After watching the CNET quick cut of yesterday’s Apple event, there’s nothing for me here. I see no upgrades or updates in my immediate future, including anything OS 26 related.
Talbert Nature Preserve, Redux
Back at the nature preserve this morning adding a little distance with a pick your own adventure path selection. My pace wasn’t as fast as last week’s hike because I wanted to enjoy the nature around me this time, which I did.
For the record, the stairs are 105 steps. I crushed them even faster this time.
Talbert Nature Preserve
4.14 miles
21'09"/mile
130' elevation
For the Micro.blog people… Yet another mnml release (2.7.3) that optimizes for previously duplicated featured post home page code and refactors styles even more should be available for you shortly, if not already. ✌🏻
I set up a “random” post link in my site navigation with @sod’s Surprise me! Micro.blog plugin yesterday. I’ve already spent too many hours over the last two days clicking it myself, both reliving and cringing at past posts. Fun times…
There's Free, and Then There's Free
Paying for the indie/small-web | Forking Mad+
Just because you don’t hand over any of your hard-earned cash, doesn’t technically mean it is free. People have given a huge amount of their time to make your life more pleasant.
There are two kinds of people on the internet; those who appreciate the efforts of indie bloggers & developers and choose to support them, and those who feel because it’s offered “free” it’s theirs for the taking without giving any credit whatsoever.
I choose to be the former.
Back in January, I decided to try Raycast Pro for a year and, after nine months, I’m committed to renewing. Its AI features have come to help validate some of my development decisions and answer questions. Plus it replaces several standalone apps, making the price worthwhile to me.
I’ve gotta say, after a few days, I am not regretting moving my Fediverse presence back to Micro.blog. I think it’s going to stick this time.
It’s always super-dangerous when I go to the watch shop. I went to get a battery replaced in my wife’s Bulova and was so close to walking out with a new Citizen Promaster Dive watch…
Another mnml Update
A new version of mnml has been released that addresses a few items…
- Tweaks and cleans up CSS styling.
- Addresses the annoying page redirect “flash” when viewing in dark mode.
- Adds the ability to turn off the copyright line in the footer.
You should be able to update to v2.7.2 in your plugin settings soon if not already.
There's a Word for That
an aroma that speaks of the changing seasons - things
“You know the smell. It’s there every time the first fat raindrops hit the ground—a distinctive, earthy scent that suffuses the air, an aroma that speaks of the changing seasons and promises relief from stifling summer heat. There’s a name for the smell of rain, too: “petrichor,” a poetic portmanteau of the Greek words “petros” (stone) and “ichor” (the blood of the gods in Greek mythology).”
I never knew there was a word for the smell of fresh rain on the ground. When it happens, I stop, close my eyes, take a deep inhale, and let the fragrance of nature move my soul.
Coming to Terms with Age
My sixty-first birthday passed by a couple of weeks ago. I purposely kept it quiet. There’s no need for belated wishes, though I will graciously acknowledge them if given.
Sixty was an interesting year in that it kind of felt like I was still in my fifties, having not lived a full year as a sexagenarian. But sixty-one hits a little different. To me, it’s when the world begins seeing people as old.
In my mind, I’m the same age I started seeing my grandparents whither, with hands full of arthritis, bent postures, and gray hair. Thankfully, I only have the gray hair at this point.
Even still, sixty was one hell of a year for me health-wise, which has brought a lot of things into sharp focus.
If I’m lucky, I have somewhere between six to nine years left working at my current job. I’ve been working full time since I was fourteen. I’ve always taken pride in the work I did, and it’s always been a big part of who I was.
Even when it’s been a grind, I’ve absolutely loved working in the field I was fortunate enough to land in by pure accident. I’m proud of what I’ve been able to create over the years that made the lives of others simpler and more efficient.
But, I’m at a crossroads now…
I’m about to be the one who’s no longer leading the charge. It’s time that I start stepping aside for those who were meant to come after me, so they can make their own difference.
To accomplish this, I see myself moving into a place of sharing the wisdom gained during the 45+ years I’ve been working with those at the front lines now; teaching them what worked for me and what didn’t. Sharing regrets and what I’ve learned from them. Or, how I might handle some of those regrets differently given a second chance.
This post may sound like I’m defeated. Make no mistake; I’m not even close to calling it quits. I feel stronger, bolder, and more excited for life than ever.
But it’s clear where my focus needs to be once I return to work. Instead of expecting others to hold my beer while I save the world, it’s my place to hold their beer and encourage them to step up and become the superheroes they were meant to be.
I’m excited for this transition. Done right, it’ll be a legacy of sorts, and I will have left my mark on the next generation of knowledge worker superheroes.
Talbert Nature Preserve
My first post-CABG hike is in the books.
It wasn’t a killer, but I’ve got to start somewhere. It felt good to put one foot in front of another in dirt again. I even made it up the ten flights of stairs without crapping out.
Talbert Nature Preserve
3.46 miles
20'35"/mile
125' elevation
Rather than a simple walk around the neighborhood for exercise today, I’m actually getting out on a real hiking trail, even if it’s classified as easy with very little elevation gain. It’s time to get some dust on the trail runners again…
Okay… I pulled the trigger on moving my Fediverse presence back to Micro.blog. If you followed me on my “dot social” instance, you should have been automatically moved here. I’m going to try hard to keep it this way. ✌🏻
I woke up a couple hours earlier than usual today, so I spent the time reorganizing my Obsidian vault and tweaking my OmniFocus setup.
I feel accomplished.
The date has been set for my TCAR surgery. Of course it’s the Wednesday before the Monday I was supposed to return to work. That means I’ll have to take a little extra time off for recovery. Dang it! I’m so ready to get back to the day job already.
I’m in a “simplify all the things” state of mind, which means I’m once again giving serious thought to moving my Fediverse (Mastodon) presence back to Micro.blog and spinning down my single user instance… 🤔
📷 Clouds
After a day of coding and house chores, it’s time to fire up the smoker to try a new smoked chicken recipe.
Life is good…
mnml: Pinned Post Feature
At the behest of @josephaleo yesterday evening, I took the time today to add a new “featured” or “pinned” post feature to my mnml theme for Micro.blog.
You can update to v2.7.1 in your Micro.blog plugins area soon if not already.
Here’s how the feature works…
Say you have a category you always want the latest post to stay pinned to the top of your home page for, no matter how many other posts in different categories you may publish. It might – well, does – look something like this…
After updating to version 2.7.1, all you have to do is set your preferred category name in the new mnml theme setting, like this…
In this example on my sandbox site, the latest post in my “Featured Post” category stays pinned on the home page, no matter what. When I publish a new post in the “Featured Post” category, it then becomes the pinned post at the top of the home page.
The category can be anything you choose. In the case of @josephaleo, he wants to pin the latest “Podcast” category post on his home page to feature his latest episode.
If you like this enhancement, or would like to simply support mnml’s continued development in general, buying me a coffee is always a pleasant surprise.