What to do with the books
I have a lot of books. In hard copy. About a decade ago I pledged that no hard copy books would enter my home by my hand. But still I have the ones I accumulated in the previous 40 or…
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I make my own yogurt
Cultural context: I’m old enough to have lived through the introduction and expansion of yogurt into North American dominant food culture. When I was a kid it was the weird-smelling white goop that looked enticingly like ice cream but tasted…
Setting up an email account is a lost skill
I miss it. I do. Or rather I miss it in other people. I am exposing myself as a nearly 60 year old IT-adjacent curmudgeon. But I have been running servers and supporting people in their use of technology —…
Unplanned dismount
I was out riding with the OBC June 28 on a century-ish effort to Dunvegan when suddenly I found myself on the deck, looking over my bike, putting the steering tube cap back on and checking the drive train to…
The Nerd Hutch
Since the late 1980s I have had a bit too much technology in my life. When I was working for the student press, I was so fascinated by the computer bulletin board technology we were running to distribute news stories,…
Lutron Caséta Wifi dimmers and LED fixtures: what to do when they don’t work
I should say I am not an electrician. I have over my longish (charmed) life managed, however, to install receptacles, switches and fixtures in a variety of homes with a broad range of tools and have lived to tell the…
Four bedroom house with apartment in Old Ottawa South
Post-facto note: the house is sold. I’m feeling sad but relieved. Want to buy a house? I got one for you. It’s been a fabulous home for me and my family for the last eighteen years. We’ve looked after it,…