If anyone wondered what Steph's reasons for leaving Idaho were, well, here you go:

Life changes, so does your workstation...

Spacing: Using space efficiently and creatively, without preconceived bounds. I've really been spacing out lately and my latest contraption was a piece of insulation that I've been hauling around waiting for just the right moment that has transformed an old stove-top into a clean and tidy little workspace for food and Cuisinart prep.

When ready to cook, I set it aside. I used the whole setup today for my first Idaho Stew, a recipe I perfected from over a decade in Idaho. It came out great.

Our local tap water is not an acceptable consumption option for me. So, in the spirit of Spacing I bought a water dispenser from Amazon that arrived in 1.5 days which attaches to the top of a big water bottle. Push the button on top to start, push again to stop...

All you really need these days is a good solid connection to the Net and a decent pipe. The first thing I did was install a top tier VPN. My IP address is now pointing to someplace I'm not. I then changed the default Name Servers to point to CloudFlare's faster, privacy-first consumer DNS servers (1.1.1.1) This means I don't have to go through the Net provider to resolve an internet address. These two things combined offer me a huge amount of anonymity and an overall speed bump.

From this tweaked pipe I drive my computer, my VoIP phone with a Google Voice number, my Echo and associated tablets, and my TV for Prime, Netflix and YouTube.

I've been testing out YouTube TV and I like it. I get all of the local channels in the nearby big city market, Fox News, plus a bunch of other channels I may ultimately like, for $40 a month. It's a month-to-month billing with no contract so I can opt out whenever I wish.

A hot sweaty guy with an extended basket gave me internet yesterday. The connection isn't great and not bad. It's about 10m less than what I'm used to, and the upload is lame, but my computer and devices are finally together again. It was like Piper re-connecting with the stuff from her old house, she knew she was home.

Grabbed my camera today and walked out into the big yard. The story is, it was a once bustling subdivision until the flood wiped out all but the remaining houses on the street. HUD condemned it and most was turned into public park while the area lower left was bought by my landlord for private family gatherings. This is my new walking strip.

Hello, it's been a while since I plastered my life up on the internet. Guess it's bout time. I drove a 20' U-Haul full of stuff from Driggs, ID, across the Heartland of America to a location in the Deep South. I then caught a greyhound bus back to Driggs, whereupon I proceeded to drive myself and Piper (with Steph on my tail) back to the Deep South in my truck and then Piper and I moved into my new sweet little place. Steph is diving deep into her daughters life while I'm diving deep into my own.

I have to say, hot damn! I made some dramatic decisions and I stuck with them. I approached the situation strong, healthy and determined. As a result I accomplished all of my goals. I couldn't ask for a better place to land. I absolutely love where I'm living right now, and Piper is on my desk within inches of my fingers as I type this...

The view from my assembled computer station was so terrific that I couldn't block it with a monitor. That space is now Pipers and mine to share. Click the photo below for some more shots.