This morning I learned about a really and truly awesome piece of open source software called BookStack. I mean it is truly brilliant for both documentation and writing. I set up a virtual machine of it on my virtual network specifically to write this book I have in mind on home home labs, Zen and The Art of The Home Lab. I think BookStack will be a much better organizational tool than a traditional word processor like LibreOffice Writer or Microsoft Word.

So I have a project for this evening when I get to work. I am starting out this book as a series of letters to a fictional student. In these letters will be sometimes a stream of consciousness. This will get over the wall of writer’s block as my therapist, Nan, would highly recommend. I can then go back and edit to make it more cohesive and add citations wherever necessary. Now that I have a tool to make this easier, I can begin some writing.

The internet can be useful for getting recommendations and information but it still must be vetted for accuracy. There’s a lot of bad stuff out there but BookStack is not one of them. It looks to be shaped around the way my brain works which is asynchronously.

Some of my readers that have been following me since the New Year and to write as close to everyday as possible would be impressed by the fact that I have done this. Rarely has what I’ve been about to say representative of my finest hours because this year has been the worst of many. But even in darkness, there can be light and I have averaged one post a day. I know there have been a couple of days when I wrote two or more times and those balanced out the days I could not muster the energy.

I had mentioned before that I am actively reconsidering writing a book that I had discussed with my therapist. I realized I had been way too harsh on myself and did not follow her guidance. So I have an activity while at work this weekend. Nan had an absolute lightning bolt of genius when she suggested that I write this book like a series of letters to help break down some of the “writer’s block” and adopt the professorial voice that I am desiring to have. I have nothing to lose whatsoever, really so I will give this a try and follow her suggestions.

I am thinking that this might give me an appropriate outlet for my hobbies and help spread them. After all, a hobby is only as good as getting more people into it to replace the attrition. Is it me or is the border between hobby and cult a thin one? Relax, relax … I say that in jest. Anyhow, I digress – I am going to write this book for the new and aspiring computer home lab guru. It is a new and up-in-coming hobby that previously was more underground niche. More and more people are starting to get curious. Perhaps this is the beginning of something exciting.

Last night was quite unpleasant. It was another sleepless night. I really needed three days off but my boss contacted me about covering a four hour shift on Thursday and then I would have Friday off. I need the money and I am in no shape to turn opportunities down. This isn’t much fun but it costs money to live and the elites would have it no other way. Life feels like an unending punishment.

Last night I think I brought back my Mastodon and WordPress instances back from the dead. Well, I know I brought back my WordPress instance. I am not so sure about Mastodon. The database might have gotten corrupted while I was doing a few things and I stupidly neglected to take a backup of the damn thing. Well, I seem to keep learning this lesson over, so yes, this is stupidity at this point.

I don’t know quite how today is going to play out other than that I will be spending another 4 hours guarding a dock door when I am rather capable of so much more. This also frustrates me very much.

Abilify is making a big difference in my life. It’s not miraculous by any means but I am doing better. However I learned that I cannot take it at night because it is activating. I wake up at 4:00am all ready to rock and roll. By 2:00pm, I’m falling asleep. So yeah, I’m going to try it as a morning med instead.

Another day in the coal mines is upon me but I don’t necessarily care because I am doing what I must. I feel better than I did last night when I was all salty and morose. I’m in better spirits and feel a better sense of hope; at least for today. My goal is living in the present. I’m asking myself what my needs are to make today happen. That’s the most important question and thought.

Looking beyond today will merely overwhelm and sadden me. Once I have a better handle on my depression, I can begin to be more forward looking. For now, a life in the present is a life well lived.

I don’t know why but I’m exceptionally angry this evening so I’m doing some additional writing to externalize the thoughts. I feel like a victim and I’m simultaneously angry and depressed about this. I feel like no matter what I do I just get knocked around by life. I had my hours cut at work and I’m wondering what will be next. I feel like I’m being exploited as I’m being paid a whopping $17 per hour. This is two dollars an hour over minimum wage in a medium cost of living area.

The conservatives would tell me to get another job while they’re stealing money left and right with a cigar hanging out of their mouths and sipping on expensive liquor that I’ll never afford. I don’t know if this is capitalism, corruption, or both. I personally think America is too late to be saved. Tomorrow I go to work to earn the miserly sum of money. I’m nothing more than a whore for my employer. I have a fully incorporated pimp. The irony is not lost on me.

I’m tired but sleep does not restore me. My two hobbies no longer give me satisfaction. I feel like a machine of anger and despair. I’m too chicken to off myself. I’m also chicken for wanting to go to sleep and not wake up. I don’t see a path forward. Today I lost sight of living for today. Perhaps I will regain this tomorrow.

I have been on a low dose of Abilify now for a couple of days and I am doing better. I didn’t realize how tired my depression was making me. For the second day in a row now I have no needed extra sleep. I won’t use the word hope just yet. I have to see how things pan out over a 30 day period. I need some time to be convinced that this is not a placebo effect.

I’m going to be working for the next 7 days straight but I am not finding myself that much bothered. Of course I say this now but let’s see how this actually plays out. I did a good job living in the present and not thinking of the future. This is exactly the headspace that I needed to be in and I will take this win.

I even managed to finally get my fully virtualized network and VMs done. I realized ChatGPT was the enemy of this endeavor. I just did plain old Duck Duck Go searches this time to separate the wheat and chaff on my own. Lo and behold I found the answers I was looking for. AI is really not good for very much. Nothing beats good research and critical thinking.

I realized I needed a virtual network for my home lab to exist on so I’m not breaking shit for poor Denisse. Part of that challenge was the fact that Verizon gave me this shitty router that I had to work around. I also wanted features like an internal DNS server for my home lab so that I don’t have to assign IP addresses to the VMs. All I have to do is let DHCP do its thing and the names get registered with DNS. This makes management easier.

I really like dnsmasq. It makes DNS and DHCP easy. It’s had a somewhat dubious security history but it is healthy now and it’s mature software. It works well for virtual networks like mine. Now that all of this is done, I can spend some time spinning up a private cloud VM. At least the tinkering is done. The network is finalized.