A Geek Goes Flying

The sport in the living room where I’d setup the String Swing was somewhat protected from rampaging puppies, but I wanted to relocate the guitars to a more protected corner of my bedroom, which was occupied with some wire shelves holding a couple of old PowerMac machines I haven’t turned on in years, some stereo equipment from the late 1980s / early 1990s, an Ultra 5 project I haven’t even started on yet, some old media gathering dust, and some droids . Sigh. That corner needed attention. Also, I’d displaced my reading/listening nook and wanted to restore it in its new, simplified configuration  with spiffy new light . I used this  WORKPRO 5-Tier Storage Shelf, 72" H Heavy Duty Adjustable Garage Shelving Unit 2180LBS Capacity, for Basement, Kitchen, Pantry, 27.6”Wx11.8”Dx60”H, Black  unit (it’s not  72" high, sigh), with just two of the shelves installed. It wedged into the corner I had available nicely, and seems sturdy enough as I have it assembled. I will say it w...

After stripping everything down to minimalism to comfortably host Thanksgiving this year, I’ve decided to redo my reading/listening station . Getting rid of the IKEA side table, the clusterfuck of cables, etc., and getting down to basics. Moving the Schiit stack to the built-in bookshelves, which aren’t deep enough to comfortably host the Mac Mini, let alone the shelf I built . Also ditching the iPhone 12 setup, since I just never really used it. But I still do want streaming capability. (I tried, I really tried, to use / like the Logitech Media Server setup on the mini, but, alas.) Wiim Pro Enter the streamer After too much research, and considering the Arylic S10+ and LP10, and the Eve Play, and some other devices, I settled on the WiiM Pro , especially once Amazon dropped it from $150 to $125, a pretty good price . If I ever use Spotify, it integrates (though I probably won’t ), and apparently it works with the Pandora and SiriusXM I do  have ... But mostly I anticipate using it...

Minor update to my listening / reading nook ... The over the shoulder clipped on USB light wasn’t the solution I wanted. Finding the inline switch module on the cable was a PITA, it never was quite aimed right, etc. I’d had my eye on this floor standing light for a minute, but something in me just doesn’t want to spend $80 on a disposable piece like that; the LEDs are integrated into the light itself, and cannot be (easily, if at all) replaced when they eventually die. That idea leaves a bad taste in my mouth. So instead I got this more traditional O'Bright Nova - Adjustable Floor Lamp ($50). No dimming, no color changing, no remote control (though the switch is a rotating stalk conveniently on the top of the lamp), just on/off with a standard A19 socket that can accept any ol' bulb. I went with the Feit Electric ST19 Vintage Edison LED Light Bulb, 60W Equivalent, Dimmable, 2700K Soft White, 800 Lumens, E26 Base, Retro Filament Light Bulbs, 15,000-Hour Lifetime, ST1960/CL/92...

The Chair Back in May, in the middle of an organization kick, I had a KIA Nero EV rental for a few days, and used it to pick up some closet organization stuff at IKEA ( KALLAX shelving units ; DRÖNA inserts ). I’d been thinking about getting a reading chair that would be more conducive to reading and some work, vs. the IKEA FRIHETEN that provides all my living room seating. Somewhere in my reading, I stumbled across someone raving about the POÄNG chair, which has a bit of a cult following and a strong pedigree: No Shame in the Poäng Chair Architectural Digest Poäng: The Little-Known History Of Ikea’s Most Famous Chair Fast Company The Goddamn POÄNG Chair (“[T]he famously frugal IKEA founder and billionaire Ingvar Kamprad, who died in 2018, owned the same POÄNG chair since 1978.”) I wasn’t sure if it would fit my weird, lengthy proportions, so I decided to try one out during my IKEA visit. And, yep, it fits more or less perfectly. So I picked it up with the matching ottoma...

HIEbee Bluetooth receiver So I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve never really given Bluetooth codecs much thought. I guess I just figured, reasonably modern devices would have complementary capabilities and would negotiate the best possible stream, and away we go. Turns out, maybe not so much. I picked up the cheap! ($10) HIEbee 5.2 Bluetooth Audio Receiver (which identifies itself as YET-R30 via Bluetooth), along with a cheap ($8) short 75 Ω coaxial cable for S/PDIF, to patch into the last remaining digital input on the back of my Modius . For the very low price, I thought it might be nice to be able to listen to my iPhone over Bluetooth as a convenience, vs. patching it in through the Apple Lightning to USB3 Camera Adapter (which I’m finding finnicky to get charging, and so try to leave it connected to the surplus iPhone 12 Pro I’ve dedicated to my listening station). The device comes with a 3.5 mm male to male cable and a cheap feeling optical TOSlink cable, and has bright blue status...

For the Listening Station™, intentionally constrained by the dimensions of the IKEA Knarrevik ($10 when I got it), I needed to put the Schiit stack on top of the 2014 Mac mini I’m using as an audio source. Unable to find a ready made solution that did what I wanted, I hacked this together Parts / tools: 6061 T651 Aluminum Sheet Metal 10 x 10 x 1/8(0.125") Inch Flat Plain Aluminum Plate ($15) Sign Standoff Screws Advertising Screws Stainless Steel Wall Standoff Mounts Glass Acrylic Nail, 8 Pieces (0.75 x 1.96 Inch) ($9) DEWALT Drill Bit Set, 14-Piece, 135 Degree Split Point, For Plastic, Wood and Metal (DWA1184) ($10) A 7.2V Black & Decker cordless drill I already had ( $27 at Walmart? Edit: Found the original receipt; it was $19.88 in 2007); roughly equivalent to this I think ($29), but if I was doing it again I’d get something like the beefier 20V MAX Cordless Drill (BCD702C1) . Shooting glasses I had lying around ( equivalent to these ) ($11). The stand-offs being .75...

Trying to find a smaller chair + ottoman I can kick back in for listening or reading. As much as I’d love an Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman , it’s a bit out of my budget and takes up a lot of space in my somewhat constrained floorplan (I’m trying to keep some open space for the pups...). Amazon has a slew of ~$75-120 offerings but they’re all kinda sus. (Not to denigrate the good corporate name of the venerable KOMFOTT, but, y’know...) So I stumbled across the IKEA POÄNG chair, which apparently is a long-standing classic , available in a bewildering array of color and cushion combinations.  POÄNG pages from 2002 IKEA catalog The cushions at least have been helpfully summarized by a redditor : Knisa - cheapest and thinnest (“The Knisa is noticeably thinner and less padded than the rest, still comfortable but will wear out faster ...”) Lysed / Vislanda - thicker than knisa, medium durability, kind of a middle ground Hillared - as thick as Lysed, but more durable fabric Glose - leathe...