Finally Catching A Breather

It's a chilly, dark 3am night. Felix and I are cooped up in their room. They're watching TikTok and eating curry while I type out today's gemlog. We haven't turned out the lights yet, but I feel that I will collapse onto the bed after submitting this post.

Fuck Utility Companies, Maaaaaaan

Our piece of shit electricity provider, Duke Energy, slapped a couple hundred dollars onto our bill last month for a "security deposit" in the middle of our leasing term. After a long and ardous quest through hours and hours of jazzy hold music we finally got them to strike the deposit from our bill.

Or so we thought.

Just last week our January bill came in with the security deposit still sitting there waiting to be paid. I'm in a better situation financially so I guess I'll just give up and pay it, but let this section serve as a public declaration of me still being pissed about it.

CyberDecks?

I'm not doing well enough to start another hardware project though, that's for sure. Kind of sucks that now is the time that I learn about people building their own Gibson-esque cyberdecks from old luggable computers and raspberry pi's. Something about the smaller form factor with an emphasis on typing comfort over large screens and touchpads really calls to me as a fan of keyboard-centric UI.

Maybe a few trips to goodwill and a search for my old rpi 3 could help satiate this urge for cheaper than ordering a brand new screen and case to turn into what might just end up being another novelty.

(http) CyberDecks subreddit, where people share progress and inspiration for their own cyberdecks

Gemini capsule that introduced me to the idea of building your own cyberdeck

(http) Youtube video of someone building my personal favorite cyberdeck

The last video in that link chain really has me sold on the idea of a cyberdeck for daily usage. It may use more Apple hardware than I probably would, but the workflow of tabbing between a fully functioned linux machine for coding and a modern mobile interface for reference just sounds too comfortable to pass up.

Making Treats Rules

Last week I made a batch of Buckeye candies for the apartment on a whim. The process of making these treats was a bit shaky due to my inexperience. When I made the peanut butter batter I forgot to soften the butter, making the process of mixing it in a tough endeavor I selflessly dumped onto my boyfriend. After that, I accidentally rolled the peanut butter balls up too big, leaving me with huge buckeyes that took serious dedication to conquer. And to top it off, because I didn't have any toothpicks for dipping the balls, I had to make do spreading melted chocolate on the outside of the balls with a fork.

Despite these shortcomings, the daily stoners I live with happily munched through the supply I made and everyone was happy.

(http) The recipe I followed, also the first recipe shown when googling "buckeyes"

Have a great week everyone

-- Noah