Done Since 2018-06-03

A second week without N and the kids. I've kept busy, but it isn't the same. Only two job applications -- that has to increase. Still not using my time all that well, but a little better. Another Computer Curmudgeon post, plus a Thankful Thursday and a Songs for Saturday. Some work clearing out the plastic greenhouse -- found out Friday morning that it has to be gone by Wednesday. Urk.

I got a moderate amount of software-related stuff done -- the Elm timer app is coming along (too slowly), and some of my websites now have nicely-styled nav bars, in particular steve.savitzky.net, Lookingglass Folk, and Rainbow's End. I pushed the software I wrote with my father in the late 1980s up to GitHub. (Only, what, 3 years late? and it still needs a README.) Somebody wrote an Emacs mode for my songbook software. (We'll have to do some merging -- I have one too, and there are great ideas in both.)

It isn't enough. How do I expect to work full-time again if that's all I can manage? (In fairness to myself, I did put in a couple of full days. But am I productive enough?)

Reading The Ultimate Guide to Remote Work -- which I highly recommend if you have any interest in working remotely or managing a remote team -- tends to confirm that assessment. So does The Software Engineer's Guide to Freelance Consulting, which does have a few ideas I can put into practice, including how to write a blog that gets noticed. I'll address that in a later post.

As you can tell, I still have roughly zero self-confidence, and no idea how we're going to survive the next five years. The fact that this is depression talking and that it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy if I don't get things turned around soon is not helping. Oh, right -- has become. For at least a decade.

There have been a few good things. I have gotten some things done. It's been a relatively productive week, though that's not saying much. The cats have been wonderful -- Desti is a real lap-cat, when she isn't lounging in front of the (gas) fireplace or chewing on a cardboard box. (This occasionally makes typing difficult.) My left elbow seems to be almost healed, the left thumb is doing better now that I've found a brace that works, and I managed to move some boxes yesterday without making anything worse. I'll take what I can get.

For link highlights, I'd like to draw your attention to jeshyr's Just Invisible - Medical Access Issues For Homebound/Bedridden Persons (more in the notes), and this uplifting rendition of "This Is Me" by the Carleton Phoenix Project.

The members of the Carleton Phoenix Project have an unusual goal: to practice letting go of perfectionism. This spring they posted an open invitation for singers to take part in a music video—no experience necessary, only the courage to step up and participate.

( Notes & links, as usual )