Phil Olin

Finished reading: The Bone Wars by Erin S. Evan 📚

Fantastic paleontology adventure. Reminiscent of Jurassic Park, and a Clive Cussler novel. Looking forward to reading more of Erin S. Evan’s work in time. Excellent debut novel.

Finished reading: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers 📚

This was an amazingly fun sci-fi book. Fantastic crew of characters, beautiful story, I didn’t want to put it down.

Apparently Barbies expire around 20 years old. Our daughter got several Barbies from her cousin that are from the early 2000s. The heads are popping off every single one of them, tearing out the neck so they can’t be repaired.

It’s 2023, and kids still get Flintstones vitamins, but have no idea who or what the Flintstones are because it’s a 1960s cartoon. Looks like its available for streaming, on Boomerang, but how many parents are going to go out of their way to try and find it?

Finished reading: Soulstar by C. L. Polk 📚

A fantastic ending to the trilogy. This kept me on the edge of my seat at times. Love how the story concluded.

Finished reading: Stormsong by C. L. Polk 📚

A fantastic continuation of Witchmark. Really enjoyed the viewpoint of another character from the first book. Looking forward to the final book of the trilogy.

The view from our backyard this morning. The Canadian wildfires are turning everything orange and very hazy. Smells like fire outside. We’ve been hiding out inside since yesterday.

I’ve heard of red sky at night, and red sky in the morning. But not orange sky all day.

It is so smoky outside from the Canadian wildfires.

Nice to hear that iOS17 should stop ducking things up with autocorrect so I can type what I mean.

Why are date standards with electronics and computers so fucked up? Some start at 1970, others at 1900. Who decided this?

Finished reading: Witchmark by C.L. Polk 📚

Already ordered the second book of the trilogy. This one was fantastic. Witches, magic, and bicycle chases.

Finished reading: The River of Silver by S. A. Chakraborty 📚

A nice bonus collection of stories from the Daevabad Trilogy.

Moving from c# to c/c++ has been a struggle at times as I keep trying to do c# things in c, but the biggest annoyance is strings/chars. I keep trying assign a string to a char variable like you assign everything else, but strings require strcpy. ARG.

Finished reading: The Wager by David Grann 📚

Interesting “biography” of the HMS Wager and it’s crew. British Naval law in the 1700s was pretty dumb but it kind of reminds me of today’s corporate world. Bodies are more important than skills and the Captain’s word is law even if it will harm everyone.

Got out for an 8 mile mountain bike ride with ~1000 feet of climbing. My legs were sore when I got back home, and I figured I’d be dead this morning. I’m actually feeling pretty good. Looking forward to Thursday’s group ride.

Picked up a new bike pump, hard to find low pressure high volume pumps. Most that say high volume have a high pressure gauge that aren’t any good for setting sub 40PSI tires. Ended up getting a Specialized Air Tool MTB pump. Giant 3in gauge that’s easy to read and maxes at 40PSI

Got out for a good bike ride yesterday, before we get 5 days of rain. Really enjoying the new bike. Should be a fun summer.

Ordered a set of Ergon GP1 grips for the new bike. I like the PNW Loams I have but they aren’t big enough, and my hands are hurting 30 minutes into the ride. I had the Ergons on my other bikes, so I’ll try them again. Might get some Wolf Tooth Fat Paws or Mega Fat Paws to try.

Took the 3yr old out for her first “mountain biking ride”. She had an absolute blast, and was sad the ride ended. On the way home she asked when we could go again.

I think we’ll be going for trail rides quite frequently this summer.

Arg. Shakes fist at clouds. We lost power as the new washer/dryer were getting delivered.

So after the water leak, our washing machine decided it has had enough, and destroyed itself. The front tub assembly is shredded, and the drum is way out of balance on an empty load. Our new washer and dryer arrive tomorrow. 🤦‍♂️

Dealing with water on an inside wall this morning was not in my plans today. Found a pinhole leak in the supply line to the 2nd floor bathroom.

The weather around here lately has not been good for drying out mountain bike trails to get out for spring rides. Wish the weather would cooperate for once.

Shoe shopping is a pain for me, especially for specialty shoes. I found these awesome bike shoes, in a fantastic colorway, and at more than 50% off, and they fit great.

Looks like we are getting two new bikes in the family this month. The 3yr old is way too big for her 12in balance bike. She fits on a 16in bike already.