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Adventure Books Development Projects Uncategorized

Recent Hobbies

I’ve found a few new hobbies/projects to learn during the recent pandemic. Some tech, some around the house, and others just random.

Vue.js

I’ve really gotten into the vue.js JavaScript framework. Recently I’ve been aiming to get stronger with JavaScript, and eventually found my way to Vue.

Thus far I’m using the framework to develop a degree/program finder at work, and another single page app for another project. I’ll have to write up a post on both projects when I launch them. Very excited.

Firebase

A bit tied together with my Vue interest, I’ve really been having fun with Firebase. Firestore and Authentication are what I’m mostly toying with at the moment. I am really excited to deploy into some final projects. The documentation is great.

Baseboard Trim

I finally put my miter saw to use and fixed the baseboard trim in my bathroom. Getting the trim to match at a corner was the biggest challenge.

Since some of the previous trim had gotten wet and moldy, I was able to salvage a piece of the clean original to match my corner, with a completely new piece of baseboard for the side with no corners. Very difficult to see the trim isn’t a perfect match on that piece.

Sprinkler Heads

Not too difficult, but I also dig up and replaced a few sprinkler heads. Installing and adjusting to get them just right wasn’t too hard. Just some trial and error, and digging.

RingFit Adventure

I have been playing RingFit Adventure for 90+ straight days now. While not a replacement for the gym, it’s been a pretty solid source of activity. It has me doing more core and balance work now, which is nice. Great idea making an exercise rpg, I think I’m up to level 106 now.

Kindle PaperWhite

One of the first (and few purchases) of the pandemic for me was a Kindle. It’s been awesome! Screen and battery are amazing, I’ve been borrowing books online through my local library. Probably have read 8 or so on it.

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Books

Thunderstruck

ThunderstruckThis may have been the longest it’s taken me to finish a book, at a little over 5 weeks. One week I was traveling in LA, and a good part of two other weeks I was a bit sick. Despite those holdups, I did keep my interest and finished it up.

I’m a big fan of Larson, as is the kind woman at the library who initially recommended another book of his a little while back. The non-fiction reading like fiction is a pretty great style. I enjoy learning historical facts in such a manner.

A couple other’s of his that I’ve read thus far have been:

  • Dead Wake
  • In the Garden of Beasts
  • Isaac’s Storm

I believe I still have to give The Devil in the White City a read as well.

Categories
Books

Star Wars Aftermath

Star Wars: AftermathGetting a little excited for the upcoming Star Wars film, I was glad to see that Aftermath was available at the library. I was eager to get caught up with events leading up to the new movie.

The book was well written, but didn’t really touch on any of the big players in the Star Wars universe. I guess this should have been expected, but still I was hoping to read more about some of the big names.

Granted Wedge Antilles was always been a favorite of mine, even his story was all that large in the book. I really thought he was going to have a bigger role when I first started reading. Oh well.

Overall, it was interesting to get an idea of the state of affairs immediately after the Return of the Jedi. Looking forward to the movie in a few weeks.

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Books

Finders Keepers

Finders KeepersI feel like I’ve been reading a bit more non-fiction recently, so I figured I had to go with a fiction book this time around. Noticed a new Stephen King book, Finders Keepers and gave it a shot.

It was pretty solid. Turned out it was a sequel (which I might have to check out the previous book now) and centered around a crime. I really liked how the book started in the past, then jumped around to the present to set the stage.

Towards the end I really did get into it a bit more and really plowed through the last part of the book, eager to see how things ended. Good stuff.

Overall I thought it was a pretty solid summer read.

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Books

Reagan: The Life

Reagan: The LifeWhile I’m not too big into politics I did notice a new biography on Ronald Reagan, and he was the President during my younger childhood. While I remember jelly beans and the Soviet Union, I figured it’d be interesting to remember a bit more about that era.

While the early history of him before being President was very interesting and good to learn, I was most interested in reading about his Presidency. Those were the years that I recalled and reading up on so many of those events of the eighties really brought back other good memories too.

For instance the terrible Challenger explosion, the Star Wars missile defense systems, the “evil” Soviets, crushing Mondale, etc. All these really stood out to me during those formative years.

Though this was a very lengthy and quite heavy book, I did enjoy reading it a lot. Not only did I learn much more about the guy and gotten a better idea of what went on behind the scenes, it also brought back some good memories as well.

Categories
Books

H is For Hawk

There is a really impressive hawk who hangs out in my trees. I guess living on the corner he gets a pretty great view on my property.

When I saw a book with a hawk on the cover I figured it’d be interesting to read and perhaps learn a bit more about these guys.While the book turned out to be a lot more about feelings and such than I was expecting, I still did learn a bit much about birds.

Actually I haven’t seen the guy since I read this book, but I’m pretty sure he’s been up there a few times and I’m sure he’s seen me. He’s quite a big hawk and was eating a squirrel on my front lawn. He let me get very close, which was a bit strange but most exciting.