As we can see, life notes were pushed aside. Life has been an interesting roller coaster in this second half of last year. There has been no mental bandwidth or energy for reflection. Which in itself is honestly a problem. Having time to meditate, think of direction, and generally steer the day to day of life, is essential. And I’ve been slacking off. Let’s see if I manage to pick things up and resume the accountability that the writing in the blog gives me.

Highlights

• Professional stability situation at my employer has dramatically worsened. There have been significant layoffs, and the mood is generally sour and bleak.
• We had rather active weekends filled with social get-togethers, despite the slowly rolling autumn weather. Of course, this mostly centered around the children, and their social circles. It is impressive how much that dictates the day to day. Happy about it! Sidenote: Juckerfarm has become an absolute cash grab.
• Not so much a highlight, but a lowlight. We had to rush to hospital with a severe scare in the middle of the day. Thankfully it was a false alarm, but the whole experience soured me to no end. It really puts the trivia and minutiae of the day to day into perspective.
• Christmas and New Year celebrations with reduced traveling, and mostly through the lens of the little ones, was an absolute joy. Have to wonder how much of the innocence of youth (surrounding Christmas) is lost in this day and age.

Played/Read/Watched

• Six Ideas for Poland [Article] - definitely speculative. But what it lacks in rigor it makes up in clarity and conciseness. Given my closeness to Poland, I enjoy the read.
• How to stretch a cruise [Article] - just. Wow.
• Your team needs juniors [Article] - this article highlights the need of junior employees, especially in tech. In my experience, this is paramount for any sane team to function. Mentoring and teaching are essential aspects of life, be it personal or professional.
• Only Murders in the Building [Series] - not the most complex or mind bending show. But it was good comfort, with wholesome characters, and the comedy bits we did like quite a bit.
• Roadside Picnic by the Strugatskys [Book] - read my notes on this renowned piece of science fiction. Clicked for me.