Week in Review 20240721

I forgot to do a wrap-up last week, because I got side-tracked with what started as a simple image gallery post. As I began typing out the context for the pictures, it transformed into a full-blown essay about the history of the Mojave.

This past week saw the arrival of another heatwave or Heat Dome or whatever we’re calling the phenomenon now. It’s just damn hot and I shudder to see what my electric bill is going to look like for the next couple of months.

The heat so far hasn’t had too much of an impact on my little patio garden, but some sort of pest has been feasting on my Bougainvillea so I have to do something about that before all the leaves are gone. Otherwise, I have a couple of pea plants still coming up and the basil is coming along nicely. I also finished the last of my 3D printed planters for the succulents I bought and I’ll have a picture of that shortly. It was a great way to finish off a few spools of PLA filament that had enough filament left for a small project but not enough for a larger one. 

I’m back up to 5 Day gym week, and tentatively running again; however, my knee still seems to have an issue with it. I can walk really fast. I can walk really fast at a steep angle. I can do this all day long with no problem. But go just a little bit faster for a couple of minutes and suddenly the knee has an issue. It’s a bit frustrating. It has to be my stride or form or something, since running has my feet hitting harder on the surface and I’m probably hitting at the wrong area of the foot or whatever. Or maybe I’m just old. Anyway, I’ll keep trying to crack that code.

I’m still pushing away at the python introduction course at Code Academy, but it’s been in fits and starts. It took a backseat to other tech issues this week that eventually resulted in getting a Raspberry Pi 5. I’m not a big fan of using it for a single application, so I’m looking for other ideas for it. I’ve got a Pi 4 working as a pihole and VPN already, and another one configured as a RetroPie, so I’d like to use the Pi 5 for several more applications if I can.

I finished off the weekend watching the Evo Top 6 finals on Saturday & Sunday. It was cool to see Punk finally get his Evo championship, especially after the heartbreak of 2017, but more than that, I always appreciate seeing all the other fighting games that I only have a passing familiarity with being played at a high level. I wasted too many quarters on Street Fighter II back in the day and played in dozens of ad hoc tournaments we set-up for the original Mortal Kombat on Genesis in the dorms (I was a Sub Zero main), so those series will always be my personal faves.

We’ll see what this week brings. I’m hoping for the local flying club to update their schedule for the next ground school class so I can sign-up and start work on getting my private pilot’s license.