SubscribeSometimes I think about how much of my brain is being used to remember and automatically avoid the significant potholes and other road dangers all too common here. It concerns me. If the roads were smoother here I probably would have figured out the meaning of life at this point.
Naim Falandino
a guy who doesn't write enough
Category: asides
The fastest year of my life
My boss just presented me with my corporate mark of honor for one year of employment. Normally things like this don’t really mean a ton to me, but this one does. I found a place of employment that – while it can definitely feel like work some days – I really do enjoy. I also feel that professionally I’ve grown a considerable amount and can say that I really feel for the first time since after college that I’m at a place that I can really develop a career at, not just do my job. That’s a pretty good feeling.
Talk about a whirlwind of a year though.
I actually have another post coming that touches on some of this in a little more detail, but I wanted to put this out there while it was fresh in my mind.
How to eat a mango at your desk
I love mangoes and eat them often. This morning, I thought Wouldn’t it be great if I ate a mango at work? As it turns out, it was great. However, I have learned some valuable information about the process and so I thought I’d provide this helpful guide on how to eat them properly while in your cube at work.
- Lay out a napkin or a tissue or something else completely inadequate to absorb the juice you are about to subject it to.
- Place mango on napkin; realize simultaneously you did not bring a knife or other sharp instrument with you.
- Check kitchen for knife; find nothing.
- Find pair of new scissors with office supplies.
- Use wide open scissors to cut around the mango along its length; cut similarly around the center, dividing it into quarters.
- Use edge of scissors to peel back skin on one of the sections.
- Attempt to chisel away as much mango as possible from the pit on the skinless section.
- Eventually give up and simply bite at mango flesh.
- Continue like this, eating the other section until you realize you’re late for a meeting.
- Upon returning from the meeting continue to peel, chisel and devour mango.
- When done feasting upon the mango walk – somewhat ashamed – with hands and scissors covered in juice to the kitchen area; clean up face and hands.
- Return to your cube and realize that during the meeting the napkin fused with the desk.
- Use scissors to scrape mango infused napkin from desk.
- Vow never to be without scissors again.
Not a morning person
I’m really not a morning person. I’m embracing this fact more and more lately. For a long while when I was traveling so regularly I had to get up often at 5 AM, and sometimes quite a bit earlier. I have no doubt this was a big part of the reason I was so unhappy. That job probably would have been a lot better if I could have worked on my own schedule (which is to say quite late).
Things are lightening up a bit at work thankfully. Actually I should just say that I’m nailing down some deliverables, so it’s all good. I’m glad too, since I ended up working a fair bit this weekend.
On the home front I’m getting my digital life back in order thankfully. I’m not really entirely set back up yet, but it’s getting there. I still need to install all my music software still actually. Maybe I’ll do that tomorrow after Aikido.
Crunch time
Sorry I haven’t posted much lately. I’m at the tail end of a serious crunch session at work. Trying to nail down some stretch objectives for our release candidate. Hopefully things will lighten a bit middle of next week.
Probably not though.
Things that I think about
I’ve decided to start capturing more of my stream of thought on here. I think of all kinds of various things throughout the day and it’s really a shame more people aren’t subject to them. Let’s start with this:
If you’re brushing your teeth and then decide to add mouthwash to the mix before you rinse, will it have some kind of horrible chemical reaction? Will it explode, or turn to rubber?
These are the things I think about.
Sold out of shovels
Apparently if it’s after February you can’t buy a shovel in Michigan, at least around me. I broke my other good one with the last ridiculous snow we had and with another 8 inches on the ground I had to do something about it. So yesterday after work I went to the hardware store near me to get a snow shovel. Nothing fancy, just a good normal snow shovel. They were sold out. I tried another home improvement center: nothing. Then another. Then WalMart. I ended up trying five different stores (4 of them quite large) and they did not have any snow shovels.
Their garden centers were however stocked with lawn seed and fertilizer. Awesome.
My sister was good enough to come over with a couple shovels from my parents house and give me a hand. I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to do with another 10 inches projected for this weekend.
Spring please.
A “sticky” situation
I just got back from the gym here at my office a few minutes ago. Allow me to recount this vignette.
I finish my workout and hit the showers. As I’m drying off at my locker I realize I had left my deodorant in my Aikido bag from the clinic this weekend. No problem, I think to myself. They’ve got aerosols of deodorant by the sinks. So I wander over there and grab a can and apply said deodorant. As I’m finishing I notice that it doesn’t smell quite right… I look at the can: AquaNet.
I did my best to remove as much as I could but alas, my underarms were already done up with aplomb.
(Thanks to Paul for the title idea.)
Ready for Spring
I’m by no means one of those people that lives in a four-season climate and loathes the fact that a portion of the year it gets cold and (gasp) snows. However, anything can get old and the lousy March weather (especially in the earlier weeks) really has me ready for Spring. Yesterday it was 50 and today it’s back down below 30. And we might get another 3-5 inches tonight after what was one of the top ten snowiest February’s on record.
But it just means the Spring will be that much more welcome. A favorite memory of mine from college was going on long drives with my buddies in early Spring. The trees just starting the bud and the ground throwing off the shroud of salt. The sun shining brighter than you remembered it could; flip-flops in 55 degree weather. And of course finding a random pub off the beaten path at the halfway point, signaling that it’s time to head home with the stomachs full.
These last four weeks of Winter are the hardest to put up with.
About Naim
Naim is a 27 year old software magician, electronic musician and puzzlematician. By day he is a pro software architect and developer. By night he is at the helm of KnowLogik, a tech-creative R&D, strategy and design outfit. Naim is an information and design geek who loves making and learning stuff. In his spare time he writes, takes photos, and is chill.