The most interesting side effect of writing these daily reviews is that they stir up meaningful conversations with my wife. Apparently, much of what words I set on paper never make their way out of my mouth (despite thinking that I did verbally share them). Surely this situation of my brain tricking me into thinking that I already communicated something is not unique to me, right?
This disconnect between what I thought I said and what I actually said makes me wonder how often I fail to articulate the thoughts running through my mind.
Yesterday
Writing
Shared quotes that I captured while watching an inspirational video created by Veritasium, the YouTube video titled “My Life Story”
Published my notes on “Introduction to Virtualization”
Best part of my day
“I have not just a house, but a home, a home filled with love”
The best part of my day is looking through the living room window and seeing Elliott (bouncing up and down) and Jess cradling her, the two of them standing on the couch and waving at me as I pulled up in the drive way around 7:00 am, around the time when I return from walking the dogs in the morning. Normally, our living room blinds sit shut and we only pull them up during the day when Elliott is awake because our miniature Australian Shepherd tends to bark at every person and crow walking up and down our (busy) hill. So seeing the blinds open as I park the car reminds me that I have not just a house, but a home filled, a home filled with love.
Graduate School
Started watching the lecture series on “Shared Memory Machines”. Much of the material is review (from operating systems and compilers and high performance architecture) but I like the feeling of drilling the same material multiple times because every time I revisit these topics, I understand them just a little more, gaining a tad more intuition of computer science.
Organization
I ended up throwing away the $25.00 label maker that I purchased from Target a couple days ago. The device landed in the bin because the paper cutter kept jamming after every other printed label. Not wanting to waste money, I spent about 10 minutes disassembling the device, unscrewing the mini Phillip screw drivers screwed in on the back, but trying to fix the label maker was a lost cause so I ended up purchasing a higher quality Brother Label Maker that runs about $100.00 (a heavy duty case included). Sure, it is a bit expensive for a label maker but I believe in paying for quality, paying for items that should last a life time (if they are maintained properly), instead of buying lots of cheap items that get tossed out.
Work
Mostly took care of administrative items, like scheduling meetings that I’ve been dragging my feet on. I feel like the first day of the week, I’m normally the most unproductive and have to ease my way into the work week. No exception to yesterday.
In addition to tackling those low hanging fruit, I met with other teams within AWS to help root cause some packet loss within the EC2 network.
Today
Writing
Publish notes taken from watching yesterday’s lectures (or lectures from a few days ago)
Organization
Review OmniFocus’s forecast tab to get a sense of what meetings I have this week and any items that are due soon
Graduate School
Wrap up the lectures on “Shared memory” (should take another 30 minutes)
Start writing some prototype code for collecting virtual memory statistics as part of memory coordinator project (hopefully can squeeze in about an hour of concentrated focus while Jess continues with the night time routine, which starts with Elliott and I bathing in the tub.
Mental and Physical health
Attend weekly psychotherapy session. Outside of seeing my therapist (Roy), I realize I rarely talk to anyone (apart from my wife) for an extended period of time. I’m wondering how I will continue these sessions when I move to Renton … we’ll find out in a couple weeks.
Work
Operational ticket bash. Our ticket queue is trending towards triple digits so our team will be dedicating the day to closing as many tickets as possible. This is the first ticket bash I don’t expect these dedicated days to become a habit.
Family
Tell Jess I love her. Same with Elliott. And the puppies So easy to go throughout the day forgetting how blessed I am. Should do the same thing with the rest of my family members and friends too.