A Life For Itself

Category: blog

Blog Entries

  • A Move to Mesh WiFi

    I’d been wanting to upgrade to mesh WiFi at home since installing a few wireless mesh access points a couple of years ago at work. In one of our locations, before the wireless was mesh, it was a mess. I cobbled together a solution using two ISP-supplied wireless routers —one on the second floor, one on the first— with an off-the-shelf router also on the second. This one, I located along a wing of offices, which, probably because of the building’s construction, wasn’t able to get a wireless signal from anywhere else in the building.

    The router on the first floor was older and prone to dropping signals, and needed frequent reboots. The SSIDs (network names) were all different. Staff didn’t configure their devices to use all of them at once. They weren’t happy and I wasn’t happy getting calls about the wireless not working in some way.

    Eventually, we got through to someone above, who had some money in their budget and we got a mesh system. All the issues went away. I knew the mesh was a hit, judging by the traffic volume.

    When it came time to switch providers at home, mesh was what I wanted. We had to give back our ISP-provided router anyway, so this was my chance.

    Planning

    I’d done a ton of research as consumer technology companies made more options available and prices went down. The move to mesh became part of the cost-savings strategy behind the decision to cut the cord.

    As is usually the case when ditching cable, the fee to rent a set-top-box was going away. One of our TVs was a smart TV and we use a Roku and an older Chromecast on the older, regular TV. So, our TVs would be fine in the new environment. Even better, no set-top-box meant we could live without an ISP-owned router and get rid of that fee, too. I’d learned in my research that the mesh systems I was most interested in, worked well in place of ISP’s routers, when used for Internet only.

    In the days leading up to the big change, I went back and looked at all the different choices, weighing features, ratings, and price. I decided I needed just two nodes. There was coaxial going into every room, so I went and got a MoCA adapter to pair with one I already had, to get the signal upstairs and blanket the whole house.

    The Big Day

    On the big day, when the installer for our new ISP came, he ended up not having to do much. Since we were getting only Internet, he just had to make sure the signal reached inside the house from the outside. Once he did that, I explained my upstairs plan in detail. He offered to run an Ethernet cable up to where I’d planned to install the MoCA adapter to the coax. Gratefully, I accepted and he ran the cable upstairs.

    Since we had not accepted their router, everything else was my responsibility.

    I’d settled on the TP-Link Deco system with two nodes, one up, one down. The biggest factor for the purchase was price. I’d looked at a bunch of other systems and while they offered features that I liked (OpenVPN client), but in the end, went with the least expensive option.

    Still, I was pretty blown away by how easy the Deco was to set up. One of the messages I saw about these home mesh systems was how easy they were to set up because they’re aimed at consumers, not people with technical backgrounds. All I had to do was plug the Ethernet cable carrying the outside connection into one of the device’s two ports, then download and open their app. It found the Deco then asked me what I wanted to call my network and what password I wanted to use. Once it finished the first node, it asked if I had any more units to set up. The second node only needed to be turned on. The app and the first node found the second node and configured it and there, I had a wireless mesh network.

    One thing I made sure to do, to make the process go the most smoothly, I used the same wireless credentials from the previous router. As soon as the main node went online, my devices were all able to jump straight on as well, as the username and password was already stored. No fuss, no muss.

    Ironically, wired

    When I first connected the nodes, they communicated and worked together wirelessly. When I moved the second node upstairs, I plugged the Ethernet cable the installer had run, into one of the device’s two Ethernet ports. At that point, they stopped communicating over wireless and instead, used the faster Ethernet connection between the two, as Deco supports Ethernet backhaul. The Deco app verified this.

    In addition to connecting the two nodes via cable, I also used switches, one at each device to connect other devices. I connected my smart TV to the network via a wired connection, alongside my PS4. Upstairs, I have my PC and Synology NAS connected via cable.

    So far, so good

    Wireless has been working as I expected. I can move around the house with a usually strong, fast signal. Exactly what you’re looking for, out of the box. I haven’t gone into any of the more advanced settings like QOS or VLAN. Unfortunately, these devices do not support VPNs, either as client or server, unlike some of the others I looked at.

    Setting up a guest network was as simple as turning it on inside of the app and providing a password.

    I did run into one hiccup when I was fooling around with the settings and ended up knocking the units offline. I was unable to use the app to get the devices back online. During the app setup, I had to set up an account with TP-Link before proceeding. It seems the configuration work is done remotely and changes are sent back to the units from TP-Link. When the units could not communicate across the Internet, there was no way to log in and make any configuration changes.

    The browser-accessible configuration didn’t allow me to make any changes; I was only able to view settings. Non-technical users may not even know or want to log into the devices; technical users may be disappointed by the inability to make changes this way.

    I was able to quickly reset the units (using the little tool that came with my cell phone to add or remove SD and SIM cards) and get them back online, using the same process as the initial setup, which was again, quick and painless.

    Takeaways

    If you’re planning on making the switch from a single router to a mesh wifi system, do your research first. There are a bunch of products to choose from. Find out which equipment you need aside from the nodes themselves. You may need a standalone modem, for example.

    Once you’ve decided to switch

    • Change your current WiFi credentials and reconfigure your devices beforehand, then use your same credentials for your new network.
    • Identify places where you might want to place your mesh nodes and whether you have coaxial located nearby.
    • Decide which devices you may want to attach wired like smart TVs and game consoles and prepare to buy switches, if necessary.
    • If you’re planning to keep your current router and run the mesh system behind it, learn how to turn your current router’s wireless off. You may be able to use an app for this —check your device’s manual or search online.

    When you’re making your switch

    • Talk to the ISP installer about MoCA or running one or more cables for you, if your chosen solution supports Ethernet backhaul and you want to use it.
    • Configure your mesh system with your current wireless name and password.
    • If you run your mesh behind your previously owned router, turn your older router’s radio off, if you have no reason to run both wireless networks simultaneously.

  • A Photo Finish?

    Word came down late last week that what might have been considered a Hail Mary outcome, the Preakness Stakes remaining in Baltimore on a permanent basis, had taken a huge step towards becoming a reality. Stronach Group, the owners of Pimlico Race Course, and Baltimore Mayor Bernard “Jack” Young came to an agreement that fundamentally changes Pimlico and keeps the Preakness at “Old Hilltop,” where it’s been contested since the late 1800s.

    The agreement will see the track donated to the City of Baltimore. The current grandstand demolished and a new one built. The track itself will be turned from its current alignment. In addition, some of the Pimlico property will be set aside for redevelopment.

    Everything, however, isn’t settled, as the plan needs approval from the state. Governor Larry Hogan has stated before that his preference is for the Preakness to remain in Baltimore, however, with his recent history of cancelling the State Center and Red Line projects in Baltimore, as well as withholding money marked for school construction, skepticism from Baltimore residents is certainly warranted. There is also concern among horsemen about issues concerning moving training from Baltimore to Laurel.

    Still, this represents a psychological win for Baltimore residents and boosters. Stronach is not planning to return Pimlico to a regular racing schedule as was the case in years and decades past, and will use the track for the leadup to and for, the Preakness itself. Still, the race, one of the defining events of Baltimore sports, will not relocate, like a former NFL franchise that used to play here,. It didn’t matter how far the Preakness might have moved, so long as it might have moved out of Baltimore City. Pimlico will become as much a monument to Baltimore’s identity and former glory as Laurel, the everyday epicenter of Maryland horse racing.

    As murder, violence, and corruption continue to define the city’s image, it’s been important to many locals to hold on to the Preakness as another counterpoint to all the negativity in the city. Baltimore has a growing restaurant culture. A fun, quirky arts scene. Fascinating and informative museums. Even a burgeoning theatre scene. But to outsiders, and even some locals, who might not always afford to participate, those are less material than say, the Ravens or the Orioles. Just like those teams, you can turn on the TV and watch the Preakness, even if you can’t go. Another answer to the question of “what’s good about Baltimore?” But now that a dollar amount is being attached to that part of the city’s image, we will find out how much the city’s neighbors in the state agree with the importance as well.

  • Not Taking Your Picture

    Yesterday, I was out taking a few pictures and decided to drop by RD Seafood for a fish sandwich. RD, located in Elkridge, looks like a food truck, but it’s a trailer and it’s in the same exact place every day. The food is pretty good, especially the aforementioned fish sandwiches, even if their default bread choice seems to be a bun and not white bread. They must be good, as they’re always sold out of whiting when I show up.

    After I placed my order, I went back to the car and grabbed my camera. The order was going to take 5-10 minutes, so I figured I’d get a few shots of Washington Blvd and Troy Hill while I waited. I’m still getting back into the swing of shooting again and it felt good to just have the camera in my hand again. I walked over to the edge of the property. As I did, a small car turned onto the property and did a circle, ending up facing me. The driver didn’t stop too close, but I could see him looking at me the whole time. As he got out, he said something inaudible. “Excuse me,” I said as he approached me.

    “May I help you?” he asked.

    “I just ordered some food, may I help you?” I asked him back.

    That was the planned answer. I’m long used to being asked by a certain type of person why I’m in any particular place. I’ve experienced that many times in my life, especially in and around Baltimore. Plus, this was in Howard County. Some might scoff at the notion because it’s Elkridge, but it’s still Howard County and my presence has certainly been questioned more than a few times in Howard. It’s perhaps not as bad as White Marsh or Essex over in Eastern Baltimore County, but I did notice the one or two houses on Loudon Ave where the Confederate battle flag and the Gadsdon Flag both fly from time to time.

    “Oh, no. It’s just that I get photographers in here taking pictures of my trailer,” he said, “from Grubhub and places like that, taking pictures, then they want to charge me $200 and stuff.”

    “Ohhhhhh, I’m not here for that,” I said, gesturing as if to throw away that idea. “Just taking a couple of pictures of Troy Hill while I’m waiting for my food.” Which I was. I’d been looking catty corner down Washington Blvd. as he approached me.

    He walked back towards his car. I only noticed only as he walked away that his shirt had a logo with the name of the place printed on it.

    In the end, I’m glad it was just a minor misunderstanding. I didn’t see the store’s logo on the front of his shirt. I don’t think there was one. He also didn’t specifically identify himself as the owner, or a manager, perhaps thinking that just asking if he could help me would be enough for me to have figured out who he was. Still, with my order having already been taken, a guy walking up to me not appearing to be with the restaurant, and having lived in a “Permit Patty” world, long before there ever was a name for it, I wasn’t sure what was going on. So far as I knew, he was some guy from the area who didn’t approve of my presence there for one reason or another. Thankfully his concern was just the camera and not wanting to deal with somebody looking to out him a couple bills. I get that. Many folks in this area are out here hustling hard.

    After I snapped a few pictures, my sandwich was done. I picked it up and went around the corner to Troy Hill Park to eat it. Snapped a few pictures around there, too. My only regret was not using my telephoto lens when I was shooting in front of DR. I could have gotten a closer pic of this plane on approach to BWI-TM.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw5oivTIM8D/?igshid=1urejvrh523r2

  • Semifinalist

    A few days ago, the folks at Screencraft sent word via email that because of the intense competition among the submissions received, they’d need another couple of days to decide, and then announce, the semifinalists in their 2018 Stage Play Contest.

    Like it probably is for many writers, once the decision on the submission is imminent, excitement and anxiety go up.  The rest of Wednesday and Thursday weren’t so bad, but I woke up yesterday morning thinking about it.  Fortunately, I had more than enough to keep myself occupied and by late morning, I just went about my day.  Did some work.  Went to the grocery store in the late afternoon so I could beat any after-5 crowds.  Messed around with some video I took with my GoPro mounted in the windshield while I went to the grocery store. 

    After I ate, I had the urge to check my email.  Nothing.  Since it was after 5 out west, I figured I’d check on social media and their blog to see if they’d posted about it.  And they had.  I was a semifinalist.  I was relieved to know.  Just like any other time I go into my Submittable account and see whether a work has been accepted or rejected.  And after a couple of other rejections recently, it’s good to see that I’m still … in the running for another acceptance.  A really good one to have, should I receive it.  It’s a good note to get right before Christmas.

    As I’ve said on Twitter and Instagram, congratulations and good luck to my fellow semifinalists.  

    https://screencraft.org/2018/12/21/announcing-the-2018-screencraft-stage-play-competition-semifinalists/

  • Quarterfinalist

    I was happy to receive a couple of notes in my email yesterday, informing me that I was a semifinalist in the 2018 ScreenCraft Play contest. I’ve been sending out my latest full length play, North Avenue, to most places that I can find that are accepting full length scripts (the numerous submission calls I’m seeing for science-themed plays, I’m unfortunately having to pass up at this time). Suffice it to say, I’m excited and grateful for the acknowledgment and the opportunity for my play to go on to the next round.

    My only regret is that I didn’t send more than one play, as I saw at least one other quarter finalist had.

  • First Snow

    Definitely not used to it snowing this early in the season in Baltimore. As I always tell people, I’m not used to the first snow of the season coming until after the first of the calendar year. As it turns out, my gut feeling matches the reality behind early snow in this part of the world.

    The storm wasn’t a Nor’easter, but it’s set records and we took a good shot with snow (amounts varied around Maryland) and the other elements of the dreaded “wintry mix” as well as plain old rain and wind. I stepped out for a little while during the rain to get my yak trax out of the car. Rain was nice and cold and raw. I was very happy to get back inside. Felt like January. I’ll be glad when it gets back into the 50’s next week.

    Still, things could have been worse.

    Hopefully, this will be a wake-up call for the Port Authority Board in their study of an expanded Port Authority Bus Terminal within NYC, especially at the current location. Increased space wouldn’t have helped on a day like today, as the traffic was so bad in New Jersey. The Port Authority, MTA, and New Jersey Transit really need to consider another rail link, possibly an already discussed expansion of the #7 NYC Subway line, somewhere in New Jersey, along with a bus terminal there. I know one of the considerations is that quite a few commuters have one- or two-seat commutes and a solution that ends up with adding another seat, are less than ideal. However, on days like today, I imagine folks would rather have another viable way home, whether there are a couple of transfers or not, rather than being stuck inside the terminal and told to find another way home.

    A total mess.

    A strange day when transit functions worse up in New York and New Jersey than here in Maryland.

  • Posted a Couple of Poems

    As usual, I have a long story about the subject, but the condensed version is that I have been given a challenge, a mandate to share more of my work, just for the sake of doing so.  I’m exploring my creativity again, for its own sake, ars gratia artis, and just putting it out there.  Hence, I posted a few poems.

    Most wouldn’t know it from this site or any of my social media accounts, but there was a time when I was a true and confirmed poet.  Poetry is how I first fell in love with language.  Long before I loved drama.  Way long before I loved the essay.   At some point, I fell out of love with poetry.  For numerous reasons.  I’ll explore those one day.  But I did.  I stopped writing poems for years.  Earlier this year, I decided to give my poetry another chance and started writing again.  I’ve been sending some out, looking for publication.  

    But, I accepted a challenge to put work out, even if I felt self-conscious, anxious, whatever.  So, I’m putting more poems out these days, most likely right here.  The few that I’ve posted tonight are a bit older and have already been published.  A colleague of mine, when he was running a literary magazine, published them.  The journal and its site are long gone from the web, so I figured I’d put them up again.

    https://christopherkess.com/two-eintou

  • Kess Circle

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    I was an adult when I learned about Kess Circle.

    I’d learned a ton about my mother’s side of my family growing up as I spent the majority of my time around them.  While there were mysteries and gaps and tales that more properly should be known as legend than history, I at least knew about it.  All I knew about my father’s family was about our specific branch starting with my grandparents. My father and his numerous stories (he should have been a writer.  His Baltimore stories were awesome). My uncles and their love of boxing. And obviously, family drama. But not much more. Even as I developed a deep love and study of Black history while I was in high school, my own origins were still vague and even more mysterious.

    Some time around 1997-1998, I received an email from someone claiming to be a relative.  He’d been online looking for other Kesses and had come across my then-website. We struck up a conversation over email and as it turned out, he was indeed a relative, part of the extended Kess family that I knew pretty much nothing about.  Kevin shared information with me about the larger family, our origins, how many of us there were. What seemed like a smallish family, centered around Yale Heights where my grandparents lived, was just a small part of a much larger family with a rich history.

    This eventually lead to a meeting.  

    I was able to convince my grandfather to go down to Glen Burnie with me to see Kevin’s immediate folks.  PaPa, one of my uncles, and I piled into my grandfather’s minivan and made the trip where we met Kevin and his father.  The two older men were cousins who had not seen each other in a very long time. They talked about so many things — our history, our ancestors.  We made plans to get them back together at some point, but unfortunately, we never did that. I fell out of touch with Kevin. His father passed. My grandfather did.

    Fortunately, the family history hasn’t.  If anything, it’s spread more. A lot of the extended Kess family is online.  I don’t know them well, but I’m at a time in my life where I can change that. I plan to.  And not on online, but in showing my face some down Route 100 soon and wherever else we may be.

    Kess Circle on Instagram

  • My Kingdom for a Section Break

    Actually, it was.

    I am a staunch defender of the Chromebook. I use mine every single day. I compose much of my written work on mine. The plays I’m writing. Poems, now that I’ve suddenly been writing them again. Bios to accompany this work when I submit. I use it for a whole host of other tasks, too. Originally, when Chromebooks came onto the market, they were pretty much good for web surfing and using a few web services, which were not nearly as mature as they are now. As time has progressed, Chromebooks have become much more capable and as more models begin to run Android and Linux apps natively, the platform will only grow more.

    However, in the meantime, I ran into a serious need and the Chromebook was not ready.

    However, it was not the Chromebook’s fault, per se, but one of the device’s selling points: Google Docs.

    I was in the middle of preparing a micro-chapbook manuscript, close to the submissions deadline. I’d composed first drafts of all the poems on my Chromebook, using Evernote. I’d done all of my revisions using Google Docs, which has versioning. I had to go out of town for a couple of days, during which time the deadline would pass. I still needed to write my bio and do the final formatting. And without doing any research, without finding out whether I had misplaced faith, I decided that I’d wait until I was away to complete my bio, format the final manuscript, and send it off. That meant using my Chromebook and Google Docs to finish the document.

    But, thinking myself to be perhaps more clever than I was, I decided that in order to hedge my bets in case Google Docs might not be up to the task, I was going to pack my netbook. I still have my little Acer Aspire One netbook going after all these years. Instead of Windows Vista, which came installed, or Windows 7, which I installed later, the little thing runs Linux Mint. Mint comes with LibreOffice already installed, so that became the backup plan, if I ran into a dire situation. I did not need to carry my Windows laptop, which is bigger than both of the other two machines and yet slightly heavier than the two of the other machines combined (to me).

    Off I go.

    #

    Late Sunday night, July 29.

    I’m away and working on the document. The plan is to add page numbers and then, when I’m done with the bio, add it in, then I’m ready to go.

    I insert the page numbers into the document inside of Google Docs.

    Cover page was numbered 1, bio page was numbered 2, and all the poems, 3-10.

    Okay. Now for the next part, I think.

    I go to look for some place where I can place the cover page into its own section, the bio page into its own section, and the poems into their own section, just like I would inside of Microsoft Word. No such functionality was there to be found. Sure, I could hide the header on page 1, just like in Word, but the bio page was still numbered 2, when not just did I need it numbered 1, I needed it numbered I.

    Going further down the hole, I googled the problem to perhaps find a solution. There were workarounds inside of web pages and YouTube videos, but the overall answer was still that what I needed Docs to do, it wasn’t going to do, let alone easily. And I could spend lots of time on these workarounds or I could just go to my backup plan.

    I downloaded a Word version of the full script and copied it over to Dropbox, which I rarely even use anymore, but I had to in this case because the easiest way to get documents to and from my Aspire was to set up direct access to Dropbox inside of the file manger in Mint. Document copied over. I pulled out the netbook, booted, and there the manuscript was, waiting to be finished off with page numbers.

    It was getting later and late, but the light was close by. Or so I hoped.

    LibreOffice can indeed paginate documents via section. The only problem was that was it was so complicated. To make it work, I had to make a style. Really? Just to make a section of text just like the previous section of text, but with the only difference being page numbers? The style inside of LibreOffice had all kinds of settings to change for fonts, images, etc. And all I needed was to paginate the document differently. Which I did find and when I turned it on, it seemed to work. Except it didn’t. It kept wanting to paginate the pages in the section consecutively from the one previous to it.

    Style selection inside LibreOffice
    All I wanted was a section break to paginate sections differently. This is what I got.

    I fought it and fought it. I changed all kinds of settings in the style section. Nothing. It just refused to paginate the document the way I needed.

    I gave up. I was tired. I figured I’d get back to it in the evening on Monday. There was plenty of time until Tuesday at midnight.

    #

    Late Monday night, July 30.

    While watching the box, I complete my bio on the Chromebook. That was a venture in and of itself as I don’t like talking tooting my horn (something I need to work on) and I’m not pretty good at it (working on this as well). It took looking at several websites and thinking of cool things to say about myself, yet I got it done and I was surprisingly pleased with the final outcome. I put it into a separate document in Google Docs, then put it into the proper place in the manuscript. The still improperly paginated document.

    I muster the energy I have, to go back to LibreOffice. And to YouTube. And to web pages.

    That lasted all of a few minutes. I just couldn’t believe this process took so many steps. And it wasn’t working for me. And I couldn’t figure out what was wrong. My coworkers, for the last 10 years, have had me to call on in such situations in the office and there I was, wanting another me that I could call and figure this out. I’d share my screen with this other me, give them (myself) control, and then I’d end up with a properly formatted manuscript, perhaps while I ate a few Cheez-Its or Vanilla flavored wafer cookies (I got them from the dollar store, so I guess it wouldn’t be right to use the trade name of that popular brand of the similar type of cookie).

    But no, I was on my own and trying to either figure it out or calm my ego. And things weren’t working out.

    As it got later, I decided I’d had enough. The manuscript was due on the 31st. I still had time. I was going to figure this out and get the submission sent. Just not right then. I needed to go to sleep.

    #

    Prime time, 8PM, July 31.

    Back at it. Several hours until deadline.

    In the morning, I’d tried again. No dice.

    By this time, I decided if this thing wasn’t done by 9, I was giving up on LibreOffice.

    And when 9 PM came and I didn’t have a formatted document, I indeed gave up.

    I’d had an idea to try other apps to see if I could get any satisfaction. I fired up the Chromebook again.

    I had gotten the idea earlier in the day to try Zoho Writer. I think I’d seen an email from them and remembered they had an online word processor. Maybe that could be the answer.

    Well, it could paginate, but not in sections, so whatever. Took me about 30 minutes to figure that out. It does some cool looking formatting, but section pagination wasn’t part of the offering. And forget even doing anything with the page breaks and columns from my original document. I almost gave up on using columns in the document for my address info.

    Next, I tried the browser based version of Word. Whatever. Word’s failure was the most disappointing. Word as a Windows app is the standard for such things and its poor web based cousin seemed to barely want to paginate the document at all. Nor could it remove any of the page breaks from the original document so I could add new ones.

    As it got later, I did manage to get my hands on a copy of the Windows app version of Word. The real version. 30 minutes later, I had a properly formatted manuscript document ready to upload into Submittable. And with an hour to spare.

    After I did send the document along, I tried out iCloud version of Pages. It could create different sections with their own page numbering, but I probably would have to have started the document inside of Pages as it could do nothing with the existing page breaks in the document.

    #

    There was a time when this might not have been a thing. When Word and WordPerfect each had their own format, but could readily read the other one. I remember some folks feeling perhaps that their machines might be inferior if they’d come with WordPerfect instead of Word, but when you had one or the other, it seemed like you could get done almost any word processing task you had. And if you’d started with one, you could finish with the other. These days, it’s easier to have access to a word processor, but sometimes, it might not be as easy to get done everything you want to get done. Certainly not going through the browser.

    That, unfortunately exposes a problem with having a platform like the Chromebook that works primarily in the cloud. I wasn’t formatting a thesis or dissertation or guidebook or something, but couldn’t get a manuscript for 8 poems done easily. This is not a notch in the belt for the platform or the basic concept of it. Web based word processors have matured, but it seems they do have a ways to go before they’re truly ready to fully compete with their full application cousins. I peeked at Word on iOS, but it felt even further away than the web-based version.

    I’m going to have to give LibreOffice another try. See if it was just me or this process was unnecessarily complicated or it’s something that can be picked up once you’ve used it and gotten more used to it. I’m going to download Abiword to my netbook and give it a try as well.

    In the meantime, my workflow will stay the same as it is. I usually come up with ideas and do initial composition inside of Evernote, just like I did with this post. Once I’m ready to add and edit, I go into Google Docs because of versioning. And once I’m ready to clean up and make a formal manuscript, I jump into Word. The big change I’ll have to make is watching my schedule so that I’m around my Windows machine at these deadlines and not out travelling when I need to send out formal documents.

  • Late Selfie Day (the saga of the keyboard)

    Yesterday was National Selfie Day.  I ran into some snags getting my selfie posted on Instagram, so I’m posting it now.  Lately, I’ve been accompanying pictures on Instagram with the backstory. The backstory for this picture got too long to post there, so here are the selfie and the story.

    She seemed to be helping. Took some time, but she did.

    From August, 2011: Exciting times.  Months of saving, waiting, and jealousy had finally given way to owning my first iPad, the iPad 2.  I bought it as my birthday present to myself that year. I had never owned an @apple product and the last time I’d used one was way back in high school at @citycollegian: the venerable Quadra and PowerPC, both of which were the computer teachers’ computers, inside their office behind the 3rd floor computer lab.  Mr. Rosskopf and Mr. Morrow would let a few of the more engaged students back there to experience some real, mid-1990’s computing power. We weren’t doing much more with them than ClarisWorks, but the power and prestige those computers represented then, was palpable, much like buying a Mac Pro these days.  Sixteen years later, I was stepping into the world of the cool kids, the more affluent kids, or so the stories even back then, went.

    Working in IT, I was expecting this was going to change how I computed, at the office, but moreso, I was hoping to enhance how I wrote.  I loved my laptop, but it was bulky and I welcomed using lighter, more portable devices. I researched and discovered so many apps that could help me get work done.  I couldn’t wait to get started. The only thing missing was the one thing most of the iPad 1 owners had told me I needed: the Apple wireless keyboard.

    I still have no clue why they were hard to find where I was, but they were.  I went around to a bunch of places and nobody had one. This went on for weeks.  But lo, and behold, one day, a Walmart in Philly had one, I discovered online, and I ordered it.  Then, I gassed up and hit the road to go claim my prize, the missing piece to complete my whole new world of productivity, and probably, coolness, and the cachet that Apple products were supposed to give you.

    When I got to the store, their pickup desk didn’t have the keyboard ready.  They couldn’t find it, for some reason. The lady in the picture said she’d help me find it.  It took a good, long while, but she eventually did. While I waited for this to happen, I snapped this picture.

    The keyboard did help me turn my iPad 2 from a consumption-only device to a creation device better suited for my workflow, especially when it came time to type up a scene or an essay, even if file sharing, even for files you’re sharing with yourself, wasn’t nearly as advanced as it’s become in the last several years.  Unfortunately, my original keyboard ran into some physical complications and it had to be replaced. But, I still have the replacement and I’ve used it with my iPad Air 2, which replaced my iPad 2, as well as my Samsung tablet, which I was talked into purchasing one day while paying my cell phone bill, and has served me well, just the same.  I do have to say, though, that once I got my Chromebook (another months-long saving and planning process), I started to use my iPad less for creation (plus there was the issue of my dropping it). It takes far less time to open my Chromebook and fire up Evernote than it does to turn on bluetooth and connect the keyboard.

    Also, I really miss these glasses.  Those were nice glasses.