what i’m up to right now

as of 2 oct 2026

career

Somewhat past the 1-year point without being fired somehow. Claude has sucked whatever fun was in writing code, but fortunately this does mean I have more time and more urgency to become competent at system design. It’s also a good time, to try out spec- and test-driven development to see if adding more constraints to the random word generator-cum-web crawler that everyone seems enamored with right now will make it better.

I did receive a promotion, but it seems that my increase in earnings cannot exactly outpace my horrifically expensive hobbies unless I put an end to this madness.

personal life

Things have generally been going OK. One of the things I’m hoping to do soon is getting a dumb phone to reduce my dependence on the harmful social media apps I’m overpaid to support. I think my screen time limiters are not doing enough to keep me focused at work, so I’m trying to see if getting a cheap Nokia will make me work any more efficiently.

car bullshit

I’ve updated my 2000 Land Rover Discovery to a 2004 Land Rover Discovery due to it being available at a “price too low for me to resist”. However, out of sheer laziness, I decided that I did not actually want to do the rehabilitation work to actually fix the fucking thing, so I dropped just over 3 times the cost of the vehicle to get it partly reconditioned.

Downpipe leak. Downstream effect of issues, but I didn’t want to sound like I was firing a submachine gun every time I started the car. Unfortunately, it’s held in by a couple studs that are keen to break, and thus I decided to take it to a shop.
Horrible steering. Previous owner didn’t even bother with the multiple cheaper solutions (tie rod ends) and went straight to the radius arms as the first solution. It was the tie rod ends. But while they were in there, the ball joints were also gone so I had the shop do everything.
Low power. The ignition coil was loose and hood interference meant that the two rear-most spark plug wires were being rubbed down until they would short. Unrelated, there was also a horrific vacuum leak due to a dog-eared valley pan gasket. Both of these also caused the cats to clog, causing the first & most pressing problem. I should have probably been able to DIY this shit but It was already in their custody at this time so I was inclined to just have them solve the problem.

There are a couple of issues that I didn’t have them look at yet, but if I can’t get to them by 19 October I will go and have the shop deal with them because I have to go wheeling before the snow comes.

3 amigos (ABS, traction control, hill descent). Issue didn’t really get resolved while in their care, but it seems that there are a couple sensors that aren’t working.
Rear diff seal leak. I have been meaning to fix this since I bought the car but I just haven’t really had the time. The shop offered to fix this but I thought it’d be a little less involved so I thought I’d be able to do it myself. Might also need a pad slap.

formerly pending actions

Not awful, but not great.

Replace the suspension, tires, and fix the paint job of my Z3.
- Done!!!
Small, semi-local road/backpacking trip
- I went on multiple local hiking and road trips. Did end up visiting Spokane / Northern Idaho.
Do some long-haul endurance biking to make up for the lack of skiing and work out other areas.
- I forgot to bike but I did pick up climbing thanks to a friend pestering me.
Get a gym routine and a gym community to keep me coming.
- Lmao.
Ski all months. This could mean (1) Timberline Lodge spam (2) Go to the Southern Hemisphere
- Lmao.

pending actions