A Quick Note

Well, it was a singularly unproductive day that I couldn't afford. I'm going to have to play catchup tomorrow. I've got a slew of tasks I have to knock off. We'll see if I can stay focused through the day and actually accomplish anything.

Simplification and 100 Things

I've been on a journey toward simplifying my lifestyle through a minimalist approach to living for quite a while now, close to five years.  It has been an interesting and rewarding journey.  It has also been a battle with the tide of possessions that ebbs and flows.  In the last couple of months I've made some good headway, in part through a trick I picked up somewhere.

I call it 100 Things.

It works like this.  On my smartphone I keep a list of every task I do during my free time.  Everything I consider and carefully store.  Everything thing I clean.  Everything I donate, give away or simply through away.  When I've done a hundred things, I zero the list out and start over. For me, the act of recording and counting the steps I'm taking also inspires me to continue to take them, just like a Fitbit for Simplicity.

I tend to break it down into groups of 10.  That seems to work the best for me. As I go through the evening and weekend, I try and put ten more things on the list. I'm not always successful.  On a weekend day I can sometimes get around 30 a day.  The internal reward, for me, comes in watching the process unfold, watching the objects flow out.

I generally only record objects of significant size (bigger than a breadbasket) and tasks that take more than a few minutes.  If I need the extra motivation I may go down to smaller objects and shorter spans of time, but I usually don't.

If you are struggling with simplification it might be a trick worth trying for you.

Weekend Review

It was a good three day weekend. I had a clean Friday off and spent it in relaxing and cleaning/minimizing and in a late afternoon conversation with James. Saturday I had breakfast with Bob, then went to Art Ala Carte in Mountain View with Pierre & Helen. Sunday I had breakfast with Tyrone, then home for more cleaning/minimizing, binge watched Fear The Walking Dead, then episode 2 of Game of Thrones. TR has company for the week, so I'll mostly have the week to myself.

Monday Always Makes It

Monday always makes it, sooner or later. 

Last week was pretty busy, work-wise, and this week is promising more of the same.  The weekend was fairly nice.  Saturday was productive around the apartment and out running errands.  I got all my marketing done and managed to slip out and see "Huntsman: Winters War" at AMC 14.  It is not a life changing movie, but it was enjoyable.  It has an excellent cast and it was visually very pretty, which made up for the rather simplistic plot.  What I would call a great little popcorn movie.  Besides, if you cast Emily Blunt, Charlize Theron, and Jessica Chastain in anything - well, you'll pretty much guarantee I am going to see that one.

Sunday was pleasant as well - breakfast with Bob and Tyrone, then a trip to CVS with Bob so he could get a blood pressure cuff.  Bob is doing okay, all things considered.  Tyrone is Tyrone. After I ran a couple of errands I circled back and had lunch with Rick over at the Orchard City Kitchen, which is a little upscale for my tastes, borderline pretentious - but the food was excellent and the clientele was amusing, so I have to say I kind of liked the place.

Sunday evening was the return of Game of Thrones, which I was eagerly awaiting.  TR extended her trip through the weekend, so she should be home from NYC later today. Oh, and I didn't mention this but I went out and bought a new mattress - a Serta Elegant Plush, which is great.  It was delivered early last week and I have to say I've slept like a baby in the intervening days.  I've also got a pair of cast iron plants on order from Summerwinds Nursery to add a bit more greenery to the apartment. They were supposed to arrive at the end of last week, but they haven't made it yet.  The nursery is going to give me a call when they get in.  I'm going to double entry today, because there is something that I wanted to talk about in a little more detail on it's own and not bury it down in another post.

Wearing Cranky Pants Tonight

Whew.

That was a hard spin through cranky.

Been a busy two weeks. The week before I went to Minnesota for a work conference. This weeks been busy helping to scope out an ill-formed project that has the cart well ahead of the donkey.

A productive week, but a bit on the long side. TR is on work travel this week, so I've missed her and probably overcompensated by working too much. One more work day ahead, but I've got enough hours it will be a light day.

Tonight I knocked off work at four, then had a light and unsatisfactory dinner. I tried to take a short nap and couldn't due to assorted interruptions, both inside and outside, resulting in my crawling out of the nap and donning my cranky pants.

I had a second dinner - well, more of a snack, a bowl of soup. That helped. From there I went outside and wandered up and down the sidewalk picking up trash. That helped.

I often find that if I do something not focused on me, like picking up the flotsam and jetsam of the neighborhood it helps put me in a better mood. It helped. Though now my allergies have me sneezing.

So, the plan tonight is to watch a little something on the TV, then curl up and read myself to sleep. It should help me break through the cranky.

A Contemplative Evening

It's been a contemplative evening following a busy and analytical day. What does a contemplative evening look like here? Right now it's quiet (no TV, no music, just incidental sounds), soft light, the scent of rain and a bowl of miso soup. I may read a bit later or perhaps watch a movie. But for now it's just quiet simple contemplation to let the pendulum of my brain swing back from being so deeply analytical today.

Life Always Moves

Life always moves.

That's one of the amazing things about it. It is like a river constantly flowing from the source to the sea. We are carried with it.

Today was an indifferent day at the office. We discovered a configuration flaw in a recent project. Nothing major, just irksome. We will recover quick enough. The root cause was a misunderstanding in a requirement. It was a single one and a simple one but it was enough for us to pull the piece of software from production.

It illustrates one of the problems of communication. Though people can affirm they understand something we have no real way of knowing that they did. At some point it all comes down to trust. For myself I would rather extend that trust over and over than exist in a world without it. Even if the end result is bumps and bruises.

Life always moves. If you keep that in mind then the troubles and incidents of life - whether they are in your working life or in your personal life are revealed for what they are. Simply incidents. Simply troubles. We keep moving. We move over them, around them and sometimes through them.

Life always moves and we always move.

Tuesday's Start

It's a bright and beautiful Tuesday morning here in California. The bird symphony is in full song, the sky is blue and it's crisp and cool outside.  I started the work day with a morning meeting regarding feedback from some business research.  It's interesting, but I am not sure it's actionable - or at least not actionable by our current team constellation.

The weekend was nice and I took Monday off as an extra vacation day.  I am getting ready to start the project run for the June release, so I thought starting with a long weekend was a most excellent approach.  My plan for the day is to try and get things lined up so I know the path ahead. I find that is I start a project from a firm foundation it's far easier to make a smooth run of it.

I made a good dent in my ongoing efforts to minimize my life-style, but I have some room to go. Part of that particular journey is the ability to part with "stuff".  I did read a good little rule of thumb last week that I have been carrying with me.  The writer recommended that you use three categories to define the items that you choose to keep.  Need it. Use it. Love it.  It's a pretty good little toolset.

(Original Photo - California Poppies)

The Return

Well, when I set this aside for a while due to being incredibly busy in my personal and professional life I never imagined it would be a year plus before I came back.  Welcome back me!

Most of the craziness was in my professional life.  I had seven major projects coordinating the work between four different vendors and it pretty much ate all my free time.  By the time I reached the end of the day I was simply exhausted.  A whole ton of personal stuff got set aside and I am still just recovering from it, trying to work my way back to some resemblance of a rhythm or routine.

I am looking forward to getting back into the habit of writing here regularly!  Today has been a pretty quiet day.  I'm already a quarter into the new year and I have a much more reasonable four or five major projects, which is closer to my capacity (and still have a life).

I even managed to get out of town and go down to LA over the weekend for a sort of mini-vacation.

The Comfort of Movies

Today was better than yesterday. The hallmark of yesterday was a four hour nap. I was simply exhausted. Probably a little depressed. I went out had breakfast with Tony and Tyrone at the Hickory Pit. After breakfast I ran a few errands on the way home. Then I settled in and watched a little bit of TV and I couldn't really concentrate. About noon I laid back down and slept for about four hours. It did me a lot of good. Afterwards I got up and enjoy the quiet evening.

Today I met Tyrone for breakfast early, then stopped at the market on the way and refreshed the pantry for the week to come. I made a couple of family phone calls. Then, at noon, I went over to the cinema arts theater in Santana Row to see the movie Inherent Vice. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Joaquin Phoenix use it was enjoyable if strange and disjointed. I can see why it's been a darling of the festival circuit but I can't recommend it with a whole heart. It is a little too disjointed. Good performances by the cast but parts of it felt grafted on.

This evening has been relatively quiet. I talked with Tom for a while about the movie John Wick. If you haven't seen it yet I highly recommend it. then I watched Casino, with Robert De Niro and Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci. That is also an excellent movie.

I spent a lot of time and thought today, just letting things rise and fall naturally. I am a long way short of resolution. I'll probably be a long way short of resolution for a while. There were a lot of things said in anger and I think the cooling off time is good for me. I have found, over the years, that a bit of quiet, that a bit of meditation, that a couple of long walks are good for the soul in difficult times.