Sah wah dee {{contact.first_name}}! It's time for a Sunday Surprise
May 23, 2021 12:01 pm
Sah wah dee !
That's Thai for "hello" (except men and women have to add either "khrap" or "khaaa" at the end of that phrase respectively). How do you like the new banner and logo? It's been a pretty varied week this week and I'm excited that it's finally over! More because I have a few days off in the upcoming weeks and I can't wait to explore a few places and relax! More on that later...
As always, a small favour? Could you forward this newsletter to just 3 people that you think would like one of the articles? It helps A LOT! If you're the friend reading this, click the link below to join! Glad to have you here!
In this week's email...
- Week in the Life
- Creative update - randInt podcast & Pfizer 2nd dose
- Gadgets & Tech- Hourglass for 30 min sprints
- Read - Why Australia Banned the world's largest telecom firm
- Watch - Crash course in Israel & Palestine
- Quote - “A healthy man wants a thousand things, a sick man only wants one.”
Week in the life
This week has been quite varied and interesting. Lot's of ad hoc work (as usual) but I did get to do a robotic case (which are not the most interesting anaesthetically) but I just loving watching the surgeon at the console and the robot copying the hand movements. There's just something very futuristic and satisfying about it for me.
In non work news, I've started edited the photos from the photoshoot last week. It's going ok but I'm new to editing photos with different coloured gel lighting so the workflow has been a bit different and taken me a bit longer. Here's some of the very minimally edited photos:
This week also had me playing VR games with a few colleagues over at Zero Latency. Highly recommend having a go. The one we played was situated in a space station and it was SO ODD having to along a curve and walk on the walls. In reality, you just walk straight but your brain has a mini meltdown trying to process everything!
It was also a friend's wedding but more on that on the blog...
Creative
randInt() EP 007 - Did ya know?
https://anchor.fm/randint/episodes/EP-007---Did-ya-know-e117v04
Also, we decided to make randInt() a bit more predictable (ironic, right?!) and release it every second Friday
https://raffyhalim.com/2021/the-second-dose-pfizer-vax/
Wrote up my experience with the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine since some wanted to know how the first one was like. If you're curious, the article is up on raffyhalim.com.
Gadgets & Tech
I've often used the Pomodoro method to try and get work done and while timers are great and al, I've found watching sand slip through both somehow relaxing and motivating in terms of getting things done quickly.
There's something visceral about watching the sand represent the time flowing by that keeps me on task. My original one was accidentally broken so now I have one to time my breaks. But I'll be ordering this one and a 5 min one of a different colour to do my future Pomodoro sprints.
Also, they just look cool!
- Ember Heated coffee mug - Keeps my coffee nice and warm for extended periods of time. Great in winter!
- Luminar AI - The quickest way of editing photos and getting amazing results. I showed someone the other day how a near final edit could be done in less than 90 seconds and they were blown away!
- Aeropress Go - Make an awesome cup of coffee with an Aeropress that fits into a coffee cup!
Read
Why Australia Banned the world's largest telecom firm (~12 mins)
It's a very interesting look at the nuances of diplomacy and how there are shifting sands about what constitutes a threat to the sovereignty of a a country.
Overall, it's one of the few things that made me appreciate that some politicians might actually be doing a good job weighing up the pros and cons of complex situations and balancing a lot of different factors.
Current book that I'm reading:
- Happy Sexy Millionaire - I needed something a bit less dense to read in between chapters of Beginning of Infinity and after hearing a bunch of great quotes from the author, decided to bite the bullet and start his book. So far so good!
Watch
Crash course in Israel & Palestine (~10min)
One of the biggest was that this was a clash of religions where as in reality it seems to be the result of 2 distinct national identities and the remanants of colonialism.
See Also
- Vox: Israel/Palestine - this is the other good video I found. Highlights similar but slightly different things about the ongoing conflict. Also worth a watch to gain a perspective on the subtleties
Quote I'm pondering
“A healthy man wants a thousand things, a sick man only wants one.”
- Confucius
This one is more a reminder for me to put a decent priority on health and exercise. Along with the usual "remember to work out and sleep" etc, it should be a reminder to eat healthy since a lot of the illness in the modern day comes from things of a chronic nature and a bad diet is usually a chronic thing.
I suppose lastly, just like you take a car in for servicing before it breaks down, it should serve as a reminder to treat your body proactively instead of only seeking help when it's breaking down. So schedule that appointment and get that niggly thing looked at!
I'm terrible at following my own advice but earlier this year, I did go and see a doctor for this very reason for the first time...ever really.
That's all for another week from the Sunday Surprise, !
- Raffy
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