Góðan daginn !

That's "good day" in Icelandic. This will be a late Sunday Surprise again since it's been another full week/weekend of work for me. It's been so busy that I can't believe that the end of 2020 is only 2 weeks away!!! What are you getting up to for the end of the year?

Anyway...

A small ask (as always!). If you have a friend who you think would enjoy the this email, maybe forward it on? It helps A LOT! You can even use your own referral link:

Week in the life

This week has been full of variety with a whole bunch of different lists that I don't get to normally do. Currently, I'm in between patients and will be doing my first "proper" brain surgery (craniotomy for a cavernoma!) in about a year or so!

This week, one of the other doctors organised a Basic Life Support course to happen in a mosque before the evening prayer. Lahiru gave an awesome presentation and showed everyone the ropes before we jumped into doing some practical stuff. Several other medics from all over Melbourne also helped out.

I've been working in a variety of different places around Melbourne and have been dropping off the puzzles if I happen to be nearby. I feel like a creepy Santa at the moment! If you haven't done so already, please do your Kickstarter questionnaire so I know where to drop it off!

PxR & Kickstarter update

PxR Store

https://www.photosbyraffy.com/shop

Look out for creepy Santa style drop offs if you're in Melbourne and I happen to be working nearby! That's one of the random spots where I left the puzzle (and hopefully they didn't trip on it!) for one of the backers. Overseas deliveries are in the process of being shipped but who knows how long that will be currently.

I'm just glad I have the puzzles and can get them out. About 30% have already been delivered and hoping for a few more this weekend. The ones getting shipped are the wild card and I'm not optimistic that they'll arrive by Xmas. Apologies!

There have been a few orders for the puzzle and the 2021 coming through the online PxR store. If you're after one, click on through! Currently, the 2021 Calendar comes with FREE Shipping in Australia with the code " " so if you're after one, it's a good time!

Gadgets & things

Sesame Smart Lock

https://amzn.to/3ayvLwd

This is the latest smart home upgrade I've made to the apartment. I have been looking into smart locks and the other ones like August and Kwikset are really cool, but require you to dismantle and replace part of the lock.

The good thing about the Sesame is that it fits over your existing lock and is super simple to install. It's not as full featured, but it's nice having to not use my door key!

The Nuki Smart Lock is probably the only other one that came close, but was a bit pricier, though it looks sleeker...

SEE ALSO

Some people keep asking about previous recommendations etc so I'm going to link a few that have come up in conversation in the last week below:

• Lyre's non-alcoholic spirits - Still waiting for my bottle to arrive, but judging by reviews, should be great!
• Floately floating planter - This is still awesome! Very much still enjoying my plants spin around weightlessly.
• Zens Wireless charging pad - My current wireless charging pad of choice. Works with iPhones and most Android devices and it's GREAT to not have to line up the charging coils!

Watch

How China Broke the World's Recycling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXRtNwUju5g

It's slightly misleading in it's title, but this video was quite insightful into the problems of recycling (and how it was a bit of a marketing exercise to begin with anyway!)

If nothing else, it should highlight how it's an imperfect system at bestand we should be counting on using less plastic than depending on recycling.

Read

Fear Setting - Tim Ferriss

https://tim.blog/2017/05/15/fear-setting/

This is a post from ages ago from the legendary Tim Ferriss. Instead of focusing on goals, this one is an antidote of sorts for the chronic worries that seems to plague modern day life.

It's a nice entry point into the reflective period for me so I'm giving this a re-read and thought you might find it useful. There's also an accompanying TED talk if you're interested.

Question I'm pondering

"What was the best compliment you received this year?"

As the year draws to a close, I am doing my obligatory navel gazing. It's been a shit-show of a year for most people and instead of focusing on summarising the year, this question stuck out to me in trying to find a positive.

For me (due to recency bias) it would have to be a trainee telling me that I am actually a good teacher. It's something that I don't think I'm personally good at even in the slightest. His comment was something like "your style of teaching is very different, but it's always useful when it's "story time with Raffy!"

Make of that what you will, but it's not a compliment I was expecting. What was yours?

Truly random

How are you finding the random section? Would love feedback if you liked this.

• Perspectives on China - This was a pretty interesting article for the ABC. China gets a large media coverage and is very influential on the world stage. However, apart from media snippets, what do you really know about the country? One of the ABC journalists compiled a list of books to read on the topic. Seems like a good place to start to understand the complexities of China and how it came to be where it is...

Thanks again for joining me on yet another week of randomness. What was your favourite bit? Email me and let me know!

Stay safe and stay random!

- Raffy

What's been your favourite book for the year? I like to listen to audiobooks and I tend to get stuck with non-fiction these days. I'm all ears for any recommendations so let me know!

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