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Stardate: 20200324.2334
Location: Home Office
Input Device: AlphaSmart dana.wireless
Software: AlphaWord
Audio: Do As Infinity - Deep Forest album
Visual: less cluttered desk
Emotional State: Nostalgia
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I am listening to the Do As Infinity album, "Deep Forest." I did
not realize that this album came out almost 19 years ago. It does
not seem that long ago. I guess time just keeps keeping on and I
keep losing my bearings. Good memories tho.
This past weekend I cleaned up my workbench. It has been over a year
since I've had my workbench completely void of stuff. It is really
nice to have the workbench empty and available for projects again.
I kept piling stuff on it "temporarily" and then run out of space to
work on projects. It had gotten to the point where I could not work
on anything there and had to use my smaller Craftsman workbench,
which was also getting cluttered. I prefer my main workbench since
it has a much larger work surface (~4'x8') and I assembled it when I
moved into my house. It's basically plywood and 2x4s with a leg
hardware kit from 2x4basics.[1] I also used their shelving kit for
my workbench. Pretty simple kit to assemble and I'm still impressed
with the results after several years.
Even though I cleaned up my workbench, it has already filled up. I
basically had to turn it into a temporary command center for work.
I was sharing the office with my wife, but with both of us working
from home now and having overlapping phone calls, it was not working,
so I set up in the garage. I would have set up in the game room, but
my son is on "spring break" and I don't think that would work well.
I am on my second day with this configuration, but not sure I will
keep it this way. It's nice to work with the garage door open and
have my own space, but it is not ideal. We'll see how the week
turns out.
Since I have been working from home every day, I have had more time
to tune in my Baofeng radio to listen to the local amateur radio
repeater. The local club has been having a daily 10AM discussion
about the local happenings with the whole COVID-19 thing. They
have some interesting and informative discussions, but I am not
licensed yet so I cannot transmit.
I am also using the Zello app on my cellphone more frequently.
I mostly lurk on the Amateur Radio and Network Radios channels, but
don't really transmit, even though I could. I mostly listen during
my breaks when I'm walking around my neighborhood or at the park.
Sometimes I'll keep it tuned in when I'm working and have that running
instead of the radio. The conversations are pretty cool and it gives
me a global glimpse into the happenings of people dealing with
the whole COVID-19 thing.
Most of the information I pay attention to regarding COVID-19 is
from work. That is pretty much sufficient. The stuff on the
intarwebz is just too noisy for me and I don't like to spend too
much time there these days. I don't know where this is going to
go and have just been taking things as they come. My main
concern is my family and doing what I can in the here and now to
help others and not be part of the problem.
I am curious and hopeful for when things go back to "normal." The
world, or maybe just my world, cannot go back to how it was, kinda
like how things could not go back to how it was after 9/11. The
world moves on.
Perhaps this whole global pandemic thing is just God or nature or
the planet or the universe or our species as a whole saying
unconsciously that the trajectory we are on is not sustainable and
everything needs to be right-sized, recalibrated. I know I have seen
this in my own personal life and these times have given me much to
ruminate over.
[1] 2x4basics.com
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