This Week:
- Getting back to Denver van life and coffee shops.
- I took a motorcycle training course!
- The unexpected results from the motorcycle course…
September 2024
| Su | M | T | W | Th | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | 10/1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Where In The World Was I?
- Denver, Colorado
Metrics From The Week
Yeah, it kinda feels like that this week. Honestly not sure I was able to get 100% sleep scores in the van last year 😄
Starting to get back into it here.
Business Progress Update
Software Updates
This week was mostly focused on new UI features and updates. I’ve been trying to balance waiting (for the quota increase application) with figuring out how I can make the most of this situation.
I’ve been working a lot on the new Video Explorer page. I added filters and sorting, selecting videos by category, and improved the search querying. I also improved my outlier video collection algorithm by removing videos from certain categories that aren’t useful for inspirations. I’m liking the results a LOT more now.
On each video I added to the video actions with saving, generating a new title from this video, and searching for similar videos (not implemented yet). I don’t like the UI as it’s not intuitive, but it’s at least a start.
I also added pagination to all the pages which makes it much faster to use.
And in updating my video collection algorithm, I had to add some fields to all my videos. I created a migration script that did it, but after running it on my production data I realized I messed it up 😂 So I spent a bunch of this week refetching videos from some 60,000 channels. Woops! (More on that here: When you use ChatGPT code in production and it wipes your data 😅 woops)
Lastly, behind the scenes, I did some refactors to fields on my video and channel objects that makes it much easier to find saved videos, watchlisted channels, niche channels, etc.
User Feedback
I met with someone this week who’s been using my software and made a video based on a title my software generated! He said he really likes the results and gave me some feedback on other things he would like to see.
It sounded like he had used other tools but never found anything that did what he wanted. He said he’s been giving me feedback because he wants to see my software succeed.
Some good feedback! I think I’m on the right track here.
Back To Denver Van Life
Ahhh Denver van life. It feels a little weird to be back, but I’m getting used to it again. I am VERY grateful for my past self who documented all his camp spots and places to check out. It feels nice to be able to rotate locations enough, something I started to struggle with in Asheville, NC.
I was planning on heading up into the forest this week but decided to pivot and do this motorcycle course (more on that later) and see my cousin this week. So, back to the coffee shops of Denver.
It’s been fun going back to old coffee shops I’v frequented, but I also found a handful of new ones!
- New Queen City location in Berkeley (used to be Devils’ Cup Coffee)
- Greyhound Grounds Coffee House up in Commerce City
- Heady Coffee Co RiNo in Vīb Hotel by Best Western
Went to REI this week. No I didn’t get them but BOY was it tempting…
New Battery Capacity
I ordered some proper bus bars and wires to hook together my two new batteries in parallel this week. Double the capacity!
I later swapped the bus bars out for ones that fit with the covers.
But ohhhh MAN have I been excited for this moment! The amount of battery I had became a big constraint as I started using my Starlink more and especially in the winter. It’s so nice to not have to think about my batteries (as much) and run the Starlink for hours.
Motorcycle Training Course
So I decided that I wanted to get my motorcycle endorsement on my license because I found out that it sounded easier than I expected: take a 3-day course, pass the tests, mail off the application and certificate, boom you got your motorcycle endorsement.
WHY I want my motorcycle license is part of a grander plan that I will reveal later, like a while later.
No I’m not selling the van to move into living on a motorcycle full-time 😂
And no I don’t have any place to store a motorcycle on or in my van 😄
But anyways, I found a handful of motorcycle training courses in the Denver area, one of which had free spots this week (Tuesday through Thursday), so I signed up!
The Course
The course was 2 evening zoom lectures: 6-9pm one night, 6-8pm the next.
Then 2 days 9am-4pm at the range (parking lot) on motorcycles learning and riding.
The instructors were great! They took you through everything: clutch, throttle, shifting, proper turns, slow turns, weaving, swerving, emergency stopping.
I rode this guy:
I’m gonna be honest, it was a lot more fun than I expected. I’m not even really sure what I expected because I haven’t ever envisioned actually getting a motorcycle.
I spoke more about the feeling of riding in this video: Riding a motorcycle wasn’t what I was expecting
By the end I was actually envisioning buying a motorcycle (down the line when I’m more settled in a place) and riding it.
The Result
I passed the written and riding exams! I spoke more about the tests in this video: The results of my motorcycle test today
The… OTHER… Result
So with my shiny new certificate, I called the SD DMV to figure out what documents I need to mail in.
They asked what course I took and oddly enough couldn’t find it in their system of approved courses. But the lady put me on hold to double check.
Then came back a couple minutes later and said that since it’s not specifically part of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF), they won’t accept my certificate as able to waive the requirements…
Then said that because of being a full-time nomad, in order to get this endorsement I would essentially need to renew my license, which requires a one-night stay in South Dakota from the last year, of which I don’t have…
So basically everything that I thought and assumed was true about this process was wrong. I can take a course, but I took the wrong course, and I can’t just mail in my application, I have to drive to SD.
Welp.
I feel very embarrassed because not only did I just mess up, but I also spoke about it publicly on my videos 😄
Owned up to it here: Welp, I messed up
It sucks but I’ve pretty much moved on from this and now just focused on deciding what to do next.
The good news is that I still learned the skills and it’s not like I am required to do any of this.
I just have to decide how worth it having this motorcycle endorsement is and if I want to just drop this all or if I actually want to drive up to SD and get this done.
Food From The Week
What’s Next?
Your guess is as good as mine 🤷♂️😂