Weekly Update 2026-04-19: Dr. Honeydew's Assistant Edition
What happened during the week of April 13th - April 19th, 2026:
π§ͺ All Beaker, all the time! I have had little time for anything else. I supported the Beaker Go-Live last weekend with 10 hours of support on Saturday 04-11, followed by 7 hours on Sunday 04-12 that included me having some time for Pascha. The regular work week saw 11 hours of support on Monday 04-13, then a steady 10 hours from Tuesday 04-14 through Friday 04-17. I am mentally tired, physically exhausted, sore from sitting in my office chair, and positively sick of looking at screens both large and small. As much as I like the Muppet of the same name, I would be fine if I didn't see his orange hair or hear "meep meep meep" for a while.
βΈοΈ I squeezed in a few other items of note, which I'll detail below. Otherwise, I shall hit pause on this week's update, with hopes for better activities to mention next time.
Items Of Note From Last Week:
Outbound Actions
- π¨ Create: No time for creativity this week.
- π§βπ§βπ§βπ§ Encounters: Picked up my four wines I ordered post-La Chaussette on Tuesday 04-14 after work. Bought a bottle of San Luigi Garden Amaro that same evening, which was a highlight of our tastings at La Chaussette. Attempted lunch at Living Room on Wednesday 04-15, which was not the best fit for my schedule this week. Went shopping at a regular Costco on Friday 04-17, an experience that was strangely enjoyable thanks to my hellacious work week. Did very little of note on Saturday 04-18, then returned to the usual church, coffee, and groceries routine on Sunday 04-19.
- βοΈ Health: Usual round of 7-minute workouts during the week, though I moved them to a Wednesday-Thursday-Friday schedule because of work. Sleep was a little hard to come by on some nights, though other nights I passed out early and stayed asleep throughout. Neighborhood walk on Thursday 04-16 in the early evening. Shopping at Costco also counts as a workout!
Internal Obligations
- ποΈ Organize: Usual mix of house duties with laundry and recycling. Sent various documents relating to my mother's death and cremation to the cemetery on Thursday 04-16. Added some HTML and CSS code to this site on Friday 04-17 to incorporate the upvoting system of Bubbles.
- π¬ Testing: Installed Public Beta 2 of iOS 26.5 this week. Installed Astropad Workbench (iOS and macOS) on Wednesday 04-15; for now I'll stick with their free usage plan.
- πΌ Work: Beaker stuff, as mentioned earlier.
Media
- π Listen: Flow State Ep. 322: Avril 14th, Flow State; βTape 05,β Boards Of Canada, BoC YouTube channel
- π Read: GM Air Cushion Restraint System: The Whole Story Of GMβs Very Rare 1974β1976 Dual Airbag Option, Curbside Classic; The Aadam Jacobs Origin Story, A Mad Undertaking
- π₯οΈ Watch: 2025 Tesla Cybertruck: Regular Car Reviews, Regular Car Reviews; Spitting on a Cybertruck, Regular Car Reviews
More Info About The Media Selections From This Week:
The best bit of media I saw this week was courtesy of Regular Car Reviews, a long-running YouTube channel that does not pull punches. Somehow, the world of the Tesla Cybertruck intersected with RCR in a way I didn't think would be possible, so viewers were treated to both the standard review format and a behind-the-scenes video that could have been subtitled "Great Expectorations." Brian of RCR sounds alternately pissed and bored with the Cybertruck, and can only compliment the vehicle on one feature--four-wheel steering, which has been around in some capacity since the late 1980s. Beyond that, he channels his resignation and irritation into an audiovisual sculpture made of pure invective, which is a sight to behold.
On the subject of cars and innovations, many folks have forgotten about GM's brief foray into airbags (then called "air cushions") in the mid-1970s. Many American automakers were aghast at the proposed federal safety measures of this era, with GM's experimentation carried out as a way to slow-roll compliance while arguing against the regulations. In the long article by Curbside Classic, you'll find one detail which sounds baffling to the modern driver: air cushions were designed to work without the use of seat belts, as they were marketed as an alternative option! GM won the battle as air cushions were dropped as options in the 1977 model year, but ten years later, the regulations they fought against were finally enforced, leading to the large-scale rollout of airbags in the late 1980s and early 1990s (though this time, designed in conjunction with wearing seat belts).
To end this week's relatively brief media review, it's time for music. Tuesday 04-14 is the unofficial Aphex Twin Day that commemorates his song "Avril 14th." While you listen to the original, Flow State assembled a mix of covers done up in various genres and styles. Since this mix is available only to subscribers, I found an alternate outlet courtesy of Disquiet--Shane Parish's cover, in particular, sounds like bumper music for 70s-era PBS or the BBC comedy show "Look Around You." Speaking of which, Boards Of Canada--a band very familiar with the aesthetic of 70s-era PBS--have released their first song in 13 years! It's only out on their YouTube channel linked above, with the accompanying video sharing visuals with the videotape I mentioned last week. There's also a strong hint of the horror channel Local 58 in the video, as some of the images reminded me of the "Contingency" episode. Finally, take some time to dive into the very deep catalog of one Aadam Jacobs, a man who attended pretty much every concert he could in Chicago during the 80s, 90s, and beyond so he could record them. I very likely saw this man a few times during my concert attendances, but like everyone else in the crowd, I kept my mouth shut and didn't see nothing. A Mad Undertaking? Very likely, but the results are quite the treasure trove. As for me, I'm still trying to figure out the logistics of Phish playing at Lounge Ax, given how tiny their stage was!
Picture time!
Let's reward folks who've made it this far in the blog entry with a photo!
In August 2023, L. & I spent three weeks in northern New England, with a road trip through Maine and New Brunswick sandwiched in between two weeks largely spent in New Hampshire. Before and after Maine, we spent time with L.'s family at the Great Island Common of New Castle, NH located along the mouth of the Piscataqua River as it empties into the Gulf Of Maine. From here, you can see across the river into Maine, along with views further into the gulf and the Atlantic Ocean. Whaleback Lighthouse, the southernmost lighthouse in Maine, is easily visible from the park, a view that inspired a local artist to "frame" the view in an imagined painting likely inspired by plein-air artists in the region.
