Motivation begets motivation

The older I get the more I find that motivation is the limiting factor to starting just about anything. There seems to be a minimum amount of motivational momentum or fuel required to learn something new.

The older I get the more I find that motivation is the limiting factor to starting just about anything. There seems to be a minimum amount of motivational momentum or fuel required to learn something new. Paradoxically, the only method I’ve found to generate motivation is through motivation. I don’t think I’m unique in this either. Looking around it seems the older and more comfortable humans get the less motivation we have to challenge ourselves either physically or mentally. The rest of this post is simply a prattling on my discoveries regarding motivation.

The Trouble with Smart Home

This year I used the extra COVID time at home to experiment with smart home products. The goal was to identify rooms and spaces I used often, make them smart~ish, then simply live with it for a while and develop an opinion on the product space (e.g. setup, maintenance, reliability, troubleshooting, value-add, etc). There are plenty of obvious drawbacks to the tech including fragmented apps to control the devices and cost to name a couple. However, I found three limiting factors that no one warned me about but make these products no smarter or superior to the items replaced: my wife and two kids.

What I'm Drinking: Bearface

As fall turns to winter, my liquor cabinet fills up with brown liquors, usually scotch. This year I decided to fill it with whiskies of the Canadian variety. The cabinet was looking pretty bare, so the purchase of a cheap everyday whiskey was prudent. I know nothing about Canadian whiskies, so I blindly perused the shelves and picked bearface based purely on packaging and gut feel.

I was surprised at how easy drinking the whiskey was. From the lips to the throat, it went down smooth with very little burn. As it goes down I get a lot of oak, a bit of spice, and maybe stone-fruit. The finish is a heavy vanilla. I did a bit of research and I was surprised to find out it was a 100% corn whiskey. So the finishing really makes this whiskey. It is finished in three different types of barrels, one of which is a wine cask. The process is well documented so I’ll spare the reader any details, but it seems quite complicated and that shines in the final product.

Traffic Avoidance - Victoria Day

I’ve been crossing the Peace Arch and Pacific Highway border crossings on a regular cadence for over a decade now. In fact, I’ve crossed the border so many times I know a few border guards at Pacific Highway by name and have learned which days/time slots to avoid. But regardless of how much experience I might have crossing the US/Canada border, some days just suck. Victoria Day, unsurprisingly, is one of those days. This year I thought I’d try using historical data to help me pick the best travel time and help me avoid long waits.

I know why we have a Butt Crack

This week my pilonidal cyst was surgically extracted. Last year it decided to get infected again and was literally a pain in my ass for a month. It took nearly a year to get scheduled for the surgery (this being Canada), but last week the fateful day had come for me to rid myself of this embarrassing predicament. As it turns out, getting a pilonidal cyst removed is more undignified and embarrassing than having to explain to people why your butt hurts in the first place. And now that the procedure is over, I can say unequivocally that our butt cracks serve an important purpose (more on that later).

What I'm Drinking: JJBean

I’ve chosen JJBean as the supplier of my morning coffee beans for a couple years now. Whether out of a moka pot, aeropress, or french press, beans from JJBean never cease to keep my taste buds occupied while the rest of me attempts to kickstart my day. If purchased at one of the local cafes around Vancouver the beans will have been freshly roasted, usually in the past couple days. If there was ever doubt the roasting date is conveniently printed on the bottom of every bag. Furthermore, the single origin beans offer a nice range of flavors and a simple rotation is enough to stave off boredom.

My Daily Coffee Obsession: The Routine

My coffee obsession has taken a sharp turn toward addiction. And I’m OK with that I think. It’s my morning routine and it goes something like this:

1. Grind beans from local roaster with Haribo burr grinder.
2. Three heaping tablespoons of coffee into espro press.
3. Water in kettle to 200C.
4. Slowly fill espro press until just covering the beans. Allow grinds to bloom (about 30 seconds).
5. Fill up the rest of espro press.
6. Have Alexa set an alarm for 4 minutes.
7. Plunge filter and pour.

The process takes about 10 minutes in total. If I continue this routine for the rest of my life, that’s about 116 days out of the next 16,700 that I’ll happily spend making my daily bean juice.

Vancouver Weather Analysis: Umbrella Days per Year

From fall to spring Vancouver receives upwards of 1000 mm of precipitation on average and is a legitimately gloomy place to live from October to March. Mercifully, since the bulk of our rain falls between fall and spring, our summers (usually) cannot be beat with often little rain and relatively temperate weather.

All of this rain translates to about 185 days per year with precipitation. In other words we carry an umbrella for half the year. Especially in November. November sucks.

Vancouver Weather Analysis: Beach Days per Year

How many days per year can you comfortably lounge at the beach in Vancouver, BC? We from the Pacific Northwest tend to be optimistic with weather and shed our clothing at the first hint of warmth, while those in equatorial climates have less need for such blind optimism.

This analysis defines a “beach day” as any day without recorded rain and with temperatures above certain given thresholds. To accommodate a range of temperature tolerances the number of beach days is calculated for temperatures between 22C and 30C in 2C increments. Data is for years 2000 to 2016. Box plots show the average number of rainless days above the given thresholds. The reader is left to decide their place in the tolerance range.

Vancouver Weather Analysis: BBQ Days per Year

It rains a lot in Vancouver. And while your beach-going days will be numbered and cherished there are a surprising number of barbeque days thanks to temperate climate. In fact, since 2000 there have been an average of 112 days per year you can comfortably grill a dead animal outside.

This analysis calculates a barbeque day as a day at or above 15C without rain. These light jacket days define the Northwest, Vancouver in particular. The number of days in this temperate range are also consistent from year to year with 2015 being the only exceptional year.