February reflection

A first class trip back home and becoming a LinkedInfluencer!

Trip back home

We had to cancel our usual trip home over Christmas/New Year due to my shoulder surgery/recovery time, so in February, we finally got back to see friends and family. I worked remotely in varying setups, but all in all, it was great to get home.

Arriving home always feels like an instant relief. The boulder of worrying about a foreign language at every interaction is lifted, and I can communicate with anyone about anything.

We started our time in our home town of Dundee, before venturing to York for a couple of nights, then stayed in a village in Yorkshire visiting friends.

The temptation to indulge in a Guinness was strong at certain points of the trip, but honestly, in some cases, I’m sure I would struggle to tell the difference between a Guinness 0.0 and a “full fat Guinness” as it was coined!

First class

On that note, since I intended to work on the train from Dundee to York, the £18-20 fee of upgrading to first class seemed worth a punt, and oh man did I thoroughly enjoy it! Constant cups of tea, some snacks, a couple of meals, decent WiFi and my own desk to sit and work away at - it was quite the experience and I managed to get a lot done!

Becoming a LinkedInfluencer?

Well, not really. I shared my latest blog entry on AI fatigue with LinkedIn, and I’m really not sure why.

I think I’ve just been feeling the weight of it all, and I wanted to know if others feel the same. The article seemed to go down well, although there wasn’t much in the comments from people agreeing or disagreeing, so maybe it is in fact, just me.

Home, again?

Yesss indeed, we already booked another trip home which is very much multipurpose. We have a birthday celebration, a 1 week vacation to detox on a Scottish Isle, a trip down south to help build a shed and work remotely. I’m really looking forward to that, particularly getting to a Scottish Isle and switching my brain off. No laptop, limited phone, some books, walks, photography and hopefully a relaxing week.

Alcohol free still!

Still going strong as February 27th marked 4 months sober! I’m seeing gradual sleep improvement as my shoulder continues to improve, and my watch is consistently recording my sleep quality as “Great”. I’m not sure exactly how it works, but before, it was almost always “Fair”, so perhaps sober sleep is a thing after all?

I had one night out celebrating the end of a friend’s time with the company I work at, and despite my best efforts, I couldn’t last much past midnight. Despite not boozing, I caught up with a lot of people who no longer work with us, played some darts, and enjoyed some AF beers. I definitely need to brush up on my conversational skills though - without the social lubricant, it’s definitely not as easy!

Reading

• “Artificial Truth”: I finished reading this, and ultimately found it an interesting book that kinda shares space with TV shows like “Upload” where a person can exist after their fragile shell has reached the end of the road.
• “A Litter of Bones”: A book set in Scotland - I randomly read a book from later in this series and enjoyed it. It takes me home with its excessive swearing, dry humour and use of old Scots language!
• “Seven Myths About Money: And the Truth About Finding Financial Freedom”: Not finished yet - actually, not progressed any further since I got off the plane last month!