Backing off of Python back to Ruby and Pharo. I know Python is more popular, but having objects everywhere helps me think more deeply about the nature of programming problems.
Ann and I can’t be the only ones who celebrate a very quiet Christmas. We’ll go to church in the morning – no Christmas Eve services for us – too noisy. My daughter and her boyfriend will be over for dinner. We have a small tree. We don’t exchange gifts. We give each other gifts throughout the year instead. It will be a quiet day. Might not even turn on the TV.
Problem: Our new LG G3 TV was turning off after 15 minutes when the HDMI switch is set to the Spectrum DVR. It worked fine when the HDMI switch is set to the Apple TV 4K. It seemed to be some sort of interaction between the TV and the DVR.
Configuration:
Googled several things. Various solutions presented. None worked.
Things we tried:
None of the above Googled solutions included multiple inputs through a switch. It turns out that the Apple TV 4K sleep timer was the issue. It was set for 15 minutes. Even though the switch box was set to the DVR, the HDMI-CEC settings of the Apple TV caused the TV to shut down when the (disconnected) Apple TV went to sleep. Somehow the Apple TV was communicating control even though the switch box was set to the DVR.
Following after @manton, @maique, and others. Reminds me a bit of this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFRpa81MUAY.
I’m finding that I’m using the BBEdit scratchpad and Tot for almost all my #plaintext composition. BBEdit is the second program I install after 1Password on a new Mac.
New tries in the past 24 hours: Ivory for macOS (good so far), Kagi search trial (not sure yet, seems good), latest Quicken for Windows on my dad’s laptop (a vast improvement over Quicken 2015 that my dad was using), back to TunnelBear from ClearVPN, and there are probably more I don’t remember.
What goes? A lot of books donated to our public library. Extra furniture. All the CDs donated as well. Maple and walnut boards I’ve been saving. Woodworking tools. Snowblowers. Lawnmowers. Bicycles. The list is huge. Some sold mostly given away.
Ann and I saw Hamlet at the Guthrie Theater yesterday. Excellent!
This week I’m playing with the Zola static site generator. Maybe a new toy will get me blogging more often? That’s probably wishful thinking, but even if it doesn’t I’ll be brushing up on rudimentary CSS.
The creators of Smalltalk: Alan Kay, Dan Ingalls, Adele Goldberg, et. al. have my admiration. Simple, elegant, and useful in its time. I go to the Squeak implementation every so often and sigh.
I’m happy that Jason Kottke is back publishing at kottke.org.
Today’s workout: Shoveling snow/slush/ice off the drive. 200+ shovelfulls @ 10-20lbs each. I expect to be sore tomorrow.
The terrific turkey tortas version 2.0 was better than 1.0. Still working on improvements. Will I be ready in time?
Each year at Thanksgiving we have a contest among the Dykstal siblings. This year it’s turkey sandwiches. I’m doing “terrific turkey tortas”. I finally located a source for bolillos in here in town. Today is a practice day. Yum!
So here we are.
Ann is doing really well. She is heading to PT this week with the goal of getting her knee back in shape. She's in the final week of radiation treatment for the cancer. Her prognosis is excellent. There is one wrinkle in all of this which I won't get into, but the prognosis for that is very good as well. Ann is going to be OK.
We celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary last Saturday. I am so privileged to be married to this wonderful woman.
I am doing well too. As Ann gets better so do I. I guess that's one definition of love.
The Monday after Easter I had a heart attack. It was just after dinner. Ann and I were watching TV. We had just gotten back that noon from visiting my son in San Antonio for Easter and were catching up on some shows when I could not get comfortable. A mild pain in my upper chest had reached about mid way down my upper arms. It was not severe but was getting worse. It did not feel like the proverbial "elephant on my chest", but it was enough. I recognized the signs. I told Ann to take me to the ER.
Now the pain was getting bad. The ER saw me right away. Given four baby aspirin. Took ECGs. Nothing unusual. Took blood to establish a baseline for troponin - a protein linked to heart damage. Wait two hours. Another blood sample. Wait for the lab. Troponin levels up slightly. ER doc was suspicious enough to hold me for observation. It was 1:30am. Still not comfortable but in less pain than before. Wait four hours. Another blood sample. Wait for the lab. Troponin levels were now 10x baseline. ECG still normal. Wait some more. Another ECG, still normal. Troponin levels were now 20x baseline. GERD? No, the troponin levels don't make sense. Myocarditis? Could be tied to my recent COVID infection. Heart attack is also a possibility. Doctors ordered a CT scan. It showed a blockage in a coronary artery branch near the bottom of my heart: a heart attack. Immediately transferred to the cath lab for an angiogram. I had been in the ER about 12 hours monitored continuously.
I was mildly sedated. Angiogram took about 45 minutes and went smoothly. A stent was inserted and the artery was unblocked. I felt great again. Admitted to the hospital for overnight observation hooked up to IVs and monitors.
The next morning I received an echocardiogram -- a heart ultrasound. My heart showed no noticeable damage. I am cleared to be discharged.
I now have a new list of medications and a renewed emphasis on losing weight and getting more cardio into my exercise regimen. I began cardiac rehab program.
I am incredibly lucky.
The proposed breast cancer treatment was pretty routine and the prognosis was really good. However, Ann was having issues with her knee after a misstep during a workout so she had an MRI. We had scheduled a cruise to Alaska's Inside Passage for early May and all the docs said "go". We went. The day we hit Juneau (and reliable cell service) Ann got a note that her ortho folks were recommending that she be non-weight-bearing due to a knee fracture and meniscus tear. We tried. I bought crutches from the ship's medical unit and managed to grab the last wheelchair on the ship. We still had a great voyage slightly modified.
The day after I was released from the hospital for the heart attack, Ann got a call from our primary physician. Her last mammogram showed a tumor in her left breast. It was small, caught early. More diagnosis needed. More appointments scheduled.
I've been absent for quite a while. Although I've been a faithful reader of my timeline, a lot has been going on. So much that I haven't even been able to write in my daily journal which was unbroken for three years. Deets to follow.
Ann and I are heading to Seattle to cruise the Inside Passage up to Alaska and back. Hope to post some pictures when I can.
I’ve replaced my 7-year-old ebike with a new step-thru model. The ebike is my main commute vehicle in non-winter months. My old bones are going to like the step-thru. Now I just have to wait until late March.
Pulled the trigger on this Diplomat Aero yesterday.