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MidwayTheMagnificent @wayfarershaven.eu
Posts 9
Comments 31
Instance shutdown per 31 Oct 2023 - what's next for /c/fountainpens?
  • That could work and is simpler - Might be scriptable, have to think on that. Don't recall whether the request archive button is a GET or POST. Parsing out the links to posts and throwing away the others would be straightforward, 'if /post/ in url'

    I do know that I won't get to it today - my work is finance-adjacent, and with a deadline in the next week, work is keeping me rather busier than usual.

  • Instance shutdown per 31 Oct 2023 - what's next for /c/fountainpens?
  • That's unfortunate, thank you for giving it a solid try!

    My primary instance is stable, and the admin is quite able. I'd consider stepping up. I definitely don't want to be the only mod for any period of time. It's not just the time commitment, it's the implicit non-democratic status of the sub when one person makes all the mod calls. I'm @[email protected] there, incidentally.

    Edit: Went ahead and created it as a placeholder, pending any necessary further discussion or other volunteers here. [email protected]

    Since content is instance-dependent, it might be nice to have a mirror on some other stable instance - not sure how to sync them so both get each others' posts, but don't duplicate though. This group in particular tends to have a lot of high-quality content and losing it is a blow - especially to noobs, who we actively want to be friendly and accessible to.

    Is there a library for the API? Would be nice to seed a new community with some/all of the content here, if you don't object. Not like the reddit mirror bot posting a ton of things, but for initial content. Would prefer not to lose it all.

  • I built the Loyalty Card Emulator 🪄
  • This is awesome. Stateside they’re often tied to phone number, and/or buried in the (otherwise worthless) app

    Shared loyalty cards really are a privacy necessity, I know exactly how much data those stores already have on me, and it’s a privacy nightmare.

  • Who we?
  • Sure, I’ll go. I work a full time job that I’m happy with, but prices keep going up and wages never match. Gotta do something to close that gap.

    40s from IL, more active on Masto and a big believer in the fediverse. Haven’t been on Reddit since stuff went down.

    Hobbies, I’m a fountain pen nerd with a penchant for shimmer ink (username is a reference to one I particularly like) and buttery soft gold nibs. Discovered the older Sailor 21k nibs recently and I adore them - work day involves lots of notes, and pens/inks that make me smile tend to keep me in a decent mood through the day - especially now, in our semi-annual Crazy Season. I’ll just say I’m in FinTech, not in a startup (did that for a decade, burned out on the hours and b-school bros i had to work with.)

    When I’m not working (and sometimes when I am!) I enjoy self hosting the fedi platforms I use. Off the top of my head, BookWyrm (GoodReads alternative), Mastodon, Firefish fka CalcKey, and a MissKey that I don’t think I’ll bother keeping. Up to my ass in Node apps, and it’s far from my favorite code ecosystem.

    There’s an Elk (Masto front end), a Friendica that I think is actually stable now that I’ve handled the AP troll problem, and a PeerTube that I only use for watching presently.

    Next stops are a mariadb cluster to add some redundancy to the Friendica, maybe dockerizing a few things, possibly a Pleroma or Akkoma (like Masto but in a functional language that I’ve never had much exposure to)…. Possibly a Diaspora* as well, though Ruby is…. Not ideal IMHO. A Wordpress and my own personal and professional sites are definitely priorities as well.

    I do gig work because I like nice stuff and experiences, and how else do I justify the big expenditures to my wife, and try to ensure she can make some of her own?

    I haven’t commuted to an office since Obama’s first term, and I’m good with that (and then some).

    I actively miss some of the communities on Reddit, esp fountain pens and GIS but starting to see that sort of niche content here is awesome.

    Slava Ukraini, and “everyone deserves the same privileges I have as a white male” sort of sums up my politics. Well, that and housing justice.

    Wow, I probably sound like a lunatic but…. I prefer “ecclectic”

    I gig because nobody is going to pay me enough for everything I want, and my health rules out a “traditional” second job, after working 8++ hours. It took me 40 years, but I finally learned the difference between “irresponsible overcommitment” vs “pushing hard enough to do what I need to do.” The lack of commitment in gig work fits well into that…

  • Keeping costs down
  • Around here (Chambana, IL) the dominant gas station is Circle K. They seem to always have “temporary” reusable 10c/gal discount cards, and while I’m sure they’re tracked, they also don’t have to be registered so whatever. Their giant refillable fountain drink is cheap, refills even cheaper, and…

    Their employees mostly don’t care. Ringing up “just a refill on ice water” is often not worth their trouble - prob 1/3 of them end up free, or just charging for a cup of ice.

    They’ve been less reliable than usual for bathrooms, but McD and KFC don’t care if you use the , even without a pickup/purchase.

    Gas buddy probably would save me more than the CK but some days I start with little enough cash on hand that driving across town to save a few bucks just isn’t worthwhile until I make a few deliveries.

    Little stuff, but it adds up I agree. The less cash I put in, the more I get out. McD app is pretty decent if you’re ok with the cheap stuff and use the app to get points == free food after a couple visits.

  • Apps I'm doing or trying
  • Just dashing for me at the moment, Uber eats as a backup if that goes to hell overnight I suppose. I maintain the account, but haven’t used it in quite some time.

    Looking to expand, if only to have options on crappy days.

    Seems like this list would be an awesome start to a wiki though. I really had no idea there were quite so many options.

  • Paying for background checks
  • Not a chance. That’s the sort of thing that would strike me as a sc - especially the NY “tax”.

    Never have I paid money for a job or gig, and I find it difficult to imagine a scenario where I would.

    I’ve been around the block a few times, and any time I’ve seen a requirement to pay up front for something that should be paying me, it’s a scam. There are “advance fee loan” scams too, and…. If I had money to gamble, I wouldn’t be putting in 20h on the weekends plus drive time to a real city where I can actually make some decent cash.

  • How the fuck can I kill 20 hours?
  • Sleeper cars on Amtrak were my saving grace when I was regularly traveling between Chicago and upstate NY.

    It’s not nearly as long of a trip, and Chicago is a decent station to hang out in, buy being horizontal, getting actual sleep, and having a bathroom not shared by 4.100 other folks made it bearable and feel pretty quick.

  • What are your plans for the weekend?
  • My last real weekend before things get truly nuts at work for about six weeks. Happens twice a year, and really isn’t all that bad. It’s finance-adjacent, so deadlines and such are what they are.

    Planning on a nap, assembling a piece of furniture I hope will improve my workflow, and…. Another nap.

  • Thoughts on makedeb, Debian's unofficial makepkg clone that comes with its own version of the AUR as well?
  • I was just thinking the other day how nice it would be to port pamac into some more prod-oriented environments.

    Looking through the docs, it appears to tick most of the boxes I’d want, will have to play with it in the coming days.

    Have an upcoming project that will actually require some consistency and documentation, this might be useful.

    I don’t mind building when necessary, but doing so is not calculated to communicate well with future me, so it’s not ideal.

  • Sailor 21 - Converter

    Got a fair price on ebay on a couple of Sailor 21s. Love them, but modern converters seem to fit only in theory.

    Cutting them down works, but also makes it nearly impossible to advance or retract, because there's no leverage on the screw that moves the plunger.

    Am I missing an obvious source here?

    Edit: They can be made to unscrew if a syringe is used to push the plunger up consistently, there's just enough to grab onto. Still not ideal, but...

    4
    Pen Swap @wayfarershaven.eu MidwayTheMagnificent @wayfarershaven.eu

    / Noodler's Inks

    Bay State Blue (practically indelible), and Polar Green (supposedly resists common forger's tools.)

    Both are opened, and maybe 5-10 % used.

    Goulet wants $14 for a new bottle, I'd go $10 each / $14 for both USD.

    Alternatively, open to trades.

    PPG&S only

    0

    I might have a problem...

    Currently inked list just keeps getting longer...

    Context: I take a ton of notes in meetings, journal, and make lists - for now, I have them all lined up on my left. I take one from the right, use it, and when I put it down it goes on the left.

    Next time I need a pen, I grab the next one, and so on. Makes it much easier to discern where things start and end.

    Alt text for image: Currently Inked:

    • Perkeo / Pumpkin
    • Plasir / Golden Ivy
    • Metropolitan / Peridot
    • Safari / Midway the Magnificent
    • Sport / Comet SL9
    • Kakuno / Earl Grey
    • Safari / Pink Sugar Beach
    • Safari / Julia
    • Preppy / Quinuai
    • Perkeo / Hana Ikada
    • Prefounte / Apple Glory
    • Preppy / Topical Glow
    • Perkeo / Song Southern Country -Perkeo / Hotaru Bi
    • Sailor / Peach Haze
    • Perkeo / Sodalite
    • Sport / O.F. Schwartz
    • Safari / Tsutsuji.

    Each written with the pen and ink combo in question.

    7

    Wiki?

    Do we have a wiki? Didn't see one, in the sidebar. Would be willing to host and port content from r/fp. There was some very useful data/collected wisdom there.

    6
    Pen Swap @wayfarershaven.eu MidwayTheMagnificent @wayfarershaven.eu

    Wiki / Rules

    Wiki is up at Pen Swap Wiki

    I'll update shortly with rules, etc.

    Automod or similar probably coming soon, to keep out the crap and scammers.

    0
    Pen Swap @wayfarershaven.eu MidwayTheMagnificent @wayfarershaven.eu

    Sailor Pro Gear Fountain Pen - Northern Lights Blue

    Long shot, but since this is a Goulet exclusive that I really want and I just can't quite justify the new price...

    I'll never pare the cheap stuff out of my collection completely, too many "but I have to know what that ink looks like!!!!!" moments, but I'm trying to be intentional about tools that I enjoy, and this would be one.

    Open on price.

    Image via GouletPens.com

    This post is dual-purpose: I would happily buy one of these if the price was right, and also serves as a test post and some initial content for a new sub.

    0
    Pen Swap @wayfarershaven.eu MidwayTheMagnificent @wayfarershaven.eu

    Banner / Icon

    Now accepting input on community banner and icon.

    Must be CC0 or similar and/or an image you as an individual have rights to license appropriately.

    0
    Pen Swap @wayfarershaven.eu MidwayTheMagnificent @wayfarershaven.eu

    Pen Swap Welcome

    Hello, and welcome to Pen Swap. Sidebars, rules, etc. are still in development, and additional mods are welcome.

    Image credit

    2

    Interest In A Pen_Swap Group?

    Edit 23-08-10: It's live, and there's even some content there. Descend freely upon it, y'all know what to do. :) Working on rules, wiki, and the trappings of communities that aren't yet baked into the codebase.

    https://wayfarershaven.eu/post/154395

    https://wayfarershaven.eu/c/pen_swap

    --

    Nice to meet you all, I used to be active over on the other place...

    One of the resources I liked having was Pen_Swap - is there any interest here in something like that?

    6