📅 This week I went back to using Cal Newport’s Time Block Planner at work. I felt like I needed an hour-by-hour grid, with enough space to redraw the plan as I go through my day. So, I’m using the Rocketbook for high level planning (month and week plans), my notes and meeting notes. But for the daily plan detail I prefer a dedicate time blocker.
👟 I finally got proper new running shoes! I went to a specialized store to get some advice, and I showed them my old pair and. After they observed me walking around, the conclusion was that I have a more neutral stride, not much overpronation going on. Good to know!
🏃♀️ Running: 4 runs in total, one of them was by the river with a nice breeze. It was hot in the last few days (around 30C) so my pace was slower because of the heat:
July 23, 2024 => 7.11km – 49 minutes – pace 6:53 min/km
July 26, 2024 => 7.22km – 49minutes – pace 6:48 min/km
July 27, 2024 => 4.61km – 33minutes – pace 7:08 min/km
July 28, 2024 => 7.3km – 53minutes – pace 7:15 min/km
🧩 We started the Tiamat Dragon puzzle. The border is almost complete, it’s only missing 2 pieces that must be mixed with all the others. We’ll find them eventually!
🛌 We were searching for a new mattress, and we found a firm one that we like this weekend. We’ve both been waking up with a sore back and we can feel our current mattress doesn’t hold the same firmness anymore (we both don’t like soft mattresses). So, we are switching from memory foam to a good firm pocketed-coil mattress. It will be delivered later this week, and I can’t wait!
🎧 I listened to two Metallica albums non-stop, something that I rarely do these days (listening to a full music album from start to finish, I mean). Nostalgia feelings everywhere!
📖 I finished reading Turn Coat (The Dresden Files #11) by Jim Butcher. It is a series that is always there for me with a great protagonist, a dog, a cat, good humour and magic shenanigans with vampires and werewolves. Always a fun ride!
—-
Post 27/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge (Round 2)!
🏖️ We went on a day-road-trip this weekend to Kingston. We walked around the waterfront, which is lovely in the summer! It was a sunny, gorgeous day. We packed some waffle sandwiches and had lunch by the waterfront in Kingston. It was breezy and nice by the lake. We also visited the Pump House Museum and saw some real-life steampunk water pumps from 1851. Cool! Later in the day I got into a small rabbit hole to know more about steam engines and how a centrifugal governor works:
Steampunk images from the Pump House Museum – Kingston
Kingston waterfront
🚗 And on the way back from Kingston we drove through the 1000 Islands Parkway and then the Long Sault Parkway Scenic Routes. It was more than 400km total. Perfect day for a road trip.
👟 We went for a 7Km scenic run around Dow’s Lake on Sunday. Again, such nice weather and beautiful scenery. We didn’t run the whole perimeter because we weren’t sure about the distance, so we walked a bit. But we could have run all around, I think it’s less than 10Km so it’s doable! We will come back another day.
📚 I’m glad to be back reading The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. I read the first book in 2019, and now I’m reading book #11. The writing just gets better with each book. But it is urban fantasy and some of the books were quite formulaic and sometimes it felt repetitive to read them one after the other. I usually take a breather and then come back to the series. And I come back because of the characters, they are great!
✅ I’ve been experimenting a GTD setup, just out of curiosity. I thought it would be more impactful, but I think I still prefer my old setup with Nirvana.
—-
Post 25/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge (Round 2)!
🌞 I’m enjoying Summer this year! Having lived most of my life in Brazil, summer was my least favorite season because summers there are brutal! I think this here in my corner of Canada summer has been manageable. Of course, having a house with central AC helps a lot. We don’t try to get our house too cold; we keep it at 23-24C just so that we have AC running a few times to get rid of humidity and keep the house at a comfortable temperature. We use AC in conjunction with ceiling fans and it works well to keep our house cool and lower energy consumption.
🧩 Our Ancient Map puzzle is framed! We couldn’t find the right frame size at IKEA, so we got a frame at Michaels, and it was the perfect size. Now I know that Michaels has a huge variety of frames. The framed puzzle is at my reading corner. I loved it!
🛌 Me and my partner had a few errands to do this week. One of them included searching for a new mattress for our bed. We are still searching. We went to one store, and we want to go to at least one more to compare.
👟 My left toe blister disappeared this week. I went for walks during the week and on Sunday I ventured going out for a run and it was okay. I ran 7km with a slower pace of 7.26min/km (partly because I didn’t want to exert myself and because it was so hot! 🥵). I ran with my old pair of shoes. I didn’t have time to go to the specialized running store to get a new pair of running shoes yet. It’s next on my list!
🛋️ We finally got a ceiling fan for our living room to replace an old badly installed ceiling lamp assembly that was left by the previous house owner. Looking better now! This was the last room we wanted to install a ceiling fan in the house.
✅ I got frustrated (and bored) with Nirvana as my to-do app. I had some ideas on how to make my tasks system simpler and easier to use with less limitations. So, yeah, I looked at Todoist again and I got a new setup I’m testing. I’ll write a post describing it later this week.
Post 23/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge (Round 2)!
🎳 I went bowling! It was a team building event at work and it was fun. It was the Five-pin bowling which seems to be a Canadian thing only. The ball is smaller and there are no fingerholes in it. Now I know!
🚶♂️ I didn't run much because of a nasty blister on my left foot. But I did do some walking! One of those times we went by the river near the Sailing Club for a light walk on a sunny day.
📺 I finished watching the Documentary “The Ascent of Woman”. Although it's from 2015 it is still totally relevant today. It covers different eras and cultures, showcasing some women who defied the status quo of their time. Looking at the whole timescale, it's sad to notice that for most of our history women were excluded and oppressed. I like the idea that the status of women is a barometer of a society’s tolerance, fairness, and openness.
🧩Me and my partner were browsing a board/card games store, and we found a Dungeons and Dragons 1,000-piece puzzle with Tiamat (the 5-headed dragon) and we also got a Munchkin Deluxe set. We used to have the base set when we lived in Brazil, and it disappeared when we moved to Canada 7 years ago. So, we played Munchkin together this weekend! It's such a well-designed game and it is so much fun!
📌Interesting Online Reads
When the world went quiet by 82MHz : a nice post-pandemic reflection. I remember those quiet moments. I wish we could go back to that stillness sometimes (but without the pandemic, of course!).
💤 With Summer here the days are super long, and that always affects my sleep patterns. I had some days that I was feeling the effects of sleep deprivation, because I had a tough time sleeping by 9:30pm (which is my usual bedtime). There is sunlight up until 9pm or more! I made a stronger effort to get ready for bed starting at 9pm: closing the blackouts (even though it feels like the day never ends) and ignoring the sunshine outside.
🎬 I watched 2 movies:
Renfield (2023): I went in with low expectations, and I ended up enjoying it! It's funny, with absurd action scenes. It was entertaining, even though the themes are dark: a Dracula's servant suffering from an abusive relationship.
Oppenheimer (2023): It's beautifully shot, and I liked how the nonlinear timelines were presented and then merged. We can see it was a well-researched production with impeccable art. Gorgeous, dramatic, and emotional.
👟 Me and my partner went on an adventure for a run/walk downtown this long weekend. We parked by the river rapides and ran around 5Km to get downtown. Then we walked, saw the preparations for the Canada Day under way, crossed the Alexandra bridge to the Quebec side, walked some more and crossed back near the Canadian War Museum and ran back to the car. It was a total of 10Km! I was exhausted (and hungry) at the end. It was a lovely, perfect day! I felt totally energized after this adventure.
🧩We finished the Ancient Map Puzzle!! 👏🤗 I want to frame it now!
📚 I read a ton of romance this month and I had so much fun! I’m discovering these authors who write lighthearted and funny stories with strong main characters. I consider them a type of fantasy reading, giving me the similar fascination with imaginary worlds but with much more emotions involved.
Happy Canada Day!
—
Post 19/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge (Round 2)!
🐢 I took it terribly slow this week. I focused on reading and resting. I didn’t play any video games and I didn’t watch anything. I worked a bit on our ancient map puzzle.
☀️ Summer is here! We had a heat wave and humidex reached 40 °C for most of last week. Then it rained almost the whole weekend, with heavy thunderstorms on and off. I’ve never seen such a humid “tropical” weather like this around here.
👟 We went running once, on a day that was not raining but it was 34 °C 🥵. We did 6Km, at a slower pace of 7:15 min/km. It was too hot!
📝 My partner wants to get more organized, and he asked me to help him setting up his GTD (Getting Things Done) system. Finally! I was so happy! I gave him the books, we watched some introductory videos together, we read the first chapters of the GTD Workbook, we did a mind sweep together. He’s a notebook guy, so he’s implementing it on paper. So cool ! 🤗
🤯 Explaining GTD made me rethink a little bit about my system. It’s still in progress, but I want to simplify a few things. Food for thought.
🌳 We visited a friend in Quebec on Sunday. He lives by a lake, and I spent some time reading my book with a nice view and sounds of water, birds, and ducks.
📖 Books: I’m all in romance mode right now, I finished the second one of the “Uptown Girls” series, and I jumped to another one by Tessa Dare. I will continue reading “System Collapse” soon.
An afternoon by a lake somewhere inQuébec
—-
Post 17/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge (Round 2)!
✨ I went to Scintillation this weekend! I took the train to Montreal (which I love) and spent 3 days immersed in conversations about books, stories, plots, writing. I had a great time! I added some books to my TBR list, such as: “The Princess Bride” by William Goldman, “The Lifecycle of Software Objects” by Ted Chiang and “Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language” by Gretchen McCulloch (who was there at the convention and moderated some funny panels, she is awesome!). There was also an interesting panel about Dante Alighieri and his masterpiece the “Divine Comedy” as seen as a speculative fiction work. And so much more!
🏛 Also in Montreal I spent some time at the Grande Bibliothèque, browsing books and comics, reading in a comfy chair and just being amazed at the size of that library. I love that place!
📖 I started reading “System Collapse” on the train, the latest book from the Murderbot series by Martha Wells. I remember really enjoying the previous ones, but this one didn't seem to catch my attention that much. I stopped halfway through to give it some time. Most scenes are action scenes, and it was exhausting to read. I'll see if I'll get back to it.
🎭 And when I stopped reading “System Collapse” I knew I wanted something light and interesting, so I started the second book of the Uptown Girls series “The Prince of Broadway” by Joanna Shupe. I read 20% in only one sitting. It flew by! That is a clear indication that my reading mood right now is: light and fluffy! 🩷
📺 I started watching the docuseries “The Ascent of Woman” by Dr Amanda Foreman on Curiosity Stream. I didn’t know that the first written record of mandatory use of the veil by women was in the Code of the Assyrians circa 1450 BCE. The first episode covers ancient civilizations, and I also wasn’t aware of how ancient Greece women lacked all rights of citizenship. It was not cool to be a woman back then.
📌 Cool Online Reads:
Mental Yoga: Lovely post about slowing down. I was way more “agitated” before I knew yoga, and I can look back and tell the difference before and after yoga became a part of my daily routine.
👟 Running 7Km is my new normal now. It’s a huge improvement from last year! 🤗 I can comfortably run this distance. But I only ran once this week, the other days were all walks because we had this constant start-stop rain going on most days.
Jun 04, 2024 => 7.17Km – Pace 6:43 min/km
👔 I attended a company general meeting where we go to this conference room to hear the latest news of our area. I've always felt out of place in these meetings because it's a LOT of people and it's noisy and overwhelming. But this time it was not so bad; I was better prepared to socialize and before I got exhausted, I slipped away to take some quick breaks. It also helps that I know more people now: project managers that I deal with regularly over the phone or virtual meetings and it was nice to say “hi” in person.
📖 I took the Saturday to read. Really, I didn't touch my computer, I was away from my phone for hours and I just leisurely read all day. I had tea and snacks and lunch. It's been a while since I haven't paused like that to read. It helped that I was reading a romance novel that I couldn't put down.
🧠 I'm rethinking the way I use the Internet. I realized that if I'm bored or stressed out I will jump on the Internet and search for quick dopamine hits. I wrote about how I feel hacked and it is something more people experience. I believe less is more. Curation is key. I’m still thinking about it.
—
Post 13/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge (Round 2)!
📖Reading: I started a Book Club read which is a Norse-Mythology-Viking inspired fantasy. The tone is not really appealing me: it is a dark and gritty world with bloody vengeance themes. Maybe I won’t finish it. I’m also reading Scott Pilgrim and a couple of romances.
👟Running is going well. I’m being able to increase my distance without any physical pain or bad side effects. It has been awesome! And I did the 10K Run for Women on Sunday, I broke my record! First time running 10K in a long time !
May 29, 2024 => 7.22 km – Pace 6.53 min/km
May 31, 2024 => 5.87 km – Pace 6.51 min/km
June 2, 2024 => 10 km – Pace 6.42 min/km (Race – Run for Women)
I discover so much about myself when writing, so even when I have stopped blogging for months at a time, I was always writing. The moment I stop, the demons creep in.
The main reason is that writing has a cleansing effect on me. When I’m not writing in one way or another, it’s like a clogged drain pipe on the verge of bursting.
📆 I’m being consistent with my Monthly Plans using the Rocketbook Fusion Plus. It’s nice to note down all the events and deadlines coming up. It makes me feel less anxious.
Goblincore is an internet aesthetic and subculture inspired by the folklore of goblins, centered on the celebration of natural ecosystems usually considered less beautiful by conventional norms, such as soil, animals, and second-hand objects. — Goblincore – Wikipedia
Some images from the run: it was a nice location by a lake; a beautiful day and I’ve never noticed this sculpture on the right before, so I had to take a picture!
—-
Post 11/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge (Round 2)!
😊 This week just flew by! I thought about how well I'm feeling now if compared to the weeks after I got COVID back in March. My energy levels are back to pre-pandemic levels and I'm sure getting my iron infusion has helped a lot.
📝 I am still not sure what got into me that I wanted to change my to-do app to Todoist. I had this plan that I would use it for 90 days to really test it out, but I couldn't stand it more than a couple of days. I think it was the whole overhead of setting it up and wanting it to behave like Nirvana. Lesson learned: it's easier to just use Nirvana than bend something else into being Nirvana-like.
🔔 Still on the productivity tools arena, I realized that I was neglecting the Reminders app in iOS. Sometimes I want to set up a reminder and doing it with the Outlook Calendar is not quick and easy. But using the iOS Reminders app is way simpler!
👟 Next Sunday I'll do a 10Km race “Run for Women”! And talking about running, this is my log this week:
May 20 => 5.15Km
May 23 => 7.15Km
May 26 => 9.15 Km
🎧 I listened to this Cal Newport podcast: EP. 299: OUR LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH PERSONAL PRODUCTIVITY and in the Deep Dive segment he talks about the 20-year personal productivity history and what were the books that captured each “trend” throughout the years. From Stephen Covey's “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, to David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” to Jenny Odell's “How To Do Nothing”, among others.
🎮 I'm still playing Stardew Valley very deliberately and I've made a breakthrough! I finally managed to get a furnace, to turn copper ore into copper bars and finally get a copper axe! Now I can cut down trees, expand my chicken coop, and open some areas for more crops, getting ready for my first winter. I also now have mushrooms in my cave.
🧩 Made some progress on our Ancient Map puzzle! All the decorative borders are done!
—-
Post 08/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge (Round 2)!
Kingston waterfront
