Weeknote 02/2025
"The most radical division that it is possible to make of humanity is that which splits it into two classes of creatures: Those who make great demands on themselves, piling up difficulties and duties; and those who demand nothing special of themselves, but for whom to live is to be every moment what they already are, without imposing on themselves any effort towards perfection, mere buoys that float on the waves."
— José Ortega y Gasset
This week was my first back at work of the year. It's always slow in January, so I'm never sure the point of coming back so early, but we has some good discussions about Hamming questions, planning for an upcoming workshop for Amnesty International UK, and caught up with emails, admin, etc.
This was the first week of my new exercise regime, which is a bit more difficult to juggle and keep track of than my previous one. Last year, I was simply aiming to run 1,000km in the year (which I achieved) and then fit in weights around my running. This year, I'm doing two sessions each per week of swimming, indoor cycling, and running. Yes, they are the three sports of a triathlon; no, I'm not planning to race other people. The only person I'm in competition with is myself.
My baseline is 1,050m in the pool (42 lengths), 10k on the exercise bike, and 7.5k running. Next week, I'm looking to increase that to 1,400m (56 lengths), 15k, and 10k, respectively. I also need to fit in weights at the gym and have a day off... 🤔
I didn't write anything here, but I drafted a post for the WAO blog to be published next week, and 10 longer-than-usual posts for Thought Shrapnel:
- Luck = (Passionate) Doing x (Effective) Telling
- You will always be boring if you can't make your own choices
- The internet may function not so much as a brainwashing engine but as a justification machine
- A feedback loop of nonsense and violence
- Bridging Dictionary
- Promising Trouble's advice on UK Online Safety Act compliance
- Must-reads for sports fans
- LinkedIn has become a hellish waiting room giving off Beetlejuice vibe
- AI slop as engagement bait
- Who wants to have to speak the language of search engines to find what you need?
It was our youngest's birthday this week, and I joked that she's now a "middle-aged teenager." As you can imagine, the look I got back was priceless. Later this month, our son will become an adult. I know it's a cliché, but where does the time go? I feel like the pandemic lockdowns warped time and, to be honest, robbed us and them of some of the joys of childhood.
It's now five years since the first Covid cases started appearing in Europe. It feels like a million years ago, but also something from which I haven't fully recovered. I certainly haven't set my sights as high as I did pre-pandemic, but then I've had a lot going on. Just off the top of my head, in the last half-decade I've: checked out of therapy, quit a job, dealt with some existential co-op drama, supported my wife after her mother died, moved house (twice!), had Covid (and then ended up in hospital after beasting myself too much afterwards), and started an MSc in Systems Thinking.
It's a lot. I could do with some stability for a while and not having to hustle. I may actually be in the market for a job this year, who knows. But maybe the grass is just greener, etc. Anyway, let me know if you see anything Doug-shaped.
Photo: snow in our garden earlier this week, taken by me