A Geek Goes Flying

Today was too hot to sit inside, and I was too fried to bike to the office, so I setup on the balcony. Balcony workstation: MacBook Pro, MOFT Z stand, Q60 keyboard, etc. The setup: MacBook Pro 14" M1 Pro resting atop a MOFT Z Invisible Thin Sit-Stand Desk to bring it up to eye level. Keychron Q60 Max keyboard (the only wireless HHKB layout board I have); Gateron Jupiter Banana switches ( 59±10 gf tactile switches with 2.0±0.6 mm pretravel, 3.4 mm max total travel, with a “crisp bump, tactile bump at top” feel; they’re not my endgame switch, but I quite like them, especially in this keyboard). Logitech M585 Wireless Mouse, Graphite . Desk pad . Sukadar Portable Clip on Fan, 10000mAh Rechargeable Battery Operated (really like this fan!). Zendure SuperTank Pro (which appears to be discontinued; not a fan of how Zendure handled a warranty claim , so, whatever...) Sport-Brella Versa-Brella SPF 50+ Adjustable Umbrella with Universal Clamp . The combination makes for a very cozy, co...

It’s that time of year again: The weather is so nice, you just kinda have to work out on the balcony. Except, the sun can be an issue. Sometimes the heat. Solutions (or at least mitigations) have been found. The balcony “workstation” and my ever vigilant rescue mutt The computer is the “ not-an-iMac ,” with the matte screen. I added an inexpensive headset hanger to the back to hold the “used - like new” SHP-9600MB , and picked up a carrying case (meant for an actual 27" iMac, but works perfectly) to make it easy to move the whole setup (including keyboard and mouse) inside. The umbrella works quite well at holding back the worst of the direct sunlight, and was cheap. (I had to make a small wood wedge for under the table, for the clamp to hold well - there’s a bit of a “lip” around the bottom edge.) The little rechargeable ‡ Holmes fan ( Target ) works better than I expected. (Same is true of the USB-powered fan I have indoors – though I doubt it’s actually made of beskar .) ...

I have a coffee mug from a job I had a long time ago. I still miss that job, the people I worked with, the cool stuff we got to do. (It was cutting edge.) That mug was my morning oatmeal receptacle, etc. A few years back, The Parasite™ (a couch surfer I was trying to help out), in a typical display of their trademark blend of Carelessness and Lack of Attention, shattered it into several pieces. I imagined they were intact enough to reassemble with super glue, but never got around to it until this past weekend. Turns out, yes, the pieces I had were large enough to glue back together, but the mug itself will never be useful for fluids (or oatmeal, really) again. So what to do? Preserve it by transitioning it into a planter for a tiny succulent . Apparently, I need: The succulent itself (I’m thinking Jade  (maybe this one ?), since apparently it can tolerate lower light situations). Update: Ordered this . A drain hole A 1/2" diamond tile drill bit A drill Soil (I have no idea if thi...