Rob Fahrni

Kim is taking Kolby to the doggy groomer.

I think it’s time for a nap.

This is my favorite part of the morning. It’s quiet. Our puppers, Kolby, and our kitties have been fed and Kolby has been let out to do his business. I have my coffee — on the couch with an ice pack on my knee — composing this post.

Sweet silence.

Ars Technica: “Brian Kernighan said hello, asked how their US visit was going, and dropped off hundreds of lines of code that could add Unicode support for AWK, the text-parsing tool he helped create for Unix at Bell Labs in 1977.”

It’s so encouraging to see a legend of computing going strong.

Steven Beschloss: “I didn’t intend to return to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis so soon, but the combination of his latest nastiness combined with the emerging approach of his newly decided Democratic opponent, Charlie Crist, made it clear that the Florida race for governor represents more than the question of who will lead Florida into the future. This is shaping up to be a battle between leadership driven by anger and cruelty and leadership that believes kindness and compassion must define our fate.”

I can’t for the life of me understand why people vote for someone so cruel. He has every trait that made Trump such a disaster and he’s a lot smarter than Trump, which makes him even more dangerous.

Democrats are winning because they are the party of freedom. The freedom to choose. The freedom to make a living wage. The freedom to love. The freedom to vote. The freedom to live on a sustainable planet.

Republicans are losing because they are a cult that worships a moron.

— Bradley Whitford (@BradleyWhitford) August 24, 2022

Platformer: “Zatko maintained his public silence for eight months — and then showed up on Tuesday throwing bombs.”

My initial reaction to this news was it would help Musk get out of the Twitter deal. Now I don’t think it’ll help him.

He’s still gonna need his $54.20 per share.

There’s also the ever popular musk.social sitting out there for a $1MM donation to Planned Parenthood. Quite a deal!

Puck News: “‘It’s not been a fun morning,’ Stacy Spikes told me today from New York, where he’s been prepping the new and (hopefully!) improved MoviePass.”

I totally took advantage of MoviePass in 2017. I saw a few movies and it was so worth the price.

This new and improved version could be a boon to movie theaters looking to put butts in seats in our endemic COVID world.

Macworld: “The problem is that, with a month or so to go before macOS Ventura goes final, the System Settings app in the beta is a bit of a disaster. Unless things change in a hurry, Apple is in danger of replacing one of the worst system apps in macOS with a new app that’s just as bad or worse.”

I would love to know why this new OS app is so klunky. I haven’t experienced it myself but from all accounts it’s a real mess.

Now, it could be the app is waiting on some changes from the SwiftUI team to fix some nasty bugs or, perhaps, we’re seeing learning pains from the developer responsible for the app? It happens to the most seasoned developer when you have to make that brain shift to a new paradigm.

If it manages to ship in a buggy state with a terrible user experience it doesn’t bode well for SwiftUI. Who wants to invest their time in a technology that’s not ready for prime time?

Of course SwiftUI is the future of app development for all Apple Platform based applications, it’s just really ugly at the moment.

SwiftUI is amazing until you're totally blocked on something dumb like a custom back button.

(Yes, you can hide default and add your own. Yes, that breaks back swipe. Yes, you can override the pan gestures. No, you can't prevent it from fucking up a NavigationPath.)

— Craig Hockenberry (@chockenberry) August 26, 2022

Fresnoland: “In 2021, the Fresno area experienced 69 days over 100 degrees – a record-breaking number of days, according to data from the National Weather Service. There have already been more than 50 days over 100 this year.”

I was born and raised in the great San Joaquin Valley of California. Yes, it’s hot, no way around it, but these increasing days over 100 degrees isn’t good in so many ways. Climate change is real and we’ve screwed ourselves. The human toll is just getting started.

Jalopnik: “Tesla CEO Elon Musk is none too pleased with Tesla drivers who are pointing out major issues with the company’s Full Self-Driving software, according to Insider.“

Have you seen some of the very damning videos of Tesla’s running over child sized mannequins? It’s really disturbing and Musk isn’t happy about it. He wants them pulled. So much for open feedback.

Fully Self Driving vehicles is a pipe dream at the moment and Tesla is experimenting right out in the open. Tesla’s are dangerous cars when used in FSD mode and it should be banned from general use until Tesla can consistently demonstrate it works.

The UC system was free for Californians until the late 60s when Reagan, then Governor, cut state funding.https://t.co/E5Mf2NPN1c

— Derek Powazek (@fraying) August 24, 2022

Yes, believe it or not, University of California schools were once free to attend. As a nation we need this to come back. Make all State Colleges and Universities free. If you want to go to Harvard that’s fine, you can pay for your education. It gives folks choice and will make America a better place.

I had my final in home physical therapy session this morning. I’m always excited for PT days to see what the therapist has in store for me. Today was pretty straight forward. It was basically graduation day.

He had me walk about 10 feet, turn around, and walk back, all without the walker. It felt really great to be able to do that.

After that we chatted about how it felt. Then I had a do a timed version of that. While seated I had to stand up, walk 10 feet, turn around, and walk back. All controlled. It’s not a test meant to break records, it’s meant to compare to the same movement earlier on in the process. We didn’t do it early on so there’s nothing to compare to, but it felt natural and the leg felt strong.

The final exercise today was to do as many “sit-to-stand” as I can, in 30 seconds. Using one of our dining room chairs I would go from the seated to standing position and back to seated. I was able to do seven reps in 30 seconds. It also felt great! Toward the end my left quad was feeling it. That’s a good thing. These exercises are about strengthening the muscle structure around the knee. It’s working. 😄

To round things out he measured how far I could bend the knee. He’s been doing this all along. Today I could get to 90 degrees. I could t do that prior to surgery.

I’m pooped out because I’m very out of shape and still nowhere near a 100%, but I’m very excited about my progress and really happy with the overall improvement to my knee.

Exciting day!

Progress has slowed a bit. Last Thursday I woke up with a painful left ankle. I figured it was from physical therapy and was just sore.

It wasn’t just sore. I couldn’t work it out and I couldn’t walk properly because of it. I called the doc, she had me come in on Friday, and decided it could be one of three things; a stress fracture, blood clots, or tendinitis.

I got an X-ray which eliminated that possibility. The next order of business was to check for blood clots.

Saturday rolls around and it’s still painful, but as the day progresses I notice it’s feeling a bit better.

When I wake up Sunday I notice most of the pain is gone and I can walk pretty normally. Seems like it must have been blood clots.

As I get started this morning I feel like I’m back where I need to be to move my recovery forward. 👍🏼

I can already see today is going to be a half day for me.

I’m having a minor setback in my recovery. Over the last couple weeks my knee has never been the issue during the recovery process. Last Friday it was a pulmonary embolism and I got past that.

On Monday I had a really great PT session and it felt amazing.

On Wednesday I had two different doctors appointments and walked a lot, which wiped me out.

Queue up Thursday. My ankle hurts, a lot. I’m not sure if it’s blood clots or I’ve somehow done some real damage to it. For the first time in over a week I had to use my pain meds.

And here we are, it’s Friday. My brain decided it wanted to be awake at 4AM and my ankle is extremely stiff and painful. Walking is a real bear, so of course I’m trying to avoid it, but it’s necessary for the recovery process!

I’ve taken some more pain meds and wrapped my knee and ankle in ice in hopes the ankle will start to feel a bit better because I have my final physical therapy session today and would like to make some decent forward progress.

More later. For now I’m getting some coffee in me. ☕️

Seems like a good fit, right?

At least Priss thinks so. 😃

Two doctors visits today, one for the PE last Friday, and one knee post-op.

The PE has been gone since Friday when it occurred. So I’m good on that front.

The knee is doing really well and I was able to get my staples out. That felt amazing!

All in all I feel really great and I’m excited about where I’ll be in four more weeks, but for now, I’m exhausted. I’ve walked more today than all PT days combined, which is really encouraging, but I am definitely pooped out.

Shhhh-thump, shhhh-thump, shhhh-thump, there’s that sound again. I hear it above me in the attic and always, I mean always, at 5:30AM on the dot.

We moved into our beautiful old home 23 days ago and I’m more than a little freaked out by it but too afraid to go look in the attic. I’ve dragged Mom and Dad in here a couple times and they don’t hear a darned thing. Old ears I guess.

More later.

Well, mystery solved. We have a ghost. No, I’m not kidding, we have a bonafide ghost living in our house. A ghost who likes to wake up at 5:30AM. This time doesn’t work for me, BTW.

When the sounds started this morning I was ready. I grabbed my flashlight, walked to the end of the hall to the door leading to the attic, took a deep breath, and opened the door. I was in the right place, the shhhh-thump sound was growing louder.

I walked up the stairs and peeked over the place where the hand rail meets the attic floor. There he was, sure as shit, an old man making his way to the corner of the room, his walker in front of him, shhhh-thump, shhhh-thump, shhhh-thump.

I took a deep breath and finished off the final few steps, and said “Hello.”

The old man stopped, turned around, smiled at me, and asked if I’d like to join him for his morning coffee. I accepted.

We sat around the old two top we found in the attic the day we arrived. He’s a happy old fart. He talked about his undying love for his wife, Lois, and how they enjoyed each other’s company, over coffee, at 5:30AM every morning, rain or shine.

Eventually I had to politely dismiss myself, school and all that. It’s nice to have a new friend and, at the same time, understand why every morning at 5:30AM I hear shhhh-thump, shhhh-thump, shhhh-thump.

Maybe I can get some earplugs?

Oh, the old man’s name is Julius. I hope to have coffee with him again soon.

It’s early in the Fahrni household as I’m composing this post. I’ve been waking up fairly early since the knee surgery and this morning is no exception.

Overall things have been moving in the right direction. My movement is definitely improving and my pain levels are way, way, down.

Since I’ve become more mobile I was able to make coffee on my own this morning with the aid of my walker. There has to be a good old man with walker joke in there somewhere. 👨🏼‍🦳

CNN: ”The Justice Department removed 11 sets of classified documents from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence while executing a search warrant this week for possible violations of the Espionage Act and other crimes, according to court documents unsealed and released on Friday.”

Of course TFG will get off without so much as a scratch. My faith in our democratic institutions is waning. I fear future historians — if they’re allowed to exist — will struggle to understand how we could piss it all away.

MotorTrend: ”Out of the 8.9 million barrels of gasoline consumed daily in the U.S. on average, only 1.8 million gallons, or approximately 20 percent, actually propel an internal combustion vehicle forward. The other 80 percent is wasted on heat and parasitic auxiliary components that draw away energy. As the world begins its shift to EV proliferation, the good news is electric vehicles are far more energy efficient on the road.”

On a positive note, EV’s are good! YAY! 🥳

Would I like to have one? Yep, I certainly would. I’m very cheap when it comes to cars so I’ll be waiting for the prices to drop dramatically before considering purchase of one.

Eventually we’ll have one.

The Verge: ”Last week, California’s DMV accused Tesla of falsely advertising its Autopilot and FSD features, alleging that the company made ‘untrue or misleading’ claims about its vehicles’ autonomous driving capabilities. The DMV’s action could result in the suspension of Tesla’s licenses to produce and sell cars in California, but the agency may not go that far.”

Speaking of electric vehicles. It seems Tesla is finally receiving the scrutiny they need to make their cars safer.

This curmudgeon believes Full Self Driving care are a pipe dream without full infrastructure support. That means roads should know to support cars with self driving capacity. Two way, active, communication.

Felix Krause: ”The iOS Instagram and Facebook app render all third party links and ads within their app using a custom in-app browser. This causes various risks for the user, with the host app being able to track every single interaction with external websites, from all form inputs like passwords and addresses, to every single tap.”

Meta(Facebook), what a scumbag company.

They need that user data so badly they implemented their own browser code. Of course if you open pages using the external browser, Safari, this scummy practice doesn’t work.

More like this. https://t.co/twq2zcTgL8

— Derek Powazek (@fraying) August 11, 2022

I really hope Beto O’Rourke can pull a rabbit out of a hat and win the Texas Gubernatorial election this year.

I know some folks needed their fainting couches when they heard someone say “motherf*cker”, but don’t say a word when there is a mass murder in their state.

To me this says we have a man, a very serious man, trying to solve serious problems against the backdrop of extremism.

Dropping a curse word in the proper context can drive home a point.

It was perfect.

Variety: ”Disney has set pricing and date for the U.S. launch of the version of Disney+ with ads, while also hiking the monthly price of the Disney+ tier with no ads. It’s also going to raise rates for Hulu — both ad-supported and ad-free versions — and introduce new Disney Bundle options.”

Well it continues to look like all that cheap, awesome, streaming is finally coming to an end. I can’t blame these companies for ratcheting up prices and offering an ad supported tier.

I know we’ve had many discussions about which service(s) to drop and Disney+ seems to be a lock because of the grandkids. 😄

This is a landmark event in 1Password history: The first time we’ve ever shipped both our iOS and Android apps on the same date with complete feature parity between them. It’s been a massive lift by our teams, and I couldn’t be prouder.

— Michael Fey (@MrRooni) August 9, 2022

Congratulations to the entire 1Password team. What a huge milestone!

It’s so satisfying to ship a new product. I haven’t installed it yet, but most certainly will at some point. It is a really spectacular service and worth checking out if you need password management for your family and/or multi platform password management.

Ars Technica: ”With Tesla stock on a rebound, Musk has just sold $6.9 billion worth of shares in his electric car company, a move disclosed in regulatory filings on Tuesday. Musk got an average of $869 for the shares, which is significantly more than the $628 that TSLA shares were trading at in late May.”

Gotta get those billions somewhere to pay that big Twitter $54.20 per share price tag later in the year.

Also, Mr. Musk, I still have the perfect domain for you.

I hope your enjoyed your coffee and the links. ☕️

Got my VAC bandage off today, managed to get a before and after shot. There are 28 staples in the incision.

I’m very emotional this morning thinking about my loved ones who’ve been caring for me. They’ve definitely taken a load off my back so I can focus on healing.

I am forever grateful. 🧡

I must admit I’ve not been good about doing my physical therapy homework. For past surgeries I was very diligent about doing what I was asked because I knew it was my quickest way to healing and feeling normal.

This time around is a different story. I lack the mental strength to cope with the pain involved. Prior to surgery I had times where I could not escape the pain in my knee. It’s wearing both physically and mentally. After surgery even though I feel pain in my comfortable position it’s nowhere near some of my more severe pre-op pain and I just don’t want to be in pain any longer.

The reality is, of course, that I have a long way to go and I am going to have pain. Just finding a way to cope, that mental toughness, has been extremely difficult this time around.

Have I regretted the surgery? Nope. It was absolutely the right thing to do. I know this is part of the healing process and one day I will be better than I was before surgery and that’s very encouraging.

My lovely wife made me a mocha to go with composing this weeks post. That combined with oxycodone, ice, and elevation are doing their job. I can focus well enough to get this done. 🤞🏼

Shelly Rosen: ”The way Google’s two-factor authentication system is designed, sets up poor and elderly people to be locked out of their accounts again and again, and without access to their email, they lose their welfare benefits, their housing, and struggle to find work.”

I’m not sure what Google can do to fix this extremely important problem. Take some time to read Ms. Rosen’s letter it lays everything out for Google. As a developer this is the kind of feedback you hope to get from folks using your software.

TechCrunch: ”Amazon this morning announced plans to acquire Roomba maker iRobot for an all-cash deal valued at $1.7 billion.”

Alexa, don’t vacuum the cat. This seems like a really sweet deal for Amazon. I can’t believe iRobot couldn’t fetch a higher price.

Los Angeles Times: “The California Department of Motor Vehicles has accused Tesla of false advertising in its promotion of the company’s signature Autopilot and Full Self-Driving technologies.”

This shouldn’t surprise anyone. Tesla has been touring Full Self Drive for years and they’re no where near the desired functionality. Is it novel? Yes. Do I trust it? No way.

I can’t wrap my brain around the challenges the developers must be facing. And the icing on the cake would be Musk breathing down your neck to get it done. No thanks.

My idea of a better challenge would be tackling mass transit with electric motors and making it easier to travel long distances on electric trains and busses.

Heck, the eBikes business is really taking off.

Cartoon Brew: ”Dreamworks Animation has unveiled plans to release its proprietary production renderer Moonray as open-source software later this year.”

I’ve had a fascination with rendering pipelines for years and years. As far as I know Pixar’s RenderMan is still the Cadillac of rendering software but having an open source choice from a heavy hitter like Dreamworks is worthy of consideration, and it’ll be open so folks can contribute to it. Amazing!

When the git repo is made public you know I’ll be there poking around. 😃

Makes you wonder if Pixar will follow with RenderMan?

TechCrunch: ”Infowars founder Alex Jones took the stand today in a trial that will determine what he owes to the parents of a child killed in the Sandy Hook mass shooting. Last year, Jones was found liable in a series of defamation cases brought by the parents of Sandy Hook victims.”

Alex Jones is a grifter. He has an unwitting audience of people willing to believe anything because they hate everything and everyone. Jones feeds their animosity with wild stories of the deep state and blood drinking Democrats to drain them of their hard earned cash. Who’s the vampire?

Vulture: ”It’s pretty well known and even darkly joked about across all the visual-effects houses that working on Marvel shows is really hard. When I worked on one movie, it was almost six months of overtime every day. I was working seven days a week, averaging 64 hours a week on a good week. Marvel genuinely works you really hard. I’ve had co-workers sit next to me, break down, and start crying. I’ve had people having anxiety attacks on the phone.”

I don’t think this is a new reality of the VFX business. Rather, a horrible expectation set by major studios.

Deadline: ”Even though Batgirl is in the final stages of post-production, Deadline has confirmed that Warner Bros. and DC Films will not be releasing the movie on any platform, including theatrically.”

This is a real bummer. I was totally ready for it.

As far as release platforms go, I was fully expecting it to appear on HBO Max. It’s the streaming platform I use more than any other. More than Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and Apple TV. Each of those services has a place in my streaming lineup, but HBO’s ability to release new movies to streaming early is it’s real superpower.

The Washington Post: ”SAN FRANCISCO — Elon Musk’s countersuit to Twitter contains aggressive new claims about the social media site’s methods for tallying bot and spam accounts — as well as which accounts generate ad revenue — cementing the strategy the billionaire is using to attempt to back out of the deal.”

I suspect Musk will be forced to show up and pay $54.20 per share.

The big question is, once he owns it can he make it something better or will he lose an uphill battle?

How do you deal with bot problems and nihilistic American politicians hell bent on turning our democracy into a self serving dictatorship.

I’m sure Mr. Musk has some really great ideas. It’s the bad ideas I’m worried about.

That’s all for today. I hope you enjoyed your coffee or tea with your read. ☕️

“That knee was bad. I’m surprised you could walk.” - Dr. Edwards

The knee has finally been replaced. Tuesday was the big day and I’d hoped to come home that afternoon. Unfortunately my body had a different idea. When I’d stand my blood pressure would drop and I’d feel nauseated. 🤢

So I got to spend the night in the hospital. It was a good experience as far as hospitals go. All of the nursing staff were absolutely wonderful.

I was up early Wednesday morning, didn’t sleep much at all. Dr. Edwards dropped by as well as David, my Physical Therapist. Since I’d been able to use the toilet through the night safely and was able to walk to the end of the hall the Doctor and Physical Therapist signed off on me I was discharged around 10:30AM, Wednesday.

Thank you Sentra Martha Jefferson Hospital , Dr. John Z Edwards , and everyone I interacted with. Y’all are amazing.

Hello new knee!

So happy right now! 🙏🏼

Ms. Prissy Punkie Poopie Pants, AKA Priss, being her cute self.

I’m terrible. When my knees ache or hurt and I have household chores to do I tell myself “If you sit a while longer, they’ll feel better and you can go do your chores.”

I’m simultaneously negotiating with myself and willing my knees to feel better.

They’re not going to feel better. I just don’t want to fight through the pain to do what needs doing. 😂

Two more days to knee replacement surgery and it’s all I can think about.

I should’ve taken Monday off because I’m going to be distracted all day. 🤔

Found this brand new little feller this morning slowly moving its little wings.

Today’s podcast queue should get me through the jungle I’m gonna tackle outside our backyard fence today, and then some.

Pictures of the boys; Kolbe and King.

Kolbe is the yellow one. He’s five but acts like a puppy.

King is 10, I think, and is a distinguished gentleman.

They’re both Australia Shepard mix.

I’ll bet Ms Deer and her little spotted baby visit us tonight. 🦌

We’ve been waiting for these little aliens to hatch for a while.

I finally decided to pull the fern down and look inside. 🐦

I have pretty vivid dreams. Most of them center around a few places with certain people.

I dream a lot about Exeter, the town we called home for years and years. Exeter dreams typically center around the home Kim and I brought our girls up in. It was an old farm house that was built in the early 1900’s and is one of the oldest homes in town. In those dreams the house is much larger than usual, has a really long hallway, and is full of family members. The land surrounding the house is vast. Now, the home in the real world is nothing like that, but in my dreams I know it’s our old Exeter home.

I also dream about Lindsay, my childhood home. In those dreams I’m typically with my Mom or my Grandfather. They are the two most influential people in my life. Both had immensely beautiful hearts and loved everyone. Mom’s home was full of love, we didn’t have much, but we had her love. That meant everything. Grandpa was definitely the patriarch of the family. He was a great man who loved his family more than anything. He often helped Mom pay the bills and kept us fed. They were both selfless and gave their all to family, friends, and strangers.

Mom and Grandpa would take us to a joint called Bob’s Drive-In. It’s a burger joint that also made fresh donuts daily. Their cinnamon rolls were to die for, crunchy on the outside, chewy in the middle. My dreams in Lindsay always include them and Bob’s, amongst other things.

I’ve shared many times how often my dreams are about being back with the Visio team. In those dreams Seattle often takes on a futuristic city you might see in a sci-fi movie. Huge, really crowded, with trains, and buildings taller than anything we have today. I typically end up in the building on the floor occupied by Visio. It’s almost always my first day back and I’m usually walking around the engineering area talking with old friends and meeting new people.

That sets the stage for last nights Visio dream.

I was with part of the old Visio gang. They’d started a new venture and we were adjusting everyone’s pay down to get through the economic downturn. My brain was definitely weaving my recent concerns into the mix. I was working with Richard, an old Visio friend, on new contracts for each developer to sign outlining their reduction in pay. Some employees, like myself, signed the contract without issue. Others were not so happy. It’s at that point, Kolby, our doggie, decided it was time for me to wake up. Poof. Dream gone.

Wonder which dream I’ll have tonight?

Beauty in Kim’s flower bed.