Just learned who is supplying wood for my home remodel. Via certified letter. Nothing like “We are proud to supply this for you” or “Thanks for being a customer and we look forward to working with your team” or “Thank you for supporting our business.” Only, the wood costs this much. If your contractor doesn’t pay, we will put a lein on your property until payment is received.

I don’t care who you are used to working with or what you have been through, that is a fucked up way to start a relationship. But? We see you. We understand who we are dealing with and will respond accordingly. And then? Never again.

As someone who has read Neuromancer (on paper) (in the 1980s), I adore this: Hackaday Cyberdeck Contest

#Heilung #Myth

Antici-

#Heilung #Myth

Well, then. Apparently Ford would like us to know about the new Mustang. As a mild gearhead, I’m seeing it announced simultaneously on several feeds I follow.

Apple, Sometimes the “St.” abbreviation stands for Saint, instead of Street. Siri was giving me directions toward Street Paul, this evening. #apple #ios #carplay #siri #turnbyturn #maps #directions #indian #voice1

Disappointed myself tonight. Needed to meet a client at work, after I had already been home, because of an action I forgot to take during the work day. Mission accomplished, in the end. But I have done better, and without needing to come in after hours.

Dear Vendor,

When you leave me a message saying I’m eligible for a discount, but you have not simply applied the discount, I know you want me on the phone where you can upsell me to spend more.

Not today. Thank you for calling.

Respectfully,

Hjalmer

First time visit to Bauer Brothers Salvage today was purposeful, to get a piece we had seen online. Let me just say, for old house people, it’s a wonderland. Lots to love!

For tracks in my library, I actively rate them up and down, per listen. It crosses my mind often to check when I’m into the groove. I don’t want to lose a track in the ocean.

The Scale

0 stars = Unrated. No more, no less
1 Star = I hate this song
2 Stars = This song is annoying
3 Stars = Meh
4 Stars = I like this song and wouldn’t mind hearing it again
5 Stars = I love this song
5 Stars + Heart = Please play this song on repeat until the end of time

I won’t lie, generally music I purchase is rated 3 or higher, though I own compilations, soundtracks and a few albums that contain songs I do not want to hear.

I make an initial rating, and on subsequent listens, if I feel it should be higher or lower, I will only adjust a single star at a time, either way.

This makes my personal soundtrack/personal radio station very easy to listen to when I put high-rated tracks on random play.

There are exceptions. There are some tracks from albums I adore that don’t make sense out of context. I’ll typically down-rate those to a three.

This can be painful, it requires attention, but the outcome is the thing us tapeheads always wanted. Hours and hours of music I want to hear, the endless personal mix tape.

Using a heart for a track makes sense on the context of adding a streaming track to a library, but lacks the nuance that the star-rating allows. I will continue to advertise and lobby for this particular feature in iTunes/Apple Music.

Took a drive tonight to see if we could catch a glimpse. Ended up in Harris, MN. #auroraborealis #mnwx

I have an intern at work who quizzed me about my first console. I told him it was something he hadn’t heard of: Intellivision. He said he played Xbox360 in preschool.

So I’m just gonna lay down and let the rest of me turn to dust.

Auditing contacts for the first time since… contacts triplicating synchronizing to a portable device (Remembering Palm OS and Windows Mobile) Some shrugs, some I-wish-you-wells, some I-miss-yous, and some I-love-you-old-friends. But many fewer contacts tonight in my address book.

Am I the only one who forgets they have a Gravatar?

Brickset does the thing I’m a little surprised and disappointed LEGO itself doesn’t seem to do, which is build an inventory of your kits. You can build a list of manuals with the official Instructions app, which is de-facto your collection, except where your kit isn’t listed.

I have built three Lego kits in the last few weeks. I’ve learned there is a larger Lego community online. Here we go.

When Swarm tells you that you have been to a place 80 times… that’s the equivalent of once a month since I have moved to the area

This article about the Heraldic Rebus makes me wonder if I couldn’t come up with something clever. Not a lot of homophones for the syllables in my name—that I can think of—that would also be easy to depict with an obvious signifier. Or are there?

Late as I am to all things cool, I started watching The Sandman series on Netflix. Enjoyed the first two episodes, I think 11 have posted so far. Plan to keep watching. Not sure where my copy of Preludes and Nocturnes has gone. Need to find it.

That thing where the older I get, the more I realize what a pain in the ass I was for my parents. Dad’s gone. Can’t apologize.

Speaking as an IT Guy, it’s never not a treat to unbox a new MacBook Pro. Setting up an M1 Pro with 32GB of RAM for a great colleague. Feeling covetous.

As a person old enough to remember junk food (case in point, that phrase) before health scares, I am disappointed that my salty snacks aren’t as salty as they used to be.

Loss of smell and taste is a quality of life thing that is not to be underestimated. Hope this is really temporary

Blast it. Home test tonight says COVID.

If you liken the MRI experience to Noise Core, and think about how some of the sounds would feel set to beats and sent through a wall of bass drivers, it’s easier to get through