Kohomada, !

That's "how do you do" as a common informal greeting in Sri Lanka. How ARE you doing this week? For me it's been one that's high on the social side of things but more on that later.

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Week in the life

This week was a return to long hours and lots of socialising. It was my first on call after a long while and I can't say I've missed it! 😅It was also a week where Chandra, my old housemate and podcast co-host came to visit. My mother-in-law is also in town so I have to take the time to be a good host...

You might already start to see that these coming weeks will become an exercise in time management especially as we head to the last leg of the year, but more on all that over on the blog...

Creative update

I was a bit slack this week in putting something creative out there, but we did record another randInt podcast that is coming out next week. In the mean time, here's some recent highlights you might've missed...

randInt S02E15 - Long time, no talk

Well, look at that! After a bit of an unexpected hiatus given that we just couldn't find time to record a podcast, we're back with a brand new episode! This time, it's a catch-up and a half!

I flew a plane!

A short video from my first proper flying lesson. I had a trial one prior to this and am reliving the moment since Melbourne weather has meant that I couldn't fly at all this weekend...

Why you should take vacations in the most remote locations in the world

A short piece I wrote while thoroughly enjoying a rainy day in Greenland and why I'm definitely doing more of these kinds of holidays...

Gadgets/Tech

Iwatani blow torch

After starting to sous vide salmon recently, I really wanted to get the right kind of sear before serving. It was a bit hard to do on a pan but after much talking with Chandra, he suggested the Iwatani. Now I don't know anything about blow torches but supposedly this version actually burns most of the fuel so that it doesn't end up coating your food. Seems important!

Other gadgets/tech

• Dji Mini 3 pro - Current favourite drone. It's tiny but got the job done in Greenland!
• Kindle Scribe - Ebook reader and general writing pad with weeks long battery life. I want!

Read

Van life is just ‘glorified homelessness’

I'm a sucker for escapist posts about influencer and nomads travelling around while making a living. It was nice to see this more realistic piece about the pitfalls of living the van life.

I do think that this person just didn't plan this particularly well, but I'm glad to see that my worries about bathrooms, the heat and being able to shower were well founded!

Currently reading...

• The Myth of Normal - Getting to more interesting things that is personally starting to be useful.

Watch

How is Australia so rich?

Given all the negative stories about the economy locally, I thought I'd share this video that I stumbled across recently. It summarises how given our tiny population as compared to other countries and our land mass, we're actually pretty rich comparatively to the rest of the world!

It was a nice change from the negativity that I mostly see...

Quote I'm pondering

“One of history’s few iron laws is that luxuries tend to become necessities and to spawn new obligations.”

— Yuval Harari

This, of course, refers to the hedonic treadmill that most people in modern society fall victim to one way or another. I was having brunch with a friend recently and having recently had the privilege of buying my ideal home, he was commenting that he'd want something similar.

At one point we looked back just 10 years and realised just how much of our "needs" of today were even outside the bounds of what we'd consider luxuries back then! It wasn't too long ago where hot water and air conditioning in most places were the luxuries but when was the last time you went to a shopping mall without either? Consider that running water wasn't really a thing until just over a 100 years ago. Now, it's an essential part of modern living...

What are your luxuries that have become necessities? Let me know!

That's all for this week! See you next time!

- Raffy

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