Dallin Crump

It's been at least a couple decades since my clarinet was last taken in for maintenance and repairs, so this was long overdue.

The RAM and SSD I ordered came two days earlier than expected! I just installed them in the barebones Dell Latitude E7470 I got earlier this week. The new battery is still en route, so it'll need to be tethered to the power cable for now. It looks like everything else works!

I bought that bare bones Dell Latitude E7470 laptop from my son for $100.

Yesterday evening I started practicing some scales on my clarinet and something felt off. I discovered that one of the key mounts was loose and negatively affecting the function of several keys. I could try to repair it myself, but I'm no expert and wouldn't want to make the problem worse or break something else inadvertently. Also, it's been a very long time since I had my clarinet serviced by a proper repair technician who checks all the corks, pads, screws, etc. to make sure everything is in tip-top shape. It's probably best for me to take it in for repairs and maintenance before I start seriously playing it again.

My son and his friend raided the local university surplus store this past summer and picked up several barebones laptops with the intention of fixing them up and selling them on eBay for a profit.

Tonight I played my clarinet for the first time in a couple years. I was ashamed that I had to get the vacuum out and clean off the layer of dust that was caked to the outside of the case, having sat in my closet untouched for so long.

Last night I had the opportunity to attend the Fall 2022 concert of the Cache Symphony Orchestra. It's a community orchestra made up of mostly volunteers, including my wife who plays the violin.

The program was an ambitious one. It made them stretch. And it paid off. The performance was excellent.

A couple weeks ago I was perusing the #christian tag on Bandcamp and the first result that came up was an album called Future Foreverby Jonathan Ogden. I'd never heard of him or this album, but I gave the track One Day a listen and was hooked.

Like many of us in the year 2022, I spend most of my weekdays on a computer. It's how I work to support my family.

But then what do I do in my spare time? Most of the time, I get on my computer. I watch TV shows or Movies, play video games (Minecraft these days), listen to music, catch up on social media, write blogs, etc. I do read books, spend time with my family, and other non-digital things, but my current ratio of connected to disconnected free time is extremely skewed towards connected.

I tend to experience bouts of nostalgia – longing for the past. Sometimes I even buy gadgets that I once owned because I remember them fondly and regret letting them go.