Happy 2021 Winter Solstice!

[http://dummy.us.eu.org/robert (Robert)]

Happy Winter Solstice! 🌅

Here is my latest contact information:

Robert
 .
where-I-live 
my-Oakland-voicemail-number (voicemail)
our-San-Jose-phone-number
our-Oakland-cell-phone-number (cell)

http://dummy.us.eu.org/robert
http://www.

My solstice update is below.

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News

Lifestyle
  * Health
    * Miscellaneous
      * Vax populi.  The race was on once the floodgates were open for
        all adults to get their first vaccination shot/jab in early
        April in our county.  Noelle scanned various websites for
        hours and, fortuitously, found some appointments at a
        county-run site just a 5 minute drive away.  Despite the big
        crowds, the process was exceedingly organized and everybody
        there was friendly.
      * OK, just a little pinprick.  The first COVID shot just gave me
        a headache and mild body aches.  Every shot after that put me
        down, including the second vaccine shot, my annual flu shot,
        and the vaccine booster shot.  For the second vaccine shot, I
        thought it was no problem.  I just had a headache, some body
        aches, and nausea.  But, when I tried to go back to work, I
        was unable to think -- I just kept staring at the screen and
        couldn't figure out why I was there and what I was supposed to
        be doing.  Noelle took my temperature and it read 102.8.  Oh,
        yeah, that explained it.  I took the rest of the day off,
        crawled into bed and got under the covers, and slept for 24
        hours.  With my annual flu shot, I was fearless going in this
        year, never having had a side-effect.  It was not to be so.
        Very similar to my second COVID shot, a bunch of symptoms
        appeared with a 24 hour recovery again.  I was a bit hopeful
        that the booster shot might not have bad side-effects, but
        within 5 hours, it hit me and took me down again.
    * Exercise
      * Huffing and puffing behind a mask.  The gym that we joined last
        year just before everything shut down once again opened.  At first,
        masks were required.  And, then, they weren't, for a brief
        period.  Back again, they are required.  It's an exercise in
        frustration doing any sort of exercises, even anaerobic ones like
        lifting weights, while trying to breath through a mask.  Maybe
        one day, we can set aside the mask.
    * Ears
      * Auditory assistance.  It was my hope that the feds would impose
        some kind of a price restriction or regulation on hearing aids.
        I even set aside some money for that purpose.  Sadly, it did
        not happen.  In lieu of buying "real" aids, and as an
        experiment, I bought a cheapo ear device that I can use in
        noisy situations.  It does help, but I sometimes forgot to
        bring it along.
  * Careers
    * Turn on, tune out, and drop in.  The battery in my work's laptop
      started dying, and a new one was ordered and arrived at the
      office.  After not going to there for months, I needed to go in
      and have support replace the battery.  As I would've expected,
      it was desolate and quiet.  Nobody recognized me bundled up in
      my mask and other coverings.  I was happy that I could fix my
      desktop computers and do some upgrades, but I did not look back
      when carrying my now smooth running laptop and some books
      out the office door.
    * Not a welcome in sight.  Our first return to the office was
      supposed to be in May of this year.  Needless to say, that
      didn't happen.  The next one was September.  Again, didn't
      happen.  The next supposed window will be beginning of 2022.
      Not too hopeful, but I have no strong desire to go into the
      office.  In addition, I also have very little reason to go in
      since my only other locally-residing team mate left last month.
  * Home
    * The dangers of Zoom yoga.  When we heard odd banging noises
      while doing an online yoga class, it didn't alarm us.  We
      figured it was the neighbors or animals running around.  But,
      after we emerged from the isolated room, we were shocked to see
      the contents of the garage scattered all over the back lawn,
      primarily our bicycles and tricycles.  There was a guy there,
      going in and out of our garage.  Without thinking, we approached
      him to ask what was going on.  He explained that he thought that
      our house was abandoned and he was moving into our garage.  He
      also said that our belongings were scattered about before he
      arrived.  He said he was sorry, and left.
    * Three is a magic number.  We called 311 immediately afterwards
      and a cop came by and filed a report.  He didn't know what to
      make of the incident, or of the person.  Noelle and the cop
      highly suspected that it was the guy who did pull everything out
      of the garage and concluded that I was very gullible.  The cop
      warned us that the guy was likely to return and that we should
      be on the look-out -- advice that we took to heart.  Later, I
      looked at the webcam footage and found that this was, in fact,
      the guy who did all the manipulation.  Inspecting other things,
      I found that a screen window was smashed in; I spent the rest of
      the day putting stuff back and locking things up, and repairing
      the screen as best I could to prevent animals from getting in.
    * Not just one of those nights.  Neither Noelle nor I slept well
      that night.  I tossed and turned, and, really, was afraid to
      move.  Not so for Noelle.  At 5am, the motion-sensitive light
      turned on in front of our garage.  Noelle took a glance out and
      saw the same guy trying to get into our garage!  (This time, it
      was well-locked and would've had a hard time.)  She saw him walk
      around the back of the garage.  Embarrassed from being so
      gullible earlier that day, and sick of being taken advantage of,
      I called 911.  A few moments later, we heard a big crash.  We
      didn't know what it was.
    * Caught up in the moment.  I told the 911 operator what was going
      on and we were told to stay in the house, and that a cop would
      be sent over.  Turns out, they sent about 5 cop cars.  The whole
      area was completely lit up with floodlights.  The cops went into
      the back, and we heard one yell "hey, he's over here!".  He had
      been captured.  We were asked to go outside and identify the
      guy.  Yep, same guy.  When the 311 cop had warned us earlier in
      the day about him returning, we didn't expect him back so soon.
      Along with the cops, we walked to the back, I opened the garage
      and found that the window there had been smashed in; that was
      the crash that we had heard.  And, as it turns out, that was his
      mistake because, even though it would've been difficult to get
      in there (there was no evidence of his entering), the crime was then
      classified as a "burglary" and therefore meant more serious
      consequences.  The cops took pictures and left at about 7am.
    * Run-on sentences.  A couple of weeks later, we got a letter in
      the mail from the county DA.  As a crime victim, we have the
      right of restitution, and were asked to fill out some forms.  As
      it turns out, there were only just a few things missing, and all
      the bikes and trikes were intact.  I debated whether to bother
      filling out the form, but decided to go ahead with it just so
      the perpetrator will retain some memory of the incident.  The
      main cost was the $100 to replace the window, so that's what I
      put.  I later found out that he had taken several other things,
      including bicycle tools and bicycle parts.  They weren't more
      than a few hundred dollars, so I consider myself lucky.  I've
      since tried to replace these, but, with the latest supply
      chains issues, I have been unable to.  I recently discovered
      that the minimum sentence for burglary in this county is 2
      years, which seems a bit harsh.  But, maybe, we won't have to
      worry about his return for a while.
    * Take a hike, not a bike.  After these events, it made sense to
      try to prevent this, or at least reduce its possibility, in the
      future.  (This was not the first time someone wandered into our
      back yard.)  I had always thought it made sense to put up a gate that
      would deter people from simply walking into our back yard, but this
      was the tipping point.  We called around and got a wrought iron
      gate installed into our driveway, and a wooden gate on the other
      side of the house.  You can see a picture at
      https://www.flickr.com/photos/noelle/51707806005/ .
    * Don't take a right to repair, take a left.  We kept having to
      have our refrigerator repaired.  It never worked consistently.
      Food would freeze one day, and the freezer would stop working
      the next.  It was finally time to replace the fridge.  We
      scanned through various sites and searched through Consumer
      Reports, and did lots of measuring and re-measuring.  When we
      did settle on a make and model, we had a now-common experience
      of no way of obtaining it.  A local appliance shop did assure us that
      they could get it to us in a few weeks.  I put in the order and
      weeks stretched into months.  After a mere 4 months, it came in
      and was delivered.  I was careful about measurements, but the
      fit was very tight.  The delivery guys were confident that they
      install it without taking off the front door, but, after 45
      minutes of trying every combination, they relented.  It works
      great and hope not to go through that ordeal again for many years.
  * Travel
    * A closed gate means an open mind.  At least, more open minded to
      risking travel.  We hadn't seen Noelle's dad for over a year and
      a half, and felt it was time.  Prepared with books on CDs, we
      drove to Santa Barbara in mid-August.  Everyone was vaccinated
      so being maskless indoors was an option.  Nevertheless, we
      stayed in a nearby hotel.  We even got to meet up with some of
      Noelle's childhood friends.  See
      https://www.flickr.com/photos/noelle/albums/72157719747194134
      for some pics.
    * Worth the wait.  A trip had been planned for May 2020 to a yoga
      workshop at Wilbur Hot Springs.  It being a few months after the
      break out of the pandemic, it was canceled and was offered to
      reschedule for either May 2021 or October 2021.  At the time, I
      had a feeling that things wouldn't be better by May 2021 and so
      chose October 2021.  A year and a half later, we finally got to
      go.  It was good.  While not quite as relaxing as the last time
      (I slept many hours the last time we went) since I actually did
      the yoga this time, it was good to get away from electronics for
      a weekend.

Entertainment        
  * Movies
    * In front of the big screen.  Our local movie theater
      (https://www.3belowtheaters.com) reopened this year.  It has
      lots of restrictions (masks, proof of vaccination), but I'm glad
      it didn't succumb to the pandemic and close down.  It's pretty
      quiet in the lobby there each time we go, but I'm hopeful that
      people haven't completely abandoned film and movie theaters.
  * Outdoors
    * Hey, ho, let's Coe!  It's been many years of attempts, but I
      made it to Henry Coe State Park, about 25 minutes south of San
      .  The drive was scary since the roads are very narrow, more
      narrow than the road going up to The Lick Observatory.  And,
      when we finally got to the park, it was super full.  Obviously,
      there was pent up demand.  I had to drive around for at least 15
      minutes before finding a spot for the car.  It was very pleasant
      and quiet, distant from most of civilization.  It was a nice
      short hike on a trail.  We were supposed to wear masks and
      maintain 6' distance, even on the trails.
  * Books
    * Forever indebted to his legacy.  On our trip to Santa Barbara,
      we borrowed an audiobook version of "Debt: The First 5000 Years"
      by David Graeber.  I'm glad we got to listen to this since I had
      always been curious about the origins of currency.  It was even
      more mind expanding than I expected and quite good.  Graeber
      died earlier this year and it was a great loss since it was a
      very cool guy with lots of interesting ideas.
    * While not doing yoga.  I did do all the yoga classes at Wilbur
      Hot Springs, but I had time to read between classes.  I finally
      finished "No Contest" by Alfie Kohn.  I started reading this
      book in the early 90s.  The arguments in the book still seemed
      just as strong and, even 'tho quite radical, have held up over
      time.  Resisting competition will remain an ongoing project.
  * Music
    * Please prime us for the experience.  In early October, we
      traveled to Paso Robles and stayed in a hotel so we could see
      Primus.  Their newest show was called "A Farewell to Kings".
      For those in the know, this is a play on a Rush album.  Part of
      the schtick of this show was their playing of every song on that
      album.  Unbeknownst to me prior to attending this show, Primus
      toured with Rush quite a lot and the bassist, Les Claypool, had
      discussed this idea with Geddy Lee years earlier, even before
      Neal Peart's death.  They played other stuff besides what was on
      that album.  It was my first experience with Primus, and I found
      their music bizarre, yet very hyponotic.
    * A turnaround of the unreliable.  We got our wonky turntable back
      from the repair shop.  For the third time, they were unable to
      reproduce the problem.  Once I got it back into my hot, little
      hands, I contemplated what to do.  Getting another record player
      could have been the easiest thing.  But, a friend suggested that
      it may be that the playing surface was not even/flat.  And,
      voilà !  That was it!  If I tip the phonograph so
      that the front side is higher, vinyl records play perfectly.
      What a strange solution.
    * Exponential decay.  Our first Sony stereo lasted 15 years.  The
      second lasted just 6.  It turns out that these Sony stereos are
      renowned for problems with an internal relay.  I was tempted to
      try to fix it myself, but knew that that would have taken hours
      to complete and didn't want to dedicate the time for that.  I
      read many reviews online and decided that Sony will need to be
      avoided from now on.  So, I made the big switch and went with
      Yamaha.  Definitely an improvement.  It has many modern features
      and it doesn't have any of the funky failings of the Sony
      stereo.

Politics/Society
  * Ecology/Environment
    * Misc
      * Climate change keeps falling on my head.  There are more
        climate change podcasts than ever.  And, we subscribe to many
        of them.  We've been listening to them through our iPad
        connected to the stereo.  Of course, with the terrible
        shortcomings of COP26, they are almost always depressing, but
        always informative.
  * Voting/Elections
    * The passing flood.  Americans were very lucky that Trump was
      never much of a risk taker when the Capitol Building was
      stormed.  We could be living in a undemocratic authoritarian
      state right now.  It's quite incredible how the wide the gap
      between the "two Americas" have become.  Living in the Bay Area,
      I most definitely live in a bubble and I only ever get to see
      one side of "the America" on a regular basis.
    * A subtotal recall.  Many Cans I knew were anxiously
      biting their nails about the Governor Newsom recall.  I never
      voted for Newsom and, although he has turned out to be better
      than Jerry ever was, he is no champion for the working
      class.  Nevertheless, I was horrified of the possibility of a
      Trump enthusiast becoming governor of this state, and felt
      compelled to engage in the vote.  Newsom did win this one, but I
      am hoping that he can eventually be replaced with someone more
      progressive.
  * Misc
    * Cat people.  I knew it was difficult to herd cats, but who knew
      that people would be as problematic?  Despite these
      shortcomings, we're nearly at herd immunity here in Santa Clara
      county.  I figure that, as long as I never leave this county,
      I'll be fairly safe.
        
Technology
  * Computers
    * Software
      * PC
        * Linux
          * Hey nineteen.  I am now ready for next year's dropping of
            support for Debian stretch.  All my machines have been
            upgraded to the 4.19 kernel.  I had had problems with
            suspending (sleeping) on the laptops.  It took several
            hours of research and experimentation.  (The key was to
            use user-space suspension.)
	  * A higher frequency.  Debian posted its latest release
            this year.  They switched to a 2-year cycle, which makes
            things a bit trickier.  Luckily, the long-term support
            remains approximately the same.  All the repositories are
            now pointing to the latest stuff, but it wanted me to
            update libc6.  That was just too big a change.  So, only
            Noelle's computer went with the full upgrade.  One
            disturbing effect was that it would no longer compile any
            kernels previous to 5.10.  I'll wait until I'm good and
            ready before upgrading any of my other computers.
          * Goodbye Bell Laboratories, hello systemd.  As part of the
            Debian release, I upgraded to systemd.  Most of my systems
            had still been running SYSV.  Some of my systems now boot
            much faster.  I haven't seen any poor side-effects yet.
            Another motivation here was so that I could start using
            Snap packages, which gives me a bit more flexibility.
	  * Zorro has a mark, xorriso made a mark.  For my physical
            optical disc back-ups, the legacy wodim tools are out and
            the more recent xorriso tools are in.  There is some funky
            behavior to these tools, but they work a bit better.  DVD
            back-ups are less likely to get zapped and I can keep them
            in an emergency pack.