cmdln

cmdln, 2 hours ago to random

I just filled out the @protonprivacy user survey after someone else mentioned it asked about AI and crypto. I made my feelings as a paying user known: please no AI or crypto but if you must, the default should be opt-in.

cmdln, 3 hours ago to random

Good morning and TZAG, friends.

I am enjoying a slow, quiet morning #today. I am noodling on my laptop, listening to the rain and the birds out back at the feeder.

I think I will prioritize recharging today. I do have an idea for a simpler essay that I think I can distill from the one I've been working on for a few weeks. We'll see if I can find the appetite for some writing later.

cmdln, 14 hours ago to random

We are watching Imaginary, another Blumhouse production. Hoping for at least better than Night Swim which we watched last Friday. Half hour in, not sure yet.

cmdln, 17 hours ago to random

There are amazing smells emanating from our kitchen.

cmdln, 18 hours ago to random

The struggles I started #today with led to some good.

I practiced equanimity combined with other skills again. I handled "The Interrupt" better. That's a label I really like for the moment between a feeling and a reaction that I picked up from @grueproof. Our video call today was another good that came of meeting my struggle more skillfully.

To use another coinage I really like, this time from @kamikat: today was another day where I was "good but not happy or excited".

cmdln, 3 days ago to random

Reading the latest from @pluralistic and he puts his finger right on it as usual: "The aesthetic choices made by AI aren't choices, they're averages."

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/13/spooky-action-at-a-close-up/

I'd go further and say anyone who thinks LLMs are more than spicy autocorrect likely doesn't understand what an average actually represents.

#LongRead

cmdln, 7 days ago to random

I think I finally completely lost the last of the plot. #TheLastDrivein #DeathSpa

cmdln, 7 days ago to random

I guess technically ghosts don't need to blink but it's still unnerving. #TheLastDrivein #DeathSpa

cmdln, 7 days ago to random

We are warming up with Night Swim before #TheLastDrivein with the #MutantFam later.

cmdln, 7 days ago (edited 7 days ago) to random

Good morning and TZAG, friends.

I am leaning into no meeting Friday with a slower start this morning. I puttered for a while which also gave my mind time to ponder my larger tasks ahead #today.

I've been processing my thoughts on equanimity from last night into how I want to approach work for my $dayjob. Mostly I am appreciating that there is no overblown sense of urgency. I want to do my best work and am re-learning what that looks like after 2+ years of a very different environment.

cmdln, 8 days ago to random

Every new job I start, I have a lot of hopes.

The head instructor at my pro brewing program a couple of years ago advised us brewery-owners-in-planning that hope is not a plan.

This time, I made a plan and followed it. I shouldn't be surprised that a month in, that effort is paying off.

Except this is literally the first time I am doing this.

cmdln, 8 days ago to random

I resolved a couple of months ago to strengthen my equanimity, mostly through deepening my meditation practices. #zazen

I am definitely experiencing results. I am recognizing how I used to react to similar circumstances and more often am finding the space to respond in ways and at times I am happier about.

Even more curious, I think I am retrospectively recognizing past experiences that were also progress. At the time, I was unsure what was going on other than it being deeply uncomfortable.

cmdln, 9 days ago (edited 8 days ago) to random

Another day preparing for a check in with engineering leadership on my 1st $dayjob project. The code reading is becoming old hat. I am enjoying the conversations with my product partner. We seem to align well so far and have some common interests which helps with solidarity and rapport, which we'll need in abundance.

Most useful has been the internal work. My key insight #today is that I no longer am the most knowledgeable engineer on a small team. I can ease up a bit, I have tons of help now.

cmdln, 10 days ago to random

Good morning and TZAG, friends.

We are enjoying some sun #today in the midst of a week of rain. The mix of sun and shadow mirrors my thoughts. I still feel uncertainty in my new $dayjob, not all of it owing to burnout and previous bad experience. I am also starting to feel bits of brightness as my awareness grows, spotting reasons of my own to move forward.

My morning reading was helpful, a reminder that there is always uncertainty. I am learning to better accept and work with that.

cmdln, 10 days ago to random

The code reading I've been doing these past couple of weeks would have broken earlier versions of me, even as recently as a few months ago.

The code is far from the worst I've seen. About what you'd expect of even its brief history. Past me would have struggled, questioning that history mercilessly.

I've achieved enough equanimity that my mind now ruminates more on my actual job: what to do with my findings. My challenge right now is holding to beginner's mind, to keep options open.

cmdln, 12 days ago to random

Good morning and TZAG, friends.

#today starts week four of my new $dayjob. After three weeks I am still adjusting to the change in pace. My first project hasn't started in earnest yet for a few more days. I've been enjoying the easier pace of research and reading while I prepare. I occasionally feel like I am missing something urgent when I have a quiet moment. That is definitely a phantom feeling left over from my previous $dayjob.

cmdln, 13 days ago to random

Good morning and TZAG, friends.

#today is weekly chore day. I need to get an early start on laundry at least. I am meeting a couple of friends for dinner tonight. I worked with both at my last $dayjob. One is local and we get together for beer at least monthly. The other is in town fortuitously for a few days so we get to enjoy a mini re-union.

cmdln, 13 days ago (edited 13 days ago) to random

I just spotted The Fifth Element on Hulu. A couple of weeks ago it wasn't available on anything we have. That was another Saturday where we simply wanted some pretty, dumb, and fun.

I guess my afternoon is sorted. Except maybe for a snack.

cmdln, 14 days ago to random

I finished mowing the lawn despite the persistent drizzle. My cursory research suggested most of the problems with mowing a wet lawn are mitigated by my use of an unpowered, reel mower. I set the blades at their highest. I only wanted to stop the tallest stalks from going to seed.

The forecast is for rain most of the week. Our lawn folks won't come until it has dried out. My rough cut should be good enough until then.

cmdln, 13 days ago to random

Our bird feeder, that @kamikat set up recently, has been busy all morning.

I've noticed twice the big male cardinal hogging the prime perch. First there was a line of red fox sparrows trying to get a bite in edgewise then later this morning he was back with a couple chickadees darting in from the fence or nearby azalea.

cmdln, 16 days ago to random

My morning was not great #today though things are much improved. I am taking a sun break before more $dayjob meetings.

I was trying to find a printable card or similar for my new insurance. I have a follow up tomorrow after a change to my BP medication. I spotted a mistake in my benefits that my monkey mind raced to assuming was unfixable. My enrollment period is open for another week and a half including changes even if I already submitted my enrollment or my coverage has started.

cmdln, 17 days ago to random

I managed to catch a little of the sun #today before it disappeared. I had a few minutes at the end of my lunch and was able to read about half an article before I had to come in from the deck for a meeting.

cmdln, 19 days ago to random

I don't have any before pictures but trust me the result of my efforts #today is a lot better. I still have a lot of work to get it to much simpler annual maintenance. I'm happy with it and look forward to the remaining work.

cmdln, 19 days ago to random

We removed a volunteer tree in the southeast end of our plot. Everything in the flower bed south of the house has understandably responded. This clematis has never had this many blooms at once.

cmdln, 19 days ago to random

I am remembering something I understood intuitively when I was very young.

I feel better when I move.

It isn't about sport or exercise, though they can work. Perhaps hard to explain other than by contrast.

I was super passive yesterday, didn't even do any qígōng or táijì. I felt low all day and even into this morning.

I just came in from an hour of yard work and now feel massively better despite it being a chore I have disliked so much I spent years avoiding it.