What I'm doing now

Updated May 5, 2026

This is a now page. You can also read what happened then.

Worked

I’m currently splitting time betwen Remote Ham Radio and TRMNL.

At RHR, we began rolling out Icom radio to our stations. This includes the IC-7300MK2, IC-7610, and IC-9700. As a collection, these models will enable us to easily cover all bands from 160m through 23cm. The biggest unknowns and challenges so far have been related to integrating with external hardware like amplifiers and tuners, but we haven’t found any show-stoppers yet. We started the business with the Elecraft K3 in 2012, transitioned to Flex Radio in 2019, and we’d like to finish this latest transition by the end of 2026. I guess these things come every seven years. Like cicadas? Anyway, check back in 2033.

At TRMNL, I have been steeped in web app feature development, bug fixes, and DevOps support. It’s business as usual. In the coming weeks I will transition to more of a firmware development role, helping to shore up and add stability to the open-source firmware that drives our ever-growing list of devices.

Upgraded the Mac

I upgraded from an M2 MacBook Air to an M5 MacBook Pro. It was fast before, and it’s blazing now! Plus the fresh battery really helps. Plus there’s a real SD card slot, which hugely helps in swapping data to BlueSCSI on my vintage macs.

Improved the home

We got a shed from a local vendor! It’s 12 by 16 feet, and is the future home of my woodshop. For now, it’s storage while we empty out the garage for its very own facelift. Eventually it will be insulated, wired for electrical, and so on.

Went flying

Did a bit of flying this month. Picked up my mom and hopped on over to Block Island for brunch. Beats taking the ferry.

Consumed media

I’ve been playing The Outer Worlds casually. For me, it strikes a good balance of “Skyrim in space” with “not too many things to micromanage and keep track of”. Plus, it’s got that actress from Horizon doing her very best Kaylee impersonation, which just tickles me. It has some really weird and bad UI decisions (why is the map not fullscreen?!?!), and I still hate when NPCs look directly at you during interaction. I think this should really be a third-person game.

We finally got around to watching The Pitt, just as season two wrapped up. It’s fun to pause and discuss our own prognoses before the doctors do. I saw it described as “competency porn”, which about sums it up. If you like being stressed out in sixty-minute intervals - strongly recommend!

I went with a childhood friend to see Mike Doughty perform for the second time - third, if you count the Soul Coughing reunion tour. What a vibe.