It’s been one hell of a year. On 06Mar2024 I decided to re-launch twoprops.net, which had been a hosting site for my (now adult) children’s Minecraft servers. My intent was to write something more-or-less every day. I didn’t know what I would write about. I did not know if I had that much to say (though I suspected I probably did). I had no idea if anyone would listen, but that was part of the proposition. I was going to write without regard for engagement, metrics, audience, income… I would truly be whispering into the void.
In order to conduct this exercise, I set up a web server that would serve no ads, almost no Javascript, nothing that pops-up, slides in, is fixed in place when you try to scroll. I collected no metrics on visitors. I used black text on a white background (or vice-versa for those who want to read in dark mode). In short, I made it all about the writing with as little as possible to get in the way of reading. I supported RSS and eventually syndicated to mastodon and posted instructions on getting twoprops.net via email. I did not use Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp, TikTok, Telegram, LinkedIn, Reddit, Threads, Discord, Tumblr, or the ever-popular Google Plus.
To this day, I have no idea whether anyone reads this or not, though I have seen HA catching up on columns occasionally, and I sporadically receive an email or hear a comment from someone who has read a column or two.
Success!
So what has happened during this year of writing dangerously?
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I have published about 339 columns in 365 days. That’s about 0.93 columns per day, which is pretty damned close to my informal target of “about one” column per day.
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I watched a peach tree grow up and produce too many peaches.
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I lamented the necessity for nuance.
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I said good-bye to trash pickup.
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I cultivated a digital garden.
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We found a giant crate to fly Luna the Big Dog™ to our new island home where she became a Hawai’ian Maukamute.
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I noticed a tremendous amount of fraud in medical billing.
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I waited on hold too many times after being unable to navigate company’s shitty web site — only to be repeatedly told that I shouldn’t be calling but using the aforementioned shitty web site.
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We dealt with multiple problems with refrigerators.
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My older son graduated from university and my younger son graduated from high school and successfully applied to university after touring multiple campuses.
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I baked a lot of sourdough bread.
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We discovered the joy of induction cooking.
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I finally discovered a treatment for itchy insect bites.
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I started calling my posts “columns”.
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My youngest son launched a weather balloon and got some fabulous video.
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I spent a lot of time in my hot tub and hope to be doing so again soon.
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I rationalized using archive services.
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I had many problems with so-called uninterruptible power supplies.
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I tried to figure out a way to save my very old garage.
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I learned the term for how I used to run my business.
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I enjoyed my last summer on the mainland.
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Tools became precious again.
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I became the famous Infrastructure Man.
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We learned of the death of the previous owner of our island home.
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I set off fireworks with my younger son.
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I got diagnosed with thyroid cancer and had surgery which might just have been curative.
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I took what will probably be our last summer beach vacation with my two sons.
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I managed to make my email server location independent so I could move it to the island with minimal disruption but no loss of privacy.
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We experienced the nostalgia of packing.
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I learned to live without a thyroid.
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I moved to my island forever home.
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Luna came to join me.
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HA was left to handle the bulk of our move.
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We finished building our new garage in time for our ship to come in.
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I suffered for the weeks that HA wasn’t here.
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I discovered the stars visible from the best seeing spot on the planet.
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We found that we didn’t have to have electricity to have a bidet seat.
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Joulee the Free Salvage Tesla got lost at sea but eventually came home with only minimal Matson-inflicted damage. She also got a new bumper sticker.
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We celebrated a dear friend’s 80th birthday.
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We enjoyed a year of outdoor showers.
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We got our ice maker working!
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I managed to destroy twoprops.net and then recover it.
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We installed a massive solar plant and a local fiber link to our studio.
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I started to adjust to a postscarcity lifestyle.
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We saw many a rainbow.
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We spent hours and hours trying to change our address.
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We sold bitcoin.
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I started automating our energy management.
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I suffered from profound fatigue that’s still being worked up.
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We spent Christmas camping at the beach.
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We learned our washing machine was broken in the move but I managed to fix it and run it with hoses and extension cords.
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We had a special New Year’s Eve.
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We had our first overnight guest.
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We installed new lighting in the shower and then for more of the landscaping.
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Neighbors brought us pictures of our home from 1958 when it was only 44 years old.
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We kept working on the studio. It’s now plumbed and drywalled!
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I made some island sourdough starter.
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We had a wonderful vacation chasing whales in a kayak on Maui.
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I realized we’re living in a compound.
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We got new rocks for our driveway.
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We got the whole house re-wired and the garage electrified.
What will this next year bring?
—2p