260 - life update 🎊🧧⏳
Hey there, !
It's been a hot (and cold (and then hot again)) minute! What is happening with the weather these days. 🎼 Springtime in Melbourne 🎶 I guess.
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Look at our boi Gandalf <3 he's so CUTE. He loves hangin' out at windows looking out at the world, and stares out the window when I get home waiting for me to get in (sometimes because I'm just doomscrolling in the car lol).
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I printed this cool card dispenser thing which is supposed to shoot cards out the slot - it works, but the O-rings are not super great (probably an error on my part in terms of the sizing - they are a bit sticky and don't push the cards out super perfectly, but that's okay. I've been trying to learn CAD so I can do similar things, but learning takes time. Luckily, the stars have aligned as FreeCAD (the software I started using) has just released their v1.0.0 which means it's pretty feature-packed. I had tried to start learning a while ago but the only options were Solidworks or Fusion360 which all had restrictions on use. We love OpenSource :D
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I spent time shadowing my celebrant mentor (@monamelbcelebrant) who is a family friend of my brother-in-law; she specialises in these tea ceremonies and I was there to assist in the setup and observe by learning as part of my celebrant course. It's kind of intimidating to see someone at the height of their power and being absolutely killer at their job, but also really admirable! Learning the Cantonese rituals in this way was really fun and hella interesting. Celebrant training is chugging along - I'm finally at the practicals section so good luck to me.
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The job is going well - truly, madly, deeply well. It's another big learning area for me as there are a lot of things I haven't experienced or tried before, so I'm thankful to the patience and trust of my friends / colleagues as I learn hehe. Most importantly we're progressing, so good job us.
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My internet has temperamentally up and down in the last few weeks; my Teams calls were rocky, but my downloads were fine. I went to ask my provider, MATE, what the hell was happening and why I wasn't getting the upload speed I needed to work from home - lo and behold, 2 weeks later it's been fixed. Funnily enough, I cheekily asked them if I could get a cheaper rate for my internet and they just gave it to me. I got a \$15 discount if I went up a level on my plan, which was \$10 more expensive...so it was \$5 cheaper to UPGRADE my plan. I mean, good for them since I'm now more sticky, but also how did that pricing get through their internals. Great retention strategy.
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The interesting thing of having more time in life is the joy of having time to review habits and routines and tweak / change them where necessary (wow, groundbreaking stuff Vince!).
Alright fine, it's a bit obvious, but this wasn't the easiest thing to do while busy at Deloitte. Having more time and energy to review life is a blessing, yes, I know that now. The routines I had for myself are improving, I think, with respect to exercise and eating (as in, I have more time for them) but perhaps are becoming more lethargic in other aspects (i.e. the comfort of staying home, watching movies, being by myself). It's not that I've become a recluse by any means, but it's interesting to observe myself and what I'm spending my effort on.
I love spending time to plan for DnD sessions, or cooking, or watching movies, but also more recently working on bigger 3d printing projects, reading more books again, brainstorming new things to do with the newsletter, seeing old friends...just setting aside more time to actually add more things to my plate that aren't work-related. It's refreshing - though I know change is the only ever constant so I'm just going to enjoy this while it lasts.
Chat soon :)
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✔️Real Life Recommendations
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Wicked - yeah, I liked it - 4.5 stars. Go watch Ariana Grande-Butera knock it out of the park as a fantastic Glinda, Cynthia Erivo tear your heart out every time she opens her mouth to sing, and admire the production and choreography and Easter eggs and cameos and sound and everything. Highly recommended! Also shoutout to Michelle Yeoh and Bowen Yang - get that Asian pride into Oz :D
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Waku Waku - nice Japanese / Hokkaido (apparently) eatery. It's just well done food tbh - I had one of their specials (a creamy Mentaiko Udon) which slapped! Recommended if you're in the Melb CBD near MC.
🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway
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Bhutan, after prioritising happiness, now faces an existential crisis - essentially, that all the young people are leaving for better opportunities elsewhere. A classic push-pull of priorities that show strengths, are weaknesses.
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The meme-ification of the "Demon Core" - if I have to know about this, so do you. Anime girls x super niche physics is a niche I never thought I'd encounter.
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Care doesn't scale - so if you're able to for even just one person, in your locus of control, that's the best you can do in the world.