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It occurred to me today that it might be interesting to do some sort of digital detox. That is, go someplace, maybe camping, away from screens. No laptop, phone stays off (but maybe handy for emergencies, or in airplane mode). Not necessarily all screens... I could see something like a watch/Fitbit or multimeter screen. Like maybe a change, working on something out away from my home office or office proper. Not necessarily away from “artificial” light, but not with the laptop screen.

Basically, something different from the normal grind. The work computer, or the home computer. Maybe an adventure, maybe not. Just a change of scenery.

It's getting nicer outside, and I've been enjoying getting out in the yard with Tim. It's been a while since I've had what I would consider a vacation, aside from various mini breaks and diversions.

The thing is, I know I shouldn't be staring at a screen as much as I do. But I also do enjoy technology. Even just being able to type something out like this, not to mention working on a project, or writing code, or hell even doomscrolling now and then.

Tim, my Irish Wolfhound, will bark if I let him out into the backyard at night. I try to get him out before we go to bed for a last bathroom check, and then he gets confined to the dining room for the night. Unfortunately, he doesn't always want to come in. Sometimes he wants to romp around with me, which I admit can be kind of fun, other times he has his own reasons. I sometimes have to lure him in with food.

There are other dogs in the neighborhood who he seems to converse with. He will start it, or one of them will, and it will go back and forth. Other times he picks up on something with his keen senses which go beyond my own, and upon evaluation determines that barking is the correct course of action.

If he's out with me, he usually won't bark as much. Or not at all, if we walk around the yard together. Ultimately, barking is an alert sound, and while I think he is trying to communicate to or confront something (another dog, some mystery thing), he's trying to alert me. This is probably one of the reasons humans and dogs started living together, they alert us to stuff.

Barking can be annoying, but in a way it's kind of his job. He'll occasionally bark in the house, but other than certain times at night he's a relatively quiet animal. So, I do appreciate him communicating this way. I figure if he's got something to say, I should hear him out.

Trying out 0.16 of Writefreely now. I don't usually write here, but it is kind of nice to have.

Happy New Year to all those who find their way here, either on the Fediverse or through my website. I'm not sure what this year will bring. I try to be optimistic, because what else can I do? But I'm also kind of anxious. We shall see.

For myself, I have some projects I'm hoping to attack. For one, I'd like to revamp my website – I have my own plans. There's other stuff I'll be looking at as well, which I will post about if I feel so inspired.

In the mean time, be well, and take care of each other.

It's gray and windy out, but lighter. The leaves are mostly gone from the trees, and a bunch are in my yard. It's actually the last pile I'm planning to get rid of. Still nice fall weather I would say.

Today, apart from the leaves, I'll be switching the Halloween lights out for more Christmasy ones. So that should be neat.

Solar

My current hobbyist off-grid system in normal use consists of two 100-watt panels in series, fed into my basement with a 10 AWG extension cord, and charging a 100 Ah AGM battery via an MPPT charge controller. Not much sun these days, due to the clouds and shorter days, but it continues to plug along.

In the spring and summer, and early fall, I use the system to power stuff like my work laptop, coffee grinder, and basically anything I can reasonably run an extension cord to from the system. It's just a matter of the power not going anywhere otherwise, and so it's nice to actually use it.

Now, I still use it for things like charging batteries and my home laptop, but not as much. The goal is to make sure the battery stays charged at the end of the day, in case we get a power outage. So it's nice to have the battery charged just in case.