Mike's blog about life, the universe, and everything. Now enhanced for the Fediverse and Indieweb!
<img src="https://cdn.some.pics/b00ksc0ut/6a32df659d632.jpg" alt="A man on the left holding a coffee mug with charcoal smoking in chimney in the background." /> <div class="poem"><p>daily creaks and cracks<br />a vibrant world says hello<br />there's still more to see</p></div> <hr /> <div class="offload-counter"> <span class="offload-label">#100DaysToOffload</span> <span class="offload-count">24…
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/131_Baby_Cape_fur_seal_sleeping_at_Cape_cross_Photo_by_Giles_Laurent.jpg" alt="Baby_Cape_fur_seal_sleeping_at_Cape_cross_Photo_by_Giles_Laurent" style="max-width: 75%; height: auto; border-radius: 8px;" /> <h2>What's Zoom Fatigue?</h2> <p>I spent 7 of my 8 working hours on Microsoft Teams call today. It sucked. The work wasn't bad. Just…
<h1>Tops or Bottoms?</h1> <p>My partner and I were chatting the other night on our porch. This will be our first summer with a new porch, and we've been enjoying the warmer weather. But we're in that awkward time of year where you need layers. It can be hot during the day, and cool/cold at night. Eventually we became cold and moved inside. Upon warming up, Alicia commented that her legs always get…
<h1>The Five-Point Scale</h1> <p>I first created the <a href="https://mike.helmers.me/blog/threepointscale/">3-point scale</a> to be a simple no-fuss method of rating things to based on it's own merits. Recently, a few friends and I have created the Whiskey Adventurers Guild (WAG). A group of like-minded people who enjoy whiskey and want to try more. At a meeting in March, I pitched the idea of…
<img src="https://cdn.some.pics/b00ksc0ut/69df8ef6d9134.jpg" alt="A boy and his dog looking out a window" /> <p><em><strong>The storms came in fast yesterday, and my neighbors and I raced to get in One. Last. Walk.</strong></em></p> <div class="poem"><p>the storm appears fast, <br />panicked dog walkers move<br />is there enough time?</p></div> <div class="offload-counter"> <span…
<p>If you've ever attended any type of conference, you've probably come home with a collection of SWAG aka, stuff we all get. Within the marketing world, these are "promotional products". Pens, socks, flash-drives, coffee mugs, Yeti tumblers, more pens, balloons, fidgets, stress balls, hand sanitizer, towels, shirts, chip clips, water bottles, and more! The Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI)…
<h1>A Parable</h1> <p><em>- Zen Flesh, Zen Bones #18</em></p> <blockquote> <p>Buddha told a parable in a sutra:</p> <p>A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another…
<h1>Progressive Web Apps</h1> <p>As you may know, I like self-hosting things. Cloud storage, recipe books, media, and more. One of the more limiting factors with some of these tools/systems is the lack of a mobile app. And that makes sense. Many times, these open-source developers are building software with limited resources. So having an Android app, an iPhone app, and a web app is a lot. Enter…
<h2>Waking up today</h2> <p>Today was hard. There's no particular reason for that. I have <a href="http://mike.helmers.me/blog/depression/">depression</a>, and that comes up from time to time. Sometimes I wake up, and can't. Today was one of those days. Days like this, I struggle to pinpoint why I feel a certain way. So I turn to my tools. As of this writing it's not published, but I'm working on…
<h1>Cyberpunk 2077</h1> <img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9f/Cyberpunk_2077_box_art.jpg" alt="Cyberpunk 2077 box art" /> <p><em><a href="https://mike.helmers.me/blog/threepointscale/">3-Point Rating</a>: 3/3</em></p> <p>I recently completed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberpunk_2077">Cyberpunk 2077</a>. Initially launched in 2020, the game was riddled with glitches…