Week Notes, 2025-03-30
Weekly Features from March 24th - 30th:
🗃️ Two weeks ago, I crossed the one-year boundary at my current job. Last week, I had my first annual review. I usually get a bit anxious before these kinds of reviews, but if what happened last week is any sign of what’s to come, I’ll be able to relax a bit. My manager managed to be more casual, yet more organized, with his assessment than most of my managers were at my last place. We talked realistic goals for 2025-26, and he gave me advice for tracking my accomplishments that could, oddly enough, dovetail with my recent blogging revival. I don't plan to talk about my job much on this blog, but since I'm already tracking life events, why not spin off of that task and create one that's job-focused? In any case, it was a successful review, one in which I actually left in a good mood.
🛬 After 27 hours of flying, my in-laws are back in Florida. I don't doubt that they are still confused as to what day or time it is, given they had flown halfway around the world. I'd be similarly addled if those were my circumstances as well! It will take some time before they feel "normal" again, so they are using their regular home routines to get back into the swing of things.
🩺 I’m currently going through a series of health check-ups. Last week, I had an ultrasound on my legs after consulting with a cardiologist. I’ve been feeling tingling sensations for months in my legs, along with odd muscle twitches, and it’s been tough to find a comfortable sleeping position. We both thought it might be related to my nerves rather than blood circulation, but since my mom has had so many health issues, we decided to get it checked out. The good news is everything looks good with the circulation in my legs. A normal EKG test bolstered our opinions of what's going on with my legs, so yep, they're definitely nerve-related. This week, I’ll have a dermatologist look at my skin because there are a couple of suspicious spots on my legs. The following week will be an initial visit with whom I hope will be my PCP going forward.
Other Things to Note from The Week That Was:
📺 Watching:
- Seaside Towns of Hiroshima Prefecture | 3-day trip, YouTube, Japan-guide.com
- The weeping cherry blossoms at Kuonji Temple were breathtakingly beautiful, YouTube, Japan Travel Walk
- MST3K Episode 821: Time Chasers
🎧 Listening:
- Episode 556: This Photo Is Not 2000 Years Old, Upgrade
- Autopen Island, featuring Carey Shockey, Trashfuture (Patreon bonus)
- 2025-03-22 | Hearing The Now, A Duck In A Tree
- The Effective Altruists and the “Abundance” Movement, Dystopia Now
📖 Reading:
- Tim, Don’t Kill My Vibe, Michael Tsai - Blog
- Various Talking Points Memo articles after I resubscribed as a member
- The Abundance Agenda, People’s Policy Project
- The Abundance Doctrine, Democracy Journal
- Keepin’ It Dirty: A Celebration of ODB’s Return To The 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version, The Quietus
💫 Creating:
- Swapped the blog's font to Atkinson Hyperlegible
- Wrote up "Anything that can't go on forever eventually stops" after reading about events with my former employer
🗄Organizing:
- Depressed myself by listing out how many monthly recurring subscriptions I have, and enraged myself by seeing a couple entries from services I thought I had canceled!
🌾 Socializing:
- Texted with in-laws during their flights back to the US
- Costco shopping on Thursday 03-27, which isn't a bad night for it as the crowds were low
- Church on Saturday 03-29, followed by a couple nice beers at Six Mile Bridge Brewing, then dinner at a disappointing Thai restaurant nearby
- Church again on Sunday 03-30, followed by Ethiopian coffee, then a small round of grocery shopping to cover items not found at Costco
🧪 Testing:
- Bebop and Poolside FM, both on iOS, with the latter going away after a day, and Bebop's testing still in progress
- I uploaded a photo to both Foto and Glass, largely to see the reactions, and Foto is far and away the winner here
🏥 Health:
- See third paragraph at beginning of post