Nice. Let us know it tastes! My dad is a big whiskey drinker and has managed to attune my palate to it over the years. I still owe him for his birthday and father's day, so with it coming up for Christmas I'm looking to get him something nice. Currently looking at Ardberg Corryvreckan or perhaps some Johnnie Walker Blue Label. I got him this last year. It was quite enjoyable.
I'm a big fan of Ardbeg ugydall.. I know that's not how you spell it. If you ask for Ugiedoll they'll hook you up. It tastes like anger.
The pool was really busy this morning. I think Thursday morning masters swimmers were there because of Thanksgiving. There must have been ten or twelve people in the six lane pool. I don't think I've seen more than four before at 6 AM. I swam 1300 yards total. I take a 30 second break every 100 to 200 yards. I'm getting better. I'll try to bump up to 300 yards continuous soon. The VP of my department just sent an email that his wife has a terminal cancer diagnosis. I've only met her once, but I've known him for ten years through two different departments. He's a wonderful person and a leader I respect both professionally and personally. He's a life long swimmer and has given me tips and things to practice. He's sought me out to ask how I'm doing and sketch out another exercise. While we're a somewhat small company (about 600 employees, I think), that's so far above and beyond what someone four management levels above me would be expected to do. He deserves a happy life.
I understand the feelings for your VP. My VP of marketing ($150m company, 350 employees) was at home one weekend, her husband was up on a ladder replacing a light bulb, fell, and died on the spot. The company stepped up and let her do whatever she wanted/needed for as long as she needed. A friend of mine who worked here before I did, was diagnosed with terminal Stage 4 cancer and 6 months to live, when he went in for a dental appointment. The company paid him his full salary, up until the day he died. No questions asked, no expectations on work. Health issues like this are hard enough to cope with alone. But when the company has a heart about it, at least it frees you up from wondering if you are going to be fired for not performing while mourning/dying. Companies can be so heartless. It shouldn't be notable when they are not.
My company is humorless, but we aren't heartless. I'm fairly confident he'll be treated well along the way. The company will largely be by the book, but I think the people will do what we can to help. That includes his boss who I regard as the finest executive we've had as well as all the little individual people like me.
Cleaned out my computer and the RPS's, set us up with new Rainmeter desk tops in the process. Might post again after I pick some icon sets that fit the moods. Main Monitor Wall Monitor / TV Her Laptop (The cat taps his little paws in time to music) Only one thanksgiving this year, thank whatever deity exists. I'm only making two dishes.
Well, if your acquaintance was interested in you, and wanted you to be into him, then it feels quite natural that he would interpret signals that pointed to that being true. Still very weird if he got angry about it though, as hard as being wrong in that situation is.
Well Sweden had an election in September, and still no new government. It made me think about how long I've on and off been on hubski, because in 2014 when the situation was pretty much the same I remember talking about it here. I'm maybe getting civ 6 today, largely because Queen Kristina might be in the new expansion, and I really want to play a Sweden lead by her. (I mean it is not just because of an unconfirmed rumor about leaders, also because the new expansion includes a lot of the things that I would miss from Civ 5). Thankfully there is a demo and I'll be able to find out if I like the gameplay as is. It says a lot about the excitement levels of my life that that is something worth mentioning. But hey, I quite like that. An enjoyable everyday life is worth more to me than doing lots of exciting things often. I'll (hopefully) reach level 10 in ingress on Monday. That is significant because then I can send in portal suggestions, and those will be stops in Pokemon go, and maybe trigger gyms and... It feels like an achievement ok? My DnD group is wrapping up our second adventure today. i feel a bit sad about it, we'll go on a small break, and I like playing DnD on Fridays. It's a really nice way to start the weekend, and we've been doing it since March so it feels like a tradition now. We'll keep going though once our DM as read up on the new adventure, so it isn't really that big of a deal. More like the excitement of finishing being overshadowed by it meaning no getting to do it for a few weeks. I have promised to make an anniversary cake once we've been playing for a year, and right now it feels like we are going to reach that milestone.
I would like to wish all Americans a happy thanksgiving tomorrow and those that don't celebrate it a good Thursday. I also have an interview next week for a medium sized accounting firm for an entry level position. I was not expecting this as this is my first semester as a grad accounting student.
Kayaking Kayaking is going well. Since my last Pubski update I've attained a foundation safety/rescue certification and also learnt to roll. The mechanics of rolling a kayak all add up to a surprisingly effortless move if you do them correctly, though it can take a while to wrap your head around them all. Being upside down underwater probably has something to do with that. I've ridden my first grade 1/2 rapids and started really feeling the purpose of all the strokes and moves I've practiced on flat. Reading a river is a challenging but fascinating task. It puts into perspective how you can be effectively 'blind' to all sorts of potentially vital information if you don't know what you're looking for or at. I'm currently looking into buying my own kayak and gear now. Music Music is a mixed bag. I've been getting piano lessons for a year now and gone from grade 1 to 5 in that time. I'm pretty happy with that progress and looking forward to improving more. Taking the formal approach to learning piano has also improved my self-taught guitar playing as well. I'll post a piano video sometime soon. On the other hand, I feel in a bit of plateau with my composition. Earlier this year, I was really challenging myself to write complex material. Exotic scales, key changes, time signature changes, long arrangements, etc. This approach, whilst teaching me a lot, resulted in the music sounding a bit contrived. It definitely had a vibe of trying too hard. It didn't sound like anyone thing or person; it had this weird vague identity to it. Not to mention that it's draining to constantly filter and force my ideas through a criteria of complexity and novelty. It definitely burnt me out. In reaction to this, I spent the last couple of months being less judgemental in this sense and writing stuff that comes more naturally to me. This has undoubtedly resulted in more solid music and it's gotten good reactions. But at the same time, it's left me feeling somewhat unchallenged, like i'm just going through the motions. Still, getting there, gradually. This shit takes a long time and I've worked harder at it this year than any year previous. So I can find motivation from that.
You are going through the natural progression every musician (that cares about what they are doing) will go through. I've done it myself. From AC/DC and Black Sabbath as a kid, to Spyro Gyra and Robert Fripp for technical prowess, to straight up pop-punk because its easy and fun.
I think I found my perfect match just in time for the holidays. I will probably be watching a lot of scifi after the holiday today. My father's leg is hurting, so we won't be celebrating with his side of the family, but we will be still having a party at the main house. Lots of Eastern European dishes and some American staples. Perfect.