Between 6am and noon is arguably my most precious / important / valuable time of the day for getting things done.
That’s why I keep all of my devices in Do Not Disturb until noon.
This way I am free from any and all notifications, pings, buzzes, until the morning is over and it’s time for a lunch break.

DND until Lunch – Shawn Blanc

Sounds romantic...

Today I had the privilege (or misfortune 😜) to present in front of the managers. It was a very random request. They asked some of us to do a short presentation about what is that we do within the company and whatnot. It was very informal, I talked and presented from my sit (phew!). That was this morning. It is almost time to go home and I still find myself opening the presentation, finding little things here and there, and editing...

Some wrong dates, differences, or inconsistencies in the usage of fonts, spaces, etc.

Thank the gods that I had sent it to two people for review and that it was informal.

HARDCORE MECHA on the Nintendo Switch

Mercenary Tarethur O’Connell, an ACE pilot of Hardcore Defense Corp, was drawn into a conspiracy rebellion during a mission. Facing continuous battles and overwhelming conflicts, Tarethur starts to re-think about what he is fighting for..  

This game was released on October 15, 2020, and I remember showing up, and immediately I was drawn to it. I mean, the word MECHA is in the title. And as you can see by the art, it looks very Anime-ish. I downloaded the Free Demo, and played a bit but, like many other titles, it fizzled away, and I never looked at it again, until recently. I have played at least six missions, and these are not very long. It usually requires you to eliminate all enemies in one area to move to the next and then there's a boss fight. Simple and sweet, not too complicated, easy play.

Hardcore Mecha is a mecha-themed action sidescroller you play as a mech pilot named, Tarethur (that's a catchy name) who works for this mercenary group, and you're hired to find a captive officer referred to as "A", who has gone missing on Mars.

Controls are simple, you have a main gun, a chest-mounted gun (rapid fire low damage), and melee attacks. The melee attacks use cooldowns so is not like can melee-away. You can dash, jump, and hold the jump button to move around in midair until your boost gauge runs out. 

The visuals are pretty sweet, it's got this chibi art style, which is kind of cool, and I very much enjoy it.  The mechs, enemies, and animations are highly detailed and they look good. A lot of the conversations are carried out in a visual novel style.

Overall this is a very simple and enjoyable game, one that you can pick up at any point and just play through it. I am playing on easy mode, I am not here for a challenge, I am here to have fun and enjoy.

Video Games

It is Friday! Yay!

It es 8:50 am MST about 72℉ with a nice cool breeze going on. My office's in a trailer so we have opened the doors to let the semi-cool air refresh it. We've got pastries and coffee. So far the day looks to be a chill one.  Litsdening to DJ Nelson's new album,  De Camino A Palomino, Vol. 1. In fact, probably listening to this album it's what got me in a good positive mood. 

I don't know what's in store for the rest of the day, so I am making a note that at least so far, life seems to be good.

I was in a forest when the fire came

Now I know I will never be the same

I’m trying to find time

To make a deal with a devil

But the devil don’t care about me

I’ve been going out of mind

Out of my mind

I’ve been going out of my mind

Runaway train

Crawl under my skin

You know, the wrong kind of medicine

Will make a man sick

And I hope I find my way

backup from the bottom of the well

from the bottom of the well

no rest, no sleep, no gods, no dreams

…

Out of My Mind (Resident Evil) by Reuben And The Dark 

Source: Anti-Blog Feelings - Hypertext Monster

I knew I had a similar feeling, I just did have a word for it, and now I do. 

Thank you,  Cheri!

A vulnerability hangover is what happens when you regret sharing too much of yourself online. 

Yup, in fact, it happened yesterday.

I suppose that’s the essence of my issue. I don’t want strangers reading my diary. Yet despite my best intentions, my blogging becomes diary-adjacent.

I can connect to this sentiment on a spiritual level, as they say. I treat my blog as an online journal and post things that normally I wouldn't necessarily mind other people reading. That being said, there have been many times when I would compose something and sit on it for hours before I decide to hit publish. and very few others, in which I just delete the whole thing.

I have said it (written) many times before, 99% of the time I am an impulsive writer, in fact, I think I am impulsive in a lot of things. Something gets in my mind and I just need to purge it out, type it away and publish it right after. And then I ask myself, was that really necessary to put out there? Was it too much information? What have I done?

I know I can always come back and delete the post, and in fact, I have before but it's rare. Usually, when something has been published and discussed upon, there's no turning back and there is no deleting it at that point.

This is the word, label, term that has been running through my head since this morning. Things haven’t been great, I mean, I thought they were, or so I was telling myself. I have struggled or been battling with my mental and emotional health for about 4 years now, well medicated, struggling, probably more. But for the past few months, or who knows if even more, things have gotten a little off, or out of wack.

But how could things be bad, I have been taking medication and bleh, bleh-bleh?

Clearly, something ain’t working!

Either way, all aspects of my life, are being affected by whatever shenanigans are currently happening in my head. Of course, there are a thousand things I could blame them on, all you have to do is open your favorite social media or a news app to see everything is fucked-up. We have more than enough reasons to be sad and angry, and depressed. My mind it’s scattered, I can’t focus, I can’t sleep, and hard to find joy in things I used to do for fun, and I drink far too much these days.

Yesterday, I had a talk with the dude, also known as “a professional”, and he called it. I am still, damaged. Well, he said depressed. But the moment he called it, the moment he alluded to it, everything started to make sense. It became clearer that, yes, I am unhappy most of the time, and it is affecting every aspect of my life. It really hit me hard, more than I thought it would. Now, I am back where I was 4 years ago, and I don’t like it, feeling like I am broken, asking myself why or how did I let it get to this point.

Am I the problem?

Am I weak?

Defeated?

I have gone through all of this once already, and it sucks. I also know that with help, which I am getting, it will — or should — get better. Not only that, but I just wished I had seen the signs sooner, as this can affect (and is affecting) others around me, and not just me.

  Instagram’s transformation into QVC is now complete and absolute. Instagram is dead — or at least the Instagram I knew and loved is dead. It is no longer part of my photographic journey.   

Instagram is dead - Om Malik  

I came to this realization ever since I closed my previous Instagram account which should be a little over a year now. My current account (probably my 5th account by now), it's more like a place where I post stories for shits and giggles, watch Steve Harvey's Family Feud Reels, find kettlebell workouts, and keep in touch with friends and family. And that is what Instagram is for me these days. I may post a few pictures here and there, but again, they are for my mom, dad, and friends.

That being said, I still wrestle with my feelings regarding Instagram. At least once every other week, I close it, just to re-open it the next morning. I dislike how much time I waste on this app most of the time, and I dislike what the app has become.

When it comes to my photography, I host all my pictures in two places, my blog, and Glass.

I have got a new toy! Well, it is more like we got new toys.

Annie wanted to upgrade her iPhone 12 Mini to the 13 Mini, so while doing the upgrade, I set myself up for a Purple iPad Air 256 GB, cellular. And she got a green 128 GB iPhone 13 mini.

Why did I get an iPad Air?

I currently own a 2018 11” iPad Pro, nothing wrong with it, in fact, it will still be rocking around the house, most likely by the girls. My only complaint about it was the storage, I think it is 64 GB. I would find myself constantly deleting things or just restoring the iPad completely whenever I ran out of storage, mostly pictures.

The iPad, is my main “computing” device. A lot of my writing is done on the iPad, and 90 percent of my photo managing and editing is also done on the iPad. This and storage are the main reasons I wanted to get a new device. I really did not care for another Pro device, I just wanted an iPad with lots of storage.

So far, I am liking the Air, its design is very similar to the 11” iPad Pro, so I can’t really tell any noticeable differences. I am sure there are numerous technical differences between the two, but I really don’t care.

Touch ID, it’s both cool and weird at the same time, but it doesn’t bother me either. The old Smart-keyboard from the iPad Pro works on the Air, so I am set. I believe the Apple Pencil works as well, but I rarely ever use it, so it doesn’t matter to me much.