY (1954) 123
Red is making something at his bench, sanding and planing.
RED (V.O.)
It never would have occurred to us,
if not for Andy. It was his idea.
We all agreed it was the right
thing to do...
124 EXT -- FIELDS -- DAY (1954) 124
Low hilly terrain all around. A HUNDRED CONS are at work in
the fields. GUARDS patrol with carbines, keeping a sharp eye.
We find Andy, Red, and the boys working with picks and
shovels. They glance over to the pickup truck. Hadley's
chewing the fat with Mert and Youngblood. A WHISTLE BLOWS.
GUARD
Water break! Five minutes!
The work stops. Cons head for the pickup truck, where water is
dispensed with dipper and pail. Red and the boys look to Andy.
Andy nods. Now's the time. The group moves off through the
confusion, using it as cover. They head up the slope of a
nearby hill and quickly decide on a suitable spot. The
guards haven't noticed.
Jigger and Floyd start swinging picks into the soft earth,
quickly ripping out a hole. Red reaches into his jacket and
pulls out a beautiful wooden box, carefully stained and
varnished. He shows it around to nods of approval.
ANDY
That's real pretty, Red. Nice work.
HEYWOOD
Shovel man in. Watch the dirt.
124 CONTINUED 124
Heywood jumps in and starts spading out the hole.
125 BY THE TRUCK 125
Youngblood glances up and sees the men on the slope.
YOUNGBLOOD
What the ****.
HADLEY
(follows his gaze)
HEY.' YOU MEN UP THERE.' GET YOUR
***ES OFF THAT SLOPE!
(works his rifle bolt)
YOU HAPPY ***HOLES GONE DEAF? YOU
GOT FIVE SECONDS 'FORE I SHOOT
SOMEBODY!
Suddenly, other cons start breaking away in groups, dozens of
them heading toward the slope. The guards look around.
HADLEY
What am I, talkin' to myself?
126 ON THE SLOPE 126
Andy pulls a towel-wrapped bundle from his jacket and unfolds
it. Jake. Andy lays him in the box, followed by Brook's
letter. Red places the casket in the hole. A moment of
silence. Andy gives Red with an encouraging nod.
RED
Lord. Brooks was a sinner. Jake was
just a crow. Neither was much to
look at. Both got institutionalized.
See what you can do for 'em. Amen.
Muttered "amens" all around. The boys shovel dirt onto the
small grave and tamp it down.
