I know everyone's got their preferred notes app/platform, but I've been using SimpleNote for several years now, and I'm quite fond of it. Not only does it have very usable mobile and cross-platform desktop apps, it also has alternate apps like nvpy (a GUI) and sncli, an excellent client.

Using sncli, I can edit my notes in (Neo)vim, and what's not to love there? Simplenote also has the added benefit of on-demand syncing, and using almost no battery power on mobile, which I can't say for custom solutions like using markor (mobile) and vim (desktop) and syncing with Syncthing. I do love Syncthing, but I only let it run when plugged in to save power, so I cannot rely on it to sync my notes on demand. So, SimpleNote has been a perfect solution for my needs.

I track all kinds of things with SimpleNote (mostly in neovim via sncli): my shopping list, notes from therapy sessions (go to therapy, y'all!), my car's mileage, the days I give my cat his medicine, my blog post ideas (yes, I need to write more regularly 😉), and recently, my exercise.

My weight has gotten a little on the chonk side since 2020 (sigh), so I'm working my way back up to exercising three times per week.

So far, I've been tracking my exercise with a simple format in SimpleNote:

YYYY/MM/DD Cal Time Dist Difficulty notes
---- -- -- --- ---- ---- ---------- -----
2023/08/02 326 45 3.0 1/1 ell
2023/08/03 Swimming ~30 minutes
2023/08/05 Swimming 50min med diff
2023/08/07 393 50 3.48 2/1 elliptical
2023/08/16 345 50 3.29 2/1 elliptical
2023/08/25 1 hour intense swimming
2023/08/30 333 44 3.00 2/2 elliptical

That definitely did a good job of representing the data, but I wanted a visual representation of the days I exercise so I can keep track of it and encourage myself to do more.

I remembered my old friend cal, the UNIX calendar:

     August 2023    
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
       1  2  3  4  5
 6  7  8  9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31      

I figured out I can leave the numbers in on the days I exercised, use periods for the days I didn't, and leave out any weeks where no exercise happened. I ended up with a file that's broken up by month with a visual representation of every month preceding the actual data:

     August 2023    
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
       .  2  3  .  5
 .  7  .  .  .  .  .
 .  .  . 16  .  .  .
 .  .  .  .  . 25  .
 .  .  . 30  .      

2023/08/02 326 45 3.0 1/1 ell
2023/08/03 Swimming ~30 minutes
2023/08/05 Swimming 50min med diff
2023/08/07 393 50 3.48 2/1 elliptical
2023/08/16 345 50 3.29 2/1 elliptical
2023/08/25 1 hour intense swimming
2023/08/30 333 44 3.00 2/2 elliptical

It's not much, but it's progress. ;)


Time for a new "Geek Code"!

Sun 06 August 2023 by R.L. Dane

I was watching yesterday's video from The Linux Cast on PeerTube, and I really liked how he broke down the various (arche)types of Linux users into seven categories:

  • "The Greybeards" - those who have used Linux since the early days, and have a lot of experience. The Linux Gandalfs.
  • "I …
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The Linux Last Mile Problem

Fri 21 July 2023 by R.L. Dane

I was watching The Linux Experiment's latest video entitled "Sometimes, I get tired of Linux," and I realized how similar the issues that he mentioned are to the classic "Last Mile Problem."

First of all, mad props to folks like Nick (a.k.a. "The Linux Experiment"), Veronica Explains, The …

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Fun with FreeBSD

Wed 22 March 2023 by R.L. Dane

Do *not* do the following :D
Please scroll down to the **Update** section below, instead

I was watching this video about FreeBSD last night, and the gentleman made mention of a blog which had extra information on FreeBSD. Looking at the blog, I found an excellent article describing how to …

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Le Blerb, or: I guess I should write something, eh?

Tue 21 March 2023 by R.L. Dane

Welp, it's been literally a month since my last blog post. 1,000 days to offload, right? 😆

I had a checkup with my doctor today, and going over the results of my blood test, I was encouraged in no uncertain terms to pick up regular exercise again, and stick with …

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A quick little terminal tip

Mon 30 January 2023 by R.L. Dane

Becoming a terminal file management enjoyer

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