I had the best job yesterday of playing co-host to James Gosling having a roundtable with some of our AWS VIP customers. I first met James when Sun launched Java. I was friends with Miko, the first Java evangelist, and we slipped back to hang with James in his office. I still remember it vividly. I don't think he does but I mentioned i...

I will turn 50 on Friday. All major party plans down the drain since we can't travel and we can't have a gathering of more than 2 people. Thanks Singapore! Having lost one brother in life way too early the only major plans I make for myself these days is to stay healthy, enjoy life and anticipate what the future may bring. I find this ...

I saw this on LinkedIn and it hit home with me. Not in the celebration of influencers or puff pieces but I thought the basics were good: For my list, as I am approaching 50, health and stay fit is big on my list. So this is my list: - I want to spend way more time with my family and just a few friends - I want to exercise daily in some...

October is fast approaching. Basically the last 3rd of 2021 is coming and I don’t feel any better to be honest. Our family recently dealt with a Singapore stay at home notice due to my daughter being exposed to COVID by someone in class. The SHN is basically a mini-lockdown of sorts and was quite depressing. Kids missed school, wife co...

I wrote this before :: https://world.hey.com/smitty/note-taking-digital-brain-e47cceaa and I am still using Mem but I also separate work from personal notes I decide to go back to a notebook for my personal stuff and meeting notes I also started to use a note taking framework :: https://bulletjournal.com/pages/learn I read the book, ha...

Continuing on my M1 thread. Just want to highlight how comical the social media teams are at most companies. Yesterday I wrote this :: https://world.hey.com/smitty/day-489-m1-disaster-13a165b6 I tweeted the link at M1 Singapore and praised them for their new plan. Of course they tweeted back to say thanks https://twitter.com/dreampipe/...

I have been a happy M1 customer for close to a decade. First with decent 4G, first with eSIMs and generally good plans and good customer service. Till now. It was time to re-contract my wife's phone and I used their app to check re-contract status, found it was time, clicked through to re-contract, picked a new phone, picked a new plan...

I tend to refer to Thailand as teflon Thailand. Despite all of the gaffes it just keeps clicking on. But no one predicted COVID and even your most put together governments struggle to combat it. Looks like the COVID cracks are starting to show in Thailand. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-19/thailand-s-first-twin-deficit...

I am trying to stay upbeat but basically means I don't read or listen to the news. I get up early and get busy. Get the kids out the door. Get the youngest to school. Then gym and hit the store on the way home. Eat. Maybe, but not always, shower. Work more. Kids start to come back and need food. Work more. Pick up the youngest and go t...

It's crazy how much being able to hit the gym and have a meal out just fixes my mood. My regimen is 3 days of gym, rest day and back at it. Got my 3 day cycle in already as the 3rd day is always leg day. My head is just so much better. Yesterday, had a nice meal out with the wife and stuffed our faces. I really, really feel for those b...

Singapore appears to be rounding the corner when it comes to trying to get on with life. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/covid-19-vaccinated-unvaccinated-dining-restrictions-aug-10-2097206 Some may be excited about restaurants opening up again and for the sake of the restaurant industry - I am going to do my part by going out...

As a previous manager of sorts for a fund most of my investing is my participation in the fund. Fund managers typically have some cash sunk into the fund and it will be awhile before any of it flows back but hey the Kredivo news is a sign that it will come. Since leaving, and wanting to keep my investing chops warm, I have done a few a...

I will admit that it is all starting to get to me. Not being able to hit the gym and lift is a huge downer. I get exercise by going for long walks with my weighted vest or a bike ride with the wifey. I can't do the whole workout at home thing since home is at home and work is at home - 1/3 must be outside the home. Lockdown sucks. Not ...

It is H2 of 2021 and seems like this COVID thing isn't going away anytime soon. Now that things are back open, apart from same household in-person Singapore restaurant dining, I am trying to do my part in buying from a shop. The online guys don't need my help. Usually I go online, do some research and then try to go in and look, check ...

Asia is on the edge of starting, albeit very slowly, to open up. I still suspect most of us can't easily go anywhere this year - maybe December is possible. For me and my family, it is tough to imagine going anywhere if we have lengthy quarantine on either or both sides. I can handle a few days here and there but even a week on either ...

https://www.climatesalad.com Known Mick for years and love this new site of his. He recently spoke at an internal AWS event and I like one of quotes: That we have been charging our impact to the earth on a credit card and the bill is starting to come due. Too true, and scary. The worst may be yet to come. I keep trying to make micro-im...

I do love my kids but work from home is tough when everyone is at home. So as of today - school is back. I mean they actually leave the pad and go to school. It's amazing! I am trying to gain a more positive outlook for the rest of the year and next year. For me that means keeping schools open, gyms open, restaurants open, some days ba...

Been so busy getting back on the work train that I did not write anything Weeks back I was reading this list: https://kk.org/thetechnium/99-additional-bits-of-unsolicited-advice/ It’s so good. Not sure I would pick any favourites since the joy is in reading the thinking about each and every one of them. Try it. Happy Sunday!

During holiday I would use my iPad to reply to important messages and slacks. I did not engage, read docs and dig in since i can't connect to most work things on my iPad outside of email, slack and some docs. Some folks would see me working and then tell me to get off but the plan was a light triage since I did not send a holiday messa...

It is Day 5 already. Been offline so much I did not write anything either. It's always funny to me that one can be so busy without work. If I didn't need an income - I think I could stay pretty busy without work but I also like making money. I am sure the dream state is not needing an income but working to make money doing what you wan...

Nice gym session (2nd one) and a coffee in an actual cafe. That was surprisingly super awesome. iPad, coffee, headphones on and sitting in a cafe is a real treat when you have not been able to for some time. Then a meeting with an agent from https://propseller.com/. The housing market is nuts everywhere but Singapore is kind of dauntin...

That's the update really. Breakfast places had lines - nice to see. Some friends sent photos of themselves have a coffee out. Awesome. They gym was amazing. Now the goal is try not to work and enjoy the freedom. Looking forward to a movie - in the theatre. CYA

Spent some time in the sauna today and finished off - effortless by Greg McKeown. Quick read. Enjoyed it. Learned a few things. It's all in the vein of work smarter, not harder. Some of it common sense, some of it a reminder to myself to get better at this, and yet other pieces had some good frameworks to ponder. I need to improve at h...

I am taking a holiday this coming week. I waited, waited and waited to the last week of the month hoping that Singapore would open, could take my kids around town and detach from the keyboard. Months ago, I was hoping for a "real" holiday in June but that ain't happening. Monday we will hit a restaurant, testing the 5 person family rul...

Week 1 of going back to moving around as a family again. Next week is more exciting as restaurants and gyms will be open. I'm dying for the gym. With everything and everyone being at home - the whole "gym" at home thing doesn't work for me. Normally go on long walks or runs to break it up. I just need to get out! Next week will take ti...

I really like walking. I could run but it's not the same. I see people on bikes and it's cool but there is too much going on with the bike - like other bikes, traffic and watching out to not hit anyone. Walking is cool for a few reasons: • I can walk and listen to books and podcasts • I can walk and be on conference calls - yes, I do t...

Happened across this the other day :: https://slate.com/technology/2021/06/amazon-sidewalk-mesh-network-experiment-privacy.html I have no Amazon agenda with this even though it comes from Amazon. Some form of mesh networking is coming since wireless is easier for solving connectivity issues than laying more cable. I don't know how best...

Wrote this yesterday :: https://world.hey.com/smitty/day-423-we-are-not-a-family-55838a11 Then read this on DF today :: https://daringfireball.net/linked/2021/06/04/apple-remote-work “Given that these letters keep leaking to Zoe Schiffer at The Verge, I can’t help but think that the problem for Apple is that they’ve grown so large that...

This is old but I think it is interesting. https://fintecology.com/2021/05/11/shopify-ceo-email-to-managers-we-are-not-a-family/ This is a common thread in the Netflix material/books and to be honest how Amazon looks at employee management/performance. Helped me a lot when I think of low performers and the cost to the "team". “I can’t ...

This is an interesting read :: https://www.inc.com/justin-bariso/life-at-google-vs-life-at-amazon-from-hiring-to-firing-and-everything-in-between.html For obvious reasons, I won't be doing a deep dive but just calling out some points that resonate with me. This I think is spot on: “"If I were to be hiring, I'd follow Amazon's method an...