Tag Archives: Relaxing

A quick note about burnout

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May and June, 2024

On the 25th of May, in Oslo, I just sort of… zoned out.

I’m writing this on the 8th of June, the first day that I’ve been able to rally myself to blog in… almost a week, now that I think about it. Maybe even a week and a half.

You, my dear readers, wouldn’t notice this – I have quite a backlog of posts scheduled to auto-post themselves, keeping a routine in the blog posts that I may not feel personally. Which is part of art – Art comes and goes in waves, with inspiration and creativity flowing like the tide… and this blog is a creative outlet, no doubt about it. One that ebbs and flows just like a painter or author can ebb and flow in their creation.


I didn’t begrudge myself that time off. I had the backlog prepared, and it didn’t need any input from me. I’m fortunate in that I don’t rely on this blog for money, and that I can create half a dozen posts in one sitting when the fervor strikes, instead of working for weeks on end for a single piece.

The point I’m getting at is that I don’t have a steady stream of creativity, welling up out of me like one of the Icelandic hotsprings. No one should think that I do, and I truly hope that no one begrudges themselves the freedom to sometimes step away from their hobbies when the mood doesn’t click.


Going back to it, I couldn’t say for certain what I even did on the 25th. I wrote notes, to remind myself, and I know what restaurants that I went to… but still. Sometimes, rest days to disconnect and detach are required… even for a globe-trotting adventurer.

A flight of New England Fancy – Rest and Relaxation in Medway

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It’s been a while since I’ve been back to Massachusetts… I think it was for Dillon and Liz’s wedding, wasn’t it? That’s sounding right… though I frankly can’t believe that was only six months ago. These last few months have felt like forever, and it was high time that I got back East. The rock was calling, family and friends beckoned, and I hadn’t seen my Grandma in far, far too long…


Tuesday through Thursday, 19-Apr-2022 to 21-Apr-2022


There’s some turmoil in the United States these days over working remotely.

Some people are for it, some people are against it… Mostly employees being for it, and executives being against it, from what I can tell…

I’ve never really had a horse in the race, to be frank. I’m operations support, so I don’t have the option to work remotely… at least not regularly. I work with people on the production floor, and I get pulled away from my computer to deal with physical problems at least a few times a day.

At the beginning of COVID I worked from home every other day… and that was glorious – I got to catch up on work, and could stay a bit calmer than normal on the days that I wasn’t in the office. It did make my days on-site a bit more crazy, and I had to make a point to go for more walks when I stayed home, but… yeah, it was nice.


The chance to spend a whole week working remotely was excellent, and I hugely appreciate the freedom to do that every so often. I definitely understand the draw… especially after spending three days working out of the dining room in Medway.

It was glorious – I started the week with nearly a full hundred to-do items on my list (yep, that over-booked at work), and I ended with maybe a dozen left. Granted, I had coworkers shouldering some of the burden while I was gone, and I didn’t want to think about all the “fun” that the production folks were saving up for my return, but… you know what? That’s fine. It’s all fine. I can live with that.


I spent time catching up with my Mom and Stepdad. I took walks, enjoyed the garden, and went to dinner with friends who were great enough to drive out from Boston to visit.

It was a good few days.






Of interesting note… I never noticed this before, but Medway has a memorial to the “Grand Army of the Republic”, listed as 1861 through 1961. Which is interesting… since the G.A.R. was an organization for civil war veterans founded in 1866, and then dissolved in 1956.

So I’m not saying this is definitely Star Wars, but… pretty sure it’s Star Wars.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Army_of_the_Republic

A Thanksgiving adventure – Kicking around Wilsonville

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A Thanksgiving adventure – Kicking around Wilsonville

Thanksgiving is going to be different this year. This is my first year being single in half a decade, and thanks to the COVID Pandemic it’s also the first year that I can’t travel, and don’t have any friends still in town. I’m flying solo, have a ton of vacation to burn, and am feeling energetic...


From Saturday, 21-Nov-2020 through Monday, 30-Nov-2020



I did a lot, this week.

It’s weird though… it really didn’t feel like a lot, at the time. I relaxed, I had a really nice, calm, quiet and reflective time. Waking up when I felt like it, walking and lifting weights and relaxing on the couch when the mood struck. I gamed, I walked, I ate excellent food (lots of un-photographed BLTs, for one reason or another), and I enjoyed the quiet solitude of living alone in the midst of a pandemic.

Truth be told, I’m not unhappy with it.