I spent part of my Friday staring at melting ice. We have a special ice maker that creates beautifully clear ice balls. After you remove the balls from the mold, the bottom of the container has the "leftover" ice which is cloudy with air bubbles. To speed up the melting process, I filled the container with hot water. It was then I noticed the fizzing. Curious, I leaned over the container and watched as individual air bubbles were released from the ice as they melted. Every now and then, a group would release at once and fizz to the top like carbonation. My favorite moments, however, were when a big bubble blooped its way to the surface. I must have stared at this for ten minutes. It was entrancing - almost meditative. In those minutes, my mind was eased and quiet. It's interesting how certain things capture your attention.
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We are on a group chat with the other daycare parents. It's a great way to make plans and share stories. Today, I got to let them know that, instead of napping, our kiddo was singing happy birthday to all her classmates. Here are the other things that were good this week:
The Thousandth Floor Katharine McGee I've been in the mood for a YA novel and started reading this book last night. I'm only a few pages in, but the premise is interesting. Essentially, it's looking at the class structure of a super skyscraper. The book is set about 100 years in the future with all the tech to go with it. I've read McGee before and enjoyed her alternative history storylines and contemporary writing style. *Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org I could use a nap right now. Between a long condo board meeting last night and a busy week at work, I am tempted to crawl under my desk for a few minutes. Instead, I will probably use that last packet of instant coffee from my work travel. Here's where my attention is at:
Often, I remember a particular website has the information I need but, when I got to find it, it's buried. That's where Google's :site search comes in. When you start a Google search with :site you can force it to search only one website. For example - site:www.foodnetwork.com Cupcakes will only search for the word cupcakes on the Food Network's website. This is an easy way to target your results to one area. Very helpful when doing a search where you have a pretty good idea what you need. Do you remember that commercial for UPS with the ditty about loving logistics? I was thinking about it while I was waiting out a flight delay in Indianapolis caused by dense fog in DC. Since my flight was direct and I had nothing to rush home to, I could spend my time working and people watching. Camped out in a chair, I marveled at all the goings on around me. Some of my fellow passengers were waiting to see if they could be rebooked. The flight across the way was deboarding and I could see the airline employees turning over the plane, refueling, and unloading baggage. A couple of airport employees worked in the terminal moving passengers with mobility issues, cleaning the moving walkway, and restocking a grab-and-go kiosk. This was just what I could see from my seat. I couldn't see the air control tower. I couldn't see the flights in the air. I couldn't see the TSA agents. I couldn't see ticketing or the baggage operation. I couldn't see all the digital work that goes into running the airline industry. There's an impressive amount of logistics that go into just this one operation of moving people from place to place. It's kind of inspiring to think about how all the little things we do work together to keep things rolling on a daily basis.
I hop on a plane later today to head home from my conference. I could have slept in a little today but I chose not to. Instead, I got up at my usual weekday time, made coffee, and enjoy it while I listened to podcasts. It was all unhurried and a rather pleasant way to start the day. Here's what else was good in my week:
Attending conferences in person is a reminder of how vital Wi-Fi is to basically everything these days. The harder it is to use, the more frustrated I get. The more frustrated I get, the crankier my disposition. Good reminder about how usability is at the core of everything. The easier we can make things, the happier people are. Here's where my attention is at:
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