{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1", "title": "Zachalope", "description": "", "home_page_url": "https://zachalope.com", "feed_url": "https://zachalope.com/feed.json", "user_comment": "", "icon": "https://zachalope.com/media/website/Me_ish.png", "author": { "name": "Zachalope" }, "items": [ { "id": "https://zachalope.com/blog/dakboard-backup-dashboard-and-twitch-audio/", "url": "https://zachalope.com/blog/dakboard-backup-dashboard-and-twitch-audio/", "title": "DakBoard, Backup Dashboard, and Twitch Audio", "summary": "I bit the bullet and bought a refurbished monitor for setting up as an electronic wall calendar. Just mounted it today and it makes me think I should have gone with a larger size! Oh well, it'll still be nice to have and I can always upgrade later if desired.Cool…", "content_html": "

I bit the bullet and bought a refurbished monitor for setting up as an electronic wall calendar. Just mounted it today and it makes me think I should have gone with a larger size! Oh well, it'll still be nice to have and I can always upgrade later if desired.Cool thing about it is the USB ports on it can provide power for the Raspberry Pi, so there's only one cable leaving the back of the monitor (power). The rest of them are managed where you can't see them from the front. It's got the next time and date, the calendar showing the next four weeks, and five days of weather on the right. I like it.

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I've mentioned it before, but at work, the local team uses a dashboard I set up to make our day-to-day easier. I had to re-make it in a few system recently, for which they said we'd be able to create dashboards again in... Well, just this week, they took away my ability to share it with new people again. So I'm updating links to a backup dashboard I have on this site in case they go and delete the  self-made dashboards... The one on here is essentially just a links repository with formatting, so nothing special. They can't really take that away... But as it stands right now, we have two new people starting and I can't share the main dashboard with them. I think users can still make their own dashboards, so I'll try just borrowing their computer and rebuilding it from scratch for their user accounts. It is much easier to see the numbers in one place rather than having to click the links in the backup... or use the convoluted dashboard the admins are wanting us to use.

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The bot I use for Twitch, PhantomBot, has the option to add songs to a queue and such. With my current setup, I wouldn't be able to hear the music at the same time as watchers, so I haven't bothered setting it up. However, I've recently discovered that audio-mixing headphones are a thing. Like the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7. It would allow me to use a USB dongle with the Steam Deck to hear the game, but also allow me to use bluetooth with my laptop to hear the music and Discord. It's a little pricey, but seems worth it. I've added the Nova 7 to my wishlist and will be looking out for sales/refurbs. I can't justify spending much on it currently, so it'll come later. But I love the idea of allowing chat to queue up songs.

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My daughters are doing great, by the way. They love playing with their toys and having me read books. Currently, their song obsession is \"Story of a Worm\" by Sarah Maddack. I think I listened to that song about 30 times today... but it is a fun one. Here recently, when we come back up the hill to my house from my parents' house, they just want to play outuside on their little castle before going inside. Which is good for them, so I'm usually just standing there watching for 30 or so minutes before telling them it's time to go inside and wind down, getting ready for dinner (or bathtime if we ate at my parents'). When people say, \"They grow up so fast,\"  they mean it. It's crazy how fast they grow. It's also very noticable how much difference one year apart makes in these early years. But I'm also really glad they're so close in age as they typically play together very well. And it's apparent that they love each other very much. I wouldn't trade them for the world.

", "author": { "name": "Zachalope" }, "tags": [ "Blog", "2026" ], "date_published": "2026-09-29T20:56:02-05:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-29T20:57:44-05:00" }, { "id": "https://zachalope.com/blog/whered-my-face-go-and-other-updates/", "url": "https://zachalope.com/blog/whered-my-face-go-and-other-updates/", "title": "Where'd My Face Go? And Other Updates", "summary": "Last weekend I got a little done at the old house -- just moving what was already boxed up or bagged up to the storage unit. 10' x 10' seems so small, but it should be plenty of space for my needs. It just feels so strange moving things into a…", "content_html": "

Last weekend I got a little done at the old house -- just moving what was already boxed up or bagged up to the storage unit. 10' x 10' seems so small, but it should be plenty of space for my needs. It just feels so strange moving things into a storage unit. I rented one from a brand new local facility, so it is clean. They also provided the lock for free, if I return it with both keys afterwards. Otherwise, it's just the cost of a decent lock I'd owe. I still have a lot to do in terms of packing and moving, but progress is progress. I did replace the broken front porch light at my new place, at least.

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I also streamed for a little bit on Twitch this past weekend, but it wasn't great. I tried Dark Souls 3 for the first time in years and did terrible. Then switched over to TCG Card Shop Simulator, which I don't think would be fitting for the audience I'd like. Probably mostly play that offline when I want to just chill. I did download Dark Souls 1 on the steam deck after this stream, as it's my favorite Dark Souls... I don't have the Remastered Edition, but I did install DSFix, so we'll see how it goes. Probably start a new game on that and run with it for a while.

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Kids are both doing well! They love playing around the farm during day, being mermaids at bathtime, and reading before bed. Tonight when we came back up to my house, they didn't want to go inside. So they played all over their slide/climbing structure for a good 30 minutes before I had us go inside to take a bath. Also, the other night, I trimmed my beard short and my 3 year old asked me, \"Daddy, why did you cut your face off?\" That got a laugh out of me. I think I still have a face? People at work haven't freaked out, so I don't look that horrific.

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Tomorrow I'm getting my brakes replaced and possibly wheel bearings replaced on my car. The brakes are starting to grind at lower speeds and last time I had service done, they mentioned the wheel bearings would need to be replaced soon, so may as well have them done at the same time. I'll just have to borrow my parents' farm truck to get to work while it's in the shop. But it is a necessity to keep my car up and running well. After things settle now, I'll have to get my farm truck fixed, so I won't have to borrow a vehicle in these moments. Plus I could leave the farm truck at work when I'm on call and make it easier over-all. But that'll be a ways down the line.

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I've been thinking about ordering energy powder online from the likes of GFuel, AdvancedGG, etc... But I've decided I'll make my own mocha instant coffee powder to mix with milk and/or water in the mornings instead. Instant coffee, unsweetened cocoa, monk fruit for sweetener, powdered milk for creaminess, a little salt... I haven't done it yet, but I've got the items needed in my Walmart cart to buy next time I get groceries. If you have any good recommendations for DIY energy powders or coffees, feel free to send them my way!

", "author": { "name": "Zachalope" }, "tags": [ "Blog", "2026" ], "date_published": "2026-09-22T21:28:19-05:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-22T21:57:02-05:00" }, { "id": "https://zachalope.com/blog/no-progress-and-other-updates/", "url": "https://zachalope.com/blog/no-progress-and-other-updates/", "title": "No Progress and Other Updates", "summary": "I still haven't been able to make progress on getting my house ready to sell... But I did go ahead and rent a storage unit! This weekend I'll move all of the boxes/bags I have packed into it. It doesn't sound like I'll be doing much, but every little bit…", "content_html": "

I still haven't been able to make progress on getting my house ready to sell... But I did go ahead and rent a storage unit! This weekend I'll move all of the boxes/bags I have packed into it. It doesn't sound like I'll be doing much, but every little bit helps. It just needs to get done. Pray I'll get the time to!

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My Twitch got an upgrade: a bot. I found a self-hosted Twitch bot called PhantomBot and got it set up. It's mostly still the defaults, but it'll be a nice little tool to have during the streams. And as time goes on, I'll add more commands and behaviors as I see fit. I still haven't streamed again, but it's rather fun just tinkering with the program. I've got it installed on my laptop and will run it only when streaming or messing with the settings. It was tempting to install it on my server computer, but decided it doesn't need to run all the time.

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Speaking of the server computer, I don't think I've wrote about it yet. I'm running Ubuntu Server on my old desktop. It's mainly for JellyFin, a self-hosted media server. I've got some movies and TV shows on it. I also have a Minecraft server running on it for a small Christian Discord group I'm in. I don't think anyone's been on it, as they have a Realm they play occasionally, but I use Java, soooo.... I figured why not make one both Java and Bedrock can join.

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The next thing I'll probably do with this website is change the \"Contact\" page to a \"Links\" page and have the email and Telegram links still, but also Tiktok, Youtube, Twitch, Steam, and so on... Like a self-hosted Linktree/Carrds. I'm not sure when I'll get around to actually doing that, but I think it'll be nice to have! Especially if I start posting/streaming more.

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It's currently 23:55 as I'm typing this part as I got called into work whilst working on this post. It was an easy fix, but pushed my bedtime back, I guess? I got back home wide awake. So it goes. Tomorrow I'm supposed to leave work early anyway, as I stayed late to get some harder-to-access units PMed Tuesday. So hopefully the lack of sleep will be accompanied by a nice, easy, short day. Doubtful, but why not hope?

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Anyway, I hope everyone (probably no one) reading this is having a good day! God bless!

", "author": { "name": "Zachalope" }, "tags": [ "Blog", "2026" ], "date_published": "2026-09-17T21:05:26-05:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-17T23:58:51-05:00" }, { "id": "https://zachalope.com/blog/janky-twitch-and-sickly-kids/", "url": "https://zachalope.com/blog/janky-twitch-and-sickly-kids/", "title": "Janky Twitch and Sickly Kids", "summary": "I did a trial stream on Twitch last night. I guess my laptop was updating when I was just seeing if it would even work the other day, because while streaming and recording, my CPU usage stayed around 30%. It was a nice surprise. I didn't post or tell anyone…", "content_html": "

I did a trial stream on Twitch last night. I guess my laptop was updating when I was just seeing if it would even work the other day, because while streaming and recording, my CPU usage stayed around 30%. It was a nice surprise. I didn't post or tell anyone I was going to go live, but someone from one of the communities I watch joined and said hi, which was kind of them. The setup is definitely a little janky, but it seems to be working well. I just don't know how I'd be able to do a voice chat with someone if I decide to play with people unless it's an in-game chat. But that would be a ways away. I've added my pngtuber below so you can see some of the jank here. It reminds me of Monty Python's Flying Circus opening scenes.

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After the stream, I used Shotcut and trimmed the video to a fail and posted it on TikTok. Shotcut took a while to figure out, because I wanted it in a verticle format with my avatar talking in the lower right side still, but eventually I figured it out. Insomnia definitely played a role, but that's okay.

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So yeah, I'll probably randomly stream on Twitch and try to post funny clips from it on TikTok. I imagine it'll only be like once or twice a month, but still! TikTok will probably get more random, non game related content, too.

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And yes, as the title suggests, both my kids have been a bit sick recently. So please keep them in your prayers. Their little bodies are working through one of the many things going around right now. But they're mostly happy still. Just means longer naps, more pushing liquids, and less appetites... But I know they'll get through it. I'm taking tomorrow off to take care of them. It'll be a chill day with movies, playing with toys, and generally resting.

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As for my old house, I'm still in the process of cleaning it out and packing stuff up we don't need... Schedule-wise, it's been impossible to have much time to work on that, so there's still a lot to do. I'm hoping to get it all done and the house listed within a couple of months, but at this rate, I just don't know... So pray for that, too. While financially, I'll be okay, it would be a huge burden off my shoulders to get that house fixed up and sold.

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On an random note, I only just found out Monster Energy \"Rehab\" drinks are still caffeinated. I assumed the \"rehab\" part was for people who were trying to cut back on caffeine... But it's just non-carbonated drinks like tea? I had to pick one up because I prefer my energy drinks non-carbonated and like teas. I have yet to try it, but it grabbed peach tea. 

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", "author": { "name": "Zachalope" }, "tags": [ "Blog", "2026" ], "date_published": "2026-09-08T20:30:46-05:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-08T20:58:30-05:00" }, { "id": "https://zachalope.com/blog/getting-away-from-vscode/", "url": "https://zachalope.com/blog/getting-away-from-vscode/", "title": "No More Manual Site Code and Other Updates", "summary": "Well, I've decided to got away from just coding the website myself at all and am going with a static CMS generator. I thought about using Hugo, but didn't really care for it / have the time to learn it. Instead, at the time of this post, I'm converting my…", "content_html": "

Well, I've decided to got away from just coding the website myself at all and am going with a static CMS generator. I thought about using Hugo, but didn't really care for it / have the time to learn it. Instead, at the time of this post, I'm converting my website into Publii. It's free and clean. Had to manually move my blog posts over, but that didn't take too long. I think I have everything set up, but I'm sure I'll discover something that needs tweaked or added later on... I actually like the default \"Simple\" theme the most of the options I looked at, so here we are. 

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Life has been... full of chaos and change. I've moved into the house up the hill from my parents and am currently boxing up/cleaning my old house before I can sell it. I've had to buy all new household items, but I think I'm about fully set up. Just need to organize the things I have better and get a storage unit for the things in my old house I'm not taking.

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My two daughters are doing well. Happy and healthy, for the most part. I love getting greeted by running hugs when I get home! They love the new place. Probaby helps that they can see Grandma and Grandpa's house just down the hill from our porches. I'm doing pretty well, too. Still have a lot of work to do, but it is what it is. 

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I may start randomly streaming on Twitch. If I do, I imagine it'd only be like once or twice a month and quality would be a little odd. I'd be using the Steam Link app on my old rugged laptop to stream the audo/video to OBS from my Steam Deck and using Veadotube Mini to have my little icon indicate when I speak. So definitely a little janky. But could be fun! May post more on TikTok, too. Who knows. I'll have a little more free time than I'm used to once I get the moving pains / house selling out of the way.

", "author": { "name": "Zachalope" }, "tags": [ "Blog", "2026" ], "date_published": "2026-09-02T15:55:40-05:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-02T17:23:37-05:00" }, { "id": "https://zachalope.com/blog/more-chaos/", "url": "https://zachalope.com/blog/more-chaos/", "title": "More Chaos", "summary": "It's a chaotic time in life currently. All I ask is that you pray for my girls. That's all I'm willing to say right now. I likely will not update this blog for quite a while while things are getting sorted. But if you want to reach out, feel free…", "content_html": "

It's a chaotic time in life currently. All I ask is that you pray for my girls. That's all I'm willing to say right now.

I likely will not update this blog for quite a while while things are getting sorted. But if you want to reach out, feel free to click that email button on the top right of the page!

Hope everyone is doing well!

", "author": { "name": "Zachalope" }, "tags": [ "Blog", "2026" ], "date_published": "2026-05-21T15:51:00-05:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-02T15:52:05-05:00" }, { "id": "https://zachalope.com/blog/break-reset-30/", "url": "https://zachalope.com/blog/break-reset-30/", "title": "Break. Reset, 30?", "summary": "Well, it's been a rough week. And I've talked to several people and learned a lot. Spent a lot of time with God. One thing I've learned is that I've got to start spending time for myeself. Not wait until I have time, but make time. I've ordered kayak mounts…", "content_html": "

Well, it's been a rough week. And I've talked to several people and learned a lot. Spent a lot of time with God. One thing I've learned is that I've got to start spending time for myeself. Not wait until I have time, but make time. I've ordered kayak mounts for my car so I can go kayaking occasionally. I'm also going to start walking more - likely with my kids at the local park. It'll be helpful to just get back out into nature. And on the days the weather isn't good? Well, I wanted to learn to wittle a while back and never really spent time on it. I have the stuff, so why not? Make the time.

The last couple of days has been like a mental reset. I got more sleep, read the Bible, etc. It's been good. Now to go back into life and take all I've learned and take care of myself. That way I can take care of others better. You can't really love others well if you don't love yourself. And that's been a struggle. So it's time to show myself I'm worthy of love. Worthy of time. So I can also give it to others.

In other news, I just turned 30 this past weekend! I feel the same, but it is odd thinking I'm in a whole new decade now. I had to go do the DMV and get my license renewed... but otherwise, there isn't anything special about it. Just another day, you know?

We're rehoming our puppy my wife really wanted today, unfortunately. The puppy wire haired pointed griffin was just too much for us in this time of life with the health stuff and kids. My wife made the call, but it is for the best... She had way too much energy for us to keep her entertained and happy. So she'll go to a home with a poodle and a guy that travels a lot and be able to get that excess energy out. She'll be better out there than in this home with two old lazy dogs. It's saddening it had to go this way, though. She's a sweet dog... but yeah.

And as usually, if you're a praying person, please pray for my family and I. Lord knows we need it. Thanks.

", "author": { "name": "Zachalope" }, "tags": [ "Blog", "2026" ], "date_published": "2026-03-27T15:51:00-05:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-02T15:51:36-05:00" }, { "id": "https://zachalope.com/blog/a-little-rock-and-little-rocks/", "url": "https://zachalope.com/blog/a-little-rock-and-little-rocks/", "title": "A Little Rock and Little Rocks", "summary": "So recently, my wife and I went to Little Rock to see another specialist. The wait was long and frustrating, but the doctor made up for it by being very kind and understanding. He does think she has POTS and a certain type. At the end of this month, we've…", "content_html": "

So recently, my wife and I went to Little Rock to see another specialist. The wait was long and frustrating, but the doctor made up for it by being very kind and understanding. He does think she has POTS and a certain type. At the end of this month, we've got to go back to his office to do another tilt table test as he doesn't like how the place she got hers done performs theirs. My wife came out of the appointment hopeful.

My girls have been sick all last week with Strep, COVID, and RVS, so that's been fun. Their antibiotics definitely worked, though; they're both feeling better now. In turn, my wife is now sick. She's on antibiotics now, too. I've had a slight cough for like a month, but other than that, I've been fine.

My daughters have started calling small rocks and sprinkles 'little rocks' for some reason. Unsure why, but it's cute.

It's time to start mowing again, unfortunately. It is currently Wednesday and I have to mow everything before Saturday due to an easter egg hunt my wife is hosting at our house. And I can't tonight... So tomorrow or Friday, it is. Hooray. I'm not huge on hosting things... or going to events in general... but now I have a wife and kids, so it's a sacrifice I must make.

Work hase been fun! Sarcasm, by the way... but yeah. We're managing to keep up on preventative maintenance, but that's coming at the cost of corrective orders sitting on the sideline. We're getting a little burried. Good news is one of the jobs for this shop has been posted, finally.

", "author": { "name": "Zachalope" }, "tags": [ "Blog", "2026" ], "date_published": "2026-03-17T15:50:00-05:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-02T15:51:02-05:00" }, { "id": "https://zachalope.com/blog/okc-coffee-mcas/", "url": "https://zachalope.com/blog/okc-coffee-mcas/", "title": "OKC, Coffee, MCAS", "summary": "Tuesday and Wednesday, my wife and I were in Oklahoma City. My girls stayed with my parents during this as it was a trip for health appointments. The girls got to run around and play with baby goats. They're always excited to visit grandma and grandpa! Anyway, Tuesday, we left…", "content_html": "

Tuesday and Wednesday, my wife and I were in Oklahoma City. My girls stayed with my parents during this as it was a trip for health appointments. The girls got to run around and play with baby goats. They're always excited to visit grandma and grandpa!

Anyway, Tuesday, we left pretty early and went to the Goodwill Outlet in OKC. If you've never heard of it, it's the last stop donations after they leave the Goodwill Stores and before they go to a landfill. It's always pretty chaotic. An empty warehouse with huge roller bins full of stuff. When they swap out the bins, people are like vultures. I found a couple of things I may test and sell, but we mainly go for my wife to source for her eBay. You pay by the pound, so a large overfilled was only like $60.

My wife's appointments went well, I believe. The second one officially said she has MCAS, which is really fun when paired with POTS. It explains a lot of her issues. Now hopefully we'll get more guidance and things to help her health issues. The doctor told her she'd get her life back, and I pray that's true. It's been hard watching her suffer through this stuff.

Between my wife's appointments, we met up with my longest friend who lives in the area for some coffee. It was nice sitting and chatting. Something we don't get to do a whole lot of. Mostly, my friend and my conversations extent are just Snapchatting each other a couple times a day whatever we're doing. So catching up a little was good.

My brother has been streaming on Twitch for a while now, though he's backed off a bit due to having to work more overtime at his job... but a lot of the time, he streams Minecraft and has a small, but good community. At the end of this month, he's going to launch a server for the viewers and himself. I am able to play Minecraft on my SteamDeck, but I also recently found out it runs pretty well on the laptop I use when blogging, as well. It's a Dell 14 Rugged with only 8gb of RAM. I was going to upgrade the RAM, but as you may know, RAM prices have gone insane lately. But oh well, it still runs well enough! So after launch, I'll join the server the occasional lunch break and build me a desert city.

I'm still keeping an eye out for fully remote jobs within the company I work for, but there's no rush. I did speak to someone about a position, but they needed someone to backfill a position and knew more product lifecycle things and advanced Excel usage than I do. He did say if they expand the team later on, I may be a good fit, though. I think I do want to break out of the biomed technician side and get into the administrative side at some point, still. Not because of losing the couple of co-workers and stress building, but because I feel like I enjoy the administrative work I do already more than the technician stuff. So hopefully someday, I'll get there. But who knows. If I remain a technician forever, it wouldn't be a terrible fate, either.

", "author": { "name": "Zachalope" }, "tags": [ "Blog", "2026" ], "date_published": "2026-03-05T15:49:00-06:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-02T15:50:11-05:00" }, { "id": "https://zachalope.com/blog/chaos-pure-chaos/", "url": "https://zachalope.com/blog/chaos-pure-chaos/", "title": "Chaos. Pure chaos.", "summary": "Well these last few weeks have been rough. My wife's health is not great... my kids were sick (better now)... and our bathroom flooded due to a cracked connector in the wall. For that last issue, I had to rip up flooring, treat mold, and paint the floor while my…", "content_html": "

Well these last few weeks have been rough. My wife's health is not great... my kids were sick (better now)... and our bathroom flooded due to a cracked connector in the wall. For that last issue, I had to rip up flooring, treat mold, and paint the floor while my wife and daughters stayed with my parents. The floor is still bare, painted wood for now.
On top of all that, the helper my wife has put in her notice due to accepting a new position where she was already volunteering. This is her last week.
And to add on, one of the guys in the northern hospital we help with is leaving, too. Meaning three people from my team are leaving. Work's a bit of a struggle right now.

Please pray for my family. It's been an extremely stressful time and we aren't gret at dealing with stress together yet. Trying, though.

", "author": { "name": "Zachalope" }, "tags": [ "Blog", "2026" ], "date_published": "2026-02-19T15:49:00-06:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-02T15:49:33-05:00" } ] }