skip to main content

Things I’ve done so far

Here is a non-exhaustive list of the good, the bad, and the inane things I’ve stopped putting off, as well as the things I have yet to stop putting off.

• 4 min read

Update 4/29/2020: A whole bunch of updates inline below!
Update 5/26/2020: Even more updates

Overall, I grade the current global pandemic an F. It’s not good! That’s not to say that there aren’t silver linings. Like a lot of people, I’m getting things done. Here is a non-exhaustive list of the good, the bad, and the inane things I’ve stopped putting off, as well as the things I have yet to stop putting off:

  • Gone through old passwords and made every one strong and unique (this was a big one)
  • Set up two-factor-authentication for everything I can. I went from four items in my authenticator to 17. I highly recommend Authy. Don’t waste your time with Google Authenticator, even though many sites treat it like the only one that exists.
  • Cleaned out all the drawers in my desk and office
  • Consolidated, and sorted all the random computer and A/V cables in the house, and threw away a bunch of old ones
  • Cleaned out and organized my closet, and bagged up old clothes for donation
  • Sold an extra copy of Mario Kart on eBay that the kids got for Christmas
  • Listed and sold some vintage Tupperware on eBay (it’s actually worth a few bucks)
  • Baked bread, twice
  • Moved everything off of an ancient iMac, and onto my very cool new Synology NAS
  • Cleaned up and better organized my Plex libraries
  • Got all my external-facing services on the Synology NAS running over HTTPS
  • General digital organization on my computer
  • Vacuumed and mopped all the floors in the house several times
  • Renamed all four Apple TVs in the house to reflect their actual locations
  • Lots of Simpsons shitposting (more on this eventually)
  • Cleaned my deck every day with the leaf blower (fucking magnolia tree)
  • Replaced the cheap optical cable connecting the sound bar to the TV with a really nice one I bought like 13 years ago but never had a use for
  • Cleaned out all the kitchen drawers
  • Watched Outbreak, because why not?
  • Sharpened kitchen knives
  • Bought gap filler and filled in a big, disused vent hole in my kitchen that’s been there since I took some cabinets out five years ago. The next step is to spackle it and hide it entirely.
  • Spackled every ding and hole in the walls I could find
  • Filled various holes around the house with wood putty
  • Removed baby gate pieces from the stairs from the previous owners (we’ve been in the house almost five years)

I’ve done a lot so far, but there’s more to do.

To watch

I’ve got a lot of media to catch up on. I’ve got a pretty good list, and I bet there’s more than this that I want to watch.

  • Watch The Lighthouse
  • Watch X-Men: Dark Phoenix
  • Watch The Irishman
  • Watch Blade Runner (not sure if I’ve ever seen the whole thing)
  • Watch Blade Runner 2049
  • Watch Fleabag
  • Watch Tiger King
  • Rewatch Mission Hill (it’s probably been 18 years)
  • Rewatch _Mr. Show _
  • Watch the What We Do in the Shadows TV series (six episodes to go in season 1)
  • Get caught up on The Simpsons (I think I fell off around season 25 or 26)
  • Get caught up on Better Call Saul (we’ve seen two seasons)
  • Get caught up on Fargo (one season to go)
  • Finish The Good Place (11 episodes to go)
  • Finish Westworld Season 2 and watch Season 3
  • Finish The Leftovers (five episodes to go - in progress!)
    • Finished 4/24/2020!
  • Finish Veep (one and a half season)
  • Finish Silicon Valley (two and a half seasons left, I think?)
  • Finish Picard (eight episodes)
  • Finish The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (three episodes to go)
  • Finish Daredevil (one season)
  • Finish Jessica Jones (one season)
  • Finish The Punisher (one season)
  • Finish Iron Fist (one season)
  • Try to keep current with Jeopardy Update: We subscribed to Sling for TV, but they don’t carry whichever local station carries Jeopardy. As part of my Synology improvements, I’ve got Jeopardy set to automatically appear in Plex every day.

Around the house/yard

There are still useful things to do.

  • Plant grass (it’s been too cold) Done 4/19/2020
  • Maintain the garden Done! It wasn’t a great year for our garden, but we got a decent amount of tomatoes and beans
  • Mini kitchen renovation (yikes) Done 12/21/20! Holy crap I actually did this!
  • Organize extension cords (this weekend, I swear) Done 4/26/2020!
  • Set up second workspace in the basement before it gets unbearably hot in my office
  • General basement cleanup Done 4/26/2020!
  • Scrub dirty walls, doors, trim, and baseboards Done 4/25/2020!

Digital projects

  • Make some photo books and have them printed
  • Some general under-the-hood improvements to this site Done 5/22/2020 in a big way.
  • Maybe switch from Netlify CMS to Forestry.io Done 5/22/2020! and I’m loving it.
  • Figure out a way to get off of iTunes Match, while keeping older MP3 music accessible to the whole family
  • Figure out a way to share our Photos libraries with each other
    • A little update: There’s no good way to do this natively in iCloud, so I’m experimenting with a few options on the Synology. For such a basic use case (let everyone in a literal family share photos), it sure is hard to find a good solution.
  • Organize Safari bookmarks
  • There are still a passwords that my wife and I share that need to be updated, as well as the video sites we share with friends and family Done 4/19/2020!
  • Improve how I have Time Machine set up on the Synology
    • A little update: While I havent’t done this yet, I Time Machine on my Synology did save my ass while I was working on the site. I had a major Git issue (every file I had worked on was empty after a rebase!), but I was able to lose almost nothing by grabbing the directory from a few hours prior.
    • Update 2/10/2021: I wiped my settings and totally redid everything on the Synology. It’s a huge improvement all around.

General to-do

  • Honestly, just get out of the house and get some more exercise
  • Eat better
  • Play more old video games!
    • Update: My daughter and I played Super Mario Bros. and I didn’t have to cajole her.
    • Update 3/13/2021: I bought an RG350M and I’ve been playing lots of old games on it.
  • Write about old video games!
  • Play more of/finish Twilight Princess
    • Update: After putting it down for a few months, I finished this sometime in June or July. I knocked out every shrine as well as all of the DLC content.
  • Finish reading The Walking Dead (I’ve got about 20 issues to go)
  • Read more comics in general, mostly Star Wars.
    • Update: Read Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir 4/22/2020
    • Update: As part of my Synology improvements, I’ve got my library of digital comics, including lots of 1980s scans, organized. I’ve been doing a lot more reading.
  • Get back into Instapaper, organize my articles, and catch up on stuff that’s been piling up
  • Bake more bread
    • Update: I baked quite a bit. Probably too much. Some of it actually turned out pretty good!
  • Brew beer