09:15 CDT
==========================================================================

The morning traffic was stiff. It took me 95 minutes to reach campus. 
I didn't encounter any idiots or road rage. I'll take the small 
victories wherever I can find them. 

11:45 CDT
==========================================================================

It's been blissfully quiet around here. I only have one group coming 
in for a test at 13:30. 

12:37 CDT
==========================================================================

I was reading the phlog of labunix here on SDF. We seem to share some 
common traits, eg. thriving in silence and solitude. labunix has given 
me pause to think about my presence on this server. 

I look to Gopher as a focused medium for my thoughts. I didn't take 
the anonymous approach because I feel that if I express my thoughts 
and opinions out in the (relative) open, I need to own those 
thoughts/feelings. I have no desire to be an Internet troll. I am 
fully cognizant of the possibility that I could face negative 
feedback. Personally, I'm too old to be getting upset over such 
things. I like to think that I'm one of the lucky ones who has a decent 
life.

Unlike labunix, I don't run my own mailserver. Good on them for 
learning that skill. While they prefer to use vim, I lean toward nano. 
I still like the idea of being on the pre-Web Internet via a terminal 
emulator. I missed out on Internet access in the 90s. Now, I get to 
see how it was done by the old school.

A terminal emulator enables me to avoid a lot of the enshittification 
of the modern-day Web. No Javascript, ads, and other dickovers to 
impede my experience. At work, I have to deal with Windows computers. 
I've been issued a Macbook by my employer, but I rarely use it. During 
the day, my daily driver is an "obsolete" Dell Latitude 5400 running 
Bodhi Linux. From Bodhi, I RDP into a Win11 box when I need it. Also, 
I keep a SSH connection open to a cheap HP laptop with a Celeron N3350 
CPU running Debian 13 without a desktop environment. This HP is where 
I accomplish most of my online tasks during the day.

This terminal-only approach makes me nostalgic for the days when I ran 
a BBS years ago. That hobby was the impetus that pushed me from 
turning wrenches on motorcycles to becoming an IT technician. These 
days, a terminal emulator represents the concept of "less is more". It 
feels more down to earth, without the shiny objects to distract me.

I guess that is why I use Gopher and a shell account.