Author: Jody Whitesides

  • Back to the Music: New Anthem Drops After Tech Hurdles Resolved

    Back to the Music: New Anthem Drops After Tech Hurdles Resolved

    Time has arrived. My tech journey with Kubernetes has made it over the hill and is now on the downhill side. Meaning I will get back to spending more time with creating music than sussing out issues with a server.

    Which means if you’re reading this, it’s coming from a Kubernetes cluster.

    The most ridiculous portion wasn’t the web server. It was the email. In today’s world it’s insane to think we can operate without email. Can you? I know I could, but I definitely felt pretty bare after launching the server a few days back.

    Mainly because I got bad information about how to deal with the email after shutting my previous server down. Initially I could only send it. then I could only receive it. Fortunately it’s now able to do both. Whew.

    That took about 2 months longer than anticipated and expected, but it will be well worth it.

    I caught a former guitar student of mine on the radio this morning. An L.A. radio show called Heidi and Frank had him on to talk about his new music and getting a little older. The phrase: “You look like an old Tony Danza.” Was mentioned and I started laughing in the car, as my girlfriend and I were driving to a wine tasting.

    I texted Thomas Nicolas that phrase when the show ended, to tell him I heard the segment. he thought it was funny as well. If you’re not familiar with his band, definitely go check it out.

    As for me this week, it’s another release of Do You Want to Play. This time for the Lehi Pioneers football team. Due to dating my girlfriend the last couple of years, I’ve been to more high school sporting events than I attended when I went to high school. She’s an assistant principal.

    They don’t seem to have a consistent anthem so I decided, why the hell not? Go Pioneers, and start blasting this at your games!

  • Overcoming Tech Hurdles to Deliver the New Birmingham Squadron Theme

    Overcoming Tech Hurdles to Deliver the New Birmingham Squadron Theme

    The end of my Kubernetes nightmare is around the corner. So is another musical release. Lots of little changes finally starting to work and take shape.

    It’s been several months of intense learning as it relates to Kubernetes / Microk8s. In the last several days some obstacles have finally been overcome. I’m hoping to have a solution to my last problem within a few hours. Hopefully not more than 24 of them.

    As much as I like to dick around with tech, this was probably a situation where I bit off a bit more than I could easily chew. Definitely lives up to my adage of “start before you are ready.”

    One thing I learned on the journey is that some AI is great for research. Some can kind of code, but if you don’t keep an eye on it, it will drop the ball in big ways. As long as I make notes along the way of what worked, I’m ok. When I don’t there’s trouble.

    The great thing is, as soon as this solution is given or clarified in a few hours I can start getting back to the real work – RECORDING!

    Like this morning…

    While I’m waiting, I opted to work up another version of Do You Want to Play. The version I worked this morning will make it’s debut in a few weeks.

    Timelines are getting shorter sometimes. Like today’s release. It was recorded months ago. Artwork done, months ago. And now it makes for a sunny debut for the Birmingham Squadron. Very fitting for a cloudless blue sky where I’m at today.

    If you’re a fan of basketball and the G League’s Squadron, then today is your day! Celebrate it loud and proud. I know I will.

    Stay tuned…

  • Battling Tech Woes and Health Hiccups to Launch a New Anthem

    Battling Tech Woes and Health Hiccups to Launch a New Anthem

    Another week has come and gone. Holy shit I feel a bit like I haven’t made any progress. Last week I was in process of destroying something because it wasn’t working after weeks of trying. Here’s another week and as I’m writing this, I’m destroying the last try yet again…

    My option is to avoid one particular aspect to the email server. It’s something I never use anyway and I’ve spent weeks attempting to get this one thing I have no intention to use, to fuckin work.

    Hopes were high on this go around. Everything was working great. Then it came down to this one last thing – a webmail interface – and that’s when the hacks began. Each hack slowly ended up killing a working aspect of the server until most of it was broken. ARGH.

    Kinda like the tooth I had fixed this week as well. Last week I had a dental visit and tooth cleaning. In the vigor of the flossing, the hygienist managed to pull a filling out – no pain, but I had a what the fuck is this moment.

    Of course I had to return another day for them to go about replacing the filling and fixing it. Kinda like how this server is going. Though I will now only install the working files I have and not attempt to go for the last bit that doesn’t work. I’ll be done with it and life will be grand.

    Oh, let’s also add to the health storyline…

    Went in to see the knee doc to figure out why my knee was swelling under normal use. X-rays came back clear. The decision was to stick a needle in there and drain the fluid, plus add a little cortisone.

    All lovely 12ccs of liquid came out, not sure how much cortisone they put in. But I was out being athletic within the hour.

    Probably a lot like what pro level basketball players might be like. The knees take a beating with all the running around and jumping on a fairly hard court. I’m sure they see their share of knee issues.

    Which segues into today’s release of Do You Want to Play Rip City Remix. Another version of the sports song for another sports team. I dig their name Rip City Remix. Makes me think I ought to find a remixer to remix this version for them as well… Hmmm…

    Stay tuned for more.