Kitchen Finish Project
As we are nearing the end of the Kitchen Refresh Program, much of what is left to do is fit and finish.
Wallpaper behind the coffee station: Wallpaper and new textured glass on cabinet: Painted the kitchen (and adjoining family room) walls: Replaced electrical sockets and switches from almond to white/black: The only thing left to do is sort out the overhead lighting situation and then patch+paint the ceiling.
My Relationship with Running
My relationship with running started in June of 2020.
I had always hated the idea of running. Everyone who runs seems pretty unhappy while they are doing it. Odds are if you wave at a runner, they will not wave back. This was a big scary thing I had intended to never do. Then things changed, and then I changed. The first change was the pandemic and I was stuck having to get to know myself.
Organizing My Projects
Inspired by the book, Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman, I have used the idea of keeping a list of active and inactive projects. In the book, he suggests no more than ten active projects. For me, five works better. I even try to keep a project in each category of my life to be well-rounded.
Health goals Professional goals Self-Improvement goals Relationship goals Household goals I am also a big believer in “strategic underachievement” and for me, that is being bad at email, slack, and text messaging.
The Dichotomy of Career Advice
Much of the career advice you hear is in the “work smarter, not harder” category. Career advice is best given by those who have had a career for a couple of decades. Nobody wants to listen to a recent graduate’s opinion on how to be successful at work. The problem though is that for those giving out advice, they are in an entirely different phase of their careers. A phase where their experience should be helping shape focus and priority.
The Man From the Future by Ananyo Bhattacharya
When I was in high school, some of the few books I read were biographies of scientists around the Manhattan Project. I was unnecessarily obsessed with the topic. John Von Neumann was the stand-out. He was not only absurdly brilliant but also a hero of mine. I had aspirations of becoming a Mathematician. This book is centered more around the major works of Von Neumann and is a good reminder of his influence and how his influence had ripple effects on so many others.
Welcome to Summer
Wine Shelf Project
A bonus project I took on was to make our small useless set of shelves that were filler for an odd spacing between the new and old cabinets and make them more wine bottle friendly. The bottles fit perfectly in the space, but nothing holding them in place or centering them.
The key to this project was to constrain it to the tools I have which inform the sizing. Since my miter saw has a six-inch cutting length, that meant there would be six inches in length.
Experimentations in Less Phone
I have been trying to look into my own reliance on the phone. I don’t mean the actual phone (which is the worst application installed on my phone), but the time spent soaking up my hours when I’m bored. Leaving the phone in my junk drawer when I don’t need it and relying more on small notebooks has been a useful detox for myself and has kept me grounded in the present moment I find myself in.
Ideas are Cheap
Any idiot can have an idea, but getting that idea into execution is where the real skill is.
Like him or not, this entire interview with former President Obama on working is great. If you want to only spend one minute, forward to minute 12 for excellent career advice.
Metric - Formentera
Canada has brought me smoke filled air and Metric in the past month. I was already a Metric fan, but had not really listened to their latest album. I was fortunate to pick it up on vinyl when I was in Canada back in April. The right thing to do with an album is to give yourself time to warm up to it. The two songs I keep coming back to are: