I've been suffering a buzzy brain lately. Whether it's this damned
earache (which is thankfully fading after a week of throbbing), or if
I am simply overloaded, I cannot say. What I can say is that I've
found it difficult to focus on anything at all. Or rather, I've found
it difficult to care about anything enough to focus on it. Even the
act of authoring this post is difficult; I started it on the 29th of
June, and here I am still writing it on the 10th 22nd of
July. I am forcing myself to do so out of an act of near desparation;
perhaps if I can consolidate my thoughts and ideas momentarily in the
form of a narrative I'll be able to read the contents of my own mind.
Dad Stuff
Miss Zoe is away for a week with her mother. Her summer vacation time with me has thus far been uneventful. Last year we had made a grand escape to Florida and Disney world. This year will be much more sedate (and significantly less expensive). I worry that she will get bored, but I force myself to remember that dealing with boredom is an important part of being a child. Turning a lack of stimulation into play-time, exercising her imagination -- this is more important than dropping a neverending stream of entertainment on her head.
Work Stuff
I am overloaded and frustrated with work. I have too many tasks that all want my attention at once, and some of the aspects of each require information or aide from coworkers who either are not around or are otherwise occupied. It is wearing me down, and I will be happy to take a break from it after July is over. If I can last that long.
Hacking Stuff
Sibilant is sitting around, staring at me. I don't know what I want to do with it. I was suddenly overcome with a worry that it would be too useless if written with the call/cc stuff that I wanted so badly. It would be intensely slow, and fragile when interacting with "normal" Python code. But if not for that, what reason is there to write it? Simpler dialects of lisp in python already exist, and there's even a Clojure for python.
If my goal is call/cc, then I should hack on it from that perspective and not care at all if it's an unusably slow mess when running. If my goal is a DSL extension for Python, then I need to reconsider how I am approaching this project and perhaps instead use an existing project.
Motorcycle Stuff
Tux is happy to be running the roads again. I didn't ride at all last week, with Zoe here. Now that school is out, I don't really have a chance to ride during the day-time. I will probably put 100 miles on her odometer today, which will put me over the 8000 mile mark.
There are some modifications I'd love to perform to her. I'm severely tempted by the look and sound of the Norton exhaust offered by Dime City Cycles. I've also seen some interesting minimalist modifications which remove the side-covers and relocate (or eliminate) all the components normally hiding behind them.
But first and foremost, I want a kick-starter. Suzuki's TU250x is also known as the ST250 in Japan. The ST250 has an "E-type" model, which is identical to the US TU with the addition of a kick-start! The hardware exists, it's just damned hard to get ahold of it.
I need to find someone either inside Suzuki or in Japan who is willing to deal with me and hook me up with the parts list and a way to purchase the components -- kickstart shaft, gear, spring, stopper, lever, oil seal. I know at least a dozen other vocal TU owners who would buy such a kit. I'd drop the cash to buy a few sets up-front and happily resell them!
Video Game Stuff
Lots of Diablo 3. Trying to get a Crusader thorns setup going, but I can't seem to get the bracers to drop. Not playing World of Warcraft anymore, the game has gotten stale for me. Will have to check back for Warlords of Draenor.