Colin Walker - random posts

Thanks to a conversation on micro.blog I have changed the way I enter the <details> tag.

There is custom markup for adding spoiler text on Stack Exchange, all you need to do is precede the text with the two characters > ! (but together) so I thought this would be a good place to start for details markup.

I've settled on this:

Details content filter

The filter looks for the text between the delimiters and surrounds it in the required <details><summary> tags instead. I was previously entering the text on two lines with two sets of delimiters so this is more streamlined.

I've since found out that Reddit also uses similar syntax for hidden text so I'm in good company.

2025/04/03#p1

I don't write weeknotes (never have) but with the current infrequency of posting this effectively qualifies as one. My usual post cadence has always rendered weeknotes fairly redundant.

Until they're not.

It's been a difficult week. Tuesday saw me slip in the rain and hurt my knee so I couldn't go to Tai Chi in the evening — knees are pretty fundamental to the whole thing. The teacher is on holiday next week so the next session is the 27^th.

Wednesday was a tough day. It was my four week review appointment but my usual doctor is on holiday for two weeks. Cue instant anxiety about seeing someone else. The appointment was mid afternoon so I had most of the day to stress over it and work myself into a mild panic.

He wasn't great but the upshot is that I'm still off work for another month and my autism/ADHD referral has been sent off. The results haven't come back yet from my MRI but I'm not expecting anything there.

I think part of the fear was that a different doctor wouldn't sign me off again and that I'd be thrown straight back into work with no warning when I am definitely not ready.

World of Warcraft is still dominating my attention. I know it's both an escape and a means of avoidance but that's where my mind currently sits. Fighting it could throw me into a spiral so I'm just letting it play out.

The new expansion launches on the 26^th and I've been upgrading the gear on my main to be as ready as possible. I've only been playing solo content (so no raids or dungeons except follower dungeons for story). My aim is to reach iLevel 500 before the 26^th (for those that understand) and I'm currently on ~~498~~ 499. Shouldn't be long.

Our sole surviving guinea pig had been off colour recently, eating little and not coming out of his 'house' as much as usual. We suspected that he might be in his final days but it was still a shock to come downstairs this morning and find he had passed.

Gary outlived his brother, Jeff, by eleven months. While most will say that a guinea pig won't survive long after losing it's only cage-mate, Gary absolutely thrived on his own. He seemed to prefer it. Maybe it was because he got all the attention and food.

I spent a while before lunch cleaning out and dismantling his cage. It all went to the tip in the afternoon leaving a 'hole' in our house to match the one in our hearts.

2025/04/03#p2

One of the common criticisms of the Behringer TD-3 is that the sound is too 'bright' when compared to the Roland TB-303 – the cutoff frequency knob is set too high. This can be changed by taking the case off and adjusting the VCF Offset.

I've always loved really angry, squelchy acid so don't mind the brightness this gives but with two TD-3s I wanted them to have different personalities.

Armed with a couple of screwdrivers I tweaked the black TD-3 (how fitting) to make the sound a bit darker, just what sounded good to my ears rather than trying to tune it properly. I have to say, it definitely sounds more like a real 303 now – it's smoother and less raspy.

To fully test, I made a new track (appropriately titled 'Darker') with the acid lead played on the now tweaked black TD-3. 9 minutes of pure self-indulgence:

#acid

Colin Walker