9 Jul - 15 Jul 2018
I seem to have finally got over my lurgy at long last.
Tuesday was a last minute date night - we’ve been making much of of an effort to have time together but we realised we’d forgotten to arrange a babysitter, but fortunately my parents were able to so we decided we’d go and see Ocean’s 8. It wasn’t the best film in the world but it was a fun film and with 40% off the cinema tickets, a cheaper night out.
Super swings
At our kettlebell training session on Saturday morning I did my best set of swings yet; my timing, breath and core all came together in perfect harmony for a set of 10 swings with a 32kg bell. It was effortless, and figuratively speaking it felt like a feather! Now to figure out how to replicate that again!
Liberty Bricks
We ended the week at another LEGO show in Shrewsbury, Liberty Bricks, by my LUG Brick Central. I always enjoy attending these smaller shows as I get a chance to meet some of the members of the group IRL and geek out about our favourite plastic bricks. It’s also a chance to spend money wantonly on LEGO paraphernalia. I got a good deal on some storage boxes so hopefully now I can organize my bricks a bit better.
Whilst we were over in Shropshire we thought we’d nip over to Long Mynd and enjoy a bit more of the sunshine while it lasts. Most of Shropshire had the same idea; it was pretty busy. The kids took their rubber ducks with the aim of playing in the stream—it was more of a series of puddles—but they still had fun.
Reading progress
It’s been a few weeks since my last update. For this months bookclub we’re reading Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss. It’s a good read, I’m about ⅔ through it now and it’s well written, with interesting stories about hostage negotiations to illustrate the techniques in the book.
I’ve also been reading Generation X by Douglas Coupland. I’m only reading a page or two at a time because I’m so tired I’m falling asleep within moments of beginning. It’s not a slight on the book — I always enjoy Coupland novels.
A week in Stoicism
Doing the right thing is its own reward. We don’t need to expect thanks. Marcus describes it as the third thing. If we’ve done well and another benefitted from it then we shouldn’t be looking for that third thing on top—the credit or return of a favour.
Instead we should look to see how many have helped us and what do we owe them in return.
”One person, on doing well by others, immediately accounts the expected favour in return. Another is not so quick, but still considers the person a debtor and knows the favour. A third kind of person acts as if not conscious of the deed, rather like a vine producing a cluster of grapes without making further demands, like a horse after its race, or a dog after its walk, or a bee after making its honey. Such a person, having done a good deed, won’t go shouting from the rooftops but simply moves on to the next deed just like the vine produces another bunch of grapes in the right season.” Marcus Aurelius
weeknotes