Time well spent [379]

Greetings from the shed...

Dec 30, 2022

Greetings fellow travellers.

#TheAction

This year felt long and busy. Which pleases me greatly. If I’m lucky enough to live the generally allotted 4000 weeks of life, 2022 was 52 of those weeks in the bag. Outside of lots of family time and ‘working from home’ how were they spent?

In January we eased into the year with a choose your own mini series of topics for the dispatch. I delivered some workshops and started posting all the amateur radio content into its own newsletter.

I turned fifty in February, which was a lot less painful than I thought it would be. I slept in a treehouse. Got a massage and saw some work by Banksy.

In March I suddenly got interested in air quality monitoring just in time to get Covid.

Thankfully I remembered the secret of happiness and got better in time to do some photo and video assignments. I saw out the end of April with a motorbike ride in California with the Hells Nerds. And before heading back to the UK stopped off in Texas to deliver some culture change workshops over a few days.

May saw another amazing Thinking Digital conference in Gateshead and in June I took my lad to experience EMF Camp for the first time before heading to Austin to deliver more workshops.

AudioMo was of course throughout June, and there was plenty to record including time alone in an anechoic chamber and time with friends at the 16th 1984 Symposium.

In July I finally got to see Pearl Jam live. I also experimented with meditating more regularly and my family said goodbye to our two electric cars.

August saw a trip to Margate, and Wales, plus I started messing around with MidJourney. A little cycling and some more motorcycling saw that month out.

Suddenly September arrived and I decided I should commit to writing something long form. Like a book. Also in September I caught up with an old friend at a Black Crows concert.

October saw me head to Paris to do some lecturing and lead a photo walk. October was also about writing retreats and old haunts.

November began with a violent attack but got better with audio recording tests, photography experiments, this dispatch getting ‘bestseller’ verification and a trip to Manchester.

December, which we are now at the very end of, started with the trip to see Jonathan Pie and saw me manage to steal away for another multi day bike ride which we talked about in the last two issues. I also sold my motorbike, enjoyed long walks in the snow, had a few family outings and got to spend quality time with friends.

Very little of this year was planned. A lot of it just happened. In the words of Douglas Adams… “I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”

Douglas Adams achieved many wonderful things in his 2565 weeks. I can only aspire to do the same despite already having 91 weeks on his record, as I sit at 2656.

The average life expectancy for a male living in England is 76.8 years. About 4007 weeks. If your gender at birth was female you might get 4226 weeks.

Having beat my biological father’s record of 1932 weeks I feel I have already had my fair share. But my next milestone is that of my Mother who managed 2981.

After that it’s all downhill with my Grandmothers checkpoint at 4696 and the ultimate genetically connected record set by my Grandad with his very respectable 4752 weeks.

Check back in 526 issues and despatch number [905] to see if I make it.

This certainly is not a race. There may be the occasional sprint but ideally this is a pensive stroll. Lighten the load if you can. Let go of your worries, grudges or any anger you might cling to and travel well.

Let time fly, as we linger in all the wonderful moments that make this life worth living.

#ThePictures

Time enjoyed is not wasted time and I enjoyed checking out the People Selling Mirrors Twitter account.

A friend just bought a cheap but decent road bike and will no doubt want to go for a ride at some point. I’m not totally sold on bikes that will only work on the smoothest of roads. Recently my Brompton showed me that even with its small wheels and limited gearing it can still handle a dirt track. So I shared this video with him as a way of saying all is not lost.

#TheWords

Interesting read about seven stowaways and a hijacked oil tanker off the Isle of Wight.

Another great read from Catherynne M. Valente “Maybe we have to roll the internet back a little and go back to blogs and decentralized groups and techy fiddling and real-life conventions and idealists with servers in their closets.”

#TheSound

I was listening to Cosmo’s Factory by Creedence Clearwater Revival and wondered what the bicycle was on the cover. It looks like a 1969 Schwinn Super Sport. I then got taken down a rabbit hole looking for other album covers that featured bicycles.

There are loads of them.

This vid makes me want to drag the synth out…

#TheBody

I was just beating myself up about not being on the push bike since I got back from the Isle of White and I got a Strava notification. I may not have peddled as many miles this year (1200km) as I did the year before but I still managed to get a few personal records.

I’ll take the little wins. Thanks coach.

#TheThings

One of my favourite gifts this Christmas was this stainless steel double walled insulated mug.

In the image it’s holding some white rose and raspberry white tea but it can also keep my coffee warm. All the way to the last sip. Even in a chilly shed.

Also this tiny 180 lumen torch has become a part of my EDC.

As there is nothing like a bit of perspective. I have created a check sheet should you want to see how long the average lifetime looks like on a page of A4. For symmetry there are in 4020 weeks for you to tick off. You can download it here.

#TheThanks

Many thanks to the supporting subscribers that pay $5/month to get all the content I share here. If you are a free subscriber please consider upgrading to support my work.

#TheWeb

Tech journalism doesn’t know what to do with mastodon.
Have you added yourself to the Documentally community map?
Remember… Privacy is OK.
13 of the cheapest hobbies you can teach yourself.
As there is nothing like a bit of perspective. I have created a check sheet should you want to see what a lifetime looks like on a page of A4. There are in fact 4020 weeks for you to tick off. You can download it here.
I have some photos here on Flickr, or search Documentally@octodon.social to find me on Mastodon. I’m still @Documentally on birdsite but visit less regularly.

#TheEnd

On Christmas Day my first cousin (once removed) and his wife had their first child. A baby boy. He’s just about to clock up his first week. Just imagine having all that time in front of you.

We are facing a brand new year. But every day is a fresh start. Another chance to get it right. Whatever you experienced these last 12 months, I hope the coming year brings joy, wonder and many more adventures

Thank you for reading, and being a part of this community.