2021.03.03
Hi Steemit,
I am Alex Hicken. I don’t contribute that much to the blockchain and crypto industry. Although my podcasting dominates much of my time, I do love to write. My interests, which I discuss with my little brother on the Very Hicken Brothers podcast, are decentralization, augmented reality, hydrogen fuel, autonomous vehicles, blockchain, social networking, Linux, wearable technology, renewable energy and sustainability, and more.
I was actually introduced to this platform by a new member at Mastodon. I look forward to contribute to the Steemit community and compose some of my thoughts during train ride commute to work.
My Profession
My profession is in the construction management industry, and I am very grateful for where my career has led me. I worked as a project engineer for almost four years, going from a quantities engineer to a quality control project engineer, and I now work in an estimating department now for a civil contractor.
I completed my quantity takeoff work for a massive project, and I almost completed a more simple project’s takeoff today. I think that working in estimating is exciting because I am exposed to many design styles and projects.
I texted with my older brother about foundations and the purpose of footings today. We we had the following conversation:
"I just finished quantifying a huge project. The building has a 17 foot wide continuous footing, and some 29 foot wide spot footings."
"What does that mean? is a "footing" like a platform for people to walk on?"
"It is basically a big block of concrete to hold up a building a part of the foundation."
"So to qualify something you need to choose the material, how much of it you'll need and how much it will cost?"
"I don't estimate the cost. I provide the quantities to the estimator. The footings are 4 feet tall."
"I see, so you'd have to calculate, for example how much cement you'd need for the footing. What is the conversion rate of pounds of cement mix to ft^3?"
"Yes. Construction is very logical like that. Concrete is not only cement and water. It includes aggregate and sand, and some additive mixtures to spin the outcome to the project's preference. There are standard mixes that cities prefer.
The company that I work for is not solely a concrete company; although, we do some concrete work. Our main purpose is preparing to property for building by clearing the land, installing utilities, and grading the property to design levels. Concrete flat work is optional. Subcontractors bid the concrete work, and we pick the best bid. We sometimes provide the concrete to the subcontractor that will produce that sidewalk or curb.
Cement is actually a small part of the mixture."
"Interesting! I was curious about what they use in the foundation of skyscrapers. And this is what I learned:"
"One of the many things that make skyscrapers special is their substructure. For example, the depth of the pit that holds the substructure has to reach all the way to bedrock. If bedrock lies close to the surface, the soil on top of the bedrock is removed, and enough of the bedrock surface is removed to form a smooth platform on which to construct the building's foundation" (wiki).
Yeah. Buildings are like boats on the earth. If the footings are not big enough to support the building, it will sink.
"In some places, the bedrock IS the ground. In other places - like the valleys of large rivers for instance, or areas along the US Southeastern coast, the first bedrock can easily be thousands of feet down." (Wiki)
"I wonder what they had to do for those large hotels on the Florida coast.
for a typical house, can the foundation be made of cement?"
"Cement is the substance that holds the foundation structure together. Rock is used to reduces the quantity of cement in the mix. Water activities the curing process. The proper balance water and cement is important. You don't want to water down the cement. Concrete is used in most foundations."
"In my mind concrete and cement were the same thing, now I know. ya learn things everyday. haha"
"It's a common misnomer. You can buy bags of cement, but you don't want to buy a bag of concrete. It's like buying a rock."
"yeah, it's buying the ingredients to a cake.
"Yep. There is a lot of chemistry in concrete. The curing process is a chemical reaction."
"That makes sense."
It’s good to text my older brother, since it has been hard to keep up with him. I thank the Fabriq app for reminding me.
My Calling
I was sustained as a primary teacher in my ward within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Sunday, and this morning I engaged in my new calling by asking the primary president for guidance on how she would like me to fulfill my role as we do not have weekly primary classes.
I was also asked to lead a Zoom discussion with the Elders Quorum at the end of the month, and I have been reviewing talk by the Apostle David Bednar in preparation.
In his last conference talk, he spoke about how man’s purpose is to prepare and prove that we are faithful enough to abide in Heavenly Father’s glory, “for I have decreed in my heart, saith the Lord, that I will prove you in all things, whether you will abide in my covenant, even unto death, that you may be found worthy.” (Doctrine and Covenants 98:14)
These were some words that I have noted to review the my Elders Quorum discussion.
I am currently preparing to host a couple full-time missionaries this evening. Missionary work is so hard. I don’t think that the work can be effective; unless, you dedicate your life to it. I wonder if I should quit podcasting, but I think that my devotion to my brotherly relationships are important too.
My Hobby
As you can see, I love to write. My new Mastodon friend from yesterday introduced me to Steemit, and I introduced him to the CryptoTab browser that turns my devices to Bitcoin mining machines. I only get about 5000 hashes per second, but I watched my balance pass 0.00002000 Bitcoin today. I am planning to withdraw my Bitcoin for the first time this weekend, so I have that to report on later.
My Calling
The missionaries didn't come last night. The primary president arranged a training for the new primary teachers on Sunday.
Studying Apostle David Bednar's latest general conference talk in preparation for my Elders Quorum lesson/discussion, I learned that there is knowledge that man needs to learn and apply in their lives to prove their faithfulness. Mere belief in God is not enough, but how can we know that we are living the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there are qualifying interviews to obtain covenants and participate in covenants. The questions are a good test to see whether your knowledge, faith, and beliefs are in good standing with Heavenly Father.
I believe that faith is the action expressed by believing and obtaining as much truth from the word of God by revelation as one can. The practice of the word will prove our faithfulness at the past day.
My Hobbies
As I love wearable technology I have not implemented the Strain Coach of Whoop until recently; although, I have used Whoop for a few months. It is nice to have my physical well-being analyzed, and Whoop recommends how much that I should work out based on how well I rested and recovered. I used to run based on a time limit. Now I run until I reach my recommended strain limit. If I work out more than their recommendation, my ability to recover completely overnight may be compromised. The Strain limit can be surprisingly easy to reach, when I do not rest well.
2021.03.05-11
Today I withdraw my Bitcoin for my first time through CryptoTab Browser. The withdrawal process is ideal. I just needed to supply my Bitcoin address. I also needed to provide my email address to confirm that it was me that withdrew the Bitcoin, and the last thing that it asked is to verify that I am not a robot. The transfer is not instant. It asks for one day's patience. Another thing that may require patience is saving up 0.00001 Bitcoin, which is the minimum requirement for withdrawing your balance.
Today is Friday, and Fridays have nights where my little brother and I record the Very Hicken Bros podcast, so I am going to publish my notes for the episode.
Neurolief, an Israeli company, has made a headband (called Relivion) that soothes nerves that can relieve migraine headaches. The device was approved by the FDA this past week. It has "three output points, which stimulate six branches of the nervous system". The stimulation would be "boosting flow of neurotransmitters in the brain-stream to affect networks that control pain." It has a quick two hour risk-free relief.
39 million people suffer from migraines globally.
(https://me.mashable.com/tech/12997/israeli-wearable-gadget-providing-relief-from-migraines-gets-fda-approval (https://me.mashable.com/tech/12997/israeli-wearable-gadget-providing-relief-from-migraines-gets-fda-approval))
Microsoft discussed online decentralized identity opportunities during their Ignite event this past week. Email addresses and phone numbers are used regularly to verify identity, which we can lost because they are controlled by centralized entities. Social identities are based on Facebook and Google's data in people, a centralized identity.
Decentralized identities would be owned by the individuals on a blockchain. Digital decentralized identities can stored on any blockchain from Bitcoin, Ethereum, to Sovrin, which is a blockchain dedicated to identity. Blockchain ledgers are immutable when they are sustained decentrally.
A identity wallet app would access the blockchain, where certificates are granted to the individuals. One option would be scanning a QR code. The issuers can verify the certificate on blockchains, when needed. More information can be attributed to the individual's (DID), the decentralized identity. The user would verify they are the correct individual by biometrics with one click, signing with the private key; no password.
(https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/identity-access-management/decentralized-identity-blockchain (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/identity-access-management/decentralized-identity-blockchain))
2021.03.08
I realized that I appreciate how Uphold works with many blockchains. It works with Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tron, Polkadot, Montero, and more. The STEEM coin that this publication platform compensates in is on the Tron Blockchain. I can trade the Tron coin for Bitcoin, Ether, or almost anything else.
Other perks of using Uphold is their debit card. You can designate the card to spend any of your cryptocurrencies in the many stores. The card gives you 2% back with any currency that you spend. There are also no fees.
The only con that I don't like is that if you want to send money to anyone, they have to have an account with Uphold. I got stuck in this ecosystem because the Brave browser works with them.
2021.03.09
I got my PinePhone yesterday in the mail. I am excited for it because I am eliminating my use of the ecosystems of Google and Apple at least for my personal phone use. I got a iPhone SE for my work phone. I chose to write for Steemit because it is not a part of the Apple or Google ecosystem.
I tried to transfer my SIM card to it as I use Boost Mobile, but the phone is incompatible with it. I looked around for other compatible carriers, finding Mint Mobile works with it, so I am going to buy a SIM card from them.
I am having a couple issues with my Linux phone. It seems to have saved my password incorrectly, and I can't update my applications due to unmet dependencies.
2021.03.10 Switching to Mint Mobile
Last night I switched my phone service providers to Mint Mobile because not many carriers support the pure Linux PinePhone. Mint Mobile's website should say to activate my SIM via a mobile phone app because the website kept erroring out.
Mint Mobile is not the 15 dollar a month phone plan as everyone advertises. Although they give that rate, the minimum payment is 45 dollars, which increases to 25 dollars a month. In order to keep the 15 dollar a month rate, an individual needs to pay for a whole year up front.
I am starting to wean myself off Apple. I gave my iPhone to my wife after I switched all my apps over to my work phone. She was leary of Face ID, but I convinced her to use it because I couldn't remove my account from the phone.
Today I signed up for the Universal Basic Data Income website, which is found at UBDI.com. I have no idea the income rate. It is a survey website that pairs you with them by leveraging your data to connect you with surveys more accurately. I have tried another app like this recently as they both pay in cryptocurrency, but I was denied the survey opportunity on the other app because I was not a good match. The denial and waste of time is discouraging. The website tries to eliminate that. I also hope to get paid for my data without surveys. We will see. I was introduced to this app by Uphold when I explored their partnerships and integrations page.
On my Whoop workout today, since I stayed up late transferring my iPhone to my wife, I was encouraged to have a work out strain of slightly more than ten by Whoop's Strain Coach. I thought that matching my jogging miles per hour rate to my strain level would be fun. I recommend that you try this idea out, if your strain limit is within a realistic jogging speed.
2021.03.11 Almost caught up
My phone battery capacities seems weak because both of my phones were dead, when I woke up. I don't believe in charging overnight. I don't want do charge a phone longer than necessary. I usually charge my phones at work.
Last night I write an entry, and I was deciding between starting my taxes or catching up on my journal by publishing a few entries. I chose to catch up, but working on my PinePhone is very clunky. I don't know how the experience will improve with updates, since I have not figured out the unmet dependencies. It takes a few seconds to load apps, the copy and paste interface is like I said clunky. I realized that the terminal keyboard allows me to do control commands, allowing me to copy and paste without long pressing.
I had a few things that I wanted to say that I forgot to. It is mainly that my Bitcoin arrived from CryptoTab on Monday night without fees, so that is cool. It takes a lot more than one business day to withdraw the Bitcoin. CrytoTab or the blockchain took four and a half full days.
I started off loading apps from my iPhone by installing web apps from a nifty web browser on my PinePhone. I put Flipboard on it this morning, and Steemit last night. Editing my posts within the Steemit website appears to be unrealistic due to the phone's RAM limits. I also offloaded my email account from my iPhone without a web app.
Another thing that I figured out is that PinePhone user's password that is used for verifying downloads and application installations is their passcode.
I did my Whoop Strain Speed matching work out, finding disappointment that the fastest speed of the treadmill is ten miles an hour.
2021.03.12
I found the guidance for how to address the update limitation due to umet dependencies on the Pine64 forums, which referenced an article posted by the entity themselves. I will put the commands and link to the article below. The commands are the following:
sudo apt update
sudo apt dist-upgrade
sudo apt autoremove
(https://blog.mobian-project.org/posts/2021/02/09/pam_issue/)
The commands did not run perfectly for me. I had to "sudo apt-get update --fix-missing".
After updating my operating system, I downloaded the one podcast app available on the software store, which is called gPodder. Their podcast catalog is not current, and I had to hunt for the RSS feeds of my favorite podcasts. It reminded me of a easter egg hunt, looking everywhere for the RSS feed links. They seem to be hidden. The gPodder app was a little confusing at first because the play, download, and delete buttons were greyed out; however, the buttons color is not to indicate that they don't work. It opened up the video app to listen to the episode, which did not appear to have a pause button. I should find a new app to play audio or figure out that app.
I also downloaded Tootle to sign into Mastodon, and it's sign in options doesn't work.
I tried another video/audio app that comes preinstalled on the PinePhone called Lollypop. It works well, having a widget in the notification panel and lockscreen, which has track controls. My little brother called me while I was listen to a podcast through Lollypop, and I couldn't resume listening to the episode after the call.
Trevor and I are going to record an episode for our side podcast called "The Talk to You Later Show". It is a more casual conversation, talking product and production reviews like my new PinePhone. We plan to review Epica's new album and Maya and the Last Dragon too. We usually cover technology news, and I have one article in mind to review about clothing or shirt that can generate electricity from the human body. I have covered a topic similar this, but the technology was a lot more primitive.
The following are my podcast notes for today's podcast:
University of California: San Diego (UCSD) affiliated scholars have invented a energy-harvesting long-sleeve shirt that generates electricity, using sweat powered biofuel cells and triboelectric generators powered by motion. All the parts are “flexible, stretchable, foldable, and washable, “and they are screen-printed onto fabric. The study were able to power a prototype LCD screened watch; however, it appears to be high activity wearable to be functional.
The biofuels cells contains enzymes that causes electrons to flow when lactate and oxygen molecules enter the cell, which are present in human sweat. The current generated is continuous, and it is fed to the super-capacitors. The biofuel cells are contained in the chest area, and the triboelectric generators have components on the side of the torso and the inner side of the forearm.
Triboelectric generators are powered by motion, and the energy is held in super-capacitors. The two components and the material rubbing together with walking and running generates high-voltage electricity.
(https://newatlas.com/wearables/wearable-microgrid-energy-harvesting-shirt/)
The PinePhone does not have premium components, so people must have patience and low expectations of its performance when they use the phone or purchase the phone. Everything loads slow. The phone feels like a manual car, where you have complete control, and many people don’t want to deal with it. The phone would not perform well; unless, the user is willing to use the terminal. The applications are open source, being coded by people’s hobby, and they don’t work perfectly. Web apps are handy, but they can be finicky. There are not many apps to choose from in the Software Store. I felt like I had an easter egg hunt for RSS feeds to make my podcast app work.
Raya and the Last Dragon
I am an avid movie guy, and I think that most movies are not good quality on average. I would say that Maya and the Last Dragon is better than average; although, I think that the story and character development is shallow. Everyone has the same backstory except for the main character. The animation is amazing. The message of the movie is obvious, but it is not taught well. Many movies don’t even have a message, and it is only for entertainment.
My review of Epica’s new Omega album is the following: (0) I rank my favorite songs, and songs are listed in the order of the album.
(4) Skeleton Key sounds great.
(10) Abyss of Time sounds like a standard symphonic metal song. I think that the random screaming was unnecessary, but the ending was awesome.
(11) Seal of Solomon has a bad start with the screaming; although, it sounds interesting. It was okay.
(9) Gaia: I like the chore start and Simone Simons’ singing. Scream doesn’t fit the music as well as how it does in Amaranthe’s Manifest album, which we reviewed on a previous Talk to You Later Show episode exclusively on Spotify.
(3) Code of Life has a creative and exotic sound. Perhaps my favorite. Screaming fits well in this song.
(8)Freedom sounds standard not unique. The chorus is fun.
(5) Kingdom of Heaven, part 3 is a progressive song that is cool, but the progression is hard to pick out the a consistent melody. There appears to be two other parts, which may help to appreciate the song.
(2) Rivers is a beautiful song.
(1) Synergize, a high energy song and better composed song, is what I would say is the best composed epic song of the album. This song tells me what Epica sounds like at their best.
(7) Twilight Reverie is a fun song. Screaming seems random.
(6) Omega: I believe that Epica has a more symphonic sound than Amaranthe. This is another great song.
2021.03.15
This weekend was not that productive. I recorded The Talk to You Later Show episode, but I finished editing and published an episode from January 23rd for the Very Hicken Bros podcast before we got into the new podcast routine. The episode has more than 19 topics. It took forever to edit.
We watched the Monster Hunter movie on Saturday evening. I tweeted my review of the film.
"Last night we watched #MonsterHunter, and it is very good. The story telling, acting, and character development are all great. My only critic is that the character designs are a little cheesy."
Jasmine and Lucas, my in-laws introduced us to a game studio that feels similar to Cherry Team. It is called Play Dead. I played their game called Inside briefly. It has the 2D sidescroller mysterious story type feel, but it is kind of the opposite of Hollow Knight because Inside is not open world.
We talked during the recording last Very Hicken Bros podcast episode how ChromeOS was slow to sync with Android as Google released the feature on the operating systems tenth anniversary. I said that Linux needs to do that for PinePhone during the conversation. It turns out that it is already developed with a program called KDE Connect. It comes with a suite of applications. It just appeared on my PinePhone yesterday. I love how regularly MobianOS is updated.
I found a Linux client for micro-blogs like Mastodon, Twitter, Friendica, Pump.io, GNU Social, andl Open Collaboration Services, which may be overlooked. It is called Choqok. I haven't logged into it yet, but I thought that I would share my discovery.
I signed into Choqok. I feel like I wasted my sign in with Twitter. I can't figure out how to sign in to another account. I like Mastodon better than Twitter.
2021.03.17
I couldn't get my PinePhone to receive text messages; although, I turned off iMessage on my wife's iPhone. I thought of subscribing to Beepr, but the app still requires internet access. The WiFi connection on the PinePhone is very unstable on other WiFi connections otherthan my personal one at my apartment. I wonder if it has to do anything with KDE Connect because I don't have any devices connected to it. When I click text someone through the contacts app, the phone goes to KDE Connect by default. KDE Connect looks very minimalistic. I don't see any options when I click 'add devices.' I can send, but it doesn't seem to receive text messages.
2021.03.18 Exploring Password Managers
I still haven't figured out why my PinePhone doesn't receive text messages. I thought that Choqok may be intercepting them somehow because the app is giving message notifications when it shouldn't, since it was not connected to the internet.
I started using a password manager. I downloaded Password Gorilla because it is most explanatory mainly. I had one issue with it, so I downloaded KeePassXC. It appears to be the favorite, but it did not fit on phone screen well, making it unusable.
My issue with Password Gorilla was that the app says it copied the password, when it doesn't in actuality. I thought that pasting was disabled when I tried to paste the password is the password prompts. One thing that I haven't tested is that I set the app to clear the clipboard after ten seconds. That may be erroring, or maybe I am just really slow to paste. I don't think that I am.
2021.03.22
I realized that the special copy and paste feature of Password Gorilla doesn't have access to the clipboard, so I have to highlight the password and copy it in edit mode.
I didn't publish last week because I was really busy with appointments like dental, vehicle emissions, hair cut, and my fifth marriage anniversary.
I figured out why my phone quit receiving sms messages. It is because the queue was jammed. All I needed to do to is delete the queue. The command is the following:
"For Mobian, delete all of the messages like this:
$ sudo mmcli -m 0 --messaging-delete-sms=1 (Repeat with 1 through 10 to delete all of the messages)
For Manjaro, delete all of the messages like this:
$ sudo mmcli -m 3 --messaging-delete-sms=77 (Repeat with all listed messages)"
https://wiki.pine64.org/index.php?title=PinePhone_FAQ#The_phone_does_not_receive_SM
My phone quit receiving sms messages again this morning. It would not even recognize its modem. A reboot helped.
I didn't work out much last week because daylight savings was rough on me. I only jogged once.
I am learning a new program today, and I don't believe that any beginner would say that it is intuitive. The program is called Trimble Business Center.
2021.03.23
Yesterday I ran into an issue on my PinePhone, where my email client would not stay open for more than ten seconds. I tried another email client and reducing the RAM usage of the phone in general, which did not solve the dilemma. The app seemed to have too many emails stored in it, so I deleted all my trash email, finding that solved the issue.
I am thinking about switching to Bitpay. The idea came because I collect Bitcoin now. When I checked out the option. I liked that there are no transaction fees with merchants. Another thing that makes it tempting is that they have a Linux app. I also see it as an upgrade to a non-custody wallet, since Uphold is a custody platform. Last time that I checked out Bitpay, I thought that the fees were ridiculous, but I will not be purchasing Bitcoin.
2021.03.24
I ordered the Bitpay card last night. It costs ten dollars without a promo code. The Brave browser advertises for Bitpay with a promo the code is "10brave" for a free debit card. I tried to download the BitPay app on Mobian OS. It required the Snapd repository, and it turned out that the app is not compatible with Mobian OS. The reason why Bitpay cannot be installed on PinePhone is because it does not work on ARM64 architecture. It works on the AMD architecture. Installing it on my laptop, which is running Linux Mint Cinnamon, I think that it is funny that I can't install it on my PinePhone because it is just the mobile app.
2021.03.25
In other aspects of my life, I am preparing to lead a conversation with a quorum of Elders on Sunday. I am pondering thought-provoking and editifying questions. I believe that I should lead by example by openly answering the questions.
My wife and I engaged our church callings by emailing all the families that we serve. We have an appointment today to consult with the family how we can best serve them. I should think of ideas like having story time, music time, art time, activity time and stuff like that.
I am making progress on learning Trimble. I may be simplifying it. I made my first reports yesterday, including a topsoil section.
I made a discovery that is disappointing about Uphold. I paid a barber for a haircut with my Uphold card. I thought to calculate how much my sale of my eth appeased for my purchase. I paid 38 dollars with 0.022. I remember that the price of Eth was in the 1800s, but the price that Uphold sold my Eth was at 100 dollars less than expected. Uphold appears to operate like Robinhood, making exchanges at the rate that they prefer with merchant purchases.
2021.05.28
It has been about sixteen months since I wrote in my journal here on my iPad. The reason that I am writing on my iPad is because I am on a flight to Portland, Oregon to retrieve my car over Memorial Day, since we moved to Utah. I have written other places. Posting on Blogger or Blogspot is disappointing because Google owns my blog, and they use it as a tool to advertise; although, I did quit advertising a long time ago. I found a solution to my blogging situation, but it appears that I have to repost each entry manual on my new domain.
I bought alexnhicken.crypto for forty dollars at Unstoppable Domains. My initial attempt to pay the gas to register the domain on my address was about the time of the all time high of about 4400 dollars for an Eth, and the gas cost six times the cost of the domain, and I did not pay for the gas at that time. My second attempt cost a little more than 1.5 times the price of the domain. The features are awesome because there are no renewal fees, and I own the domain completely as a non-fungible token on the Ethereum blockchain. The domain with Unstoppable Domains has great features like an email address that is not subject to service providers snooping. It is based on web3 technology, so my email account has no password. The security is based on a random twelve word seed phrase and biometric verification. My domain can also be used as an address to send me cryptocurrency; furthermore, my domain can be hosted on the interplanetary filing system, the decentralized web, which is supported by Torrent type nods. I try to be a nod for the interplanetary filing system, but I have not found any good websites. The browsers of Opera and Brave has published partnerships with Unstoppable Domains. On their Brave partnership announcement, they shared some good websites on ifps:// like dtube.crypto, which is a decentralized YouTube.
One thing that I mostly likely have not written about since I switched to https://www.steem.it is that I went full custody on my crypto with BitPay. I couldn't own the NFT; unless, I went full custody. BitPay is a little inconvenient because it changes my wallet address after each transaction, which is nice for anonymity, but I am not worried about that. I purchased my .crypto domain to own my identity. I texted Trevor. "The first thing that I bought purely with Eth was my online identity."
I quit posting with steem.it because they are not generous with compensating their writers. I would continue to write with them if they gave me a dollar a month, but I did not see any compensation after an initial welcome fund bonus.
As I was acquired my identity, my Oura ring arrived. Its design is amazing. It offers my a second opinion on my health with Whoop. I mainly wanted the ring because my wedding ring is hollow, and gunk gets in it.
It seem to be materialistic. Last week, my Cloud Seed, which I purchased from Yat, a crypto company, seemingly the original company to sell a domain with emojis in the url. My Cloud Seed was purchased to acquire a three emoji link, which had an accompanying live event to watch, but I forgot about my travel plans that was in conflict with it. The seed sprouted to the following link: https://y.at/dragon.bolt.money-mouth. It has similar functions to my .crypto domain, but it is less developed and more centralized. I received the domain in the generation zero Cloud35 event. I wrote out the emoji url in words because the bolt emoji is not loaded on my iPad. The link supposed to be more universal and modern.
I did not choose the emojis of dragon, bolt, and money mouth; however, I like it because I was born the year of the dragon. I work in the construction industry, and I should seek to monetize my podcast. Trevor thought that it fit me well because I am crypto focused. I think that the nickname dragon bolt would be cool.
We have been trying to launch season 4 of the Very Hicken Bros podcast, since Kyler, a friend of Trevor's from the Google+ era. He composes music, loves technology, and is creative; therefore, he fits well. Another friend of mine expressed interest in joining the team too. Kyler made us feel like a team; however, our attempts to coordinate a session has not been successful, since he works most Saturdays on a night shift. I was too busy for last week's episode, since I was driving to Rachel Dunlap's wedding reception, and I might not fit in a recording session this week, since I need to rest for the long drive to Utah from Oregon.
My work as a primary teacher is weak. I should be more anxiously engaged to that. I only had one lesson so far, and we will be unavailable for the next couple Sunday's because we are out of town this weekend, and Jessica will be out of town next Sunday, visiting her grandma. I am not going to Saint George with Jessica because Trevor is graduating from culinary school next weekend.
Work has been somewhat slow, but we are starting up four new projects. The preparation for these deployments suddenly buried me in work.
2021.05.30
Speaking of embracing brotherhood, I was saved by my brother-in-law yesterday. My car was dead when I tried to turn it on. I originally went to the car, hoping to retrieve information concerning what needed to be fixed in the brakes. Good Neighbor Tires of Beaverton, a Point S company, wanted to know exactly what needed to be fixed before considering an appointment.
Lucas called, and I comforted him as he mourned his loss of highly valuable material and spiritual possessions. His visit to retrieve his stuff from Oregon was not as pleasant. He offer great advice and support, when he heard that my car was dead.
He arrived in less than twenty minutes from Hillsboro. I pushed the car out of the garage in order to jump it, but the battery was too dead. Pushing the car back into the garage was difficult, since I was pushing it up hill with Jessica and Jasmine. We only made it a few inches. Lucas jumped out of the car confident that they push it into the garage with me driving. I was not confident as Jasmine, Lucas, and Jessica stood behind the with less than a foot between my and Mercedes' car. I didn't want to crush them. I forgot that the car still has brakes when the car is in neutral. I realized that I am in control when Lucas reminded me of that. Jasmine, Lucas, and Jessica pushed up the car with ease as I steered the car into the garage.
A neighborhood came offering his tools to help us replace the battery, which was nice, since Lucas lost all his tools. I helped provide light for Lucas' work with Jasmine's phone as Lucas requested for a baggy, so we can keep track of nuts and bolts easily. Jessica went to get one. The garage started to feel like an auto repair shop, when Lucas put on the new 21 Pilots album. I put my hat on Jessica, so she can look more tomboyish and fit in the shop. After we removed the battery, we went to an O' Reilly's Auto Parts store. Lucas spotted an affordable tool set at the store as I was called my parents to reassure me that me car was produced in 2005. I thought that it was only ten years old. It was ten years old, when I acquired it six years ago. When Lucas was installing the new battery, the battery was sparking at attachment points.
After we installed the battery, we had to find an auto shop that can repair my old brakes. We had a little trouble, but we found one. Lucas guided me in his parents' car as I was driving conservatively because my tires felt soft, since the car was not driven in several months. On the highway, Lucas pulled over because a few cars turned between us. I passed him, and he caught up, turning behind me. When I saw the Canyon Road exit, I turned off highway, and I watched Lucas behind me following his blinker signals. After we dropped off the car, we went to have lunch at Chick-Fil-A, and after much deliberation with Jessica and Jasmine. We went for ice cream until I received the call from Les Schwab that the car was repaired. On the way home, Lucas spontaneously took the Canyon Road exit, coming for Portland. Jessica had a melting bucket of ice cream for Mercedes, so they quickly dropped me off at the Les Schwab. After retrieving the car, I had to figure out how to drive home without gps. I did have some data, so I at least had a map. I saw on Google maps that I needed to get off the 4A Hall Road exit. Finding the highway and getting off it was easy enough.
I got home in time to record a podcast with Trevor, but Jessica wanted me to pack the car. I did that pretty quickly, and I recorded a quick podcast myself; however, I couldn't transfer the file to my phone to upload to Anchor with my mobile data. The publication of it will have to be on tomorrow, since there is no WiFi at Mercedes apartment.
Today was chill. Attending child was odd because I could understand only a few words.
Trevor called me a couple times already today. One call interrupted my nap. I have been trying to get as much rest as I can, so I could drive eleven hours to Utah tomorrow without getting drowsy.
Jessica ran out of data for the month, so we won't be guided by GPS. I found the directions to my apartment in Murray, Utah on my phone, but my Linux phone's GPS is not good. It thought my location was someplace in Washington. I downloaded the webpage with step by step instructions, so we do have guidance somewhat
2021.06.05
This week was so busy that I forgot to pay rent for the month, having a notice placed on my door on yesterday, which was a Friday. I found it after going to a concert with my parents and family friends.
Tonight I am going to Heber City to catch up with my grandparents at this time. My parents are showing me the quicker way to Heber City by following Cheyenne, coming from Salt Lake. We had lunch today at The Pie Pizzeria, and they arrived much faster than expected, taking Cheyenne.
Utah vacations with my parents typically involves a lot of driving to visit people. The concert yesterday was at Tooelle. We went with Kim Graham, and I met his in-laws and his wife. I am going to have a lot of time tomorrow to catch up on my journal from last week, since we are traveling to North Ogden to visit Sue, a Thai friend of my mother.
I am keeping brief today because the drive from Salt Lake to Heber City should be quick.
It is almost eleven post meridiem. We are driving to Heber City late tonight because we are coming from Trevor's graduation from culinary school. I am going to go into detail of all of this tomorrow.
I hear that my grandpa Glen Hicken is recovering well from his ailments, getting back to his old activities. He would sleeping downstairs in the dining room, looking very fragile, the last time I saw him. It was sad to see that he could barely see or hear what was going on. I will let you know tomorrow. We are about to arrive.
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| We met Jessica's cousin Laura. |
2021.06.06
Grandpa is about the same as I remember. He has just lost a lot of muscle mass and body fat. I tried to play him the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square with my phone because he couldn't find it on the television, but the audio-quality of the phone was too low for him. He couldn't hear much.
I went to church at my grandparents' ward, and I was about to attend Sunday School in-person for the first in more than a year.
A brother, who I worked with at Delta Stone Products, attends my grandparents' ward. I was about catch up with him. I wanted to talk to him to resolve bad feelings because I applied for a job to Delta Stone last year, and he interviewed me. When I followed up a couple weeks later, he said that my application was a joke.
Trevor, my parents, and I just concluded a dinner with Sue, an old roommate of my mother, so I will have a good amount of time to write on the way home from North Ogden.
My drive from Oregon to Utah was successful. We arrived at a good time. We even had time to go help Trevor move on Monday. The main dumpster of his apartment complex was full, but Jessica scoped out other dumpsters. Two dumpsters had room for trash. Jessica and I's main serve to help Trevor move was to take trash out of the apartment. We got home late that night. I was a little loopy by the end of long day of driving and helping Trevor. Alejandro, Trevor's old roommate, gave me a packet of Oreos, and I accepted it as a gift for Jessica, since I said that Jessica loves Oreos. Jessica thought that I lost my marbles, knowing Alejandro was attempting to share it. I apologized to Jessica for miss interpreting the situation. A second loopy thing was that I laughed really hard about saying Almond covered Chocolates.
I also helped Trevor move on Tuesday after work. He had furniture that he didn't know what to do with. I am lucky that I have a JWright truck. If not, I would not be able to pack three couches, a large trash can, and his TV stand.
On Wednesday, I worked on cleaning my apartment after work, folding and organizing a big pile of laundry as I had a load of laundry and dishes going. I also swept the kitchen. In the morning, I reorganized the house, putting away a bunch of shoes in our closet and recycling.
On Thursday, I worked all evening on preparing for this week's podcast. I seemed to be out of routine because I said some awkward things that I deleted. I has been a few weeks, since I recorded an episode was Trevor.
Friday was the concert as I previously mentioned. The concert was at Tooelle.
2021.06.13
It seem like I am writing in my journal weekly now. This week was very busy. There is too much family and things to do. This might be our third week missing our ward in Mill Creek. Ricky Rosas is giving his mission homecoming speech today.
2021.07.11
I am still very busy. After priesthood, every weekday evening was planned with a gathering. I have a scripture study session planned for Thursday, and a game night with a brother that I home taught at BYU Idaho was planned for Friday. Every day of the week is booked with the following: Family Home Evening (Monday), Babysitting Benjamin (Tuesday), Podcast (Wednesday), Scripture Study Session (Thursday), Game Night (Friday).
I prefer not to write about the future. It has been a month since I wrote in my journal. I have a daily journal that I record a few words on the app Whoop.
On the weekend on the June 20th we enjoyed Snowbird with Josh and Martha Day. My Vice President challenged me to run up to the Hidden Peak, but I couldn't find the trail head, so I did not truly attempt the challenge. It was good to catch up with Josh and Martha Day, since Martha is pregnant. We played a game of Skipbo, I believe. It was a competitive game, but I was not any competition though.
The following day was our first normal Sabbath with Sacrament and Sunday School on a two hour block since the pandemic began, and primary is rolling again. The primary is the smallest that I have seem. We only have a class of three. I am lucky that I am not teaching them. They are out of control.
The following day was International Yoga day. I added yoga into my routine for a couple weeks, but last week was crazy. I barely got to run on Friday.
On Wednesday of that week, I shared a y.at invite upon request on Twitter. The guy is a very artistic NFT person. I don't think that he actually used it, but it was cool that my invitation to receive a y.at invite was used on Twitter.
We got a new temporary theme song for Season 4 that week. In mid June, I attempted to make a podcast production agency called Dragonbolt Productions. The most important part to the marketing was podcast transcribing, but it lived and died with Jessica's transcribing ambitions.
We finally recorded a podcast with Kyler on the last day of June. It was awesome. We interviewed him about his favorite song that he composed. He explained that his work in technology and music was taken from him with the loss of his computer, so I bought one for him yesterday. It is expected to be delivered on the 21st of June.
We celebrated the Fourth of July with the Days. Curtis visited too at Josh's house. They are my cousins, and Kurtis served in Jessica and Jasmine's ward in Beaverton. Lucas and Jasmine joined us too, and they were able make introductions and catch up. We had precious moments watched a fire cracker show that Josh put on.
We have been trying to launch season four of the Very Hicken Bros for most of the month, and we finally launched it this weekend. We tested livesteaming last Wednesday, and we had a spontaneous guest. Jessica started making nice cream and a chocolate sauce after making me stay up late. On Thursday, Trevor made me stay up late because he was trying to figure out how to live stream on YouTube. That week was rough sleep wise.
A couple weeks ago work slowed up especially when my coworker update my Trimble file to a newer version of the program, and my Vice President asked me to help his close up a project that was abandoned by a project engineer, who quit. I arranged the striping for the Jordan Bluffs Condominiums in Midvale for early next week, scheduling the subcontractor and preparing the survey/layout and sweeping of the project too. I am all caught up.
There was an airdrop of store credit with Unstoppable Domains, and I purchased a few. I even got one for Thomas. He has gotten into Ethereum. I still need to code my interplanetary filing system website with my .crypto domain. I also still need to get the domain to Thomas. I have been so busy. Maybe I should just post this entries on my blogger. It will be more convenient.
2021.07.12
Today was a good day at work. I quantified a quick project. I was trying to verify that we can get our sweeper out tomorrow and late in the day I received the news that our sweeper is down; although, it was barely fixed. I had to arrange a subcontractor to arrive in the morning. Our regular contacts were unable to help. I called a rental company, and they recommended me a guy that was able to come help tomorrow. The stripers even asked if it was okay if they can come stripe the parking lot; although, we arranged them to come Wednesday. It seems that they forgot to cancel the postponed appointment.
I verified that Nick and Kyler can record on Wednesday the second episode of season 4 of the Very Hicken Bros. That was about it for my day. I ran with a treadmill incline of 10 to prepare for a race because my coworker challenged me to a sprint.
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