Too Much Time on My Hands

Tagged with california, desktop computer, eyeglasses, glasses, google, linux, mini pc, overgrive, philippines, raspberry pi, united states, virtualbox, vision, washington state, windows on June 25, 2024

Like the song by Styx from 1981, I have “Too Much Time on My Hands”. I’m constantly thinking of better ways to do the things that I do every day. I watch videos on YouTube, and I read forum threads on Reddit, sometimes participating. Although I really don’t want to, I read e-mail and Google News items, and I scroll through Facebook.

In between the gaps of all of that, I research and write articles about some of the things I care about. I’ve been a computer enthusiast since around 1987, when I had to use IBM 286-compatible computers to do my job while I was in the military. All the things I do now keep me busy throughout each day and that’s a good thing because, as the saying goes, “idle hands are the devil’s workshop”.

Computers

After all the research and all the testing, I’ve decided I won’t use my Raspberry Pi 400 (“Pi” for short) as a remote computer while I’m in the United States next year. I’m going back to using overGrive as my Google Drive client. After years of using Google Drive for backups, I’m still storing far less than I’m allotted, less than 2 gigabytes out of 15.

I’ll be leaving the Pi in storage, here at home. In fact, I’ll be leaving it in storage until I need to use it again. It’s a great backup computer. Although there are people living around me who are quite capable of keeping it going in my absence, I can’t trust a single person to actually do it. It’s simpler to not rely on anyone. Besides, I may end up being gone longer than anticipated.

As for my Mini PC, which replaced my laptop computer, I won’t be attempting hibernation again. If I need to keep things as they are overnight, it’s simpler to just turn off the monitor until the next day. The Mini PC is a low-power machine, using less than 10 watts at idle. I’m not worried about a power outage because it’s plugged into a UPS that makes a lot of noise when it’s no longer detecting electricity.

If I really need my system to remain in a certain state, I’ll simply use a virtual machine. With a virtual machine, I can save snapshots before making questionable changes. I can also save the current state when exiting. I’ve tested multiple distributions and multiple desktop environments, and I always go back to the Cinnamon edition of Linux Mint, even in virtual machines.

Speaking of virtual machines, I have Windows 11 Pro installed in a VirtualBox virtual machine. Since I rarely even look at it, I copied the virtual machine to an external SSD, where I have another instance of the Linux Mint operating system running. All I had to do was copy the directory over to the virtual machine directory on it and then click on “add” in VirtualBox on that system.

I copied it back a day later because I wanted to use the Kindle application and there isn’t a Linux version. I couldn’t even install it using the Wine compatibility layer for Windows. There are books in my library I can’t read otherwise.

Travel

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I don’t like to travel, especially long trips by air. Unfortunately, there isn’t another method of travel from the Philippines to the United States or vice versa. It doesn’t seem to bother my wife, Josie, as much as it does me. That’s probably because she’s smaller and can fit in those cramped seats better.

The lives of both of my children and their families are changing in 2025. My older daughter-in-law is retiring from the military in California, and as far as I know, neither her nor her husband (my older son) knows exactly where they’re going to live after that. My younger son is going to be transferred from his military duty station in Washington State, but isn’t sure if he’ll go where he wants to go, which is Germany for three years.

Since I have a permanent resident visa for the Philippines, I have to return every year to do my annual residence certification, between the beginning of January and the end of February. Also, the reentry permit I get when leaving the Philippines is only good for a year. If I fail to make it back within a year, I have to pay fines, which is what happened when I got stuck in the United States during the pandemic.

With less than a year available to me in the United States, I can only stay in one place, and that’s with the family in California. I can only hope I won’t have to move with them when they move, if they have to move, meaning I’m more likely to return to the Philippines earlier if that’s the case.

I’m probably going to downgrade my visa. Since Josie is a dual citizen, I should be able to use the balikbayan privilege to return with her to the Philippines for a year at a time, as long as we’re traveling together. I’m not sure if dual citizens are treated like balikbayans in that respect, however, so I have to be prepared for shorter stays. Regardless, I won’t be limited to a year in the United States anymore.

Age

Josie and I are both in our sixties. We should really be living with or near our children in the United States. We don’t use health insurance in the Philippines because everything’s always been less expensive than deductibles (so far). I’m in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare system and soon, Josie and I will be covered by “TRICARE For Life”, which is for military retirees and their dependents.

Neither of us can get the exercise we need when we’re in the Philippines, although we try. There are a lot of factors involved, including weather and stray animals. We know we can get the exercise we need when we’re in the United States. We’ve done it before. I hope we won’t have to use our health insurance for anything but checkups, blood tests, and prescriptions.

Other Things

I want to buy a more expensive desktop computer, but I want to make sure I won’t have to move my residence again. I’m thinking of something from System76, where a Linux distribution is the operating system of choice. The company is based in Colorado and most of the parts are made in Colorado. Hopefully, by the time I buy one, the chipsets will be made in the United States instead of China or Taiwan.

We’re going to continue to maintain our house in the Philippines, even when we’re not here. I don’t want to sell the house or the lot it sits on. If nothing else, it can turn into a vacation home. With three possible residences at all times, we can escape from those who annoy us the most.

I can still drive a car, although I prefer not to drive at all, especially in the Philippines. I let my Philippine driver’s license expire, but my driver’s license from Hawaii is still valid. Since I know that one of my children or family members will want me to drive somewhere at some time, I need to be prepared.

Although my vision is good enough for everyday things, I really need eyeglasses to safely drive. I can get a pair here for under $50, even as bifocals. My right eye isn’t as good as my left, and I suffer from strabismus, which makes it difficult to focus at times. Perhaps I can get them as transition sunglasses, so I don’t have to carry around sunglasses (or clip-ons) as well.

Image by Judgefloro, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons