Trying Something New

I tend to make tweaks to things in my life to see if I can make some improvements here and there. Sometimes those tweaks don’t work out. Sometimes they become permanent or spin off into new and exciting things. Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of that and some of those things are truly making things seem better.

Today, I tried something new. I typically have a small e-ink photo on my keychain of my best friend, Cherie. She goes with me everywhere…hehehe The last few times I went to Disney, I decided to take the mini photo frame I have for photos she sends me. It’s e-ink as well. With how much fun that was at Disney, I decided to bring that frame with me to breakfast today at First Watch. I’ve been going there every other Saturday and I had been setting her tiny photo next to my apple juice. Today, I had that mini 4 inch frame to put next to the apple juice. I like having her photo with me because it makes it feel like she’s there with me.

That felt so good that I decided to try the same thing at dinner tonight. I don’t normally go out for dinner. But I just felt like doing that today. I went to Olive Garden and took Cherie’s mini photo frame along with me. She enjoyed a nice dinner with me as I read a few chapters of Wool…hehehe

This little tweak might be something I keep doing. I do a lot of things physically alone. But I often share those experiences with her through photos, videos, or just text descriptions of what I’m up to. She often does the same with me when she’s out and about. Having her little photo there is a nice touch that makes my heart happy. The tiny photo on my keychain is a bit small for a dinner table…LOL The mini photo frame works much better.

My sleep schedule tweak a made a few weeks ago is working out great. I’m typically up until 1:30am and I wake up around 7:30am. I feel incredible each morning and I have so much more time to do things. I’m especially productive in the evening after dinner. Before this switch a few weeks ago, my evenings were very short and quite unproductive. It felt like it was almost bedtime shortly after dinner…LOL

On top of my sleep schedule tweak, I added a sleep mask to the mix a little over a week ago. Wow! That thing has done wonders for me! It completely blocks out light. I can have the lights on in my room and I can’t see them at all. I didn’t know such a sleep mask existed. It’s incredible and has made my sleep patterns so much better.

Something else that’s new is I’m rebuilding Notesprout and Paintsprout…LOL I’ve been super focused on rebuilding Notesprout with lessons learned from the version of it I’ve been using since I finally got it finished a few months ago. I got some ideas for this from the fact I didn’t like how Biblesprout was coming along. And I had an idea for a prayer app as well. I decided those two were best as extensions of Notesprout. So, in my redesign work, I’ve made Notesprout capable of having extensions to enhance its feature-set. And it works in such a way that I can install the extensions at will on the devices I have Notesprout on. So, if I don’t need all of the features from all of the extension on certain devices, I don’t have to install them. It makes for a much better app and a better user experience on whatever device I’m using it on at the time.

Once I get this new version of Notesprout done, I’ll be able to start working on the Bible and prayer extensions. Those will help with my Bible study notes and prayer journaling. I’ve continued using Biblesprout for my current studies. But it is going to be so nice to have it integrated in my note taking and not as a separate thing. And the prayer extension will take me back to a style of prayer journaling I used to do about 20 years ago…LOL

I stumbled upon another color e-ink device that I recently got. It’s a similar panel as my wall art frame and the larger photo frame on my desk. But this one is the 4 inch pocket size. It allows me to work with the same color range as those other color frames. The mini frames I have like the one I use for Cherie does not have a wide range of color. But this new device is amazing with the colors. Also, it allows me to program it myself. So, I’ve taken it upon myself to use Claude Code to do just that.

The default firmware allows for some basic photo options. But I wanted to make a specialized photo frame that allows me to connect to it from my phone and prepare photos for it directly. Today, I was able to get that to work. And it works surprisingly well! I have a lot of work to do yet. But at the push of a button, I can have it allow my phone to connect to it and work with the photos directly. And there are a pair of other buttons I can use to cycle through all of the photos that are on the device. The app allows me to tweak the photos to make them look their best on color e-ink. I’m impressed at how well that works!

I’ve tinkered with do-it-yourself projects most of my life. So, this has been an exciting adventure. All of this fun with e-ink this year, along with working with Claude Code, has taken me back to the joy I had in the 80s and 90s. It’s making me feel so young and passionate. It’s also basically why I haven’t been blogging as much lately…LOL I’ve been spending a lot of time on these projects…LOL

I love that it is taking me back to a time in my life when I was excited for the work I was doing. I haven’t felt like this much as an adult. I did get this feeling when I took up painting again in 2021. As well as when I started handwriting again a few years ago as we started doing our Bible studies together.

I finally finished putting together my cherry blossom LEGOs…LOL I’m ready for my next LEGO Botanicals set. I need to decide what I want to get next. Or I may just wait until someone gives me one. I love these LEGO Botanicals. I got my first one in 2020 during the pandemic. It’s the LEGO Bonsai tree. I love that this collection keeps growing…hehehe

I was reading 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I paused reading it for a bit. And then I picked it up again recently. But I may not finish it. It started out fantastic. But now it is dragging for me…LOL I keep wondering when it will pick up pace again. I loved the part about Atlantis. But there is so much in it that just puts me to sleep…LOL

So, I’ve taken up another book instead. I’ve been watching the TV show Silo on Apple TV. I’ve known it was based on a book series. But I hadn’t thought much about it. This latest season that just ended was a little weird. The storytelling wasn’t that great. Yet at the same time, it got me really interested in what the books might be like. I ended up getting the omnibus that includes all 3 novels and a collection of short stories that take place in that world. I’m already several chapters into Wool; the first book. It has been really engaging so far. And everything I’ve read about it from others tells me that the entire series is a real page turner. I’m excited to go on this journey!

Speaking of trying something new, I’m going to Disney on Monday. Wait…what? That isn’t new…LOL Bbbuuuttt…the thing that’s new is that my itinerary is being planned by Cherie! And a tiny dinosaur named Petey…hehehe On my way home from Disney last weekend, I got the idea to have her plan an entire day for me. She was so happy to make out the plan. She’s hinted at some of things I’ll be doing. But as of writing this, I haven’t seen the plan yet…hehehe I’m so excited for what our day at Disney will be like on Monday 🤩