what I'm doing now #29
settling back into routine
Because I work from home and because my job isn’t stressful, quiet weekdays sometimes soothe me more than weekends do. Summer weekends are fun but not so relaxing. On Monday morning I get up, I make a cappuccino, and then I sit at my desk in a secluded part of our home. I listen to jazz and solve problems one at a time. If I need to tend to personal administrative tasks, I do it there as well. When I remember a chore or think of a new one, I type it into my personal notes and return to work. If the laundry needs to be done, I put it in the machine and return to my desk. If the dishwasher needs to be emptied and filled again, I do it after I eat my lunch. If it’s sunny outside, I sit in the patio with my afternoon coffee. And my manager continues to be pleased with my work. That I might commute to a corporate campus to do my job seems ludicrous.
enjoying work
I am, for the first time, in charge of a team that is developing a new feature. I’ve been in charge of feature development before but only when working by myself. This time I’m working with another developer. A team can be comprised of just two people, right?
I’ve been making decisions about how we should organize the work and so far it’s going well. Our start was a bit rough because we tried to do too much in a single pull request. My attention had been distracted by a different, boring project. Once I finished with that other thing, I turned my full attention and energy to this one. I decided we should abandon the big pull request and restart the process with much smaller pieces of work so we could work in parallel. I had to persuade my teammate but that was a few weeks ago and now we’re going full throttle, each preparing multiple changes at once and reviewing each other’s pull requests.
I’m using AI to prepare multiple pull requests in the background while I work. I then review, test, refine, and, if necessary, rework the AI-generated code into final form. I find it very motivating to complete pull requests. My brain releases a lovely chemical when that green Completed message appears.
thinking about travel
Z and I spent ten days
in Montrealtrip to Montreal
My wife Z and I are visiting our friends Ev & Vi for nine days.
So oftenI find myself in Montreal when there’s a World Cup going on.
Friday 07/10/2026 – Vancouver → Montreal
- get Lyft to YVR, breakfast, free upgrade, takeoff @ 12pm
- read 1st chapter of Three Daughters of Eve by Elif Shafak
- read five short stories by Shirley Jackson
- get picked up w/ Z by Ev @ new Mtl airport
- eat dinner @ Ev & Vi’s apt w/ Z and Ev
- walk east along St Denis, pop into Champs w/ Z and Ev
- drinks @ Big in Japan w/ Z and Ev
Saturday 07/11/2026 – Montreal
- sleep in w/ Z
- make coffee, start reading Investigations of a Dog by Kafka, read Prologue of The Secret History by Donna Tartt
- brunch @ Bar Sparrow w/ Z and Ev
- solo coffee @ Cafe Eclair
- solo bike to Bar L’Barouf to meet my friend Hik for the World Cup match but he wasn’t there and it was full
- sit at the bar of small Bar Le Pastel to watch England vs Norway, Vi joined me
- get chicken sandwiches from Portugalia, then meet Z, Ev, Vi, & Vi’s friends @ Bar Frappe for Switzerland vs Argentina
- leave w/ Z @ halftime to rest @ Ev and Vi’s apt and watch rest of the game
Sunday 07/12/2026 – Verdun & Montreal
- make coffee, have breakfast @ Ev and Vi’s apt
- drive to Verdun to play volleyball w/ Ev’s friends
- swim @ Natatorium de Verdun, free public outdoor pool
- walk in pedestrian zone in Verdun town centre
- get cortado from Lili et Oli and sabich pita sandwich from Falafel Yoni
- attend Toronto Tempo vs NY WNBA game @ Bell Centre
- bike back to Ev and Vi’s apt and rest there
- solo bike along St Denis, north up past south edge of Parc la Fontaine, then through residential streets
- lay and drowse on picnic bench looking up into trees in quiet corner of Parc des Compagnons-de-Saint-Laurent
- walk to pedestrianized Ave Mont-Royal then bike north a bit and then all the way back south to Ev and Vi’s apt
- pick up beer at Maxi
- eat homemade dinner @ Ev and Vi’s apt w/ the group
- smash and eat traditional chocolate cauldron that Vi brought from back home in Geneva
- watch a chunk of Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom w/ Vince
Monday 07/13/2026 – Montreal
- sleep in while Z and Ev hike Mont Royal
- make coffee, update my World Cup Fantasy team, and continue reading Investigations of a Dog by Kafka
- bike w/ Z down to Old Port and have brunch @ Tommy Cafe
- visit Museum of Archaelogy @ Pointe-à-Callière
- get Lyft back to the apt
- solo bike to McGill area to peruse Word (The) bookshop, then bike back to apt
- walk w/ Ev and Vi to open mic @ Parc Jeanne-Mance
Tuesday 07/14/2026 – Montreal
- go to Bar L’Barouf at opening, 1.5 hours before kickoff but it was full already
- meet my friend Hik @ Bar Le Pastel
- get takeout lunch from Bun Mam Ninh Kieu Vietnamese restaurant
- walk around Plateau looking for another place to watch the game
- return to Bar Le Pastel to watch France 0-2 Spain
- walk in Parc La Fontaine w/ Hik, then solo bike back to the apt
- walk to Schwartz’s Deli and get smoked meat poutine
- meet w/ Z and Ev to bike to Ev’s place in The Village
- hang out w/ Z, Ev, Vi, and three of their friends
- watch Scary Movie 5 then get Lyft back to the apt
- forget to attend Strata meeting on Zoom
Wednesday 07/15/2026 – Montreal
- lunch @ Cafe Santropol and coffee @ Cafe Myriade Mont Royal w/ Z
- watch Argentina 2-1 England @ the apt
- receive my Nexus card via mail
- solo bike to Mile End to get pizza from Fugazzi Pizza
- meet w/ Z and bike back to apt together
- bike downtown w/ Z, Vi, and Eva
- attend a couple shows at African Music Festival at park outside Place des Arts
- walk to L’Express for dinner to celebrate Vi’s birthday
Thursday 07/16/2026 – Montreal
- eat breakfast then stop at Boulangerie Les Co’Pains D’Abord to pick up lunch
- hike Mont St Hilaire and eat lunch at lookout spot
- drive back to Montreal and get ice cream from Iconoglace
- rest, doze, and shower
- meet Ev’s brother J at the apt
- dinner @ Satay Bros w/ the group
- visit J’s apt then drive back to the apt
Friday 07/17/2026 – Montreal
- sleep in, then make coffee and read
- solo bike downtown and visit Museum of Fine Arts
- solo cortado from Cafe Myriade
- solo bike from Griffintown, along canal, through Little Burgundy, down into the centre of Southwest Montreal
- picnic @ “Red chairs on water” park by the canal for Vi’s birthday
- go for drinks and music @ Riverside St. Henri
- get Lyft to Patati Patata near the apt to get poutine before going to bed
Saturday 07/18/2026 – Montreal
- attend Fantasia panel discussion w/ Jane Schoenbrun, Hannah Einbinder, Alice Maio, Louise Weard, and Avalon Fast
- meet w/ my friend Hik and his friend Will
- lunch @ Time Out Market w/ the group
- get coffee from Cafe Olympico w/ Hik and his friend Will
- spend time talking with my friend Hik
- take Lyft back to the apt
- watch England 6-4 France w/ Vi
- read The Secret History
- dinner @ ChuChai w/ Z
- walk home on pedestrianized Ave Duluth and come across a man playing violin beautifully
- read The Secret History until I decided to give up on it
Sunday 07/19/2026 – Montreal → Vancouver
Foolishly, I booked our return flight on the day of the World Cup final. The game is supposed to end one hour and twenty minutes before our departure time. I’m consider going to the airport early to watch the whole game there. Otherwise I will have to watch it elsewhere and hurry to the airport afterwards. If the game is tied after ninety minutes there’ll be another half hour of play and if it is still tied, penalties. In that case, they’ll be happening while we board the plane. I hope I don’t miss anything special and I regret not being able to watch the game with my friends at home.
visiting one of her best friends Ev and Ev’s boyfriend Vi. I regretted buying so many meals at restaurants. I should’ve bought groceries immediately and gotten over that silly but strangely powerful aversion to using an unfamiliar kitchen.
Travel is expensive for three main reasons: flights, accommodation, and meals. Our flights were covered by my credit card points and our accommodation by the generosity of our friends. If I’d been more diligent about my meals, I could’ve considered our vacation a frugal success.
I love eating great meals at restaurants when I travel, but decent meals and even good ones are often not worth the expense. A good vacation can be one where most meals are modest ones. Recently, when I’ve travelled to cities, I’ve felt shortchanged. I already live in a good city and I could’ve stayed there and made most my meals in the kitchen I know well. What exactly is the point of visiting a different city? Is it only worth it if you see friends you do not otherwise see?
In the last year, I’ve noticed how my mind expands when I travel. I don’t mean because I see cultures and ways of living different from my own. I mean that my thoughts wander very freely and ideas come to me from all directions. Released from usual comforts and narrow routine, the mind floats untethered, nudged easily, more sensitive than usual to suggestion and whim. Susceptible and open.
An open mind is ready to receive influence not just from the outside world and other people, but also from within. The important but not urgent stuff pushed down in daily life starts to rise until it bubbles up into consciousness. Those things that have troubled you but you’ve had no time and space to acknowledge. Those ideas that have been brewing in the back of your mind. Shower thoughts. It’s healthy to make space for this kind of reflection in one’s regular life, but it’s difficult. Travel, for those who are fortunate enough to afford it, offers an extended period for this kind of release.