Hello, !

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend, where ever you are reading this. I've been (gasp!) socialising most of this weekend, which is very unlike me. What about you? Let me know what you're up to!

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In this week's email...

• Week in the Life - read on the blog
• Creative - Melbourne 2022 Wall Calendar (pre-order) (~$22)
• Gadgets & Tech - Microsoft Surface Pro 8
• Read - 1000 True Fans (~8min)
• Watch - The Great Resignation (~11min)
• Quote - "All of the darkness of the world cannot put out the light of one small candle."

Week in the life

Well this week has been a continuation of too much socialising! In a way it's nice to see people especially after so long. On the other hand, I feel like after nearly 2 years of on and off lockdowns, the transition to being fully social could've been done a bit more slowly to adapt back to the new normal. It doesn't help that Melbourne also has a HEAP of dining specials at the moment and has recently had the launch of Impossible Burgers in Australia (we only had the Beyond ones prior).

Did you have such adjustment issues where you are?

In an unusual turn of events, it turns out that we have a bit of excess leave available at work for the end of the year. This is probably because we STILL can't travel to some states and especially for those in healthcare, if we leave the country, we can come back from the approved ones without quarantine but can't enter a hospital for a designated period of time. So all in all, means we have to add at least a week to the break, making it much less attractive to use up time off now. Hasn't stopped me from booking something in 2 weeks about an hour away from Melbourne though!

I'll keep this area short and have the rest over on the blog...

Creative update

Melbourne 2022 Wall Calendar (pre-order) (~$22)

https://photosbyraffy.com/product/melbourne-2022-wall-calendar

After some requests for a 2022 Melbourne calendar, I have finally stopped procrastinating and finalised the images and sent them to the printer.

The final design for the actual dates is just a few days from being completed before the production run starts, but it's currently discounted. Since you're reading this newsletter, you can use the code "sunday10" to get another 10% during the pre-order time! The link above will take you to the store page which also shows the back cover with all the images used.

Gadgets & Tech

Microsoft Surface Pro 8

https://raffyhalim.com/surface

I used to be a MacBook user until curiosity got the better of me and I switched to the Surface lineup about 6 years ago. Up until 2 years ago, these devices were my go to. Then Microsoft made the most incremental changes ever and I decided to try out the HP and Lenovo's of the world with ok results.

Earlier this year though, they redesigned this tablet/laptop just how I'd like it. I hesitated getting it at the time since I had a relatively new laptop and it sold out immediately. It's just been restocked so guess who ordered one?

• NanoPresso mini espresso maker - I've started making coffee using this instead of going to the store and have left a few around the hospitals where I work. Great gift for a coffee lover
• Floately Levitating Planter/Light - Gotta say that even after months, I love watching my levitating cactii around the apartment.

Read

1000 True Fans (~8min)

https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/

Considering the phenonmenon of the Great Resignation (see video in the next section), more people than ever are wanting to work for themselves. This little essay but Kevin Kelly keeps getting referred to by many entrepreneurs as a good starting point of how to think about it all.

One of the interesting things is that it lays out the maths of how you don't actually need to remotely build something of the scale of the next Apple or Google to have a comfortable life doing something personally meaningful. It's a relatively short read and the numbers are surprising.

What I'm reading

• QAnon and On - I'm mixing up the fiction with a bit of conspiracy theory. Just started it, but looks like it'll be an interesting read

Watch

The Great Resignation (~11min)

https://youtu.be/1hKXEEUElO8

Covid-19 has disrupted so many things and it looks like it's made a LOT of people re-evaluate their lives. Though this video talks about the US, very similar forces are also at work in Australia, with many companies struggling to fill jobs.

Legal firms are increasing payrates, Telstra has 1000 vacanies and other articles show that this is not just a localised phenomenon. This video is a nice primer into why this is happening

Quote I'm pondering

"All of the darkness of the world cannot put out the light of one small candle."

– Anon

I was going to use a totally different quote this week, but stumbled onto this one and it initially seemed a bit cheesy but true. Darkness is the absence of light even the simplest of light sources can nullify it in the immediate vicinity...

Maybe it's because Melbourne is slowly returning to a new normal or maybe it's just the bit of joy from all the catch ups, but something about that quote struck and made me unusually hopeful.

That's all I have for yet another week ! Hope you enjoyed the newsletter. As always, I simply LOVE hearing from you and your opinions. Feedback is always welcome!

Stay safe!

- Raffy

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