💭 Quick Thoughts
I read this Dear James: I Hate My Post-college Life article in The Atlantic today, which ties into a chapter from David Brooks' The Second Mountain I read last night. Both highlight the challenges young people face—particularly around navigating their newfound “freedom”.
Over the past weekend, a strange confluence of circumstances created the context in which I introduced my daughter to this song. Nothing like a nostalgic trip to the 80s. I thought it would elicit eye rolls, but I actually caught her sharing it with her boyfriend yesterday.
I’ve been going since 4:00 a.m. this morning and I’m hitting an afternoon wall. 🥱 I’m hoping a coffee and perhaps a brisk walk will allow me to rally and have a strong finish to my day.
I checked in with a coworker who was out on Friday because he wasn’t feeling well. I learned that one of the contributing factors was that he felt “peopled out”. I’m glad he acknowledged that and gave himself the time off. It also reminded me of this:
Was sorting through some old papers in a desk drawer and found this. It’s been quite a while (as evidenced by the old branding) since Alaska Airlines set these down on the tray table with the in-flight snacks.
Even though it’s available, I think I’m going to defer updating to iOS 18 until a dot release. Maybe I’ll wait for the update that contains Apple Intelligence. 🤷🏻♂️
When it comes to exercise, I’ve determined there are two types of soreness: the bad sore that actually hurts and limits your ability to function normally, and the good sore that simply serves as a reminder that you’ve exercised. I like the good sore.
This morning, while walking in my neighborhood, I (a pedestrian) narrowly avoided a collision with a food/grocery delivery driver at a busy intersection. Despite having the walk signal and her facing a red light, she rolled into the crosswalk, only stopping when my hands were on the hood of her car. Thankfully, she braked in time to prevent any harm. She was apologetic, but unfortunately, she was also distracted by her phone, engaged in a lively conversation. The dangers of driving while distracted seems to be a growing problem that could soon rival driving while impaired. Perhaps using a hands-free device could have made her more aware of her surroundings. 🤷🏻♂️
It’s interesting how the scope expands so easily. Yesterday, I started thinking about getting a bike and budgeting for that and now I am thinking I also need to get a trailer hitch installed on my car to accommodate the new bike rack that I’ll also need to purchase. 💸
Embracing a new adventure! 🚴♀️ My bum knee and aching joints have convinced me that running doesn’t enjoy me. So, I’ve swapped my sneakers for a stationary bike. But I miss the fresh air! I’m considering investing in a bike—maybe a gravel bike? 🤔 Any seasoned cyclists out there? I’m all ears!
I was just reading through an old book on my shelf and noticed I had to keep fussing with part of the dust jacket that was torn. I’m wondering what others do with torn dust jackets. Should I try to mend it with tape or just discard it altogether?
My daughter is planning for me to watch the Oscars with her tonight so I thought about watching another one of the movies that is up for Best Picture but don’t really feel like investing 3 hours into a film right now. I feel like I need to be more “productive” in the meantime.
Today is my first day back at work after taking time off during the holidays. I definitely enjoyed my time off but it is difficult to jump right back into things at work. There’s always a tax to pay after being away for a bit. I’m determined to take smaller, more frequent breaks from work this year.
Although I still have the remnants of a cough, today is the first day in over a month that I actually feel pretty decent and like I have enough energy to do what I need/want to do. I’m really hoping this is the start of a positive health trend.
When my iPhone 12 Pro died the other day, my kids thought it was obvious that I would just get a new iPhone 15 as a replacement. While I still might do that, in the meantime I decided to put my old iPhone 6s back in the rotation. It’s taken me a while to get used to the home button again.
I was not planning on upgrading my device but my iPhone 12 Pro (which I’ve had for 3 years now) decided to die for no reason. It was working fine and then I set it on my charger and I returned to the black screen of death. Tried the usual fixes and tried to run diagnostics but it’s dead dead.
I’ve been sick for 3-4 weeks now and just can’t shake it. My cough and other symptoms seem to have improved a bit today but I just feel absolutely exhausted. Really looking forward to feeling “normal” again.
I just got caught in the most ridiculous automated phone tree vortex and can’t remember the last time I felt such rage. In addition to customer service support perhaps these automated platforms can explore opportunities in the cardiology market to administer stress tests.
I’m debating whether to pay for a Medium subscription. I’ve started a few articles recently where I get hooked by the first few paragraphs but am then blocked from finishing the article due to it being reserved for members only. Any subscribers care to share your experience? Worth the monthly cost?
I was reading Amazon reviews of a book I was considering and noticed a couple of 1-star reviews and neither had anything to do with the content of the book or quality of the writing. One was regarding the shipping and the other was regarding a tear on the dust jacket. Even if I give the benefit of the doubt here and acknowledge a need to provide review feedback on such things, it would be nice to filter the review content to try and segregate substantive reviews of the content of the book from other reviews regarding shipping, service, or quality of the packaging. 🤷🏻