October Reset
Here is a quick blog update to absolutely no one.
My last post was on September 10th; the one about “Little Miss Sunshine”. Don’t be misled by the publish date though. I actually wrote that article way back in August, and only found the time in September to briefly revise it and upload it. It is kind of like a “later-gram” but for blogs I guess.
In actuality, I’ve not written anything for 2.5 months! I can feel it right now as I’m typing this. My “writing” muscle is somewhat atrophied and It’s not as easy to come up with fluid proses. In fact, I might even need a refresher on grammar and sentence structure… Writing has never come naturally to me but it’s still discouraging to see how quickly the process of entropy affects my writing ability.
I really do enjoy writing these articles; both the technical and the non-technical ones. I get a great deal of satisfaction even though relatively few will ever see them. There is also a sense of productivity and fulfillment. You could argued that my time would be better-spent taking online classes, reading more books, learning a new language, or perhaps going to the gym. There is an opportunity cost here. Nevertheless, irrational it may be, I feel like all of this is worth doing.
So why did I stop writing for such a long period of time?
West Coast Road Trip
Figure: Road Trip itinerary
Yes, I drove 1,300 miles round trip, from San Francisco and Seattle and back (~2500 miles total). I could have taken a flight to Seattle and then rent a car; a la literally everyone I’ve spoken to about my trip. But then I would be missing out on so many amazing places in between the two major cities. I had a lot of PTO hours accumulated this year and the timing worked out at the end of August for a two-week vacation.
Figure: Extreme Planning
It was also my first road trip ever, and I spent countless hours planning every single detail down to smallest minutiae. In retrospect, I over-planned the trip and it felt at times like I am crossing off items on a to-do list. I think I’ll allow some spontaneity next time! Plus, I squeezed so much into each day that I did not find much time for my journal entries; hence the lack of blogging activity between mid August to early September.
America is such a huge, expansive country with the most splendid catalog of National Parks. Its cities are cool too, each having its unique characteristics.
Figure: Mount Rainier Skyline Trail
As for the lack of activity in the month of September, there is another reason…
I Failed The California Surveying Exam
Out of all the train wreck exams I’ve had in my life, this one really hurts! It hurts even more than that Calculus II midterm during my Sophomore year (38%). It hurts more because I don’t really have a solid excuse for not passing. I studied a lot! Made comprehensive study notes and took 3 practice exams and 120 practice questions. Nevertheless, the result speaks for itself. As always, social media puts the cherry on top. I was bombarded by LinkedIn posts of my peers finally getting their PE certification.
My failure in calculus II was well-deserved. I didn’t study at all. It’s funny because not putting in any effort dulls the pain. You can’t “fail” if you don’t try. But that’s perhaps the biggest failure, isn’t it?
I will spare you the sob story and the litany of excuses of why I didn’t pass this time. This was a well-timed setback for me to reset.
Looking Forward…
For the month of September, I grinded 500+ survey questions (roughly 10 practice exams). If androids dreamed about electric sheep, then I dreamed about horizontal curve questions in September.
While we are on the topic of failures, I’m hoping to run a half-marathon early next year, and perhaps a full marathon a few months later (depending on how I’m feeling). It’s something I’ve always wanted to try. Later in November, I will be attending my first Hackathon. I’m sure it will be a great learning experience.
Before the end of the year, I would like to read a few more books and write a few more book journals. I am particularly excited to read Richard Dawkin’s “The Selfish Gene”, and Daniel Khaneman’s “Think Fast and Slow”.
Anyways, here’s to a more productive November and December! (It’s the tail end of 2022 already… Where did the year go?!)
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