Depression is a right bastard. ☹️

Hustle, 2022 - ★★★½

I’m old so I liked cameos by old guys. But this is a movie for the next gen, with a solid development montage.

I’m contemplating a career change - or at least a new job. Is there anybody out there that might be interested in having a conversation?

Today I learned that Siri can identify buffalo grass with its machine learning.

Uncle Buck, 1989 - ★★

It’s pretty bad, but it still an iconic 80s movie.

It was wonderful to have a conversation with @heyscottyj today. Another cool friendship in the making.

I’m trialling Raycast (again 🙄) as a possible replacement for Launchbar.

Harry Froling has nothing on Nick Tan!

My App Toolkit 2023

At the beginning of 2023, an update to my 2020 post about my App Toolkit.

It is still overflowing with tools, although I think it’s in better shape than at my last review.

Purpose iOS Primary iOS Secondary macOS Primary macOS Secondary Best Cross Platform
Blogging Gluon Micro.blog MarsEdit Micro.blog Drafts
Report Writing Word Ulysses Word Word
Meeting Notes Agenda iThoughts Agenda iThoughts Agenda
Daily Notes Agenda Logseq Agenda Logseq Agenda
Tasks OmniFocus Reminders OmniFocus Reminders OmniFocus
Brainstorming iThoughts MindNode iThoughts Bike iThoughts

Does anybody know what has become of @smokey - no activity for a couple of years on any of his sites.

My favourite tree.

I’m going through a tough time. Day One has been a blessing to capture thoughts, feelings and emotions. The subscription is worth every cent.

Finished reading: A Guide for Grown-ups by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 📚

Microsoft Authenticator will no longer work on Apple Watch. I use this feature every single day. 😖

Strange World, 2022 - ★★½

A story of climate change wrapped up in some impressive animation and characters that I didn’t warm to.

Die Hard, 1988 - ★★★★½

Now I have a 64-bit computer. Ho Ho Ho.

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, 1992 - ★★½

1992 really seems a different era, back when you could board a plane because you assumed your parents were on it. Slapstick cruelty is still fun, though.

Books of 2022

I’ve not done so great on book reading this year. The list looks a little thin!

A Guide for Grown-upsThe 12 Week YearThe Checklist ManifestoThe Profit ParadoxMy Name Is Lucy BartonEverybody LiesThe Highly Sensitive Person

Oiling the Deck

There are some household jobs that I procrastinate over. Oiling the deck is a new one I can add to the list. Our deck was installed a couple of years ago as part of a backyard renovation. I knew at the time this would be a necessary maintenance job that I would despise. I dutifully entered it into OmniFocus as a task for the future.

Wooden deck before oiling

That OmniFocus task has been deferred for about 9 months. I did the prepartory work of buying the expensive Cutek Extreme CD50 oil and the fancy Deck Boss applicator. The task of actually oiling the deck, though? That sat for a long time. Most of the time because of my own laziness. Sometimes because of the weather. I contemplated outsourcing the job but knew deep down within myself I wouldn’t trust anybody else to care enough to do it right.

Finally, the time came and I went for it. The first step was to clean the deck a couple of days before the oiling. That went well. I used Cutek Quickclean.

A few days after the clean, it was time to oil. The weather was hot - over 32ºC. I had to do the work in two shifts: one in the morning and one in the evening. The morning shift came to an end when I almost vomited from exertion in the heat. I’m too white, too old, and too unfit for manual labour in the burning sun.

This is how I looked after the first shift — just a touch pink:

Selfie of Andrew hot after shift 1

I completed the second shift, and the job, with a minimal amount of oil left in the can. Maybe there’s enough to do a second coat on areas that look to need a little more. There is definitely not enough remaining to do a complete second coat. I think I’m okay with that.

Wooden deck after oiling

Now I have to schedule the next maintenance coat into OmniFocus…

You Always Own Your Blog

My Blog, My Home - Geoff Graham:

That’s why I love my website. It’s apolitical. It can’t be bought by a billionaire (maybe). It doesn’t care when I last logged in. It doesn’t push me to gain an audience and could care less if I have a one or not. And the feed is spot-free of algorithms and sponsored content.

But it’s always ready for me to say something if I need to. It’s all signal and no noise, and gives me the peace of mind to write without abandon.

I pulled up my old (now lost) blog, twosittingducks.com, on the internet archive the other day. There were posts there from 2004. While I don’t think of myself as a blogger, I’ve run a blog site for a long time now.

Like Geoff, I love that my blog is always here for me.