It was dark when we got up this morning – not surprising, since it was before sunrise. But it’s been dark and eerie and orange all day because of smoke from the Bear Fire in the Plumas National Forest, about 180 miles away. The air quality at ground level here has actually been OK, but everything feels ominous.

I figured out a fairly easy way to restamp all of the photos I’d exported from Apple Photos but hadn’t yet put into Lightroom with their proper capture times by letting exiftool do the heavy lifting.

All I had to write was 33 lines of Python and 4 lines of Bash (see the repository if you’re curious). The Python generates a CSV file for each day in the Photos library with the information exiftool needs to modify each photo and a call to the Bash script for each day. The Bash script calls exiftool, telling it to use the CSV to set the capture time based on the CSV file (which is based on the Photos library), but only if the photo doesn’t already have a capture time.

It’s not elegant, but it worked. Now, when I import photos into Lightroom, they have the right time and date.

I also got my new RTL-SDR.COM dongle and new antennas; I put them on the Raspberry Pi and things seem to be working. I also discovered that the Pi was falling off the wifi and that there were error messages about not having the right firmware for the wifi on the Pi; I found the right firmware and installed it. We’ll see if things are better overnight.

I’ve been remembering more of my dreams than usual for the past few months. This morning, I awoke to memories of a trip on a cruise ship which included lining up to buy a book – the book was in short supply, but they assured us that if we didn’t get one, they’d give us a copy of “Prior Immaturity” magazine instead. Sounds like my kind of magazine!

My heat sink helped with the RTL-SDR dongle, but it’s far from perfect. I didn’t miss a reading from 12:45am until 11:20am, but then the radio stopped hearing things for nearly three hours. After that, it was OK until dinnertime, when it missed most of two hours, and now it’s working reliably again. Maybe it doesn’t like to work while we’re in the kitchen!

I had to renew my driver’s license this month, and I thought I may as well get a RealID for whenever I can fly again. I used the DMV website to pre-submit copies of my documentation (passport, Social Security card, and two bills); the instruction sheet told me to go to the appointments line, even though the DMV isn’t offering appointments.

This morning, the DMV site said that there was no wait for people with appointments at the Los Gatos office, so I went there. There was a long line outside the building with a DMV employee checking temperatures; I got into the line and when she got to me, she looked at my paperwork and told me to go around to the back of the building for my appointment. I didn’t even know there was an entrance at the back of the building!

As promised, there was no line to be checked in, and I only had to wait about 15 minutes before being called to the counter. I was finished about 45 minutes after driving into the parking lot; now I just have to wait for the actual license to arrive. Thanks, DMV!