Underwhelming

 

In the film "Stand By Me", there is a dramatic scene where the boys are crossing the bridge, when halfway through that, the train is coming & they're panicking, the train whistle is blowing, they're facing certain death! The caption simply reads:

[Choo]

It's not only underwhelming for the tension created by the scene, it's also fucking hilarious.
 

The Enchilada Song

♪ If you like Enchiladas
A little Pollo & some beans ♫

#MisheardLyrics 

Work From Home

"Those who would prefer to never commute to an office will not 'be considered for promotion, or be able to change roles'"

This should be stated in their hiring practices, then.

If companies insist that their investment in real estate is more valuable than investing in employees, that should set off a bunch of alarms.

What really galls me, is the fact that disabled people, who would be perfectly happy working from home, weren't a catalyst for this "sea change" to happen. It was a virus. A stupid virus.

We could possibly solve the homeless problem by converting all the useless empty offices into domiciles.

Have to fire the middle managers first. Oh, are they homeless now? Problem already solved.

Lineage Mint

 

The last couple of weeks have culminated in blowing away my Windows 10 partition on my PC; and also updating Lineage OS on my Pixel 5. 

I've used Linux off and on the last 30 years, most recently settling on Linux Mint. It was a pleasant experience compared to some hairy installs I've had in the past - however, most distros have come a long way since the late 90s to be fair, not just those based on Ubuntu or Debian.

The Pixel 5 situation was a bit of a chore, since the Updater still doesn't handle upgrades between Android versions yet. So I hunkered down with the documents and made sure I understood the steps, since I really needed this phone to JUST WORK. I'm happy to report it's now on Android 14 AOSP/Lineage OS 21, with the MINDTHEGapps package included.

It's been an interesting sort of long open source week-end. I don't think I'd enjoy doing this every week, but it's been rewarding.

Airpods

Apple's Air Pods are getting a "hearing aid" mode - however, before you get too excited - this is for mild to moderate hearing loss, not severe (like I have). My units are way more powerful than puny ear buds - they have to be.

ARS Technica link: 

Civilization

"Late stage capitalism" is the phrase used to describe the current situation in our "civilized" society.  I disagree, there's little that's civilized about it.

Allowing people to suffer from disease and famine & shrugging it off as "they did it to themselves", or "lazy" is NOT civilized - in fact it's barbaric.

Stripping the planet of resources in the name of profit is irresponsible.

We are in a crappy timeline and the people to blame are the 1%, not immigrants or the commonwealth.

Hawkeye

 

My wife & I began watching "Hawkeye" - they've finally written in that Barton is supposed to be #deaf.

Linux Mint

 

I was busy last night - blew away Windows 10 and installed Linux Mint like I'd been threatening to do for the last while. I was happy to learn - with all of my backing up - was able to save this wonderful photo from a friend. It matches a dark desktop theme beautifully.

The Joneses

A man wearing a pair of lounge pants, patterned with dollar bills.

I  decided to downsize my phone data plan, because according to Google, my Pixel software updates were up. A perfectly functioning phone would now face software obsolescence. This didn't sit well with me, considering it only 3 had years of support. I installed LineageOS on the device and loved it, initially. Banking apps wouldn't open without a workaround, because jail breaking also breaks Google's "Safety Net". When it came time to upgrade to the next version, I would have to reinstall again, rather than simply upgrade. I finally decided "enough is enough" and I'm going the de-stressing route.

I'm returning all of my phone duties to an actual PHONE. I can't afford to keep upgrading every couple of years, or 3 years. Yes, I know the newer Pixels have 5 or more years of software updates, however I feel I am "done" with the form factor. I have a tablet for the other things, and I am eyeing an 8-inch screen as my next choice - partly influenced by my love of my old Kobo e-reader. I might begin researching genuine cameras again.

Don't bother trying to keep up with the Joneses - unless they're the ones paying your bills.

Meditate On That

Perhaps I actually should start meditation again. Shit going on in the world is making me too emotional sometimes to think straight. I'm speaking out of pain, instead of light.

I have nothing against enlightenment, after all, but I have every problem with dogma.