Momentos – May 2023

These are my Momentos, short personal diary entries I write daily – since 2013 – and publish monthly. Some links are affiliate links.

1

Trying to be more like LeBron James. He’s older now, can’t go all-out all the time, has to pick his spots, take some plays off. I’ve been going hard at it the last few days, had to take some plays off today, before I pulled a mental hamstring.

2

I’ve heard that recreational drugs do no real harm to 90% of people. Meanwhile, apparently 20% of kids nowadays have peanut allergies. So you could argue that peanuts are more of a threat to society than drugs.

3

Alright, have the next two newsletters ready ahead of schedule, summer tires back on the car, all the logistics figured out for the trip, just need to pack the small suitcase and sort a few things in the morning, then I’m off.

4

In transit, listening to Witch Trials. Amazing how many people nowadays hurl insults, issue threats, and generally treat others like shit – especially online – yet somehow maintain a strong sense of moral superiority.

5

Watching playoff basketball with my best friend, a spontaneous 9k run, trampoline sessions with the kids, sushi restaurant for dinner, silly rabbit video games, and still an early night… today was a good day.

6

In this small country shop on a Saturday morning, two auld lads with big bellies behind the counter, the banter coming from them fast and strong in thick accents. I miss that in Andorra. Hard to have banter in a foreign language.

7

In my little world, ChatGPT has been all the rage for the past several months. Then I come home to Slieverue, County Kilkenny and nobody here has even heard of it. It’s refreshing actually.

8

I have a Google Doc of tips and reminders for trips back home to Ireland. Without that it’s easy for me to slip back into old teenage habits of eating terribly and staying up late. I’ve followed the plan pretty good this time around, like a responsible adult.

9

We’re quick to complain about bad service or someone we see doing a shitty job, but how many of us are truly striving to be excellent in our own work?

10

I went to the US twenty years ago and remember how strange it was to see so many overweight and obese people. But Ireland isn’t much different these days. It’s normal there now to have a bad diet and a big belly.

11

Ten straight days of being out and about. Unusual for me. In my normal routine I often spend five or six days a week at home all day. Looking forward to tomorrow when I don’t have to go anywhere.

12

We have so many conveniences nowadays, yet still feel pushed for time. I think that’s natural for humans though. Any time saved, we turn around and spend it on something else. Hopefully something productive or fulfilling.

13

A good way to ground yourself and feel present: quickly check in with your five primary senses…

  • What can you touch or feel? 
  • What can you taste? 
  • What can you smell? 
  • What can you hear? 
  • What can you see? 

For each one, try to notice something you weren’t noticing before.

14

Looking at Devin Booker’s house tour. It’s epic, and really tasteful for such a young guy. But when showing off his five classic cars in the big garage, he says he’ll hopefully have a warehouse full of them someday. Very hard for us humans to ever feel like we have enough.

15

She has Andorran residency and is married to an Irish citizen, yet still has to jump through ridiculous hoops to get a visa so she can visit Ireland. One of those situations where 99.9% of people are massively inconvenienced to guard against the 0.1% who might cause a serious problem.

16

Learning to be okay with not responding to certain emails. Especially those big long rambling ones. I tell myself it’s okay to ignore them because they didn’t respect my time.

17

Staying in a bunch of Airbnbs over the years has given me a better feel for interior design. Back in the day you’d only really get to see inside your friends’ houses. Now it’s easy to see inside strangers’ houses and take note of what you like, what you don’t.

18

Big day running errands in Barcelona, both of us under slept. But on the way back to our gaff we make sure to stop by the place with the mirrored windows. She has to wait outside though, because she’s not a member.

19

Walking through this old Catalan town in a gentle rain, stopping to hear Springsteen singing about his hometown from an upstairs window. Shortcuts and trampolines, lemons and oranges, red tile roofs and cautious cats, 1698 etched in stone above a driveway.

20

Watching a MacGyver movie from 1994. That was my favorite show as a kid. Looking at it now, it’s pretty ridiculous, but there’s something comforting about watching it again, takes me back to a simpler time.

21

Went for a walk around the neighborhood. There are some palatial looking houses on this hillside, with epic towers, terraces, pools, underground garages, one even has a full basketball court. It gets you wanting more, being in a place like this.

22

Getting a bit of work done at a Starbucks in Barcelona. Used to love this, bouncing around a city with my laptop, working whenever, wherever. Now it’s hard to dismiss the thoughts that I’d be a lot more productive working from home.

23

7977 steps today. That’s now a full year of at least 7000 steps per day, average of 10,450 per day. Combined with my daily stretching routine and a clean diet, I don’t really need to do anything else to stay in good shape.

24

Ramit Sethi talks about ten money dials

  • Convenience
  • Travel
  • Health / fitness
  • Experiences
  • Freedom
  • Relationships
  • Generosity
  • Luxury
  • Social status
  • Self-improvement

The older I get, the more convenience I want. Bugs the shit out of me to spend time doing meaningless or repetitive things.

25

Future tech I’m really looking forward to: self-driving cars. Driving is one of the least productive and unfulfilling things I do regularly. And it can be stressful in big cities or on highways. I can totally understand why some rich people hire a full-time driver.

26

As the head of a business, I’ve heard said that your main job is to…

  • Identify a key problem that needs to be solved.
  • Solve it.
  • Systematize the solution.
  • Teach someone else to work that system (or automate it).
  • Repeat.

In other words, try not to get stuck doing the same stuff repeatedly. Unless it’s stuff you really enjoy.

27

Places I’ve been before, and would be sad if I never revisit…

  • Amsterdam
  • Ireland (obviously)
  • Japan
  • Kotor, Montenegro
  • La Ciudad Perdida (Colombia)
  • New Orleans

28

I’ll be tired after a few busy days in a row. Good Tired is when those busy days proved productive and/or meaningful. Bad Tired is when I didn’t enjoy those days, or feel a lack of progress despite all the busyness. Today I’m Good Tired.

29

I believe a reliable way to get ahead is to invest more hours than most people think is reasonable. But maybe I just believe that because it’s what usually works well for me. Might not work so well for other people.

30

Nice to be able to do things like this on a Tuesday, renting bikes and cycling along the river, around the Olympic Park. Sun was splitting the stones when we started, and by the end there’s a severe thunderstorm warning.

31

Had a video on my list for several days, was afraid to watch it. It’s about how Google introducing AI to their search results will affect SEO. Easier to ignore that, keep doing what I’ve been doing, and hope for the best. Easier, but stupider.