Writing on the road [1]

These past few days, I’ve been traveling. Usually, when I am traveling, I still have an Internet connection. This time, I did, too. However, I did not have an Internet connection that allowed me to ssh into the MathLAN [2]. I find it much harder to write when I don’t have access to my normal writing environment. I can still use vi on my Mac and I also have many of my associated tools installed, but it doesn’t feel quite the same. It doesn’t help that my favorite spell checker [3] is not installed on my Mac. It helps even less that the Mac uses different header files for C, which means that I shouldn’t really write essays for my C and Unix course without access to my primary machine [4].

That’s not to say that I didn’t write. A lot of my trip involved writing reports, taking notes, and turning my notes into something coherent. But those were not reports, notes, or other writings that I could post. And, once I was finished with a day of those writings and associated work, it was hard to get up the energy to write one of these essays [5].

It’s also hard to write when I know that it’s not going to be posted immediately. The first day, I sent my essay to my family. The next three days, I just sketched my essays or thought about topics.

But now I’m back. I’ve put the sketches into essay form. Once I finish some (minimal) editing, I’ll be releasing five at once [6].

I need to figure out a way to keep my muse engaged the next time I go away and lose access. Oh well; I don’t think that’s for awhile. It’s good to be back.

[1] No, you should not take that title literally. I am not going out into the street to write on the cement, concrete, blacktop, or whatever. Not even if Martha and the Vandellas are there.

[2] ssh into the MathLAN is technobabble for connect to the computer on which I write these essays.

[3] spell on the command line

[4] Upon reflection, I could have worked on the virtual Linux desktop on my Mac. Sam smacks his own head in disbelief.

[5] My muse was working overtime helping me with the regular writing. She also did not have the energy to push me into particularly interesting areas.

[6] Why five? One for each day I was away. This essay is the fourth of those. But I sketched this one, too, particularly since I was returning at about 11pm. So they will all get released the day after I return, and I’ll need an essay for that day.

Version 1.0 of 2017-03-22.