Other than getting back into my workout routine, I should also prioritize nutrition. Be more conscious about the stuff I put in my body. I feel like these past few months I have been indulging too much or just not eating as well as I know I can, especially when traveling for work. It may sound like a cliché but the end of the year is always a good time to reflect and make plans for the new one. A clean slate. To be honest with ourselves and make plans to better ourselves.

Today, like around this time of year every year, I had my end-of-year performance review. And although I knew in my heart that I had done well, I still self-evaluated myself in the worst way. Everything in my head.

This year was challenging, in November of last year, the QC technical expert had retired so I had to step up, big time! I had to go from a support role into “doing the thing”. Once my manager was hired it was not like it became any easier, for either of us.

Long review short, I got an “I am proud of you and the work you’ve done and the challenges you have taken on this year”.

And two coaching advice, one, is to know when to ask for help. Well yeah, when I commit, I go and forget I may need help sometimes and get overwhelmed in the process. Two, time management, in the sense that sometimes I’m working on something and get distracted when people ask for something via email, mainly because I think it’ll be a quick thing. Famous last words.

Anyway, I’m happy with my review and looking forward to getting better at what I do and then some!

Another Naples Florida work trip. This is for the fall 2023 season. Which started Sunday the 10th, at 4:00 am (🫠).

First flight, BOI to MSP

There (at MSP) I was introduced to what an espresso martini is, never have I ever had one.

After an almost 5 hour overlay – and a beer or two – our next destination was Fort Myers, FL, MSP to RSW.

This one is probably the longest flight of the two, I little over 3 hours. It kind of sucks. We also took off late as they needed to deice the plane before taking off.

Thus, we arrived much later than planned and famished. Very uneventful evening after that, quick dinner, hotel check-in, and sleep!

Monday

Field day, cucurbits evaluation (squash, and watermelon)

The day started great, we may or may not have gotten stuck in the sand with our truck, though (🫠).

Otherwise, a perfect fall Florida day in the field.

Spot the off-type there (😉)

Truly, the weather was perfect!

After a long first day, it was time to wind down but also meet up with other colleagues for supper. Not before doing some computer work as well. We found this little cute bar in Downtown Naples,Old Naples Pub, Naples

It was small and cozy but very inviting. And of course, they had gator bites for appetizers so, I mean, when in Florida… 🐊

Then we head out for dinner, at this place called,The Dock, Naples

It was a really nice spot and by the dock or marina. We were the only people sitting outside with the view of the marina and Christmas decorations in the distance.

The food was great, obviously mostly seafood (no pictures, however). I remember having some kind of pasta with lobster and probably the best cornbread I’ve ever had in my life. It was more cakey than bready.

Tuesday, day two.

Sweetcorn evaluation. Nothing too exciting, we only had less than 1K plants to evaluate, finding two off-types. It took us a little over 10 minutes. Once the data was collected, we decided to go out to do some computer work over brunch.

We found this little place called, The Rooster, Naples

The Rooster

It is a very southern cuisine style. I was tempted by the chicken and waffles but that I can find almost anywhere. So I went for some Jumbo Lump Crab Cake Benne with Poached Eggs & Citrus Hollandaise. And a Hummingbird Cake to finish it off.

So good!

Then we needed a space to do some more real computer work. So we found a spot at the, Ridgway Bar & Grill, Naples.

Here was pretty much at the heart of downtown Naples. The people here were weird, well, pretentious Floridians or perhaps not even Floridians and more like snowbirds. Every conversation we overheard was about expensive cars, boats, and typical entitled people like complaints. It was an interesting perspective to witness.

Tuesday evening. A colleague from Woodland, happened to also be in town on a different project, so we agreed to meet up for dinner at the Divieto Ristorante, Aventura. An Italian restaurant. I had a hard time making up some of the stuff on the menu unless I read the description. And omg, they had a tomahawk steak.

A purchase that my boss advised against it (😅). We suggested ordering it, eating it between all of us, and splitting the check (😁).

The worst part about this restaurant is, they have no beer! And their wine list was so massive, I had no idea what to go for. Eventually, I went with the server’s recommendation which was a DiNotte Mezzacorona Red blend. It was pretty good and I thought it’d be a very expensive wine. I looked it up, turns out, that it is about a 10.00 USD bottle of wine u less I found the wrong thing.

Anyway, we had some CARPACCIO DI MANZO as an appetizer,

Thin slices of beef topped with fresh mushrooms, arugula, and shaved parmesan cheese, drizzled with white truffle oil. Served with focaccia bread.

The entree, a DIVIETO SPECIAL STEAK

Enjoy this house specialty. Grilled to perfection skirt steak in our signature mushroom-Madeira wine sauce. Served with mashed potatoes.

All pretty tasty and spendy. After some rock paper scissors to who would pay for dinner, in the end, there was no real winner (I mean I won, however) since we ended up spilling the bill anyway. Turns out, Italian restaurants can be pretty expensive.

And that was pretty much the trip. It was full of good food, good times with colleagues, and good weather.

Then, all over again on the way back. RSW TO MSP, MSP to BOI.

Some of the movies were watched during this trip.

🍿 A Compassionate Spy (2022)

🍿 Fast X (2023)

🍿 Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

🍿 Gran Turismo (2023)

🍿 Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

I’ve noticed that many people on Glass treat it almost as a photojournalism tool/place. They actually take the time to write something rather than just a quick description of the photo or as lazy as just an emoji, as I do (😜).

My journal is my blog but perhaps I could put some effort into doing more than just a word or an emoji on my Glass account.

Well, regarding last night’s blackout or power outage. Turns out, someone in a pickup truck decided to ram over the light post and yeah, took the power out.

Photo credit to the lady from the post there for a social media app or thing I am not familiar with

This happened around 7:00 pm ish, power came back on at 3:41 am. How do I know? Well, I did not fall asleep until 5:00 am this morning 😬.

We are experiencing a blackout, the girls are all freaked out about it. They don’t have much experience with this type of situation, whilst Annie and I are super used to this, from back home. The girls won’t let go of their snuggle buddies and they’re super-worried we won’t get the power back. That said, blackouts rarely ever happen in this area and they’re quickly handled.

The whole drama is kind of funny, though. 😅

Today I had my first appointment with my new head doctor and it was interesting. He’s a family doctor so he also sees my kids.

What was even more interesting was his reaction to all my prescribed medications. I could tell he was somewhat anti-meds. That he’s more let’s try other things before we medicate you. Especially regarding my sleeping and ADHD meds.

He changed my antidepressants and asked me to stop taking my Atomoxetine and my sleeping pills. And we will be taking some different approaches, and see how it goes.

So, if you all notice some random senseless Crazy-Town Banana-Pants posts in the next few days, now you know why! At least until my system levels up, if at all. 😅

It has been a little hard to keep up with all the price increases in services and goods, especially if our paychecks stay the same. I think it is time to re-evaluate but mostly, learn to let go of things. There are many services that we might keep paying for, well, that I keep paying for, that may not be used or taken advantage of very rarely but can’t seem to let go of them because of the, what if? Probably not the smartest approach, I know. Plus those ones you signed up for the trial and forgot you are now paying for, or the ones that aren’t that crucial but now you are too invested in it, to move away from.

And there are other services that I do take advantage of but there’s always that question in the back of my head. Do you really need it to be this way? The perfect example is YouTube Plus. Yes, advertisements are annoying and intrusive, but is it worth 18.00 USD a month, like, really? (I know it can be 30% cheaper, I think, if I manage my subscription directly through them but I was having issues with them not taking my money so it was easier through the AppStore)

Anyways, rant over.