thingsThisWeek #91
Too tired to post daily, most updates ended up here. Exhausted.
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π The girls are back!!! movieStar’s flight home took a slight detour and made a pit stop in Accra, adding a bit of time to an already long route. She made it, though, with just enough time to allow me to get to work, after dropping her off at her parents' place. This was one of the hardest weeks in my life. I used to do this a lot when I was younger (meaning work from dusk to dawn), but I’d get some rest days. And I wasn’t married, and was not a daddy. This time I’m doing it non-stop for a month, and not having the girls close by just adds to the exhaustion. Saying I miss them is an understatement. I did get later starts on a couple of days this week, and we could all spend extra time in bed, just cuddling, laughing, and hugging. And I dropped her off at school three days this week! Felt great!
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π³ Still going. Now with rain. Some events were canceled, since it’s no use to have them when no one is outside. We did get to the beach one day, after another visit to a market. Visited a few more places where people actually work, others where they did. Fancier ones. Folksier ones. The PM candidate joined us a couple of days (no photos, too messy). Assignment ends tomorrow, Friday. I couldn’t find the will to shoot personal photos most of the week, too tired to do it already. Close to 700GB shot, I’ll get over that number on the final day.
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π¬ Campaign Trail/Smoking: I’m happy that I went in with a few months smoke-free already, it made staying off the cigs a lot easier. If I had started this assignment closer to the date when I stopped smoking, it would have been a lot harder. Everyone smokes, a lot. There is a lot of driving alone involved. And a lot of waiting. All situations that would push me back into it.
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π Campaign Trail/Driving: I love driving. I do. But, after a whole month on the road, it turns out I like driving in my own terms. Not during rush hour. Not sharing the road with people who are checking their phones (SO MANY are doing it). Not having to drive in group rides. Not having to find a parking spot ten times a day, in places where they do not exist.
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πΊ I used Apple Maps a LOT, since I always show up early (allowing for navigation errors). It’s not so bad outside the city, if I’m being fair. I don’t really know if there were better ways to get to the venues sometimes, but the choices made by Apple’s app seemed pretty good. The UI/UX is much better than everyone else’s apps. I missed radar/police warnings from Waze, but it was a good month anyway. I complain a lot about the app trying to kill me, turns out it only tries to do that in the capital.
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π· People drink a lot here. At 9AM! Yes, they do. Not everyone, of course, not even most people, but enough of them for me to notice the pattern. And not all of them are in the “I’ve been working all night, so it’s evening for me” crowd. Not at all. This is a reality I don’t see often, but it happens. Saw it multiple times this month. You go into a cafe, looking for a caffeine boost to wake you up, and the guy next to you is having a brandy!
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πΌ Back on Glass, @pratik to blame. I love the profile page on the web, it’s a great way to show a portfolio on the laptop. In fact, I like a lot more on the laptop, the whole Glass experience feels nicer there. I suppose I’ll struggle with posting to this one too. But I’ll try, I will.
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πΈ Hermanos GutiΓ©rrez. Find of the week. I’m addicted, watched a ton of videos on YouTube (really nice concerts), and many hours listening to them in the car. They are great. One of the perks of listening to the radio when I’m driving is finding new music. I missed it.
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π I listened to fewer podcasts, again. Ruminate is climbing my must-listen list.