I didn’t forget. I promise. I just got really involved in working on something and it was later than I realized when I stopped.
I think it’s interesting that my first week of vacation is over and I don’t really feel like I did anything. However, when I look at the list I made of things that I might do while on vacation, I’ve done almost all of them. So I guess I have done a few things, just not as much or what I expected. The big difference this year is that I don’t have a big project to work on. Last year it was my trip, some years it has been to paint some part of my home. And while I thought about that for this couple of weeks, painting, I decided against it.
So what have I done? A lot of reading. I have three books I want to finish and I finished two of them last week. One was ‘Doughnut Economics’ by Kate Raworth, and the other was ‘Steve Jobs’ by Walter Isaccson. Both were really good books. The one about Steve Jobs, I’ve had for a month or more and I have been reading a little at a time. I finally decided I wanted to concentrate on it to finish it. I was really curious to learn more about what happened when he returned to Apple. It was also fun to read about things that I remember seeing, like the iconic 1984 commercial for the Macintosh. ‘Doughnut Economics’ is a completely different topic and one I think I want to keep my eye on. The concept has to do with an alternative to measuring the health of the economy by GDP alone, why we need to do this, how we can do it, and what things might look like if we lived within a doughnut that does not over use the Earth’s resources at the same time it makes sure no one is left wanting. The third book, that I’m still working on is ‘Crucible’ by James Rollins. I’m not even 100 pages into it yet. I still have a couple of days to go so, yes, I might finish it this week.
One of the things I did that was not on my list was to get my bike fixed. It had a flat front tire and my neighbor who has been airing up the tires for me had said that he thought that may end up with a ‘pinch flat’, because, the way the tubes were put in the stems came out of the rim holes at an angle. Sure enough, after a pump up, the next day, flat again and you could hear the air hissing out right at the stem. I took it over to Trek in Ballantyne and they fixed me right up. I even had them swap the back tube since it had been installed the same way. They did it while I waited. So happy. And now it rides like a dream again. I might consider riding it for a little more than just down to the mailbox and back now.
One of the more different things on my list was to make tortillas. I’m a big fan of flour tortillas and I have tried to make them with very little success. This time I tried corn tortillas. After finding a recipe, getting the masa and then consulting another cookbook I have, I ordered a tortilla press. I got a tortilla keeper as well just because. The press was the key. The recipe I used was on the bag of masa and worked well for the most part. I had to add a little more water than it calls for, however that was noted as a possibility in the instructions.
Making tortillas with the masa and the press was a learning experience. But I got the hang of it. The instructions on the press say you can use parchment paper, or plastic wrap, or even a plastic sandwich bag cut open, to put between the dough and the press so the dough doesn’t stick. Just use the plastic wrap. It is so much easier. The dough will stick to the parchment paper. With the plastic wrap it peels off easily and you can put them right on the griddle. Also you can make them thin enough that they are more like what we get in the stores. That was a key, getting them thin enough. The first few I didn’t get thin enough and so they weren’t as pliable.
What I got involved in that kept me at it so late was Blender. I was working on the texture painting of the donuts in my Blender scene. I learned that you can’t always setup to do things all at once, sometimes you have to go in steps. I tried to setup with the texture map and everything all at once and found that it didn’t work very well for what I was doing. I had to make sure to not have the texture map loaded when I was laying down the base colors. Then I could load the texture map and go back over things to add the bits of detail and highlight that I wanted it for.
I also found trying to texture paint, just with a mouse, to be frustrating. Especially where the texture image meets its wrap around. I kept getting really hard lines that I had to go in and soften and smooth out. That was frustrating. I think, since I now know I can use my Cintiq on my laptop, that I might try that the next time. I’ll be able to make use of the pressure sensitivity of the Cintiq and that should allow me to feather into the edges better.
With the texture painting done, next up will be the procedural displacement and procedural texturing. I know, it sounds like I’m doing what I just did all over again and in a way I am. This is the base to start with. I may or may not need it every time. I’m still getting this part down. For now, I’m doing it this way. What this will do, is also create some of the bumpiness you see on some donuts from the fryer. Or from the cooling processes. It will also allow for a more varied look for the surface, without nearly as much work. That’s the beauty of procedural texturing. You get some really great looking stuff with less frustration.
I did some work on the site. You should notice a lack of advertising now. And I changed the header picture. I thought it was time. And I love the picture. I’ve updated the About page as well. I added a privacy section. That’s an important thing these days. As is an SSL certificate. I will be looking into that soon. The SSL certificate is an even bigger thing than the privacy statement. If you use Chrome, in particular, it complains, like when I go to log into the behind the scenes of the site to do stuff. An SSL certificate will make it more secure and keep all the browsers from complaining too much. I just wish they didn’t cost so much, and weren’t so confusing. There are still a few adjustments to come besides that. I am thinking about how I want them to look and act before I start on them.
I have a few other sites that I need to update as well. Some of them have a static html page with just words and links and maybe a picture or two. I purchased a Web Development course from Udemy to hopefully give me new tools and ideas for what to do with them. I’ve been putting off working on the course because of having the stuff for work and so much else going on and I finally got started on it last week. It’s been good and in addition to the refresher for what I already knew, I’m getting some good information that I didn’t have because I’m basically self taught in my web coding. There is quite a bit more I want to learn in it before I start on the other sites so it may be a while before I get to them. Especially since I still have work training to do.
I didn’t get to guitar last week. I’m a little disappointed. However, I was having trouble with my elbow again and wasn’t sure it was such a good idea. What I am learning is that it is not just the guitar playing that is causing the problem, and it may not be the guitar playing at all, it just happens to be when and where I feel it the most. Being on the computer, and typing can give me just as much trouble. As can sitting in a position where I lean heavily on that elbow. So, as I suspected, it’s a much more complicated problem. That makes me feel a little better. And as I have found an aid to another pain issue I’ve been having, I expect that I’ll find the thing that gives me the most relief for this as well and I’ll be able to get back to playing at the level I was.
So that’s the news for this week. I’m still on vacation for one more week and then I’ll be back to the day job. I’m doing my best to make the most of the time. And I’m enjoying the new outside furniture. As you can see, there’s no telling what I’ll be getting up to next so check back again and as always, enjoy the pictures.