Projects and Updates, 2021Q1

Update: 21 plants + 6 plant cuttings
¯\(ツ)/¯

Playlist of music in this post: Spotify

Remember To Water Your Plants
There are 21 plants in my home. 5 plants is probably when I began using a basic app to track waterings. Now that I'm at 21, I'm longing for three more features I don't currently have.

• Last Watered and Next Watering dates (vs. only having a countdown clock).
• The ability to edit the Last Watered date in case I forget to track a watering.
• Average time between waterings.

While I could look for a better app, or keep a spreadsheet, where's the fun in that? Unsurprisingly, I'm building a little something from scratch.

Quick interface sketches

I've decided to use Microsoft Power Apps. I haven't gotten too far, yet, but I think it'll work fairly well.

Interface in Power Apps

The most helpful Power Apps doc I've read so far is "Understand canvas-app variables in Power Apps", which specifically notes Power Apps works more like Excel than JavaScript. Having that called out explicitly was really valuable.

New tech wrap up
I've tried some new devices and services, recently. Here are three things I liked.

Microsoft Surface

I'm a full convert to the glories of the Surface Pen.

I love writing, and scribbling on documents with a digital pen has returned editing from a chore back into something joyful.

An example of the nuances of my editing process

Also: I just discovered the ability to draw on Excel worksheets. That's flipped remote collaboration from something mostly dreadful to something mostly okay.

Deezer

I've been using Deezer for music streaming, replacing YouTube Music. (RIP Google Play Music... the Google Graveyard claims another victim.)

Immediate Deezer impression: Deezer's software and music curation feels like it was designed for people who actually like music. It feels like a user-first and music-lover-first experience, which is unique and refreshing.

AnyList

AnyList is my new grocery store list maker, replacing Google Shopping List. Two favorite features:

• New items get automatically added to categories, and categories can be pre-sorted to match the path you take through the grocery store. i.e. As you add new items to your list, they will automatically match your path through the store.
• The Favorite Items area works well for storing frequent purchases.

Five Albums

• Acoustic, The Breath
• Comfort Woman, Meshell Ndegeocello
• El Mal Querer, Rosalía
• Judy At Carnegie Hall, Judy Garland / Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall, Rufus Wainwright
• Sinatra at the Sands, Frank Sinatra

Spotify playlist