Specs and Other Stuff

One of the fun things about poring through old journal entries is finding a record of exactly when certain minor events occurred. For example, I learned that I last got eyeglasses in September 2009. Although I mostly use them as 'backup' in case I can't wear contacts, I have been needing new glasses for some time now. So it's nice to have a newer pair with a stronger prescription.

I worry that my vision may have deteriorated over the past couple of weeks, though. I am hoping it's a temporary thing, brought on by increased screen-staring hours at work. Nonetheless, it is still something I should keep an eye on (no pun intended).

In the past month, I cashed in my accumulated credit card rewards points.which gave me the opportunity to do something nice for myself without sabotaging my budget. The biggest ticket item that I purchased was a fancy messenger bag to use when I am at work or carting my laptop around.

When I started work at my law firm, I bought an old-school style briefcase, and have used it my papers and other items. However, the briefcase is cumbersome (on several occasions, people have been compelled to joke about how the briefcase is larger than I am), and it just isn't well-suited for carrying stuff around on a day-to-day basis. It has a pocket of space at the top which isn't very usable, and doesn't have enough space designed for carrying random small items (for example a computer mouse, a checkbook, or a small book). I figured a nice messenger bag would be work-appropriate, but would also be easier to take around if I am carrying work with me during the weekend.

The bag seems to be pretty well-designed, with compartments for different items. It even has a removable sleeve for a laptop (my laptop is large, and therefore a little too big for the sleeve, but still fits in the bag itself). Even though I will probably use the briefcase from time to time, it'll be nice to have a more convenient alternative, and I hope it'll encourage me to work outside more often.

App Roundup: Timing is Everything

It is slightly hard to believe that I use so many different apps which relate to timekeeping, and it is curious that managing and controlling time has become such a priority. I suppose that, when one is working, it inevitably becomes important.

I have mentioned the Sleep Cycle timer and the Timer With Sections in the past. Sleep Cycle is an alarm system which wakes you up when you're at the most 'awake' part of your sleep cycle and keeps track of sleep patterns. Timer With Sections allows you to plan out and time a routine; I use it to schedule, and stick to, a morning routine.

I have also tried using apps to keep track of my work hours.

Because I sometimes work from home (or the coffee shop), I need to keep track of the hours I bill so that I can later enter my time into the system at work. For a long time, I would make do by recording the time on scraps of paper, but that system left a lot to be desired. I've tried out a few timekeeper apps, but I have sometimes found their interfaces to be awkward or not well suited to the kind of billing I need to do.

Sailing Along the LA River

When I'm traveling through foreign countries or other states, I feel driven, or even obligated, to see the sights while I'm there. However, I sometimes forget to explore my hometown. So, when I saw that Hidden LA was giving the last LA River Tour of the season, I thought it would provide a nice opportunity to get out and go exploring.

The LA River itself is something of a joke among locals; people don't think of it as a 'proper' river so much as a concrete scar running through town, often surrounded by industrial blight. The tour provided a corrective to that view, showing the more scenic parts of the river and explaining ambitious plans to restore the river and make it a boon to the surrounding communities.

Tips & Tricks

I've found myself making some minor but important changes (both intentional and unintentional) to my habits and routine, and they seem to be having a positive effect so far. I'm hoping that I'll be able to keep the momentum and make these improvements last.

First of all, I've been trying to keep a more consistent morning routine. While I have been using a Timer app to plan out my routine, I've nonetheless struggled to find the energy or motivation to get out the door in a timely fashion.

Nostalgia and a Baby Party

I have finally finished the process of getting my old posts moved from LiveJournal to Blogger. I did not include a few posts (either because the material was "too sensitive," too dull, or reliant on broken links/photos), and cleaned up some minor mistakes, but it is 95% the same. I am hoping to get a couple of old written journal entries up there as well. In going through the many old entries, I've also come to appreciate the archive system that Blogger has; it's a lot easier to look through the less recent entries with their system, so it's nice to reproduce the entries in a more accessible format.

Most of the journal entries I've found date from 2000 or later, but I did find a charming letter that I wrote to myself in 8th grade. Among the blog entries, I've also come across some interesting things, like the record of my 2003 London Program adventures (beginning here), a bunch of old "interviews," and stuff from one of Chrissie's student films.

Crazy July

The past month was bookended by two pretty unpleasant events. Fortunately, the month has also had its share of fun times, and even the more negative experiences were not as bad as they could have been.

On the first, I sustained some nasty burns over my entire face as a result of a household incident involving a blast of hot water. For various reasons, I can't go into too much detail here, but, fortunately, my injuries have largely healed (though I still need to be careful about sun exposure). And I am eternally grateful that my eyes were closed when it happened, sparing me a much more profound injury.

During the afternoon of July 30, I was the victim of an attempted robbery. I was in right in front of the Gelson's on Franklin when I stopped to use my phone (I was entering the cost of my recent haircut into a budgeting app). Suddenly, a guy grabbed my wrist and tried to wrest the phone from my hands. I screamed almost immediately and held my phone tightly; after a short struggle, the guy gave up and made a break for it.