March 2022.
Tue 05 April 2022
January 2022
February 2022
What I read in March:
- https://jvns.ca/blog/2022/03/13/celebrate-tiny-learning-milestones/ Years ago already, Julia also encouraged people to write what she calls bragging documents. It's a bit of what inspired this diary and helps to put things into perspective. I have yet to do it at work which was the main point in her bragging documents. If you don't know Julia's work, please check out her blog and shop, she's excellent at vulgarizing computer stuff.
- https://www.xda-developers.com/best-youtube-vanced-alternatives/ How I learned that YouTube Vanced is shutting down. I've been using it for a couple of years now, specifically the Music app, pretty sad to see it go since YouTube in browser requires the screen to stay on and that is how I burned in my screen... I'll see if NewPipe can replace it but it was too much oriented on videos and less music (which I used my phone mainly for as I spend already too much time on YouTube on my PC).
- https://www.wired.com/story/salary-transparency-gender-pay-gap/ Transparency is a very good thing for things that can be as taboo as salary. French people have a tendency to compare themselves based on the income and judge hard on the amount some people they know are paid. Hence why money is taboo in my opinion. Salary opacity hurts people, particularly minorities and benefits only the company which can spare some money on the back of its employees. I am not sure it'll be a short-term benefit for France but I believe it'll help in the long run.
- https://www.wired.com/story/hybrid-working-original-fix/ I've yet to find the right balance. I like my solitude and people tire me, so not fully in-office works great for me but I fear going too much remote will hurt my social life/skills since I just love staying at home so much. But working neither fully remote nor fully in-office is a great thing for my health right now, so I'll try to remember to alternate a bit more often :)
- https://www.wired.co.uk/article/remote-working-rude-colleagues "There’s just an emotional element missing when you’re trying to manage someone from behind a screen, so things get lost in translation.". This is a regular "issue" in online communities where we only very sporadically meet in person and the majority of discussions are over text, either via e-mail, IRC or GitHub/GitLab issues/pull-requests. This is already hard for native speakers but add people who only speak English as their second, third, etc... language and it gets messy very quickly. Soft skills are even more important online than they are when in person. Now add the pandemic, forced remote work and companies, managers and employees first experiencing with online-only communication and you've got a ticking bomb in your hands. The one rule: NEVER answer or send a mail when angry. Wait a few hours or next day when you've digested the info and can have another look at it, in a different mood/mindset.
- https://psyche.co/guides/how-to-support-a-friend-going-through-a-difficult-time This shall become my monthly re-read because it basically teaches you how to deal with different kind of people and contexts when people are going through a rough patch. When struggling yourself, it could also be a way to help the person you're sharing things with give you the kind of support you feel like you need at the moment.
- https://hbr.org/2022/03/how-supportive-leaders-approach-emotional-conversations Kind of a professional approach of the previous link. Employees are people and some struggle too :)
- https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2022/03/enjoyment-not-pleasure-creates-happiness/627583/ Made me realise that I go too much for pleasure and less for enjoyment. Need to change that :)
- https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220322-the-realities-of-the-four-day-workweek if you ever wondered what's the capitalistic take on the 4-day work week... /me facepalms
What I cooked/baked in March:
- Goat cheese, rocket and pesto quiche. Forgot to take a picture but I'll make this recipe again one day :)
- Homemade Maultaschen. It was absolutely delicious fresh, but I need to work on how to keep it in the fridge because they all just stuck together and the taste had changed overnight. I followed this recipe for the filling and that one for the dough.
- Slow-cooked pork loin, the return. Still too dry, next time I'll use conventional mode instead of convection since I assume this might be what dries it out.
- Oat flakes, coconut oil cookies from last month (minus the chocolate because I can't be bothered). Still an amazing find, need to find a way to make it into a cereal bar for hikes or rides :)
What I worked on in March:
What I discovered/learned in March:
- My cat has an auto-immune disease which makes her scratch herself so much she had wounds on her chin and very irritated lips. She got some treatment, we'll see how often we'll need to get her treated. She was meowing soooo much because she was constantly hungry and she woke me every night multiple times to try to get me to feed her.
- Socializing after so many months of just seeing colleagues. Long overdue and I really had a nice time (and ate homemade paella made by a Spanish friend, and homemade Spätzle by an Austrian friend). Will need to do this more, I just tend to forget to check on people.
What entertained me in March:
- 📺 The Haunting of Hill House. I was hooked quickly and enjoyed watching it a lot. A bit disappointed by the last episodes though.
- 📺 The Haunting of Bly Manor. A bit less on the horror side than The Haunting of Hill House but as enjoyable. A bit less adrenaline overall but worth a watch (and didn't get a disappointing ending like the first season).
- 📺 Attack on Titan, last season (still a few episodes to air though). Still the great TV series it was :) I am not entirely sure I'll start watching other anime TV shows though, if they all follow the same structure of almost one scene per episode. It's just too frustrating and "forces" me into binge watching the series.
- 🎥 Spider-Man: No way home. A decent entertainer but not much to it, which is what I feel about most action movies anyways.
- 🎥 Turning Red. While it's obviously about PMS, to me it was also about accepting and dealing with your emotions. It was a nice movie.
- 📖 Big Little Lies, by Liane Moriarty. Loved the book, can recommend it. Weirdly enough, even if there were many characters in it, I could quickly remember who was who in a sentence or too and made the "reading-while-commuting" experience quite enjoyable. It's basically a drama based on parents of children going to kindergarten.
What I'm excited about for April (and later):
- Finally received my Seeed XIAO BLE boards so I'll try to play with Zephyr OS a bit, at least get the LED blinky example to work :)
- Riding season should start if the temperatures rise to 12-15°C (there was a last dance from winter this week, hopefully not for too long).
- I would like to try making some ravioli myself. Let's make that the goal of next month :)
Quentin Schulz