Jamie Thingelstad

I was using the Internet Archive Wayback Machine and stumbled on the Changes feature. It took a while for the visualization to populate but it is a cool way to see the rate of changes on your blog. I’m a happy supporter of Internet Archive.

Iconfactory launched a Kickstarter campaign for Project Tapestry today. Iconfactory is a great company that has built some of the most delightful experiences (Linea, Frenzic, Twitterific). Tapestry intends to be an open “timeline” of content from a variety of services. I’m intrigued because of the focus on open systems and the world-class skills of Iconfactory. Backed!

Today Buttondown released a new comments feature! I’ve turned this on for the Weekly Thing — it is something I’ve wanted to try for a while. You can leave comments on any issue in the archive.

Jim Nielsen’s Online Handles blog post caught my eye. I figured I would share too.

Recently I started using jthingelstad just for clarity. However, decades prior I always went by thingles, which was my very first Unix account username at the U of MN. It was just my last name truncated to eight characters, but the list had misspelled and transposed the e and l in my name.

I embraced it, but it aggravated even more the most common misspelling of my name.

Trying a Roomba for the first time and have it on a mapping run. I find myself talking to it:

“No, don’t go there.”

“Avoid that shag rug! You got stuck there before.”

“Nice job on that turn.”

I recently decided to give Obsidian a serious investigation and voluntarily dive down the “rabbit hole.” 🕳️🐇

The tipping point for me was this post by Daniel Tan reflecting on his journey with Obsidian and how it has become an “indispensable tool” for him. I once ran my own personal wiki which likely makes me a prime candidate for Obsidian, but the complexity of these setups has always made me steer clear. About two years ago this was my perspective on Obsidian.

When I read articles from people sharing their bespoke Obsidian setups I think one of the best things I’ve done for my productivity is to completely ignore Obsidian.

While I’ve been ignoring it I have noted a lot of continued momentum with Obsidian. Additionally MacSparky has continued to be a big advocate of Obsidian and even released an Obsidian Field Guide. MacSparky’s strong endorsement is a big deal for me, we share OmniFocus enthusiasm and his OmniFocus Field Guide was a game changer for me.

I signed up for a year of Obsidian sync service, have a couple of different “vaults” setup and have started using them mostly via Daily Notes, and I signed up for MacSparky’s field guide so I can accelerate my learning and avoid mistakes. Wish me luck! 🍀

I’ve followed CJ Chilvers writing for years now. His newsletter is one that I learn from and find inspiration in. He just released Principles for Newsletters that brings his 37 years of newsletter experience together in 49 lessons. Just $5. Instant buy for me.

The Weekly Thing is back from winter break — Weekly Thing 274 / Gibberish, Happyfeed, Airshow is ready to go out tomorrow morning with a ton of great links and a first ever interview! 🥳

Tammy and I saw American Fiction tonight at the Edina Theatre. I liked the movie and thought it was both funny and pointed in the message. There is a surprise in the end that keeps you wondering too.

On Wednesday Tammy’s Dad passed away. Don was a good man that left the world better than he found it. He was surrounded by loved ones right up to the end. Sharing and archiving a copy of his obituary, also published in Star Tribune.

Olson, Donald “Don”, age 85, passed away peacefully at his home on January 17, 2024 after a long battle with COPD. In the days preceding his passing, he was surrounded by family and friends who gathered around his bedside and showered him with love. He was proud being a dad to 4 girls, was a wonderful grandpa to 9 grandchildren, and he adored his wife Kaye and knew what a gem she was.

Don was a man of strong work ethic, resolute faith, grit, kindness and wit. He enjoyed figuring out how things work; the man could fix anything! He was a small business owner, animal lover, Sunday school teacher, legendary softball coach, avid fisherman and hunter, storyteller, classic car enthusiast, fierce game player, talented water skier, and beekeeper. In his last few years as life slowed down he enjoyed throwing balls for his dog, growing pears and lady slippers, walks in his electric scooter, watching birds, sudoku, reading the paper, Bible study, orange juice, honey, and back scratches.

Born to Melford and Edith Olson on August 24, 1938 in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, he was the youngest of three and told many stories of the mischief he and his brothers Eugene and Roger got into when they were boys. Don served as a surveyor in the National Guard and worked for the telephone company before joining his father’s business Mel-O Honey, where he worked for most of his adult life. His brother Roger joined him after their father passed away and together they ran the best honey empire Minnesota has ever seen. Wife Kaye and Don enjoyed trips to Spain and England, cruising through Alaska, a European river cruise, and wintering in Arizona. Don’s greatest joys in life were his family, honey, boating, fishing in Canada, coaching softball, and the many dogs he had through the years — Doc, Sparky, Penny, Pumpkin, Rusty, and Teddy.

Don is preceded in death by his parents Melford and Edith Olson and brother Eugene Olson. Don is survived by his brother Roger; loving and steadfast wife Kaye; four children: Corinne (Denny) Daily, Tammy (Jamie) Thingelstad, Angie (Max) Lundeen, and Michelle (Hector) Fernandez; nine grandchildren: Mazie, Nora, Tyler, Levi, Elsa, Lucas, Stella, Axel, Ezra; and his dog Teddy.

Visitation will be held on February 8, 2024 from 4-7 pm at Washburn-McReavy Glen Haven Chapel in Crystal (5125 West Broadway, Crystal, MN) with a time to share memories at 6pm. Memorial service will take place on Friday, February 9 at 11am at the Grace Church Chapel (9301 Eden Prairie Road, Eden Prairie, MN). Lunch reception to follow. Memorial donations to Village Schools of the Bible, Grace Church, and University of Minnesota Bee Lab.

My sister-in-law Angie Lundeen created this video for the memorial service.

It just dawned on me that one of my favorite drinks and favorite donuts have the same name: Old Fashioned. 🤷‍♂️

Exciting morning — warming up my fingers to get the Apple Vision Pro ordered!

✅ Pre-order complete with pickup scheduled at Apple Store on Friday, February 2nd. Purchase process with face scanning via the iPhone was simple and easy. Ordered the 512 GB storage option along with the travel case.

I’ve been finding micro.blog a bit noisy lately. I was contemplating what to do about it and then I remembered that there is an option to “Show posts but no replies” for the timeline. I switched to that and am finding it much more relaxing again.