Work and Python

So I have been "loaned" to another group to help with some development efforts.  For the past month I have been allocated 100% to this project and have been developing a python library of tools, some applications, linux configuration, etc.

It has been SO MUCH FUN!  But it has also been a lot of work.  I don't think I've worked LESS than 10 hours a day since it started.  Some days up to 14 hours or more.  Still...  I hadn't had the opportunity to code in my current position for 4 years, so this has been so refreshing.

Programming makes me feel like I am doing something constructive.  My "normal" job feels like a big paperwork shuffle.  In my "normal" job I do not feel as though I am actually doing anything.  It feels like a lot of meetings, a lot of talking...

So it has been fun to get back into Python.  I hadn't really done work in Python since around 2004.  Since then it was mostly Java, ruby, groovy and some php.  Python is my second favorite language, after Ada, and my favorite interactive language, with the bonus of some pretty good byte-compiled code execution speeds.

Another language I like a lot is Scala.  I am looking into Kotlin as well.  I hear it is a solid language.  Since groovy, scala and kotlin (generally) run on top of the JVM they are performant and have access to the JDK, and all the Java-based libraries you can find.  Good stuff.

My wife has been working on a children's book series that her aunt wrote, she is illustrating the stories.  The first book was completed, the second is in progress.  She is also "pet-sitting" and is having fun with that.  I believe she is saving up for her next pup.  :)

My mini's check engine light came on last week...  I did not worry much about it as it was running fine.  Turns out mini's have a lot of "check engine" issues that turn out to be absolutely nothing as was the case with this one.  It WAS near the time to have my oil changed, so I went and had them run diagnostics and change the oil.  They did nothing else, and the check engine light went off.  So... either it was related to the oil (which came out pretty clear because I am staying on top of it) or possibly the gas cap (which is a frequent trigger of CE lights).  Anyway, oil changed, tank filled and check engine light off... she is purring like a kitten.

Pop and Fedora and Stuff

I have been running pop 90% of the time, sometimes trying out new distros.  So a week ago I saw that Pop_OS! was updated to match the latest release of Ubuntu and decided to perform a full upgrade.

The upgrade process worked but for some reason it felt more like Ubuntu than Pop... (all in my head, I am sure).  So I decided, now was a good time to try out Fedora 30 which was recently released.

So I did.  I installed Fedora 30.  I think without a doubt this was the worst release of Fedora in awhile.  Performance was sketchy.  My tracker processes were constantly failing.  Base memory usage was > 2 GB.  Right now, running multiple applications on Pop I am using 2.2 GB (multiple terminals, browsers, etc.)  I do not have tracker failures.  Everything is smooth.

Prior to this I had sung praises over how smooth and performant Fedora was, but not this time.

I did a full install of Pop (twice actually as I did not like the partitioning they default to and they do not allow you to interfere very much in that regard).  Back to what I enjoyed for 90% of the past year with linux.

I haven't had a lot of time to write lately as work has been taking between 10 and 14 hours of my day recently, consistently.  But to be honest, the work I am doing right now is fun!  So the days are flying by.

Well, that is about it for now.  God bless you an keep you and yours safe!

Work and 4 years later...

If you read my blog back in June and July of 2014 you will what I was going through in regards to work.

I had lost a job of 14+ years and then, a miracle, found a job immediately.  I stayed there for about a year but the commute was murder.  I am convinced it would have been the death of me eventually in the form of some blazing wreck.

I then took a Job with the company I am currently with and have been for 4 years.  Unfortunately for me my tech knowledge has waned since the job is more administrative and more about leadership than putting your head down and pounding away at the keyboard.

I miss coding.

I have to say though despite hard times at my current position that it has not been BAD for me.  It has been... different, and not necessarily what I wanted.  Still, the people I work with are great and I do still get to hack away at some python programming from time to time.

I encourage anyone who is seeking a career change to pray about it.  I did before I lost my job in 2014 and God forced my hand as an answer to an ongoing prayer.  Now, it isn't exactly what *I* might have wanted but... it has been good for me.

Pop_OS! and silence

I haven't heard much about Pop in the "news" lately.  But it has been silently updated with some of the latest and greatest versions of software.  It has been very solid for me lately, nary a freeze (knock on wood) and I feel as though somehow the font rendering is even better than it has been.

Anyway, it is a new quarter so I downloaded a bunch of Linux-based distros and stuck them on sticks and booted into them to see how they were.  Prepare yourself for my completely scientific and rigorously methodical analysis of each...

Elementary was flaky for me.  Perhaps an install to hardware would have been better but... it had a couple of minor issues.

Solus seemed pretty solid, but oddly enough I did not find myself attracted to it as I once was.  I guess I will keep an eye on it.

I downloaded a KDE spin of MX Linux.  It ran well but the version of KDE was a good bit behind.  Still, it worked well. 

I downloaded Zorin, it was... uninspiring.

Neon, I like.  It is pretty nice but... there are some restrictions.  I downloaded Bodhi 5 but did not try it yet, and I also downloaded "stretch" and "buster" to try.  Have not gotten to them yet.

That's it for now.

Self promotion

I have a youtube channel where I post up videos of a game our whole family plays, put to music.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSrCwyF4Wzxwb1vAPScL-kqS-l3JooZV_

Tuishimi's Star Stable Youtube Channel

Fedora, Fuel and KaOS

Well you know me by now... can't settle down for anything.  I have been back on Fedora (I have been flipping back and forth between Pop_OS! and Fedora for awhile now) for a couple of weeks.  The terrible GNOME visual eye candy performance drove me crazy and, as I have noted in a previous web log entry, Fedora is vastly superior in that regard.

So I installed and configured Fedora 29, using a grey theme, easy on the eyes (similar to MX Linux greybird theme), got Nvidia going, got PlayOnLinux, Steam and other tools that I like to use up and running.  But... I am always looking at odd new distros.  Today my three choices were Slackware, SolydK and KaOS.

I've run all of these for at least a day at some point in time.  A LONG time ago I ran Slackware on a machine with Gnome 2 or something like that.  But, Slackware is nice, but it is work and I am lazy, but it was nice to see it booted fine off my thumb drive!  Solyd might be a solid distro, but it did not work very well on my hardware.  KaOS...

Well I had tried KaOS over a year ago and thought "this is a nice distro!"  My problem with it then was its come-hell-or-high-water-we-will-only-be-64-bits mantra.  And honestly I get it, the keeper/developer worked HARD to make a gorgeous, usable KDE distro unlike any other.  When I say gorgeous I mean GORGEOUS!  Very nice to look at.  But even better than that... it supports flatpak.  Yes, you can install flatpak on KaOS and (if you are not familiar with flatpak) because of that you can now use any application in the flatpak library.  STEAM is one of those.  In fact in a previous incarnation of Fedora I ran a flatpak version of Steam!  Not only that, Wine 64 runs on KaOS and really, my favorite game runs on 64 bit Wine... so, while I might not have PlayOnLinux to install it on KaOS, I should be able to figure out how to manually install my game through Wine.

This means that if I WANT to switch over to KaOS, nothing is really holding me back.  I need to think about it though as Fedora is a very good Gnome/Gtk based linux distribution.

Ahhh the FUEL part.  Nothing to do with Linux really.  I ordered some gasoline additive that is supposed to raise your octane points over 10!  And I mean 10 Octane as you read it at the pump, not octane points... it raises over 100 of them.

My gas tank is down to about 1/2.  I figure I will use a little more up tomorrow and add this to my tank and fill it with regular unleaded.  That should get me over 95 octane easily.  I am curious to see how my engine tuner responds to that.  I thought about going with 91 octane + the additive but, that seems like overkill++.

Also, I have narrowed down my "hesitation" issue.  It happens usually when accelerating half-heartedly between 40 and 50 miles per hour... I believe the tuner I have on confuses the transmission somehow... so unless I am mashing it or just driving plain-jane style around that speed the engine starts up-down-up-down shifting, or just stops shifting and almost seems to get stuck in neutral.  It is a bizarre thing.

Good night!

I am not much of a mechanic but...

...I do manage to perform some maintenance on my vehicles.  Tonight I replaced the spark plugs in my R59 mini S, and boy the old plugs looked bad.  I got the old ones out easily, put some anti-seize on the new ones and they went right in.  Took the mini around the block for a test drive and, call me crazy but I think the exhaust smelled a lot cleaner.

It will be interesting to see how she performs over the next week.

I am also...  such a dork...  I am also back on Fedora.  Love Pop, but the gnome performance is terribly sketchy.  I can get Nvidia drivers and non-free audio drivers installed on Fedora, AND gnome runs like butter.  So ... here I am.

Other than that, not too much to report.  Gotta go to bed soon.  Have a 6:30 AM meeting in the office tomorrow.   :)