Exploring Iceland: Day 1 – Arrival, Volcanos, and Ocean Tunnels

Exploring Iceland: Day 1 – Arrival, Volcanos, and Ocean Tunnels

Romey

Hello from Iceland! Shannon’s family was kind enough to invite me along to their family trip in Iceland. We departed on Thanksgiving Day, with our flight leaving DIA at 3:40 pm for the seven-hour flight to Reykjavík. Iceland’s seven-hour difference would have us arriving early Friday morning. While our flight was uneventful, sleeping on the plane was difficult and left us behind for the rest of the day. As I write this, it is 7 pm on Friday, and aside from a few accidental cat naps, we’ve plowed through the day, attempting to stay awake and avoid jet lag.

After landing in Reykjavik, we stopped at Kökulist Bakari for breakfast, where I enjoyed a yummy muffin and a coffee. From there, we went to check out the Volcano Skali, a viewing area for recent eruptions in the area. A short but steep 800-meter hike led to an incredible view of lava flows, where you could actually see the smoke emanate from the black lava flow sitting on top of the hills. The unique landscape conjured up comparisons to Mars. The sun rose at 10:30 am, illuminating the fantastic views.

As much as we tried to prepare ourselves for the cold mentally, the wind and humidity made the November climate a shock to our systems. Today was especially challenging, as I was hesitant to tear apart my suitcase to access the majority of my cold-weather gear. I’ll be better prepared tomorrow.

Today’s plan also included a stop at Costco (yes, Costco) in Garðabær to stock up on groceries for the week. On the way, we saw a hot spring and a breathtaking view of Hlíðarvatn lake.

The rest of the day was spent getting groceries and embarking on the three-hour drive to the village of Hvammstangi, where we’re staying for the next two nights. As Colorado drivers, the roads in Iceland aren’t anything we don’t encounter at home, albeit with narrower roads. Our drive also took us through the Hvalfjörður Tunnel, a 6km tunnel 165 meters below the ocean!

We’re spending the weekend exploring the north and look forward to tackling some more sights after a good night’s rest.

Joining The Dark Side: How a PC Geek Switched to the Mac

Romey

My first memorable exposure to computers was when my parents purchased an IBM PS/2, which ran Windows 3.1 on an Intel 286 processor. They bought it in the late 80s, making me an avid Windows user for over 35 years.

Not my family’s PS/2

I have vivid memories of upgrading to Windows 95, 98, then opting for the NT kernel (starting with NT4 and then moving to Windows 2000). I loved PC’s so much that my 16-year-old self’s dream job was my internship at HP (which turned into a 23-year-long stint).

Needless to say, I’m deep in the trenches of the Windows ecosystem. So why did I decide to make my next upgrade a Mac?

I wanted to prove to myself that I can still learn new technology. While learning OS proficiency isn’t about picking up a new programming language, there is still quite a learning curve when it comes to being efficient in a different OS, especially being the hotkey fanatic that I am.

These M-Chips are outperforming the PC equivalents. Windows ARM chips are starting to come online, but the app ecosystem and refactoring are years behind macOS’s transition. Four years in, virtually every meaningful software title is compatible with the M-Chips.

I wanted to free up my Dell Laptop for my kids. My daughters primarily use tablets and Chromebooks, but they are starting to dabble in photography and digital art, and I want them to feel like they don’t have to wait to use my laptop. My Dell XPS 15 is still quite powerful and will likely handle what they’d like to throw at it.

I ended up going with the M4 MacBook Pro 14″, going with the Pro because I’m doing more with photography, video editing, and graphic design. One of the most significant advancements with the M4 is the ability to plug in multiple monitors at once (it was previously limited to one monitor), which made it easy for me to use all of my home office hardware.

My “Harry Potter” home office

Three months in, the transition has been easier than I expected. It helps that I also purchased a Magic Mouse and configured it to utilize right-clicks (I’m not a big fan of trackpads, even one as well-made as the MacBook’s). I was surprised by how easily it was to get productive on the Mac, although it’s been a challenge keeping the keyboard shortcuts between my Mac and work PC, contemplating the Severance procedure to avoid confusing the CTRL and Command keys.

In setting up my Mac, Homebrew was my first install. Homebrew is a package manager that allows you to install and update software from a command-line interface. For the last five years, I’ve been using Chocolatey and Winget on my Windows machines. Package managers allow you to put together a list and then install dozens of applications all at once.

At that point, it’s been a matter of finding equivalent apps for all of my Windows tools that I’ve relied on over the years. Over the last three months, here are my results, based on my manifest:

Windows SoftwareMac Equivalent (So Far)
Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, Premiere)= (Direct Equivalent)
AntRenamerMacOS Default File Renaming
ARSClipMeccy
AudacityAdobe Audition
Bitwarden=
Bleachbit? (Haven’t Looked/Found One)
Discord=
DrawIO=
DupeGuru?
FFmpeg=
Freeplane=
Git / GitHub=
Google Drive=
HoneyviewPreviews (MacOS) / Pixea
Local=
Mullvad VPN=
NanaZipKeka
PowerToys*Raycast
ShareXMacOS Screenshots
SumatraPDFPreview (MacOS)
TeraCopy?
Visual Studio Code=
Vivaldi (my browser of choice)=
VLC Media Player=
Windows (Remote Desktop)=
Windows TerminalWarp
Zoom=

As I explored software, it quickly became apparent how much equivalence exists between the two platforms. There are things I miss from Windows (mainly Honeyview and a lot of the cool features from PowerToys), but it’s been a fun experience evaluating the macOS equivalents. It’s easy to get caught up in finding and installing different utility apps. I’ve been using ChatGPT and the macOS Reddit to find recommendations.

This has been a fun experience, and I am enjoying my Mac, but I don’t think that any of my Windows-loving friends are genuinely missing out. Ultimately, it comes down to computers being tools, and that productivity comes from using the most comfortable tools.

Balderrama’s Back East – Cooperstown and Brews

Balderrama’s Back East – Cooperstown and Brews

Romey

After a busy week of work, we set out on Saturday to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. My sister’s family lives ninety minutes away, making it inexcusable not to visit.

Rolling into Cooperstown, it was shocking just how unassuming the Hall of Fame is within the downtown area. It resembled a combination of a church and a hotel, situated in the heart of downtown. Windsor’s Main Street is far more active. We parked two blocks away, on a neighborhood street and headed right in.

Downtown Cooperstown, a block away from the Hall of Fame
Approaching the Hall of Fame on foot

Once inside, the size of the Hall becomes much more expansive. While not very wide, it goes back deep. We began our visit by watching a movie about the Hall of Fame and baseball history, then proceeded to explore the various exhibits on the second floor. We especially liked the Babe Ruth section, the Women’s baseball section (although it looked a lot bigger in A League of Their Own, and the Black and Latino player exhibits.

The third floor had what seemed to be more temporary exhibits, one showcasing baseball’s reach in other countries (namely Japan, likely commemorating Ichiro’s induction this year). We also got to see Hank Aaron’s locker, as well as lockers representing each of the teams. I inappropriately showed my disdain for the Rockies in a picture below.

They also had a Bobblehead exhibit, where we picked out various Rockies. Frankly, this was the section in the whole Hall where the Rockies were adequately represented.

We finally went down to the first floor to see the actual Hall of Fame. Standing there amongst all the busts was a remarkable experience, thinking that most of these players had once stood and touched these plaques. It felt like hallowed ground. People are not permitted to touch the plaques, but Jackie Robinson’s shiny plaque demonstrates how he touched people (or at least, compelled people to touch him and the history he represents). We also found the two Rockies in the Hall of Fame: Larry Walker and Todd Helton.

When I considered the number of people who have played baseball over the last 150 years and the relatively few plaques, the difficulty of making the Hall resonated with me. As someone who has fallen out of love with baseball (due to having a dumpster fire of a team), I’m still very glad that we took the time to visit the Hall of Fame and experience baseball’s history.

We made a detour to Ommegang Brewery, a majestic place where a beautiful large outdoor patio was surrounded by a large green field (and a scary treeline). We were blessed with gorgeous weather, making it a privilege to sit outside. We stayed through to Golden Hour and snapped some pictures in their beautiful backyard.

This was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday, and even the Baseball Hall of Fame is well worth the visit to anyone who is even a casual baseball fan. Be sure to make the trip!

Balderramas Back East – Beer Tree Farm

Romey

Sunday was a relatively low-key day, which, for a Balderrama visit, means that we only did one significant activity for the day. We ventured to Port Crane, NY, to visit Beer Tree Farm, a massive brewery, tasting room, and restaurant.

Every Sunday, they offer brunch, but today they had a makers market, with various vendors. The girls enjoyed some shopping with their cousins (Mariana ended up going on a little shopping spree), while I enjoyed some live music on their patio.

After Mariana spent all of her money, we went down to the Chenango River and played on the banks, catching crawdads. It was an enjoyable, low-activity day, ending with some family time at home and Clara learning how to play chess.

Balderramas Back East – Beer, Donuts, and Downs

Balderramas Back East – Beer, Donuts, and Downs

Romey

After sleeping off our long hike from the previous day, we took it easy throughout the morning. Clara got to groom the mini horses here and enjoyed spending some time in the barn.

The kids and dads cooled off at the swimming pool in town. It’s an outdoor pool that is free over the summer and has Sandlot vibes, but we were lucky enough that it wasn’t very crowded while we were there.

We then ventured out to Owego Donut & Beer Co. to enjoy their beer wall, donuts, and bravarian pretzels.

Today’s primary destination was visiting Tioga Downs to watch harness horse racing and enjoy the buffet. Watching Harness racing was wild, as I saw all the horses and carts bunch together in a large group. I was excited to have brought my camera and take the opportunity to capture some shots of the action. The solo shots of the horses running right-to-left were during warmups and between races.

Mariana and Ella took part in a Wiffleball Toss competition, but sadly, Mari dropped the ball on the first toss and felt incredibly embarrassed. It didn’t help when we walked back into inside and she realized that the race activities were televised all over the casino.

We ended our evening at the buffet, where we enjoyed prime rib, “steakhouse” meatballs (that tasted like Salisbury steak), and an endless supply of shrimp. We stuffed ourselves and rolled back home.