There is this thing that I get every time I am about to finish a video game that I am really into or a book. Once I realize that I am close to the end I start panicking a little. What am I going to read (or play) when this is over?

There is this sense of loss in a way, like when I am really into a book or a game, I don’t want to lose that “obsession”, like I always got to have one, one thing to play or read. Sometimes, I even start browsing for the next possible thing before I finish which what I am at the moment, just to make sure I have something lined up.

I have been playing Assassin’s Creed Valhalla since December, on the Xbox. I was so obsessed with it that, it would be the only thing I’d play. Even after finishing it, after over 110 hours of gameplay, I started over. Until a week or so ago, I stopped, gradually. If they push an update with new stuff I might jump back into but no for long. And when I had started the second play through, I started browsing for games, specifically on the Switch. Because I needed something once I was done with AC.

Yesterday, I finished Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, and the same thing, when I was aware that I only had a few hours left, I was browsing for the next book. Which I am yet to find the next book.

The bad thing about this is that I don’t know what I really want to read or play next. I just know I need something, and sometimes I end up getting something that is not as satisfying and never finish playing it or reading.

I am sure there’s a name or psychological explanation for this behavior.

A while ago, I wanted to say like somewhere in the past two months, I bore — again — our beloved 13” Macintosh Pro portable computer. The long and the short of it, we were having storage issues, due to multiple volumes, I had decided to wipe the thing and wiped so good that then I had no drive whatsoever to re-install the OS. Which prompted an appointment at my local Apple Store for them to resolve the issue for me.

Now, after the fix, we hadn’t really used the device that much, mostly reinstalling things, applications and such. Then one day, Annie tells me about some error that the battery was need of service. Well, we have a dead Mac, in a sense. The thing needs to be plugged to the power at all times, or it will shut off. Charging never goes higher than 1%.

Yesterday I had a chat with Apple Support, basically I wanted to know the const of a battery replacement. Keep in mind, this Macintosh, is out off warranty and its Apple Care Plus coverage has also expired. I found the battery online for about a hundred dollars, and with all the tools need it to do it myself, which I prefer not 😅

After a chat with the Apple agent, he advised to take the computer in for diagnostic. I had, as a matter of conversation, mentioned that I had taken the device in for service not long ago. He said it was a good thing I had mentioned that because of a “repeat repair option”, it’s like a 90-day warranty, that in the event I encounter an issue after my Mac had been serviced within those 90-days, the next service will be covered.

I don’t know exactly how these things works honestly, last time my Mac was serviced, it was for a different issue so, who knows. The truth is I am not expecting a miracle here, the battery somehow, got busted, and now I am going to have to pay to repair it.

One thing I enjoy the most about my hosted Micro.blog site is the On this Day — as I call it — hack. It is a nice way to look back at previous years, previous posts, just like you would do using The Day One Journal app. Memories can go either way, they can either make me cringe, happy, or sadness. It is a good way to see where you have been mentally and emotionally and where you are now. However, my biggest joy recently it’s seen what music I had been listening to. Every time there is an album or song I really get into, I post it on my site, in fact, I have a category called Music Likes. With Apple Music, it is sometimes hard to keep up with everything you have liked because everything gets lost in the never-ending queue of new music added every day. So, for like many other things, my blog is not just a digital diary but also acts as a second brain.

Every morning, as part of my daily routine, I open my browser, go to my on site and visit the On this Day tab. If there is an album or song, I make sure to listen and see if I can recall the emotions or the reasons of why I had decided to “log” it.

It’s a good exercise, little thing to do and brings me a bit of joy.

Now, if you all excuse me, I am going back to listen to Hemispheric Views’s latest pod show episode and see how Jason grades “his” employees or co-hosts.

When Are You Enough? – Greg Morris

Your body isn’t good enough, your hair, your clothes, the car you drive, even the food you eat. Nothing that you are currently doing, or anything about your own self, is good enough compared to this thing. Just look at how happy these people are, having loads of fun and smiling all the time. Don’t you want to smile too?

This, sums up Instagram for me, or at least that’s what it morphed into for me, and one of the reasons I closed it. Just like advertisements, and in my case, Instagram, can make you feel less and not enough.

If you have read many of these already, skip this one. 😅

In the past few months, right by the end of 2020, things have gotten a little overwhelming at work. Bringing a lot of stress, things not being as organized, many little tasks within projects falling through the cracks. Because of it, I had realized that I needed to fix my system. I don’t want things to fall though, I don’t want to rely on my mental notes, “Oh I’ll remember that later” or “I will make a note of it later”. I am very forgetful, and more so now that I’ve got lots on my plate.

So down the rabbit hole I go again. The First two options, and the obvious ones given my situation, were TickTick and Todoist. Why those two? Well, they work on Windows, sadly that’s the system I have to work with at work. Another benefits? It is quick and easy to enter tasks, Ctrl + Shift + A (for TickTick), and no matter where I am, it will open a quick entry window. Ctrl + alt + A (for Todoist), it will open the app along with an entry window. Both have natural language parser, so I can just type away or copy and paste from an email or meeting notes. Sounds about as perfect of a system as it can get. Doesn’t it?

A few days ago, in a super secret Discord channel, I posed a question.

What is the best to-do app?

Someone, in all his wisdom, replayed;

The one that you will actually use!

— Jason B.

Hm, there is something about that. Although both TickTick and Todoist are excellent apps for what they are meant to do, there is always a something that I don’t find myself wanting to spend time in them or pay attention and use them. Last time I looked at TickTick and did anything in there was early February. I have just re-installed Todoist a few days ago and its already been ignored.

The one app that makes me want to really use it and that better clicks for me, besides Reminders, is Things 3. Just like, Reminders, it is an application that I have in every Macintosh device I own or have access to. Unlike other task managing apps, Things’s interface does not give me anxiety, it is clean a nice to use. One downside would be, no Windows application which makes quick capture a little tricky.

So, I have been using Things 3 for the past few days, and I am happy with the setup, I have been actively using it and putting things in there — organizing my life better. As far as entering things, well, I have my Macintosh cellular device and I am bringing my Macintosh tablet with me and I have it set up at my desk and a good old-fashioned notebook — and a pen.

Over two years ago, I quit Facebook, no regrets or haven’t looked back — don’t miss it. At the en of 2020, I quit Instagram, deleted, gone! Even when I made the decision, I was wondering if I was going to regret it. Well, for the past week or so, I have been having Insta-withdrawals, I miss having instagram but for the right reasons. I liked seeing pictures of friends and family that I don’t have close contact with or just don’t ever see in person anymore for whatever the reasons. So much so that I’ve even downloaded the app, I just very hesitant about opening and logging into a new account and start over.

Last night, I almost did it, I opened it, enter my phone number to create an account, which I probably shouldn’t. Your phone number is almost like your social security number these days. I ended up not moving forward, I swipe up and “killed” the app. Then I started thinking of why I had quit and that prevented me from try again.

Like I’ve said, there are things I miss, I miss some friends, and the interactions, I miss posting my pictures too, it’s a fun thing to do. What I don’t miss is the Facebook aspect of it, not just the way the app works now but some of the feelings and anxiety that these Facebookated apps can bring if you’re not careful. And that is what I am scared of, being sucked into the Facebook-like-social-media-vortex and lose sight of what I really want and enjoy from the app, if it makes any sense.

I have a feeling that I might wind up doing it, one night, when I have had one too many beers, and like any good decision-making, I will say Fuck it and back to insta I’ll go.

IN OTHER NEWS:

I have been playing Persona 5 Strikers on the Nintendo Switch there. I am only a little over 3 hours and still figuring out how I feel about it.

I was listening to the Podshow Fatman Beyond with Kevin Smith and Marc Bernardin and Kevin was talking about how he doesn’t have a very critical mind, and he just enjoys things. I so, identified and related to that. I don’t have that kind of mindset, of being critical or think too critically when watching a motioned picture show, whether is live tv, animated, or big screen. I, either like or not, and even when I don’t like it as much, I don’t criticize it or talk bad about it. At least I try not to, I have been caught up in conversation probably saying, that sucked, which is a behavior that I am trying to correct.

If I am going to be that critical about everything I am supposed to love and enjoy, I am just going to be bitter all the time I feel like. Besides, I don’t get paid for that. If I am going to have a critical mindset, it would be at my day job, where it matters to me.

Just watch all the things, read all the things and have a good time. Moreover, as the song says, it’s okay not to like things, just don’t be a dick about it.