Initial explorations into Minecraft plugin development
Entry for August 24th, 2021
I spent a while digging through information on developing Minecraft plugins. There's a plugin that used to work on older versions of Minecraft that would cause minecarts to load chunks as they traveled, allowing for unattended minecart travel across long distances. However, due to changes in certain event hooks that it used, it no longer works. In particular, the ChunkUnloadEvent is no longer cancellable -- there's some new system of specifying chunks to load where you register a chunk to be kept in memory.
I'm not quite sure how to recreate the plugin -- it's closed-source and I've been trying and failing to contact the original developer for over two years -- so I figure I might as well try to solve it myself. However, I don't have a Java development environment set up for building Spigot plugins and I'm not sure how to get started.
Booting up my old Pokémon games + another week, another church
Entry for August 22nd, 2021
GitHub Copilot is continuing with its fatalistic title suggestions.
Friend
I drove for an hour to visit a friend today, and ended up helping them out with their A/C -- their condensor unit seemed to be operating, their blower seemed to be working fine, but according to my thermal imager, there didn't seem to be any heat exchange going on (and thus their place wasn't getting any cooler).
I'm not an HVAC tech though so I couldn't really do anything to fix it. We also played some Mario Kart.
Pokémon Games
I was able to get my Pokémon games to run after a lot of hacking around and trying to piece together a working DS system from parts. I was delighted to find that my save data was intact for them:
I had to charge it by wiring 5V jumpers to the charging pins, which I then passed through an Arduino Uno. But now I can enjoy some nostalgia from my Pokémon games :)
Sermon
I was going to a different church, but I decided to go to one a bit closer to home. Yes, I know the saying: when church shopping, you need to eventually make a purchase... but I just feel like I haven't found it yet.
Holmes Road Church of Christ
Speaker: I didn't actually catch the guy's name.
Studying the miracles of Christ
The Fig Tree Withers
This one is a destructive (or inverted) miracle
There's two: the fig tree and the herd of pigs
The inverted miracles weren't directed towards people.
In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
Matthew 21:18-22 ESV
What's going on here?
Jesus is 100% human and was hungry. So, why didn't he miracle the tree to have figs?
This tree drew Jesus' attention because it'd prematurely come into leaf, giving the appearance that it'd have figs. Its foliage signaled that it would have figs on it, but it didn't.
This seems out of character. Why does he do this?
The symbolism of the fig tree
Israel is "God's vineyard".
The prophets described God as inspecting Israel for "early figs" as a sign of spiritual fruitfulness.
God promises to one day replant Israel and produce healthy figs from her again.
With all these thousands of years of background images in their minds of the Jews, this action would've resonated very clearly with them.
Jesus acted out OT Jewish history with this miracle: the lesson: a warning to all of Israel that judgement is coming to the nation if they are unfruitful.
God disapproves of his people who are all leaves and no fruit.
Israel's most precious fruit has arrived. The harvest is near, and the blessings are about to pour forth. The rest of the nations are not yet in season.
Jesus had inspected Israel for several years now, and found it to be a façade. It bore no fruit.
The lesson to the disciples: you are the instruments for which to spread the Good News
Are we producing fruit? Or do we bear only leaves?
***
Questions (these are mine)
What does the withering look like in our lives? Is it the withering as the church in our mission?
Wanderlust
Still thinking about getting a train ticket somewhere else and going out for a day or two. But I'm very indecisive about it, so nothing has happened.
House repairs and lack of closer social contact
Entry for August 21st, 2021
I've been sharing my posts to Sudo Haiku, and usually type up the text I put there in Visual Studio Code. This is the entry title that GitHub Copilot suggested for today's entry:
House repairs
I didn't do a whole lot today -- but I did get some stuff done near the end of the day. I borrowed my parent's stepladder to work on replacing some of the gutter spikes that came out (this is still unfinished; the bugs have been out in full force over the past few days). I'll keep working on it -- it's proving a bit difficult to reach the middle section as my bushes are very overgrown.
Emotions
Loneliness, a recurring theme in my life, has once again made itself known to me today. I've been trying to go places to meet new people, and have met some nice folks so far. But I'm still lacking in the "friends who live within driving distance" department. See also: my love life [page does not exist].
Additional stressors: finances, getting behind on my blog posts (ahem), and my own mortality.
Found my old Pokémon GBA games
I found my old Pokémon GBA games in my nightstand drawer. I knew they were in there, but I put some additional thought to them today. I think I might try to see if I can get them running somehow, despite the fact that I lost track of my GBA many moons ago.
Wanderlust has intensified
Entry for August 20th, 2021
Wanderlust
Over the past few days I've constantly had thoughts of travel and exploration on my mind. I just want to get out of town for a day or two, take a cheap flight or train somewhere and just have a nice time. The issue, however, is that I don't exactly have the funds necessary to do that right now -- or likely for the next few years, for anything more than a short drive.
I spent a long time poking through Skiplagged and other sites, essentially looking for a way to get something for nothing. The issue is that even the cheap tickets still come with bag prices, and I still have to deal with things like transportation and lodging (even if packing a tent and some supplies, I still have to be able to get around...)
I've been thinking about looking into a folding bicycle, but that's just another thing I can't really afford to put money into right now until I pay down more debt.
ハッピーハイクの日! Happy Haiku Day! (8/19/2021)
This entry is for August 19th, 2021.
I must confess, I really should've taken more pictures of my preparations for Haiku Day.
I'd like to encourage you to browse through the entries posted on Sudo Haiku here!
First meeting
I had a slow cooker full of cactus chili, as well as popcorn, Mike's Pineapple Lemonade, and some cornbread cookies.
I also put on my nice suit and tie!
At a little after 8 AM (EST), we all piled into a Zoom call. There was a lot of patient translation and various questions -- I felt like a bit too much attention was on me, but I didn't mind it (I would've liked to learn more about the other people there!)
We did take a group photo, but I don't know if the people there are okay with it being published on my blog.
I asked on Sudo Haiku, but I did not receive response from all participants about whether it would be okay to include their photo, so I will be leaving the photo out.
All in all, though, it was great fun! It ended with various fun Zoom call effects, though I couldn't figure out how to turn any of them on, ahaha.
Wishlist
I finally made my Amazon wishlist public. It took a while for me to get it translated to Japanese (thanks id:PlumAdmin !) and then to actually finish updating it. But it all got sorted. If you'd like to contribute, please see this:
And for advanced instructions (thank you again id:PlumAdmin !)
I received two Amazon gift cards and I'm very appreciative of it. I'm planning to use them to purchase daily home supplies as well as some things to help make my life easier. Thank you to id:PlumAdmin and id:quadratus, who I really appreciate.
Received thanks
I'd like to say thank you for the kind words recieved today:
There were many others, but I am grateful to all the people who use Sudo Haiku each day to express themselves. Let's continue to Haiku, everyone! :D
Second meeting
The second Zoom call was at about 11 PM for me, and on 8/20 for the people in Japan. A few people attended, and it was much more relaxed. I may have been trying too hard to make a good impression the first time, haha. This time I just wore a T-shirt :)
We showed each other various stuffed animals and dolls and figures that we had and talked about what we did for work. It was really enjoyable and I had a nice time.
I love that our site has a fun little holiday to enjoy. I'm hoping that one day I'll be able to meet with everyone in person when my finances improve and the coronavirus is managed.
ハッピーハイクの日!
More planning for Haiku Day!
Entry for August 18th, 2021
Recipe Exchange
So I refined my idea for a "Recipe exchange" activity on Sudo Haiku: The details are here:
Essentially, each person would submit a recipe. At the end of the submission period, everyone would claim a different person's recipe, and then make it. The final results would be shared on Sudo Haiku with details about the process and pictures of the final result.
Twitter account
I made a Twitter account for Sudo Haiku.
Bees
There seems to be a bees nest being constructed above my door. It will need to be removed soon.
Starting planning for Haiku Day
Entry for August 17th, 2021
(This entry and the several after it have all been backdated.)
Planning
So I've been asking around a bit and trying to figure out what is going to happen on 8/19 (Haiku Day). It looks like id:boundary-line has taken up the charge and is working on setting out a schedule for the event. Looking forward to it :)
Career advice
I've been talking with a friend lately about the various ways in which they can approach their future. It's going okayish.
