TX here too. My 16-yo just got his learner's permit and that can't be done online. Many locations don't have available appointments for months. Some, such as in SE Texas, have same day appointments. We ended up driving over an hour away to get a same-week appointment.
I don't know if this is possible for your use case in TX but my local DMV in OR has a months-long wait for a REAL ID appointment. Or, you can walk in and get it done in about 30 minutes most days. I guess they only have one or two people fully trained to process the applications but similar to getting into a doctor's office when you have an urgent need, they can usually squeeze you in even without an appointment.
I had a classic 101-key Unicomp Model M that I purchased while they were apparently having quality problems due to worn out tooling. The keys felt different than my real Model Ms and the spacebar frequently stuck. They've since refurbished the tooling and I hear the quality is back to the high level you would expect.
For me though I just chose to retire the Unicomp and refurbish my real Model Ms. I bought three about 20 years ago from https://www.clickykeyboards.com/ and sent them back last year. They're as good as new and they feel so good to type on. Plus I don't have those damned extra keys the "New" Model M has.
Yeah, I dumpster-dived a couple (original IBM Model M's), years ago, from the same PC shops that were throwing out working Pentium III / 4 systems. Totally great condition and still working problem-free today! I did have to purchase a couple keycaps on ebay as they were lost when thrown out into the dumpster (knocked off due to hitting other stuff), but really a minor issue!
I initially tried to go the classic route and get a refurbished Model M from the clicky keys guy. After having thismmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm happen at sporadic intervals with multiple boards (after paying to ship it back), I wrote it off and got a Unicomp New Model M. Been cruisin' and clackin' hard ever since.
How long ago were the issues? A co-worker of mine bought one many years ago (10-12 if I had to guess). It was pretty bad. He spent a bunch of time filing down all the bits of extra plastic from the manufacturing process. I had seen better finishing on keyboard costing a fraction of the price. Not that Unicomp has the highest prices in the market, far from it, but it’s not a $10 OEM board either.
I had wanted to buy one, but seeing his always made me think twice, so never did.
The unicomp Model M I got 15 years or so ago was an absolute dog that felt like a wish.com version of the venerable Model M. It had constant problems and I ended up releasing it into the general computer lab to be destroyed by postdocs.
Can confirm. I owned Unicomps before and after their retooling. The old ones developed problems quickly, and I've been on a new one since shortly after it was available, (three years?). Reliable, and as loud and clicky as it should be.
Every couple of years, I try a new keyboard. But after a day or two I return to the Model M that I'm typing on now. I bought a few on ebay about 20 years ago - so I'm good until retirement.
There are a lot of good practices there and I commend the author for sharing. I disagree with code freezes + manual QA verification -- why just dip your toes into CICD? -- and the advice about writing tests. "We don't have time to test now" results in a vicious circle.
