Life
A Sign I Need an Apple Watch
I don’t know about you, but I take this as a definite sign.
The watch band of my trusty, Kickstarted Pebble watch has a tear. The inevitability of getting an Apple Watch is nigh.
Too Hot, Need More Ice
One of the unexpected side effects of the recent and prolonged hot and humid weather is the need for more ice. The refrigerator’s built-in ice maker just can’t handle the demand. With a family of Sahara water bottles, there are days when the ice bin goes empty, so it’s time to go old school with some basic ice trays.
Who knew buying ice trays are now so complicated. Silicon versus plastic. Covered or non-covered. Residue, freezer burn, cracking. I’ll go simple with this Rubbermaid Easy Release Ice Cube Tray.
BackBlaze versus Spotlight – Loser!
For too long, my Mac Mini was sluggish. It’s a 2012 model decked out with 16 GB of RAM and an Intel Core i7 processor. But when my 2007 iMac running the bleeding edge Mac OS X 10.11 was snappier than my Mini, I had to dig deeper to see what was going on.
I always felt BackBlaze was involved with the slowdown but hey, offsite backups are worth a speed penalty right? But it never really made sense. Even with online backups complete, things were still slow as BackBlaze sat idle. Looking at the activity monitor, all the RAM was consumed and sometimes, the bztransmit process would utilize 100% of the CPU.
Finally, a Google search lead me to the answer. BackBlaze and Mac OS X’s Spotlight were essentially nagging each other to no end, making my Mac Mini crawl along. As backups occurred, BackBlaze would log the changes, and that would then trigger a resource-intensive Spotlight index process. As more files were backed up (and logged), the Spotlight index would launch again and again and again, overwhelming the Mini’s resources.
So the answer (that wasn’t already configured in my BackBlaze setup)? Exclude BackBlaze from Spotlight. That’s it. Immediately after making the Spotlight exclusion, my Mini came to life, much faster than ever before. What a loser! I should have researched this previously instead of waiting all this time.
Here’s a few more Spotlight exclusions that may help out even more.
Installing El Capitan
I definitely didn’t see this one coming. I fired up my dormant iMac, the Mid-2007 model, and updated its software. Mac OS X 10.9 installed fine, so I kept going, recalling that the 10.11 “El Capitan” GM Candidate is available. A long time later, 10.11 is running on a 2007 iMac with 6 GB of RAM powered by Core 2 Duo processors.
Charcoal/Mint VH07V – I’m Ready
Local kine company VH07V could* be releasing this charcoal and mint colorway of their signature tee.
Charcoal/Mint action. She go? #AlohaRevolution
Posted by VH07V on Monday, September 7, 2015
All I can say is when this color combo is ready, I’m ready (Dr. J too).
Update* That was fast. This color combo is now available for ordering!
Adidas Response Boost Techfit Core Heather
I’m still on the hunt for a pair of Adidas featuring the highly touted Boost cushioning system. Seemingly every pair of Adidas is now Boost-powered but at a premium price. The Adidas Response Boost Techfit has been showing up a Ross for some time now, but this shoe is extremely narrow, especially in the toe box. I tried on a size 11 and even at 2 sizes larger, my feet still felt like they were being squeezed. But really, this is a good thing. Otherwise I would have walked out with this black, white, and core heather colorway (at half the cost).
The Response Boost Techfit features Boost in the forefoot and heel area.
I love that olive green sole with the splash of red for accent.
That core heather reminds me of Nike’s latest tech fleece collection.
Them olive soles!!!!
Air Jordan 1 Low New Slate at Ross
Found this pair of Air Jordan 1 Lows at Ross. Only $50 for this black, wolf grey, and new slate colorway. The laces really add to its overall look. If I had needed a pair of casual, Dunk-like kicks, these would have been an easy size 10 pickup.
New Workhorse for the Workplace?
Do I dare stray from my workhorse of a shoe for the workplace? It’s been a constant to restock on Rockport Northfield Oxfords, but after reading some of the Amazon reviews, I do agree that the quality of this model has come down over the years. While I haven’t experienced any issues with the soles, the laces do fray very easily usually within the first month. The laces haven’t actually broken on me but to have them start coming apart only after several wearings is a bummer.
So instead, I’m taking a look at the similar looking Rugged Bucks Plain Toe. Not as many reviews but still rated at 4.5 stars. That and there’s an Amazon discount of 20%. Will the Rugged Bucks become my defacto work shoe?
“Mahalo Marcus” Now Cheaper
Nike released a Mahalo Marcus shirt in early May for $35. It’s not a bad shirt, but at $35, it’s pricey for a tee. But check it out. The shirt is now in the Nike clearance section, and there’s an additional 20% off for the next week. As a Nike+ member (free membership), you also get free shipping on any orders. So that once $35 shirt is now a more reasonable $15.98.
Mahalo Marcus.
I Want Me Some 8 TB of Love
With the gigs of stuff saved over the years turning into terabytes of stuff, I need more storage. I need, nay want some 8 terabytes of love in the form of a Seagate Backup Plus 8TB Desktop External Hard Drive. Price prohibitive at nearly $300, this drive squashes the previous spinning disk capacities of 4 or 5 TB. This is a whopping 8 TB!!
Okay, okay, I’ll settle for 5 TB until the price comes down on the 8 TB drive.











