The “what I did during quarantine” thread

The only thing worse than a phone call is an unexpected phone call. You want to talk to me, email/chat/slack/teams/text me first. I have to make sure the phone is in the one place in the house where it works, then I have to make sure the headset is properly paired, then I have to make sure all the noisy stuff is turned off.

Better yet, just use the proper tools, don't call me at all.
 
denverpilot said:
Anybody else catching up on Better Call Saul? Heh. Kinda fascinated how they’ll work their way back to the Breaking Bad era.
Click to expand...

I actually have stopped watching Breaking Bad, around the end of season 2 (maybe I got into the beginning of season 3? At the episode where the planes have a mid air). Very well done show, wonderfully woven plot, excellent cinematography, but I can’t stomach video (acting or otherwise) of people shooting drugs. I get it, it’s a show centered around drugs. But at that point I’d rather watch John Wick and just watch 200 people get shot in the head in an hour and a half. :)
 
I saw Breaking Bad when it came out originally, haven’t watched it since. We did watch “El Camino”, the sequel, and are catching the last season now of Better Call Saul.

We have one episode left of season 3 of Ozark.

The last season of Brockmire is winding down, too.

After all that, I think it’s time to find some lighter fare.
 
gkainz said:
What NAS are you running? I’m living on borrowed time with my time capsule and external drive(s) as home backups, and couple that with my son loosing all of his church presentation from a failed external on Friday (he was able to reshoot all the footage and re-edit in time for this morning’s service) makes implementing a true NAS and better backups here.
Click to expand...

Greg,

I'm in the same boat as you, and...

denverpilot said:
You may not believe it but we are running over 100 people on Synology. The silly thing is one of the most rock solid devices and software we’ve ever had and it’s essentially supposed to be “prosumer” grade.

We did outfit it with proper NAS drives and the dual power supply setup and SSD cache and all that, but I would have never guessed it wouldn’t be a minor PITA just because of price point... and I’ve used “proper” commercial NAS and SAN stuff for decades at other companies clear back into the Sun Storage days.

The other thing is, management wise, the goofy thing really has been point and click. Getting it integrated with AD and stuff like that was a total no brainer other than determining group security rules and such.

I really want one for home but I’m just too cheap to do it with weak sauce Internet. But it could have replaced much more manual stuff in my home server running in VMs. Backup software for desktops, etc... just click to install from their free “store”. Stuff like that.

Anyway really solid for the price.
Click to expand...

... I've got a Synology at work too, and echo Nate's review. It's a really solid device, built on a Linux-based OS, with easy point-and-click browser-based management and some truly impressive capabilities. It's not just a storage device - It can act as a media server and all kinds of other stuff, all easily installable via their own "app store" type thing. You can run it as your own personal cloud if you want. Really a slick device, and I'll be getting myself one for home at some point. I do want to do an additional cloud-based backup to get the full 3-2-1 backup solution, but there are some web sites out there showing how to do that through Backblaze for example. Good stuff.
 
flhrci said:
Wouldn't it be better to call after the server room fire is out? LOL
Click to expand...

Well I mean if you’re standing on the curb watching the FD work, a text probably isn’t as immediate. LOL.

Not that I wouldn’t be calling them when all of it went down...
 
Wife and I have been watching a Netflix comedy series called The Ranch. Has a bunch of the cast from That 70’s Show (Aston Kutcher, Danny Masterson) as well as Sam Elliot and Debrah Winger. It’s got some pretty good one-liners. It’s sort of akin to watching the tv series Roseanne but with cussing and more adult content.

Apparently it ran for about 8 seasons or so, but we had never heard of it until a month ago. It’s worth watching for a few chuckles about the turmoil of ranching and living in a small town/dysfunctional family.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I actually have stopped watching Breaking Bad, around the end of season 2 (maybe I got into the beginning of season 3? At the episode where the planes have a mid air). Very well done show, wonderfully woven plot, excellent cinematography, but I can’t stomach video (acting or otherwise) of people shooting drugs. I get it, it’s a show centered around drugs. But at that point I’d rather watch John Wick and just watch 200 people get shot in the head in an hour and a half. :)
Click to expand...
Exactly why I couldn't keep watching it after a certain number of episodes! My adult kids are who actually got me into the show. However, I buried a couple of siblings who's lives ended as a result of drug use (heroin). Fortunately, I never witness any of it and never tried any myself. Nor have my children.

I'd rather watch Star Trek, Twilight Zone and my all-time favorite..Battlestar Galactica (reimagined series):)
 
Last edited:
redtail said:
Exactly why I couldn't keep watching it after a certain number of episodes! My adult kids are who actually got me into the show. However, I buried a couple of siblings who's lives ended as a result of drug use (heroin). Fortunately, I never witness any of it and never tried any myself. Nor have my children.
Click to expand...

I suppose the "Don't do drugs" campaign of the 80s and 90s worked on me. Never touched the stuff, no desire to, don't have any idea why anybody would. I don't even take Advil with any regularity.

No family used drugs. I had one friend for a brief time in college who was really smart, good kid, then decided to start shooting heroin and 8-balls (or whatever those things are called - uppers and downers together) and changed overnight. I dropped him as a friend immediately and said "You're going to OD and kill yourself." I was right. But that really didn't affect me other than I remember it and tell the story.
 
Matthew said:
I saw Breaking Bad when it came out originally, haven’t watched it since. We did watch “El Camino”, the sequel, and are catching the last season now of Better Call Saul.

We have one episode left of season 3 of Ozark.

The last season of Brockmire is winding down, too.

After all that, I think it’s time to find some lighter fare.
Click to expand...
I have a hard time watching serial TV, but I can do podcasts.

Right now I'm listening to 13 Minutes to the Moon, produced by the BBC. They are supposedly doing Apollo 13 now, but I am listening to the original season, Apollo 11. It was recommended to me by a sailing friend, a Brit. At first I thought, 12 episodes, really? But I have gotten interested. It's more technical and detailed than anything I have ever seen or heard about Apollo 11, but still understandable to someone like me.
 
Last edited:
Everskyward said:
I have a hard time watching serial TV, but I can do podcasts.

Right now I'm listening to 13 Minutes to the Moon, produced by the BBC. They are supposedly doing Apollo 13 now, but I am listening to the original season, Apollo 11. It was recommended to my by a sailing friend, a Brit. At first I thought, 12 episodes, really? But I have gotten interested. It's more technical and detailed than anything I have ever seen or heard about Apollo 11, but still understandable to someone like me.
Click to expand...
If you can find it, check out the movie "Apollo 11". It was on IMAX in some markets - I saw in on that screen, and it was glorious.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8760684/

 
Ted DuPuis said:
I suppose the "Don't do drugs" campaign of the 80s and 90s worked on me. Never touched the stuff, no desire to, don't have any idea why anybody would. I don't even take Advil with any regularity.

No family used drugs. I had one friend for a brief time in college who was really smart, good kid, then decided to start shooting heroin and 8-balls (or whatever those things are called - uppers and downers together) and changed overnight. I dropped him as a friend immediately and said "You're going to OD and kill yourself." I was right. But that really didn't affect me other than I remember it and tell the story.
Click to expand...
I hear you. In fact, that's the same reason I've never touched alcohol. I grew up seeing the effects of the stuff on a bunch of my relatives who drank to the extreme! A family of alcoholics. My granddad died when I was around 11 or 12 and I can count on two hands the number of times I remember him sober!

So from a very young age, I knew that it was something I never wanted to indulge in, nor expose my children to. Never had a desire to be out of my mind or to 'feel good' from a chemical substance.
I was high a couple of times from anesthesia though LOL:D
 
We've been watching the Netflix series "The Crown". We're into the 3rd season now. Nicely done.
 
I'm actually working on my Cherokee. As of now, the panel is 2/3rds out and wires are hanging everywhere. Also all the old fiberglass insulation is gone and I'm waiting on AirTex for the foam insulation/sound deadening stuff to get here. I'm replacing my old Narco comm and nav/com with a Garmin 430W and a 225 transceiver. I'm also adding a OAT probe with a GAD13 to run the wind speed and direction to my G5. Also replacing the old antennas and replacing all the old coax with RG400. Last but not least, I replaced my old tractor style gascolator with a Steve's fuel filter.

I can't wait to select a frequency and have the knobs actually work with a loud and clear signal with ATC.

My friend and avionics guy is letting me build all the new harnesses. I'm about 1/5th his speed and I'm sure to him its like watching turtles have sex but I'm getting the experience for my A&P which hopefully will be in the spring of next year.
 
Found the yacht I want to steal and ride this out on. Well equipped, lots of solar, but it's on the wrong side of the country. Dag gum! I guess I always wanted to cruise the west coast, too.

Y'all better not steal it, or buy it, before I get there.

Screenshot_20200416-172159~2.png
 
Made a quick video of congrats for another pilot who finishes chemotherapy this week congratulating him. Was someone else’s idea and he’s tossing together a montage from a group.

Kick. Cancer’s. Ass. Amen.

I even bothered to shower and put on an aviation shirt for it. Didn’t shave though. LOL.

And work... paperwork today... boooooring.
 
denverpilot said:
I even bothered to shower and put on an aviation shirt for it. Didn’t shave though. LOL.
Click to expand...

I haven't shaved in weeks. I figure I'll do the COVID-beard thing as long as Laurie doesn't complain. So far she hasn't.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I haven't shaved in weeks. I figure I'll do the COVID-beard thing as long as Laurie doesn't complain. So far she hasn't.
Click to expand...

I used the trimmer to buzz it down like... was it last week? I dunno. LOL. Was too bushy for my mask.
 
Walked down the street to the shopping district about a mile away because I wanted to mail a package at the Post Office. The customer at the window next to me coughed, and the PO worker said, "Don't do that, I'm paranoid!" The customer answered, "This is not a good time to be paranoid..." I think they were both joking around. Maybe. The Ace Hardware was open, as was my favorite sausage shop. Bought some summer sausage and told them I was glad they were open.

I knew they were doing sewer and water line installation/improvement near where I live because it's NOISY! The actual digging/jackhammering has progressed up the street but they use the area in front of the condo to cut the metal pipes to size. Then they need to move them to where they are putting them in the ground using heavy equipment. They have been doing it for months, since well before lockdown. It wasn't as annoying before, because I didn't spend that much time at home during the day. There was a pause for a while after the initial shelter in place, and I wondered if they were shut down too. Now I see that they are working along a fairly long stretch of this street. I guess it's a good time to do it, since there is less traffic. There is still traffic; maybe half as many cars, but the busses still run. This is an "essential" route that runs past a number of hospitals, and is a direct line downtown. Many other routes are shut down.
 
I'm working (from home) more hours than ever, but I keep reminding myself this makes me one of the lucky ones.

Evenings in, we're doing a few movie nights (working through some of the American Film Institute's top 100 list--we've never seen a lot of them), and I'm finally making time to do a little woodturning. I'm trying to raise my skill level from rank amateur to better amateur. And I had a truck load of mulch delivered this week, so that will keep me busy this weekend.

I do try to fly every other week or so, even though I suspect that's outside the list of allowed activities in gulag NJ.
 
I redid the rock work in the aquarium.

Aquarium.jpg

One fish, one little coral, and a lot of rock. The white rocks are newly added, which is why they're still white. They won't stay that way.

I should get a couple more coral fragments, the one that's in there is doing very well. It sounds like our office will be doing more work from home, and the aquarium is right behind me when I'm working here.
 
kayoh190 said:
So I just started my beard this week. I've never had facial hair at any point in my life - I have a feeling it's gonna be gloriously horrible!
Click to expand...

In the two or three weeks since I last shaved I don't have a lot to show for it. When Laurie went off to her initial sim training for the Challenger (January 2019) I didn't shave for 2.5 weeks then and that was the most facial hair I've ever had.
 
FormerHangie said:
I redid the rock work in the aquarium.

View attachment 84829

One fish, one little coral, and a lot of rock. The white rocks are newly added, which is why they're still white. They won't stay that way.

I should get a couple more coral fragments, the one that's in there is doing very well. It sounds like our office will be doing more work from home, and the aquarium is right behind me when I'm working here.
Click to expand...

When I was stationed on Okinawa my room mate was a huge diver- in both instances, he weighed about two fitty and was a dive master. He kept after me to get certified and I finally took the classes and stopped at advanced open water. Anyway, the point of my story is that later on I built an aquarium with clown fish that I caught in the ocean. Probably illegal but I didn't care. The process is to take a clear gallon zip lock bag and slowly lower it over the anemone in which the clown fish is hiding. After a while it will swim out of the anemone and you zip the bag closed.
 
A former co-worker runs this insanity...


He’s really into his fish and his tech.
 
kayoh190 said:
So I just started my beard this week. I've never had facial hair at any point in my life - I have a feeling it's gonna be gloriously horrible!
Click to expand...
You did say in another post that you are lazy. Its about time you grew out your face! LOL
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top