Lack of sleep was the theme that ran through this week. For various reasons, I didn’t get into bed early enough a single night. The immediate result of not having slept enough for me is a lack of focus. Even while writing this, I’m getting distracted by watching flocks of birds in the sky through my office window. I’ve successfully established my work routine after coming back from the holidays. I’ve also started a writing routine this week. Now it’s time to get back into a sleep routine.

The writing routine I’ve just mentioned is related to a goal I’ve set myself for this year: I want to write a beginners course for Ruby programmers with an accompanying video series. Having written a Perl programming book back in the day, I know that I have the necessary skills. But I also know how much time it takes to write a whole book. Therefore, what will make or break this project is taking the time to write. By scheduling writing time every time I plan my day in the morning, I’ve accomplished a few hours of writing this week already. It’s a good start, and it’s how I’d like to continue. If you’d like to follow along, I’m going to publish preliminary versions of the book on LeanPub and I’ll post a link here.

On the keyboard building side of things, I’ve finally received the HS60 PCB I had pre-ordered in September. I was pleasantly surprised by how well it was packaged. After all, unboxing stuff that is broken because of its flimsy packaging isn’t unknown to me. Unfortunately, the PCB is defective nonetheless. A few hours after taking delivery, I received an email apologising for a manufacturing error. A diode had been soldered on the wrong way, which renders the connected key switch unresponsive. Since the email also said that it’s okay if I try to resolve the issue myself (I can get a replacement in any case), I’m going to take a stab at replacing an SMD diode the size of a pin head this weekend. It’ll be a challenge for my shaking hands and deteriorating eyesight, but I do love challenges! Mad props to Mechboards for both their careful packaging and their transparent and hobbyist-friendly issue resolution!