Today, thanks to the magic of “On this day”, I was reminded about this post from two years ago. I think this was around the time I started to write (or blog rather) more often and consistently.

After reading it, I came up with this silly idea of “revisit” these thoughts and do some kind of a commentary of sorts and see how they’ve changed, if at all, in the course of two years sir of thing.

….

I was thinking about why I, all of the sudden, started writing again and having the need to share it. Is it because I’m bored and have too much in my mind? Or simply lost the fear of sharing whatever I write?

Well at the time I was bored but I do always have stuff in my mind too. However, I think mainly was the third one. I had lost my fear. I share anything and everything that comes to mind and that makes me happy.

Also thinking about the things I have been writing about. I am not a tech journalist or critic — nor a professional blogger. I just have stuff in my head and feel like putting them down in words.

I guess this is when I realized that you don’t have to be a pro to blog.

I feel like most of what I write and the way I write about, it’s more like a conversation I would have with a coworker or a friend.

Still on point! When I write I always take the “conversation” kind of idea. That’s the kind of thing I like from personal blogs. It feel more intimate and personal, I like it and that’s what I try to do as well.

Plus it’s my own blog so I can’t talk/write about anything and everything I want, right?

Should have said can not can’t. 😅

I do not remember how I came across it, I’m sure it was in my Micro.blog timeline. But I have very much been enjoying the Panic Podcast, it is somewhat random, at least to me but very fun and interesting. Especially today’s episode, it was a good reminder of the good-old-times of Twitter. It made me think when I first joined back in 2008, which according to this episode, I had joined twitter before Panic did! Although if you look at my account today, it will tell you I’ve joined in May of 2019. This is my second twitter account, I had nuked my first one, which I regret now a little bit but what’s done it’s done.

It was definitely a different time back then, much more enjoyable and fun. It can still be okay these days if you follow the right people and have the right filters and muted words and whatnot but back then none of that was necessary I guess.

Anyway, good pod, good episode and now I want some Carl’s Jr. 🍔 🍟

🎶 They tried to make me go to rehab, I said, “no, no, no”

I either have a serious problem or is just what it is. I want to think it’s the later, to be honest 😅.

Here I am, changing my task management (🛎) system — again. Here’s my new approach, I have been thinking about this all week. As much as I love apps like OmniFocus, Things 3 (a little) and the very easy to use, cross-platform Todoist, my needs are simple. I need to be honest with myself. I don’t do projects or am a GTD practitioner. I just have a task with a reminder/due date and that’s it. Also I just need lists of things I want to either do, watch, read or write about at some point. Reminders is good for that stuff and I can just shout things to the lady in the phone and they’ll get in there. The systems mentioned above I think are more for very methodical and organizational people, which I am not, like at all!

To help with using reminders, I’ve got a super secret shortcut (it’s really not that secret) that helps with quick capture in natural language.

When it comes to work stuff, it’s all handled through my email so no need for a complex system. I could still use Todoist if I must but just the free tier, no need for most pro features.

Sometimes simpler it’s better. Now, comeback next week to see how this will all change again. 😅🤙🏼

Every time I see “1-on-1 Gaby” in my calendar, I get scared, I panic and think I am in trouble.

I have been at my current job/position for about six months now and I have had at least five 1-on-1s with my supervisor. And they have been nothing but super productive and very beneficial – never in trouble, so far. I guess I have 1-on-1s PTSD from my previous empolyers or managers. Usually, those meetings meant I was in some kind of trouble or something less productive and or beneficial.

The 1-on1s I have now, are the entire opposite. I love how this company or at least the team I am working alongside, do care about their employee’s success within the company. Not just on a specific role but within the company as a whole.

Today’s meeting was all about my goals and career. What I was hoping to accomplish in the near future to five years from now. My manager was really good at asking me the right questions to figure out which direction we should take to acomplish my goals and aspirations. This is something I never experience in other past jobs.

I am tooting again!

This week I kind of felt the need to revamp my presence in the Mastodon’s Universe again. I had a previous account and I stopped using a long time ago, my Micro.blog was still sending stuff there but totally forgot about it. This week I created a new account, which it’s now associated with Micro.blog, obviously. This time around, I am trying to just not send stuff from Mb automatically but also try to use it and engage more in it. It is very different from both Mb and Twitter in some way but I understand it better this time around. Either way, let see how it goes. If you are into the Mastodons and would like to find me here. I need friends.

All my toots are now coming from Micro.blog

This has the weirdest thing I have said in my head all day, so far, the day is still young.

Today I was listening to the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, as you do. In between all the bull-poop they were talking about they mentioned the book, THE SACRED MUSHROOM AND THE CROSS: A study of the nature and origins of Christianity within the fertility cults of the ancient Near East by John M. Allegro. To which I thought, “this sounds nuts – I must read it!” (😅). I am a sucker for crazy theories and whatnot. So here I am checking in a Books.app to see if they have it with no luck. I also went to Audible, no luck either. I did find it on Amazon and I am pretty sure it was through the “Grey market” as they call it, maybe, I am not sure. Eventually, I found a link, a PDF version of the book! The entire book has been, basically pirated, with a Piracy Notice and all!

Piracy notice: In order to keep this information available to the public, this book has been pirated!

A message to those who’ve taken this book out of print. This book will forever circulate. You will never be able to remove it from the public light, as you, the Vatican and Anheuser Busch attempted to do.

In such a case as 2000 years of intellectual hijacking, this book will now remain forever free online.

Though Allegro’s theories seemed extreme at the time, philology today knows he was right. See a publication by Piotr Michalowski in “Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World’s Ancient Languages”, edited by Roger D. Woodard.

To the reader, enjoy a once banned book.

To the suppressors, Fuck you!

Whether the contents of the book are true or not, controversial or what have you, it’s irrelevant to me. This is purely me being curious about it and to have something to do in my downtime at the office.

Today I received a Nintendo eShop Gift Card from my wife, which got me very excited obviously. There’s a new game coming out tomorrow — Darksiders Genesis.

Anyway, every time I get a gift card like this I always assume they’ll be as easy to handle as the Apple ones. You know, you just peel them off and voilà! Well, Nintendo ones, aren’t the case. My first attempt was to, just like Apple’s, to peel the thing and immediately I realized that wasn’t gonna work. I was actually damaging the thing. I tried to scratch the thing with a dime, as you do I guess and just made it worse.

I panicked, as I do and pretty much murdered the thing! I could only make out almost all of it except for characters 8, 9 and 10th.

So I remained calmed and panicked again (😅). And then I calmed down again and called Nintendo, which I have never done. I was scared that they’ll go and say “LOL, you’re SOL buddy” kind of thing.

Here a I called, a nice young lady (by her voice I could tell she was young and definitely a lady) picked up my call. And basically I went over what happened. “My lady got me a gift card and I massacred the thing. Can you please help me?” And she said “Sure! I’ll try to help you with this!”

So she asked me for some alphanumeric code in the back of the thing and there! And she says. “I have access only to the first eight characters”

😐😐😐

“Well, 8 I could somewhat make out but definitely need 9 and 10”

Turns out the only have access to those first 8 and the rest are restricted from them. She asks me for an email address, my Nintendo account username and the serial number of my Switch.

She advised that she’ll have to send a ticket to somewhere blah blah, blah. And that I should here something in a day or two.

15 to 20 minutes after that, I get an email.

Hello,

Thank you for contacting Nintendo! We received enough information to approve and process the following for you:

A credit of $35.00 to your eShop. You will see the funds available the next time you log into your Nintendo eShop account.

Yay Nintendo!

I have posted several times now about my AirPods situation. I charge them 2 to 3 times a day. It has come to the point that I also carry my Power Beats Pro in my backpack just in case. They usually just stay in the car just so I don’t forget them when going to the gym. I guess I could just use my PBPs all day instead but they can get a little uncomfortable after a few hours on. I am not sure that’s the case for everybody but I can’t wear mine for more than a few hours without getting a little uncomfortable on my ears.

But yeah, the sound quality difference between these two it’s just incredible. If I am listening to music using my AirPods, the volume bar it’s at about 75-80%. As soon as I switch to the PBPs I have to lower the volume to about 25-30% otherwise I’ll be blasting my ears.

Today was one of those workouts that on paper (and by paper I mean a Drafts note) seemed quick and easy. Ha! Quick an easy my buttness!

3x

- 10 sit-ups
- 10 inchworms
- 10 TRX knee ups

5x

- 7 double clean to double back lunge**
- 5 Squats

4x

- 5 KB circle clean/squat
- 7 thrusters

**I had to modified since I only had one bell of the same weight. So, 7 each side.

Today was a little “rough”, for a Monday. I mean, it is no secret that me and Mondays don’t get along very well, it’s like a toxic relationship. But today was a little worse than others, mentally and emotionally, I was elsewhere or that’s how it felt like. And to make things worse, it was too damn quiet!(😅)

For a week I got used to having more company than normal, more conversations and engagement. Today, I was back to my desk, my reality, to the quietness and tranquility of the QC-Trailer and I found myself a little sad. So, there’s that!

On the other hand, I had a pretty good workout today. I dug up and old workout I had in my Notes.app (the date was somewhere in 2016 🤭) and it had been a minute since I had pushed myself like I did tonight. Also made me realize how lazy I have really been with my workouts lately.

It’s good to be back at it!

I screwed up this past week, ish, maybe in more ways than I should have! I only worked out one day! Traveling messes me up and my routine. I have very little discipline or self control when I’m out and about like this. Food wise I did okay, mostly meat and vegetables except for one day when I had a delicious burger, no regrets given there. It is kind of hard to stay focused when traveling.

What probably did the most damage was the drinking, too much beer! I made a goal to try as many of the local beers as I could. Also I made new friends and they can be a bad influence, or so I tell myself (😏). Not gonna lie, I’m already missing them a bit 😅.

Okay, that being said, tomorrow it’s Monday and we are back into it — full force! I have goals and they must — they will — be met!

Devil May Cry - Nintendo Switch

I’ve been playing Devil May Cry 👿 😢 on the Nintendo switch for the past two days. Graphics don’t hold up very well but I have been having a lot of fun replying this classic game. I think I own the HD collection on the PlayStation 4 but, I rather play on the switch these days.

Underwater controls suck and so does the camera. Other than that it’s still a lot of fun!

I still remember when I first got this game on the… PlayStation 2 I think it was? I remember my friend Juan B encouraged me to do so. I have become a fan of the franchise ever since.

Name: Oh! Fudge
Style: American Imperial Stout
Brewer: Prairie Artisan Ales - Oklahoma
ABV: 11.5
IBU:
Rating: A+/ Notes:

Imperial stout brewed with brownies that were handmade in the brewery.

I could smell this beer all day. And it does states delicious !

Ron Garney:

Coming soon!— Juggernaut mini with Fabian Nicieza and yours truly

I always get excited about this kind of announcement and comic books in general. But I rarely remember to look for them later. I haven’t read a good book in a while. That being said, this is a very cool Juggernaut design. The Juggernaut has always been one of my favourite X-Men villains.

Day three of “school” started bad! I hate statistics, I don’t like numbers — hate them! But it was still a good talk, helped me understand a little bit better why we do the types of tests we do. As far as the quantity of samples for the different tests we ask for and so in and so forth.

PCR! Again, used to do this all the time, it was nice to revisit but don’t miss it.

At last but not least and probably the most important (or one of the most important) talks for me. Single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs testing, this is the kind of data I deal with on a daily basis so no surprise I was very into this topic and also had a lot of questions. This concept was explained to me in very broad stokes, sort to speak, it was more in a data management manner rather than the science behind it. Thus, it was really nice to have this talk and get a better understanding of what this test is and why it’s important.

Name: Surf Zombies
Style: American IPA
Brewer: Iowa Brewing Company - Iowa
ABV: 6.9
IBU:
Rating: 5/5
Notes: Named for Iowa’s epic surf rockers, our gnarly brain-devouring West Coast-inspired IPA features Simcoe, Columbus, Centennial, and Cascade hops. Zoinks! Who needs brains when you’ve got beer?

Day two of the “Super Workshop”. I little more hands-on today, man, I got to run an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, also known as ELISA. Though I am familiar with this technique, I’ve never done it before, so it was nice to get that experience. Also,I haven’t done much pipetting or lab work in a few years now and yet, it was like riding a bike.

Also got to score some seedlings 🌱, that had been treated with different kinds of herbicides (that part kind of stank). And last but not least, DNA 🧬 extraction. This I’m much familiar with since it’s what I used to do when working for Simplot and I don’t miss it!

Today I sat in a classroom for almost eight hours! I can’t remember the last time I was in a classroom listening to lectures. And these lectures weren’t by just any people, they were well regarded professors. It made think of my years of college but without the pressure that usually comes with that. I am not taking a test or getting graded. Also the fact that I am pretty familiar with most of the topics talked about, so far!

It is also serving as a good refresher for concepts and material that in theory, I already know but with the years may have been forgotten a little bit.

And we get free lunch and that’s pretty swell.

Name: Des Moines IPA
Style: American IPA
Brewer: Confluence Brewing Company - Iowa
ABV: 7.1
IBU:
Rating: B Notes: light and citrus flavors. A solid ipa

Name: Tank Puncher
Style: American IPA
Brewer: ReUnion Brewery - Iowa
ABV: 7.5
IBU:
Rating: 4/5
Notes: piney 🌲 but good.

Name: Raygun
Style: American IPA
Brewer: Backpocket Brewing - Iowa
ABV: 6.8
IBU:
Rating: 4/5
Notes: apricot flavor, piney

When Backpocket acquired Galaxy hops with a power unmatched in the known world, they realized their only choice was to name the resulting beer after a clothing brand that’s named after a fictional weapon. Raygun IPA says it all: dangerous space exploration, nerves of steel, and extreme Midwestern good lookingness.

Name: Haze Of Our Lives
Style: American IPA
Brewer: Lake Time Brewery - Iowa
ABV: 6.5
IBU:
Rating: 5/5
Notes: first one of the locals, citrusy and delicious hazy looking IPA

Name: Voodoo Ranger Starship IPA
Style: American IPA
Brewer: New Belgium Brewing Company - Colorado
ABV: 7.7
IBU:
Rating: 4/5
Notes: citrusy 🍊

Ignorance breeds fear we fear things we don’t understand all right if you do not keep that fear and check that fear in turn will escalate and breed hatred because we hate those things that frighten us if you don’t check that hatred in turn will escalate

— Daryl Davis

I’m still not done with this episode of Joe Rogan and WOW!

Name: Aphrodite Rising
Style: New England IPA
Brewer: Mother Earth Brew Co. - California
ABV: 6.7
IBU:
Rating: 5/5
Notes: I picked this one for the label alone.

Original Artwork by David Blake