I officially joined Toastmasters International back in December. I first heard about the speech-giving organization seventeen years ago and it was recommended to me again a few years ago to improve my speaking ability. My natural approach ranges from silence to curt-monotone to brief-direct-scowl, so I am embracing this opportunity to learn some vocal and…
Category: improvement
Networking from home
As many other people around the country are experiencing, I am teleworking and my kids are teleschooling. This means that in between Microsoft Teams calls and teleconferences I get to play IT helpdesk and system administrator. Unfortunately my home only has one operating coaxial connection (no thank you splitters!) so I purchased the TP Link…
Touchpad
If you have a touchpad on your laptop and use Ubuntu, this is how you can disable the device. I keep bumping the trackpad and moving my cursor or paging up or down. No longer.
Work
I recently had a discussion with another officer about the value of work and the hours we spend in the office. This is relevant now as we spend most of our time working from home and finding balance between the activities done at work, those done at home, and the driving in between The main…
WFH
Since most if not all of us have been working from home, here are several more working from home resources you might find helpful. Stimulus check calculator: Washington Post & Go Curry CrackerPlex Live TVPlex coloring book (it's fun for adults too!)MITRE updates and a white paperNPR Kids comicFrugalwoods reader suggestionsSal Khan on CBS NewsLevar…
Python
My first exposure to programming was, of course, using BASIC on my DOS 6.22 machine in 1995. Then I played around with C from a book my friend bought me. My last two years of high school found me learning the fundamentals of C++, but I didn't get much further than simple if-else functions. This…
Cybersecurity?
J.D. Roth recently wrote about his journey to finally use a password manager for his old and weak passwords. I know what this is like as I used a (password protected!) spreadsheet to track my passwords for years, which kept track of passwords that I generated when I was a teenager. I use Lastpass which…
Failure: Get Some
I am a goal oriented person. I set fitness goals, financial goals, nutrition goals, goals for sleep, and (near-term) goals for my kids. As I've gotten older, I've come to the realization that most goals move from the linear progression to step progression. So rather than every event or every day being a "step in…
Squat elbow bicep pain
I have been experiencing left elbow and bicep pain when I squat over 300 since last spring. I think I found the reason why: https://www.instagram.com/p/B3fGRpaAt_r/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Thank goodness I found Coach Niki Sims post!
Garage Gym, phase 4
After eight long years, I finally built the lifting platform I had read about and dreamed about. Thanks for a 3 bay garage, temperate climate, and the Art of Manliness, I completed the 8'x8' platform in my garage. Before building the platform. In October I started compiling the pieces by buying a use squat rack…
