I used my instant pot max to make some agar slants. I won't bother recording the recipe here, but I will say that it's a good idea to remove the slants from the pressure cooker, tighten the cap, and jostle it around a bit before laying it down to help bubbles dissipate.
I managed to meet my workout goals for the last two weeks. This week, I ran to and from work two days. One day involved a third of a marathon to and from work; the other, a half marathon to work and a third home. This was the first week in a long time that I achieved a half marathon distance, and it took me just over two hours with a backpack. I worked from Monday thru Saturday this week. On Friday, I took a 30km route to bike home to make sure I'd hit 100km for the week. Saturday was a continuous 13-hour workday, and I ended up getting home after 2200. I still managed to find it in myself to go for a 6=km run to hit my goal for this week of 72km. Next week is a rest week; only 50km of running. I also managed to hit 100 situps in a row this week. I should reach 100 pushups in a row again soon. I think I should get rid of my weights; they're really just taking up space, and if I really want to add extra resistance, I still have my resistance bands.
I've also been working on designing a computer for myself. Right now, I've got a weird sort of hodgepodge going on; the general-use computer at work that I use for some work-related stuff, the desktop I have at work built from spare parts that I use for most of the rest and a few personal things, the pi-top I use for most personal stuff, etc. I want something better. I want redundancy of crucial functions, a large capacity for data storage, and solid computing performance. I've applied for a copy of MCNP, and I want to be able to analyze complex geometries with reasonable speed. So I should actually have more than one computer. First, I should have a work machine; a desktop that lives at work, that has top notch security, access to the work networks, MCNP, the works. It should have a reasonably solid hard drive, a snappy processor, and plenty of RAM. Second, I should have a personal machine that's primarily a file server. It should have redundancy as a primary design consideration; a single-board computer may be the best choice, with several massive hard drives. The data should be periodically backed up to a very fault-tolerant, long-term media. Last, I should have a portable, personal machine to use for less sensitive work-related tasks (nothing security-related), and personal use. Really, this could probably just be a reasonably powerful smartphone and a docking station. It's something to think about.
Anyway, I feel very accomplished today. I didn't even get to sleep until after midnight, but by 0800 I was awake and moving. I did the dishes, washed and baked a dozen bottles for future brewing projects, mixed the nukadoko bed, watered the orchids and the cat, did three loads of laundry, got grocery shopping and a walk completed, cleaned the litter box, and did various other little things. Right now, I'm boiling some water for pasta to have with a serving of my frozen oxtail ragu. It's a nice meal to round out a day, and indeed a week, of accomplishment.
