Category: streamofconsciousness

microblogging my stream of consciousness

Favorite Book: Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Ann Dillard

Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery, like the idle, curved tunnels of leaf miners on the face of a leaf. We must somehow take a wider view, look at the whole landscape, really see it, and describe what’s going on here. Then we can at least wail the right question into the swaddling band of darkness, or, if it comes to that, choir the proper praise.

I’ve started reading Pilgrim at Tinker Creek for the nth time and am enjoying it so much!

Moving my focus from Microsoft, Windows and Office to Linux and Open Source Applications

In my quest to move away from Windows and Microsoft, I bought a used Windows 10 laptop that I will use to learn what I need to know about Linux. I plan to set up the laptop to run both Windows 10 and Linux and then use it to get some hands on experience with Linux.

I have several friends and family members who have Windows 10 computers that are not upgradeable to Windows 11. I hope to get all my Windows computers converted to Linux and also help them convert their computers over to Linux in the next several months. This laptop will be my test case.

I’m a little nervous and a bit intimidated by the learning curve, but I am looking forward to success with Linux

Reading: Caesar’s Women

I’m currently reading Caesar’s Women, the 4th book in Colleen McCullough’s Masters of Rome series:

  1. The First Man in Rome – spans years 110 through 100 BCE
  2. The Grass Crown – spans years 97 through 86 BCE
  3. Fortune’s Favourites – spans years 83 – 69 BCE
  4. Caesar’s Women – spans years 67 – 59 BCE
  5. Caesar – spans years 54 – 48 BCE
  6. The October Horse – spans years 48 – 41 BCE
  7. Antony and Cleopatra – spans years 41 – 27

I collected all of the books in the series and started reading them, in order, several years ago. I’ve read books 1 through 3 and am now reading my way through book 4. My reading has stalled due to personal reasons and my attention has gotten pulled into other activities, but I’m back to reading and hope to finish this book soon.

Moving things around

I signed up for a paid account at ProtonMail last weekend, set up my own email for my personal domain (funfoodlife.com), and have been having a gay ole time changing all my logins to my new email or to a new alias email addresses.

This is going to be an ongoing, lengthy process but my goal is to migrate my files, email and other cloud oriented things away from Microsoft and Google and regain some control of my online presence & privacy.

I’ve already removed most of my personal files & photos from my Google & OneDrive accounts, and I look forward to the day when I can delete my Microsoft accounts (I have 3 of them) and turn off all the free emails addresses I currently use.

(I was a Microsoft MVP for 8 years so I’ve had a heavy investment and dependency on all things Microsoft for a long time).

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

The Pale Blue Dot, by Carl Sagan

so beautiful, brings tears to my eyes  . . .

Streaming Holiday Tunes on SiriusXM

I’ve had such a pleasant day at work, listening to holiday music on the Mannheim Steamroller channel on #Siriusxm

How to import and export RSS feeds through OPML files in Feedly:

How to import OPML into Feedly?

How can I export my sources and feeds (through OPML)?

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

The Invisible Man

We see right through the unshowered soul living in a car by the beach, or by the Walmart, or by the side of the road. But he’s there, and he used to be somebody. He still is. A firsthand account of homelessness in America.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a62875397/homelessness-in-america/?src=longreads

A gofundme page has been set up for Mr. Fealey

I wonder how many Mr. Fealeys park their cars at the local Walmart parking lot near me.

Under pressure from the SCC, Dominion reveals the true cost of data centers

New filing shows electricity demand would be flat without the industry https://virginiamercury.com/2024/11/26/under-pressure-from-the-scc-dominion-reveals-the-true-cost-of-data-centers/

Under pressure from the SCC, Dominion reveals the true cost of data centers

I am concerned this could be Georgia’s future.