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LoRa's barriers to entry Sunday, October 6 2019
The house was cold and there was a lot of close snuggling happening in the night. I got up fairly early and immediately took the dogs for a walk counterclockwise through the forest starting on the Farm Road and ending on the Stick Trail, where I did yet more work on the stone wall. Conditions weren't ideal for working outdoors; temperatures were in the 50s, the sky was overcast, and occasionally a light drizzle would fall. It was so cold in the house this morning that I actually burned a few sticks of actual firewood, the first firewood burn of the season. By this evening, though, conditions had warmed up and I no longer felt the need to run a fire.
Gretchen would be coming home tonight, so if I wanted to drink alcohol today, I would have to produce some art. That was how I came to paint a magical waterbear on a small three inch by three inch black canvas.
Later I loaded the dogs up in the car and drove to Uptown Kingston just to get liquor. Not only did the laboratory liquor stash need a reup, so did the dustier, top-shelfier liquor cabinet in our living room. I ended up getting a bottle of mid-range Japanese rice vodka and the cheapest single malt scotch for the living room and a big two litre bottle of cheap gin for the laboratory. I went well out of my way to visit the Tibetan Center thrift store on the way home, but of course there was nothing there I wanted. That place hasn't been as fun since Rob had to retire.
In the mid-afternoon, I made a chili which used, in addition to the usual ingredients, several enormous tomatoes given to us by our neighbor Andrea from an organic garden she maintains for a wealthy landscaping enthusiast. The tomatoes contributed so much water that initially the chili was more of a bean soup, and I ate two bowls of it in this form. It was amazing! Later this evening, Andrea came over with even more tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. (Gretchen hates cucumbers, but I eat them a slice at a time until they're gone just like potato chips.)
This evening my motivation was weak due to alcohol consumption, but I nevertheless attempted to get a 433 MHz LoRa gateway working. But, this being LoRa, my efforts were quickly thwarted. An early roadblock was discovering that TheThingNetwork wasn't offering me a 433 MHz option on its gateway configuration page. The benefits of using LoRa are huge, but there are still a great many barriers to entry, suggesting this could be a lucrative technology to master. It would be nice to get to the point where I can put LoRa on my resume, but for now everything about it leads to headaches and squandered hours.
![](ran/1910/waterbear_600.jpg)
The waterbear painting. Waterbears are also called tardigrades.
![](ran/1910/waterbear_four_600.jpg)
For all the fans of kaleidoscopy.
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