Update Sept 7

The last note was almost a month ago.
Nothing that gets written is in any chronological order. It is based on what I recall and how.

Life

Immediately following the last note, a drastic change occurred in my personal life. It is difficult to articulate but there was an immense sense of loss following this event. It took some work to deal with that, though I was not alone. Fortunately, Kevin and his girlfriend really started showing up for me in unexpected ways. It was really great to have them both in my corner. We spent a bunch of days hanging out and going out for dinners and lunches. Just the act of spending time with Kevin (and the girlfriend) really lifted my mood on some really dark days. They both are amazing.

I also met Arunima before she went home for Onam. She is doing well, though she is on some heavy medication. She has signed up for the gym, which is a great thing. It would be good for her to get some movement in. I have a good feeling about this.

I ran a large meetup all alone. This was the Grafana and Friends meetup that we co-organized with Meesho. About 500 people RSVPd and 120 showed up. The show rate was amazing. A bunch of my friends who live in different cities were also visiting and so we did a get-together of sorts during the meetup. All in all, the meetup was a great success. I ended up runnig this one alone because the co-organizers had other important work which came up suddenly. Thus on the day of the event I was the only boots on the ground. It was an interesting experience. My friends who were not organisers ended up lending a hand here and there. I am grateful for that.

From the next meetup onwards I will always vet the speakers and their slides myself. One bad slide/talk can ruin the entire mood of the talk. There was a miss in this meetup which was felt by everyone. I want to do better.

I had some travel planned this month. I am spending one week working and chilling in Goa with some friends. Post that I am visiting Pune where I will meet some friends and my sister and then I will visit Mumbai. I will be visiting friends again. All in all, a bunch of travel is on my plate.

Abhishek has been sending me photos of his niece. That baby is CUTE. I think she recognises me.

Mental Health

Mental Health is always a wave with its highs and lows. Lately, the curve has been trending downwards. I am struggling with a feeling of being invisible/unseen. It feels like a language barrier; like we're all speaking different languages and we are not able to convey what we truly mean.

This happens from time to time and I guess this is one of those phases. Recent events have not helped in any way. This is truly a low-point in months.

Working Remotely

I spent one week working from Goa with two of my school friends. My trip to Kochi in March and then to Bir were a testing ground to see if the remote-working life suits me or not.
I am happy to report that the remote-working life does suit me. I was able to have fun and enjoy the sea while I was in Goa.

I am currently in Pune and still working remotely. It is not so bad.

One thing that I do not enjoy is that I cannot spend time as I do at home. For example, I was spending some time every day learning Rust. However, when I am travelling, I am unable to do that. There is only so much I can do with the time that I have been given. I am spending most of that time running / training, which has more priority for me right now.

After my upcoming race (the Malnad Ultra 2026 - 30k) I will take a short break from running and then I am hoping to have more time on my hands that I can dedicate to learning Rust properly.

I am also planning a large remote work / travel situation. This is something I've always wanted to do and now, there is nothing holding me back in Bangalore.

Writing

I have been working on a piece trying to decipher why I like running and other endurance sports so much. It has grown into a large-ish post and I want to cut it into smaller pieces. It is a large piece because it talks about a lot of different ideas. I want to write / explore these ideas fully as well. One of these days I will publish the entire thing.

In the quest to find a new tool for better writing and blogging I came across Silverbullet and Quartz. I have been playing in Silverbullet and I like it so far. It feels very similar to TiddlyWiki with all of its features etc and it seems to work very closely with Quartz.

Reading

• Starting
  • To be taught if fortunate (Becky Chambers)
    Just started this. Progress is quite slow.
• Reading
  • The Zen and art of motorcycle maintenance
    I absolutely love this book. I will write about this. This is the perfect book to start writing book reviews about.
• Re-Reading
• Ending
• Paused
• Listening

Other Blogs
- https://jzhao.xyz/thoughts/Games-Agency-as-Art.
- Just read the entire blog. I've been spending some time on this and I quite like what I am reading
- https://turntrout.com/bruce-wayne-and-the-cost-of-inaction#2-the-world-is-messy
- Same. Very fulfilling reads.

Running

Kevin's girlfriend (the name will be used once they are okay with it) is an incredible runner. In a casual conversation about running, she held up a mirror to me and basically said that if I want to improve my running, I should drastically increase my running volume. Instead of aiming for 30k a week, I should ideally aim for 50.

She runs about 50k per week and she is a very very good runner.

Apart from this, I am also planning to buy a new running shoe. I am looking at the Asics Trabuco 14.

I also managed to injure my foot -> Read about it here.

Nepal trip

I was scheduled to hike the Kanchenjunga Base Camp this October. In light of the recent disaster in Nepal I have decided not to visit it. The grim situation will not let me enjoy myself to the fullest. I would rather donate the money instead of going on a hike.

I am aware that Nepal depends on hiking for their economy, but I just can't bring myself to it.

Work