Don't Be Busy

I was on Pinterest the other day, just swinging through to pick up a link I'd saved there, when this graphic/phrase caught my eye and lodged a little in my brain. I wanted to share it here because it struck me as a personal challenge. (And maybe you'll know someone else who needs to be challenged like this?)

I am absolutely certain there's going to be a LOT going on this year. (I've got the calendar and bullet journal lists to prove it!) But I want to stop answering "good, but busy!" every time someone asks me how I've been, or starting emails by apologizing for taking so long to reply because things have been so busy. Days can be full and deadlines can be tight, and it's okay to be focused on being productive - because there is so much I want and need to do.

But 'busy' is as much an emotion as an adjective - it speaks of haste and preoccupation and sometimes, unfortunately, doing things for the sake of doing them or simply by default. That's not what I want for my 2018. We've put a lot of work into paring down our stuff - this year I want to pare down the intangibles. The bad habits, the inefficiencies, the unfounded assumptions, the hold-overs from previous stages of life that aren't serving me any more. I want to pay attention to what I'm doing and to make better choices - even if its hard, or if it takes a bunch of tries to figure out what those better choices look like.

'Busy' won't get me there.

So if you hear me saying I'm busy this year, will you call me on it? Thanks!

Celebrate With Me?

It's not a secret that our long term goal is to leave New York State. (Isn't everyone's, honestly?) Nor have we been anything less than bubbly about our Errant Venturing.

One of the first things that always, always comes to mind when we talk about long term plans and opportunities is how not portable my job is. Although I can usually get days off without too much trouble, I don't have sick time, vacation time, or anything else - all days off are unpaid. Moreover, while I could technically put in for a transfer to a different cafe when we're someday ready to move, there is no guarantee wherever we go next will even have one, let alone have a good one that needs someone in the hours I'd be available to work.

I have plenty of credentials and experience to do other - far more flexible and portable - things. But, as I've been increasingly aware the last few months, the longer I go without some kind of current employent in those fields, the less up-to-date and reliable my skills look to potential employers. To make matters worse, about 95% of what I did in the grant writing field was proprietary, which means I barely have any work that I'm allowed to show potential employers to prove what I can do! 

Anyway, to make a long story short, I set myself up with a two-pronged plan to correct that situation - the sooner the better. (More on the first prong in another post to come soon!) To make good on the second part of the plan, I've been doing the stressful and unpleasant work of job hunting for a while now, trying to find a (very) part-time, fully remote/telecommute writing-related position I can do (in addition to my full-time job) between now and when we eventually leave NY to serve as a bridge between where I am and wherever we go/whatever we do next.

AND I FINALLY GOT HIRED!

Only time will tell if it works out or if I end up going back to the drawing board but, for the moment, I am enormously relieved. It feels SO good to know that I'm not just wishing and dreaming but actually doing something to set us up for success in the areas and plans we hold near to our hearts.

Word of the Day

I ran across an awesome word today: insalubrious.

in·sa·lu·bri·ous
/insəˈlo͞obrēəs/

 adjective, formal: (especially of a climate or locality) not salubrious; unhealthy

  

I can't think of the last time I've seen this word in print or heard it used anywhere, but it's much too fabulous to be so neglected, don't you think?

1.  

The Physics of Everyday Things

The Physics of Everyday Things is a brilliant book that made me feel, shall we say, less than brilliant. It is also a book I wish that I had had the opportunity to read at a much younger age. If you want to get kids interested in science and technology, this book (and Kakalios' other book, The Physics of Superheroes) is how to get started!

The framing of the book is magnificently done: we follow a normal, average businessman through his typical day, from waking up to going to bed, exploring the technology he uses and encounters along the way. This includes everything from the toaster that makes his breakfast to the GPS that helps him navigate traffic to the touchscreen of an ATM and the high-tech equipment he benefits from at a doctor's appointment, on an airplane flight, and in a business presentation. There's discussion of everything from simple electrical circuits and basic conduction to the binary language of computers, radio waves, and the mechanical back-up fail-safes that keep our elevators secure.

It was eye-opening to be reminded of just how much technology – both what we consider 'high-tech' and older-school but equally complex alternatives – goes into the modern life we so easily take for granted. Interesting as the book was, however, parts of it were hard for me to get through which I attribute to two factors. First, to be blunt, the science classes of my youth were clearly lacking. I have vague memories of talking about electrical circuits, magnetism, etc. round about fourth grade and occasionally in high school, but I decidedly did not retain enough to go into this book with anything qualifying as background. So I was fully reliant on the explanations in the book to keep up. Which would have been fine, except for factor number two: I am a visual learner. Although Kakalios provides very well done explanations, there are few diagrams, sketches or illustrations in the book and they are all exceptionally minimalistic. That's probably fine if you're keeping up, but I consistently found myself tempted to put the book down, hop online, and find a better one to catch me up before I kept going so that I could stay with the program. Now, if you're reading this with a young person, that's probably a point to the book's favor. If you're just reading it for your own edification, not so much.

But that's just me. Your mileage may vary, and the book is decidedly worth giving a shot!

Customer Quote of the Day

Customer, talking to my boss today at work: "So my friends made me go to this musical and, you know, there was music -..."

(That was when I stopped listening because, um, hello?! Musicals that have music in them? You don't say!)

Hope you got a free laugh somewhere in your day today, too. : )

Random Fun Fact About Allergies

From a book I recently finished:

"There are many foods that share similar compounds with common allergens. For instance, wheat and grass can both cause a kind of cross-reaction. So can, oddly enough, bananas and latex." (x)

Wheat and grass I get, but... bananas and latex?!?

In case you needed a reminder that the world is a weird, weird place... there you go.  : )

Happy Sci-Fi Day!

Happy New Year!

And Happy Sci-Fi Day!

May 2018 bring you new adventures (and the strength to meet them head-on) & new joys (and the wisdom to immerse yourself in them fully).