Watch the video first :: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb30d9s2gc4 Lots to like about the address from the PM. Many questions answered. Feels like this current lockdown will end June 13 - unless the cases go way up. Vaccines are coming and seems most will have first jab by August - lots of the 12-18 will get it in June. This is great...

COVID-19 is wrecking with my plans. I used to have it all sorted out about where I was going to live, buy a pad and eventually retire. Now I am not so sure and truth be told - even planning my plan is on pause since I really don’t know how things will turn out. Where will be the safe place to live and send your kids to school? Will tha...

Humans don't last long without hope. Right now I think a lot of the ASEAN countries are losing hope. Singapore is in the same boat for me. No real light around the corner to be happy about. Why can't the government project some hope and give us a carrot or two? Examples: Israel eased some of its COVID-19 protocols on Sunday, according ...

I guess the USA is starting to feel like they have this licked :: https://donaldgmcneiljr1954.medium.com/the-end-is-near-no-seriously-142683fb085e I hope it is true and I assume it is due to the percentage of vaccinated people but one wonders if with the sudden opening up of everything + the variants if even the USA could reverse cours...

The pocket computer on my table-top standing desk that is always connected to the internet has really warped everyone's idea of progress. Add in the constant barrage of social media and we are all being trained that everything is instant. BTW - I only have twitter on my phone. I don't install it anywhere else. If I want to look at it o...

FYI - I exported my Substack emails and imported them here. It is opt-in so it would ask you if you wanted to join. No hard feelings if you don't. The number in this post title may not make sense to all of you but I wrote about it here: https://world.hey.com/smitty/365-days-bc26c09e I keep a daily log at work on an internal wiki which ...

It's May. Soon June. That means it is almost halfway into 2021. I have mornings where I wake up and forget for a moment the situation. I try to avoid morning news and tend to listen to some of my fav podcasts that are not "news" related. Truth be told - listen to anything now and something will be said about COVID even if it is not new...

I continually try to hone or refine the way I think about work. I seconded this whole learn or earn thread: https://world.hey.com/smitty/learn-or-earn-04c5fd4e But I think it needs more explanation. For sure one could simply think of a two dimensions where you are learning something or you earn well or you combine them. Not sure it is ...

Was surprised but not shocked to see Discord shun the MSFT deal. I wonder if it is just the case that the public markets are so hot right now that Discord sees going public as a better outcome even though the MSFT offer was quite generous. Also selling, no matter what the construct, means you lose control at some point. Also notice thi...

Since using a computer, I have always valued using them for writing and note-taking. Somewhere along the way I got hooked on Evernote, like everyone else, and my whole life was in it. Then at some point the product went south and I bailed - like everyone else. Not sure I have actually replaced it yet. I use Apple Notes on my phone for ...

Another good one from Jason - https://world.hey.com/jason/staying-out-of-it-c6624e2d “I'd much rather see most things take care of themselves. Or have people settle their own balances, rather than me having to deposit my own two cents. This means getting used to being OK with decisions I wouldn't have made. Or designs I wouldn't have d...

Feeling pretty thankful to be in a country where I have already received my first dose! Was like an assembly line, show ID, answer some questions, site in a line, move to getting labeled, move to nurse, jab, wait for 30 mins and then get the card for the next visit. Free too. It does make me feel better about things. Gives me hope for ...

Probably one of the best ways to describe what a job is about: https://twitter.com/garrytan/status/1377661970178973696?s=20 Learn or earn. I can easily look back over my career and various jobs to see at times I was consciously having to choose one or the other. Miraculously, there would be a few gigs where I got both. This is always m...

Was just reading this one :: https://world.hey.com/jason/excitement-is-a-fleeting-moment-not-a-steady-state-481e3548 Very, very true and much needed to be said. “It sure sounds like everyone's having a lot of fun out there. So when we don't see that reflected in our own businesses, we wonder we're doing wrong. Why aren't my employees a...

I love podcasts. I grew up on talk radio and stations that would have nightly stories. Podcasts are my new radio, no not Clubhouse, but it's important to find new and interesting ones to listen to. My fav source for new things to listen to is 1.5x Speed by Nick Quah (from Malaysia). Here is the latest one: https://link.vulture.com/view...

I have lived in Asia for over 21 years. Crazy - I know. When I lived in Hong Kong, I would have business trips to Singapore and was always happy to get on the plane back to HK. When I lived in Thailand, the only time I traveled to Singapore in the 5 years that I lived there was for my Yahoo job interview. Then a few weeks later I moved...

I talked before about keeping a daily log at work. I only make an entry for a day when I did some work - even if a holiday or Saturday or Sunday. If I didn't touch any work, I don't make an entry. Today I logged my 365th day. So that's one full year of work days. Onward.

The hucksters are everywhere. CH has been bringing them out of shadows and into the limelight. Schilling audio advice to anyone who gets a notification. I get a kick out of listening to people who have never done it tell me how to run engineering (agile is the only way), describe what a VC does (goes to lunch with people while waiting ...

I have had many different gigs over my lifetime. Each of them has some aspect that is slightly or even radically different than past gigs but all of them share a common trait. I have to learn something new in order to perform my duties. I keep a daily log on an internal wiki at AWS. It helps me find stuff since it is searchable and I s...

My dad had his own business most of my childhood. Mom did the books and tried to keep him organized. I did not pay much attention to it all but essentially my dad was an entrepreneur. If we step back from the Hustle Porn of tech Startups, most of the world is full of small, gritty businesses and the people running these businesses are ...

How are you? How have you been? How do you feel? These are tough questions to answer. If I am honest with myself and my feelings, I want to say terrible. I am sick of wearing a mask. I am worn out trying to get my two year old to wear a mask. I am sad knowing my parents have never met said two old. Two year olds are amazing and I reall...

Digging how simple this is now to publish from Hey Email. I won't use my substack anymore. Never intended to build a proper newsletter at this time so the tool doesn't quite fit the needs. Wordpress is fine but my url and blog was for a different career phase. Hoping Hey will add a blog import and would move it all over but let's see h...

My first message to the World from Hey. More to come.