Noisy Deadlines

🤘️ The big event for me these past weeks was the Iron Maiden concert which I wrote about here. I also used the opportunity to go explore downtown Toronto on foot, which was something I've never done. And it's a busy city, on the weekend we were there, the Toronto BlueJays were playing at the Skydome and it was also FanExpo weekend. It was fun to see this mix of people with Iron Maiden t-shirts, Bluejays fans and all sorts of cosplays characters walking around town. 👣 The Toronto weekend also…

Thomas Rigby suggested I write this “Five Ws of Reading”, which is super fun! I'll link below to the other posts I came across using these prompts. Let me know if you wrote one! Go to Thomas’ post to get an easy copy/paste of the questions if you like. WHO – An author you would love to have a ‘one to one’ with? I would like to have a chat with Isaac Asimov. I would like to discuss with him the “Three Laws of Robotics” and how they would apply to our current state of technology. I would like to…

To end the month of August with Blaugust, I wanted to write about some lessons learned. I will reach my 15 blog posts goal as I publish this one, which is great! I did it! 🙌 One thing Blaugust helped me with was to lower my expectations, meaning, less perfectionism. I usually have an idea to write a blog post, and then I want to write a structured post, with intro, development and conclusion. And get all the references right, and edit it perfectly, and add the right images, and so on. Doing all…

Leviathan Falls (The Expanse #9) by James S.A. Corey, 529p: I didn’t want it to end, but all good sagas must come to a close. We see what’s left of the Rocinante crew as fugitives, now joined by Teresa Duarte (daughter of the Laconian high consul, Winston Duarte). There is a lot going on as bizarre, physics-bending anomalies begin to manifest within the ring space, threatening the existence of humanity. It’s tense, and full of high stakes with interesting viewpoints from Colonel Tanaka and…

🤘 I went to see Iron Maiden for the fist time this weekend! It's something I've always wanted to do but never had the chance. The funny thing is that I never thought it would be possible for me to see them. You know this “Run For Your Lives World” is celebrating their 50th anniversary, since their formation in 1975. And the set list is basically from their first album “Iron Maiden” from 1980 until their ninth album “Fear of the Dark” from 1992. I didn't think they would still be doing big world…

Inspired by the 5 Albums post, I was thinking about the 5 fiction books that shaped me. I am going mostly from memory. I just want to list whatever comes to my mind first. These are all books that influenced my reading life in one way or another. The Hobbit / Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien: Yeah, I know, not one book. I am already bending the rules here. But I cannot talk about LOTR without The Hobbit, and vice versa. I would also include The Silmarillion here as well. I was…

I went to the movies with my partner to see the new “Spider-Man: Brand New Day”. Fun movie. I usually don't like 3D because it gives me a headache, so I was looking at the options on the Cineplex website to get the tickets and I saw “ScreenX” and “Ultra AVX”. I have not been up to date with movie theater technologies, so I just picked the one that had the best time available for us. And that was the ScreenX one (for some reason this name sounds like a glass cleaner product or something).…

I started a personal Bullet Journal in June 2026, so it’s been a little bit over 2 months. I read the book “The Bullet Journal Method” by Ryder Carroll and watched some online videos. This is the second time I’ve tried Bullet Journaling, the first time was roughly a year ago. As I wrote in this post I’ve been drawn to paper more and more lately. I followed the basic Bullet Journal (or BuJo) setup steps, which include: Choosing tools: notebook and pen Doing a mental inventory (very similar to…

I used to give the same level of importance to a lot of things in my life: a failed brownie recipe, a delayed email reply, missing a phone call, right alongside a critical project deadline or a major construction estimate mistake that could cost thousands of dollars. Here is something I learned through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) that helps me a lot. I used to have intense reactions to simple things at work, like an email about a new incoming task or project. I would read it and…

✒️ I've been consistent with both my personal and work Bullet Journals. I'm enjoying the experience! I'm drafting a post about it to be published soon. 📕 I'm so glad that I finished reading The Expanse series with “Leviathan Falls”! I read the first book in 2012 (I can't believe it's been 12 years! 😱). Time is an illusion. It's definitely one of my favorites series of all time. I want to read some of the short stories/novellas now. 📘 I've also finished “Platform Decay” (The Murderbot Diaries…

I've been working in the construction industry for more than 20 years now. It's a traditional sector, very much male-dominated. But that has never deterred me from it. I also went to engineering school, and the majority of the students were male (I think less than 15% were female). I'm using an outdated binary classification here, I know. If women are considered a minority in construction, wait until you look at non-binary gender data. It's bad. What inspired me to write about this was a…

I created a collection page in my Bullet Journal to track and plan my 2026 Blaugust posts. It's dead simple, with my goal number of posts at the top followed by a weekly plan/log. I am loosely using some ideas from the festival calendar prompts but I'm not following them too strictly. For writing, I'm mostly drafting posts on a dedicated lined notebook that I set up just for blogging. (I wrote about this notebook here.) I have a page with ideas, and then I just have drafts. When I'm done…

I was talking to my partner the other day about how I am becoming an analog person: paper notebooks, pens, highlighters, etc. And right off the bat, he told me: “You are not becoming a paper person, you are just getting back to being one. You were always analog.” That was interesting to hear from a person I've known and interacted with for 27 years. So, I'm rediscovering my analog side. I've always been into handwriting, doing lettering and drawing when I was younger. After university and when…

📝 I’m participating in Blaugust! And I create a page on my notebook to track my writing. I’ll share that in a different post soon. 📕 I abandoned a book I was reading for my local Book Club. It’s called “Amberlough” by Lara Elena Donnelly. I read up to 19%, which is actually a lot! I always want to give a book a chance, but sometimes I wish I was more ruthless. I pushed through and now I feel bad that I used all that time to read a book I wasn’t enjoying. Anyway, I’m getting better at it. There…

I’ve been thinking about AI for a while now, since I am increasingly being surrounded by AI tools at work, with Microsoft adding a Copilot button everywhere I look. But that’s a topic for another time. What inspired me to write here was the recent controversy within the Blaugust community about the use of AI-generated images and text. And I knew about this controversy after reading Andreas’ post: Are we becoming too paranoid about AI slop? And then the contribution to the topic by Joel: Not…

✒️ I’ve been using a Bullet Journal for 2 months now. I’m starting to get a feel for what works for me, and I realized I don’t miss most of the digital tools I was using before. I still use a digital calendar, email and Standard Notes, but I’ve been very satisfied having my to-dos in analog form. 📘 I started reading the last book of The Expanse series, “Leviathan Falls” by James S.A. Corey. I love to have these beloved series to get back to, and I might be unconsciously taking longer to read it…

Andreas from 82Mhz just published he is joining #Blaugust 2026. I remember I joined in 2024 and it was a fun way to keep blogging. I had an introduction post back then, and although most of it is still current, I will do a quick update here: I still work in construction as an estimator, and I am now considered a senior estimator in my team. I still love reading, and it is my main hobby, as attested by the posts on this blog. I am very much a sci-fi and fantasy reader, but I’ve been distancing…

Hyperfocus: The New Science of Attention, Productivity, and Creativity by Chris Bailey, 256p: Great read about focus with enough scientific data and practical insights. The author talks about “attentional space”, which is like our RAM or the available working memory capacity. He argues that because the amount of distraction machines we have available at our fingertips right now, our attentional space shrinks and our minds wander less, reducing the quality of our attention. The author explores…

This is more like “month” notes rather than “week” notes, but here they are! The last week of June was quite busy at work with a big tender closing that sucked out all of my energy. 🎢 Thankfully, after that job was closed I had a 3-day weekend and my partner and I went to Montreal for an event at La Ronde. It’s the second largest amusement park in Canada, located on Jean Drapeau Island. The last time I had been on a rollercoaster I was a teenager, I think, and I remember being terrified by…

Introduce yourself with five albums that have shaped you: Pink Floyd – The Wall (1979) Metallica – Master of Puppets (1986) Iron Maiden – Powerslave (1984) Rhapsody of Fire – Symphony of Enchanted Lands (1998) Angra – Angels Cry (1993) I read this on Cafélog from Thomas, who read it from Martin and I immediately started thinking about which albums I would choose. It was tough to narrow it down to five, but I went with my first instinct. These are all albums I listened to countless times, from…

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, 321p: I had fun reading this book. I've heard of it before. I knew it was a classic from Canadian literature. I had the chance to visit Prince Edward Island, so I decided that the trip was the perfect moment to read this book. The protagonist, Anne, is the joy of the book. She is always looking at the bright side of things, she inspires courage and joy. And she is such a relentless creative soul. I loved her vivid imagination and her curiosity. Overall,…

📆 End of May went by as a blur for me. I had a busy month at work and I really didn't log into my personal computer that much in my off hours. In general, that has been the trend for me: spending less time with and within the digital world. ✈️ Right in the middle of a super busy week I left on vacations to attend a CIQS Congress and spend some time in Prince Edward Island. The Congress lasted for 2 and a half days, and I extended my stay at Charlottetown for roughly a week. ⛵ It was great to…

Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky, 373p: I love an unemotional robot protagonist with an active inner monologue and strong critical-thinking skills, so this was a fun and engaging read for me. I thought it had the same snarky sense of humour found in the “Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams. It's dystopian and explores the idea of what might happen if humanity destroys the environment to the point where mostly machines and robots are left behind. The book satirizes capitalism,…

⛱️ I took a couple of days off, my first vacation days since the beginning of the year! I was due for some downtime. And with the warming Spring weather, I did not spend much time online at all. I went for walks, and runs, did some yard work and house cleaning... But I also did some reading and cooking. Simple things. 🏝️ I finished preparations for upcoming trips (booking hotel, tickets, and reservations). I have one trip coming up in early June, and then others in August and October. Exciting…

Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green, audio [5h 36min]: I really enjoyed this as an audiobook since the author narrates it himself. I loved John Green's voice in this one since it is a mix of personal stories and historical data about tuberculosis. I learned so much from this book, and it also made me cry. It's well-researched, and it brings together social, political and human perspectives on such a stigmatized yet curable disease. It doesn't shy away from discussing the dark global…

I have a 2018 Corsair Strafe mechanical keyboard with the Cherry MX Red Switches. I’ve been getting tired typing on it, and I’ve been noticing a lot of missed keystrokes while I type. I am a fast typer, and I think I got tired of this keyboard. So, I was looking for another mechanical keyboard, specifically one that I could customize, change the caps and switches if needed. Basically, a keyboard that could grow with me without being too complicated. I tested some keyboards on my local computer…

🖥️ I’m in the middle of one of those crazy periods at work with two big deadlines at once. I do my best to make sure I wind down at the end of the day and don't carry all the stress into my personal life, but I still feel the consequences of a stressful work day: depleted energy so it's harder to make good choices for recovery afterwards. But overall, I'm doing the best I can. Going for a light walk right after work helps a lot. 🎭 Stress at work means bubbling anxiety all day. I started…