The Summer Heat
I’d meant to post a final update on my garage workshop project soon, but honestly, it’s become too damn hot in beautiful Merced, California. I’m lucky that I work a hybrid schedule so I don’t need to venture out into the otherworldly heat every day, but the heat nonetheless still takes a toll on me and my wallet; cooling costs are expensive, and my household prefers to keep the temperature closer to 72° F amidst triple digit heat. I shift my in-person office days around a bit to avoid the height of the heat, which as bad as it may be, I can always remember it could be a lot worse.
A lot of my projects are going to be delayed a bit. My goal is to finish the garage workshop project by the end of June and then get a start on my hydroponics garden in July. Work on my homelab is stagnating a little bit since I’m trying not to rush into scraping together the parts, but it’s still in the works. Thankfully, I think my summer project goals were pretty modest this year, so they’ll hopefully be deliverable. I also wanted to pick up some software projects next academic year: finally getting around to rewriting Rice Cooker (automated Arch Linux ricing) and OpenHive (open AeroHive software alternative).
I usually fall into a depression every summer. I don’t really know why. I guess that summer has historically been a time of reflection, thinking, and reminiscence for me since that was a liminal period between academic years growing up. This summer has been no different and I’ve been thinking a lot about the past, though I think I’m better at accepting it for what it is now instead of wallowing in simulated scenarios where I walk through decision trees of what I could have done differently. I guess that just comes with growing up: the ability to accept what you cannot change.
The summer is too hot, dry and arid. I don’t have much motivation to go outside. I usually sleep in the afternoon in order to stay awake at night and get stuff done when the temperature is more bearable. I’m in my mid-20s now, and I’ve ambitions and goals I’d like to meet, but for now I have only this heat to beat. It’s putting a damper on my ability to get my projects done, but I’ve been through worse. This Merced summer is just another summer in Merced.
Happy trails.