Learning Morse Code with Google's Learn site

 

It can be hard to get into a new hobby especially when there is a lot to learn and the learning slope is steep. I am learning more about amateur radio systems and the licensing process. One facet of the licensing process is a test. In previous years, the test included an evaluation of Morse code. This requirement is no longer necessary however the practice can be helpful in understanding some simple, analog transmissions found on the air (OTA). 

I looked online and found a nice, clean way to learn Morse code.

Check out https://morse.withgoogle.com/learn/

Book Review: For Whom The Bell Tolls

 

I recently picked up another Hemingway novel which I carried with me during the move to Boston. I appreciate his work because he follows a simple yet essential principle in writing good fiction; write from one's own experiences. In this novel, Robert Jordan is an agent in Spain sent to blow up a bridge at the start of a major offensive in the Spanish Civil War. Through a wild variety of experiences, meetings, and events we see how Robert's perception of the people and history of the land has changed.  

Hemingway himself spent a good amount in Spain during the war and began writing about it shortly after returning. As a reporter, he saw the worst of the ways in war. This tales appear to be projected into the characters of this novel and provide a sort-of second hand image of Hemingway's own experiences. 

One particularly interesting facet of the writing style in this novel is the way Spanish and English are used interchangeably at times during dialogue between Robert and his fellow guerilla fighters. Hemingway knows that certain phrases and emotions unique to the Spanish way of speaking are hard to convey exactly as they are in English. 

10/10, would recommend highly

Homemade Grape Juice

 

The grape juice was tart. The concoction lacked any significant sweetness in it. This was partially due to the fact that the drink had no added sugar. Beyond that, the solution was cloudy even though I filtered it through a paper sieve. I ran over to campus from my apartment in Boston. The wind sucked. All the way across the bridge my hat was down. Some other people did not care about the wind. They basked in it. Some people were on boats in the Charles. I suppose it's hard to get sick in a boat. Campus was mostly devoid although a few souls walked about on Amherst alley. I saw a bunch of PODS by McCormick Hall. These PODS likely hold the personal belongings of those who moved out last March, some of those people are returning. The grapes were growing in the garden by Next House that I help water and tend. I think some of the other gardeners don't care that much anymore as their plants are left to go fallow. I gave a homeless man some of the tomatoes I picked. I could not tell if they cared at all. I think they probably did not like tomatoes that much. Perhaps? Another man asked me for a light, I did not give them a tomato since I don't think that would have helped. I think I could make a mean grape juice with these wild grapes.

Keeping On and Self Care

I have not blogged in a while. In an effort to improve my focus or some sense of time separation, I have kept at working while at work (my wonderful new job) and relaxing while not at work. Blogging is not necessarily work but this act got dragged into the time between work during my undergrad. So now it must make time for itself.

I have been eating better and that is from Ally's assistance. Her and I have planned meals out and it has been working wonderfully. I am eating many more vegetables. 

My new bookshelf.

No oil inlet cap :(

Marigold seeds

Me at work

Book Review: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Last week I finished the novel from Junot Díaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I was walking through the O'Hare airport when I found it. I had heard about the author from an old colleague of mine that was an upperclassman when I was a first-year student. I was happy with the physical copy. I sometimes miss reading books off the screen. This sentiment in my life is shared by many people but I like to reiterate it.

There seems to be some magical realism present in the story as the narrator casts the explanation of Fuku on a variety of things in the lives of the characters. By taking time to evaluate the basis of each member of the immediate family, we gain not only a better understanding of the struggles the family witnessed, but also the struggles that the entire nation of the DR witnessed during the period of the dictatorship of Trujillo. 

7/10

Browsing IKEA, checking out the BROR and the FJALLBO

Ally and I went to IKEA recently. While I won't be moving places until September, now is a good time to make preparations since I am between jobs. I will be starting next Monday at my new place of employment, Physical Sciences Inc., as a full time engineer. I am very much excited for this opportunity to dive into interesting work at a place full of other nice and intelligent folks. One of the ways I am preparing for the move is picking up a few furniture items to fill out my space in Somerville. I know I'll need a wardrobe and some shelving since those items were provided to me back when I lived in my dormitory at East Campus; as well as now in my Boston apartment. I found that IKEA has some good prices on such items compared to other choices and we hit the road to go browse. 

I have a coffee table from the Fjallbo series, these are more shelves.

Use of the BROR shelves in an example room.

Unfortunately the BROR shelves I picked up did not have all the hardware in the package so I will be headed back shortly with my receipt to return. 

Walking in the Neighborhood

I have been getting up lately between 7 and 7:30 and finding the time to get outside and jog or walk. It has been nice to have these few days to relax my mind a bit. I noticed that a few of the nearby buildings have been receiving general upgrades and work. I have been reading some articles about how a number of local colleges will be moving to more remote learning this Fall which could cause significant changes to the apartment market and general land use. There are over 150,000 college students in the area and if half of them do not return, that's over 75,000 empty rooms which would have otherwise contained students. At the current, well earlier, market rate of about $1200/month per person, that's a loss of real estate revenue of about $90,000,000. This is of course a rough estimate but I'm pretty curious how much of an impact that will have on things. We'll see...

Making a favorite dish of mine, chicken mushroom and onion in a cream sauce

Short visit to East Campus to pick up some furniture items

the sign and flowers I brought to the airport to pick up Ally