Archived projects list

1.1.1. DONE briefly consider Fulcro

1.1.2. DONE upgrade lein

1.2.1. [8/8] learn introductory EE

1. CNCL read Raspberry Pi: A Step by Step Guide
   
   • State "CNCL" from "STRT" [2020-11-19 Thu 23:54]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-11-19 Thu 23:25]

   Looks like this book is mostly filler, but has a few chapters that might be useful. This is one of the most recent books.

   Despite coming out in 2020, very outdated. Also riddled with typos and bad grammar. Quitting after seeing multiple technical errors.

2. CNCL read Raspberry Pi Beginners Guide
   
   • State "CNCL" from "STRT" [2020-11-20 Fri 00:02]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-11-19 Thu 23:57]

   An even more trashy looking book, and very short. But specific to the Pi 4, so will give it a skim.

   More unreadable illiteracy.

3. DONE read Science and Engineering Projects Using the Arduino and Raspberry Pi
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2020-12-24 Thu 20:48]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-11-20 Fri 00:02]

   Seems mostly filler, but maybe skim this for Arduino info.

   Not terrible, but only by comparison. Some strange combination of contents though, and appears to be rather hastily assembled.

4. DONE read Building Your Own Electronics Lab
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-08-20 Sat 05:02]
     • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-12-24 Thu 20:48]

   Might be an unnecessary text since I already have a plan for this, but will give a quick skim.

   Strange book. Useless content, rambling on for pages about basic stuff like getting enough sleep and drinking water, yet written in a style that kept me reading for awhile. Read something like half of this, then decided to stop wasting my time.

5. CNCL read Practical Electronics for Inventors
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-12-31 Sat 18:30]

   Looks like a great intro book, assuming little, which at this point I prefer.

6. CNCL read Getting Started in Electronics
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-12-31 Sat 18:30]

   A often-recommended first read. Might skip if the previously scheduled book covers this stuff good enough.

7. CNCL read Electronics for Beginners
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-12-31 Sat 18:30]

   A recent 2020 book. Seems a little more in-depth, covering more complex microelectronic components. As such, might be a good bridge to the next level.

8. CNCL read All About Circuits
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-12-31 Sat 18:30]

   Probably won't read this, but leaving a note here just in case there's any gray areas. Supposedly quite good, and builds from nothing up to complex circuits. https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/

1.2.2. [6/6] learn basic EE hands-on skills

1. DONE do LED hello world
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2020-12-01 Tue 21:20]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-12-01 Tue 20:34]

   Wire up the PSU with a single LED and resistor for a first breadboarding attempt.

   Done. LED cathode (-) is shorter, anode (+) is longer. Looks like I kinda know what I'm doing now and everything works, so will proceed to do some tutorials.

2. DONE do Pi kit tutorials
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-12-31 Sat 18:30]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-12-02 Wed 21:20]

   Go through most of these, maybe skipping the soldering at the end to preserve the components. GitHub repo: https://github.com/Freenove/Freenove_Ultimate_Starter_Kit_for_Raspberry_Pi

   Notes:

   • The C projects use wiringPi, a library that can be install via apt. Looks like this comes by default on Raspberry Pi OS. This adds a gpio -v command, which confirms install and shows some info. gpio readall outputs a table of all GPIO pin values. See manpage for more uses. Note that the 4B needs version >=2.52. To manually update to latest:

     wget https://project-downloads.drogon.net/wiringpi-latest.deb
     sudo dpkg -i wiringpi-latest.deb
     

   • To do the Python examples, which are in Python 3, I symlinked python3 to bin/python.
   • Pins supporting PWM: 12, 13, 18.
   • For I2C, enable it in raspi-config, then install package i2c-tools (already there in Raspberry Pi OS). This has a utility for detecting I2C addresses. Run with i2cdetect -y 1. Values here are in hex. Related is the smbus Python package.

   This tutorial has got Engrish, typos, broken code (at least in the PDF), and poorly written code. I know enough C and Python to get everything working, but this would definitely hinder or block a n00b. After Ch.1, decided to stick with Python for these to save some redundancy. Tried to do as much of the wiring and programming myself without looking at their solution, though in a lot of cases this isn't possible.

   This was super-useful and worth the $50 for sure. However, despite doing most of these labs, I've still got huge gaps in the knowledge about exactly what I did in some of these. Two issues in particular: the tutorials don't fully explain exactly how one would come up with some of the code necessary to make certain components do what I want, nor do they explain how one would know how to combine components (e.g. which resistors to use with which components). Hopefully, I'll be able to figure this stuff out later. Mainly what I got out of it was experience wiring circuits and a shallow tour of components.

3. CNCL do Arduino kit tutorials
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-12-31 Sat 19:18]

   Might as well do most of these too. A lot of this should be review, so do at least 1 per day unless there's something more pressing to do.

4. CNCL read wiring tutorial
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-12-31 Sat 19:18]

   Sparkfun has a pretty detailed chapter in their Where Do I Start? tutorial about wiring. Maybe peruse the other chapters while reading this. https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/working-with-wire

5. CNCL practice soldering with a DIY kit
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-12-31 Sat 19:18]

   Try with the $19 speaker kit I ordered. Once done, decide if another kit would be a good idea. Could do a function generator next if so. Might also try the ESP Smartwatch kit for SMD soldering.

6. CNCL consider free circuit simulators
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-12-31 Sat 19:18]

   Go through some of these and find one that doesn't suck. List here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_free_electronics_circuit_simulators

   Raspberry Pi OS already comes with SmartSim, so might start there. There's also LTspice for Windows, which seems popular. ngspice is available for Linux.

1.2.3. CNCL figure out how to test batteries

1.2.4. CNCL consider pigpio

1.2.5. [4/4] start programming in Clojure on Pi

1. CNCL read existing Pi+Clojure resources
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-12-31 Sat 19:18]

   Turns out there's at least a small but active community of people interested in doing both of these things at the same time, like myself. Collect some links and read all of them once I get past the basic stuff (which I'll go ahead and still do in Python, so I can focus on the hardware while starting). Should save a lot of frustration and experimentation on my part.

   Links:

   • https://github.com/helins-io/clojure-of-things
   • https://stronganchortech.com/driving-a-stepper-motor-with-clojure-on-a-raspberry-pi/
   • etc.
2. CNCL consider clj-gpio
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-12-31 Sat 19:18]

   Was originally going to try to get GPIO interfacing working in Java, then in Clojure using interop, then writing a wrapper library. Unsurprisingly, someone already did this. Confirm this works on the Zero and later 4B. Looks like it uses core.async for responding to GPIO events.

   https://github.com/peterschwarz/clj-gpio

   Blog article about events:

   http://pschwarz.bicycle.io/blog/2014/05/30/repl-friendly-gpio.html

3. CNCL consider linux.gpio.clj
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-12-31 Sat 19:18]

   More recent than clj-gpio.

   https://github.com/helins-io/linux.gpio.clj

4. CNCL recreate some earlier labs in Clojure
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-12-31 Sat 19:18]

   Maybe do a LED hello world and then one that combines a few features.

1.2.6. [3/3] learn basic microelectronics

1. CNCL read Introduction to Electronics
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-12-31 Sat 19:18]

   If sequenced here as a review, would cover the fundamentals to logic gates.

2. CNCL read Microelectronic Circuits
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-12-31 Sat 19:18]

   Have an older hardcopy of this, but will get an e-book version of the 8th edition and read that more casually. Will use the hardcopy as a desk reference if needed. Includes a little digital content.

   Of the main 4 common component-based textbooks, I'm defaulting to this one since I have the hardcopy, but consider the others too:

   • Electronic Devices: Conventional Current Version
   • Electronic Principles
   • Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory
3. CNCL read The Art of Electronics
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-12-31 Sat 19:18]

   Supposedly the authoritative tome on circuit design. Might want to get a physical copy for the bench, but will try an e-book first. There's also Learning the Art of Electronics: A Hands-On Lab Course and The Art of Electronics: The X Chapters as complimentary texts.

1.3.1. DONE make placeholder GitHub page

1.3.2. DONE make some progress on the character generator

1.3.3. DONE try doing leetcode exercises in Clojure

1.3.4. CNCL do high-level refresher on ML topics

1.3.5. DONE redo macroexpand-main

1.3.6. DONE build work laptop

1.3.7. DONE setup pgAdmin on work laptop

1.3.8. DONE setup VS Codium on work laptop

1.3.9. DONE setup PostgreSQL on Manjaro

sudo su postgres -l
initdb --locale $LANG -E UTF8 -D '/var/lib/postgres/data/'
exit
sudo systemctl start postgresql.service
sudo systemctl enable postgresql.service

CREATE USER bm3719 WITH PASSWORD 'myPassword';
CREATE DATABASE testdb;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE testdb TO bm3719;

host     all             all             0.0.0.0/0               md5
host     all             all             ::/0                    md5

1.3.10. [4/4] revamp office a bit

1. DONE get new table fan
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-09-19 Mon 15:50]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-09-13 Tue 17:12]

   Current one is of questionable functionality. If set on anything lower than max power, the electric motor enclosure will get extremely hot. Thinking this might be a fire hazard, so will replace.

   Ordered the Hunter 90603 12" metal fan from Amazon for ~$77. Might take 1-2 months to get here though, meaning it won't do much good this year.

   Received and it runs pretty good. A tiny bit more powerful on the low setting than I'd like, but I can live with it. Moved plastic one to bedroom.

2. DONE consider ThinkPad docking stations
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-09-23 Fri 16:29]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-09-14 Wed 21:32]

   Should be super useful for the designated work x230. Compatible unit with that is the Ultrabase Dock Series 3, P/N 0A33932. Has 4 USB ports, DP, and audio pass-through, among other things.

   2022-09-14: Bid on one and also bought a T440 dock (which will also work with an X260 if I decide to get one of those and keep the T440 as backup), P/N SD20F82750. The T440 dock comes with an extra power brick, which I'd want to leave attached to the dock itself. Cost for that was $30.

   2022-09-18: Won auction for the 0A33932 unopposed. Total was $67.05 with taxes and shipping.

   2022-09-19: Received SD20F82750. Setting this aside for either use with a revamped work laptop or until I get a new living room desk setup.

   2022-09-23: Received 0A33932. It's pretty nice. Did some cable management and got things nice and tidy in the office.

3. DONE get extra x230 battery
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-09-28 Wed 09:00]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-09-23 Fri 12:39]

   Will need this for business travel. Current one is like 6 years old and only lasts about an hour.

   Received. Should be good to go on the road now.

4. CNCL consider wireless mouse
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-09-28 Wed 21:12]

   Maybe get this for travel. I had one somewhere, so see if I can find that first.

   Decided to do without. Since I'm using a ThinkPad, I can live with the eraser head pointer for a few days a year.

1.3.11. [8/8] do fast surface pass on job/remedial skills

1. DONE make a basic Clojure JDBC application
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-09-11 Sun 23:41]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-09-11 Sun 22:32]

   Get data flowing to/from database.

   Made project called pgjdbc. Requires a dependency declaration for the database driver. Seems strict about date types, and inserts would only work with constructing a clunky java.sql.Date. Everything works pretty good though.

2. DONE do shallow dive on PostgreSQL
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-09-19 Mon 09:24]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-09-09 Fri 17:00]

   The primary datastore the system interoperates against. Do some overview reading and look into basic CLI use.

   See some of the setup notes above. Also might consider reading the book, The Art of PostgreSQL.

3. DONE do shallow dive on SQL
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-09-19 Mon 09:49]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-09-12 Mon 08:14]

   It's been awhile, so need a refresher on query syntax. Will do this against PostgreSQL, to keep things focused.

   Good enough for now. Probably should spend some more time on it though, but will prioritize as needed.

4. CNCL do shallow dive on Spring
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-10-06 Thu 09:59]

   Been over 10 years since I thought about it. Maybe just review basic docs on: https://spring.io/

   Also maybe review the projects list, starting at: https://spring.io/projects/spring-framework

   Will circle around to this later. Doesn't seem critical now.

5. CNCL do shallow dive on React
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-10-06 Thu 09:59]

   Just learn the underlying framework concepts, since they're probably emergent on the CLJS side.

   Can put this off.

6. CNCL do shallow dive on Redshift and Snowflake
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-10-06 Thu 09:59]

   Just read the high-level docs.

   Deferring to 2nd tier research.

7. DONE learn about FIX
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-10-11 Tue 12:47]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-10-06 Thu 11:42]

   FIX stands for Financial Information eXchange. Singling this out due to its importance in the futures market.

   Read the following in order:

   • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_Information_eXchange
   • Read this, but skip the implementation details involving QuickFIX/J: https://medium.com/prooftrading/proof-engineering-fix-gateways-264dcda8be71
   • Just give this a glance: https://www.fixtrading.org/

   There's also the Onix docs, but will skip those for now since they go into fine detail on the protocol, fields, and the library itself. Will circle back around to that later. Note that in regards to the protocol, there is some undefined behavior around the edges that exchanges implement differently.

   Notes:

   • FIX is for all securities, not just futures.
   • The encoding method used is "tagvalue encoding", with fields containing a numeric tag and a value, separated by an equals sign. Tagvalues are separated by "|" or space when rendered in ASCII, with a trailer separator allowed (and possibly required). In the actual message, the delimiter is the SOH (0x01) character.
   • Messages contain a heade, body, and trailer. Some header fields are mandatory. The last tag is a 3-digit checksum (tag 10).
   • Pure binary values are allowed, preceded by a length field. This includes encrypted values.
   • Ordering is mostly unenforced within the body.
   • Two types of messages: admin and application. Admin handles sessions, e.g. begin/end. Application contains trade info.
   • The checksum is calculated by bitwise adding all message characters, mod 256. If that's <100, the checksum value is zfilled to make 3 characters.
   • Simple Binary Encoding (SBE) is a supported format that uses predefined, fixed-length fields. These are used for low-latency (high performance) trading and more deterministic performance. The only metadata is a value that refers to the template being used. This message struct is then type-cast in C++ to the raw binary.
   • There's other formats for FIX as well, including JSON. FIXML is widely used as well (for templates maybe?).
   • FIXT: The newer naming scheme for the session layer spec. Message delivery is guaranteed in both directions, and includes a message sequence number.
   • FIXP: A performance-centric spec for session/application messages.
   • A TCP socket is open by customer and persists for the session. Technically, it can be used by other transport methods, but generally isn't.
   • FIX has different versions, some of which are more popular than others.
   • A message always starts with tag 8 (BeginString, the FIX version), 9 (BodyLength), and 35 (MsgType).
   • A session is established when the initiator sends a Logon (35=A) message, and the acceptor sends it's own Logon message.
   • Periodic Heartbeat (35=0) messages are sent to keep the session alive.
   • See the order workflow in the Medium post for a typical order lifecycle.

   Questions:

   • FIX versions used?
   • Variants like SBE/FIXT/FIXP/etc. used?
   • FIXML used?
8. DONE brush up on domain topics
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-10-18 Tue 21:50]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-10-13 Thu 21:27]

   Have a collection of Wikipedia and other articles on derivatives, commodities, futures, swaps, and other related topics. Read all of those. Should close the gap on terminology and general concepts at least.

   Topics covered:

   • Derivatives: One core concept is the distinction between lock and option products. Lock products are like contracts, obligating parties against terms. Option products provide rights to buyers. The main types are OTC and exchange-traded.
   • Futures: Perpetual futures don't have a specified order date. Ignoring arbitrage info for now. Contracts have codes of 5 characters (2:contract type, 1:month, 2: year).
   • Swaps: Essentially an exchange of risk for stability, e.g., a variable interest rate can be exchanged for a fixed rate.
   • CME: Currently owned by CME Group. Only exchange for weather derivatives.
   • DTCC: The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation. Provides post-trade clearing and settlement.
   • CFTC: Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Regulates the derivatives market. There's a good Commissioner interview podcast on HC Insider.
   • ICE: Intercontinental Exchange. POF = Private Order Feed.
   • Dodd-Frank: Adds supervision for swaps, and requires exchanges for futures.
   • Wash trade: Buying and selling the same instrument (usually within the same day) in order to create artificial volume/liquidity.
   • Spoofing: Feigning of interest in an instrument to create the illusion of demand by putting in bids and canceling them before they execute.

   There's a lot of terminology in these articles that could use some integration. Sections might be worth a skim later to reinforce.

1.3.12. DONE merge work/personal dev environments

1.3.13. DONE read up on rewriting Git history

1.3.14. [5/5] build new work laptop

1. DONE consider HP Dev One or ThinkPad X260
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-11-09 Wed 22:42]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-11-09 Wed 16:03]

   Will have to eventually get something that can support 16GB RAM for work. 8GB works, but the full suite of docker containers maxes out the memory and the X230's CPU. I'd like to get the new hardware soon and do a slow build of the system to get everything perfect before switching over.

   X260 pros:

   • Costs a lot less. Can get one already upgraded with 16GB RAM and SSD for around $160, versus the current sale price of $989 for the Dev One.
   • Already have dock for it, making it easier to detach and go on the road.
   • Smaller 12.5" screen instead of the Dev One's 14". This size is really great for traveling and use on flights.
   • More durable.
   • Has 3 mouse buttons instead of 2 + trackpad click.
   • Can use any OS instead of being stuck with Pop!_OS.
   • Has matte screen instead of glossy.
   • Can swap in extra batteries.

   HP Dev One pros:

   • New and unused hardware.
   • Faster RAM and CPU. System resource issues won't be a problem.
   • Still pretty cheap for a usable work laptop.
   • Better camera, mic, speakers.
   • Has sliding lens cover for camera.
   • Great battery life. Probably can go most of a work day on a charge.
   • OS has already been (mostly) fine-tuned for the hardware by System76.
   • Can be ordered with a custom wireless mouse.
   • Could mount on a laptop stand to get camera more at eye level.
   • Has NVMe drive.
   • RAM can be upgraded to 64GB.

   The Dev One has a lot of things going for it, but will go with the X260 for the above reasons. Worst case, I can still get the Dev One later and put the X260 in the closet as the backup for the X230. Will lurk around eBay a bit to get one.

2. DONE suppress JVM warning on current version of JDK 1.8
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-11-19 Sat 21:46]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-11-19 Sat 21:43]

   Not sure why I don't have this problem elsewhere, but on the new work laptop I get an annoying JVM warning whenever I do anything with the JVM.

   Adding this export seems to fix it: export LEIN_JVM_OPTS="-XX:TieredStopAtLevel=1"

   This doesn't seem to have any adverse side effects, so will keep it in. This flag sets the maximum optimization level, however, so keep it in mind as something changed if I ever get weird behavior.

3. DONE consider TLP for work ThinkPad
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-11-19 Sat 21:46]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-11-19 Sat 19:14]

   Will do this later in case it messes up anything. Supposedly can offer some power savings: https://linrunner.de/tlp/installation/ubuntu.html

   Followed setup notes there. Can check the state of TLP with tlp-stat -s.

   After install, run:

   • sudo systemctl enable tlp.service
   • sudo tlp start
   • If I want to turn off bluetooth, run bluetooth off. Can do the same with wifi. nfc and wwan aren't relevant on this machine.

   Note that in the current kernel version, battery recalibration via something like sudo tlp recalibrate BAT0 isn't available without some hacks that I'll skip for now. Will look more into the various controls later. Might be a good thing to do next time I'm on the road for work.

4. DONE get and setup ThinkPad X260
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-11-27 Sun 11:39]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-11-19 Sat 13:28]

   Bought one on eBay for $167 (including shipping) that comes with 16GB RAM and a 500GB SSD. Intentionally got one with the lower resolution of 1366x768 for screen-sharing bandwidth reasons. Receive this and confirm everything's in good working order (looks like it comes with Win10), then select an OS to install on it. Might stick with Xubuntu for now, since it seems to be working pretty good. Once that's done, I'll do a task for switching over all work stuff to it, separate since I might want to schedule that for later.

   Since this setup will allow for dual monitors due to the dock, I'll wire those up, and use this as my main machine in the office, leaving the Windows box off/sleeping unless I need it for something like image editing.

   Some notes on upgrade from X230 -> X260:

   • CPU: i5-3210M (2.50GHz, 3MB) -> i7-6600U (2.6GHz, 4MB)
   • RAM: 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 -> 16GB 2133MHz DDR4
   • iGPU: Intel HD Graphics 4000 -> Intel HD Graphics 520
   • Release date: 2012 -> 2016

   2022-11-19: Received X260. Hardware looks good. Installed Xubuntu 22.04.01 LTS. This version will be supported until 2025-04. Hostname is zivle, "an investor" in lojban.

   Some OS-specific setup notes for next time:

   • Image ISO with GPT boot manager, in ISO-mode.
   • Create a /etc/motd, and chmod -x /etc/update-motd.d/10-help.text.
   • Confirm graphic driver is correct with glxinfo -B.
   • Install w3m as w3m-img.
   • Check installed packages with apt list --installed.
   • Install package gcc as a dependency for cargo installs.

   Only downside so far is the Thinkpad Fn keys don't seem to work. Not a big deal though, since this DE has that as a tray app.

5. DONE migrate work environment to X260
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-11-27 Sun 21:42]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-11-27 Sun 11:39]

   Redo everything on this machine. Copy over the same SSH keys and scp the ~/src directory. Copy over my main work Org file as a final step. Keep X230 around for a couple months, just in case.

   Finally got everything working, after much work. Runs pretty fast, even with my personal stuff on another monitor. Will use this as my primary computer all day, in addition to a work computer. Liking the X260 platform overall too. Integrated camera seems good enough to use instead of the external too.

1.3.15. DONE get better with curl

1.3.16. DONE consider new work keyboard

1.4.1. DONE finish office cable management

1.4.2. DONE setup SASL on irssi

/network add -sasl_username <login> -sasl_password <password> -sasl_mechanism PLAIN LiberaChat
/server add -auto -net LiberaChat -tls -tls_verify irc.libera.chat 6697
/save

1.4.3. DONE re-install OS on laptop

1.4.4. DONE switch to aura

1.4.5. DONE do personal security audit

1.4.6. DONE consider Unhook

1.4.7. DONE get another Logitech M500s

1.4.8. DONE convert server site to single page

1.4.9. DONE consider CSS Bed

1.4.10. DONE get Thinkpad T440

1.4.11. DONE fix Brave extensions on workstation

1.4.12. DONE install OpenBSD on X230

1.4.13. DONE switch to custom userChrome.css on FF

1.4.14. CNCL try out bspwm

1.4.15. DONE cleanup file systems

1.4.16. DONE learn kitty capabilities

1.4.17. DONE learn ranger

1.4.18. DONE switch VSCode to VS Codium on Windows box

1.4.19. [6/6] switch to ZSA Moonlander

1. DONE consider ZSA Moonlander
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2021-04-08 Thu 20:59]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-04-05 Mon 09:15]

   A programmable, ortholinear split-keyboard. If you want ortho and split, this seems to be the current ultimate keyboard. Not sure I do, but I might be willing to give it a try. I have some concerns though, with a cost/benefit analysis here.

   Pros:

   • Ostensibly better for the fingers and wrists. Might alleviate some very minor RSI I think I'm getting.
   • Split will prevent the arms from being locked in an unnatural position. They can just face directly forward instead of scrunched together.
   • Supports layers.
   • Using layers, can bind all programming characters, like parens and brackets, to the home row.
   • Can control mouse from the keyboard. Might be able to go no mouse for a non-gaming rig.
   • Would be hard (effectively impossible for me) to build one of these with this many features and such nice build quality by yourself.
   • Could be setup for one-handed use if desired.
   • All software is FOSS.

   Cons:

   • Costs $365.
   • Rewiring the brain to use this might make other keyboards less effective. There's no way I'll replace all my keyboards with these, due to cost. Also can't do anything about laptops.
   • The kind of programming and general computer use I do doesn't require bashing out massive amounts of code. It's more thinking and less typing.
   • Programming the keyboard requires a web-based config tool to generate the config file. Supposedly possible to set this up locally though.
   • The various official flashing binaries don't work on Arch. wally-cli supposedly works though.
   • Has RGB lights. This might be okay if I can leave it off by default and maybe activate a subtle color for layers.
   • Only comes with marked keys. Would have to buy blank keycaps once I got used to it.
   • Won't work with my office keyboard tray.

   Definitely not a clear win. One caveat to the above is that I can try it out and if I don't like it, I can sell it on eBay. So, it's more about whether an attempt at net gains outweighs the $100 or so I'd probably lose in total. Will think about it for awhile.

   Regarding switches, the Kailh Gold are similar to Cherry MX blues, but require less force. Kailh is a cheaper Chinese knock-offs of Cherry, which are German. The main important difference though is activation time, with the Kailhs doing so pre-bump. Pretty sure I don't want that. So, will go with browns for this, since they're in between blues and reds. I'd prefer clicky, but I'd rather optimize for tendon wear. I do notice blues working them a lot if used all day.

   Decided to go with it. Converting this task to a multi-part goal. If this works out great, I may consider a second one for the work computer.

2. DONE get Moonlander
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2021-04-19 Mon 11:48]
   • State "STRT" from [2021-04-05 Mon 09:59]

   Decided to order one. Main impetus was some wrist pain I've been having lately. Ordered black keyboard with Cherry MX browns. Also got 4 packs of black keys (4x10) to swap out the marked keys once I get used to it.

   Will take around 6 weeks to arrive.

   2021-04-16: Looks like this shipped already–much earlier than expected.

   2021-04-19: Received surprisingly quickly.

3. CNCL setup wally-cli
   
   • State "CNCL" from "STRT" [2021-04-23 Fri 21:14]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-04-20 Tue 13:18]

   Need this version for Arch-based distros, I think.

   Installed aur/zsa-wally. This doesn't seem to actually install any binaries though.

   Skipping for now, since using other computer for it.

4. DONE get a coiled TRRS cable
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2021-04-26 Mon 21:30]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-04-20 Tue 14:22]

   Seems like this should probably be the default. Non-coiled just lays around awkwardly. Could also just coil mine with a dowel and hair dryer.

   Ordered a 4-pole TRRS, but best I could find is a 3' one with straight plugs. This was $4.61, so figured worth a try versus buying a custom braided one, though I may consider those later if I get multiple Moonlanders.

   Worked out great. Looks good and is fully functional. Doesn't go super far apart, but seems about right at max extension.

5. CNCL setup layers
   
   • State "CNCL" from "STRT" [2022-09-25 Sun 03:53]
     • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-04-19 Mon 18:38]

   Probably will swap this around a bit, but might I'll come up with a starting setup. Work on getting something solidified here before training the fingers.

6. CNCL practice typing
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-09-25 Sun 03:53]

   Might try some of the typing addons for Emacs to practice.

   Putting this all on hold since I need to type on multiple normal keyboards for the job. Will revisit later when unemployed again.

1.4.20. DONE fix full upgrade on Manjaro

1.4.21. CNCL add mountable USB hub to desk

1.4.22. CNCL consider ASRock Jupiter X300

1.4.23. DONE start using Vimium again

1.4.24. DONE config global .gitignore file

git config --global core.excludesfile '~/.gitignore'

add_to_gitignore() {
  local url=$1
  if ! grep -q -xF "# $url" ~/.gitignore; then
    echo -e "\n#\n# $url\n#" >> ~/.gitignore
    curl -o - -- "$url" >> ~/.gitignore
  fi
}

add_to_gitignore "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/gitignore/master/Global/macOS.gitignore"
add_to_gitignore "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/gitignore/master/Global/Windows.gitignore"
add_to_gitignore "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/gitignore/master/Global/Emacs.gitignore"
add_to_gitignore "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/gitignore/master/Global/Vim.gitignore"
add_to_gitignore "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/gitignore/master/Global/SublimeText.gitignore"
add_to_gitignore "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/gitignore/master/Global/TextMate.gitignore"

1.4.25. DONE get TI-86 operational

1.4.26. CNCL consider WASD V3 104-key keyboard

1.4.27. CNCL reinstall OpenBSD on X230

1.4.28. CNCL consider Tex Shura

1.4.29. CNCL reinstall OS on workstation

1.4.30. DONE check out ChatGPT

1.4.31. DONE check out status.im client

1.4.32. [10/10] do 2022 Emacs yak-shave

1. DONE consider version 28 tab-bar-mode features
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-05-06 Fri 16:07]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-05-05 Thu 16:06]

   Some new (and currently undocumented) features were added to this package. Check them out to see if there's anything I want to make use of.

   Glanced into this a bit but nothing stood out. Will check back in at least another major version to see if the docs are updated. One thing I could do is include a char to signify that the buffer is modified, but bs-show already displays that info.

2. DONE try out eshell-prompt-extras
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-09-24 Sat 22:30]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-09-24 Sat 21:26]

   Some Eshell prompt rice. Will skip the Python integration for now, since I no longer setup virtualenv. Will add that later if that changes. This should replace my currently used eshell-git-prompt.

   https://github.com/zwild/eshell-prompt-extras

   Only the eshell-theme-lambda seems worth using. This is a slight improvement from the previous setup, but not perfect. One bug noticed is that jumping around between repo directories will sometimes leave a dangling git status indicator from a previous directory. Not a huge deal though, so will stick with this. The bigger win is for using it with TRAMP against docker containers and remote systems.

3. DONE become more competent with Eshell
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-09-25 Sun 03:17]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-09-24 Sat 21:10]

   This is more useful now for work, so might as well learn a bit more and make my environment less crappy. Eshell is considered notoriously undocumented, but an attempt is made here: https://www.masteringemacs.org/article/complete-guide-mastering-eshell

   Some notes:

   • C-c C-o: Kill the output of the previous command. Might be handy occasionally for getting rid of a bunch of output in a buffer whose contents I might otherwise want to keep tidy.
   • Output redirection can go to a buffer, e.g. ls -al >> #<buffer *scratch*>. C-c M-b can be useful here for buffer selection. Another target is a variable, e.g. ls > #'randomvar. /dev/null, /dev/kill (the kill ring), and /dev/clip (the clipboard) also work.
   • TRAMP integration:
     • Use syntax like cd /ssh:bob@initech:/srv/tps-reports/.
     • Install package docker-tramp later if needed.
     • Multi-hopping, e.g. to connect to server, and su to root there, accessing /: cd /ssh:initech|su:root@localhost:/
   • Can add login scripts as login and profile scripts, in the ~/.emacs.d/eshell directory.

   Random side notes:

   • Can filter packages by name in list-packages with / n.
   • M-` will display a keyboard-friendly menu bar interaction. I still want the menu bar hidden, but every now and then it's handy to have curated, mode-sensitive functionality laid out.

   A useful exercise.

4. DONE setup docker-tramp
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-10-04 Tue 08:30]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-10-04 Tue 07:23]

   Looks like this might be useful after all.

   This works nice.

   Notes:

   • To open files or dired: C-x C-f /docker:root@<container-name>:/path/to/file
   • To use in eshell: cd /docker:<container-name>:
   • Can also append a path above.

   Docker refresher:

   • List active containers: docker container ls --all
   • Delete container: docker rm <container-name>
   • Attach to container: docker attach <container-name>
   • Run command in container: docker container exec -it <container-name> sh
   • Container IDs also work instead of the container-name used above.
   • List active images: docker image ls --digests
   • Run image as container: docker run <image-name>, or for a specific version docker run <image-name>:<tag>
5. CNCL consider libvterm
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-10-04 Tue 09:07]

   Though Eshell is maximally integrated with the editor, this might be superior for my needs.

   https://github.com/akermu/emacs-libvterm

   Was going to cancel this and default to using Eshell only. However, Eshell handles interactive output poorly. Many commands can drop you into things like pagination mode, making for awkward use. Consider integrating this with eshell-vterm. Those combined would make doing anything shell-related possible, including even playing text-based games.

   https://github.com/iostapyshyn/eshell-vterm

   Putting this off for now unless I need it, since this currently requires a source install into site-lisp/. Would rather avoid that if possible to keep my config 100% portable.

6. DONE switch to js-mode
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-10-19 Wed 13:37]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-10-19 Wed 11:36]

   Deprecate js2-mode and switched to the built-in js-mode. This comes default with Emacs 27+. It also supports inline JSX, useful for React.

   Done. Seems good enough. If I use this more, I'll look around to see if users are customizing it any.

7. DONE switch back to Paredit
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-11-27 Sun 21:36]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-11-27 Sun 21:18]

   Paredit was finally updated to v25 on 2022-11-25 (after 8 years of working on it). Been using smartparens for some time now, but it does have a few minor issues. Give this new version a try. Be sure to check barfing/slurping, as that being broken was why I switched off it.

   Rebound my preference for slurping/barfing, which are normally bound to paredit-close-round and paredit-open-round. Those are the same as normal ) and ( respectively, so aren't useful as modifier keys.

   Seems okay so far, but will have to use it for programming for a few days to be sure.

8. DONE unshadow paredit-raise-sexp
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-12-02 Fri 18:00]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-12-02 Fri 17:57]

   M-r is currently bound to something useless.

   Could've unbound it globally, but decided to just add a :bind for it in the paredit use-package call. This overrides the old bind at startup, since the scratch buffer has paredit enabled.

   Update: Switched back to smartparens. However, SP has a raise sexp function, so bound that there too.

9. DONE consider swiper-isearch
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-12-09 Fri 09:05]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-12-08 Thu 19:40]

   Maybe use swiper-isearch and swiper-isearch-backward instead of the normal isearch. This is already installed, so no cost in using.

   Note that swiper by default regexes a search string, i.e., searching for "some string" will actually be "some.*string". Bound and will try it out for awhile to see if that's annoying.

   Random extra thingies:

   • Also added a binding for C-x l counsel-locate, overriding the default binding for count-lines-page.
   • May also want to consider community/the_silver_searcher to enable counsel-ag (and ack+grep replacement). I guess I'm happy with using normal M-x grep, but counsel-ag would spare me from entering 2 parameters.
10. CNCL try out ChatGPT.el
    
    • State "CNCL" from "STRT" [2022-12-11 Sun 00:22]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-12-11 Sun 00:03]

    This is a pretty early integration, so even if I end up using, look around again later.

    https://github.com/joshcho/ChatGPT.el

    Not ready for actual use yet. Will check back later. However, I can use the Python package revChatGPT instead from the command line. This works quite nicely.

    https://github.com/acheong08/ChatGPT/wiki/Setup

    Update: This is broken now, due to OpenAI switching to CF. Adding non-Emacs task to check back later.

1.4.33. DONE test 4g tethering at home

1.4.34. DONE consider Garuda Linux

1.4.35. DONE try out Rainmeter

1.4.36. DONE block Brave telemetry hosts

1.5.1. [16/16] read The Expanse series

1. DONE read Leviathan Wakes
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-03-23 Wed 23:55]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-01-03 Mon 14:02]

   Not bad, but also not exactly what I'd want in a story. Ended up taking quite a while to finish this. Don't regret sticking with it, since it came together semi-decently by the end though. I'd probably call this a space opera and film noir crossover. I can see why a lot of people think this is great, and it definitely has its moments. However, I'm pretty sure it's not for me. Will continue reading this series for now.

2. CNCL read The Butcher of Anderson Station (short story)
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-03-24 Thu 15:04]

   My copy of this is corrupt and I don't feel like finding another one. Plus, this backstory is already covered in the previous novel in outline.

3. CNCL read Caliban's War
   
   • State "CNCL" from "STRT" [2022-05-31 Tue 01:29]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-03-24 Thu 19:24]

   I definitely have to accept that this series just isn't for me. It certainly has its good points, is generally competently written, and is the result of careful world-building. But, it's also not what I want out of a scifi novel series. Maybe it's just missing the scope and speculative science part. This world seems drab and depressing, and it's populated with characters that are the same. Something like this may very well be the best humanity could hope for as a system-wide species, but I'm not sure I want to read about it. Definitely unrealistic is the gritty/noir cultures in this world. Space is far too unforgiving to house a population of so many dysfunctional morons. There's a need for manual labor in space, but it needs to be done by more intelligent people due to the consequences of messing up.

   Might pick this up again later if really bored. Quit this entry about 1/3rd in.

4. CNCL read Gods of Risk (novella)
   
   • State CNCL"" from "TODO" [2022-05-31 Tue 01:31]
5. CNCL read Drive (short story)
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-05-31 Tue 01:31]
6. CNCL read Abaddon's Gate
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-05-31 Tue 01:31]
7. CNCL read The Churn (prequel novella)
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-05-31 Tue 01:31]
8. CNCL read Cibola Burn
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-05-31 Tue 01:31]
9. CNCL read Nemesis Games
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-05-31 Tue 01:31]
10. CNCL read The Vital Abyss (novella)
    
    • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-05-31 Tue 01:31]
11. CNCL read Babylon's Ashes
    
    • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-05-31 Tue 01:31]
12. CNCL read Strange Dogs (novella)
    
    • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-05-31 Tue 01:31]
13. CNCL read Persepolis Rising
    
    • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-05-31 Tue 01:31]
14. CNCL read Tiamat's Wrath
    
    • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-05-31 Tue 01:31]
15. CNCL read Auberon (novella)
    
    • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-05-31 Tue 01:31]
16. CNCL read Leviathan Falls
    
    • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-05-31 Tue 01:31]

1.5.2. DONE read Depth Charge

1.5.3. [8/8] read The A.I. series

1. DONE read A.I. Destroyer
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-06-10 Fri 21:24]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-05-31 Tue 01:40]

   Surprisingly different than his other series. Seems not as good, but I'll withhold judgment since the other one had a rough start too. Unlike the other series I read, this one's AI depiction so far is pretty weak. Might as well not be an AI and just some evil monster.

2. DONE read The A.I. Gene
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-07-04 Mon 23:31]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-06-28 Tue 03:26]

   Pretty good considering, and much better than the opening novel.

3. DONE read A.I. Assault
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-07-08 Fri 01:28]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-07-04 Mon 23:31]

   A reasonably decent follow-up to the previous.

4. DONE read A.I. Battle Station
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-07-10 Sun 17:00]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-07-08 Fri 01:28]

   A little sloppy, but still an okay entry.

5. DONE read A.I. Battle Fleet
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-07-14 Thu 21:17]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-07-10 Sun 17:00]

   A disjointed and overall weak entry. I sense this fictional universe isn't really developing in a coherent or interesting direction and is probably unstable as a long-use setting. Probably should've planned out where this was going to go beforehand.

6. DONE read A.I. Void Ship
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-07-16 Sat 14:58]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-07-14 Thu 21:17]

   Another semi-weak (thought not terrible) entry.

7. DONE read A.I. Rescue
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-07-18 Mon 12:31]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-07-16 Sat 14:58]

   Like the other series, this one now has Lovecraftian horror elements, which fit just as poorly here. Given how they came out of nowhere in both series, I wonder if they did so at the same time. Maybe the author had read something in the genre and couldn't help himself.

   Since there's only one more entry, I'll just finish this.

8. DONE read A.I. Armada
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-07-19 Tue 14:54]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-07-18 Mon 12:31]

   Ended about as expected and seems to be wrapped up.

1.5.4. [2/2] continue reading Lost Starship series

1. DONE read The Lost Barrier
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-07-24 Sun 12:11]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-07-21 Thu 19:19]

   A lot of stuff going on in this one. It kinda came together by the end, but not in any particularly interesting way. A average entry in the series.

2. DONE read The Lost Nebula
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-08-01 Mon 12:15]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-07-24 Sun 12:12]

   A reasonably decent entry, and another mashup of a bunch of threads.

1.5.5. [7/7] read The Arkship Saga

1. DONE read Arkship Countdown
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-08-02 Tue 15:21]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-08-01 Mon 23:58]

   Just a short prologue, but shows promise for the series.

2. DONE read Arkship Obsidian
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-08-05 Fri 14:52]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-08-02 Tue 16:28]

   Has lots of rather mindless action and kind of a story that lacks any particularly good reason to have been committed to paper. The universe itself is still somewhat compelling though, so I'll stick with it to see if that goes anywhere while skimming over the predictable bits. I suspect the backdrop will stay pretty static though.

   Getting YA vibes from this writing. A young, idealistic protagonist, who turns out to be heir to a kingdom. Trope-heavy love interest that larger events keep getting in the way of. Paper thin villain, constantly kicking the dog. Seen all of this before.

3. DONE read Arkship Vengeance
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-08-07 Sun 13:25]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-08-05 Fri 14:54]

   About the same as the previous.

4. CNCL read Arkship Alliance
   
   • State "CNCL" from "STRT" [2022-08-07 Sun 13:25]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-08-07 Sun 13:25]

   Sampled a bit of this to see whether I wanted to bail. Decided to do so.

5. CNCL read Arkship Conquest
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-08-07 Sun 13:26]
6. CNCL read Arkship Prophecy
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-08-07 Sun 13:26]
7. CNCL read Arkship Omega
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-08-07 Sun 13:26]

   Was announced while reading the previous, meaning the saga is still active, I guess. Assuming I stick with it this long, will have to find a copy when this comes out or put it off for later.

1.5.6. DONE read Leiningen Versus the Ants (short story)

1.5.7. DONE read Second Variety (short story)

1.5.8. DONE read Jon's World (short story)

1.5.9. DONE read Level 7

1.5.10. DONE read Last Contact

1.5.11. DONE read Alas, Babylon

1.5.12. DONE read Profession (short story)

1.5.13. DONE read Between the Strokes of Night

1.5.14. DONE read The Quincunx of Time

1.5.15. DONE read The Cosmic Computer

1.5.16. DONE read The Story of Mary MacLane

1.6.1. DONE do ToME4 anorithil run

1.6.2. DONE play Magic of Scheherazade

1.6.3. DONE play Cataclysm: Bright Nights

1.6.4. DONE play Kingdom Come: Deliverance

1.6.5. DONE try Freeminer

1.6.6. CNCL do NWN1 druid run

1.6.7. CNCL play Objects in Space (purchase)

1.6.8. CNCL consider Phantom Doctrine (purchase)

1.6.9. DONE play Bitburner

1.6.10. DONE play Reverse RPG

1.6.11. [10/10] play Baldurs Gate saga

1. DONE play BG1:EE
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-05-14 Sat 14:43]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-05-08 Sun 09:34]

   Decided to get the EE version of this instead of cobbling together a modernized version myself from the original CDs. Bought for $5 on GOG sale (along with BG2:EE for $4, which I'll maybe play next). Apparently MP doesn't work though, so will have to do this non-coop. Skipping the Dragonspear expansion. Will try running one of the druid kits (probably totemic).

   Notes:

   • Will do a canon party run to take to BG2: me (totemic druid), Imoen, Khalid, Jaheira, Minsc, Dynaheir. Will do a neutral/evil party after that and decide which to import into BG2.
   • Evil party list: me (gnome fighter/illusionist), Dorn, Eldoth, Safana->Skie, Viconia, Edwin. Specializes in scimitar+shield and darts.
   • Non-canon good/neutral party: me (archer), Imoen->Alora, Ajantis, Branwen, Neera, Rasaad.
   • Adding mod IWDification to get the IWD spells, animations, and other enhancements: https://www.gibberlings3.net/mods/spells/iwdification/
   • Portrait generator: http://www.notra.fr/success/balduree

   Entertaining quotes:

   • Fools are to be suffered in this world, not slaughtered. - Ordulinian
   • A Calishite monk once told me every night is dawn's herald. The trick is to hold on to the memory of light until the darkness breaks. - Duke Eltan

   Finished canon party run. I still like this game for sure, but will have to do the evil party build listed above next time, in order to change it up a bit. Even playing a druid was too much the same.

2. DONE play BG1:SoD
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-05-19 Thu 08:31]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-05-14 Sat 14:45]

   Was going to skip this and I'm still 50% on whether I'll actively hate it, but I'm willing to give it a try at its sale price of $5 given how BG is probably my favorite RPG. The other factor was that, yeah the new content in BG1:EE isn't as good as classic BG1, but sometimes it's tolerable enough to be entertaining.

   Note that to get IWDification working, DLC Merger needs to be installed first https://github.com/Argent77/A7-DlcMerger/releases/tag/v1.3

   Sequence of installs should be BG1:EE, BG1:SoD, DLC Merger, then IWDification.

   This is a mixed bag. A lot's been written about it. I'd come in on the side of it being "just okay" overall. There's definitely at least one writer that made it way worse than it needed to be. Replace that content and it'd be a reasonably solid, though not great, expansion. There are some deeper flaws too though, like with the entire plot of it not making any sense and not fitting into the rest of the series. A better use of this effort would've been a retooling of ToB, stretching it out into the length of a full game (rebalancing XP progression) and making it more open world. That would've made the series feel more complete and closer to the original vision.

   There's some worthwhile content here too. The fact that it takes place at mid levels makes for more interesting gameplay (before you start getting really god-like powers). Some of the writing is at least decent too, so they definitely had a few competent writers on staff.

3. DONE play BG1: The Black Pits
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-05-19 Thu 10:17]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-05-18 Wed 12:09]

   An extra mode that comes with BG1:EE. This is an arena battle mode, I guess. Also fills in some backstory for one of the new companion NPCs.

   Played this a little, but skipping running all the content for now. I'd probably like it more if it allowed for some pre-battle positioning and buffing, then maybe hitting a switch to start the fight. Also this kind of gameplay doesn't suit the types of parties I prefer to run.

   If I come back to it, consider a party of: shaman, skald, barbarian, fighter (with bow swap), cleric, mage. Maybe swap barbarian for my gnome F/I.

4. CNCL play BG2:EE
   
   • State "CNCL" from "STRT" [2022-05-24 Tue 00:38]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-05-21 Sat 00:32]

   Should only need to install IWDification and do any character/portrait file management.

   Note to self: On my later evil run, store Drizzt's loot in a container in Watcher's Keep. Come back after SoA and grab the stuff.

   Did about 25%, but then gimped my run pretty bad by:

   • Forgetting to get the silver pantaloons.
   • Having nice stuff on Nalia, but then she gets arrested in a cut scene. Forgot to wait around until the NPC shows up afterwards in the same spot. Seems I bugged it out, since he won't show now.
   • Forgetting to finish the headband quest and Wilson quest before finding Daxus.

   Totemic druid is still a good class, but I'll bail on this run. Will either restart it later or do a different good char. Taking a break for now though.

   When I redo this, tweak party composition a bit: me (totemic druid), Jaheira, Imoen->Clara->Yoshimo->Imoen, Minsc, Amomen, Keldorn (quest swap). Not crazy about Imoen being the only arcane caster though or having 2 druids. Might shelve this and do a different canon run, and swap the totemic druid to my non-canon good/neutral run. That party could be: me, Imoen->Clara->Jan, Neera, Rasaad, Anomen, Haer'Dalis. Much better–almost perfectly–balanced. Could also add Wilson for awhile for druid flavor.

5. DONE consider non-canon good/neutral run of BG1
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-06-07 Tue 09:22]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-06-07 Tue 09:16]

   Current thinking is to do a quick archer run with a non-canon party, then do a swap of this and my canon druid run in BG2. This archer becomes the canon run past that point and the druid becomes the non-canon run. The reasoning is that the BG2 canon characters don't mesh well with a druid, but would be perfect for an archer.

   Party composition: me (archer), Imoen->Alora, Ajantis (leader), Branwen, Neera, Rasaad.

   SoD composition: me (archer), Safana->Glint, Neera, Rasaad, Voghiln (leader), Corwin. Light on the divine casting though. The latter two could be swapped to Jaheira and Khalid if they don't work out.

   BG2 composition: me (archer), Jaheira (romance), Minsc, Amomen, Imoen->Clara->Yoshimo->Imoen, Keldorn (leader, quest swap). Light on arcane still. BG2/ToB canon really is best with a mage or sorc, I guess.

   Conclusion: Might shelve this archer and consider running a sorcerer since I've never played one of those. Will need to plan out his spell progression if I do this. The composition above would be the same though.

6. DONE plan out sorcerer build
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-06-07 Tue 13:19]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-06-07 Tue 10:46]

   This is for the non-canon->canon run swap detailed above (originally planned for archer, now sorcerer).

   Basics: Pure Sorcerer, half-elf, neutral good.

   Spells (in order):

   • Level 1: Shield, Magic Missile, Spook, Chromatic Orb. Read Find Familiar from scroll.
   • Level 2: Mirror Image, Blur, Web, Cat's Grace, Resist Fear.
   • Level 3: Haste, Skull Trap, Remove Magic, Wraithform, Slow.
   • Level 4: Stoneskin, Spirit Armor, Improved Invisibility, Greater Malison, Emotion: Courage.
   • Level 5: Breach, Chaos, Lower Resistance, Spell Immunity, Spell Shield.
   • Level 6: Improved Haste, Protection from Magical Weapons, Protection from magic energy, Pierce Magic, Power Word: Silence.
   • Level 7: Mordenkainen's Sword, Spell Sequencer, Project Image, Ruby Ray of Reversal, Spell Turning.
   • Level 8: Horrid Wilting, Spell Trigger, Power Word: Blind, Improved Mantle, Simulacrum.
   • Level 9: Time Stop, Chain Contingency, Wish, Spellstrike.
   • HLAs: Dragon's Breath, Summon Planetar, Improved Alacrity

   This seems good enough to get started. Will review all of these decisions on level ups. Also need some additional 5th spells in a few of these levels.

   Items:

   • Weapon: Dagger and throwing knives, later proficiency in quarterstaves.
   • Amulet: Amulet of Power in SoD and BG2.
   • Armor: In BG2, Get Robe of Venca from Diedre in the Adventurer's Mart.

   Misc notes:

   • Aim for high STR, ideally 18.
   • Get at least 15 WIS for use with the Wish spell. This can then restore all party spells/abilities, cast from a project image.
   • CON can go as low as 16.
   • Cast FB from wand.
   • I think the only Find Familiar scroll in BG1 is from Nimbul in Chapter 3, unless getting very lucky with a random drop.
   • Be careful about selecting dialog choices for Rasaad in BG2 when completing his quest. He can be lost until ToB with certain options.
   • In BG1, give Rasaad the wolf cloak and a scimitar in his off hand. Should get him 3-4 APR. Test this though, since his THAC0 might suck in this form.
   • Might want to get Simulacrum to use consumables (like the rare Protection from Magic scrolls through).
   • When making Crom Faeyr, it's possible to pause the game and drop the belt and gloves just before Cromwell initiates dialog and hands over the item.
7. DONE do sorcerer BG1 run
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-06-20 Mon 11:04]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-06-07 Tue 17:18]

   Follow plan detailed above.

   Using this checklist this time, while being mindful that it doesn't include any EE content: http://www.forgottenwars.com/bg1/checklist.htm

   Not going to want Rasaad as a primary in BG2 for the druid run. He has poor stats for a monk, which is already pretty useless in 2.5. Just get him for his quest and drop. Could replace with any front-line or arcane caster.

   SoD party composition: me (sorcerer), Safana->Glint, Neera, Rasaad, Voghiln (leader), Corwin.

   This is a powerful party once it gets over the hump of the first 4-5 levels. Main downside is having to polymorph Rasaad all the time for him to be useful. Also keeping him alive with his low AC/HP is cumbersome. An even better setup would've been a max armored tank pinning enemies, then keep the rest of the party the same and have them work through the ranks with ranged weapons and spells. When I needed another melee, I'd actually use the mage for that which worked well with tons of mirror image and stoneskin casts available. I could see a dragon disciple being better for this kind of gameplay. Will try that if I ever make another sorcerer.

8. DONE do canon run of BG2
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-07-02 Sat 17:10]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-06-21 Tue 15:09]

   Form a canon party around my good sorcerer build from BG1. Will finish ToB with this party. Party composition: me, Jaheira, Imoen->Clara->Yoshimo->Imoen, Minsc (quest swap), Amomen, Keldorn.

   Entertaining quotes:

   • "Ahh, the eagerness of youth. I shall give of my wisdom, and you shall flourish." - Charname

   Almost did a perfect run. Forgot to grab the Wave Halberd part from the fish people city and do the Limited Wish adventure prior to killing the party at Delosar's Inn. Otherwise I think I didn't miss anything. This party ended up pretty close to optimal. Used Wish resting for the final ToB battle (which I always thought was poorly crafted), but since it wasn't challenging it may have not been necessary.

   Some thoughts:

   • Minsc got super annoying a few hours into this. Will never take him again. Keldorn is an excellent char that could've used more companion quests. Anomen is a mixed bag, saying some annoying things. He might be more interesting as a fallen paladin.
   • If I do another BG2 run, get someone to dual flails and get the Defender of Easthaven for the offhand. This is arguably better than a shield and can do decent damage in its own right. Buyable from Joluv in the Copper Coronet.
   • ToB dumps all the best gear on you, but doesn't really give you a chance to use it much. I'd probably prefer they not bothered, let our chars level out in capability, and just scaled the fights accordingly. Then players could've focused on finding the perfect balance of items/skills/spells within what they already have to work with. I guess SoD has this same problem.

   Notion I had for a 4-man evil sorcerer run:

   • Male, human, lawful evil dragon disciple sorcerer, mostly the same build but more focused on end game spells. Try to roll a few extra points of INT too.
   • BG1 party: me, Edwin, Viconia, Monteron (have Xzar turned to stone or something).
   • BG1:SoD party: me, Edwin, Viconia, Safana.
   • BG2 party: me, Edwin, Viconia, Imoen->Clara->Hexxat.
   • General thoughts: DD's 1 less spell per day would suck at first, but later on I can meta-game clones and such so it's not a problem. I'd have to do more of that in this run anyway given the lower party count.
9. CNCL do evil run of BG1:SoD
   
   • State "CNCL" from "STRT" [2022-07-03 Sun 09:56]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-06-07 Tue 08:34]

   I think I agree with the low replayability of this, so will just follow a walkthrough and power through it quick. That definitely makes this stuff go faster, I noticed, since I got this party (the evil party detailed above) through BG1 in a few evenings.

   Party composition: me (gnome F/I), Viconia, Safana, Edwin, Dorn, M'Khiin. M'Khiin is a shaman and a lot of players think they did a crappy job on the character. But, will give it a chance just this run since it was either her or Baeloth.

   I agree SoD is a chore to insert into any run once you've already done it once. Might skip it in the future unless one of the SoD->BG2 import items would be really nice to have. M'Khiin somewhat sucks overall. Terrible voice acting, no custom sprite, and bad writing. Shaman play didn't really mesh well with this party either. Probably should've taken Baeloth in retrospect, or just did the run with 5 chars.

   Bailed on this run due to the above.

10. CNCL do evil run of BG2
    
    • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-07-03 Sun 09:56]

    Might take the evil party all the way instead of fixing my BG2 canon run. Party composition would be: me, Viconia, Edwin, Dorn, Clara->Hexxat, Korgan->Sarevok. Korgan is the swap-out companion when doing BG2 companion quests. Only downside here is that Hexxat sucks, even with the added vampire abilities. It's possible to keep Yoshimo alive until the end, and he'd be better in this party. Not sure I want to jump through all the hoops though and it might break some scripting.

    BG-ed out for awhile. Will do this later, maybe years from now.

1.6.12. DONE try out Replika

1.6.13. DONE do TOME4 necromancer run

1.6.14. DONE play Balance of Power

1.6.15. DONE consider Daimonin

1.6.16. DONE try Road to Vostok demo

1.6.17. DONE play Pathfinder: Kingmaker

1.6.18. DONE do Cataclysm:DDA Magiclysm run

1.6.19. DONE play Children of a Dead Earth

1.6.20. DONE play Boohu

1.6.21. CNCL play Torchlight

1.7.1. [5/5] research Hinduism

1. DONE research ancient Vedic religion
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-03-26 Sat 11:08]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-03-25 Fri 12:07]

   Will provide some historical context.

   Just read the Wikipedia article on this. Should be good enough. I agree that this is were Hinduism came from. Also interesting that the ancient form still survives today. Unsurprisingly, there's also revivalist movements.

2. CNCL read (some of) What is Hinduism?
   
   • State "CNCL" from "STRT" [2022-03-26 Sat 12:35]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-03-26 Sat 12:30]

   Use this for an overview. Not sure if I'll like this book, since it's published by an organization invested in the religion (the Himalayan Academy). Will give it a chance though, since it's commonly recommended. Might want to select a more academic text to read after this, though not currently scheduling that.

   Garbage. Basically a collection of heavily-illustrated, magazine-style articles advertising the religion to prospective converts. Since I'm not interested in joining anything, useless for my purposes. Might be interesting to someone looking at how Hindus want to portray themselves to the outside and/or recruit though.

3. DONE read Hinduism (4th Edition)
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-04-05 Tue 16:19]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-03-27 Sun 20:01]

   A religious studies textbook on the topic. Looks at about the quality of an low end undergrad course on the subject, but might suit my purposes. If not, will try Essential Hinduism, which I have a copy of.

   Pretty good overview, with only a few small errors noticed. Definitely feel better oriented to the subject now.

4. DONE get a few Hinduism-themed t-shirts
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-04-22 Fri 20:31]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-03-26 Sat 21:45]

   Clearing out a few worn out non-blank t-shirts, and now have room for a couple. Might as well get some related to my current general interest study topic. This will still decrease the overall number of non-blank ones.

   Will get 2 pre-made and design a custom one:

   • [X]

     Mahakali face. Bought on Amazon for $16 or so. Looked at all the Kali depictions available and this was my favorite, though none are exactly what I wanted.

     Decent, but not perfect. Great image, but the printing is bigger than I'd prefer. Also not crazy about the colors used in her hat.

   • [X]

     Gayatri mantra in Devanagari. Bought on Etsy for $26. I'll memorize this one, and having this on a shirt will help. I appreciate that it's a mantra to the Sun diety Savitr. I choose to think of him as the "lord of that which is mobile and is stationary", functioning as "upholding the movables and immovable, which signifies the maintenance of Rta".

     Quite good. I like this dark heather color too.

   • [X]

     Custom t-shirt depicting Neem Karoli Baba. Will try a custom shirt creator on Amazon for this since it's only $8.xx there, instead of the $2x-3x on Cafepress. If this works, will use this from now on. Made a custom image of him from the least flattering postcard available on the New Mexico ashram site.

     This turned out perfect. From now on, will use this service. Only downside is it ships from China, so it takes like 2.5 weeks.

   Also bought a Mahasaraswati shirt for A-.

   My personal literal translation for the Gayatri mantra:

   • om: brahma
   • bhoor: spiritual energy (prana)
   • bhuvah: destroyer of suffering
   • svah: embodiment of happiness
   • tatsavitur: that bright/light like Savitr
   • varenyam: best choice
   • bhargo: destroyer of sins
   • devisya: divine
   • dhimahi: may imbibe
   • dhiyo: intellect
   • yonaha: who our
   • prachodayat: may inspire

   Put together and interpreted non-literally: Heaven, earth, and all between. Praise Savitr, our ultimate god. May he infuse us with divinity and inspire our minds.

   An alternative (non-Savitr) interpretation I appreciate, since it elaborates on the loka (worlds) aspect of the first line: https://shlokam.org/gayatrimantra/

5. DONE read Bhagavad Gita
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-04-27 Wed 23:36]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-04-11 Mon 14:09]

   Part of the Mahabharata, and commonly recommended as the first scriptural text to read. Only 700 versus, so should be easy to finish, even if boring. Avoid the Hare Krishna translation (sub-titled "As It Is") of it, since I suspect they'll apply a slant. Will also check some commentaries of it afterwards to see if I agree and/or missed anything, the latter being likely given the high density of obscure terms.

   2022-03-27: Ordered a copy of Sutton's 2019 translation. I like this one best of the several I previewed. There's also the video lectures that accompany each chapter if I want to take advantage of that.

   2022-04-04: Received. Will start reading when done with current text.

   Notes:

   • Krishna equates buddhi-yoga (practice of the intellect) with karma-yoga (action without desire for personal gain). Perhaps this is to say that pursuits of intellect are not selfish, like those of material or social gain. He further elaborates that such activity cannot result in failure, only degrees of success.
   • "You only have the right to the action itself and never to the fruits of that action." - 2.47
   • Another equivalence is made between Samkhya and karma-yoga (or just yoga in general). Samkhya is a duality between pakriti and purusha. How these might be related is analogous to the true self, the atman, verses the physical senses.
   • These things all tie together into a progression, including meditation techniques/goals, towards bhakti yoga and means for attaining moksha. This stuff fills a pretty dry majority of the text, along with the updates to categorizations and labels that the author really wants everyone informed on. However, it does have a high level of internal consistency of many parts (though with contradictions to other texts and even other parts of the Mahabarata).
   • In Chapter 11, Krishna reveals himself as an all-pervading, terrible, normally-unfathomable entity, often focused on outright destruction. This seems to be where the monotheistic, henotheistic, or panentheistic conceptions of Krishna originate from (particularly Vaishnava). Having read this book though, I favor the theory it was written by and for polytheists, then later had specific lines retooled and chapters added to match Vaishnavist theology. However, I do remain open to the notion that by the time of the Mahabarata, some of these thoughts were already leaking into Hinduism and were of primary influence to the Gita authors.
   • An unusual and surprising element is Krishna's assertion that the personal deity relationship via bhakti yoga and the more intellectual/abstract jñāna approach are equally valid, but that the former is recommended in most cases. He'll even provide divine assistance to such practitioners and help make things easy for them.
   • Om, tat, and sat are three words used to designate Brahman, with "tat" specifically used by those seeking liberation from rebirth. That might be relevant to its appearance in the Gayatri mantra. The Gita is a much later text though.
   • In Chapter 18, Krishna monologues a (possibly excessive) survey of various aspects of life in relation to the three gunas (which are the threads that permeate all pakriti: sattva, rajas, and tamas). Sutton reflects in relation to the rajas that there is a special kind of emptiness to be had from pursuing happiness purely through the senses.

   In one sense, this is dense with theological information critical to the believer. It also contains some thought-provoking ideas to consider adapting to modern life. On the other hand, it's got plenty of the same problems that most ancient religious texts do, in that it's obviously written with an eye towards social control, and is just simply wrong whenever it makes assertions about reality.

   Most crucially, it also actively makes points arguably harmful to the self and society. The worst is probably the notion that you can't really murder others if it's your social duty to do so, since their souls are indestructible. Krishna starts his counter-argument by simply insulting Arjuna's manliness, then puts a lot of energy into convincing Arjuna to murder his own family members, making many bad arguments, unfalsifiable claims, false assertions, and appeals to authority to do so. The Gita actually starts with a pretty solid argument by Arjuna. A better book would have Krishna being convinced that he was incorrect or at least leave it up to the reader.

   Shortcomings aside, I'm quite glad to have read this. Like any great work, it's hard to not be affected by this in at least subtle ways. Not reading a source text at all would've made this endeavor less rewarding, and this is by far the best of the original religious texts I've read.

1.7.2. DONE read Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers

1.7.3. DONE read Wanting

1.7.4. DONE read The Order of Time

1.7.5. DONE read Manufacturing Consent

1.7.6. DONE read Kyle Odom manifesto

1.7.7. DONE read The Archives of Throawaylien

1.8.1. DONE try simple bread recipe

1.8.2. DONE fix various plumbing issues

1.8.3. DONE make hummus

1.8.4. DONE develop bean rotini soup recipe

1.8.5. DONE fix safe

1.8.6. DONE make potato soup

1.8.7. DONE make cream of mushroom soup

1.8.8. [6/6] redo small garden fencing

1. DONE design gardens
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2021-12-02 Thu 13:53]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-12-01 Wed 18:53]

   Figure out what the designs will be, which will inform the supplies needed.

   Small garden: 40x20'. Move 2'N and 1'W. Might tear down the existing fencing early and try to reshape the ground a bit using the front loader, removing some of the slope in the corner. The expansion to the north will accommodate the blueberry plants and leave room for a grape vine trellis, which I'll build later.

   Large garden: 50x20'. Move 1'W. This reduces its width slightly. Will cut down the cedar tree growing on the existing fence, or try transplanting it somewhere else.

   Overall design:

   • 5' wide gates with large hinges, gate latch, and cane bolt. This will allow for the tractor to get in, without the mow deck. Gates will be in center of trail-facing sections. Will need 5 1.5"x6' boards each. Use table saw to create joints and use glue with screws to create main frame. Then outline a cross brace and use a pocket hole jig to attach that. Apply Deck Correct to boards prior to screwing in place, minus the glued joint area.
   • 12x 4x4x8' posts, set with Quikrete or Sakrete. Paint posts with Deck Correct. Set posts 2.5' in ground.
   • Use 5' fencing with 6' T-posts. Will use proper fence fasteners and crown staples. Will keep fencing a couple inches off the ground to make string trimming easier. Keep fencing super tight. Might cut into sections for each side, depending on how the length versus rolls works out, as this will allow resetting if things shift a little.

   Cost for all supplies and tools I don't have will be around $500.

2. DONE tear down small garden fence
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2021-12-16 Thu 17:02]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-12-15 Wed 12:02]

   Make sure I have everything needed before doing this, along with plenty of time to get it done before planting.

   Done. Was a decent amount of work, but nothing too terrible. The old fence posts weren't cemented, nor even in that far, which made getting them out easier.

3. DONE get supplies
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-03-23 Wed 12:43]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-12-11 Sat 17:04]

   At least get the supplies needed for the posts and general fencing first. Have everything needed on a Lowes wish list.

   2021-12-16: Still need stakes, fence rolls, and wood for doors. Everything else already purchased.

   2022-03-06: Next time buy 8 T-posts and 2 rolls of fencing, which is just enough for the small garden. When I'm ready to get the wood (boards and 1 fencepost), get an additional 2-4 bags of Sakrete at the same time to weigh it down (due to getting 8' boards).

   2022-03-08: Acquired T-posts and fencing rolls.

   Next time, get 5x boards, 1 roll of fencing, and at least 4 bags of Sakrete. For the boards, will try 1.25" to save on weight.

   2022-03-22: Ordered the above listed stuff.

   2022-03-23: All supplies grabbed. For the large garden, will only need fencing and (maybe) T-posts. For the latter, I might reuse the ones I already have.

4. DONE redo small garden fencing
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-03-30 Wed 22:47]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-03-02 Wed 17:45]

   Breaking this into the follow steps:

   • [X] Install 1 corner post.
   • [X] Install 3 corner posts.
   • [X] Measure and install gate posts.
   • [X] Install string between posts and install T-posts.
   • [X] Deposit some shale around lower slope to reinforce it.
   • [X] Install fencing.
   • [ ] Fill in any open spots below fencing with rocks/shale.

   2022-03-06: Changed my mind and decided to install just one gate post and reuse a corner post for that. This is due to the geometry of the slopes leading up to that side. This means I'll have an extra post, which I might buy another one of for use with the grape vine.

   2022-03-11: Installed the one gate post. Only issue is I measured it wrong and it's too narrow to get the tractor through. Will have to size the gate differently. Note for next time: consider building temp sizing boards for this and nailing them into the gate posts to ensure perfect sizing and spacing while pouring the concrete.

   2022-03-15: Fence posts installed.

   2022-03-16: Touched up the Deck Correct on the posts and used tractor to move 5 scoops of shale to bolster the downward slope. Will wait until after next rain to see if any posts settle weird before installing fencing.

   2022-03-19: Installed one section. Will need another roll to do the end sections. The length of these might also be a problem for the other garden too. Will have to join 3 rolls probably.

   2022-03-20: Installed another section.

   2022-03-24: Installed another section, but I think I got cheated on the last fencing roll I bought. There's no way it had 50' in it. So, now I'm stuck again without enough to complete. Will check the saved fencing and maybe use some of that. If not, will have to buy another roll.

   2022-03-30: Finished the enclosure with the old berry patch fence (which turned out to be 5'. Leaving the extraneous fencing from that attached until I get the gate done. Been doing some rock collection from the gardens, so will fill in the gaps with those over the next few weeks. Calling this task done.

5. DONE build small garden gate
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-04-04 Mon 19:38]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-04-02 Sat 11:05]

   Build and install a gate for the new small garden. Breaking this off from the rest of the fencing task for it, since I can do without this if time runs short. Will just put a temp fencing gate there in that case.

   2022-04-02: Mostly built, but ran out of 2" screws. Will have to get more in 2 days.

   2022-04-04: Got screws and finished gate. Looks great and operates perfectly. This came together very well. Will probably build other gate exactly like this one.

6. DONE transfer tree
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-04-08 Fri 13:58]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-04-08 Fri 12:07]

   Try to transfer the small tree growing within what's now the small garden's boundaries. Either put it near the forest edge or as part of the tree wall. Leaning towards the forest, since it's not an evergreen or fruit tree.

   Transferred to forest edge. Tree turned out to be a locust.

1.8.9. DONE replace boat deck

1.8.10. CNCL clear pine trees

1.8.11. DONE plant willow tree

1.8.12. DONE get chainsaw sharpener

1.8.13. CNCL hire surveyor

1.8.14. DONE plant 2022 screening trees

1.8.15. [21/21] do 2022 garden

1. DONE make garden plan
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2021-12-18 Sat 10:57]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-12-18 Sat 09:34]

   Reminders:

   • Skipping pop corn and all squash varieties (minus crookneck). Will kill all volunteers.
   • For peppers, will stick with mostly cayenne to restock the pepper flakes collection. Those seemed to do better in 2021 when I staked them, so will do that to all this time. All other hot peppers will just be a few for kitchen use, and will need at least half a row of green peppers.
   • Will reduce tomato count to around 6, with 2 late backups, and the normal 2 double cherries.
   • Will optimize for plant survival over deployment time. Won't put stuff in the ground until it'll definitely survive.

   Plan complete.

2. DONE order seeds
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-01-20 Thu 12:12]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-12-18 Sat 10:59]

   Might've missed a few seeds to save, since things got sloppy towards the end of the 2021 season. Take full inventory.

   Only needed 3: crookneck, mild habanero, and bush bean. Ordered those, and will have to go buy some more blueberries and grape vines locally.

   2021-12-30: Received, but neglected to do an herbs check and also still need lemongrass seeds.

   2022-01-11: Ordered lemongrass seeds.

   2022-01-20: All seeds acquired.

3. DONE get grow bulbs
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-02-23 Wed 12:44]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-02-03 Thu 14:17]

   Trying this for indoor starting to see if it helps any.

   2022-02-03: Ordered 4 pack.

   2022-02-23: Forgot to close task. Been using these for awhile. They seem to help, but aren't as bright as I'd hoped.

4. DONE start peppers
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-03-22 Tue 15:13]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-02-02 Wed 20:36]

   Do all large cell trays with peppers but then also start a full small cell tray of them as backups and fillers.

   2022-02-02: One tray of mild habanero started. Only put a single seed in each cell, so keep an eye on this tray in case any don't come up. Will reuse those cells for other stuff if that happens.

   2022-02-14: Started first tray of cayenne.

   2022-02-23: Started second tray of cayenne. The habaneros sprout rate was under half. Used the rest of the seeds on 5 cells and did the remaining 6 cells in MyThai.

   2022-03-05: Started jalapenos.

   2022-03-13: Started green peppers.

   2022-03-22: Started backup tray of green, jalapenos, mini-Thai, and the rest cayenne. Probably a bit late on the timing for these.

5. DONE fertilize gardens
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-03-24 Thu 20:48]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-03-24 Thu 15:47]

   Do same routine as last year, since that seems to have worked well.

   Dispersed into small garden. Not as much plop in here with fewer ducks.

6. DONE start tomatoes
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-03-31 Thu 22:04]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-03-14 Mon 13:53]

   6 main, plus 2 late backups.

   2022-03-14: Started first 6.

   2022-03-31: Started last 2.

7. DONE plant potatoes
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-04-05 Tue 18:59]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-04-05 Tue 16:59]

   Ideally, plant in late April.

   Planted all in one wide row.

8. DONE plant onions
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-04-06 Wed 21:25]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-03-19 Sat 14:27]

   Plant these in mid-March, and stagger in two groups separated by 2 weeks. Will try overplanting the saved seeds and see if that works. If nothing comes up by May, I think I still have bought seeds.

   2022-03-19: First 2 rows in raised bed planted with saved seeds. Was looking at the seed pack I have, and it says to only plant them in the Spring, post-frost. This conflicts with my planting calendar. Will just plant more in 2 weeks and see what happens.

   2022-04-06: 3 additional rows onions planted in raised bed.

9. DONE get additional fruit trees
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-04-10 Sun 17:42]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-04-05 Tue 13:58]

   Current thinking is at least 2 pears and 1 wild plum.

   2022-04-05: Bought 1 pear and 1 plum. Pear is a Flemish Beauty and plum is a Plum Superior. Will plant these and reevaluate.

   2022-04-09: Pear planted. Looks like it was bare root, despite coming in a pot, so won't see much action until next year at best.

   2022-04-10: Plum planted.

10. DONE plant sunflowers
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-04-11 Mon 14:05]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-04-11 Mon 12:45]

    Will try planting some in mid April. If these don't come up or die, will use the remaining seeds in the same spot.

    Planted in front of blueberries.

11. DONE get additional berry/grape plants
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-04-13 Wed 14:22]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-04-12 Tue 10:52]

    Maybe 3 of each.

    Got 3 Catawba grape pots, 1 seedless Concord bare stem, 2 Osage blackberry pots, and 2 blueberry stems. For the latter, the Tifblue blueberry is planted west, next to the older ones. The Jersey blueberry is east, next to the blackberries.

12. DONE start training grapes
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-04-13 Wed 15:43]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-04-11 Mon 19:19]

    Decided to not build the vineyard in 2022, but will train the grapes and adjust accordingly. These need to go up to 24" at least before it's worth building the trellis. If that fails, then I'd waste a lot of materials building something I can't use. Make some wooden stakes for training these over the next year or two. If that's going well, then I can go ahead and get the supplies ready.

    2022-04-11: Collected 4 straight sticks. Relocated surviving grape from old berry patch and tied it to trainer stick.

    2022-04-13: Collected 3 additional sticks, with 2 being for the new blackberries. Put all sticks in place, but the new ones are a bit too small to tie yet. Will do so later when vines start growing.

13. DONE till gardens
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-04-17 Sun 17:49]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-03-22 Tue 09:00]

    Spend some extra time digging up any deep rocks the shovel hits. Skip onion row in big garden again, if there's more than a few onions present.

    2022-03-31: Large garden tilled. Many rocks dug up. Only saw 4 or so onions, but still left them there.

    2022-04-05: Shoveling complete.

    2022-04-12: Small garden hoeing complete.

    2022-04-17: Done.

14. DONE fertilize all perennials/trees
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-04-22 Fri 20:52]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-04-22 Fri 12:01]

    Probably should do this every spring at least. Fertilizer doesn't do any good sitting in the container.

    Done. Used one packet, but needs to be diluted quite a bit. Might hurt leaves too, so be careful when pouring.

15. DONE plant corn
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-04-22 Fri 20:52]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-04-22 Fri 16:12]

    Should be able to plant this starting last week of April, or thereabouts.

    Done. Just doing one row in center of small garden, as planned.

16. DONE start potted peppers
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-04-23 Sat 11:40]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-04-23 Sat 11:09]

    Will do 2 normal habanero this year.

    Started.

17. DONE setup pea trellis and start first pea batch
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-05-19 Thu 20:15]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-05-19 Thu 16:19]

    Started.

18. DONE direct plant seeds
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-05-20 Fri 16:00]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-05-15 Sun 17:03]

    This just covers the first round.

    2022-05-15: Green beans planted.

    2022-05-16: Cucumber, red beet, and crookneck planted.

    2022-05-17: Watermelon and cantaloupe planted.

    2022-05-18: Radish (first batch) and carrot (purple and normal) planted.

    2022-05-20: 1/3 onion row planted. This concludes the first round of everything. Will still plant second batch of peas later, then more batches of onions and radishes throughout summer. Also will keep an eye on a few questionable seed batches, like with the cucumbers, to see if they do come up. If not, will replace them with other stuff.

19. DONE plant peppers
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-05-23 Mon 20:19]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-05-12 Thu 18:23]

    2 rows + spillover.

    2022-05-12: 1 tray cayenne and 1 tray jalapeno planted.

    2022-05-16: Figured out a better way to harden peppers. Putting them in the truck bed for as many hours as needed seems to work perfect, provided winds are below 12mph.

    2022-05-23: All planted, all planned rows filled. Still have backup tray, and will fill in any ones that die.

    2022-06-02: Filled in backup tray. Some of these were still a bit wimpy. Will want to start it just 2 weeks after the others next time. Since they were so small, put 2 Thai peppers in pots.

20. DONE plant tomatoes
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-05-23 Mon 20:19]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-05-11 Wed 18:22]

    10 total.

    Done.

21. DONE start second pea batch
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-06-20 Mon 13:41]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-06-20 Mon 13:41]

    Will plant these mid-June.

    Did this about 4 days prior.

22. DONE save seeds
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-11-04 Fri 10:47]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-08-10 Wed 16:16]

    Will deprecate maintaining 2 strains of large tomatoes. The beefsteaks and slicers have somewhat melded, so will just propagate that.

    Save the following:

    • [X] Bromato
    • [X] Cherry tomato
    • [X] Onion
    • [X] Green pepper
    • [X] Cucumber
    • [X] Snow peas
    • [X] Bush beans
    • [X] Jalapeno
    • [X] Cayenne
    • [X] Cantaloupe
    • [X] Slicer tomato
    • [X] Watermelon
    • [X] MyThai pepper
    • [ ] Habanada
    • [ ] Indian corn
    • [X] Sunflower

1.8.16. DONE trim back road trees

1.8.17. DONE replace dryer

1.8.18. DONE get mouse and rat traps

1.8.19. DONE make ketchup

1.8.20. DONE make roast beets and carrots

1.8.21. DONE plant trees from local program

1.8.22. [5/5] do 2022 lawnmower maintenance

1. DONE remount mow deck
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-03-22 Tue 14:21]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-03-22 Tue 13:39]

   Eyeball blades to see if a swap is needed. Check tension on blade nuts.

   Done. Didn't swap blades.

2. DONE sharpen push mower blades (mid-season)
   
   • State "DONE" from "TODO" [2022-08-23 Tue 08:30]

   Might have to do this twice, depending on use.

   I think I did this in July, but forgot to note it.

   Also did it again end of season.

3. CNCL pressure wash tractor
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-11-22 Tue 08:39]

   Skipping this year since it's not too dirty.

4. DONE clean and remount mow deck
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-11-23 Wed 15:34]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-11-21 Mon 15:58]

   Needs blade swap. Will immediately remount mow deck when done and leave it on for weight balance reasons. Tractor seems to perform better with the lower center of gravity.

   Done, but the far right blade seems to be stuck, so filed that in place. Will need to do something about that at some point.

5. DONE add grease to mow deck PTO zerk
   
   • State "DONE" from "TODO" [2022-11-27 Sun 11:42]

   Looks like the service tech missed this one last time.

   Not sure which one this was referring to. Will look around when I take the deck off.

   Done, hopefully correctly.

1.8.23. [14/14] do 2022 wood stove tasks

1. DONE reattach trim to wood shed wall
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2021-12-31 Fri 15:55]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-12-31 Fri 14:45]

   Looks like a piece of the trim came off. It's against the inside wall now. Reattach it, but make sure it doesn't come off again. Might want some small, short bolts for that. Probably have some good for this in the random parts collection.

   Done. Some of this trim was covered in gunk, so cleaned it. Tightened down all lose bolts.

2. DONE shut down wood stove
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-03-15 Tue 09:41]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-03-14 Mon 09:40]

   Shutdown complete.

3. DONE shovel all ashes
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-03-22 Tue 12:17]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-03-17 Thu 17:19]

   Noticed water drips in during the summer and mixes with the ashes. Clean these out right away this time to prevent any internal rust. Can do the main cleaning later though.

   Done. Still need to due a full cleaning, of course.

4. DONE drain boiler water
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-05-21 Sat 10:06]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-05-21 Sat 10:06]

   Drain and inspect water that comes out. Then pour a few cups of boiler fluid by itself into the tank. Thinking that should help protect against rust at the bottom.

   Forgot to close this, but was done sometime in early 2022-05.

5. DONE get free logs
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-06-06 Mon 17:25]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-06-06 Mon 17:25]

   The guy from Old Town Tree & Landscaping randomly stopped by and offered as many loads of free wood as I wanted. I accepted 2. Said he'd check back again in 4 years, so keep that in mind when/if I order more logs before then. Will probably try to hold off on it until then to save tons of cash. Also these logs are smaller and easier to cut.

6. DONE get brush to clean vent
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-07-06 Wed 22:39]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-05-21 Sat 16:13]

   Try starting with a 1.5" wire brush head, paired with the most flexible rod available. Brush diameters are available in many sizes, so adjust accordingly once I give it a try. Double layer bristles are also available. Ordered for around $48, so hopefully will work. If this completely fails, maybe try a 40-something inch radiator brush, though I'm skeptical that would either in such a case.

   2022-05-24: Got rod part, which seems good. Hopefully brush fits adapter.

   2022-05-28: Brush fits rod. Need to try it out next.

   2022-07-06: Nope, doesn't work. Can't bend enough to get in, and isn't even close in that regard. Will think about this and maybe try something else next year.

7. DONE consider taking apart fan box
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-07-06 Wed 22:42]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-07-06 Wed 18:40]

   Probably removing the bolts in the front would let this slide up then off. Might be able to access to the fan then, check its status, and clean it.

   Disassembled fan unit. Surprisingly, it seems in good condition. Cleaned out a little gunk buildup and fixed the vent closing switch (the retaining pin fell out). Not sure if that'll help any.

8. DONE get cut firewood
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-10-08 Sat 22:12]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" <2022-09-30 Fri 15:11>

   Get at least one big load.

   2022-09-30: Ordered. Price went way up to $690 base.

   2022-10-03: Received load. Need to stack. Will see what that looks like and make a call on whether to go for it with just this amount, supplemented by stuff I cut.

   2022-10-08: Everything stacked and cleaned up. Thinking I'll be good for the winter, as long as it's not freakishly cold this year. Will have to cut a good bit more myself than usual though.

9. DONE clean wood stove
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-11-08 Tue 21:19]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-10-14 Fri 13:41]

   Clean out flue as completely as possible.

   2022-10-09: Trying to get the local chimney sweep in to do a proper cleaning. If he could remove all the accumulated gunk, I can probably keep it in good order from then on.

   2022-10-14: Scheduled service from Winchester. Using M- (contact in ideas.org). Scheduled for 2022-11-04 3-4PM. He'll give a call when headed out. Says he can replace the seal on the door too. Will hold off on doing anything myself in that case. Local guy never returned calls, so will write him off.

   2022-11-04: Got inside of stove cleaned out, which really needed it. Also got the seal replaced. Got 2 bottles of Cre-Away (a creosote remover). Will use one at beginning of season, then one at end. Then, I should call the chimney sweep back to clean out the flue. Will still run the brush through the flue a few times prior to firing it up though.

   2022-11-08: Cleaned out flue as best as I can for now with brush and shop vac. Looks like it should be fine on that front.

10. DONE fix rust spots on roof around flue
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-11-09 Wed 20:43]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-11-09 Wed 16:43]

    Looks like the paint here degraded over the years due to heat and water did its thing to the steel roof. Tape off a square around the flue, sand the paint off, then replace it with stove paint. Get a can of green stove paint for this.

    2022-06-14: Found this cheapest on eBay. Ordered color Metallic Moss Green stove paint. This should be either a match, or close enough not to matter.

    2022-11-09: Task complete, finally. So, looks like the paint bought isn't a perfect match. I'd say it's close enough, not really noticeable, and looks better like this than with the rust spots.

11. DONE fill boiler water and add treatment
    
    • State "DONE" from "TODO" [2022-11-10 Thu 20:45]

    Additive used says to put 1 gallon in per 300 gallons water. So, I'll add 1 qt now, then another before turning it on.

    Filled.

12. DONE repaint wood stove
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-11-24 Thu 11:42]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-11-13 Sun 17:39]

    Some of the paint is flaking off in a few areas. Will do a spot repair on it as needed. Already bought a can of black stove paint. Might use left over paint on burn barrel.

    2022-11-13: Sanded and painted inside of shed roof, which has rust spots. Used normal white primer for this, so keep an eye on it. After looking at it though, I think the reason it started rusting was because it was cut with metal snips and the bare steel left exposed. So, heat-proofing that part probably isn't as important.

    2022-11-24: Painted some random pieces. Could probably still use another pass in the Spring though.

13. DONE fire up wood stove
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-12-12 Mon 23:46]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-12-12 Mon 14:00]

    Want to start tracking when this goes on/off. Current rule is to turn it on a day or two before highs stay below 40F, on a non-windy day, then do the same in reverse in the Spring.

    Started and running good.

14. DONE get backup door gasket
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-12-26 Mon 15:21]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-12-26 Mon 12:20]

    Gasket dislodged randomly. Managed to fix, but would feel better having a backup. This is a critical component and only costs ~$10, plus will need to replace occasionally anyway.

    Done.

1.8.24. [3/3] do 2022 minor repairs

1. DONE swap showerheads in SW shower
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-01-10 Mon 21:31]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-01-10 Mon 10:12]

   The new one installed is practically unusable as-is. Clean up the old one and reinstall it.

   Ended up keeping the new one in. The internal aerator just needing cleaning out. Runs great now.

2. DONE fix shed paint
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-10-17 Mon 21:21]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-10-15 Sat 15:03]

   Looks like some wood burrowing insect damage occurred on one of the corners. Need to get that covered up.

   2022-10-15: Put wood filler on holes. Will let dry first.

   2022-10-17: Done. Touched up all worn spots while at it.

3. DONE replace sink aerator
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-12-26 Mon 15:20]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-12-26 Mon 12:20]

   Replace the SE bathroom aerator.

   Done. Needs size 55/64", 27 female, 1.5GPM. Replacement part brand is Danco, which seems to work better than the one I was using previously.

1.8.25. [1/1] do 2022 cleaning

1. DONE take down metal plate from tree
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-04-11 Mon 19:17]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-04-11 Mon 16:43]

   Will need ladder for this. Not sure if it's nailed in. Bring paint can just in case.

   Was a real pain to get down, but now is. Used angle grinder to cut an embedded chain link. Cut link and a nail are still in there. Looks like the tree took a fair bit of damage from being shot at for at least a few years.

1.9.1. DONE fix phone account

1.9.2. DONE replace cardigan

1.9.3. DONE consider replacing alarm clock

1.9.4. CNCL consider treadmill

1.9.5. DONE try yaupon tea

1.9.6. [10/10] redo phone setup

1. DONE get new phone
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-02-07 Mon 15:46]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-02-04 Fri 09:45]

   Current option I'm considering:

   • Contact AT&T or go to local store and see if I can do the following:
     • Get service in my area if I were to buy one of their phones.
     • Transfer current number over to new contract.
     • Pay yearly instead of monthly (or do prepaid).
   • If the above works out, then I might get the Kyocera DuraXE Epic flip phone as a replacement dumb phone and use that.
   • If I do get this phone up and running, look into sideloading APKs.

   Probably will see if I can get answers online then drive into the store or do store pickup, since I'm not sure what services/products to order on the site.

   2022-02-04: Called AT&T and bought phone. New phone is being shipped overnight and I'll receive that on 2022-02-07. Can take it into the store afterwards. See notes about the specifics in other file. Also set up online account. Might want to consider using the AT&T mail service for just email on the phone later.

   Asked about smartwatches, and sounded like I can add an LTE one to the account for $10. Won't do that now, but might be an option for going smartwatch only for all phone stuff later, once I'm sure I won't need one for any future work. My vision for that is to leave it on the charger and only wear it when I need a phone for a trip or something. Could also do a transition period to make sure it's a viable setup for me.

   Phone should come with a temporary number, so test in house to check function/signal.

   2022-02-07: Acquired and tested as working. Needs an SD card though, presumably for additional media storage. Model is E4830.

   The phone itself is very high quality, and a good value for the money it seems. Navigation is super quick. Buttons have just the right tactile feel for a device like this.

2. DONE transfer number
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-02-09 Wed 14:50]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-02-09 Wed 10:00]

   Go into local store once I have new phone in hand and get them to transfer the old number to it. Bring old phone and various notes from previous step. Try on some smartwatches while at the store.

   Done. Looks like going into the store was the right plan, since it required an hour of work on their part to make it happen. Never would've been able to navigate two corporations' system to successfully do it.

3. DONE transfer contacts
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-02-09 Wed 18:37]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-02-09 Wed 17:49]

   Will have to do this manually. While at it, message the 3 or 4 pictures on old phone to the new one.

   Done. Old phone doesn't have a registered SIM now, so can't xfer anything off it.

4. DONE setup voice mail
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-02-09 Wed 19:08]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-02-09 Wed 18:28]

   Also figure out how to check.

   Notes:

   • Setup and checking is done by pressing and holding the 1 button.
   • When I have a voicemail, there will be a double circle (tape-like) icon in the upper left of the home screen, just to the right of the time.
   • Delete messages with 7, save with 9, and check more options with 0.
   • If I ever want to change the pass code:
     • Log into voice mail normally.
     • Hit 4 2 1 1, enter new pass code, then the # key.
   • If I get locked out of voice mail, reset it here.

   Done, though it appears it was already setup for me at some point.

5. DONE setup email on phone
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-02-09 Wed 19:50]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-02-09 Wed 19:08]

   Will use my junk Google account for this.

   Had to enable "less secure apps" as Google calls them. Not sure how to get back to this setting, but it's on now.

6. DONE setup local WiFi
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-02-09 Wed 19:10]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-02-09 Wed 19:50]

   Once everything else works, connect device to local network.

   Works fine. Might add the satellite later as backup.

7. DONE consider accessories
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-02-13 Sun 15:12]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-02-09 Wed 18:53]

   Will hold off on this until I see how it fits in pocket. Might also want dock if there is one available.

   This fits in the pocket and doesn't need a holster. Will get the following instead, for now:

   • Desk top charger.
   • Extra USB type A to type C cable for car/backpack.
   • 16GB microSD card.

   Can order all this stuff on AT&T's site if I want to save some time at the cost of a few dollars. Only one I'm not sure about is the dock. There's a $120 dock on another site that seems better and is definitely compatible with this model.

   2022-02-09: Ordered $30 dock. Will get the other stuff elsewhere, since it's overpriced on AT&T's site.

   2022-02-11: Received dock. Looks like it works pretty good. It's not super necessary, but I could use another USB type C cable so the one on the dock can stay on it and I'll have an extra in the desk for transferring files.

   2022-02-13: Got spare USB type C cable from A-. Will put in car. Will skip the SD cards for now, since I don't need to transfer a lot of data to/from the phone. If I need some for another reason, I'll get a multi-pack and put one in then.

8. DONE read e4830 manual
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-02-13 Sun 19:01]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-02-11 Fri 20:46]

   Going to be living with this for awhile, so might as well know how it works. Last time I didn't bother and several things remained a mystery for years.

   Done. Was worth reading. Went through everything covered here while reading it too and tweaked more settings. Only ones I might change later are disabling the call history button on top and adding a lock code later (since one of my email accounts is linked here).

   Notes:

   • Rearranged the main menu screen to be a little more useful.
   • Cutting/pasting text can be done through the "text input mode" menu (left soft key when in text input mode). Doesn't work outside of text input mode though.
   • To call from the contacts list, highlight entry and press SEND. For entries with multiple numbers, VIEW the entry, highlight number, then press SEND.
   • To answer an incoming call in speaker mode without opening, use the top left speaker button.
   • One of the in-call options is to add another person to an existing call. This might be non-obvious, as it's called "Add call".
   • Another option is RTT (real time text) mode. This seems similar to ytalk, I guess, since you can see all of the typing the other person does in real time.
   • Can mask my number from caller ID using *67 before dialing.
   • Use 0 in browser mode to see hotkeys.
   • Can format SD cards right on the phone. See page 96 for steps.
9. DONE order custom Galaxy Watch strap
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-02-24 Thu 20:53]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-02-10 Thu 21:48]

   Found a site to make custom straps. Not sure if anyone's home, but will give it a try. If it shows up, I can use it on a Galaxy Watch. Also had an idea for a custom strap for the world timer mod, but that would require a different case probably since the Galaxy Watch strap is 20mm.

   2022-02-10: Ordered. Designed a strap with a repeating sequence of soyjacks. Cost was $33. Will issue a refund through PayPal if it doesn't show up or at least ship in 2 weeks.

   2022-02-17: The order was just sitting there, so was losing hope. But, this did indeed ship today and from within the US. So, shouldn't have to wait long. Super curious what it'll look like in person.

   2022-02-24: Received. This looks great. Since I don't have a smartwatch (and may never get one, I'll put it on the Tuedix when I get that). Will definitely get another one of these should I have something to put one on.

10. DONE get free Samsung S22
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-02-24 Thu 20:53]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-02-10 Thu 10:48]

    Will trade in A-'s old S8 for a new S22. The deal is you get the new S22, only having to pay what the taxes would be for the same (around $40) and have to keep your normal service for 36 months (which I intended to do anyway). So, we'll go ahead and make this trade. This isn't particularly useful, but can be okay to own for these purposes:

    • Useful for taking pictures of the non-personal variety.
    • Could serve as a pairing host if wanting to try going smartwatch-only while out of the house.
    • Can xfer to her account later for a free upgrade.
    • If none of the above are particularly useful, can sell it before it becomes obsolete.

    Will leave this off when not doing one of the above to not get spied on all day.

    Need to go in and drop off S8 and confirm that I won't actually be billed for the device. Looks like it currently in the online account. Also it considers me to be upgrading my device to the S22, which I don't want to actually do.

    2022-02-10: Dropped off S8. Got printed receipt for trade-in. Fixed issue with account where the S22 was set as an upgrade and primary device for me. Rep says will have to manually swap the sim cards to do anything cell-related with it.

    2022-02-24: Received this a few days ago and got it setup. Also tried using it very briefly to see what the modern phone experience is like for normies. Once that was done, turned it off and put it back in the box in the drawer. Didn't put a sim in yet since there's no need to do so unless I decide to get the smartwatch. Will use this instead of my normal camera in the meantime.

    This concludes all phone-related activity for now. Will create a different goal for trying a smartwatch later, if I decide to go that route (still not sure I want to, due to the various downsides).

1.9.7. DONE get extra pair of work boots

1.9.8. DONE get truck cargo net

1.9.9. [19/19] do 2022 watch mods/builds

1. DONE ponder SKX007-compatible mod
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-01-18 Tue 09:30]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-01-17 Mon 18:30]

   Will do a Seiko build using all non-Seiko parts, minus the NH35A. Think about what I want this build to be. Probably will get case, caseback, and other main parts from namokimods.com. Also check dlwwatches.com, one-second-closer.com, and usa.crystaltimes.net.

   Some general thoughts: Will stick with the SKX007 for max compatibility. For design, might want to go semi-formal looking with this, in which case I can sell the Jena and replace that with another build. Beating the Jena is classiness might be tough though, so not sure I want to try.

   Build ideas:

   • The Simm U50: a B&W Sinn U50 clone. 4 o'clock crown.
   • The Urdumariner: A build covered with Eastern Arabic numerals. Uses Arabic day-date NH36 and lightning bolt or trident second hand. Stainless with either bracelet or blue rubber strap. 3 o'clock crown.
   • Stealth Tuna: Black tuna case bundle with all components stealth black. Black date, or no-date, depending on how white date text meshes with dial/hands. Black lume dial/hands. Trident second hand. 4 o'clock crown. Check whether I need a date at 4 movement (I'm thinking not, since the crown is at 4).

   I think I'll start with the Urdumariner and if still having fun, will do the Stealth Tuna later.

2. DONE consider stealth scuba mod
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-01-21 Fri 00:50]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-01-20 Thu 11:09]

   See what it'd take to do this build. If ready to do this, check around if the official grille bezel is in stock by then. If so, cold blue one of those too, to keep options open.

   Steps:

   • Buy bottle of cold blue from Midway or elsewhere.
   • Try cold bluing a spare caseback. If this doesn't work, forget the rest of this plan.
   • Get base watch: 100634, or another 110 or 100 black scuba dude. Alternatively, 670919 if I want to go no-date. Thinking the 110 would be the most perfect, so might want to get a date variant of that, and replace the dial. Stealthiest non-scuba option right now is 160355, since the luminous sandwich dial SE variants aren't being produced.
   • Disassemble watch, brush the finish, then cold blue it.
   • Order from vostok-watches24:
     • Silver second hand Neptun.
     • Black and white minute & hour hands with SuperLumiNova (PAAR90).
     • Scuba Dude caseback.
   • Replace hands.
   • Order from One Second Closer: The Atlas One mk.2 matte black.
   • Order from DLW: Ceramic Insert - 007 Stark Black, or one of the stealth inserts.
   • Glue insert and install bezel.
   • Buy fully black strap, probably sailcloth or Cordura. Could also try a black oyster bracelet.

   This is a lot of work and would probably run into the $250 range. Will also take forever to get all these parts.

3. DONE get Vostok project watches
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-01-21 Fri 12:07]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-01-08 Sat 23:25]

   Since I bought a 5-slot watch box, decided to fill 2 slots with Vostoks. My reasoning:

   • They're dirt cheap at $75-90 or so each, yet still of good quality.
   • They make for a great manual labor watch, unlike the other 2 I bought. The acrylic crystal can be buffed back to near new with Flitz.
   • They serve as an outlet for making custom watches, something I wouldn't want to do with anything more expensive. This converts the watch collection from pure consumerism to a partially creative endeavor.

   I'll get 2 Amphibias, a 120512 and a 710059. Check the timing and if needed, add a note to regulate them when I have them open.

   Notes:

   • For Amphibia sizing, see this reference:
   • meranom.com is the official distributor for watches and parts. Won't use them for round 1 of this, but will collect everything I need next into one order to save on shipping time. Use code "watchuseek" on checkout and maybe change currency to rubles to save money. If a watch is included in the order, expedited shipping is available for not much more (saving around a month of waiting).
   • vostok-watches24.com and one-second-closer.com have some Vostok mod parts.
   • To set the date more quickly, get it to flip over the day, then back it off before 9 and then move it forward past 12. Repeat until at/near the current day.
   • Other models of note if wanting to do further builds: 710269, 160558, 160559, 710394, 160558.

   Some other mod ideas:

   • Desert shield (120065 or USSR vintage) internals migrated to a 710 or 150 case with ODG/olive canvas strap and some matching bezel.
   • Upgraded, orange scuba dude using orange dial from vostok-watches24.com, paired with a Planet Ocean orange insert and orange rubber strap. Lazier version would be using a 710378 or 110378. Having white text, that would look good with a vostok-watches24 orange bezel.
   • Stealth Scuba Dude: Get a 710634, 100634, or 420634. Remove internals and cold blue the case. Pair with bezel called "Vostok Amphibia Universal Bezel Dark Grey 3D Indexes". Add black or very dark gray strap with black buckle. Could also just get a 110 or 170 case (or even a spare caseback) and give that a try for cheap.
   • Komandirskie 819499: Stock except for a low-edge gold 60 min bezel. Black/blue bezel would work too. Maybe black leather strap with blue stitching if the stock leather strap sucks.
   • Green Scuba Dude: Build around a 420386 or 710386. Might be a good destination for my silicon green strap if I don't want to use it elsewhere.

   2022-01-08: Ordered 120512 on eBay for ~$92. Watch will ship from Russia, so will take 1.5-2 months to arrive.

   2022-01-11: Ordered 710059 on eBay for ~$104. This is a bit more, but is from a US seller, so will get this one first.

   2022-01-15: Received 710059. As a 41x45mm dive watch, this fits perfect. The Cordura strap I ordered looks pretty good on it, but I'll still get the anchor NATO for build aesthetics and just to try a NATO out for awhile. Will wear this for a week to see if it needs regulating.

   2022-01-17: Since I like the 710, I'll stick with that and give the 120512 to A-. My project Amphibias will now be the 710059 already received and a newly ordered 710269.

   This should have a 2416b automatic movement, meaning it's probably a limited/regional Amphibia. Once I get this, I might grab a green/white/red NATO strap for it off Ali, since those are the Tartarstan national colors. Bezel is raw brass, so may have been polished. Might want to replace with a new factory one if so. Otherwise will keep intact.

   2022-01-21: Received 710269. For now, I'm not considering the Smevbika watch a project watch, so this concludes this task.

4. CNCL order Urdumariner parts (round 1)
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-01-21 Fri 12:46]

   Splitting this into two rounds of parts grabbing. The reason is that I may need extra gaskets if assembling these parts go wrong. Also gives more time to think about the remaining parts. This order only locks me into a stainless case.

   From Namoki:

   • Case: NMK904 3 O'Clock SKX007/SRPD Watch Case : Sandblasted Finish (comes with crystal gasket and caseback gasket)
   • Caseback: SKX Slim Caseback: Brushed Finish
   • Bezel: SKX007/SRPD Sub Bezel: Sandblasted Finish (comes with 0.8mm and 0.7mm bezel gasket).
   • Crown: SKX007 Sterile Crown: Sandblasted Finish
   • Chapter ring: SKX007/SRPD Chapter Ring: Brushed Finish
   • Crystal: NMK301 - SKX/SRPD Double Domed Sapphire Crystal Blue AR

   After sleeping on it a few days, decided to put all SKX build plans on hold. Will rethink it later when the queue is cleared up.

5. CNCL order Urdumariner parts (round 2)
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-01-21 Fri 12:46]

   From Namoki:

   • Dial: Arabic Sunburst Sky Blue Finish
   • Movement: Seiko (SII) NH36A Automatic Movement Factory Standard (3H)
   • Day-date wheel: NH36A Arabic Day-Date Wheel Disc Set (White) 3 O'clock

   From DLW:

   • Bezel insert: 007 Arabic Dual Time Black
   • Hands: Hands - CW, white
   • Second hand: Lightning Second Hand Mk2 white, orange, or gold

   Canceled, for now.

6. DONE do cage diver 710059 mod
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-01-21 Fri 18:23]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-01-17 Mon 11:01]

   My vision for this build is a 710059 with the grille bezel and a 22mm blue Cordura strap or NATO strap with anchors. Doing this mod should be as simple as removing the stock bezel and replacing it, then doing a normal strap swap. When putting on the grille bezel, adjust the tension on the retaining wire a lot so it doesn't rotate without significant force. Consider brushing the case finish while the bezel and bracelet is off. Will need the watch tools kit, bezel, strap, and the 710059 itself before proceeding.

   I'll probably add a scuba dude caseback if ordering from vostok-watches24.com at some point. Not worth specifically ordering just this though.

   2022-01-17: Don't have the tool kit yet, but got the grille bezel on with already owned tools. Adjusted tension some and it seems perfect now. This required bending the spring to the very edge of what was still possible to be retained by the inside slot. Decided not to brush the case since the bezel appears plated and they currently match if both shiny. This worked out nicely and looks great.

   2022-01-18: Sized and tried out default bracelet as an experiment. Feels pretty good while wearing it at first, but as others report, it does pull one's arm hair. This gets old pretty quick. Went back to strap.

   2022-01-21: Put on anchor NATO strap. Looks good. Calling this build done for now.

7. DONE get Submariner copy
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-02-02 Wed 17:07]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-01-27 Thu 00:09]

   Changed my mind about being done getting watches. Decided to grab a sub "homage", specifically the PD-1661 (deep sea version), for these reasons:

   • They're super cheap, even less than an Amphibian+strap.
   • Wanted to try out a proper oyster bracelet.
   • Can loot the NH35A movement from it for use elsewhere, or even do a full mod inside this case. This saves at least $200 if I use these parts and just replace the dial/hands/bezel/etc.
   • Has everything I'd want in a watch except a higher end movement: Hacking, sapphire, milled links, 120-click bezel, etc.
   • Can resell for 80% of cost.
   • Also generally curious what $100 can really get you in one of these homage watches. Everyone says they're amazing.
   • Arguably, these are the best value for your money in the market right now, assuming you don't lose the QC lottery.

   On the last point, I'll order mine from Amazon to address that issue. This costs an extra $10 or so, but is worth being able to send it back if I get a dud.

   There's more interesting watches out there (e.g., considered the Addiesdive quartz sub instead of this), and I can see why guys end up with a pile of them. To avoid any temptation to get more, will stop looking at or thinking about them now. While I'm not worried about trying to get the perfectly balanced collection here, I absolutely don't want any more.

   2022-01-27: Ordered.

   2022-02-02: Received. This is very nice, and a lot more value for the dollar than with Vostok. In fact, it's amazing this can be made for so cheap. The only downside was I got the Miyota 8215 movement instead of the desired NH35.

   Update: Decided to return this.

8. DONE get Söyembikäskie
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-02-04 Fri 09:40]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-01-20 Thu 00:10]

   Decided to order this in lieu of any further Vostok or SKX builds, at least for now. By the time the in-progress builds are done, I'll want to work on some other projects for awhile. So, decided to fill the last slot with a vintage Vostok. Will let this collection be "complete" and wear these for awhile, maybe a year. At that point, I'll know if I want to do anything more with it. In the meantime, I'll consider doing some minor mods like hand swaps on already owned Amphibias. Another factor is that NH35/36 movements are in short supply currently.

   To quote a different listing, this watch depicts: Svembika, the ruler of the Kazan Khanate and the wife of the Kazan Khans Dzhan-Ali (1533–1535), Safa-Girey, and Shah-Ali. One of the first rulers of Muslim states in the history of women.

   This design stood out as my favorite among the exclusively vintage ones. However, I suspect Svembika is a semi-manufactured hero. Some relevant history:

   • http://www.1000kzn.ru/razdel/en/227/
   • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Kazan_khans

   2022-01-20: Ordered off Etsy, which was the only place with one of these of reasonable price (around $71). The other 3 currently available all cost over $100. There's also a dial by itself on eBay, but it's rather trashed. Got it with a leather strap (looks like the kind that come on Komandirskies). Will evaluate once received and decide whether to change anything. Since it's a vintage watch, will need to check timekeeping. Probably won't bother regulating unless it's way off, since it'll mostly just sit in the box.

   2022-01-31: Research update: She's called Söyembikä of Kazan (Сөембикә in Cyrillic). She was technically ruler (xanbikä), but as a regent for her underage son from 1549 to 1551. She was the wife of 3 of the Kazan Khans, Canğäli (1533–35), Safagäräy (1536–49) and Şahğäli (post 1553). There does exist a definitely not true nationalist hero legend of her committing suicide from a Kazan tower instead of marrying Ivan the Terrible.

   2022-02-04: Received. Excellent watch. Also liking the case it's in too. For straps, the one it came with is actually working out nicely. Will wear this more than originally planned.

   2022-04-27: The hat Svembika wears is a kokoshnik, which is a traditional Russian headdress still worn today. This form is particularly tall and narrow.

9. CNCL get watch building tools
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-02-04 Fri 16:47]

   Determine the tools needed for a 100% SKX build. Note: Repair kit has a movement holder.

   Might want these things:

   • Hand setting tool.
   • Hand remover.
   • Crystal press.
   • Rodico cleaning putty.
   • Dial protectors.
   • Silicone grease in gasket lubricator.
   • Timegrapher (costs $200, so probably skip).

   Since I'm not doing an SKX build now, decided to just get the hand setter/remover and putty.

   Skipping even the above for now. Will reopen if I want to swap some hands on one of the Amphibias though. I could see myself wanting a different seconds hand on the 710269 and a completely different set on the 120512.

10. DONE do world timer 710269 mod
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-02-10 Thu 18:33]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-01-19 Wed 20:17]

    This is a text-heavy world timer build. Pretty straight forward, with just a bezel and strap swap. Will get the watch first and then think about what strap to pair it with (probably an ODG one). Get the "Cities black universal bezel" and some extra bezel springs from Meranom. Might also get a custom caseback, depending on what's in stock at the time.

    2022-01-17: Ordered the 710269 from Amazon, the only place with this model in stock. This was $91 + shipping, but supposedly will arrive from Russia sooner than usual (probably is expedited). Comes with an Amphibia green rubber strap, which I might keep on there.

    2022-01-19: Ordered cities bezel, extra bezel springs, and a display caseback for this build from Meranom. The "watchuseek" coupon code works and seems to give about 5% off.

    2022-01-21: 710269 received. Strap is nice for a silicone one, minus the sloppy keeper. Won't do this now, but could also use this as a platform for testing out the black 22mm StrapCode Hexad bracelet.

    2022-01-27: Had a few ideas for straps for this. Starting with the ODG Cordura, which is now ordered. If that doesn't look too great, will try a black leather one with white stitching next, like the Barton Horween.

    2022-02-02: ODG Cordura looks good, but I suspect one mainly black would look better.

    2022-02-03: Ordered a Ritche black Zulu.

    2022-02-04: Received and installed bezel and display caseback. Looks great. The ODG strap looks a lot better with this bezel on too. Will compare it against the Zulu and keep the better one on.

    2022-02-10: Zulu looks good on it, and is the best option if I brush the case. Won't do that for now though, until I decided whether bluing cases works. If that does, a ODG Zulu with black hardware might be best. As is, I think a normal black NATO with polished silver hardware is ideal.

11. DONE get 120512
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-02-11 Fri 12:18]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-01-08 Sat 00:14]

    Will give this one to A-, so won't be part of my collection. Will call it done on my end once bezel and watch are acquired.

    The idea here was to get a bezel without insert and cut a leather insert for it. Mark 15min or 5min intervals using soldering iron. Pair with matching Horween strap. Should be usable in the meantime with the sailcloth I got. If the leather bezel doesn't work out, can just get a black insert for it.

    2022-01-16: Ordered empty insert bezel.

    2022-02-04: Bezel arrived. Was also thinking could do a full conversion with this one if A- doesn't want it, using the Modtok case, full lume dial, skeletonized hands, and trident second hand.

    2022-02-11: Gifted. This is a really excellent model and better than I thought it'd be.

12. CNCL mod PD-1661 clasp
    
    • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-02-12 Sat 19:24]

    Did a sharp edge check on this and the clasp on mine needs some work. Seems like all of the PD clasps are like this, so no surprise there. Also will wear this on bracelet for a few days to see what I think about it. Seems weird currently, being used to leather/nylon straps.

    Decided to return this.

13. DONE return PD-1661
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-02-15 Tue 12:12]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-02-12 Sat 19:35]

    This was a tough call, since it's a near perfect watch. Paying $120 for a Miyota 8215 isn't a terrible deal either. Decided to still return it due to being able to get an NH35 in a Tuedix for cheaper. At least, it looks like that's the case. Won't know for sure unless I give it a try and it shows up.

    2022-02-12: Started return. Need to drop this one off at a UPS drop off location. This will be a good opportunity to try that out.

    2022-02-15: Got refund, so considering this done on my end.

14. DONE return 710269
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-02-18 Fri 13:44]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-02-12 Sat 16:47]

    When I got this watch, it had issues with getting going. Later I could get it to run all day, but it still required a good hit to start up and stay running. Wore it a good bit, but it would always stall overnight. This then got worse and now it won't run at all for the most part. Blasting the balance wheel with air will get it going for a little while. When I first removed the caseback, I noticed some metal dust on the inside. That could be related.

    I was about to consign this to the parts pile, but then realized I bought it on Amazon and can return it. So, I'll return it to its purchased state and do just that.

    2022-02-12: Started process. Seems super simple. Just need to print out the label and drop it off at the post office. Will do this more often for Amazon stuff I'm disappointed with.

    2022-02-18: Refund approved. Also got the very overpriced shipping charge ($27.66) back. Glad to have a refund just for that reason.

15. DONE get soldering mat
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-03-02 Wed 13:10]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-02-24 Thu 15:13]

    Was going to get one of these for actual soldering, but then figured I wouldn't use it enough to justify the $25. Now that I use the electronics bench for watch stuff too, buying one makes more sense. Get one with a ridge around the edge to prevent things from rolling off.

    2022-02-24: Ordered a 17.7x13.6" one. Also got some Rodico that happened to be cheap at the time. Will use that to clean out my Vostoks a bit.

    2022-03-02: Received. Looks good and should work as intended.

16. DONE get Tuedix Design TD-1861
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-03-12 Sat 21:03]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-02-12 Sat 19:33]

    Decided to take a chance on replacing the PD-1661 with one of these, which are supposed to have an NH35A. They're also $30 less than I paid for the PD, so worst case is I get a slightly lesser quality clone for a lower price. This is 41mm, but I'm thinking maybe the extra 1mm over the PD-1661 comes from the slightly wider crown guard. Lots of unknowns in regards to this one, so it's a bit of a mystery what I'll actually get. Main known downside is the lack of a Deep Sea color option. Went all black instead.

    2022-02-12: Ordered. Unlike my previous Ali orders, this one seems to have gone through.

    2022-03-11: Excellent. Put soyjacks strap on it, which looks amazing. Kinda bored with the sub style, but I might actually wear this a lot.

17. DONE try Casio world time mod
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-03-30 Wed 20:50]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-02-24 Thu 08:46]

    Will give the AE-1200WH a try for the next mod project, starting with strap/buckle swap and bull bars install. Will consider color filters, inverted LCDs, and text removal either on this one or swapped in modules from other variants. A compatible module I might want later is the AE-1300WH-1AV (or 8AV in gunmetal). Not sure if I'll like Casio modding as I'm not really that interested in digital watches, but it's worth exploring, since:

    • Parts are more readily available than the Russian stuff.
    • Everything about this is a fraction of the cost.
    • Opens up some cross-over possibilities like integrated custom electronics.
    • Should only need about $25 in supplies if I want to start doing more complex mods (swatchbook and double-side tape or super glue).
    • If I am going to keep a quartz around, it should probably be digital. Analog quartz doesn't really add anything to the collection. Some digitals pack in the features and I wouldn't need a mechanical chronograph with this world time.

    The main downsides are another watch in the cheapo drawer that I won't wear much and this model specifically is rather large.

    Note: Goo Gone is the standard recommendation for text removal. This can be dangerous due to its ability to remove the case finish. Maybe start with alcohol on Q-tips first.

    2022-02-23: Ordered AE-1200WH-1B. Chose this since it already has a desirable color palette. Got a green leather strap made specifically for this from Vario. Also bought a black 20mm buckle for this, since the default is polished steel.

    Will try this strap on other 18mm watches as well, since it's actually a stepped down 20mm. Once this arrives, will order the 5600 bullbars from AE (instead of the more expensive ones on eBay). These are supposedly thinner and easier to get on this case, though still tricky.

    2022-02-28: Ordered bullbars from AE for $4.07. Was looking like the other orders might take awhile, so figured I'd get that one started on the way too.

    2022-03-12: Received. Looks good. Will put strap on later when ready to wear it. Also still need the bullbars.

    2022-03-30: Received and installed bullbars, which fit fine and look good. Put strap on too, completing the build. Looks as intended. Will wear it like this for awhile, but I might put the plastic strap back on for awhile until it breaks, since it wears more like my other watches with the leather one. After strap breakage, then it can spend the rest of its life on leather.

    Having worn this for awhile, perhaps I should've bought an F-91W or similar due to size, but this one does fill a useful role. It's main uses are:

    • If ever do remote work again, this can track coworker timezones.
    • The alarm clock is also handy for having something immune to power outages.
    • This is the only watch I have with a functional backlight.
    • Since the above makes it useful enough to have it on my workstation desk, can use it to set the time on mechanicals.
    • Due to its features, makes for the best travel watch.

    So, not something I'll wear much, but still good to have around. No Casio watch is perfect, and this one has big trade-offs too. The main downside is its size (width and thickness), but it also has a lot of useless features on its dial too. The A500 just has what I'd want, and maybe I should've bought that, though I didn't like its looks as much.

    Side note: If I ever want a perfectly sized metal bracelet for it, here's one: https://www.skxmod.com/products/bracelet-for-skxmod-ae1200-1300-modding-kits

18. DONE get timegrapher
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-04-06 Wed 17:14]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-03-28 Mon 08:51]

    Will get this in the Spring Anniversary sale. I figure paying direct from AE prices is worth it, considering I'll be able to keep my watches regulated for the rest of my life, do the same for A-'s watches, and also add some modding capability.

    2022-03-28: Ordered. Total was $145 with tax and shipping.

    2022-04-06: Received a few days ago. Tested this out and it works great. Regulated the cage diver, which is now running perfect enough that I won't need a replacement.

19. DONE redo Worldtimeski mod
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-04-12 Tue 15:54]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-02-13 Sun 00:43]

    I'm partially okay with the 710269 not working since I wanted to do a case swap anyway. Currently split between going 420 or 670 case for the replacement. The 420 would be a good fit for the factory cities bezel. The 670 would allow for a fully custom Galaxy strap to be made for it. Holding off on decision until I see whether my currently ordered custom strap order actually results in something showing up.

    2022-02-13: Decided to go with a 420269, since I'd rather wear that case if possible. Still leaves open the option of swapping into a 670 case later or just modding a 20mm strap to fit. Tried to get this on the factory site, but the privacy.com card I made for it wouldn't work. 0/3 on those actually doing anything useful so far. Ordered on Meranom instead. Considered throwing a 670919 on the order, just to keep for when one of the Vostoks inevitably breaks, but decided not to.

    2022-02-14: Used display caseback on A-'s 120512, so will just stick with the default one for my build. Will grab the large crystal version of this for her if I ever do another Meranom order though, in which case this caseback would again be available for my build. Not worth the trouble of just ordering that though.

    2022-02-26: Received ODG Cordura strap. Probably will use this.

    2022-03-02: Currently unknown if watch orders are making it out of Russia. My shipment has been sitting around doing nothing for awhile, which isn't too weird. Will keep an eye on it to see if it starts moving at some point. My current thinking is that since it's going through normal mail, that it'll still get here like normal letters probably eventually would.

    2022-04-12: Received, finally. Put parts on and finished the worldtimeski build, which looks great. I think the idea behind this dial was to be in the field watch style, something I don't otherwise have in the collection. This concludes all planned watch mods, minus a few minor strap swaps.

    For future reference, the cities bezel denotes:

    • -1 калининград - Kalingrad
    • +0 москва - Moscow
    • +1 Сама́ра - Samara
    • +2 Екатеринбург - Yekaterinburg
    • +3 Омск - Omsk
    • +4 Красногорск - Krasnogorsk
    • +5 Иркутск - Irkutsk
    • +6 Благовещенск - Blagoveshchensk
    • +7 Владивосток - Vladivostok
    • +8 Магадан - Magadan
    • +9 Петропавловск-Камчатский - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy

1.9.10. [12/12] refactor watch setup

1. DONE survey modern watch brands and features
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-01-01 Sat 04:57]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-12-26 Sun 10:55]

   Assess the field and think about what I'd want my watch to be.

   After some research, here's my current ideal setup:

   • Sterile dial.
   • 42-43mm diameter, due to having 7" wrists.
   • Mesh band or leather with ability to purchase an extra.
   • Flieger or sector style, with no date/chrono.
   • Black or blue dial color.
   • Automatic.
   • Sapphire crystal.
   • Hacking.
   • No or minimal Chinesium.

   Size can depend on lug-to-lug distance and lug design too. I'm thinking 53mm lug-to-lug is too much on straight lugs (like on the Laco Dortmund).

   For amount of watches, ideally I'd only own one forever, but I can see how it might make sense to have a dedicated, cheaper manual labor watch and one for all other times. The beater will definitely take damage, after all. Mechanical watches can't take the kind of abuse that some quartz ones can too, so it's probably not smart to only have one expensive automatic.

   General observations: Some parts of the watch industry are a depressing sight. Most humans not actually needing watches anymore and them mostly becoming fashion accessories has had a notable impact, mostly for the worst. There's also a huge China factor that can't be ignored. Will have to be careful about what I spend money on. On the other hand, I've discovered that I quite like the topic and find the technology and design of watches interesting.

2. DONE purchase main wristwatch
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-01-04 Tue 16:15]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-12-29 Wed 22:55]

   Decided I'd like to check the time mainly on a Flieger. A few options considered:

   • Laco Aachen 42, used for ~$300 or new for $410.
   • Laco Paderborn with custom engraving for $1190.
   • Mühle Glashütte Terrasport for $1800.

   2021-12-30: Was leaning pretty heavily towards the Aachen, mainly as a hedge against something about this not being as liked as assumed. This had the trade-off of not really being what I wanted as a primary watch due to a few design aspects and writing on the face.

   So, decided to go all-in with the Paderborn, since that perfectly matches what I was looking for in a watch. Being confident about keeping it, I got my name engraved on it as Laco offers that service for free. My thinking is this should mesh with everything except formal wear (which tool watches generally are bad at).

   Didn't order an extra strap, but will either get a direct spare, black one, or Erbstück pilot, depending on how test wearing goes. Two nice 3rd party options are the Worn and Wound Horween Model 2 and the Dan Barr Basque Olive canvas.

   2022-01-04: Received surprisingly quickly. The watch itself is great and all minor concerns I had weren't issues. Wasn't sure this would be worth the money, but this really is skillfully crafted, a great design, and exactly what I was hoping for. The one and only remaining concern I have is that it's too nice for most outside activity. Getting this wet will ruin the strap too. Giving up any hopes of making this a single watch collection.

   2022-01-28: Got a bill today for a $33 customs charge for this. Worth noting for future purchases.

3. DONE consider building watch holder
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-01-13 Thu 12:45]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-01-09 Sun 10:15]

   Have an idea for a wooden holder that shouldn't be too hard to make. It'll be comprised of 2 triangular sections, anchored at the bottom (perhaps by dowel rods). An indentation in them will cradle a 2" wood square bar that holds the watches. The base should be stained dark walnut, with the bar lighter. Will think about this a bit, and maybe just order a box instead.

   2022-01-09: Decided to buy instead of build. I'm thinking a box is superior to hanging watches on things and I'm not going to be able to construct one of those as cheaply or competently. Ordered a 5 watch box from Etsy for $46.

   2022-01-13: Arrived surprisingly quickly. Maybe I'm easy to please, but I think this box looks great. Also have a coupon for some cash off another order from the same Etsy shop if I want to buy anything else.

4. CNCL consider options for second watch
   
   • State "CNCL" from "STRT" [2022-01-05 Wed 23:10]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-01-03 Mon 21:37]

   Find some options for tool watches that would be acceptable for manual labor, ideally under $300. The same desired feature list applies here, but isn't as strict. Also I'm more flexible in regards to aesthetics in exchange for things like being more water resistant. Two differences are that I'd want it to definitely be automatic and it should have a display back (as I might as well have at least one of these).

   Will wait until I get my Paderborn in case wearing that influences opinions about things, including whether I'd want a second one at all. I'm somewhat leaning towards not doing this, but still want to explore the idea.

   Check strap size so this can share straps with the other one.

   Options:

   • Nothing. Wear main watch, let stuff happen.
   • Nothing, version 2. Same as above, but make main watch the ghetto watch and get a Laco Erbstück, IWC Big Pilot, or other even nicer one later.
   • Fitness watch: Maybe the Garmin Forerunner 245 for $225. Could help a bit with health improvement targets in the coming years. Main downside is that it has a short lifespan and needs charged.
   • Tisell: Korean imitation brand. Consider type A pilot and the Lumina. Goes for ~$200 on eBay.
   • Jack Mason: Texas brand produced in China, I think. Lots of okay options here, but nothing amazing. Consider something like their Pursuit Automatic. Several models available from $200-300 on their site.
   • Laco: Can get some of the budget line on the Wheel of Watches (tier 3) for $285 + shipping. These are also easy to resell later.
   • Escapement Time: Makes a Chinesium flieger, but it does have a sapphire crystal and a few other features for $100. Even cheaper variants can be had by searching for "6498 watch" on eBay.
   • Self-made watch using a kit/combo from DIY Watch Club. Not sure I'm interested since the videos are members only and the dials have their logo.

   Before buying anything, check r/WatchExchange to see if what I'm looking for is listed.

   Refactored how I'm approaching this. Some of this thinking is still relevant though, so will leave it for historical reference. Almost bought a fitness watch, but Garmin screwed up my order. In retrospect, I'm glad they did.

   General thoughts after getting the main watch:

   • I like the flieger style, but don't want any more of them.
   • If I include a dress watch, I actually want at least 3 (main, dress, beater).
   • I'll be ignoring the fitness/smart watch industry.
   • Even $300 is too much for a watch that'll get trashed outside. Need something even cheaper, quartz, and/or built tougher. I'd rather stay automatic, so now thinking about a dive watch.
5. DONE get dress watch
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-01-12 Wed 13:19]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-01-03 Mon 23:18]

   Decided to grab a Jena 40 for dress watch purposes. This one's pretty close to perfect, with the main downside being its mineral crystal. That'd be a huge downside for anything but an occasional-use dress watch. I think I can live with it. Not a big fan of Bauhaus style, but I think this one is generic enough to go with anything from casual to formal.

   Also considered the Casablanca, which is a navy watch, and the various color variations of the Jena. Looked around a bit at other brands too. Pretty sure I don't have any firm preferences for dress watches. Most just look okay, with nothing standing out. On the other hand, maybe that's what I'd want in a dress watch: something simple and subtle. If I develop some tastes here later, I can always sell this one.

   2022-01-03: Did the WG tier 3 wheel spin for exclusively Laco products. Carefully analyzed the products available on each level and waited until all levels had Laco products available and filled tier 1 with the Jena. Even though it's probably worth that much, I wouldn't have bought it for $540 MSRP and probably would've skipped doing a dress watch completely. Here I got it for $302.10 after taxes, which I feel is fair.

   2022-01-12: Received Jena 40. Looks like another great Laco product and makes for a classy dress watch. Wears very comfortably and melds with just about anything. Matches my black dress belt too. Will definitely keep this. Impressed by the smooth Miyota 9015 movement (8bps) and included strap. So, better than expected overall. Seems like a good choice for a versatile dress watch.

6. CNCL consider Sinn U50
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-01-17 Mon 12:45]

   Favorite dive watch. Was going to make this a long term grail watch, but it's not too prohibitively pricey so could just get it and call the collection complete. Not 100% sure I want to get it at all though. Could just fill the rest of the box with Amphibias and probably be just as happy with my collection. The main thing I'd miss is having a useful, clicking bezel.

   Main alternative contender was the Marathon GSAR. The U50 has that and others beat due to it being thinner than your normal dive watch (on par with my 2 Lacos). Also prefer the S version (unfortunately, the most expensive) to get the black metal bracelet. In case this isn't super comfortable, I'd ideally like to get one of Sinn's silicone buckle straps as backup, just for switching to occasionally, or for actual use in water. That seems to be not in stock at the moment though. Could put that part off to later, but worth asking a rep about. The site to buy also gives credit for purchases, so might make sense to buy them separate. Note that the bolts on the bracelet have loctite on them, so heat with a hair dryer before sizing.

   Decided not to buy this. Main reason for this decision is to use the slot for a full SKX-compatible build. The U50 is a really nice watch, but so are the other 2 I bought and I don't really get as much out of those versus something made by myself. The SKX build will give a lot of freedom for a custom diver and provide the main thing lacking in an Amphibia: a useful bezel. With a few extra tools, I should be able to construct an entire watch from scratch, minus the movement.

   Since I'm not getting this, this concludes my collection revamp of 2 bought watches, with the remainder being project watches. Will split that off into another task group.

7. DONE get watch repair kit
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-01-18 Tue 15:37]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-01-11 Tue 17:31]

   Need this to open cases and swap straps. Considering doing some builds or mods myself, which will also require these tools. Some of these are useful outside of watches as well, so a generally good kit to own. Check quality of spring bar tool in particular. Since this is the most used tool, and most dangerous for scratching cases, get a proper Bergeon one if the one included in this kit sucks.

   2022-01-11: Ordered.

   2022-01-18: Received. This is a nicer kit than I thought it'd be. Shouldn't need to replace anything here.

8. DONE order extra straps
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-01-28 Fri 14:26]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-01-11 Tue 17:31]

   Straps for the various watches in collection:

   • Paderborn: Pilot strap.
   • Jena: Nothing.
   • 710059: Barton Cordura blue 22mm and HNS NATO blue anchor 22mm.
   • 710269: Barton Cordura green 22mm.

   Find a small box to put the straps in and stick that in my watch drawer. Exception is the Paderborn. Spare strap for that should go in its case.

   2022-01-11: Confirmed Amphibia 120s are 18mm, so ordered a black sailcloth strap with stainless hardware for around $19. Will hold off on getting the Paderborn strap(s) until I get this on the 120. If the sailcloth isn't that great, I can get a NATO from Laco for $40. Also grabbed a 22mm blue Cordura for my cage diver build for $14.

   2022-01-14: Got both straps for the Vostoks. The Cordura looks especially good. The sailcloth one is also rather nice. These are Barton straps, which seem to be a good brand. 710059 delivery is a few days out, so will make a call on whether this is good next week.

   2022-01-17: Updated above with current strap plans. Removed tracking for 120512, since that won't be my watch.

   2022-01-18: Ordered pilot strap for Paderborn. With shipping was $68.

   2022-01-28: Pilot strap received and installed. Looks good. Has brass rivets instead of the other strap's steel ones, which I think look better. Wearing it, it's definitely a bit chunkier on the bottom. Will stick with this one on for now and keep the original straps as backup.

   Since I have the project watches too now, I'm confident in just having 1 backup for the Paderborn and none for the Jena. Calling the non-project watch collection 100% complete now.

9. DONE ponder collection
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-03-14 Mon 00:02]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-03-13 Sun 13:49]

   Now's a good time to consider the SOTC and its future. My vision here morphed and is currently directed at accumulating a small pile of watches that would last the rest of my life. That would be divided into the "top box" and "junk drawer" watches, the latter which is more useful in my life. Will take a break on it for a bit to do other recreational activities and let this settle. After that, will revisit the collection and sell any that I'm not really into.

   Main purpose here is to capture any active thoughts for easy resurrection later.

   Russian watch mods, which will have to wait until ordering is possible and parts availability exists:

   • Get a couple spare Komandirskie straps.
   • Display caseback for 420269.
   • Scuba dude caseback for 710059 (would have to find one or wait until available).
   • Replace seconds hand or all hands on 420269.
   • Swap 269 dial/movement into 670 case. Also unlocks ability to do custom 20mm strap.
   • Replace seconds hand on 710059.

   Other random observations:

   • Get timegrapher. Should be worth it, since we have enough mechanicals now that keeping them regulated would be nice. $140 on AE. Will skip other mod tools for now, since I'm sick of divers and dress watches don't have much in the way of mod options.
   • Consider making a watch roll to store the junk drawer watches.
   • Can write off watches in these categories, due to having it covered or never being interested: Pilot/flieger watches, field watches, diver watches, Bauhaus watches, chronographs, diameters over 38mm, and thicknesses over 12mm. This pretty much just leaves classic dress watches, cheap quartz watches, and the occasional one-off novelty watch.
   • For quartz, I'm pretty maxed out on those too, since I don't want to replace a ton of batteries every few years. Once the Lgxige battery dies, depending on its condition, I might consider a 34mm Casio or Timex T80 to replace it.
   • Will keep an eye out for another perfect vintage birth year Timex. As long as I can return these, the only downside to giving them a try is some hassle. Also could hold off on that and get an Omega or something else pricey of similar styling from an AD on chrono24. Will only do that for marking some kind of occasion though.
   • The main gap in the collection is a stealthy black watch, which would go good with my standard attire. Not a real need though, so won't bother unless I get income coming in again and manage to get rid of a few. Considering:
     • Timex Q GMT 38mm black.
     • Timex Q 38mm black.
     • Sinn 556 black dial
     • If I sell the Jena, Stowa 35mm black.
     • Namoki NMK932/NMK931 38mm mod full custom build.
10. DONE get birth year watch
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-03-18 Fri 11:48]
    • State "STRT" from "DONE" [2022-03-07 Mon 15:12]
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-03-07 Mon 11:40]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-03-03 Thu 21:02]

    At first I thought the practice getting a watch the same age as you to be kinda silly. But, it's probably as good a reason as any to get a watch, and would make it fun to look at over the years. Decided to do this as my tax return self-gift. Also, I've been debating about getting a watch that exudes "old man watch" vibes. By picking the right model here, I can do both of those things.

    This entry is different from the others in some important ways. If I get a functioning watch, I'll want to keep it mainly on standby so as not to damage it. Then when I'm like 60+, I can get it out and start wearing it regularly. Timexes were made to be disposable, so not using it is the only real way of keeping it around until then. On the other hand, since the contacts are all metal-on-metal with minimal lubrication, it should do better just sitting around. If it does break, one way to maybe get it working again is to take off the dial and submerse it in lighter fluid.

    2022-03-03: Ordered a Timex 16560 10578 Mercury (I think) for $80. Item is in CA, so should get here reasonably quick. Listing includes 30-day returns, so only risk is getting one that breaks later. I noticed on the listing it comes with a 20mm strap, but I suspect the lugs are 18mm. Saved a copy of the 105 movement manual to the manuals archive. Here's a page about the exact model, though this one doesn't have the numbers on the bottom for some reason: https://timexman.nl/product/timex-mercury-1978/

    This reference confirms when made: https://timex.homestead.com/date.html

    There's some Timex-branded straps out there, so maybe get one of those for this after it arrives and is confirmed working. Might hold off on it until I get the HMT though, since timex.com has straps that might go well with it too.

    Might also 3D print a display stand for this, to have as desk decoration instead of the 80% lower.

    Regarding it being an old man watch, I think it's pretty close. The 36mm Parnis datejust or a vintage Citizen quartz version of the same would probably be the perfect watch in that category. I'm thinking this is close enough though and syncs well with my Shanghai, which I can wear more often for the same purposes.

    2022-03-07: Acquired. Looks great. Will wear for a bit before deciding what to do strap-wise and also to test the movement. Initial thought is I'll want a very thin strap in a different color. Also this size of 35mm is really the absolute minimum I should be wearing.

    Update: Nope. Movement constantly stalled then froze up. Reopening to start return. Will have to get something else.

    2022-03-08: Dropped off return and got confirmation. Decided to go ahead and order the Timex Q 1978 Reissue instead, which is a 35mm quartz similar in style (though it's mostly silver instead of gold). This isn't a genuine 1978 watch, but I think I'm done ordering vintage watches, given the poor ratio of working ones. This will still be part of the "old man" side of the collection though.

    2022-03-13: Got refunded for the Mercury.

    2022-03-18: Received Timex Q 1978. Looks amazing, and the seconds hand actually hits the indices. Will definitely wear this quite a lot for the rest of life, along with the Marlin. Note for future me: Both Timexes have acrylic crystals.

11. DONE acquire junk drawer watches
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-04-04 Mon 19:47]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-02-19 Sat 13:21]

    Decided to snag a few extra cheap watches that are interesting for various reasons. As I get bored of them, I'll migrate to wearing them while working outside, where they'll probably eventually break or get trashed. Some of the project watches, like the Casio, will be junk drawer watches too, but here I'm just tracking the ones that will not be modded.

    Already ordered all of these. Tracking those here, with post-acquisition comments inline:

    • [X]

      Benyar BY-5177: Impulse purchase while on sale for $38 on Amazon (which seems very unusual). A chance to try out an Explorer style and this lower tier of Chinese homages with off-brand movements.

      Surprisingly good. Wasn't sure I'd like the 41mm, but it wears fine. Has its downsides, but is insane levels of value for the money spent. That said, the Explorer design does nothing for me beyond any other boring watch style. Glad I only paid $38 for trying it.

      Update: Swapped the clasp on this for a milled one with micro-adjust. Wears even better now.

    • [X]

      HMT Janata: Ordered the black Devanagari script version for $17, which like most HMT sold is a "Mumbai special". Interesting for linguistic and historical reasons, but also just general curiosity as to what it'll be like. Tried to get from one of the sellers that seems to be able to produce working simple watches (though like all, also sells fakes and broken stuff). Still expecting it to break within a few months though. Will keep this around after that for practice disassembling/servicing a movement.

      A surprisingly good looking/fitting watch. The 35mm size wears great. So far, it runs okay. Movement feels primitive and clunky. I put the Walmart 18mm black leather strap on it, which seems like a good fit. Might set this one aside for later in life after I wear it for a few weeks.

    • [X]

      Shanghai 7120: Another early and historical mechanical. Often said to be China's only original design, though it's so generic, I'm not sure that counts for much. Figured I could also use it as a dress watch and to test this case size. Got the variant with nice long hands, unlike most of them. It's 19mm, so maybe a Wocci strap will work. Might set this aside for use when old. Paid $49, I think.

      Looks great. Dial looks really good, with imperfections only visible with a jeweler loupe. Wears only slightly larger than the Janata, despite having the same diameter (probably due to the thickness difference). Came with a different strap than in the photos, and is actually of reasonable quality. Will just keep this one on it. Glad I got the only model with straight bar lugs.

      Update: Strap started to disintegrate, so ordered replacement.

    • [X]

      Timex Marlin reissue: Decided to add this late, instead of getting the HMT Sona for the HMT collection. Considered this previously, but figured 35mm was my lower limit. Since then I tried on a 34mm and it looked fine. This tops off the collection by having the gold case + metallic champagne dial I've wanted for quite some time.

      Really excellent and certainly the best of the extended collection. Might swap it for the Jena in the top box, despite having inferior specs.

    • [X]

      Lvpai B1P1163: Selected for maximum cringe and for being a complete eyesore. Looks like it might be a quartz Submariner style. Paid $8.29 for the rose gold one covered in fake diamonds and rainbow gems. Not sure if this will even be wearable, as a metal bracelet has to be trash at this price.

      Delivers as expected. Not a "good" product at all, of course, but is actually wearable. Extremely marginal in every respect, but something of a marvel how everything has just enough quality to come together as a functional watch. Main downside: Bracelet is integrated and extremely difficult to put on.

    • [X]

      Parnis PA2112: Ordered this since the birth year watch didn't work out. Will cover the "old man watch" part of it, and I currently feel it's the best watch of that type currently available. Ordered Miyota movement version.

      Better than expected and excellent overall. Jubilee bracelet is pretty nice too. Otherwise, no surprises.

    • [X]

      Lgxige LM013: One of the many Nautilus copies. Got the quartz model to use this as my main outside watch. Will just leave this downstairs by the door to swap on when I go outside. Got on sale for $36.

      Lgxige did a great job on this homage, but it's obvious from just wearing this a bit that I don't like this design at all. The large amount of metal in every direction is very uncomfortable and contacts arm bones. Probably should've gotten the Aquanaut instead. It's wearable enough and seems super durable, so I'll put it on when doing hard manual labor that I might otherwise not wear a watch at all for.

    This was very enlightening. Definitely know what I like and don't when it comes to watches now. Not sure knowing that is worth the money spent, but maybe it being a fun hobby fills in that gap.

    2022-05-08: Update: Gave away the Lvpai.

12. DONE build small HMT collection
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-04-15 Fri 20:28]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-03-14 Mon 00:02]

    Will only be collecting these from now on, barring something really amazing being encountered. The reason is these are dirt cheap, are mostly perfectly sized (35-36mm and very thin), and have several interesting design elements I don't have examples of elsewhere. Will make a very small collection, and keep in a zipper carrying case. Mostly won't wear these now, and set them aside for use when old.

    Entries:

    • [X] Janata: Already bought and wearing occasionally.
    • [X]

      Shiv: This will be my designated "nice" HMT, which I'll wear when going to Indian restaurants. Ordered 2022-03-13. Note that the Shivling is an "outward symbol" of the "formless reality", the symbolization of merging of the form (Prakriti) with the formless reality (Purusha) in a transcendental context. The mountains are the Kailash Parbat, or Kailash mountains, considered to be the abode of Shiva. The top Sanskrit text reads "Shiv" and the lower reads "Amarnath Yatra".

      Really nice and is a genuine HMT as hoped. Seems not refurbished, but not sure the bracelet is original since it isn't branded like others I've seen. Could still be. Wears great, except the bracelet is a hair puller. Will try wearing it for awhile, then probably switch the faux lizard strap I have on the Janata to this. It does size perfectly for me.

    • [X]

      Vijay: Ordered a brown one for $6 on 2022-03-14. This is a test bed for a homemade salmon leather strap.

      Seems like there's a good chance I got a decent watch in this lottery. Update: Actually, not really.

    • [ ]

      Sona: Get all gold version. Put on lizard grain strap. Might stop here.

      Decided to skip. Will get the Timex Marlin reissue instead. Adding that to the general junk drawer collection.

    • [ ]

      Ashwini: Might get one to try out tanks, but probably not since they're like $40. Rohini is another one.

      Decided to skip.

    Some that didn't make the cut above: Kedar (or franken Rado Diastar), Janata Gandaberunda, Shakti, and Kohinoor Devanagari.

    2022-04-07: The Shiv broke while setting the time. The crown and stem pulled out completely. Tried opening the case and reinserting it as normal, but it won't fully seat in the movement. Will try to return it, which may or may not work given where it's from. Update: Seller is attempting to weasel out of the return. Initiated a return anyway. eBay will take my side on it, probably.

    2022-04-08: Sent package back. Was thinking about whether I want to replace this. Leaning towards no. Was going to get the Gandaberunda instead, but pretty sure they're all fake on eBay. Kinda tired of dealing with these scumbags, and they can't be trusted with more than a few dollars at stake.

    2022-04-15: Still tracking the refund of the Shiv, but that could take awhile. Since I got the Vijay today, I'm calling this adventure otherwise done.

    2022-05-02: Return turned into a real nightmare. At least worst case I'm only out about $110, but that still hurts. Seller tricked eBay into closing it. Started an appeal.

    2022-05-13: Got refund! That was a painful experience, but I will say that eBay stuck up for me, which I appreciate. Older rules would've had a scummy seller get away with that.

    2022-05-14: Decided to get a dirt cheap Jawaharlal Nehru (also called the Centenary) Janata with an India flag colored NATO strap, instead of the Shiv. This was intended as an A- present. Once I opened the package, the watch fell apart into pieces though, including a small screw. Was eventually able to get it all back together and it runs good now. Of these franken watches, this one is the lowest quality by far.

    2022-05-23: Vijay broke, freezing up. Doesn't seem like an easy fix. Will leave in watch parts collection for now. Might try a full disassembly later when/if I circle back around to this hobby. Not too upset about this since it was dirt cheap.

1.9.11. DONE get nice work boot

1.9.12. DONE stockpile peppercorns

1.9.13. DONE stockpile polo shirts

1.9.14. [12/12] refactor watch strap collection

1. DONE survey collection and straps
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-05-24 Tue 13:27]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-05-24 Tue 12:55]

   Once the last HMT replacement comes in, see if it's going to work for awhile, then review all watches and their straps. Determine which I want to replace or get spares of now.

   watch	lug width	Bracelet?	augment strap(s)?
   Laco Paderborn	20mm
   Laco Jena	20mm
   Vostok Svembika	18mm		Later
   Vostok 710059	22mm
   Vostok 420269	18mm
   NIWA Meteorite	22mm		Clasp only
   Timex Q 1978	18mm		Later
   Timex Marlin	18mm		Later
   Casio F-91w	18mm		Yes
   Casio AE-1300WH-1AV	18mm
   HMT Janata	18mm
   HMT Centenary	18mm
   HMT Kohinoor	18mm		Maybe
   Core Fury	22mm
   Parnis PA2112	20mm	X
   Tuedix TD-1861	20mm	X
   Shanghai 7120	19mm
   Benyar BY-5177	21mm	X
   Lgxige LM013	-	X
   George quartz	20mm

   Since I already took care of some of these, this is in better shape than I figured.

   A- also wants 1+ extra 18mm rubber straps and a 22mm black/red NATO.

   Also, I really ended up with a lot of watches. 1 was the temp test watch and 3 were gifts, but this is still too many. Not sure how that all happened actually, but at least I didn't spend much. Definitely don't buy any more. Only exception should be replacing the F-91W if it breaks. Once the batteries run out, I'll not replace them on the George, Fury, AE-1300WH-1AV, and Lgxige. For the latter 3, I'll only keep one active (probably the Casio). Might still sell a few watches next year too.

   For the Timexes, I'll check in every year or so on their site. Right now they don't have any good replacement straps for the Q or Marlin, but might later. I have plenty of spare 3rd party 18mm, so those could be used if I never find official replacements. If I'm feeling spendthrift later, the Shanghai and Timexes could maybe benefit from the Vario Italian leather straps, which have a nice taper and texture, available in both 18mm and 19mm. One of the 20mm ones might make a good Jena spare too, if I decide to keep it.

2. DONE get gray Cordura strap
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-06-18 Sat 16:12]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-06-14 Tue 12:40]

   Consider getting a gray Cordura strap for the Worldtimeski that I can swap to. Thinking this would go good with the gray polo shirts I sometimes wear. Will do this instead of getting a gray watch (considered a Nomos Club or gray F-91W). The smaller 1978 Q Timex and larger Paderborn look okay with gray themes too, so should have it covered between these.

   2022-06-14: Ordered. Also organized the strap collection into a spare fishing lure box.

   2022-06-18: This worked out nicely. Will make this my secondary Worldtimeski strap. I think the green looks slightly better overall, but this is a close second. It also melds better with a gray shirt as planned.

3. DONE consider stocking up on alligator grain straps
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-06-23 Thu 22:59]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-06-05 Sun 13:43]

   I think these are my favorites for several of my 18mm watches. Could safely grab 2-3 of them for rest of life use. Found a nice thin one on AliEx for under $9.

   2022-06-05: Just ordered 2 unpadded ones I had my eye on. Looks good, but wasn't feeling 100% confident about it so decided to play it safe with only ~$17 spent. 2 spares will probably be enough anyway though, so will call this done if these work out.

   2022-06-23: Received. These are okay, but nothing special. Definitely usable, and I'm sure they'll get worn eventually.

4. DONE get black 22mm buckle
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-06-24 Fri 13:22]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-06-20 Mon 15:39]

   Replace the NIWA buckle with a black Barton one.

   Received and installed. Looks perfect now. Hard to imagine a better combo for this setup.

5. DONE get Spiedel strap
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-06-24 Fri 13:40]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-06-20 Mon 15:39]

   Speidels and Timexes generally go together, and their leather straps are available on Amazon. So, will get one of these in 18mm as a general backup for the Timex collection. Could also get a 19mm one for the Shanghai later. That would match its stock strap texture, but probably isn't worth the cost of doing so.

   Looks pretty good. Haven't put it on anything yet, but will definitely use at some point.

6. DONE consider Kohinoor bracelet
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-07-06 Wed 12:21]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-06-09 Thu 12:07]

   Original idea for this was to get a cheap folded link bracelet for it. Not sure it's worth the effort though. I have many spare 18mm straps, so will try those out first while seeing if the watch will last. One Chinese bracelet candidate is saved on eBay. The same seller has other options too.

   2022-06-09: Well, it did finally arrive over 6 weeks later. Luckily I own a timegrapher, since it was over -400 sec/day. This has the worst beat error of any watch I own at 9.9s, the case is disgusting, and there's visible dirt on the dial. However, it looks okay from the front at distance. I was going to wait to make sure this runs before getting a strap for it, but the case seems solid. If this movement breaks or the dial falls apart, I'll transfer my Devanagari dial/movement into this one, which should look great. So, either way this one can use a bracelet. Ordered a Milanese and a folded steel one. One of those should probably work, but if not, can use one of the lizard grain ones already on the way. Reminder: If doing a movement swap, practice crown removal on the broken Vijay first.

   2022-06-11: Tried on the Casio bracelet and it fits perfect. However, it's black and not the style I'd ideally want for it. So, ordered a fake A-158 that comes with it. This is actually cheaper at $4.16 with free shipping than getting the bracelet by itself. Will remove battery from this and put it in the drawer as a backup. Pretty sure this is my favorite option, but if not, I'll just use one of the others and leave this as backup for when something breaks.

   2022-06-23: Received Milanese and folded steel. Milanese is nice but doesn't work with the Kohinoor at all. Folded steel one looks pretty good. Sizing that is a real pain though. Will leave this on for now, until I can try the fake A-158 bracelet.

   2022-07-05: Received fake A-158. This is an okay watch and all, but the strap is even more marginal than the other one. Will wear it as is for a bit, then try it on the Kohinoor.

   2022-07-06: While returning the movement to the case, the stem will go back in but is stuck in the time set state. So, this movement might be trash. Not a huge loss since it was the worst running of all watches owned and was surely going to die eventually anyway. Might put the incoming Gandaberunda in it instead. That being the case, will leave the fake A-158 bracelet as-is.

7. DONE order Casio straps
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-07-07 Thu 18:48]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-05-24 Tue 15:39]

   Get straps for the Casio F-91W. Get A- her straps while at it.

   2022-05-24: Ordered 3x resin straps and a metal bracelet for the F-91W. The resin ones seem to be exactly the same as the official, minus branding. Likewise for the metal one, which looks like a run of the bracelets that come with the B640. So, should be good on resins for the foreseeable future. Could get a lifetime supply, but I suspect they'll degrade even just sitting the drawer. Plus, I might like the metal bracelet enough to go with that full-time. Also got a black clasp for the NIWA and 3 straps for A-'s watches. Total spent on all this stuff was about $21 total.

   2022-05-28: Also grabbed a fake F-91W with strap for $1.99 + 0.42 S/H. If that works, I think buying those might be cheaper than buying just the straps.

   Correction: Nope, the straps were $2.23. However, if I combined shipping, these fake F-91W watches would still be cheaper. Will decide what, if anything, to do about it once all of these things arrive. Probably will just keep the resin on the fake one until the battery dies early and put the metal bracelet on the real one. Could also take the battery out of it to preserve it for later. Also, research suggests that sometimes these fake Casio watches keep poor time. Probably won't bother with them in the future as a result.

   2022-06-11: Received metal bracelet. Decided to put in on the fake one for starters. Tried it on the Kohinoor though, and it fits perfect there. Might get a silver one for that.

   2022-06-15: Received first strap order. The resin F-91W straps are indistinguishable from the factory ones (minus the branding), so will get these from now on. Unfortunately, the $1.32 black buckle I ordered for the NIWA isn't that great. Will get something else. Added separate task to track that.

   2022-07-07: Received fake F-91W. This does come with a strap, but it's of lower quality than the others. Also the head is thicker than a real one. Will put the metal bracelet on it for awhile and leave this in the car until the battery dies.

8. DONE get a couple tapered 18mm straps
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-07-11 Mon 17:09]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-06-21 Tue 00:42]

   Will get 1 gray leather and 1 black textured one. These are for the Timex 1978 Q. I could also try one of these on the Svembika too. These are from Cheapest NATO Straps, so might be of dubious quality. If not, I'll consider them for future orders too.

   Tried using a privacy.com temp card for this. Seemed to go through okay. Total was $18.87.

   Received. These are quite good for the money. Both look good on the Svembika, but the black really looks good. Will leave that one on it for now. Not sure they'd make good Q straps though, since they're a little on the thick side.

9. DONE get tapered 19mm straps
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-07-18 Mon 18:27]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-07-02 Sat 17:00]

   Will get a brown and black one from Vario. Wanted to try an Epsom leather one at some point, so will use this as the opportunity to do so. Probably will put the brown on the Shanghai and the black on the Mercury, but they're quick release so can swap them around too.

   Excellent quality. The black is a perfect match on the Mercury, and the brown is great on the Shanghai. The latter seems not to really need a tapered as much as the other, and probably can go both ways.

10. DONE organize spring bars
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-08-12 Fri 17:50]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-06-27 Mon 18:28]

    Ordered a spring bar set from AliEx for $3.69. Will take all of the random ones I currently have and put it in that box. When organizing, keep an eye out for the few I have without tool ribs (meant to just be used with drilled lugs) and toss those.

    Bars organized. Some of these are magnetized somehow.

11. CNCL try dark brown Spiedel on Svembika
    
    • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-08-12 Fri 17:50]

    The black one looks good here, but isn't quite perfect. Thinking the dark brown would have a chance to be the perfect strap for it. Also wanted at least one watch with a brown strap, so this should cover that. The Spiedels are quick release, so this can be a swappable setup too (if I can find another strap I like for it). Waiting until these other straps arrive before ordering, since I might not want to do this if something else works nicely.

    Pretty happy with existing strap on this, so won't bother getting this one.

12. CNCL consider trashing junk straps
    
    • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-08-22 Mon 07:33]

    Depending on how many 18mm ones I have at the end of this, I may just want to toss the really garbage ones the HMTs came with. Most people do that, but I'd been hanging on to them in case I found a use. If I do so, at least keep the buckles and spring bars.

    Decided to just leave these in the box for now, since they're not taking up any extra space by not being in the landfill.

1.9.15. [11/11] make final watch collection adjustments

1. DONE make black mechanical Timex setup
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-06-18 Sat 16:38]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-06-07 Tue 13:01]

   Strap review found many collection gaps. Most I don't care about, but one I do want to fill for sure is having a thin, mostly-black, mechanical dress watch. Decided to grab another Marlin in black. This comes with a brown leather strap, so also grabbed a Timex black leather one. Will do a clasp swap on this from the one that comes with it. This Marlin comes with the California dial, which is a dial type that appealed to me when building the collection (after hating it at first). I do think there's a good chance this could be my primary watch, so worth adding it.

   Also considered: Serica 4512, Nomos Club, San Martin SN0031-2 (black or gray), Merkur California (black), and the Baltany bubble back (with custom service). The Merkur is probably the best deal here, with the Serica being generally best overall quality. However, the Marlin has them all beat due to a combo of thinness, size, price, color, and "authenticity". It's not top ranked in most of those categories against the competition, but in aggregate is the clear winner.

   Black watches seem the most versatile wardrobe-wise, so now I'll have this one and the black plastic Casio watches too. Should have that covered now.

   Ordered both of these from timex.com and used their -20% coupon.

   If this strap doesn't work out, consider the 18-16mm Delugs Epson Slim.

   Received, swapped strap, swapped strap buckle. Looks great. This strap has white stitching which I think fits perfect here. Will wear this a few weeks and see how I feel about it, but already pretty sure this is going to be a primary wear and maybe even the most worn. (Maybe the top three will be: Marlin California, F-91W, and Worldtimeski, in that order).

   2022-06-20: Gave the gold/silver Marlin to A-, so now only have just the one.

2. CNCL consider Serica 4512
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-06-27 Mon 16:11]

   Would have to part with a few items to make room for this, but I could see this getting more use than those. Occupies a middle size I don't have currently while remaining thin.

   Straps would be: Bonkip, Serica's 1969 pigskin, and later on Velblenist raven canvas. Backup options would be a black Delugs Epsom slim or black (or gray) Monstraps Saffiano.

   Things I don't like about it:

   • The Bonklip is interesting but not something I'd normally buy. Would be unlikely to wear it on that much. Not crazy about paying for it as a result. Some users report it coming undone on its own and getting dirty easily.
   • Bezel is thicker than I'd like, leaning more towards the sport watch style than dress watch. This is a combo of both, so where on the spectrum it falls matters. I hate the bezel on my Lgxige Nautilus, so worried I might dislike this one too.
   • Price is a little high. In-house straps are overpriced too.
   • Is a screw-down crown while also being a manual wind. That's fine if I wear it once a week, but would suck as a daily and the 200m WR is useless to me. At least this movement has a 48hr power reserve and a clutch to prevent overwind.

   Otherwise, this one's great. Will think about it for a few days.

   Decided not to get it. It's a close one, and a big part of why I was considering it was to host high quality straps. But, the downsides above and the fact that I have more than enough watches to last the rest of my life seals the deal. I'd probably overlook the latter if it were closer to perfect though. It's just far off enough that I could see its downsides wearing on me.

3. CNCL consider California 36mm Explorer build
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-06-29 Wed 00:48]

   The idea here is to make a high-beat (PT5000) movement 36mm Explorer with either PVD case and a tan dial, or stainless case with dark dial. To save money, would probably just snag a completed Bliger Explorer or OP homage and swap the dial, hands, and strap. The dial would be an eBay 28.5mm California dial, sized for the ETA 2824, with matching pencil hands. Strap would be a tan textured leather for the PVD, or a gray/grayish blue for the stainless. Would need to buy a few tools, maybe around $30 worth.

   The main downside to this is I don't really need or want another Explorer cased watch. I'd probably sell my Parnis if I did this, but I'm not sure this would be a quality upgrade from that. I might wear it slightly more due to colors/dial though. Will think about it for a few days while the AliEx sale is active.

   Decided to skip. I like 36mm watches and modding, but don't want any more thick ones. I also noticed I pretty clearly dislike wearing the Swiss sports/diver designs for comfort reasons. If I change my mind later, it'll only cost a few extra dollars to get the same Bliger on eBay.

4. DONE consider silver dial Timex
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-07-02 Sat 16:55]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-06-29 Wed 03:52]

   Options here are an all-silver vintage Mercury or getting the all-silver Marlin reissue. For both, would run on a dark brown strap, but also have a black one for it too. Mercury would be much cheaper, so leaning towards that if I do this.

   Main downsides:

   • The Mercury would need a 19mm. Only plus is it could share straps with the Shanghai.
   • Already own a Marlin.
   • I kinda have a silver dial on the 1978 Timex Q, though I'd say it's more white/tan.

   2022-06-29: Decided to put an offer in for $75 on the Mercury, which was accepted. The Marlin looks better, but the Mercury would be a real birth year watch. Also not prepared to drop another $175 on a silver Marlin which I'd wear less. Will pair it with the black 19mm Wocci strap I originally bought for the Shanghai. Then if it runs okay for a few months, I might consider a dark brown Vario.

   2022-07-02: Received yesterday and seems to be running good. In fact, on the timegrapher, it's running under +60s with minimal beat error. Pretty amazing for a watch this old. Looks like this one worked out.

5. CNCL consider selling 710059
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-07-06 Wed 13:27]

   Could put the original bezel back on and sell this. It's an amusing build, but not something I'll wear much. If so, include the anchor-pattern NATO and any other 22mm straps I don't want. Given the shortage of these, it's probably a good time to sell if I want to part with it.

   Wore this for a bit, deciding to keep for now. Main reason is this is my most custom build and most unusual watch. Not as much fun to wear of course, but I'll continue getting it out once a month or so.

6. DONE get HMT Gandaberunda
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-07-11 Mon 18:08]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-06-29 Wed 23:45]

   Was going to skip this, but found one for $16. Too cheap to pass that up. Might use it as a movement/dial swap into my Kohinoor's case. Only downsides are it doesn't have an applied HMT logo and the reprinting on this one is a little crappy. There was also a black one now available for $28, but I'll stick with the original white. If I keep it in the Janata case is comes in, I'll just pair it with one of the junk straps.

   Dead on arrival, but not worth returning at this price. Only minor upside is I kinda regretted impulse purchasing it right after, and at least now I didn't bloat the collection up more. The dial looks good though, so will hang on to it and might swap it on the Nehru when/if I get tired of looking at that one. Might also swap the nicer caseback here for one of the others.

   2022-07-13: Got refund in exchange for removing the negative feedback, so no loss on this one. In fact, now I have a free Gandaberunda dial I might be able to use.

   Update: Tried swapping this dial onto the Centenary, but the latter seems to have some kind of special dial sizing needs. Reassembled everything and will just let it die (it's not running all that well as-is and the case integrity is iffy). I could swap it on the Janata, but I slightly prefer the Devanagari dial there. Anyway, I won't be maintaining the HMT collection and I'm fine with the remaining 2 functioning ones dying. Once that happens, I'll just toss all my HMT parts since they're not worth anything.

7. DONE get some movement/hand tools
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-08-02 Tue 16:28]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-07-13 Wed 15:46]

   Since I'll probably do a hands/dial swap on some HMTs at least, might as well get the tools I planned on getting before but only now have a need for. Would need these if I ever did the 36mm Explorer build too.

   Ordered:

   • Aluminum movement holder set.
   • Casing cushion.
   • Hands setter/puller set.

   Received. Won't do anything with these for now though.

8. CNCL consider selling AE-1300WH-1AV
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-08-22 Mon 07:34]

   Probably could get $35 for it. This is a nice watch, but is another entry on the bulky side of the collection which means I wear it almost never. The timezone feature is interesting, but the 420269 can fill in for that in a pinch. Downside to selling is its another mod watch, and I'd rather sell the unmoddable ones.

   Decided to keep it for now. This is due to the fake Casio watches keeping terrible time, such that I won't be replacing their batteries when they run out. Then I'll just have this and the F-91W.

9. CNCL consider selling Parnis PA2112
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2022-10-04 Tue 21:00]

   Great watch, but not really wearing it much. It's also one of the few that are probably sellable here. Main downside for doing so is it's my only gold colorway. I could see myself missing this later in life too. I did give away the Fury quartz too, so the collection isn't as bloated now.

   Canceling for now. Might get a new work watch, in which case I'll consider selling this again.

10. DONE consider Sinn 556i
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-10-07 Fri 12:28]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-10-04 Tue 07:32]

    Thinking this would be a good work watch. A very black and white watch, which would go good with dress shirts and the black sweaters I sometimes wear. Also would be a good stealth wear, not standing out for any particular reason at all. Cost is $1.3k.

    Also considered (with thoughts):

    • Panerai Luminor Due 38: ~$6000 new. Decided against due to the colorways available (sunburst black or white/blue). Also not a fan of the Panerai crownguard and large lug width. The black colorway also has gold hands, which clash, I think.
    • Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe 38mm: Just under $10k. Downsides are a non-hacking movement, circular indices, partial red seconds, 4:30 date window, and pointy lugs. Also lacks the classic feel of the 40mm FF.
    • IWC Portofino 37mm: $4.6k. Traditional and thin at 9.2mm. Main dowside is that it has diamonds on the dial due to being marked to women.
    • Jaeger-LeCoultre Ultra Thin Moon: 39mm. Black dial. ~$9-10k. Close to perfect as a dress watch, especially if I ever become a werewolf. Downsides are I'd prefer -1mm case size. Like this best among the high-end options, but probably something I might want to try on before buying.
    • Serica 4512 California: $575. Reconsidered. Great dial and hands, but really disliked the thick bezel after staring at it for awhile. Starting to appreciate their 5303-1 diver version a bit more as a result. Despite this, it's a close second though, since the rest of these are horribly overpriced.

    The 556i isn't perfect, but seems pretty close. I like the case dimensions at 38.5mm x 11mm. Probably the only thing I'd change on it is having a closed caseback, since apart from the decorated rotor, the SW-200 isn't anything special to look at. Also the outside AR coating on it means I'll have to be at least semi-careful with it. Years from now, if it gets all scratched up, I can remove the coating with a Brillo pad.

    2022-10-04: Ordered. Need to call WatchBuys at 888-333-4895 tomorrow to finalize, according to their terms & conditions.

    2022-10-05: Looks like it was confirmed, so no need to call in, I guess. Also got $25.80 in store credit that I can put to the metal bracelet if I decide to get that at some point. Almost certainly won't though. Update: Did get a call from them anyway. Will arrive Friday. Note that I have 3 days to activate a return if I want to do so, so give it a careful look on the bench before putting it on. Test crown and ensure dial is firmly affixed.

    2022-10-07: Arrived. Tested and seems perfect, so started wearing. Will make this my main "nice" watch, and wear it to work-related functions. Rather like it quite a lot so far. Wearing it in person makes me think it's a bit more versatile outfit-wise than I suspected, as the pure white indices are less semblant than suspected. Decided to skip the bracelet. But, I might get a spare strap for it at some point, since this one is pretty much perfect. Might also consider one of these when back in stock: https://artemstraps.com/products/classic-black-sailcloth-watch-strap-with-white-stitching

    Update: This has since become my favorite watch, displacing the Marlin. Pretty happy with the purchase.

11. DONE collect future possibilities
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-10-10 Mon 09:42]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-10-09 Sun 23:46]

    Here's a list of nice options I've found on the way. Also reviewed all the offerings by the major brands. Almost certainly won't act on them, since none are must-haves. I'm more inclined to add something on the high end, and something more unique.

    Some selected items of interest, with thoughts:

    • Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Barakuda: ~$14k. 40x13.3mm. Something about this one appeals to me. Was a limited edition though, and thus unobtainable. There's other nice 40mm offerings, but those are also super limited.

      Downsides: Can't get, so just recorded here in case I want a copy like the Tornek-Rayville, which doesn't quite capture the style. Could also just get a homage like the Octopus Kraken.

    • Sinn 356 Flieger Acrylic: $2.2k. 38x15.5mm. Probably the only chronograph I'd be interested in. Has a nice acrylic crystal. Probably would get on bracelet.

      Downsides: Very busy dial. Very thick, though a lot of that is the domed acrylic. Chronograph features are also mostly useless to me, so would be paying for useless stuff.

    • Nomos Club Sport Neomatik Petrol: $3.15k. 37x8.3mm. Would get on bracelet, and probably the blue.

      Downsides: No black or gray colorway. Some don't like the pin/collar bracelet.

    • Benrus Type I reissue: $1.7k. 42x15mm. A limited edition (only 1k being made). Sterile. Also almost like their DTU-2A/P.

      Downsides: Rather thick and large. Has ghost date. Would've preferred acrylic. Lume seems to glow blue instead of preferred green. Might be worth checking back on if they do an update.

    • Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Compression ZO9269: $1.4k. 40x13mm. Watermelon coloring. Could pair with the AlphaShark BluShark Marlin NATO and an orange FKM rubber. This might make more sense instead of adding another boring, sensible watch, especially since the Centenary died.

      Downsides: Could certainly be even more watermelon-like. Might get bored of that gimmick though. There's less silly Sea Wolf model that's 11mm too, which is pretty impressive for a dive watch like this.

    • Smiths PRS-29A: ~$450. 36x11.1mm. Close to the perfect field watch, at least among what's available new.

      Downsides: Sapphire instead of acrylic. Silly hoops to jump through for ordering. Field watch style overlaps with the Worldtimeski, which I already have and like.

    These are nice and all, but something pricey needs to really be near perfect, especially considering now much coverage the collection has already. It also needs to be something I'd wear regularly, and that seems unlikely with the current options here. Some of these are also in the inconvenient to resell range, so want to be extra sure about any purchases.

    Generally, I'm pretty unimpressed by the high-end offerings, and find them mostly to be unappealing eyesores. So, I'm going to forget about any additions in this category and maybe check back in a few years. In the meantime, there's other wardrobe components that need attention.

1.9.16. DONE replace slip-on shoes

1.9.17. [3/3] do 2022 vehicle maintenance

1. DONE get oil change
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-02-09 Wed 14:49]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-02-05 Sat 11:00]

   Will do this a little earlier than I otherwise would to see if they have any firmware and SYNC system updates. I'm sure at least the latter exists.

   Looks like I'll probably have to do these separately due to inability to coordinate these things between two departments. Will do oil change first and schedule the other thing while I'm in there, since the tech for that is hard to get on the line.

   Also get the right side (passenger) tailgate bumper replaced. The clip on this broke. Old part is in center storage compartment. Looks like these are common to break and aren't necessary, so don't bother if it ends up being a hassle.

   2022-02-05: Scheduled oil change and wipers replacement for 2022-02-09 0915.

   2022-02-09: Done. Didn't do any of the other stuff.

2. DONE get car inspection
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-10-14 Fri 15:03]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-10-14 Fri 10:12]

   Do this on 2022-10 and take both vehicles at the same time.

   Done.

3. DONE get oil change and tire rotation
   
   • State "DONE" from "TODO" [2022-12-27 Tue 19:38]

   Scheduled for 2022-12-27 1030.

   Completed. Also got front brakes replaced and tires rotated.

1.9.18. [2/2] do 2022 firearms refactor

1. DONE get mag carrier
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-01-29 Sat 21:44]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-11-26 Fri 14:15]

   Get one for single G19 mag. The reason for getting this is for use during taking the series of locally offered pistol courses.

   2021-11-26: Ordered a carrier that matches my holster from QVO. Also, checked and the courses aren't currently being offered, probably due to ammo shortages. Will check back on that mid/late next year.

   2022-01-29: Finally received. Looks good. Put accessories in workshop drawer.

2. DONE get shooting bench
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-11-28 Mon 14:31]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-11-23 Wed 15:43]

   Thinking about getting the MTM High-Low bench. The reason being that it should accommodate the angled slope of the backyard better than the folding table. With that, stuff tends to slide off, which is rather annoying and distracting. Can use this one standing or sitting too.

   2022-11-23: Ordered.

   2022-11-28: Arrived. Looks great. Much sturdier than I thought it'd be. Seems like a good product.

1.9.19. [4/4] sell/get rid of stuff

1. DONE do dump run
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-01-04 Tue 13:28]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-01-04 Tue 10:30]

   Round up all the junk that needs to go to the dump and take it there. Will also be a test run to using this service instead of regular trash service, which is now canceled.

   Done. 4xx lbs of stuff dumped for $19. Looks like Tuesdays at 1100 is a good time to show up.

2. DONE sell Laco Jena
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-07-07 Thu 15:17]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-06-02 Thu 13:57]

   A great watch, and would keep if it were the 38mm version. I do like this one even in 40mm, but since it's worth around $300+, I can negate a lot of the money I have tied up in watches by selling it. Also, WG is no longer listing it for cheap, but it's still listed on the Laco site for $540. Thinking I can get a quick $350 for this, minus a little shipping costs. In that case, I'd actually make money by selling it.

   I do still like the Bauhaus design, and might consider a 35-38mm hand-wind at some point. Perhaps a Nomos or Stowa, when/if I have more income coming in and if they're making a black dial model I like at the time.

   2022-06-02: Listed. Trying out "Buy it now" with free shipping (in the US). Supposedly that sells more stuff than auctions these days. I know I prefer it on the other end. Added a secondary shipping option for international buyers. Will leave listed as-is for 1-1.5 months, then open it to offers for another month.

   2022-07-06: Sold for $300 after some offer back and forth. I had 3 watchers and used the "send offer" feature to kick off the interaction. Seems like this is a good way to move stuff, so might use that feature for future listings. Will also turn offers on from now on. Will ship out tomorrow.

   2022-07-07: Shipped.

3. DONE sell 2 ancient Nintendo VHS tapes
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-08-22 Mon 16:47]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-06-05 Sun 12:44]

   Have 2 tapes that might be desirable by console fanbois.

   2022-06-05: Listed on eBay as a lot for $39 with free domestic shipping. Package is 1lb 6oz with dimensions 3.5"x8"x10".

   2022-07-06: Switched it to offers accepted.

   2022-07-22: Had an offer accepted, but buyer backed out. Seems this happens a lot these days. Kind of an inconvenience.

   2022-08-22: Item sold for $30 and shipped same day. Timing worked out nice and didn't need to make a special trip to the post office for it. Glad to be rid of this old junk.

4. DONE do winter dump run
   
   • State "DONE" from "TODO" [2022-11-30 Wed 14:44]

   Be sure to get rid of the spare fence gates and more of the siding.

   Did this in 2022-10, I believe. Got rid of one of the gates and one of the siding sheets. Need to fold those in half so they fit better. Still under minimum weight tho, so could definitely pack more stuff in there.

1.9.20. [1/1] do 2022 handloading tasks

1. DONE get more small rifle primers
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2022-04-21 Thu 17:40]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2022-04-18 Mon 10:35]

   These came back in stock, to my surprise. Ordered 1000 for 8c/each. Will feel pretty good about the supplies situation with double the primer count. Also grabbed 200 195gr. ELD.

   Done. Probably next priority will be subs weight projectiles.

1.10.1. DONE get new retainers

1.10.2. DONE quit using e-cigarettes

1.10.3. DONE setup privacy.com account

1.10.4. DONE do 2021 taxes

1.10.5. CNCL consider buying rental property

1.10.6. DONE try hand-written notebooks

1.10.7. DONE try going NoPoo

1.10.8. DONE consider starting a job search

1.10.9. DONE ponder summer self-education plan

1.10.10. DONE buy a Treasury I bond

1.10.11. DONE start taking algae oil supplement

1.10.12. DONE quit drinking diet soda

1.10.13. DONE consider non-plastic toothbrushes

2.1.1. DONE read Roll Your Own IRC Bot

2.1.2. DONE learn Malli

2.2.1. DONE replace PSU fan

2.2.2. [18/18] build electronics workbench

1. DONE ponder extent of interest
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2020-11-17 Tue 10:10]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-11-17 Tue 09:58]

   Decide to what degree I want to invest time/energy into this side of technology. I don't want to overinvest here, such that it diminishes my available energy for my main interests in computer science. Scaled correctly, however, it could do well to complement them with real world effects.

   Some things I'd like to be able to competently do:

   • Construct simple, operable IoT-style devices.
   • Be able to rewire components together.
   • Understand the basics of electrical systems, which should hopefully transfer over to home and vehicle electrical systems.
   • Have the tools and parts available to do the above.
   • Stage ability for a (very) minor segue into vehicle electronics. Maybe I'll come up with some project ideas for the UTV.

   Note on tools: I'll get a high quality multimeter, since I can use that elsewhere. Soldering iron, mat, and power supply should be mid-range. Everything else should be price-optimized for now. Once I see how much time I'm spending on this, I'll consider adding an oscilloscope and other items. I'll also need to setup a spare computer in the main indoors workshop. Keep total budget under $1000 (preferably under $700 or so), which means no new dedicated full computers, nice monitors, or high-end/professional tools.

   Note on self-education: I'd rather take the time to learn this formally. Get some general context first, then select a textbook on the subject.

   I think this plan is good enough for initial task breakout. Will revisit later.

2. DONE get knips
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2020-11-23 Mon 13:43]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-11-18 Wed 21:27]

   Get the KNIPEX brand ones. Apart from electronics, also generally useful.

   2020-11-18: A- ordered a pair for me.

   2020-11-23: Received.

3. DONE research power supplies
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2020-11-23 Mon 21:31]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-11-20 Fri 11:14]

   Don't get one of these yet, but I'll want one eventually. Might want to see what's cheap used.

   For new PSUs, though it has some problems, the BK Precision 1550 might be a good compromise. Slightly pricier though of maybe higher quality is the Unisource PS-303. At least get one of 30V 3A.

   Decided against both of the previously mentioned. If I stick in bottom tier price range, which I'm sure I want to, I'll get the KORAD KA3005D. This is also Chinesium, but at least includes a output toggle and is programmable for less than the other options. If I ever decide to upgrade later, consider the Keysight U8000 or Tektronix PWS2326. I don't foresee myself getting that into this hobby though, so it's probably safe to go cheap.

4. DONE consider dedicated workbench Pi
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2020-11-23 Mon 14:20]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-11-18 Wed 00:29]

   Maybe get another one of these for the electronics bench as the primary dev computer. Will need an LCD panel of some kind for it.

   Another option is the Pi 4 compute module, IO board, and antenna kit. This provides all the capability of the 4B, but with more accessible outputs for projects. Performance is also much better. Leaning towards this, but will have to wait until these items are available.

   2020-11-18: Ordered. Decided to get a Pi Zero W and use that in the reloading room and put the 4B on the electronics bench. First, I'll build out the Zero and get a HDMI->DVI adapter so I can save some cash on a display by using the old Dell 2007. Once all of this is setup, then I'll think about whether I want to do a swap with the 4B for the electronics bench or something else. This prevents me from blowing money on hats and other accessories for the Zero if I don't want to go that route for the wearable or palmtop. Later the decommissioned desktop will go down here for a proper computer, and the 4B can be a dedicated project board.

   Also ordered various connectors and adapters for this and the 4B. The 20000 mAh power bank I was eyeing also had a $10 off coupon, so I grabbed one of those too.

5. DONE get ESD tweezers
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2020-11-25 Wed 18:20]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-11-19 Thu 20:17]

   Needed for the very small stuff I'll be working on.

   2020-11-19: Ordered the EDSYN EPAA-SA-EG from Test Equipment Depot. These are medium-sized straight tip. Might want a curved set later, but I'll see if I can get by with these, since they were on sale.

   2020-11-25: Received.

6. DONE assemble Zero W build
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2020-11-26 Thu 01:15]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-11-23 Mon 14:24]

   Assemble the Zero W setup above. All parts already ordered. I'll also test the power bank on this to see runtime.

   2020-11-23: Received HDMI->DVI adapter.

   2020-11-24: Received microSD cards, micro-USB->USB adapter. Installed latest Raspberry Pi OS on one of the cards. Didn't set any monitor configs on it yet, since I'll set it up on a normal peripheral config first to save time.

   2020-11-25: Received Zero W and all remaining parts. One big downside I discovered of this board is that since it's an older ARM, it doesn't support Clojure development (at least lein doesn't run, and I only want to use lein). This is a strong reason to stick with the 4B except for very minimal projects that need low power draw, and for using the 4B for a dev board that other microcontroller boards will connect to. However, for the reloading room computer, this doesn't matter. Looks like Haskell development is still possible strangely enough (it's usually the other way around).

   I also didn't realize it at the time, but the Zero doesn't have any audio port. Maybe building a sound card for it would be a good project.

   Anyway, I switched back to my original plan of putting the Zero on the electronics bench for now. This was due to a combination of no sound and that the cables I have for it are all the wrong lengths for the reloading bench. This results in it sitting on the desktop with a mess of cables. Rectifiable, but would involve buying more cables of appropriate length, which isn't worth the trouble. The Zero will serve immediate needs in the workshop for now, until I need a board with more power for some reason.

7. DONE get magnifying lamp
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2020-11-26 Thu 01:16]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-11-19 Thu 20:16]

   Current contacts prescription makes me slightly farsighted, so this is kinda needed. Get a Luxo probably, since the cheap Chinese ones are kinda crap.

   2020-11-19: Ordered the Luxo LFG028215 from Test Equipment Depot. These are a little pricier than I thought they'd be, and kinda ruins the low end of my intended budget range a little. Will still try to keep it under $800 for everything though.

   2020-11-25: Received.

   2020-11-26: Installed. Looks great. Glad I went with the nicer model. Will keep the cover on it while not in use.

8. DONE get multimeter
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2020-11-26 Thu 01:37]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-11-19 Thu 20:16]

   Probably will get a low end Fluke.

   2020-11-19: Ordered the Fluke 117 from Test Equipment Depot. I think this comes with leads, but can get those later if not.

   2020-11-25: Received. Will test out a bit.

   2020-11-26: Unboxed and set on bench. Tested and seems great. This is mainly marketed as an electrician's multimeter, but I wanted one that could feasibly do both that an electronics work. If I ever get a second one, that'll be more dedicated to lower range precision.

9. DONE get power supply
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2020-12-01 Tue 21:28]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-11-27 Fri 10:43]

   The KORAD KA3005D will probably do the job for $110, so maybe get this. Not immediately critical though, so skip for now if I want to spend the Black Friday cash elsewhere. Check for name brand units on eBay before buying.

   2020-11-27: Ordered the KA3005D. Debated this versus some of the pricier used ones on eBay, but decided to cheap out on this for a first supply. Reasons are that I'll probably build one of my own at some point, none of the eBay ones were completely optimal, and this keeps me in budget. I'm not against getting a proper high end one at some point, but I'll know whether that makes sense after using this a bit. Should be no problem selling this one used if need be. Once I get this, check to see if other electronics flicker when switching this on/off. If so, add a ferrite bead clamp to the PSU's power cable. Probably will have to raise the shelf height on the desk for this, but I'll hold off until it arrives.

   2020-11-28: Apparently the fan on the Korad is loud, but there exist various mods for this. The ultimate is a temperature control mod + fan replacement. I'll probably just replace the fan with a Noctua if mine is loud, as I'm fairly sure this will be good enough. To do this, I'll either need a 3-to-2 pin adapter or to cut/splice the wiring. Preferring the former, since it doesn't mess up resale options.

   Another common mod is to reduce the noise of the buzzer by applying a drop of hot glue to the buzzer component opening.

   Also, open the case up and check all screws and heat sinks before using. Some people report these can be loose.

   2020-12-01: Received. The fan didn't seem bad at first, but did get a little annoying. It's probably worth replacing. Otherwise, I tested it with the multimeter and it's very accurate with fast response time. The leads are a little short, but good enough for working directly on the bench.

10. DONE setup bench desktop PC
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2020-12-01 Tue 21:30]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-12-01 Tue 10:04]

    Put a zero-maintenance Linux setup on here and see if I can get all of the hardware working. Don't put any effort into this setup, since I may need to switch the OS later for software support.

    2020-12-01: Tried Manjaro-i3, since I already have a full config for it. However, looks like there's issues with the wireless adapter, which works but only sort of. Switched to a stock Debian install to see if that problem persisted there, and it does, but not as much. Will stick with that for now since I'd rather not buy a wireless adapter for this.

    What I'll probably do is keep this down here until I upgrade the NUC, probably with one of the micro Ryzen machines or the Purism NUC clone. Then the NUC can go down here. That'll be a couple years from now though, at the soonest.

11. DONE get 2 power strips
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2020-12-09 Wed 21:10]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-11-27 Fri 10:40]

    Get one for all of the equipment, then a desk mount one with USB ports for powering stuff being worked on.

    2020-11-26: Found a spare floor power strip, so will use this. Now just need the desk mount one.

    2020-11-27: Ordered desk mount strip.

    2020-12-09: Received and setup. Now I can just flip the switch on this power strip and be sure everything is powered off.

12. DONE get solder roll
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2020-12-09 Wed 21:11]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-11-27 Fri 10:42]

    Get a 1lb thin rosin core, like maybe the Kester 24-6337-8800.

    2020-11-27: Ordered, along with solder wick and flux pen. While grocery shopping, I also grabbed a pack of steel scour pads. Will see if this works okay for tip cleaning. Seems like the ones they sell for this purpose might be brass, but I can't think of a good metallurgical reason why steel wouldn't do fine here too. If this works, I'll build a holder for it.

    2020-12-09: This arrived a week or so ago. Noticed that this is lead solder, so might want to get a lead-free one later.

13. DONE get kit for solder practice
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2020-12-11 Fri 13:36]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-11-27 Fri 10:40]

    Find a cheap DIY kit of some kind for practicing soldering, since I've never done it before. Leaning towards one of the speaker kits for sale on Amazon for ~$19, since it includes 2 SMD components. Plus I might be able to actually use them if they don't sound too horrible.

    2020-11-27: Ordered the speaker kit.

    2020-12-11: Kit arrived. Need replacement solder station before proceeding.

14. DONE get another 4B
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2020-12-13 Sun 22:13]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-12-02 Wed 23:18]

    Was debating on whether to get a compute module or just another 4B, but the IO boards seem to be in short supply. Plus, it's a much more expensive platform. Will just get another 4B for now and keep the Zero for a project build.

    2020-12-02: Ordered along with another HDMI cable, heat sink set, and power switch. I might also work a bit on slimming down the base OS to get the Zero to run faster. There's definitely a lot of bloat there.

    2020-12-13: Received and tested as functional, at least with no OS.

15. DONE get soldering station
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2020-12-21 Mon 13:17]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-11-19 Thu 20:17]

    Just get the base station for now. Get at least one very fine tip.

    2020-11-19: Ordered the Weller WE1010 from Test Equipment Depot. Also ordered a 0.38mm conical tip. I'll see if I can just buy a kitchen scour pad and maybe 3D print a holder for it later.

    2020-11-25: Received.

    2020-11-26: Unboxed and the station base is smashed and very broken. Emailed sales to see if I can get an exchange or refund.

    2020-11-30: Called in the issue. They said they were short staffed and haven't gotten to it yet, but will look at it.

    2020-12-08: A- called again and they finally sent an RMA, though won't pay shipping. These guys suck. Guess I'll take my business elsewhere next time, even if this does get resolved. Even crappy Amazon would've been better than this. Will switch to tequipment.net.

    2020-12-09: Item mailed back. Cost was $15.

    2020-12-16: Got tracking notification for replacement.

    2020-12-21: Received replacement and tested as working. Finally resolved this whole unpleasant experience.

16. CNCL try Manjaro ARM on the 4B
    
    • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2021-01-02 Sat 20:35]

    Under their downloads for the Raspberry Pi, they have a port of the 64-bit i3 version of this distro. This might make for an excellent electronics bench OS install if I can get everything working correctly.

    Tried this, but nothing ever shows on screen. Seems to run, so could probably SSH in and mess with the video settings if I decide to run a 4B as a desktop one day. In the meantime, I just switched back to Raspberry Pi OS.

17. DONE get a few starter parts
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2021-01-08 Fri 10:14]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-11-27 Fri 10:41]

    To get started, get one of the kits with tons of parts. This will save some money on buying them separately, probably. Get one compatible with the Pi for now, but maybe switch to a Arduino/Nano kit later. Get a few spare parts and small tools I know I'll need while I'm at it.

    2020-11-27: Decided to take advantage of a sale and get one of the knock-off Uno board kits, which saves a lot of cash. I'll still get the Pi kit later, once it goes back on sale. Also ordered:

    • Glue gun.
    • Pack of breadboards.
    • Board holder.
    • Engineer ruler.
    • Soldering wick.

    2020-11-27: Pi kit came back on sale, so got that too. Will use this first and then the Arduino one later when I get around to it. Also got some Knipex electrician shears for cutting thick wires (more for working on house wiring than this stuff).

    2020-12-01: Received solder, flux pen, Pi kit.

    2020-12-03: A- ordered a 3-pack of Nano boards. These were on sale for ~$10, so definitely a good deal.

    2020-12-10: Received ruler and board holder.

    2020-12-11: Received glue gun, breadboards, and UNO kit.

    2020-12-12: Something happened to the electrical scissors in transit and I guess I'll get a refund for it.

    2020-12-19: Looks like wick was lost in transit too. Reordered.

    2020-12-21: A- ordered a 3 pack of Nano boards for me, which arrived.

    2021-01-08: Finally got wick, which was the last piece for now.

18. DONE collect parts list
    
    • State "DONE" from "TODO" [2021-01-09 Sat 04:11]

    Probably won't get to the point of needing additional project materials until next winter. While doing starter projects, collect a list of electronics parts to buy and order them all at once from somewhere, like sparkfun.com or allelectronics.com.

    List:

    • 10+ metal toggle switches, and maybe a few of the ones with covers.
    • Kits (or boxes) of capacitors, resistors, diodes, transistors. Like the Elenco branded kind (e.g. RCK-465).
    • Hookup wire kit, which is a rectangular box with multiple wire colors coming out of it.
    • Prototype board: Global Specialties PB-103M
    • A pair of the test probes capable of grabbing wires. Pomona makes some of these and are high quality.
    • A few 9V I-type battery snaps with 5" leads.
    • Jumper wire assortment.
    • Various LEDs.
    • Heat shrink tubing assortment.
    • A few character LCDs.
    • Many momentary buttons of various types.
    • A set of cheap solder tips.
    • Consider a parts storage solution, like the Arko-Mils shelving units.

    Probably will order this stuff over the summer so it's available when needed.

2.2.3. CNCL get ESD mat

2.3.1. CNCL research Berkeley DB

2.3.2. DONE refresh/update MongoDB knowledge

2.3.3. DONE write MongoDB DAL

2.3.4. DONE update résumé

2.3.5. DONE resign job

2.3.6. DONE clean up work software on personal machine

2.4.1. DONE consider renaming Org status labels

2.4.2. CNCL consider Dasung Paperlike 3 HD-FT

2.4.3. DONE run vrms

2.4.4. CNCL try out Kinesis Advantage

2.4.5. DONE try out Vimium on Brave

2.4.6. DONE switch to GNU IceCat

2.4.7. CNCL create Trisquel VM

2.4.8. DONE consider termbin

2.4.9. CNCL create PureOS VM

2.4.10. CNCL replace mouse on Linux workstation

2.4.11. CNCL consider Riak

2.4.12. CNCL create Parabola VM

2.4.13. [3/3] build wearable computer

1. DONE design wearable computer
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2020-11-17 Tue 09:28]

   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-11-16 Mon 21:48]

   Thinking the rPi Zero W, UPS battery, and the Vufine+ display. With my wireless mini-keyboard, this should be a fully functional wearable, good enough for SSH-ing into servers, reading e-books, taking notes, and other random computing.

   Display: The Vufine+ display is the only expensive part, at $200. Maybe get the unbranded version.

   Battery: I think the PiJuice Zero is out now. However, the Vufine only has 90 of runtime in its internal battery. I might want to go with a power bank that has 2 USB-C adapters, thus able to power both for many hours. Of course, I could still use the PiJuice, but that could be a later addition if I think it needs it. Going power bank means the computer needs to turn off to charge.

   Cables: Will need an HDMI cable of appropriate length, maybe 2.5' to 3'. The Pi side is mini-HDMI. I think the Vufine side is full HDMI.

   Keyboard: Instead of the mini-keyboard, I might want the Rii K22, which is full size. Either will need a micro-USB->USB dongle.

   I think I could try a lower risk workflow for this by just getting the battery pack first and trying to run the 4B off it. Then I could get the display and use that with it and see if I can get the config.txt settings correct. If all that works, then get the Zero W or maybe even just go with the 4B for the wearable setup.

2. CNCL redesign wearable computer
   
   • State "CNCL" from "STRT" [2021-04-23 Fri 21:15]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2020-11-17 Tue 09:29]

   Had some additional ideas, though I like the previous approach so will keep it archived. I may do something more like that with the Zero W, but for now I want to keep investment minimal.

   Design:

   • Board: 4B.
   • UPS: PiSugar 2 Pro. This one does support UPS.
   • Display: Vufine+ unbranded, magnetic mount, generic non-prescription glasses.

   This design will allow my power bank to be hooked up for longer sessions, otherwise keeps it light for short-term usage.

   2020-11-24: Received power bank, which I'm also using for powering the W. In that role it can run it for days, it seems.

   2021-04-01: Cost would be $35 4B + $50 PiSugar + $200 Vufine + extra for shipping and maybe a couple cables. So, probably just over $300 total. Will have to think about whether this is worth it before buying any parts.

   2021-04-23: Decided not to continue with this project. Main reason is expense and crappy HUD options. Also have too many other active projects going on right now anyway. Will check back in 4-5 years to see if better displays are available. May still try a pocket computer build.

3. CNCL get PiSugar 2 Pro
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2021-04-23 Fri 21:15]

   Runs about $50.

2.4.14. [15/15] do 2021 Emacs yak-shave

1. DONE learn dired
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2021-03-30 Tue 23:55]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-03-30 Tue 13:12]

   Did an learning session for dired in 2009 and then didn't really use it for years. Lately, I've been using it occasionally at work. So, might as well go through all the basic basic file management operations and make sure I can actually do everything. Probably also a good idea to prevent irreversible accidents.

   Notes:

   • Use C-x C-j (dired-jump) to open the cwd of the file in the current buffer.
   • Probably should stick to marking with d followed by x for deletions
   • For compression, use c. The extension of the output file will determine the command executed to compress. Could also add 7Zip support here later by appending to dired-compress-files-alist.
   • Magit works against cwd.
   • Use % m to mark files by regex.
   • To open a file asynchronously in an external command use &, ! can also be used but is blocking.
   • Use a to navigate into directories and reuse the same buffer.

   Stuff to consider:

   • Bind dired-toggle-read-only to something. Need to look into this a more. Could be handy for macro-based file operations.
   • Check out dired-single, which solves the whole "buried buffer being navigated back to but not refreshed" problem.
   • The all-the-icons-dired package will add file icons for quick eyeballing. Not sure if this would work in terminal though. Not inclined to bother, but might be worth a look.
   • The dired-open package allows for assigning commands to extensions when files are opened. Might be handy for certain binaries, e.g. media files, so they aren't opened in Emacs itself. Also saves typing the command with &.
   • Maybe spend some more time with multi-file operations. There's more power here, like with renaming multiple files based on pattern and other stuff that might require some shell scripting.

   Feeling pretty good with dired now finally. Will use this for most file management for the next few months and see if I want to explore some extended capability. Pretty sure I want dired-single, so will queue that now. Otherwise will try to get by without adding a ton of extra dired-related packages unless the need is pressing.

2. DONE consider Ivy and Counsel
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2021-03-31 Wed 11:52]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-03-31 Wed 10:12]

   ivy is a completion package and counsel extends ivy with additional functions. Currently using lusty-explorer for this. lusty is great, but has one downside: when trying to open a file that is a substring of the name of an existing file/directory, it doesn't provide a way to override completion. I think by default ivy solves this by allowing a C-M-j after the substring. Another nice feature is that it displays all completions in the minibuffer and not in a mode buffer. If using this, I may also want to consider swiper, which is a search replacement that provides a results buffer. I'm inclined think this would get in the way, since I use search for navigation.

   https://github.com/abo-abo/swiper

   Notes:

   • Installing counsel will bring in both ivy and swiper. Did this, but ignoring swiper for now.
   • Start using <f2> u for Unicode char insertion instead of insert-char. Rebound my previous insert-char binding of <f9> to this too, but will consider this key available for something else.
   • Will try out the M-y binding of counsel-yank-pop for awhile to see if this is more efficient. I'm thinking not, but will give it a chance.
   • Use C-M-j to handle the situation where you want to create a file that's a substring of an existing file.
   • Note that the immediate complete and open functionality of lusty-explorer using TAB is replaced by just hitting RET.
   • Has some TRAMP integration with special syntax for opening remote files. See manual if this comes up.

   Seems nice so far and is super fast. Fixes some of the awkward aspects of lusty-explorer, like how it behaved weird with elscreen. Also tried out swiper-isearch, and while not as intrusive as I thought it'd be, I don't think it adds much value.

   Both ivy and counsel have tons of mode extensions that work with various other modes. Maybe give them a look after I'm sure I want to stick with this.

3. DONE consider tab-bar-mode
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2021-03-31 Wed 17:51]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-03-31 Wed 14:36]

   Emacs 27 includes this as a built-in feature now. Give it a look and see this can replace elscreen. I do like my current keybindings for tab management though, so see if I can propagate those. Make sure this works as expected in terminal too.

   https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Tab-Bars.html

   Works pretty good. Deprecated elscreen in favor of this. Remapped the keybindings to the very handy elscreen ones, but had to include some elisp magic to get C-z to be allowed to be used as a prefix.

   I do think that the bar itself is slightly less aesthetically pleasing, but with that being the only trade-off in exchange for the mode being built-in and not having the various quirks elscreen does, then it's probably worth it. elscreen is also seemingly unmaintained these days. Another option I might want to explore later is Perspective. Not considering that yet, since I'm not sure I want separate buffer lists.

4. DONE fix w3m warning on startup
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2021-03-31 Wed 17:55]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-03-31 Wed 16:52]

   This is displaying something about updating emacs-w3m, despite it being updated.

   Only explanation for this behavior is this somewhat incoherent post on the w3m mailing list:

   The condition-case form there will load w3m.elc and it creates the w3m-load.el
   file if it is missing.  It also tries to pick up from the
   "~/.emacs.d/elpa/archives/melpa/archive-contents" file the original revision
   hash value for the `emacs-w3m-git-revision' constant, and the melpa timestamp
   used in the directory name like "~/.emacs.d/elpa/w3m-20190918.9999/".  If the
   timestamp and the directory name are mismatched, it will prompt a user to
   update the installation.
   

   Anyway, uninstall and reinstall of the Emacs w3m package works. The warning was rather misleading and caused me to waste a good bit of time thinking it was the w3m binary that was reporting it.

5. CNCL setup dired-single
   
   • State "CNCL" from "STRT" [2021-03-31 Wed 18:23]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-03-31 Wed 18:10]

   Makes dired not open a new buffer for every directory navigated to. Will need to bind my custom navigation operations to this.

   https://github.com/crocket/dired-single

   Tried this out a bit and decided not to use it due to a bit of clunkiness. May change mind later after a lot of dired use. However, there is one work-around. Instead of hitting RET to navigate down into a directory, use a instead, which will reuse the buffer. This is a good 90% solution, which covers the most common case of walking down a tree into the destination directory. Added a note for this in the learn dired task.

6. CNCL consider Emerge
   
   • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2021-03-31 Wed 20:45]

   A merge tool for Emacs. This is pretty simple to use, but I need to read the info page on it (and maybe collect some common commands) and setup magit to use it as its merge tool.

   Was reading the magit manual on conflict resolution and it suggests using ediff instead of Emerge, saying it ediff supercedes Emerge. Fortunately, I already use ediff. So, will cancel this.

7. DONE integrate ediff with magit
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2021-03-31 Wed 21:33]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-03-31 Wed 21:01]

   Currently I still resolve conflicts by hand. Look into how to resolve conflicts using ediff within magit.

   Turns out this is easy. When doing a pull, if a file has conflicts, it'll be listed in one of the changes sections with the label "unmerged". Hitting RET on these will use smerge. Instead of doing that, use e to activate ediff. Will do this from now on.

   There's a few more commands that might be useful here: https://magit.vc/manual/magit/Ediffing.html#Ediffing

8. DONE consider ivy-prescient
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2021-03-31 Wed 21:51]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-03-31 Wed 21:34]

   prescient provides a sorting algorithm that can be tied into a completion system. ivy-prescient combines those two.

   Pretty easy to integrate. The big feature this adds (for me) is the ability to quickly find=M-x= commands (or anything ivy supports) by typing substrings that appear anywhere in the name, not just at the beginning. Regexes also work. If I find other areas I want it disabled, append stuff to variable ivy-prescient-sort-commands.

   This works great and really unlocks even more ivy power. Only downside is the project needs a new maintainer to keep up with ivy changes:

   https://github.com/raxod502/prescient.el/issues/65

9. DONE review Emacs Prelude's Clojure init
   
   • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2021-03-31 Wed 22:11]
   • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-03-31 Wed 21:55]

   Emacs Prelude is written by bbatsov (the CIDER creator), so if anyone has a properly integrated Clojure setup, it might be him.

   https://github.com/bbatsov/prelude/blob/master/modules/prelude-clojure.el

   Nope. Got it all covered. Also checked out:

   https://github.com/bbatsov/emacs.d/blob/master/init.el

   This reminded me to turn rainbow-delimiters in cider-repl-mode. Otherwise, nothing unusual here. Surprised to see him using paredit and not using ac-cider or clj-kondo. A side note of interest is the emacs-gif-screencast package, which is worth keeping in mind if the need ever arises.

10. DONE review daemon/client setup
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2021-04-01 Thu 16:23]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-04-01 Thu 10:18]

    Not sure if always doing (server-start) at init is the optimal solution. This adds a noticeable startup delay and always kills the previous daemon. Tried doing:

    (when (not (boundp server-process)) (server-start))
    

    But that doesn't seem to work. Nor would it, I suppose, since what I'd really want is to grab the current daemon and make a new client instance out of that. Look around to see what others are doing here and check the manual.

    Notes:

    • Figured out why I did things the way I did. (server-force-delete) was called for situations where I want to run two frames. When closing the final frame, the daemon does disappear. My ec alias (emacsclient -n) can be used from the CLI to send files to whatever frame has the server bound.
    • What I actually want to close this gap is emacsclient -c, which just open a new frame with the existing daemon.
    • emacs --fg-daemon can start a daemon in the foreground for debugging.
    • If backgrounding, kill a daemon with emacsclient -e (kill-emacs).
    • The location of the server socket is stored in server-socket-dir. Good to check if running multiple servers to get their names.
    • The daemonp function returns nil if running in normal Emacs.

    Created an alias ef for emacsclient -c. Everything else stays the same.

11. DONE fix package setup from ELPA on clean install
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2021-04-03 Sat 23:57]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-04-03 Sat 21:58]

    Something along the way broke this from working on a clean .emacs.d directory with just init.el in it. Get this working again.

    Fixed this while doing the use-package integration. The broken part was ensuring ob-restclient was installed prior to configuring org-babel to use it.

12. DONE reconsider use-package
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2021-04-04 Sun 00:18]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-04-03 Sat 21:58]

    I'm neutral on containing package config in a single form, but one small benefit here is the reduced startup time. Another is it'll get rid of my huge package.el block. Can probably integrate this incrementally if a full conversion is too much of a single timesink.

    https://github.com/jwiegley/use-package

    Notes:

    • Pull in diminish early with :ensure t. Required if using the :diminish keyword.
    • Deprecated packages rainbow-delimiters (still defined but disabled) and htmlize. Replaced intero with plain haskell-mode for now.

    Took a lot of typing, but switched everything over. Startup time went from 1.80s to 1.15s. Can't say this is a clear win for use-package, but I'll leave it like this for awhile. Seems to have some issues with the :pin keyword ignoring packages I want to get from the GNU repo. Also :hook doesn't seem to work as the docs describe.

    Will have to work on this a bit to integrate more of the package config out of :init and :config blocks. I can also convert the built-in packages to use this and wrap their config. Tested most modes, but if I find something broken, check the prior commit: c6e5b6172478963a7ce1b9a890748a3db1fc67dd.

13. DONE review Org-related packages on ELPA
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2021-04-12 Mon 21:24]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-04-12 Mon 18:53]

    There's quite a lot of these. Just catalog any interesting ones for later consideration.

    Looks useful:

    • ob-async: Converts org-babel evaluation to async. Could be useful for larger workbook Org docs.
    • org-ac: Auto-completion hinting for (I think) any of the Org #+ commands (directives, properties, code blocks, etc.) and their parameters.
    • org-dashboard: Visual summaries of groups of tasks. Also adds a block-dashboard code block type. Could be useful for work, if I feel like categorizing stuff. Could also be good for certain projects, like books.

    Noted here, just in case:

    • html2org: Maybe a good temporarily pull-in for one-off jobs.
    • ivy-clojuredocs: Looks like CIDER already has this as C-c C-d c, but this also provides the ability to search an arbitrary term. Probably not useful enough to justify a package.
    • ivy-omni-org: Might be useful if I ever integrate org-agenda, adding completion options for that and Org bookmarks. Not currently useful.
    • ob-clojurescript: Seems like a good idea, but apparently abandoned in 2012.
    • ob-tmux: Send org-babel blocks to a tmux session.
    • org-jira: Syncs between a Jira and Org. Could be useful if we ever properly use ours at work. Hopefully, that will never happen.
    • org-re-reveal: Integration with reveal.js. Good to know if I ever need to make a web-based presentation. See also ox-reveal.
    • org2issue: GitHub issue integration. Not 2-way though. magit-forge is probably what I'd want for that.
    • ox-gemini: Export to Gemini.
    • ox-leanpub: If publishing a book here, can write the entire thing in Org.

    There's also a few choices for Anki support, if I ever want that for learning spoken languages. Also in existence are many static blog generators.

    Will queue up org-ac, since that solves the problem of me remembering all of those commands. While some of this other stuff is interesting, don't see any reason to pull it in now.

14. DONE configure ERC
    
    • State "DONE" from "STRT" [2021-04-23 Fri 20:58]
    • State "STRT" from "TODO" [2021-04-15 Thu 18:03]

    Get the timestamps out of the right hand side at least. The colors could also use some tweaking. Will still use irssi for now as main client, but ERC is a very nice client and I might switch to it on the VPS eventually.

    • Read ERC Manual.
    • Read EmacsWiki: ERC.

    Notes:

    • M-$ works for aspell checking.
    • Use M-x erc-tls for connecting instead of M-x erc.

    Configured, but kept it in init.el for now, since I'm not using it as a primary IRC client. If that changes, will look more into addons. Didn't see anything particularly useful with a quick scan.

15. CNCL integrate org-ac
    
    • State "CNCL" from "TODO" [2021-04-25 Sun 15:56]

    Org auto-completion. https://github.com/aki2o/org-ac

    Decided to skip this due to it not offering enough value versus bringing in an extra 3 dependencies not used anywhere else currently.

2.4.15. DONE fix yay on Arch

2.4.16. DONE activate HTTPS on website

2.4.17. DONE try out Tutonota

2.4.18. DONE fix jQuery on website

2.4.19. DONE fix Manjaro system update

2.4.20. DONE fix pi-weather-station