capsule/markdown/incoming/this-week-2024-07-13.md

---
title: "This Week (2024-07-13)"
published: "2024-08-03T14:43:28.036923Z"
updated: "2024-08-03T14:43:28.036923Z"
---

*Here's what I've been up to since the [last weekly status](/this-week-2024-07-06/)...*

### More Cycling!

#### Accessories

I eventually settled on a [center-mount kickstand](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DYFS3N4) that works well on my [new bike](/new-ride/): ![A blue bicycle with a kickstand extended on a gravel surface. The background shows a blurred lake and trees under a cloudy sky.](https://bear-images.sfo2.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/srsbsnslol-1722696100.jpg)

I also picked up a [small under-seat bag](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CLKNJ3HZ) for storing odds and ends (and snacks - okay, mostly snacks and drink powders for longer rides). ![The underside of a bicycle seat with a black saddlebag and a red rear light. The bike is parked near a grassy area and a lake, with a cloudy sky overhead.](https://bear-images.sfo2.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/srsbsnslol-1722696128.jpg)

And I [gave my car a stylish hat](https://social.lol/@jbowdre/112781113729255106), in the form of a [SeaSucker Talon](https://www.seasucker.com/collections/bike/products/talon) bike rack.

![A dark grey Subaru sports car parked in a garage with a blue bicycle mounted on the roof rack. The garage door is closed, and various tools and equipment are visible along the walls.](https://bear-images.sfo2.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/srsbsnslol-1722696150.jpg)

It attaches with powerful vacuum cups... which seems wild, but it feels pretty sturdy. SeaSucker says they've tested this setup at up to 140mph so hopefully it'll do the trick for ~50mph trips across town. (And now I won't have to steal my wife's station wagon whenever I need to transport the bike.)

#### Adventures

I [took Friday off and went for a slightly-longer-than-usual ride](/mental-health-gravel-ride-day/) (~20 miles versus the usual ~13ish), and this route incorporated a few miles on a gravel trail. I was quite impressed by how well the front suspension fork absorbed the bumps on the trail, and I love being able to lock the suspension when on smoother surfaces. I really like this bike!

This week I also registered for another adventure: a [40 mile ride](https://www.springcity.org/century) followed by "all you can eat" barbecue. I participated in this ride last year and had a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to tackling it again.

### Learning Golang

I've made it through Chapter 4 of the [Golang programming book](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL38409851W/Go_Programming_-_From_Beginner_to_Professional) I'm reading, and I've followed along with dozens of exercises and completed several self-guided "activities" to reinforce my learning. I'm learning a ton, and gaining practical experience in the process - and I think having a passing familiarity with the language first has actually been a big help, too.

### ChillFeed

I did make a [new release](https://github.com/chillfeed/chillfeed/releases/tag/v1.1.0) of my little [feed aggregator](https://github.com/chillfeed/chillfeed). The big change with this release is that the `fetch_log.json` used to keep track of the order in which posts were retrieved (since I've learned I can't necessarily trust the timestamp included in the RSS feeds) is now stored in a separate branch to avoid sullying the `main` branch unnecessarily. This should make it easier for downstream ChillFeed instances to update from the upstream template repo.

I think I might move the fetched articles to the new `data` branch as well so that the only instance-specific deviations from the template would be in the config file.

In any case, my [ChillFeed instance](https://chillfeed.jbowdre.lol/) has become my primary feed-following tool, and I'm learning a lot as I continue tinkering with this little project. Good stuff.

### Concert Plans

We went to a *lot* of metal shows last year, but have only been to a few so far this year. We have firmed up a few plans for the remainder of the year though:

- **A Day to Remember** in a few weeks
- **CAKE** (maybe?) in September
- A [3 day metal festival](https://www.furnacefest.us/) in October
- **Postmodern Jukebox** in December

There may be a few more that we pick up before the end of the year, but these are the ones I'm tracking with firm-ish plans right now.

### In other news...

- I celebrated another Duolingo milestone: a [1400-day streak](https://social.lol/@jbowdre/112769174766129159)! I've been using Duolingo daily for learning German since watching [Dark](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5753856/) almost four years ago, and I added Esperanto lessons a few months back. (Esperanto is *really* neat, by the way, and well worth checking out if you have a passing interest in how languages work.)
- I started playing [The Last of Us Part I](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1888930/The_Last_of_Us_Part_I/) on my SteamDeck last night. I'm enjoying it so far.
- I'm *still* (very slowly) working on a post about how I set up [a GitHub Actions workflow to build Proxmox VM templates in my homelab using Packer](https://social.lol/@jbowdre/112598536881790346); it's a pretty big topic, so it's taking a long time to write things out clearly. Also, I keep getting distracted. I'm hoping to finish it this week, maybe?

### Top scrobble

My most-played track of the week:

🎧 [Make Damn Sure by Taking Back Sunday](https://musicthread.app/link/2jDBMHu8EDvo7oQe5whj3FbREeW)

=> https://srsbsns.lol/this-week-2024-07-13/ 📡 Originally posted on jbowdre's weblog
New entry via EchoFeed 2024-08-03 16:28:28 +00:00			`---`
			`title: "This Week (2024-07-13)"`
			`published: "2024-08-03T14:43:28.036923Z"`
			`updated: "2024-08-03T14:43:28.036923Z"`
			`---`

			`Here's what I've been up to since the [last weekly status](/this-week-2024-07-06/)...`

			`### More Cycling!`

			`#### Accessories`

			`I eventually settled on a [center-mount kickstand](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DYFS3N4) that works well on my [new bike](/new-ride/): ![A blue bicycle with a kickstand extended on a gravel surface. The background shows a blurred lake and trees under a cloudy sky.](https://bear-images.sfo2.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/srsbsnslol-1722696100.jpg)`

			`I also picked up a [small under-seat bag](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CLKNJ3HZ) for storing odds and ends (and snacks - okay, mostly snacks and drink powders for longer rides). ![The underside of a bicycle seat with a black saddlebag and a red rear light. The bike is parked near a grassy area and a lake, with a cloudy sky overhead.](https://bear-images.sfo2.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/srsbsnslol-1722696128.jpg)`

			`And I [gave my car a stylish hat](https://social.lol/@jbowdre/112781113729255106), in the form of a [SeaSucker Talon](https://www.seasucker.com/collections/bike/products/talon) bike rack.`

			`![A dark grey Subaru sports car parked in a garage with a blue bicycle mounted on the roof rack. The garage door is closed, and various tools and equipment are visible along the walls.](https://bear-images.sfo2.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/srsbsnslol-1722696150.jpg)`

			`It attaches with powerful vacuum cups... which seems wild, but it feels pretty sturdy. SeaSucker says they've tested this setup at up to 140mph so hopefully it'll do the trick for ~50mph trips across town. (And now I won't have to steal my wife's station wagon whenever I need to transport the bike.)`

			`#### Adventures`

			`I [took Friday off and went for a slightly-longer-than-usual ride](/mental-health-gravel-ride-day/) (~20 miles versus the usual ~13ish), and this route incorporated a few miles on a gravel trail. I was quite impressed by how well the front suspension fork absorbed the bumps on the trail, and I love being able to lock the suspension when on smoother surfaces. I really like this bike!`

			`This week I also registered for another adventure: a [40 mile ride](https://www.springcity.org/century) followed by "all you can eat" barbecue. I participated in this ride last year and had a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to tackling it again.`

			`### Learning Golang`

			`I've made it through Chapter 4 of the [Golang programming book](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL38409851W/Go_Programming_-_From_Beginner_to_Professional) I'm reading, and I've followed along with dozens of exercises and completed several self-guided "activities" to reinforce my learning. I'm learning a ton, and gaining practical experience in the process - and I think having a passing familiarity with the language first has actually been a big help, too.`

			`### ChillFeed`

			I did make a [new release](https://github.com/chillfeed/chillfeed/releases/tag/v1.1.0) of my little [feed aggregator](https://github.com/chillfeed/chillfeed). The big change with this release is that the `fetch_log.json` used to keep track of the order in which posts were retrieved (since I've learned I can't necessarily trust the timestamp included in the RSS feeds) is now stored in a separate branch to avoid sullying the `main` branch unnecessarily. This should make it easier for downstream ChillFeed instances to update from the upstream template repo.

			I think I might move the fetched articles to the new `data` branch as well so that the only instance-specific deviations from the template would be in the config file.

			`In any case, my [ChillFeed instance](https://chillfeed.jbowdre.lol/) has become my primary feed-following tool, and I'm learning a lot as I continue tinkering with this little project. Good stuff.`

			`### Concert Plans`

			`We went to a lot of metal shows last year, but have only been to a few so far this year. We have firmed up a few plans for the remainder of the year though:`

			`- A Day to Remember in a few weeks`
			`- CAKE (maybe?) in September`
			`- A [3 day metal festival](https://www.furnacefest.us/) in October`
			`- Postmodern Jukebox in December`

			`There may be a few more that we pick up before the end of the year, but these are the ones I'm tracking with firm-ish plans right now.`

			`### In other news...`

			`- I celebrated another Duolingo milestone: a [1400-day streak](https://social.lol/@jbowdre/112769174766129159)! I've been using Duolingo daily for learning German since watching [Dark](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5753856/) almost four years ago, and I added Esperanto lessons a few months back. (Esperanto is really neat, by the way, and well worth checking out if you have a passing interest in how languages work.)`
			`- I started playing [The Last of Us Part I](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1888930/The_Last_of_Us_Part_I/) on my SteamDeck last night. I'm enjoying it so far.`
			`- I'm still (very slowly) working on a post about how I set up [a GitHub Actions workflow to build Proxmox VM templates in my homelab using Packer](https://social.lol/@jbowdre/112598536881790346); it's a pretty big topic, so it's taking a long time to write things out clearly. Also, I keep getting distracted. I'm hoping to finish it this week, maybe?`

			`### Top scrobble`

			`My most-played track of the week:`

			`🎧 [Make Damn Sure by Taking Back Sunday](https://musicthread.app/link/2jDBMHu8EDvo7oQe5whj3FbREeW)`

			`=> https://srsbsns.lol/this-week-2024-07-13/ 📡 Originally posted on jbowdre's weblog`