Andy Lowry @AndyLowry@qoto.org

@alanthwaits@noc.social
Definitely looking forward to it! The condition of waiting for something exciting to arrive is one of my favorite states. An enjoyable anticipation.

I used to write little utilities in Python here and there before I retired (though I am not an actual programmer), as well as C and a little Ruby, so it'll be interesting to work with a stripped-down mini-version of one of the first two.

Maybe a bit random, but what the hey. As I was doing my usual seasonal snuffbox changeover (I use different flavors at different times of year), I thought to myself "Hey, maybe somebody out there would be interested in seeing these!" So I guess I'm about to find out. 😀

All three are sterling and hallmarked, so it's easy to pin down the dates they were made and by whom. All three are from makers in Birmingham, England. The top one is from 1901 and was made by Charles Horner. The middle one is my most prized due to its age, shape, and condition-- it's a Samuel Pemberton, dated 1810. And the bottom one is from James Walter Tiptaft, in 1899. I'm pleased and surprised that nobody ever put their initials on the cartouche on that one; that's really unusual to see.

The vest-pocket curve on the Pemberton fits the watch pocket on my jeans as though they were designed to work together, so that one gets the heaviest use as it goes out and about with me. The other two mostly live on one desk or another at home.

@alanthwaits@noc.social
Oooo, I somehow missed the existence of Tufty. That is extremely cool. I'm a sucker for both sensors and tiny displays, as is evidenced by my backyard weather station and smartwatch. 🙂 And less than forty bucks? Oh HELL yes.

.....................................

Pishop says it'll get here in a week. Now to go check out what kind of OS would be the most fun-- looks like there's a stripped-down Python for it, which sounds pretty nice.

Now see what you started? What an enabler you are! I love hanging out with enablers. 😎 Thanks for mentioning that; I might have never heard of it otherwise, and now I have a fun little toy to look forward to!

@sethcotlar
I remember that. The German ambassador wasn't a whole lot better, either.

@paulknightly
A friend is a serious amateur radio enthusiast and has told me about a lot of the various relay groups and both formal and informal associations to spread emergency info. It's a little startling to reflect on how useful such an ageing technology still is!

@edbott
Hey Ed, any guesses as to who might be paying Gerber to say things like that? I'm scratching my head over here. 🤔

As I was wrapping up my sit this morning and putting everything away, I startled the cat with an involuntary laugh because I had a sudden flash of how much of a weirdo I've gradually become over the years.

The first priest I was able to find to study with and receive the precepts from without traveling hundreds of miles was of a Chinese Linji lineage that did things a little differently than the usual Soto routines I was more used to. One of these differences was that when we recited the refuges, we did them in Pali. Not sure why, never asked him. It was kind of cool to know that we were making approximately the same sounds* as have been disturbing the air for more than a couple thousand years-- a sense of connection to the past, and a bringing of the past into the present.

That got me interested in other Pali recitations, so I added a few to my usual pre- and post-sit routines. Like either the five or eight precepts from early Buddhism in addition to the usual Mahayana ten. (The collection of eight I use isn't the one with the high beds and such, but the one that breaks down the trainings regarding speech into three instead of one.)

There are lots more little things that have been added to my little cobbled-together system, like admixtures of Soto and Rinzai methods, but I don't want to burden my instance's server with one of my usual walls of text. 😉 On the rare occasions when I have an opportunity to sit with other people, I get a little unsettled because I feel like I'm skipping stuff I should be doing. OH NO I'M DOING IT WRONG. 🙄

*I later discovered that the pronounciations were a bit off, especially the dotted-m sound, but close enough. 🙂

#zen

@jayarava
I spent some time Mastodoning when it was about six months old, and no. My impression was that it was mostly discussions of various sorts of computer-related technology. Since I was a SysAdmin at the time, that was like extending my work day, so I wandered off elsewhere.

@matthewbudman
I'm not any kind of genius. I've never lived in New York City, and thus have no long-previous experience with Trump and his behavior as those folks do. I don't watch reality TV and have no idea what his show was like. I'm not a political savant of any sort.

But I can tell you this: All I needed was about five minutes of Trump's campaign to know that I would never, ever, for any amount of money, agree to work for him or any of his syndicate. Everything about his immoral, vicious, possibly psychopathic (not a doctor so can't say for sure) existence is immediately and completely obvious to any normal sane person. They signed up knowing who he was and is. So golly, I sure am sorry that some of his former co-conspirators are having a tough time.