January is almost over, and it feels good to be turning the page. As I started a new role this Jan, it has sometimes felt like everything was shifting. I don’t think one is fully settled into an Engineering role for at least 6 months (hence the prevalence of six-month notice periods), but thankfully, I now have a plan of what I’m doing and feeling a little more settled.
Tax month was not at all stressful for the first time in my adult life this year—why? I did my tax return in October 2022! This is unheard of for me, but I will continue to do it early in the coming years, plus you get your rebate (or bill) figure sooner.
It was a long week in terms of calendar bookings. I had multiple evening meetings to attend (Choir, HucklowNet directors’ meeting, etc) so found it hard to catch up on anything that ran over its allocated time. Next week should be quieter, and I’m going to make an active choice not to book anything else in.
Choir was hard this week and it was funny that one of the other bases said: “is this getting harder, or are we getting worse?” I think, and hope, that we’re actually getting better but the pieces we’re attempting are harder. Nevertheless, we’re all really enjoying the experience and I would insist anyone with any interest in singing join a choir; a totally heuristic experience.
The HucklowNet directors’ meeting went well, and we have finally agreed to meet on a schedule, rather than ad-hoc. I think this will provide a good structure to discussions as we transition into a new phase of the project. We’re seeing a heightened level of failures (we continue to have better uptime than all major providers) as some hardware (purchased second hand) is over 5 years old for us. There’s now a plan to get replacing these, and I have a list of actions that stretches out to the next scheduled meeting. The fun never ends…
Had some good discussions in my professional role this week, and as said, I am getting the feel of things more, starting to get a plan together, and talking to enough people to gather requirements. Next week has further requirements gathering, and goal setting for our IaC direction.
The weekend was absolutely fantastic. D had gifted me a skincare voucher and I had a wonderful extraction facial (my skin was all one texture, for the first time ever) and I paid extra for a hot-stone massage. We spent the rest of the weekend with friends and playing “Horizon: Forbidden West”.
D and I started “The Last of Us” on HBO this weekend with our friend S. It was one of the best, if not the best game adaptations for TV. I’m loving the story following the game arc, with only subtle differences that are necessary for TV (like not having gas-masks covering the actor’s faces). I can’t wait for the rest of the episodes and to find out how they do Part II in the second season. D tells me that the producers think Part II of the game will provide enough content for two seasons! I think they’ve got it right in not focusing on the Zombies, but rather the difficult decisions made in extreme circumstances, and the consequences those have on the psyche.
In summary:
- Busy week all round;
- Hard but rewarding Choir session;
- HucklowNet meetings and decisions;
- More to add to the HucklowNet backlog;
- Lots of movement in my new role (in a good direction);
- An amazing facial and massage;
- “The Last of Us” (phenomenal).
