I keep all my scanned and downloaded PDFs in DEVONthink. This is invaluable come tax time. DEVONthink 4 has a “batch processing” feature (new?) I’ve been using to rename documents based on the content. It uses Claude’s API to analyze the document and come up with a new title of the form: Source - Type - Recipient - Source Date. For example “Megabank Corp - Checking Statement - Dave - 2026-01-26”. It uses the Haiku model so it’s relatively fast and cheap. I spent about $2 to automatically rename about 100 documents making them super easy to file properly. Some of the new names required some tweaking but probably saved me 3-4 hours. Pretty sweet.
I thought that 1/4 cup of paprika in this chicken dish was a lot but added it anyway. Turns out it was very good!
Today we start collecting all of the tax documents together. Let the games begin!
General strike called today for MN. Not sure it will have much effect. This isn’t a place that has that tradition. I went out once to give blood at the Mayo blood donor center. 100th donation. Other than that I’m staying put for several days.
Below 0ºF today and for another 3 days. Maybe it will freeze the ICE out of MN. Too much to hope for?
Today was supposed to be a Farmers Market day, but it’s too damn cold out to make the walk from the parking lot to the buildings. Any produce would not survive the trek back.
Continuing to install some apps onto the new MacBook Air. I have the essentials. Now it’s just a matter of “filling up the corners” as the hobbits say. This was a clean install which is something I do every third or fourth Mac.
Heading out for dinner in the middle of an Alberta clipper. Temps are dropping to near zero with high winds and light snow, but I can’t pass up the opportunity to get ~my patient~ Ann out of the house. Glad our companions are driving.
I sold my snowblowers when I moved to my townhome. I didn’t think I’d need one since we have a snow clearing service, but found the plows typically come through after the drive has been cleared leaving 2 feet of piled up snow blocking the drive. I now have a new one. Sigh.
I’m putting aside the Linux experiment for a while again. I finally have a laptop that works properly. I think what finally soured me was that I had to install five or six times swapping between various distros before I found one that would run the apps I need.
Well, the reMarkable 2 is off to a new owner. Now on to the next device.
Today I move all the meds to my new Medicare Part D provider. This should save over $1200 this year.
Briefly tried taking photos of my notebook journal pages for Day One. It’s cute, but more work than it’s worth. Back to long form writing in the notebook and short form for Micro.blog and Day One. BTW, loving the Day One integration from M.b. Seamless. Thanks @manton.
Thinking of selling my two reMarkable Paper Pros. It’s a love/hate thing. They are beautifully made and I think hit a sweet spot for e-ink writing but don’t really fit the way I use tech.
Goodbye 2025. I wish you had done better, but your final kinda sucked and the midterms were so meh. A D+ was the best I could give you.
Setting up the new laptop. Running Ubuntu 24.04. I like the Pop!_OS Cosmic equivalent but can’t use it since I rely on one Java app that doesn’t play nice with Wayland. Happy with Ubuntu for now.
God help me. Hours after returning the Daylight DC-1 I pony up for a System/76 Lemur Pro.
Still spending way too much time sampling so-called notetaking apps. What do I really need? One good simple outliner. One good editor/organizer for longer form notes. Cross-platform or web-based is best. I should just stick with Workflowy and Obsidian.
Been busy the past few days. Catching up.
Switching my Medicare Part D from United Healthcare to Wellcare ValueScript. I’ll save over $100 a month.
