Idoru.us

Lets go ahead and pull ourselves up by our bootstraps here ok? As I mentioned previously I somewhat randomly bought another domain a week or so ago and like so many people before me I realized I needed to put something there so I turned to bootstrap and Monstra. I have always viewed bootstrap as something that is basically a really terrible cludge. Not as powerful as having an actual knowledge of CSS/PHP/HTML/Etc. And that is absolutely true, however with a working knowledge of those things you can turn something halfway decent out using bootstrap in record time. It basically exemplifies the whole ethos of ‘Move fast & break things’ which, by the way, is a terrible ethos.

That said, its also an effective ethos to have. I just needed to throw something together, it didn’t need to be fancy, it doesn’t need much in the way of content, it just needs to exist more than anything since the main reason I have it is to further distinguish my online identities (more on that in a minute). And for those things bootstrap is fantastic. Its a great method of just getting shit done rather than making sure that its done perfect. There is something to be said for making sure that something is done rather than sitting there waiting for endless revisions and trying to make it perfect. Its not an ethos I want to make my own but I think that I can take aspects of it and make it work for me. I did with 8feet after all.

Regarding separate identities, I was thinking after the whole fappening incident (which I have quite a lot of views on, I can go into them if people for some bizarre reason are actually interested in those) about how we portray ourselves online. Combine that with Facebook and google both moving towards enforcing real names and its a somewhat depressing time in a lot of ways. We have given up so much freedom in the name of convenience online that its more depressing than anything else. And while I have no illusions that the NSA (for example) doesn’t know exactly who I am, I still see no reason to make it easy for everybody to have easy access to my entire online life. In more and more ways I have started separating the two. I rarely use credit cards online, I don’t do social media for the most part, I tend to keep a very low profile…. Maybe its just remembering the ‘good old times’ when we really could be all anonymous online. Of course than again I still generally practice good netiquette so…. make of it what you will. That said, thats the reason that I bought that other domain, to further separate my online identities from each other.

I started visiting a personal trainer. Mostly because the lady bought me 5 sessions as a bit of a surprise. I will freely admit that at the beginning I was extremely skeptical but I am totally all in. Maybe not as much as I have been going this month (3 times in the past week and a half really) but I fully intend to continue going and seeing him after these 5 sessions are up. Its yet another area where I need to revise my views I suppose. This is going to start getting stressful!

Overall life is otherwise pretty awesome. I am still really enjoying my new job, I have been taking on the role of trainer already which is something I am actually quite good at surprisingly. I have also started to actually get the hang of the job which is rather handy as well. I think i see the potential for actual advancement within my position which hasn’t been true for quite some time unfortunately. On the other hand I have mostly stopped dwelling on the past and instead just focusing on the future. I have also been continuing to enjoy my new home. Its crazy how much really does change things now that I have a home that I can call my own. Renting was great but I am glad I took the plunge.

I think that covers most of the news thats fit to print. I have other things going on in life but nothing so substantial that I really need to write about it.

For some reason last night I made the decision to renew idoru for another 5 years. It wasn’t even within a year of expiration…. but whatever, I have it until december 2020 now.

I have no idea what I will be doing with it at that point. Probably letting in languish as I tend to do.

I bought another domain at the same time, just for vanity reasons. Really it was silly but hey, whatever. Now I just need to decide what I will do with 8feet….

So not a ton has been going for the past month. Mostly just getting settled down and into the daily grind of my life. Bits here and there that certainly change but nothing momentous and I rather like that truthfully.

I am pretty well used to my new home at this point although god knows that there are still plenty of things I still need to do. Furnishings, decorations, various updates on a small scale level…. truly once you own a place the work never completely ends but it certainly decreases as time flows. And as we all know, the spice must flow. The other thing that has been happening is that I have been going out and trying things in the neighbourhood. I went to Harriet brewing a few weekends ago which was fun, live music with no cover. Too bad that the beer is ‘meh’ at best. I am still a huge fan of the brewpub 4 blocks away and the bar 2 blocks away has nice atmosphere but the beer is kinda overprices and their taps are mediocre at best. then there is the light rail which I was able to explore a bit when Trevnor was visiting. It is damn nice to be able to go downtown for $2. Or free really since there seems to always be some sort of ‘ride for free’ pass going on during the weekends. So yeah, going out way more often which is a bit more expensive but …. so be it.

I am also getting settled into my new job after a full month. Its a big adjustment but so far I am happy. Sure there is no WFH but overall it was clearly the better choice and not just for the raise (although that part is great I must admit). The team of people (which just shrunk by one) is nice and helpful, the job is fine, the workload isn’t insane…. really its just a big step forward. I will probably only stay around for a year to two in this position before I actively start pursuing my next step but that’s just the nature of employment these days. Its certainly not the America that my parents grew up in.

One of the other changes going on, that was touched on just a tad, is that I am putting way more effort into financial planning than I used to. I am not sure whether its the new job/income, the new home, the fact I am getting older, something else or a combination of all of the above but I am certainly spending more time working with budgets, planning for retirement, etc. Its interesting because I have yet to stick to a budget since I actually made one. But now I am actually aware of exactly where my money is going at any given time. Plus there have a large number of random 1 off expenses since I began the entire process. At the same time I have significantly increased the amount of money that I am contributing towards my 401k. Retirement doesn’t seem like quite as much of a pipe dream as it used to be. It almost certainly won’t be what it was for the boomers but maybe I can get ahead of the people in my generation who are eyeballs in debt.

I am planning for the future in other ways as well. I have started making and bringing my lunch to work every day which is healthier and cheaper. I have started going to the gym again. I have cut way back on the beer. I am trying to lose the weight that inevitably creeps up on you as you gain a few years and get a bit more sedentary. This happens to me every so often anyway but it feels a bit more structured this time around so we shall see I suppose.

I am still taking time to enjoy myself, don’t get me wrong. Its not all budgets and sobriety. I have tickets booked for another vacation, I have been going out here and there as I mentioned previously, been reading a lot and watching netflix here and there. Very little video gaming but that’s not much of a surprise truthfully, seems that ranks lower as I get older, particularly in the summer. Got another vacation planned. One thing I haven’t been doing much of this year is riding my motorcycle. Nothing intentional, just lots of crappy weather and other obligations I suppose. It didn’t help that I couldn’t get her completely up and running until the middle of June so I have only had about 2.5 months worth of riding season and lots of other things going on there. If the weather was only better today I would probably go for a ride actually…. and still might regardless.

That’s about the story as it goes so far anyway… we’ll see what adventures come about though. There is always something over the next hill.