These are my Momentos, short personal diary entries I write daily – since 2013 – and publish monthly. Some links are affiliate links.
1
First episode of Ramit’s Netflix show, fascinating to see how other people manage their money. Always amazes me how normal it is for Americans to be $10,000’s in debt. This couple have a combined debt of $200K and still spend $1000 on a handbag. Oof.
2
An encounter with someone today that reminded me: often it’s not the problem that’s the problem, but your reaction to the problem. Poor guy was struggling with his English but his embarrassment and frustration became a bigger obstacle than the language.
3
Spain has this weird method of roasting coffee beans called torrefacto. They basically add a load of sugar to the process, burning it to a glaze that covers the beans. They started doing it during the Spanish Civil War to make the beans last longer. Doesn’t improve the taste though. It’s still the norm in Spain and, unfortunately, in Andorra.
4
From Why Buddhism Is True by Robert Wright…
Natural selection doesn’t “want” us to be happy, after all; it just “wants” us to be productive, in its narrow sense of productive. And the way to make us productive is to make the anticipation of pleasure very strong but the pleasure itself not very long-lasting.
5
Dropped almost 1 kilogram from Sunday to Friday. Pretty much all due to diet but I haven’t done anything drastic, no skipped meals. Mainly: no cream in my evening tea, less olive oil on lunch and dinner, one less egg per day, fewer nuts for breakfast, smaller snacks.
6
Gandhi once said something like, “I have so much to do today that I must meditate for two hours instead of one.” Reminded myself of that this morning, so I wouldn’t try brute force my way through all the tasks on my plate. Brute force leads to stress, stress leads to burnout, burnout leads to misery.
7
Rooting for Caitlin Clark to win it all today. She’s changed the game, has me checking women’s basketball ahead of men’s, something I thought would never happen. I get choked up watching her sometimes. Have yet to figure out why that is exactly.
8
Rare to find someone in a low-paying job who does it really well. I guess the incentive isn’t there, top-performers aren’t gunning for those roles. Which makes it all the more special when you come across someone like that. Like an awesome cleaner or checkout clerk.
9
Okay, great. Dax Shepard often says that when someone disagrees with him. Trying to do it more myself. Instead of resisting things I can’t control – which is stupid and pointless – I think okay, great and try to roll with it. The tough part though is quickly recognizing what’s within vs beyond my control.
10
Watched Timecop and Over The Top recently. Something about these cheesy old movies that I love. It’s probably that they make me feel like a kid again, nine years old watching them on VHS back when there was little else to do. A simpler, more innocent time.
11
Lay awake last night thinking about rugby lineout lifts. Why don’t we see similar in basketball? Especially for a sideline out of bounds, trying to win a game with a second left. Lob it to the rim and have one player lift another right there. He’ll be higher than everyone else to catch and finish.
(Update: silly me, turns out it’s against the rules.)
12
I enjoy the occasional meme binge, but so many meme accounts nowadays post stuff designed to get people riled up and leaving angry comments. These two aren’t like that, actually leave me feeling better about the world…
13
Picked up three hitchhikers, didn’t realize until they were in the car that they’re all female, about 15 years old. I’m only giving them a lift for five minutes but hyper-conscious of everything I say and do, don’t want to give off accidental creepy old dude vibes.
14
Ugh, site traffic took another dip. Revenue this month will be my lowest since 2022. Trying to be okay with it. Figured out a plan to get back on track several months ago, just takes time to implement. Patience and persistence, patience and persistence.
15
A recent local headline:
- New employees who arrive in Andorra from 2025 must have a Catalan qualification (A1 or A2) to renew their residence
They’re trying to preserve the language, sure. But that requirement is only going to discourage top doctors, engineers, etc. from moving here.
16
I’m 42 years old now. Apparently it’s very hard to add muscle after 50. Lack of strength and stability is what really hurts people in old age, leads to falls and breaks and then it’s quickly downhill. So I’ve only got about 8 years left to build that old-age insurance muscle.
17
On a catch-up call with an old friend, walking past religious shrines and chicken coops just outside the next town over. After, he sends me a link to a song by an octogenarian. It begins…
Imagine what you want
Then get out of the way
Remember energy follows thought
So be careful what you say
18
A lot of people, when they don’t understand something, get angry at that thing, feel it’s wrong somehow. Learning to code helps with that. I’ve had many experiences getting angry with code, convinced the error didn’t make any sense, only to later realize it made perfect sense and my lack of understanding was the problem.
19
Exploring a trail that skirts the edge of the city. End up alongside a high concrete wall, topped with barbed wire. I’d heard there was only one prison in Andorra, and clearly this is it. I can hear people on the other side of the wall, sounds like they’re playing basketball.
20
I’ve dropped almost 2kg in 3 weeks. One of those things that’s fairly easy for me. Some people are like that with money. They’ll decide to earn an extra $10-20k next month, tweak a few things, and voila.
21
First round of the playoffs, the best weekend of the year for my basketball fandom. I’ll be late starting work every morning for the next month, watching the 10-minute highlights for each game the day before. There were four games yesterday, another four today.
22
Power hour on my laptop at the library, researching dog fields. A friend told me about them recently. Just a fenced-off field that people rent by the hour to let their dogs run free, safely. Apparently the best can earn as much as $1000/week in the UK.
23
Started revamping the reviews system for the website back in December, have since spent 106 hours working on it. Doesn’t sound like a lot over the course of 4.5 months, but it has felt like a huge undertaking. Finally entering the home stretch now.
24
Walking in the woods after that call, thinking about the short-term choices we make, like eating shitty food. Some people say life’s not worth living if you can’t eat and drink whatever you want. But surely they feel differently on their premature deathbeds.
25
I had seventeen 10/10 productivity days in February. Burned out bad that month, resolved to stop being stupid, making the same mistake over and over. In the eight weeks since, I’ve only had two 10/10 productivity days. I’m enjoying life more, and somehow seem to be getting as much done as before without pushing so hard.
26
My cheat meals are far more reserved than they used to be. Lunch today was buttered sourdough bread rolls dipped in hot mushroom soup. But beforehand I went for a 7k run and ate eggs and sardines to offset all those carbs. Only then could I enjoy it guilt-free.
27
It’s the end of an era in the NBA. The last 15 years have been dominated by LeBron, Curry, KD, Kawhi, Harden, CP3… all guys who are either out of the playoffs already or on the brink of elimination. They say every wild animal dies a brutal death in nature. Methinks it’s like that for pro athletes, too.
28
Started before eight, ended up being an 18km loop. No snow to start but ended up knee deep in it atop the mountain, struggling to find the trail markings. Saw squirrels and deer and tons of tracks. Lunch by an idyllic frozen lake. Didn’t see another human for almost six hours. Bliss.
29
All-time highs this month for movies watched (16) and average steps per day (13,000+). I often combine the two, walking on the spot at my standing desk while watching a chunk, rarely all at once. Picks range from as good as Jaws to as bad as First Knight, as old as The Sting to as new as Poor Things.
30
At the doctor appointment, slightly exaggerating my symptoms. Doing it so she doesn’t just prescribe me some general medication and send me packing. I want her to order several tests so we can figure out exactly what’s happening before deciding on treatment.