Musings

Took a deep breath and headed over to the Sweeeedish Inexpensive Furniture Place. Looked at several possibilities for creating an elevated desktop surface for My New Stand-Up Desk.

I arrived thinking I had my variables nailed, then developed doubts as we ticked through options…namely: add a piece atop an existing surface—somewhat like a table-top lectern, but wider as I have two monitors, and duh flat OR get a new group of pieces that would assemble to create a work-surface of the correct height…or presumed correct height.

Circled the place twice, deliberating. (Avoided the meatballs and cinnamon buns both times.)

Bought a Snorgbröd or Snøttkkragg or Årdnoskk or something. Strictly speaking, probably too much particle board buried under plastic veneer, but undeniably cost effective.

Have to clean and de-clutter office before assembling, to make The New Arrangement work….

Posted at 11:27 PM | 1 Comment »

Given how much talk is floating around about how healthy it is to use a standing desk—or, with the addition of more $$, a treadmill desk—there are surprisingly few options offered…via googling and amazon…in the marketplace.

Lacking obvious choices at under $800 (!!, or $1300, or??!!), we’re off to Eye-Key-Ahhhhhh on Monday. Probably to find something that will function as a raised surface to add atop my current desktop. Which is really a table. (Long story.)

Still, if I were in the mood to Shark Tank into the furniture business, it would be with a standing desk, adjustable, with a two-level work surface, one level for the keyboard…and “materials”…and another for the monitor (monitors, in many cases) to sit on, at the proper eye-level.

It’s not simple: see this UofM webpage (love the photo; off to find brand-new, clean seee-ment blocks haha).

Posted at 10:34 PM | 2 Comments »

Love the two sisters in the left foreground.

I hear archery has become quite popular among the younger set. Proof here.

The amount of gear needed is more than you’d think. The bow (fancy, er, compared to Back In My Day), the arrows, of course. But also the quiver, and a belt or shoulder strap for the quiver. At least two gizmos for your fingers. A bow-string stretcher/facilitator. Arm guard. Notebook (requirement for class, to record what you worked on during each session). A clicker-counter (unused while we were there; not sure what it’s for). Some folks had alignment gizmos (my guess as to function) that included a y-shaped tubular metal dealie along with a calibrated t-shaped thingamabob.

Do we call these fancy (calibrated) bows devices?

Posted at 10:22 PM | 1 Comment »

Been playing, now and then, with the panorama and slo-mo (sic) video options on the iPhone 5s. Neither fit well in this column; still, here’s a sample panorama. Not earthshaking, but fun….

Posted at 10:22 PM | 1 Comment »

The tree is up. And undecorated. (Tomorrow!)

The fire is lit. Well, a computer screen is flickering very realistically. Sound optional.

Posted at 10:22 PM | 2 Comments »

I am adventuring. I’m pushing my personal envelope exploring…apps for this fancy iPhone 5S I’m carrying around these days. Today, I discovered a few new things.

The earbuds that came with are FAN-TAS-TIC. And, previous to today, I was NOT an earbuds fan. (Big change!)

Forecast.io (browser version here) had my location as “Middle of Nowhere.” That was pretty disheartening until The Guru explained to me that that meant I had not allowed it to know my location. (Ooops. Live and learn.)

Totally in love with Fitbit app (Fitbits are overpriced, but once you allow yourself to go with that, they can be motivators. I have the Fitbit One. Buy through REI if you’re a member and get the rebate…and (announcer voice:) SAVE!)

Along with the earbuds, I used the Tunein app (also browser version and ever-so-handy in both forms) so I could listen to weekend wrap-up hours from the Diane Rehm Show (without Diane this week, which isn’t too uncommon; I think her health issues are huge).

Okay; that’s it for promotions. I’m so trying to be 21st-century.

Posted at 7:29 PM | 1 Comment »

Back in the big city, and doing big city activities, like spending money on a new cell phone…just for me…with the number that used to be our shared number. The Guru hasn’t decided what number he’s going to use, so is temporarily cellphone-free.

I’ve downloaded a few free apps, and I took the 5s camera for a walk to get a few shots to analyze. I like the first one for demonstrating the capabilities of this seriously upgraded camera.

And I like this odd composition…as a street-inflected juxtaposition of the discards of a tree and a pedestrian.

Posted at 5:05 PM | 2 Comments »

Marquette, like many towns, has shifted the focus of its downtown from an industrial to a touristrial (??) and service orientation. In this case, they’ve left a major visual element of the old Marquette, this ore dock is partially preserved. The wooden trestle that bridged from land to dock is gone, and we watched mallards sleeping and preening on the pier-stubs.

This is a huge structure, wide enough to have two sets of rails so ships on either side could be loaded simultaneously.

Speaking of gravity fed, we very much enjoyed our upscale meal at L’Attitude, with a fine view of this dock from our seats.

Read more about Marquette on WikiPee here, or from the downtown biz org here. Read more about ore docks on WikiPeehere; there’s also a B&W photo of this ore dock when it was still in use.

Posted at 10:22 PM | 1 Comment »

If you had a vehicle you didn’t really care about and an artistic bent, what decorations would you add to it?

I’m wondering if any of these whistle as you go faster?

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Hubcap car

Yesterday.

I always understood that you were supposed to drain your laptop (and other device) battery every month or so to…essentially, keep the battery healthy. Today, I found out it’s just to keep the calibration of the software that tells you how drained the battery is up to date…and has nothing to do with battery life.

Of course, sometimes these things change….

Posted at 10:42 PM | Comments Off on Shine a light