I guess we need to write more
The big thing that I'm supposed to be doing here is the simple matter of literally writing. I have a handful of places where I have written items that will be posted on the site when I get down to it, but as usual, that has stalled. At least this time there are some external factors at play.
First things first, we're into the holiday season, which really cuts down on available time. Second, have been dealing with some mechanical problems on the truck which were solved by purchasing a new car. Third, I was waiting for my new Realforce R3S keyboard to arrive before getting serious. Fourth, I've been tinkering around with some other programming projects that aren't related to web stuff and will never be posted publicly.
The Keyboard
This thing is a dream. It feels and sounds excatly how I thought it would. It's heavy and rigid, but not excessively large. I mean, I like a battle cruiser just a smuch as the next guy, but the particular layout on my desk at the house precludes comfortable use of a model m. Not to mention, since its primary purpose is gaming, the 2KRO on a model m precludes certain moves in certain games. The R3S has full NKRO. It can bind to 4 different devices via BlueTooth and also via USB. I am legitimately considering retiring my priced birthday model m at the office in favor of another one of these things. It will be my standard keyboard from here on out. I just hope they bring back the design, or at least the keycaps, from the 104UG. It used SA-style keycaps, alternate coloring for modifiers, and a nice red-colored escape key. I believe they were all doubleshot, too. Still, this R3S is perfect as it is.
Oh, the car thing
I could spend a pile of cash replacing the transmission on the 2010 F-150 and then end up with a body and engine that's showing its age with a new transmission. I mean, it would probably be fine, but at the end of the day, I will never hit 20MPG in a 2010 Ford F-150 unless I'm coasting downhill for a hundred miles. So, a few weeks back when I had to take it in for brakes and tires and a couple of other minor things, we didn't go hogwild fixing every last thing, and thankfully they found me some cheap tires. The F-150 had to go, I just wanted to kick the can down the road just a little bit. It was probably all just wasted money, though, as I probably would have gotten just as much for the thing had I left it in greater disrepair.
So, instead, I spent the pile of cash and then some on a new 2024 Honda CR-V Sport Touring Hybrid. It averages twice the fuel economy of the truck. It can actually play music off USB thumb drives. Has built-in navigation, wifi hotspot, telematics that will allow random third parties to figure out where I'm at and where I'm going for marketing purposes, heated seats, and even a heated steering wheel.
I didn't know if I would enjoy the heated steering wheel, but my hands were chilled to the bone Sunday night and that steering wheel got my hands back to where they needed to be in short order. I thought the "wave your foot around like an idiot" rear hatch thing was a gimmick, but it has already proven to be a good idea. The "just touch the top of the door handle to unlock" feature is neat, as is "lock the doors as you walk away" thing. The lane diversion assistance is not compatible with country roads, so I had to disable that feature, but will probably re-enable it for highway trips. My favorite feature is that when the ignition is turned off, the driver's seat slides backwards, and then goes back to the last position it was in when powered back on. It has two setting that can be stored in addition to the last position. It's a small feature that makes it easy for a not-so-small person to get out of a vehicle.
Android Auto is garbage. GM's recent announcement that they're killing off their use of the misfeature is correct. Like seriously. It starts playing news I didn't want to listen to. It shows me a map that's worse than the built-in nav, and it's slow. Oh, and it uses cell data rather than maps literally built into the car. I disabled that misfeature on the phone. As for Honda's use of Android on the "infotainment" system, that works no problems. It's just the tethered-to-the-phone Android Auto junk that is "how can you be so bad at this, Google" levels of bad.
Someone made a typo on the paperwork and its color is listed as METEORITE GARY, so the vehicle has a name... Meteorite Gary.
When all the paperwork was filled out, it had exactly 10 miles on the odometer. I should note that this was after the test drive, which was right at 8.75 miles. In other words, it was as new as it could possibly get.
So, anyways, love the new vehicle.
Other things
A while back I switched from k-cups to filter pods, sometimes called Senseo™ pods. They're just small round single server filter packs. You frequently see them used with hotel room coffee makers as they have a lot of advantages over Keurig-type brewers. First and foremost, though, is that they generate much less waste. For me, I use a Bunn My Cafe coffee maker. It uses filter drawers to switch between pods, k-cups, whatever you toss in a metal filter basket, and straight through hot water. Its pump pressure is a little too high for k-cups, leading to blowouts for k-cups that aren't built to the exact specification. I should note that Keurig's own roaster, Green Mountain Coffee, does not have that issue, and neither does Kona. No matter, I switched to pods and eliminated that issue.
Unfortunately, that limits my choices of coffee to just those roasters that make those sorts of pods. Community sometimes has them available, but it appears that they have been fully discontinued. However, through Coffee House Express I have found a whole world of great choices. Even the cheap stuff is surprisingly good. My usual routine is that the ACS Morning Blend is my go-to choice for when I probably shouldn't drink coffee. Part of what makes it cheap is that they use about half as much coffee as the premium brands. Easy solution is to just make a short cup, which is a good idea if I want an after-dinner cup of joe. Another good-but-cheap choice is the White Bear Columbian. It's my preferred Saturday coffee. I drink the fancier coffees on Sunday. Yeah, weird to have a schedule, but that's what I do.