Family Getaway - Four Elements Farm Stay
We spent a few days at Four Elements Farm Stay in the South-West of Western Australia. I relaxed into it quite quickly.
The owner of the Farmstay, Pete, offered daily activities for the kids in the morning and the evening. While the ride in the ATV would have been enough, catching marron in the dam was even better.
These photos don’t do justice to the size of this bonfire. It was pumping out some serious heat. Necessary farm activities can be fun, as well.
The funniest moment was when we went catching tadpoles (and some baby marron). In the slippery mud, little Benjamin had a suction event. He landed on his butt. Bad news for Dad, who had to carry him a long way home on his shoulders. Showers needed!
The last day was an opportunity for cart racing. For those who have listened to Episode 3 of Hemispheric Views, this was very “A Race for Bill!”
Buying an iMac late last year must go down as one of my best ever computer purchasing decisions. I freakin' love this thing, and timing it for the year of working from home has been perfect.
Outliners & Daily Notes
I’ve been considering whether my current DEVONthink daily note is the best system for rapid note taking. Of course there’s nothing wrong with it, other than it being super-basic.
DEVONthink Pros
- Wikilinking (automatic and manual) to other notes.
- Integrated into broader DEVONthink Search/See Also system.
- No-nonsense, no futzing with formatting.
DEVONthink Cons
- No genuine Markdown editing support.
- No outlining support
- Just a plain text document.
I’ve been looking at Dynalist and Workflowy. Yet both cost money and feel kind of clunky - like my hands are flippers. That’s because they are web apps living in the Wild West of UIs - no operating system standards holding them to account.
I still have OmniOutliner Pro, which I’ve toyed with once again. Maybe if I keep the OmniOutliner file simple and focused enough, it will do the job. I’ve paid for the software. It’s available on macOS and iOS.
I think the last time I tried using OmniOutliner, I over-engineered my outline with columns, formatting, etc. If I keep it simple it may work better.
Of course, that also means I lose the integrated DevonThink search.
Continuous CRIMPing1, that’s the name of my game.
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CRIMP stands for a make-believe malady called compulsive-reactive information management purchasing. Symptoms include: never being satisfied with your current system of information management; continuously being on the look-out for something newer and better; purchasing every new PIM program you learn about; and secretly hoping you won’t find the perfect PIM, because then you’d have to stop looking for a better one. ↩︎
The Hemispheric Views podcast has hit the big time, scoring a guest appearance by the one and only @macgenie. @Burk, @martinfeld and I were honoured to chat with her about micro.blog’s upcoming Day in the Life of… photoshoot, old things in our house and streaming media.
Containers for Change
Over the past two years my wife has been working at Containers for Change. This is a not-for-profit organisation enabled by the Western Australian Government and funded by the private sector.
When she started it was a start-up organisation working out of a tiny shared office with big plans to get a container deposit scheme (i.e. return drink bottles and cans for cash) up and running across our State.
A week ago, the scheme launched. It features over 200 locations across the entire State where the public can go to drop off their recyclables. It is supporting new jobs. It is providing another income source for families where every dollar counts. It is reducing landfill and facilitating responsible recycling.
As part of the executive team, Hannah has built and managed an amazing team of people. Now, her journey is coming to an end as she moves onto a new challenge. I know she is sad about it and that this has been the highlight of all her career experiences to date.
As her husband, I’m guilty of not giving enough recognition for the job she has done. But I will write here that she has been amazing. I love her and I’m incredibly proud of what she has accomplished.
Who else can say they were able to put a 5.5 metre tall swan, constructed of steel and 10,000 recyclable bottles into the middle of a Perth pedestrian square? That’s an amazing accomplishment, but it’s only the most visible accomplishment of 2 years of hard work and other less visible achievements.
Today I took our two boys to recycle of first batch of containers. They were so proud to be dropping the containers onto the conveyor belt and see them be whisked away and converted into cash.
Social enterprise, delivering economic and environmental benefits. Lots of winners; no losers. That’s the way to do business.
An important breaking news update coming in from Cardboard TV Network. Headlines include Deadpool v Coronavirus. Tune in to find put more.
My brother casually mentioned to me that he had been building up a second brain using the PARA methodology in Notion, supported by Readwise and Instapaper. Does he not realise that I’m the geek of the family? He’s getting close to stepping on my turf.
I think I’m falling down the Dyanalist rabbit hole. I like outliners, and this is so much better than OmniOutliner, which has regressed continuously since version 3.
Kakistocratic Nepotism
Biden’s next move after Trump’s COVID-19 hospitalization - Axios:
But with Trump in quarantine for the foreseeable future, the campaign is now relying on members of the first family — Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka, and Eric and Lara Trump — to carry the torch as part of a new “Operation MAGA” campaign…
Cool, that should go well then.
A quick thank you to @sarcassem from the youngest of this home’s podcast listeners.
Trump Jokes Coming Thick and Fast at The Shovel
Australia’s answer to The Onion is The Shovel. They’re having a fun time with the news of Trump contracting COVID-19.
Frantic Donald Trump Unable To Open Childproof Cap On Bottle Of Hydroxychloroquine:
Shouting at White House aides to bring him a hammer or an axe, US President Donald Trump was this evening desperately trying to navigate the childproof cap on a bottle of hydroxychloroquine.
Trump Refuses To Accept Result Of Covid Test | The Shovel:
US President Donald Trump says he does not accept the validity of the COVID-19 test, saying it was a clear case of mail-in voter fraud.
Head on over to The Shovel and see what else they’re reporting on this important news story.
If I didn’t have OmniFocus to help manage my work; I’d be screwed. I have no idea how people get through work and life without one. I have so many juggling balls that OmniFocus is the only way.
Hey @ohbananajoe is this effort close enough to “The Walking Dead”? 🤣
The Sizzle
I have a paid subscription to an Australian daily technology newsletter called The Sizzle.
While I’ve sometimes already heard the news of the day from other sources, it’s the irreverent writing of publisher Anthony ‘@decryption’ Agius that I really enjoy. Case in point, from Issue 1217:
Part of me likes the fact a fuckwit can be sued by an MP for mouthing off on social media, but one day I could be that fuckwit so maybe it’s not so good.
YouTube-dl
My youtube-dl Setup - //Jason Burk:
There is a utility called youtube-dl that you may or may not have seen mentioned online. Here is a rundown of how I am now using it to manage all my YouTube videos I want to watch
Thanks to Jason @Burk for the write-up on how to create an offline YouTube library. I’ve now implemented it myself. Good stuff.
Had a full range of emotions today. Started bad; ended good. Anxiety can be a pain in the you-know-what.
🔗 Link Post: “How Work Became an Inescapable Hellhole”
Anne Helen Petersen writing for Wired:
The first part of this story describes a day of vacuous hell to me. I don’t know how people function that way, but I know many do. Reading the first part of this article makes me happy I’m older.
Later, we get this gem:
“When you “shoot off a few emails” on a Sunday afternoon, for example, you might convince yourself you’re just getting on top of things for the week ahead—which might feel true. But what you’re really doing is giving work access to be everywhere you are. And once allowed in, it spreads without your permission: to the dinner table, the couch, the kid’s soccer game, the grocery store, the car, the family vacation.”
It’s so true. Work can wait. It might feel it can’t, but actually, it can. Cut out the social media waste during work days and there is plenty of working time within regular hours.
Keep Practising 17: Exercise
As I’m no longer playing basketball, I’ve gotten fat and sore. Exercise seems to be my only option. In Nerd Corner, I talk about new audio configurations and a trial of Hindenburg Journalist.
After a dalliance with Firefox as my core browser, I’m finding myself drifting back to Safari 14. I might maintain Firefox as my work browser, though. It’s support for containers helps with having to manage two Microsoft 365 accounts.