Howdy, !

Apologies for this week's newsletter being a day late. I have no idea what hit me but I just spent the last 2 days predominantly sleeping! Tired and headaches with no other symptoms and negative Covid-19 tests. No idea what the deal is abut more on that below...

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In this week's email...

• Week in the Life - read on the blog
• Creative Update - First day blues...
• Gadgets/Tech - Oil sprayer
• Read - Incredible comparisons show is things in a new way
• Watch - Caffeine: explained
• Quote - “Life is long if you know how to use it”

Week in the life

This week saw the return of the F1 to Melbourne after a 2 year break. As a result, the city was full to the brim of visitors. I even had friends from interstate visit which was nice to have a catch up after not seeing them for years!

While work was a lot gentler this past week, I was unusually tired. At one point, one of the cats was sitting on the couch so I knelt on the floor to lean forward and give them a cuddle and fell asleep like that! 😂 Initially, I just thought I needed to sleep it off but I've spent the majority of the last 2 days doing not much else and feel like I could fall asleep again right now. So after some cajoling by others, I booked in to see my doctor and got some tests done to hopefully get to the bottom of it. More on all that over on the blog...

Creative update

First day blues...

The first of the actual videos during Ramadan was finally edited and posted last week. I was meant to do another one this weekend, but hey that didn't happen!

The audio quality is a bit questionable, but I've already worked on a fix for the next video. Again, the whole point of all this is to raise money for the less fortunate this month, so please consider donating if you're able.

Gadget/Tech

Oil sprayer

It wouldn't be a random newsletter without some random items in here and this should qualify!

As of recent, I've been trying to cut down a bit on single use items and canned oil spray was one of those things I used not infrequently, but thought was quite wasteful. Enter the Decor oil sprayer! Super useful while cooking and environmentally friendly too. Not quite tech, but has been my recent purchase that I've liked.

Other tech & gadgets:

• Matte Black Fountain Pen - If you're looking for an inexpensive but decent fountain pen, these ones are my favourite. I've bought multiple and for the price, I don't think you can do better.
• 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

Read

Incredible comparisons show is things in a new way

I'm not normally a fan of these listicles, but this did have some stuff that blew my mind. Especially look out for the 2nd point - the moon as compared to the size of the US. That one specifically blew my mind since I thought the size would've been vastly different.

What I'm reading at present:

• QAnon and On- Still going on this one!

Watch

Caffeine: explained

If it wasn't abundantly clear, I am quite a fan off coffee and other drinks such as cola and tea that have caffeine in them.

I remember a few of the facts that are presented in the video but this was far more entertainingly explained than the text book version that I was reading.

So if you're also a fan of caffeine, this is a nice summary of the world's most commonly used psychoactive drug!

Quote I'm pondering

“Life is long if you know how to use it”

– Seneca

I quite like reading ancient quotes because for all the things that have changed since the time of Seneca, many things about the human condition stay the same. I can't be anything but amused thinking about people in ancient Rome rushing about and saying how busy they are.

It seems a modern phenomenon but I'm sure the feeling of the lack of time to get everything done has been around ever since civilisation first started. There are always people who seem to be able to enjoy life with the 24hrs in the day they're given and others that seems rushed off their feet.

I belong to the latter so I suppose this quote makes me ponder on how to best use life to make it seem long...

That's all for this week. Hope you enjoyed this newsletter and hopefully see you next week when (I hope) to be recovered from what ever is causing this fatigue!

- Raffy

PS - What was your favourite part of the email this week? Do you like/dislike the subtle changes this year? Let me know with 1 click! I read the survey every week (& keep tweaking things with your feedback!)

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