{"id":35692,"date":"2020-03-22T12:59:01","date_gmt":"2020-03-22T19:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=35692"},"modified":"2020-03-20T13:07:54","modified_gmt":"2020-03-20T20:07:54","slug":"the-preparedinexpensive-midi-keyboardpatience-hack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/the-preparedinexpensive-midi-keyboardpatience-hack\/","title":{"rendered":"The Prepared\/Inexpensive MIDI keyboard\/Patience hack"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sign up here<\/i><\/a>\u00a0to get Recomendo a week early in your inbox.<\/i><\/p>\n

Advice for the sane prepper<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m not a prepper. I did zero prep for Y2K; didn\u2019t even fill my gas tank. A lot of prepper talk is sheer nuts, and even damaging. However in an emergency I aim to be a help not a burden, so some degree of being prepared is needed. The least insane prepper site is\u00a0The Prepared<\/a>, which dials back a lot of the paranoia and nuttiness, and is more Wirecutter style reviews of gear. Their intensity is two notches above mine, but at least their advice is sane. I got some good tips about being responsibly prepared. \u2014 KK<\/p>\n

Inexpensive MIDI keyboard<\/strong>
\nMy 16-year-old daughter and I like listening to lo-fi electronic music in the car, and we got interested in making some lo-fi music of our own. Instead of buying a synthesizer, we just bought this cheap 32-key MIDI keyboard<\/a> (Model AKM320). We are using it with Apple\u2019s Garageband app, which has built-in software synths. It was literally plug-and-play, because it required no software drivers. It comes with a USB cable. \u2014 MF<\/p>\n

Tips for hacking patience<\/strong>
\nAccording to\u00a0this Fast Company article<\/a>, patience is hackable by thinking as concretely as possible to perceive wait times as shorter. For me, what has always worked without fail is my secret grocery-store shopping mantra: \u201cI am zen. I am floating.\u201d And then I just imagine myself floating through the store, not bumping my cart into other people or rushing to get past them, and smiling softly like a weirdo. But it works! And when irrational anger starts to rise up, I think about this quote by Thich Nhat Hanh, \u201cThree hundred years from now where will you be and where shall I be?\u201d \u2013 CD<\/p>\n

Comfortable closed-toe sandals<\/strong>
\nI work from home 80% of time and was in need of comfy footwear more substantial than flip flops but not as relaxed as slippers, in case I need to run outside. These Sanuk Yoga Sling Sandals<\/a> were exactly what I wanted. They are cushiony and comfortable for standing at my desk, they keep my feet warm, and in my opinion, look good with jeans, plus I don\u2019t feel like a slacker when I\u2019m working without real shoes on. \u2014 CD<\/p>\n

The handmade life<\/strong>
\nMany folks dream of being self-sufficient on a half-acre homestead somewhere. The person I know who\u2019s come closest to that goal is Lloyd Kahn, who has evolved a do-it-yourself lifestyle near a city that really works and is not a fantasy. He\u2019s put his 46 years of building his own homes, foraging for wild foods, raising plants, traveling in a van, working from home, self-publishing, and all-around DIY into one photographic book. The Half-Acre Homestead<\/a> is not how-to; it\u2019s a visual demonstration of what an integrated handmade life looks like, for real. At 85 years young, Lloyd Kahn is still doing it! He is one of my heros. \u2014 KK<\/p>\n

Tip for Hotwire Users<\/strong>
\nI\u2019ve used Hotwire to book hotel rooms. On the plus side, they have good deals, on the minus side, you don\u2019t know which hotel you are reserving until after you\u2019ve paid the non-refundable fee. But\u00a0here\u2019s a video<\/a>\u00a0on \u201cHow ANYONE Can Get 50% Off Hotels\u201d that shows you how to find out which hotel HotWire is offering before you commit. \u2014 MF<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recomendo: issue no. 191<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13684,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[2323],"tags":[2324],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35692"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13684"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35692"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35694,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35692\/revisions\/35694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}