September 2024 Check-In
September has already come and gone. This month was a blur to me. The first half of the month was me looking forward to my vacation at the end of the month, then vacation came and went much faster than I wanted.
One interesting thing this month was my old Sony WH-1000XM4 noise cancelling headphones died. Every time I tried to play music they just whistled very loudly in my year. It was deafening so I took advantage of a significant discount on the Apple AirPods Max and got them. As it turns out, Apple refreshed them shortly afterwards, but other than USB-C, doesn't seem like much was improved. I got plenty of lightning cables lying around so no big deal. I like them. The sound quality is great as is the noise cancellation.
A LOT of Running
My Apple Watch's monthly fitness challenge for me was to run at least 2.6 miles a day 14 times. I ended up hitting that goal and then some. I was just kind of in a running mood all month and ended up running at least 3.25 miles every day this month...literally. Even on vacation I ran every morning along the promenade (Cape May's version of a boardwalk). It was nice running along the beach as a change of scenery from my neighborhood.
Vacation
At the end of the month, Lauren and I went to Cape May, New Jersey for a week to get away from the hustle and bustle. It's our happy place. The weather, while kind of cloudy, was still good.
We spent the week relaxing, visiting the local breweries and wineries, including a brand new one for us. We had heard about Ludlam Island Brewing and I'd had some of their beers at Cape May bars, but we had never visited. As it turns out they opened a new headquarters and we enjoyed some beer there. They do barbecue. Both Lauren and I had their brisket cheesesteak. Holy moley that was delicious. It wasn't your typical Philly cheesesteak, but it was amazing.
My Media Repository
I've mentioned it before, but I rebuilt my media repository in Node.js and React. I was able to finish this up and should have it up and running on my NAS very soon so my PC will be available again for gaming. I'm looking forward to its next build using web components.
Monthly Round-Up
🏃🏼♂️ Fitness
- Running: 107.60 miles ⬆️
- Walking: 1.54 miles ⬇️
- Biking: Nope
- Lifting: 22,015 lbs. ⬇️
📚 Reading
- Finished Liar in a Crowded Theater: Freedom of Speech in a World of Misinformation by Jeff Kosseff
- Finished The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson
- Finished Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
- Finished The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers by Maxwell King
- Started Zero Days by Ruth Ware
✍🏻 Writing
- Reading Log
- Week Notes
- Wrote about how the Internet isn’t really that old
- Wrote about my media repository, React, & next steps
- Wrote about the Lunacy of Artemis
🎮 Gaming
- Finished Super Mario RPG
- Continued The Last of Us, Part II
- Continued NHL 24
- Continued Madden 25
📺 Watched
- Continued Good Eats
- Continued The Stand
- Continued Only Murderers in the Building
- Started Challenger: Final Flight
🎬 Movies