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The first 7 days of the year
Jan. 8th, 2019 08:21 amThe most important thing is that today is the 13th Beaversary! We adopted Beatrice on this day in 2006. She was a grand dog then, and is a grand dog still. The veterinarians at the shelter and in our neighborhood said she was 6 when we got her, which would make her 19 now. We assume she is actually a year or two younger, as she is still remarkably active. I will give her an extra treat, as she would not enjoy a party hat.
My tablet computer finally reached the age at which its Android operating system, a 2.1 or so, proved out-of-date and yet not easy-to-upgrade. Rather than an e-reader tied to Kindle or Nook, I decided to get a small netbook and load Linux on it to convert it into a kind of e-reader. I found a Dell Mini 910 on auction on eBay for 22 dollars plus a bit under 8 dollars shipping. I loaded the Q4OS debian-based operating system on it, after a little initial time realizing that the F function keys in the BIOS did not easily work, but that the netbook had a work-around based on simply pressing "O" upon initial start-up. I added the little bits of software I would need--a package manager, the browser Firefox, an ereader, and a music playing device. I also replaced the battery with a new after-market battery I got on eBay. At nearly 20 dollars for battery and shipping, it cost almost as much as the computer itself. I should thus be 50 dollars into the project, but am actually 60 because I ordered a new AC adapter that I did not turn out to need.
My theory was that the smaller form factor would help me read more quickly. My previous set-up had been on my laptop. I seemed to read steadily but not cover many pages sitting in my easy chair, reading on a full-screen. Last night I used the little netbook, and found myself clearing a lot of pages. Maybe it is as easy as a switch in form factor. Ever since I tried to minimize my pack-rat tendencies by going largely ebook, I find that I read a smaller annual number of books than before, but a larger number of magazines, my main print resource. Sometimes I get a how-to book or a guidebook in a print copy.
Saturday and Sunday the weather turned up gorgeous, after the first four days of the year were quite chilly.
I walked in Bethany Lakes Park. I do not really have a New Year's resolution, but I tried to shoot photos beyond the birds-and-other-wildlife photos I usually shoot.
Sunday night my wife and I went to our church for a presentation about "The Way Forward" conference, a United Methodist effort to find a way forward with amending the Book of Discipline to address LGBTQ issues. The denomination appears to be split between progressives and traditionalists. The special conference is to see if a compromise can be adopted that revises the Book of Discipline to adopt the progressive view, while preserving the rights of conscience of individual traditionalists. My wife and I are of the progressive view on this issue. I hope that the issue can be resolved without schism, but I suspect schism is likely. Our church did a good job of presenting the issue fairly neutrally. One audience member expressed how he thought the progressive view seemed obvious, while another expressed her view that scripture not only argued for the traditionalist view, but also would require her and others to leave the church over it. These two views were in the question and answer section, as no debate was organized. I read on social media the various Twitter reaction to "The One Church Plan", which were all predictably strident and often reduced the arguments to buzzwords.
Monday my wife had a stock club meeting, so I made myself a dinner of great northern beans, carrots and potatoes. I used some Mrs. Dash southwestern seasoning, but it did not add enough flavor. I watched "Manifest" rather than the college championship football game. We did watch the Dallas Cowboys playoff game on Saturday night.
I had songs featured in a cool short experimental film by Julianna Villarosa calls friendsfilm and Marie Craven did a web page of all the artists' work which has appeared in her films, which linked to a video featuring three films using my songs.
I was up a bit at Weight Watchers, so I will try to moderate my eating this week. I am well within the right range,but the price of my past is eternal vigilance.
My tablet computer finally reached the age at which its Android operating system, a 2.1 or so, proved out-of-date and yet not easy-to-upgrade. Rather than an e-reader tied to Kindle or Nook, I decided to get a small netbook and load Linux on it to convert it into a kind of e-reader. I found a Dell Mini 910 on auction on eBay for 22 dollars plus a bit under 8 dollars shipping. I loaded the Q4OS debian-based operating system on it, after a little initial time realizing that the F function keys in the BIOS did not easily work, but that the netbook had a work-around based on simply pressing "O" upon initial start-up. I added the little bits of software I would need--a package manager, the browser Firefox, an ereader, and a music playing device. I also replaced the battery with a new after-market battery I got on eBay. At nearly 20 dollars for battery and shipping, it cost almost as much as the computer itself. I should thus be 50 dollars into the project, but am actually 60 because I ordered a new AC adapter that I did not turn out to need.
My theory was that the smaller form factor would help me read more quickly. My previous set-up had been on my laptop. I seemed to read steadily but not cover many pages sitting in my easy chair, reading on a full-screen. Last night I used the little netbook, and found myself clearing a lot of pages. Maybe it is as easy as a switch in form factor. Ever since I tried to minimize my pack-rat tendencies by going largely ebook, I find that I read a smaller annual number of books than before, but a larger number of magazines, my main print resource. Sometimes I get a how-to book or a guidebook in a print copy.
Saturday and Sunday the weather turned up gorgeous, after the first four days of the year were quite chilly.
I walked in Bethany Lakes Park. I do not really have a New Year's resolution, but I tried to shoot photos beyond the birds-and-other-wildlife photos I usually shoot.
Sunday night my wife and I went to our church for a presentation about "The Way Forward" conference, a United Methodist effort to find a way forward with amending the Book of Discipline to address LGBTQ issues. The denomination appears to be split between progressives and traditionalists. The special conference is to see if a compromise can be adopted that revises the Book of Discipline to adopt the progressive view, while preserving the rights of conscience of individual traditionalists. My wife and I are of the progressive view on this issue. I hope that the issue can be resolved without schism, but I suspect schism is likely. Our church did a good job of presenting the issue fairly neutrally. One audience member expressed how he thought the progressive view seemed obvious, while another expressed her view that scripture not only argued for the traditionalist view, but also would require her and others to leave the church over it. These two views were in the question and answer section, as no debate was organized. I read on social media the various Twitter reaction to "The One Church Plan", which were all predictably strident and often reduced the arguments to buzzwords.
Monday my wife had a stock club meeting, so I made myself a dinner of great northern beans, carrots and potatoes. I used some Mrs. Dash southwestern seasoning, but it did not add enough flavor. I watched "Manifest" rather than the college championship football game. We did watch the Dallas Cowboys playoff game on Saturday night.
I had songs featured in a cool short experimental film by Julianna Villarosa calls friendsfilm and Marie Craven did a web page of all the artists' work which has appeared in her films, which linked to a video featuring three films using my songs.
I was up a bit at Weight Watchers, so I will try to moderate my eating this week. I am well within the right range,but the price of my past is eternal vigilance.
