This week in squirrels…

Summary

  • IPv6 + Docker
    • Since reloading my server, IPv6 has been broken in some unique and fun ways. Almost everything has been around my ULA+SLAAC RA configuration.
    • And then Docker was blackholing packets coming in on IPv6 routing to containers. I learned this is a new Moby feature which is just breaking some things. I moved all my network configurations out of engine.json and into my Docker Compose file, and it fixed SOME of the issues.
    • External systems routing in IPv6 to containers still doesn’t work in the exact same docker-compose and router setup, but at least that internal network traffic can route and track ipv6.
  • Sway
    • Am I WM hopping? No, I promise, I swear. It’s not a hop; I was just uhhhhhhhhhhh switching to Sway to compare a few weeks on Niri. It’s pretty trivial to switch back and forth, so back to the experimenting.
    • I lasted exactly 1 evening on Sway. I didn’t even get like a moment into my work day before I was like… I have WAY too much going on rn to play with this. Also I don’t think I can go back to how it counts desktops.
  • The curse of the Realtek rtl8125 & NixOS
    • For all my time using Debian on my server and Mint on my desktop, I never had a single issue with my Realtek RTL8125b 2.5Gb NIC cards. However, since I switched to NixOS, it’s been a nightmare, and I’m not sure why.
    • Are there a lot fewer kernel hacks and patches pre-applied? I am using a lot of the nixos-hardware module, but it’s not as mature.
    • I also didn’t realize I had to set extra options to get all my non-free firmware blobs.
    • Even with all this and forcing the upstream Realtek driver, my network hard stops working without any errors or messages; I don’t even see an official disconnect or packet loss. It just takes a little sleepy break long enough to disrupt everything. I am now deep into tuning a lot of module load settings and disabling power management on them.
    • I would like to go back to everything working, but it’s a mess.
  • WM Tweaking
    • Let it never be said I don’t absolutely love and adore using a window manager. For the longest time, I used an open box with a bunch of custom menus on my work computer, only to eventually switch to an i3.
    • In the last few years, I got into Sway, but then went back to using a full DE to stop me from spending all my time tuning, tweaking, and fiddling
    • But then I saw Niri
    • Niri feels the most at home and makes me the happiest, but I am back to using a WM, and that means everything needs to be set up.
    • It’s been two weeks since I went to Niri, and it’s been a RIDE of tuning config files and trying to get everything back
    • But now I am back to solid, I think, and I pray to all heck I can just be happy with this and stop touching it. I love the filling and theming, but I also know it’s a time sink.
  • Work stress
    • I don’t want to get into the details, but things are extra extra stressful at work. I have been very on edge and burnt out, and the latest news is that many people are involved.
    • However, we have some discussions going on, and we can get through them all.

Books

  • The Anemone Feels the Heat, Vol. 1 ⭐⭐⭐
    • This is a re-read because I forgot so much of this. In the end, it’s weird and toxic, but the fact that she only takes one volume to get off it. I do really like the art.
  • The Anemone Feels the Heat Vol 2 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
    • This manga is actually getting better. I love the ultra-dramatic gay person who is not getting her way and has to make everybody’s relationship all drama. The fact that they are getting on with the ties quickly is making this enjoyable.

Music

  • The Body’s “I’ve Seen All I Need to See”
    • I never thought I would buy an album on the recommendation of a Verge article, but here we are in 2025.
    • This album is noisy, harsh, and aggressive.
  • Leroy’s Dariacore Trilogy
    • I didn’t even realize that this is a lot of the origin of the Femtanyl sound. A bough quality but an interesting mix of mashup and hyperpop.

Reads and Videos

Quote of the Week

None this week.