Avalok's Journal

[avalok]

Fitness
I'm ennjoying running more again after feeling lazy about it since the half-marathon was cancelled. I never stopped entirely, but I went out less than I liked, and enjoyed it less than I was. It's nice to be doing it on a less rigid routine now. Not sure how much longer I'll keep it up for the commute, it really depends on how wet the autumn and winter are; I can shelter from the rain better when walking, which reminds me I need to get an umbrella.

It is going to be getting colder, so I need to start a kettlebell routine again. I want to do a set workout in the mornings, make it particularly intense, in the hopes this keeps my temperature higher for longer.

Guitar
Continuing to practice positioning for F chord, as well as changing between it and C, C/E. Starting to get a hang of the posture required for each note to sound, but I think it is going to take a while before changes seem even remotely fluid. I can change to C and back quite quickly, but the resultant F chord is dull.

Practising the posture for F exposed that I had been resting my thumb too high on the back of the fret board. This is making it harder to change chords as my fingers are less mobile, it's also meant my hand is weaker for playing barre chords. I've started shifting my thumb down the back of the fret board to rectify this, but looks like it is already habitual for it to end up at the top after a few changes.

Economics
Started working through the McConnell-Brue Economics textbook this month rather than picking up where I was with Bodie. As time has gone by, and particularly with the prospect of us paying off the mortgage next year, I've become more patient with learning this material, and would rather go over fundamentals that I likely already know than cut corners that may cause pain later. I'm onto the macroeconomics chapters now, looking at the link between income and consumption. Most of the content so far has been merely a refresher on things I already understood, but I'm starting to see bits of information creep in that I didn't know about/understand before, hopefully that continues to increase and reading the book becomes more worthwhile.

Finances
Focusing on getting expenses down to shift paying off the mortgage perhaps a month nearer seems to be having an effect: average savings rate is continuing to trend upwards. I think we're just being that much more careful before spending anything beyond bills.

I've included our capital including home equity this month, as I already track this myself, and if we do pay off the mortgage next year, I don't want it to appear as though we suddenly have no capital at all. The amount that I normally post simply denotes liquid capital.

• Capital: £138,055.96
• Capital w/ home equity: £181,298.82
• Average savings rate: 60.53%
• Average savings rate TTM: 68.12%

Here also is the chart showing progress since Sep 2020. I have records from before then, going back to 2018, but they are not normalized, so missed off. £200,000 isn't a special number for the y-axis limit, it just makes for a legible chart at this time.

Note also that the jump in capital plus equity is simply because I cannot be bothered to back-calculate it further than then.

[mountainFrugal]

It's nice to be doing it on a less rigid routine now.

This is always a perk of having both training and maintaining sections of a year. The relief of not having to run a certain distance or workout keeps running fresh. The cycle between on and off (tension and release) also helps with the physical and mental longevity of running.

[avalok]

Definitely enjoying that off time @mountainFrugal. Walking to/from work has been great so far. The biggest difference has been how much more I notice along the canal when travelling in a more relaxed way. I am far more likely to stop and observe what is going on around me. Mark Boyle said he finds travelling by bike too fast. As provocative a remark as that is, I began to wonder if the same was true for running.

Work has been busy again through October, but in a good way. I'm working on the foundations for a system re-implementation that will make our work far more enjoyable, and will make the system itself far more evolvable. It will sit alongside the existing implementation and it's going to take years to port everything over, but it has been a big learning experience in effective architecture, and every piece of functionality ported is a small reduction in maintenance overhead. I started mentoring a colleague in the last month, to truly test the design. In the main it's looking good so far. I'm pretty confident it is going to hold up. The mentoring has been teaching me more about listening skills, and how to adapt explanations to suit the student. He and I had a long discussion about his skepticism of unit testing, which I initally misinterpreted as him not seeing the value proposition in testing, but it was only once I asked him effectively "teach" me why it wasn't worthwhile that it became clear he did see the value-added, but didn't think it was feasible to do testing on top of development given our deadlines. That made it a whole different discussion; had I not asked and merely assumed I understood him, we may never have reached a point where we could see a way forward.

Finances
Mortgage end date looks to be most likely end of July 2024. Shifting it to end of June 2024 is dependent on interest rates, so I'm assuming July. That makes us 9 months away from clearing the debt. Single digits.

• Capital: £141,235.01
• Capital w/ home equity: £184,868.8
• Average savings rate: 60.84%
• Average savings rate TTM: 68.4%

[ertyu]

how much more I notice along the canal when travelling in a more relaxed way.

I prefer walking to running/cycling for this reason. More time to be with the space. More time to notice the ebbs and flows of the world around me. More time to notice the ebbs and flows within myself.

[avalok]

That is exactly it. I am generally very unobservant, so walking is an opportunity for me to improve those faculties, and to get out of cognizing constantly (though walks are also useful for this). I am so unobservant that when a mound of dirt blocking the canal toepath had suddenly appeared one morning back in the summer, I took no more notice than grumbling about its inconvenience while running directly over it. It was only last week, when I was struggling to traverse what has eroded to a sludgy slope into the water, that I thought to look to my left, finding the opening to a badger set, bored directly under a tree and exposing its roots. The whole time I had been running, I had not sensed even a whiff of the badger set that had created the mound of dirt, now sludge, in my way. I felt like a right fool.

[avalok]

Missed my end of November update, so plenty to update on. Will post first about work changes and our finances; want some more time to gather my thoughts on the year and what I want to be focusing on now...

Work
Back in mid-November, I received verbal confirmation that the business plans to move me into a new role around the start of the new year. I've since seen the new job description and am now waiting to receive the offer. I'm trying to contain any excitement about it, but so far it looks to be very close to what I wanted from a new role, i.e. taking more of a systems-level/architecture view, while continuing some developer responsibilities. There's also going to be a focus on facilitation of continuous improvement within the team. I didn't initially think about this when the new role was first floated earlier in the year, but I now think this is an aspect I'll likely enjoy. It will be challenging for me, as I will need to consider how to foster such a culture within the team, so it is going to draw on social, rather than technical, skills. I plan to use it to improve my listening and negotation with others.

There's also an offer to fund a degree-apprenticeship centred on enterprise architecture. This would be an MSc, fully funded, and would take around two years to complete. I am well aware of golden handcuffs, etc., but this seems like a good opportunity: I do not plan to leave within the next two years or so anyway, and the degree is heavily applied, so I'd be able to use work time and experience to complete it.

Finances
It's now looking possible that we could clear the mortgage by end of May which, due to an early exit fee, is the earliest that would economically make sense (the fee reduces at the end of that month). We're about 1500-2000 short of making that date, but some things may change and/or may be able to source the extra cash by selling unneeded stuff. Expectation remains end of June.

• Capital: £152,165.72
• Home equity: £44,429.08
• Capital w/ home equity: £196,594.8
• Average savings rate: 61.26%
• Average savings rate TTM: 68.39%

[berrytwo]

It will be challenging for me, as I will need to consider how to foster such a culture within the team, so it is going to draw on social, rather than technical, skills. I plan to use it to improve my listening and negotation with others.

Looking forward to hearing updates on how your new role once you start! I wonder if Non-Violent Communication (book and/ or the next NVC meets ERE meeting) might be a helpful framework to learn more about listening and negotiation.

[mooretrees]

Pretty exciting news on a new, highly anticipated job and the mortgage payoff a bit earlier than you previously thought.

Keep up the good work!

[avalok]

Thank you both. I am trying to keep my expectations down for the next year, with the job and hopefully mortgage paid off, but it is exciting, I cannot deny.

@berrytwo I think so. It is not something I have looked into it great detail, despite having heard so much about NVC over the years. I think my biggest weakness in communication is my capacity to listen to others. I am quick to talk and offer my thoughts, meaning I am honest and communicative, but I don't facilitate others to speak up and more openly. Do you think NVC offers a leverage point to help me improve in this regard?

---------
So I'm hoping 2024 will bring at least two goals to bear: a new job that will allow me to expand my skillset and keep work fresh, and the end to the biggest debt I ever intend to take on. Given that 2023 ended up being dominated by my work, 2024 needs to redress that. I've lined up a lot through the autumn to allow me to continue in this new role, but without the inensity required this year. My hope as well is that, having led by example, some team members will come to share the push started this year to begin moving our main system into a more evolvable, maintainable place.

Below is a list of things that aren't true about my life now, that I want to be realized by the end of next year. This isn't an exhaustive goalset, as it excludes things I already do and want to continue doing. I'm keeping goals measurable where possible, because that will help guide my gauging of them throughout the year. This is a rough, stream of conscience list for now:

• Evenings and weekends back. This means no late nights, and no sorting stuff out on the weekend because my mind is so preoccupied with work.
• Have improved the stability and evolvability of the main system at work than at the year-start (measured by deployment and change failure rate)
• Have a more collaborative, integrated team, with a continuous improvement mentality
• Have cleared the mortgage/have the option to do so by the end of June
• Able to change to/from F chord within a song comfortably; be able to play Bm chord and therefore San Franscisco - Scott Mckenzie
• Have prevented the garden patios and borders from becoming covered in weeds.
• Achieved B1 level proficiency in French
• Replaced the draining board section of worktop in the kitchen, preferrably by building it out of scaffold boards
• Carried out the GTD weekly review, fully, consistently, 52 times
• Visited my grandparents fortnightly and became more grateful of them being so nearby
• Spent more quality time with my partner; working on projects together, relaxing together
• Wrote a blog post a month, explaining either a topic relating to my work, or expounding on concepts that have been on my mind lately
• Kept the house cleaner mopping and hoovering weekly

[candide]

This is all very exciting, Avalok!

Happy New Year, a tad early, I suppose. Here's wishing 2024 is the best of years... Looks like it might just be.

[berrytwo]

To answer your question, yes I believe that NVC can be a really helpful tool for better listening. Not only is it a tool for better communicating your own feelings and needs, but it is also helpful for hearing others. Knowing that this feels like a weaker spot for you, I wonder if developing systems in place that allow for others in your work to communicate with you would feel helpful (ie schedule times in meetings for direct communication check-ins, establish a norm of honest communication through a weekly/ monthly/ or quarterly email check in ect.) Seems like this new job is a great opportunity to develop skills in facilitation, and cool to think that you are going to be able to grow and learn

[avalok]

Thanks, and yes, I am planning to make use of it to develop such skills, as well as continuing my technical development. I instigated a casual catch-up amongst the team back in the autumn after a couple of colleagues independently complained that it can feel like we're working in silos, despite being only a small team. I think this has served as a starting point. I'm conscious of moving too fast on things, partly for my own sake, to not overwhelm myself, but also to make sure I bring people with me in any changes that are made. In fact, I'm trying to seek ideas from others, as well as buy-in, before making any moves.

----------
Good first week of the year. Felt happy with what I'd done during each work day and contentedly finished on time. This gave me plenty of time on the guitar (was pleased with how quickly I recovered from lapsed practice), and to watch French videos (as per the comprehensible input approach mentioned here). It has been over ten years since I last studied French but I've been able to recall more than I expected. My vocabularly is pretty limited, but I was always pretty weak with that anyway. I was surprised that I remembered how to conjugate to past participles, and then extend that to cover the future tense as well. It's not difficult for most verbs, but the way I was taught at school managed to make a mountain out of it by focusing us on the grammatical transformations being made, rather than just teaching us some examples, and allowing us to infer many more through context. It reminded me of the software engineering module at Uni, where I learnt about object oriented programming; its best patterns and practices. I left Uni with a good grasp on how to do OO, and then proceeded to replace that knowledge by cutting myself on real systems, and learning patterns completely absent from the course, despite being more useful.

Anyway, I feel a lot more like I did at the start of last year, before COVID knocked me out of a stride. Will try to continue habits to keep this up.

[avalok]

So, new job role has come off. Now the fun starts. Had a call with the new IT lead today; we are clearly on the same page regarding the leverage points for improving our work and the value we provide as a team. Having listened to his vision, I'm hopeful the sort of changes I want to make will be met with encouragement. Other team members have seemingly taken news of the new role positively. I now want to implement time for discussions where we can begin building continuous improvement into our work.

I've switched back to running on my office days, but am going at a higher intensity + carrying more luggage to pack more into a single commute. I noticed I am considerably warmer in our 12C home on and around these days; a nice side effect. We're in a dry, cold spell currently, so the mornings have been wonderfully stark. I ran home before sundown yesterday, no need for a headtorch. Bring on those longer days.

I'm trying now to develop my ability to listen to and comprehend conversations held in (slow) French. What I had been listening to before was more dictatorial. I was listening to a conversational podcast yesterday evening about a town in France. I probably understood <20% of the words, but maybe ~60% of the topics covered. I wonder if I need to find an avenue for me to begin my speaking practice again. When I went on an exchange at school speaking daily had a huge impact.

[grundomatic]

Oh yeah, my language skills improved so much just the first month of my study abroad year. So fun and exciting--every conversation was a chance to practice and also learn something new. I'm getting nostalgic...I wonder if I could recapture that magic with a new language and country, or if too much of it was due to youth?

[avalok]

Been getting lost in the guitar these past few weeks. It's feeling less and less like training and I'm surprised how quickly I can pick songs up vs. just a few months ago. Still struggling to get F chord right, my eblow can't move in enough to allow me to anchor the bar down, leading to an irritating vibrating noise on a strum. Between F chord practice and just general exploratory playing I've been learning songs in open D tuning, which I think often sounds cooler than the standard tuning.

I've lent off French more than I'd like. Work got heavier so the idea of concentrating on podcasts of a morning/evening felt less appealing, especially when the guitar was sitting there. It has been ticking over, but not to the extent I want. It is something I'd like to pick back up more over the coming month.

On the topic of work: enjoying the role; mostly very smooth so far, had one bad week where things compounded and left me fuming most of the weekend. The most enjoyment has been in working with others in design sessions, as well as in taking steps to improve the ways we are working.

The growing season is rapidly approaching. A couple of weekends ago we tarped most of the allotment to reduce the maintenance overhead. Our plan is to peal back as and when we need more space. A lot of couch grass had set in over last year, so it would benefit for us to leave the tarp over the worst areas for at least a year. We're going to tone it down more than before; we've not done the usual bulk seed order and will instead buy seeds as we need them, emphasising easy to grow, smaller plants.

Capital: £162,114.94
Capital w/ home equity: £207,355.03
Average savings rate: 62.04%
Average savings rate TTM: 69.43%

[avalok]

Really starting to get the knack of F and Bm chords now. Had one practice session a couple of weeks back where I realised how I needed to twist my arm inward toward my waist to apply enough pressure on the bar. Still need to perfect it, and work on changes to/from the chord, but it is coming on much better now.

I'm experiencing sharp pain around the outside of my right knee when running. This has happened twice when running home from work now so I have returned to walking the past week. I will try running without carrying extra weight and see how it feels now. Not sure what has changed since last year that could have introduced it. Anyway, on the walks I am noticing the canal starting to come to life again. It has remained pretty cold here until the week just gone, and so most of the plant growth is lagging behind the year before. Some patches of the towpath are flooded, so I have to divert into a housing estate, but that is no issue. It only mixes up the route, and I found an apple pie just lying in the road on my way home last week; it made for a decent pudding.

Work is still good fun. I'm learning a lot about cloud infra/security/compliance at the moment, and we have a long way to go in these regards. I don't necessarily enjoy the fact of discovering so many issues, but they are certainly good learning material and I am pleased with the progress we're making. Had a moment this week where I realised I had been able to facilitate a team member's development of functionality by pointing them in the right direction and giving them access as required. That felt good. My ability to facilitate in this way has been limited so far, but opportunities are increasing.

My partner has taken on most of the sowing so far. We're trying to keep it manageable after so much was lost last year. I've spread and turned our compost. It looks like the pallets for the curing bay are pretty knackered now, so I'm going to re-build this after the current curing.

We are now (hopefully) 2 months away from paying off the mortgage, and we should have a ~4 months of expenses remaining. This is lower than ideal, but I would expect us to build up available cash rapidly then, because our expenses will effectively halve.

Capital: £168,127.58
Capital w/ home equity: £213,763.71
Average savings rate: 62.26%
Average savings rate TTM: 69.5%

[loutfard]

Really starting to get the knack of F and Bm chords now.

[guitarplayer]

Re guitar, this guy grew to fame together with the internet. He's been on the web forever and is a fairly accomplished musician in his own right. I have learned Blackbird from his videos recently.

I don't write it lightly as there is now so much content online almost all is rendered useless. But this guy I think has it mostly right.

He does some fun experiments as well, for example after years of producing content on learning to play guitar, he then got himself a left handed guitar and set to learn playing left handed using his own content.

Also, I appreciate he keeps all his videos online, also those of very poor quality from nearly 20 years ago when he started posting. Maybe partially calculated stab at looking genuine and I think he does look legit.

So you're looking to pay off the mortgage! Soon I am receiving back a big chunk of cash I had on a term savings account and will be tempted to do the same, though should probably run the numbers as it might make more sense to wait for the penalty period to conclude.

[loutfard]

Really starting to get the knack of F and Bm chords now.

Congratulations!

Had one practice session a couple of weeks back where I realised how I needed to twist my arm inward toward my waist to apply enough pressure on the bar.

Don't ask me why you might really want to listen to the below unsollicited hints:
- Be very careful practicing barre chords. Listen to your body very very very carefully when playing these. Things can go horribly wrong if you don't use the most relaxed way possible to play these!
- Never ever start with full bar chords. It's the equivalent of running a marathon without training. Start on the top three strings only, with half bar chords, without extra fingers added.
- Never ever squeeze the neck between your thumb and index finger.
- A good exercise that sounds quite well is half barres on the seventh and fifth fret, interspersed with loose upper three strings.
- Try to use your entire body as a clamp. Not just your thumb, forearm or arm. Think pushing the neck of your guitar foreward using the right half of your body, with your elbow as the contact point, and pulling the neck backwards using your left index finger as the contact point.
- Use the side of your left index finger to make contact with the strings. The side of your index finger that would be the sharp side of the axe you'd split your crane in half with, if you will.

More hints available on request.

[avalok]

Hey, thank you both for the advice! @guitarplayer Justin is a legend! When I was learning as a kid and later teenager I used his videos a lot. His older videos have a sense of nostalgia now; very early-YouTube, filmed in his flat, grainy video quality, poor sound. I think he is a great teacher, very good at making each next step seem manageable.

@loutfard appreciate all this regarding barres. I have been taking my time, as my hand and wrist easily become tired and begin to hurt when practising. I seem able to hold F and Bm chords fine when practising them in isolation, but my hand and arm become fatigued very quickly when changing between these and other chords.

@guitarplayer r.e. the mortgage, yeah the earliest this makes sense for us is start of June, when our exit fee drops below the interest we would pay for the final year of our fix. We have deliberated over it for the past 9-10 months, and have realised that we're likely going to be here for a few more years and, with interest rates being much higher now, plus the fact that I loathe the debt, it'd make sense to just clear it. It is not FI, but I look forward to the obligation to the bank no longer being there.