Recent Site Update(s)

Recent Site Update(s)

It has been some time since I’ve updated this site, although I doubt that anyone would notice. Oh well – this site is mostly interesting to me (and Nancy) anyway.

I recently replaced the old WordPress theme with “WP Bootstrap Starter” by Afterimage Designs, and I also installed their example child theme called, what else, “wp-bootstrap-starter-child,” also provided by Afterimage Designs. I then set about the task of getting the existing menus, posts, and pages to show up in an acceptable manner. After that, I began customizing the child theme with different theme colors and created a new front-page.php to showcase the most recent posts in the top-level categories in reverse chronological order.

While this site is still very much a work in progress, I think it’s coming along nicely.

Blog, blog, blog…

Blog, blog, blog…

The people who know me won’t be surprised that I have several – well, okay, many – domain names registered. I’ll have a good idea for a site, come up with some names, and then check which ones are available. More often than not I’ll actually register one or two of those. And, of course, I usually register the name(s) with all three of the major Top Level Domains (TLDs): .com, .net, and .org.

Most of the domains I’ve registered over the years are just sitting there with no email addresses, no website, and no other “cloud” properties attached. I keep the names because one day, some day, I’ll use them.

Of course, there are a few that I’ve actually used for web sites, mostly blogs. This (slowlanecafe.com (along with .net and .org)) is my original domain name, and, as you can see, it actually has a website. Five of my other domains also have websites. Check them out:

Over the years, I’ve made attempts to write interesting content for all of them, but the results of my good intentions have been short-lived. Recently, I’ve again been trying to write something for each site every week. However, time constraints and other considerations have made me realize that there is just no way I can keep up with all five and do any of them justice.

So, instead of providing mediocre content for all of them, I’ve decided to focus on the ones that I’m passionate about on a weekly basis, write for this one when I have something to write about, and leave the others for future efforts. I can’t promise the content won’t still be mediocre, but I’ll do my best.

So, [drum roll here]… the ones that I’m going to focus on weekly are the web development and coding related sites, Kobayashi Computing and Kobayashi Coding (which are also related to each other), and Neolithia.

Neolithia will by my playground to write, while the Kobayashies will be my lab for web development and coding. With the exception of dev.kobayashicoding.net (which doesn’t have articles per se, and so has no facility for comments), you can read and comment on the content I produce. If you do want to leave a comment, suggestion, or question, you’ll have to register for an account on the site of interest, and I’ll have to approve your account before you can actually post a comment, suggestion, or question.

I wonder if anyone besides me will ever read any of this…

No, and don’t ask again…

We’ve all seen those check boxes on web forms – generally with the “Yes, send me lots of junk email” choice (maybe not in so many words) already checked – that ask if it’s okay to send you occasional emails or start a free trial of the paid version or install [name redacted] Security Scan or change your default browser to something other than the one you just launched. At least one of these that I’ve seen in the not-too-distant past have the option to decline worded thusly: “No, and don’t ask again.”

I think that’s brilliant, and I think that every request in life should have this as a third option (after “yes” and “no”).

The reason I’ve been thinking about this is that I’ve recently (well, over the last 12 to 18 months) been reading some articles on the importance of learning to say “no.” I’ve slowly come to realize that, along with being an Introvert, I also have many of the traits associated with being a Highly Sensitive Person, and a people pleaser (I’ve seen some indications that there may be a link between these two, but I don’t have a citation).

Psychotherapist Kali Munro, in her excellent article on “People Pleasing” says: “It’s painful being a people pleaser. People pleasers are not only very sensitive to other people’s feelings, and often take things personally, but they also rarely focus on themselves. When they do take a moment for themselves, they feel selfish, indulgent, and guilty which is why they are often on the go, rushing to get things done. Because people pleasers accomplish so much and are easy to get along with, they are often the first to be asked to do things – they are vulnerable to be being taken advantage of.”

I don’t know how I came to be this way, and I don’t think the causes cited in the article linked above really apply to me. But I have for many years had a terrible time saying “no” to almost any request from a family member, friend, or co-worker. It may or may not be interesting to note that I have no trouble whatsoever saying “no” to telemarketers, or really to most sales types.

Lately, I’ve been doing better at saying “no” to requests. In fact, my default answer when people ask me to do something has become “no” (it used to be “yes”). I have found that life has been much less stressed when I’m not over-committed to a bunch of tasks that (a) I’m not interested in to start with, and (b) don’t further the goals that I have.

One thing that has made learning to say “no” difficult, is that for so long I agreed to do so much, that now when I do say “no” people will continue to ask – either immediately or over several days to a few weeks – and also try to convince me to do what they want me to do. I don’t want to be rude to people, or to seem unkind, but I guess I’m going to have to learn to say “no, and don’t ask again” in addition to, or maybe instead of, learning to say “no.”

Merry Christmas 2018!

So, yeah, this is a bit of a cop-out (is that term still used anymore?), but I wanted to write a post for this week, and this is it.

Today is the day we pause to observe and give thanks for the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, who was traditionally born on this day. He would live a sinless life, teach those who would listen, lead those who would follow, and be an example to all generations. He claimed to be God incarnate in human form, the only begotten son of the one true and living God.

As a famous smuggler once said, “It’s true. All of it.” (Reference Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.)

Going forward, my plan is to publish a post here every Tuesday at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. I’m hoping to actually write the post on Mondays – we’ll have to see how that goes.

And, yes, next week’s post will likely also be a cop-out – it’ll be New Year’s Day 2019. After that, I’ll hopefully have more interesting weekly posts.

Thoughts on Coffee

I really like a good cup of coffee. I enjoy everything about it: the smell when the bag or can is first opened, the rich texture and color of the grounds, the sound of the percolater (or the burbling of a drip coffee maker when it’s almost finished), the aroma as it brews, and, last but not least, the taste. I like my coffee either straight out of the pot, or with both sugar (well, Splenda, actually) and cream (I prefer the hazlenut flavored liquid creamer), but I don’t like it with only sugar or only cream.

I’ve had coffee in many different places. I’ve had cafe au lait and espresso in France. I’ve had cafe mocha in the Swiss Alps. I’ve had Jamaca Blue Mountain coffee brewed in a French Press in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. I’ve had no-nonsense, brewed-by-the-cup coffee in Germany, with heavy cream and raw, brown sugar. I’ve had Starbucks, and Seattle’s Best, and Gloria Jeans, and several other “coffee shop” coffees around the US. And of course I’ve had coffee at home and at the homes of several friends  But the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had was at the Dean & Deluca store in SoHo. It was a cup of cafe mocha, with whipped cream on top, and from the first sip it was just so far above anything I’ve had before or since that I can’t wait to get back to New York to get another cup! Note: if you click on the link to the Dean & Deluca site, once there click on “About Us” at the bottom of the page, then on “Store Locations” in the upper right of the next page, and finally on “New York” in the upper right of that page to see a photo and read the history of the SoHo store.

One-cup drip coffee maker from Melitta
Slick one-cup drip coffee maker from Melitta

These days I drink primarily half-caff or decaffeinated coffee. On the occasions that I do drink the “real” stuff, I have to limit myself to one cup, or about an hour later I’m buzzing so badly it makes dogs howl. Hmmm, that’s probably more than you really wanted to know. Anyway, we have a Cuisinart 14-cup coffee maker that is the best coffee maker I’ve ever seen. If I only need to make one or two cups, though, I use this very simple device that I got from the Melitta web site quite some time ago. This one-cup drip coffee maker from Melitta sits on top of the cup or mug and uses a #2 filter (a #4 filter will also work it just sticks up higher). Add ground coffee – I use two tablespoons for a normal size mug – and pour boiling water through it. In a few minutes, you have a great cup of coffee! Highly recommended, if you can still get one.