OK, I am loving this idea for a 3D calendar in the shape of a dodecahedron with one face for each month. Definitely something geeky-yet-useful to have on my desk (and so much more fun than looking up dates in Outlook). Even taking into account my unhealthy obsession with dice (and, hey, it’s a bit like a D12) this is a very, very cool item.
And the best calendar ever? That would be this one that Dave bought for the flat. Raaaah!
Found via Lifehacker.
Hamachi looks to be a very useful piece of software for setting up an ad-hoc vpn between two or more internet-connected computers. It claims to traverse NATing in most cases, which would make it great for file transfers and other gubbins between my laptop and desktop when I’m on the road. I’m just waiting for the Mac OS X version to come out of beta…
Eugh. I’m off work ill today with an upset stomach. I dread to think how much work there will be to do when I get back, given how busy today was going to be, and I feel bad that my boss will have to cope without me. Still, I am feeling much too rough for the four and a half hour journey up to North Yorkshire today. For now I’m dozing in between listening to Plus-Tech Squeeze Box (an excellent suggestion from my flatmate Dave). It’s impossible not to smile at their music, however sick I might feel.
The last couple of months at work I have been busier than ever before (over a sustained period, at least). I am very used to working longer than average hours and putting in the effort to get through whatever deadlines are approaching but this project has been different. The sheer volume of work that our team of two needs to do is overwhelming and our skillset is relatively specialised which has made it very hard to find anyone to help us out. Added to this, the priorities of our work change on an almost hourly basis which means lots of stopping and starting (something that I find quite difficult to cope with).
Immediately after the Christmas break I was finding all of this quite depressing and stressful. I’ve always had a pretty strong work ethic; I always want to do a good job on any piece of work that I take on and see things through to their conclusion. I don’t like letting people down. On the other hand, if you asked me what the ten most important things in my life are right now then my job wouldn’t make the list. Of course, it is important from the point of view of enabling other things in my life but it is not important in itself right now. So a couple of weeks ago I thought quite hard about this and realised that I had to take a more relaxed attitude to my work. Not slacking off – I still work the same hours – but accepting that I can only do so much and that getting stressed about the things that aren’t getting done helps nobody.
This small change in perspective has been rewarding so far. I still have good days and bad days, but I feel much happier with what I’m doing and what I can achieve. I’m finding that somehow I’m able to appreciate other aspects of life better at the moment as well – spending time with friends, listening to music, really appreciating the moments. There are still another couple of months left on the project so I hope the feeling lasts. After that I’m going to need the mother of all breaks. Anyone want to come to Vegas?
The posts from the old antigeek are all safely tucked away on the server but I haven’t imported them into the new system yet. I’m not sure if I’m going to, actually. But perhaps once the whole “fresh start” thing has passed I’ll add them all in. I don’t have any reason not to import them other than that it will take a bit of effort and I’m not sure that anybody cares. If you do then let me know!
It’s a tick on my to-do list (I use the wonderful Remember The Milk for managing my to-do lists, for what it’s worth). Finally, my weblog is in a state where I don’t roll my eyes when I think about it. Sure, it’s not the prettiest to look at. It’s very… standard. But it works in most browsers, the comments aren’t implemented in some kind of horrible half-working mess of a system and I don’t have to write the entries in vi (well, I didn’t have to do that before).
OK, step back. I’ve been writing a weblog at antigeek dot net for almost four years. It’s been on and off over that time, certainly, but recently it felt like it was more off than on. Redesigning the site (and changing the CMS and the server) is not going to give me more interesting things to say or more time in which to say them. But a fresh start and a fresh perspective are good from time to time. And that’s what this is about.
