That didn't last long: I flipped back to my new old theme. I suppose "flipped" doesn't do me justice: I threw 3 hours into the change after hanging out with ChatGPT 4. The time spent was only for the two Google Charts named "Maps," along with some minor content updates.

See, I use CSS variables on this site. It lets me set up the color standards on this site so that changes made then propagate everywhere. Like, I used to love (even had memorized) #ec1690, but now I run with #ff2683. Only one change is required and everything matches the update.

For example, my last theme had this: --black: #3F3F3F; --white: #fcfcfc; --gray: #e5e5e5; --shadow: #b4b4b4; --primary: #324d8f; --secondary: #007bff; --highlighter: #edfe5fb3; --accent: #c01b2c;

(That accent is another example of a change from a memorized #b70d00.)

Simple stuff. But, for an explosion of color, I go from 8 variables to 16. But Google Charts cannot directly access those site colors without declaring the variables:

1. In the Google Chart JavaScript, go ahead do that for some 15 aspects of a chart, title, gridlines et al: var titleColor = root.getPropertyValue('--compare__title').trim();

2. And then pop this into CSS --compare__title: var(--neon__blue);

Now, I could have saved that second step from happening, but I don't want a standard for my two Google Charts, but for them to stand on their own (and I want the ability to modify it at one place in the future). So for TWO charts, I doubled the amount of variables—whew!

And thus, it was all an exercise in detail! And now, I have the ability to ensure all the colors are what I want without running down particular files. My site is actually in pieces; each Chart is in its own HTML file via Jekyll's _includes functionality. And think, there was once a time when sites required PHP for such capability. (Not the Future...).

I like how although I built this website from the ground up, there is always some new customization I can drop into this muscle car.

My life hasn't been all technical this week:

1. I pulled off the wall a breaker-tripping microwave oven from over the stove (and now I'm in the market for a vent hood). It should have been easy, but the guy who installed it bolted the fasteners diagonally against the wall. I had to *thud-thud-thud* away with my woodworking chisels to make room for their extraction. It was the first time I've ever used a socket wrench with a screw bit.

2. I waved around my magic multimeter to troubleshoot a bathroom light fixture.

3. I pulled back the oven to plug this 220-to-110 adapter in because I got tired of seeing the gas oven's power cord snake over to the counter's outlet. It was laughable when we moved in, because it was on a surge protector. What—should I upgrade it with a UPS to ensure my bread isn't interrupted?

That new old theme did not last for long, did it? Its release coincided with my 2½ hour yardwork session, an event that strips me of my eyesight prowess. Sure, I wear safety eyewear, but nevertheless, grass slaps me silly. My astigmatism changes and now, everything two feet in front of me is a hazy, illegible dream.

I'll edge and then mow it, but it makes me wonder what societal convention am I following here? Isn't it strange how we have all agreed to do this, all of these tiny squares of grass, meticulously maintained. Yes, I shape and form these weeds to stand in formation! "Bow before me! I am your king, the venerable Grasslord!"

My spirit remains headed toward the retrowave sun, but my site design? Driving toward clean and optimized, the same way I want to live with all these...materials...around me. As I traverse life, the less things I want.

Lately, I've been catching the Michael Landon series from 1974, Little House on the Prarie. It is a romantic notion, isn't it? No telecommunications—no electricity even! Just hard work with your own two hands.

Admittedly, I am drawn to that world. Of course, my father's world before Uncle Sam and 1953 was one of a single light bulb and an outhouse. Undeniably, it has been in our blood for a long time.

Now, how did I have all of this tech abomination in my life—how bizarre! Yes, your president of a high school's computer club and Who's Who of Computer Science. What nonsense. Yes, in this Instagram world, it does not seem so extreme. But, in that early-to-mid 90s era? Life was basically Pong in comparison and far more enriching! This, I remember.

After 7 years, as old as this domain name, my Google account is G-O-N-E. Like Already Gone! Yesterday, I attempted to recover it because I thought spreadsheet sharing might come in handy. As I tried, my response was...relief. I believe my first reference of leaving came way back on June 16, 2018's GOOG Cutting. It was a long time coming. And 2024 was the year I did it, the same year I weighed in at 163 and....

Let the cowboys ride
Against the wind

-Bob Seger, Against the Wind (1980)

Some desert island off Morocco
We had a love so hard to find
Oh so full of life, so free and easy
Another place, another time

-Van Halen, Take Me Back (Deja Vu) (1995)

Close your eyes, and take a look at your life
Do you like what you see?
My eyes are open, but I feel like I'm blind
It's all returning to me
I want to know, does a frozen river flow?
Things you said fill my head

-KISS, Dreamin' (1998)

"Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one in my raincoat"
"We smoked the last one an hour ago"
So I looked at the scenery, she read her magazine
And the moon rose over an open field...

-Simon & Garfunkel, America (1968)

I have set aside my mostly monochromatic, near newspaper-themed palette for my site and have gone retro...*erh*...retro-retrowave! Yes, in this season in the backdrop of a dystopia where I am walking through and toward dreams, I return to this synthwave approach, even adopting that old site header and favicon, originally a selfie taken over a decade ago in Alaska.

And lemme tell ya, ChatGPT helped out a bit in painting my maps. At times, it took a few wrong turns and I had to tell it "You're wrong." Google Charts is just awkward to me. "Oh no, I didn't capitalize the middle of a variable that until now, I didn't know existed!"

The collaboration with ChatGPT teeters on the edge of the uncanny valley—I even thanked it for our session together—that "tr:hover span" in my stylesheet had me buggered! Still, I use AI everyday, whether that platform or with Brave Leo. Leo does not answer every search engine query, but it hits the majority and is superior to Google in that regard.

All that aside, it amuses me the amount of work I put into what amounts to just journaling. I even changed out the Ship's Manifest to make it cleaner and remove the European style dating. I miss my Galaga-styled high scores content with a countup timer acting as the player's current score on top of the site, but we'll see if I make this into 2019 again.

"Dear Diary, you're a pill..."

This reinvigorated theme comes along to add to the fire. Unlike HFC #1, Expeditions 28-32, in this set of five, 34-38, I feel like I am just getting started! Life at sub-200? Weighin's on Sunday; we're going down to the wire. My projection 5 weeks ago had me at 201.5...so here's to be wrong in life?

Achieving these milestones is big for me:

1. Sub-200 / Sunday(?):
   Finally getting under 300 after years there felt great. Never went back. Now, 200 is rare! Sunday-ish will only be the second time in 19 years (see #3).

2. Day 238 / June 23:
   To win what was lost in 2023.

3. 181 lbs / mid-August:
   Surpass 2021's 182.

4. 163 lbs / late October:
   Bring back '95. "Quick—somebody toss me my black, Dan Post cowboy boots! Gotta have that old Ford around here somewhere—wait, it's a year younger than me? Somebody get my ol' "fresh off the showroom floor" truck to me! The night calls."