Added new article.

articles/sitemap.org

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #+TITLE: Article List
 
+- [[file:why-i-love-whiteboards.org][Why I Love: Whiteboards #+DATE: <2024-01-23 Tue> #+DESCRIPTION: Whiteboards. They're pretty great.]]
 - [[file:why-i-love-manuals.org][Why I Love: Manuals]]
-- [[file:why-i-love-whiteboards.org][Why I Love: Whiteboards]]
+- [[file:why-i-love-the-cold.org][Why I Love: The Cold]]
 - [[file:realizing-you-need-to-start-over.org][Realizing You Need To Start Over]]
 - [[file:for-want-of-a-more-limited-computer.org][For Want Of A More Limited Computer]]

articles/why-i-love-manuals.org

@@ -111,8 +111,8 @@ to hold in my hands, the replacement isn't too bad, and searching is a *godsend*
 for pulling the information you need. There's benefits to both, really.
 
 So I think there's plenty of high quality manuals left for me to read and
-refrence. And plenty more that have three sentences of poorly translated English
-that leave mep trudging to Stack Exchange to desperately find someone who
+reference. And plenty more that have three sentences of poorly translated English
+that leave me trudging to Stack Exchange to desperately find someone who
 hopefully had the same problem.
 
 And if you're not an Emacs user, and are complaining that GCC or some other

articles/why-i-love-the-cold.org

@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+#+TITLE: Why I Love: The Cold
+#+DATE: <2024-02-23 Fri>
+#+DESCRIPTION: Brrr.
+Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice, I say through someone making what could be described as a
+catastrophic diplomatic failure, but I wouldn't mind the world ending in ice. I adore the cold.
+
+I tend to remember why I love the cold as soon as the weather starts to warm up. Days get hotter, days get more humid, I
+get more miserable. Sure, the sun is nice and all... until I start to actually spend time in it.
+
+I hold those winter nights where the air is cold and you wrap a thick blanket around yourself while you work away at
+whatever it is needs to be done in very high regard. There's nothing that beats the serene comfort of coziness, and
+coziness is best experienced in winter.
+
+In the cold, you tend to become more focused, more aware, more awake. I absolutely adore this useful little property of
+low temperatures. In the heat, you get hot, sweaty, and sluggish. No fun wiping sweat away when you're trying to just
+get something done.
+
+Not to mention the beauty of winter. The simple formation of tiny formations of ice as frost on grass is such a
+fascinating process, a land of green suddenly encrusted with white, glittery crystals. While ice can be very dangerous,
+it can also be simply gorgeous.
+
+Not to mention cold air. I don't know what the cold might do for air quality, but when I breathe in crisp, winter air, I
+tend to feel as if it is almost *cleaner*. It's probably just the cooling sensation as I breathe, but it's a sensation I
+enjoy nonetheless.
+
+I don't just enjoy cold weather. I also just enjoy cold environments. This is the strangest part for most people. I used
+to work in a food-production factory where some of my duties involved spending time in the industrial freezers. I
+absolutely *loved* it. Wearing nothing but my uniform polo vest, boots, trousers, and hairnet, I would build pallets, pull
+out ingredients, and sometimes just hide for a bit. It felt /great./
+
+I could work hard in the cold, too. While your body attempting to regulate temperature uses a lot of energy, especially
+in the cold, not getting hot and sweaty meant that I was comfortable to keep going for much longer. I could do a lot
+more than I could normally, which had a tendency to surprise me when I attempted to do some of the same work outside of
+the freezer.
+
+This adoration for temperatures most might describe as a bit nippy (Approximately minus thirteen degrees Celsius, if
+memory serves) only intensified during the height of that summer. A steel-roofed production floor with very little in
+the way of temperature control meant I tended to volunteer to do more work in the fridges and freezers, eventually
+getting to the point where I'd stop what I was doing to stand in the freezer for a bit. 
+
+So, if the sun would just get a bit cooler for me, that'd be excellent. I can't be dealing with all this "sunshine" and
+"fabulous days."

articles/why-i-love-whiteboards.org

@@ -1,70 +1,56 @@
 #+TITLE: Why I Love: Whiteboards
 #+DATE: <2024-01-23 Tue>
 #+DESCRIPTION: Whiteboards. They're pretty great.
+
 Whiteboards. They're pretty great.
 
-It's my New Year's resolution to be a bit more positive this time around the
-Sun, and to do that, I've been playing around with just taking a moment to
-appreciate some of the simple things I love about living on this little blue dot
-we call Earth, and the first of these things that I'd like to talk about is
-simple.
+It's my New Year's resolution to be a bit more positive this time around the Sun, and to do that, I've been playing
+around with just taking a moment to appreciate some of the simple things I love about living on this little blue dot we
+call Earth, and the first of these things that I'd like to talk about is simple.
 
-Whiteboards. The ultimate human tool for problem solving. Big, small, but
-seemingly infinite possibilities for breaking down a problem into diagrams,
-equations, bullet points. Dramatic statement, I know! Yet, it's true.
+Whiteboards. The ultimate human tool for problem solving. Big, small, but seemingly infinite possibilities for breaking
+down a problem into diagrams, equations, bullet points. Dramatic statement, I know! Yet, it's true.
 
-For me, the whiteboard is the engineer's counterpart to the mathematician's
-chalkboard, the artist's sketchbook, a writer's notebook. A whiteboard presents
-the opportunity to begin the problem solving process in a visual, communicable
+For me, the whiteboard is the engineer's counterpart to the mathematician's chalkboard, the artist's sketchbook, a
+writer's notebook. A whiteboard presents the opportunity to begin the problem solving process in a visual, communicable
 form.
 
-A whiteboard represents an idea that is being *actively* worked on, in a form that
-few other tools can replicate. Simple lines of red, blue, black, and green, or
-occasionally other colours if you're the fancy type that doesn't purchase the
-first 4 pack of markers you see. In an instant, ideas can be reworded, redrawn,
-reformulated, cleanly, simply, with just a wipe.
+A whiteboard represents an idea that is being *actively* worked on, in a form that few other tools can replicate. Simple
+lines of red, blue, black, and green, or occasionally other colours if you're the fancy type that doesn't purchase the
+first 4 pack of markers you see. In an instant, ideas can be reworded, redrawn, reformulated, cleanly, simply, with just
+a wipe.
 
-Once an idea is fully formed, you can transcribe it into a permanent form, the
-ink on the whiteboard is inherently temporary. This is not a downside, but a
-major advantage. Until an idea is finished, completed, made into a permanent
+Once an idea is fully formed, you can transcribe it into a permanent form, the ink on the whiteboard is inherently
+temporary. This is not a downside, but a major advantage. Until an idea is finished, completed, made into a permanent
 form, it's able to be reworked with no effort, no loss.
 
-But why not a chalkboard? Well, for starters, it's a lot more rare to find a
-good-quality chalkboard and chalk. There's stories of mathematicians hoarding a
-specific brand of chalk, and for good reason, as if you're not careful, you end
-up with a stick that crumbles into powder before so much as leaving a mark! Not
-the case with a whiteboard! Buy yourself a marker and some wipes, and you're off
-to the races!
+But why not a chalkboard? Well, for starters, it's a lot more rare to find a good-quality chalkboard and chalk. There's
+stories of mathematicians hoarding a specific brand of chalk, and for good reason, as if you're not careful, you end up
+with a stick that crumbles into powder before so much as leaving a mark! Not the case with a whiteboard! Buy yourself a
+marker and some wipes, and you're off to the races!
 
-Plus, there's the benefit of often creating much clearer lines than chalk, in a
-way that's more displayable than something like a notebook or sketchpad, which
-is often more intended for the view of a single person.
+Plus, there's the benefit of often creating much clearer lines than chalk, in a way that's more displayable than
+something like a notebook or sketchpad, which is often more intended for the view of a single person.
 
-What makes whiteboards the ultimate tool, however, is how they can be used to
-collaborate. A picture tells a thousand words, even a crudely drawn one in
-temporary ink. Nothing is easier than passing the marker to the next person to
-think of something, or to change a detail with a simple wipe.
+What makes whiteboards the ultimate tool, however, is how they can be used to collaborate. A picture tells a thousand
+words, even a crudely drawn one in temporary ink. Nothing is easier than passing the marker to the next person to think
+of something, or to change a detail with a simple wipe.
 
-In fact, I love whiteboards so much that I often have to find alternatives when
-one isn't available. This can range from tabletop surfaces after an exploratory
-poke and wipe to make sure the ink comes off, battle mats from tabletop RPGs,
+In fact, I love whiteboards so much that I often have to find alternatives when one isn't available. This can range from
+tabletop surfaces after an exploratory poke and wipe to make sure the ink comes off, battle mats from tabletop RPGs,
 mirrors, and windows!
 
-My alternatives have even stemmed to the aluminium clad walls during my first
-"proper" job, in a food production factory, where I often stood in an alcove off
-to the side of the production floor, inscribing a spreadsheet to calculate the
-optimal onion count for each day's needs, causing my manager to stop and ask if
-I were having a stroke. I was not. I was *problem-solving*, and yes, it made me
-much faster.
+My alternatives have even stemmed to the aluminium clad walls during my first "proper" job, in a food production
+factory, where I often stood in an alcove off to the side of the production floor, inscribing a spreadsheet to calculate
+the optimal onion count for each day's needs, causing my manager to stop and ask if I were having a stroke. I was not. I
+was *problem-solving*, and yes, it made me much faster.
 
-However, the poor whiteboards' name has been marred, thanks to the whiteboard
-interview, a parlor trick for prospective programmers to prance before possible
-professions. Often misused, but beyond the scope of the positivity of this
+However, the poor whiteboards' name has been marred, thanks to the whiteboard interview, a parlor trick for prospective
+programmers to prance before possible professions. Often misused, but beyond the scope of the positivity of this
 article.
 
-Although, if you ask me, the only real problem with whiteboards is you never
-seem to have enough to hand. And the fact that whiteboard paint is more
-expensive than chalkboard paint, hence my bedroom chalkboard wall. 
+Although, if you ask me, the only real problem with whiteboards is you never seem to have enough to hand. And the fact
+that whiteboard paint is more expensive than chalkboard paint, hence my bedroom chalkboard wall.
 
-So in short, if you want to increase your engineering team's productivity, or
-need a gift idea for that nerd in your life: get them a whiteboard. 
+So in short, if you want to increase your engineering team's productivity, or need a gift idea for that nerd in your
+life: get them a whiteboard.