It's been a while since my last post:

Since then I've visited Canada, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Hungary and had a run-in with American bureaucracy. I also got another job which I think I actually want to keep for the foreseeable future, and got a girlfriend (I had a crush on her at a distance for years and when we met in real life we instantly connected). I feel like I'm higher on Maslow's pyramid than I ever have been.

This week:

- My birthday! I invited about 14 friends over, we drank, ate pizza and were merry. I didn't know my flat could hold that many people (it's SMALL). Feels amazing to host and provide a space for people I love to enjoy themselves 😌

- Rekindled a friendship with someone from college I hadn't hung out with in person for about six years.

- My dad and my sister visited me (usually I visit them because the train ticket is expensive). We went to a curry house and got drunk.

Good afternoon, everyone!

I haven't been on here in a few years. Yeah, I know... That's what I said last time:

This week I have "covid", which is a disease that seems to be making the rounds

Some things I've done:

- Quarantined at my mum's house for six months

- Moved into my own (rented) apartment. It turns out that solitude suits me, but I have a bad habit of being too solitary sometimes. I'm sure a lot of people who are very online can relate to that

- Got a new job, quit that job, went feral

- Visited Athens, New York, Boston, Spain and Portugal

- Made loads of new friends, too many to count

- Started working as a software contractor

- Figured out how to stop being anxious all the time

- Took XXXX, XXXX and XXXX. Learned some new things

Life is more complicated now but it's so much brighter and more interesting

Dang. I haven't been on here in a while. But I've thought about you guys, now and then. I've spent a lot of time on other social media under different names and identities... There isn't anywhere like here.

I FINALLY GRADUATED!!! (if you're enough of a stalker you might be able to figure out where)

Ok, I got the certificate back in September but I finally went to the ceremony. I got to dress up all nice and shake the hands of some professors and see some old classmates. I found out that one is doing a PhD in Singapore this September and he invited me to come visit him in Singapore and another of my university friends in Thailand... Oh no, I'm visiting Canada/America then. I kind of knew that I would only be able to do one big trip this year, either to the Americas or Asia. The bright side is that now I know one more person I can visit. I will go on a big Asia tour one day. Hong Kong - Singapore - Japan - ???

Also I bought new shoes for this and they just rubbed the back of both my feet raw. It's almost as if I should have broken them in before walking/standing around for several hours. I'm split between wearing plasters and hoping that I can wear them in and returning them to the shop tomorrow.

Today, I am angry. A completely preventable disaster has occurred in my city.

"Unfortunately, the Grenfell Action Group have reached the conclusion that only an incident that results in serious loss of life of KCTMO residents will allow the external scrutiny to occur that will shine a light on the practices that characterise the malign governance of this non-functioning organisation." - 20th November, 2016

Sometimes corruption means wasted taxpayers' money. Sometimes it means projects get completed late. Sometimes it means people die.

WOO!!! I've booked the tickets for my trip to Canada and America - I hope to see some of you there. I'll be starting in Vancouver on the 17th September then heading to San Francisco to leave on the 28th September. This will be my biggest trip yet (without my parents). Now to compile a list of all the things I'd like to see/do/eat/drink...

I'm closer to many of you than usual. Spent the last three days in Vancouver. I've already eaten so much fatty food, I could gladly never set foot in a diner again. Probably will though. I'm looking forward to meeting some of you. I posted about it but I'm on my phone so finding the link again is a hassle.

Life is good. Pour me the finest beer the Pacific Northwest has to offer.

Hi Pubski, long time no see.

Since last time, I went back to see my family and celebrate Christmas. I hadn't seen my aunt, uncle and cousin in a while as they live in Australia but they are moving to the UK this year.

Then I went to Florence with some friends from school. It's such a beautiful city, we ate lots of Italian food and looked at old buildings and art (the Uffizi is a must-see). I enjoyed trying to speak the language having never learned it before, even if the people at the cafe/restaurant then put on a concerned face and replied in English. It's so satisfying when I get it right. Earlier this month I also went to Vienna and being able to get directions and understand people talk in German was such a strange feeling...

Due to various financial hacks (staying at friends houses, budget airline travel, accidentally stockpiling my leave by not taking any breaks for half a year) I have been able to go on four holidays in the last four months. I know this is a disgusting first world problem but I'm starting to wonder if I'm spreading myself a bit thin. I really enjoyed the last holiday to Florence because of the beautiful environment, food and company but I couldn't help thinking that I would have got more out of it if I had properly made the effort to learn about the city beforehand. I don't really know anything about the Medicis, or the Renaissance or classical Greek/Roman art. Some of the people I was with had studied the Classics in university and so were able to explain things to me but this doesn't seem totally right. It doesn't seem right for me to have all this opportunity to see the world and squander it by just appreciating things in the most superficial way. This has been nagging me for a while now.

I think that this year I should perhaps take some of the time off that I have been allocated to slow down and explore where I currently live. Or take fewer holidays. I live in London and while it has its fair share of annoyances (expensive, loud, busy) it also has a rich history, many public spaces and institutions, one of the most diverse populations out of any city in the world, etc. Hopefully I can share that with you. Hubski makes me want to do that.

Oh and on New Year's Eve I got drunk

Aaaaaand this is why we need unions.

Oh my fucking god. Fuck them. It's a hospital. People suffer and die and get sick and get better in there and if that's not a place for crying then I don't know what is. I wonder if they ever cried at their mother's funeral. I'm so angry about this.

In fact you know what, as a man or a woman or a human of any gender you can cry whenever the hell you want. It's a healthy release of emotion. Maybe that explains a few things about this world, that this is seen as unacceptable.

Their behaviour is highly unethical.

Technical interview tomorrow evening. Kind of nervous but I made a good impression in the first interview so I have some reason to be confident. Crossing my fingers.

This is so good. The sarcastic character profile is a fucking classic songwriting move and if anyone deserves this treatment, it's the President-Elect. Thank you.

Visit: USA, Hong Kong, Japan.

Read more books. Spend less time 'reading' things online. I'm going to make a list.

Cook my own food more often (my current kitchen is not pleasant to cook in, but I'm working on it).

Learn about a new area of computing (distributed computing looks interesting and possibly applicable to my current work and definitely applicable to future work).

Continue to make music. Actually release something.

Do politics. Not sure how. Damn.

Study languages more often (I am at the eternal intermediate stage in German and I would also like to learn Spanish and either Japanese or Mandarin).

(realises that I always put the same goals on these kind of threads - I need to make these more concrete or they're never going to happen)

added a thread for German speakers/students:

Summer solstice today. I don't follow any religious traditions but if I could choose when to have a holiday, I would choose a day of ASTRONOMICAL SIGNIFICANCE! I always feel sad as the days get shorter and shorter... Time to spend as much time as possible in the sun before it goes away completely. The worst thing about autumn and winter is leaving work at night. I'm not looking forward to that.

Careful what you say here! It'll be traced back to your Facebook and your social security number and your reddit account you had five years ago where you wrote some comments on /r/trees.

I have other social media 'personas' which each correspond to a few accounts on social media. Having to maintain a complete disconnect between them feels really strange but I know that if I link to something I've made under one name from another account, they will then be 'linked' in the eyes of surveillance and anyone who cares to stalk me online. On the internet, you either share something with everyone or you don't share it at all. Sometimes I wish I never used this damn thing at all but I'm in too deep now!!!!

I'm moving house I'm moving house I'm moving house I'm moving house

New location is near Waterloo, walking distance from work (~25 min each way). Next block is a gym. Time to get fitter and happier. It's much more expensive than my old place but I can still afford it.

This weekend is a four day weekend because of Easter. I don't have any plans. I'm going to be busy on Friday for a few hours moving my stuff but then I'm a free agent. Not quite sure what to do. Might stay in London and explore.

EDIT: I have plans, I just forgot about them. Thanks calendar!

Water and your favourite brand of antacid, please. Went to the pub with some old university friends then had a McDonald's. Fuck being an adult, right? You can't just ingest whatever you want without later feeling its effect.

Work's going alright. I'm trying to work in a bit more variety to keep things enjoyable. Sometimes work being being stuck in code for several hours and forgetting everything else exists. Sometimes it's annoying grunt work. I'd love to do the former all day. But there's always the fact that we're in a small company, and someone will have to do the latter at some point in order to keep everything ticking over slowly. Sometimes it's someone else, sometimes it's me.

The grade for the one retake exam I had to do came in. I PASSED!!! You're all going to have to call me "rjw, MSc" from now on. I already got onto the career ladder so if I had failed it wouldn't have been a disaster, but it might open doors. Of course, now the onus is on me to seek out those doors.

After almost four months at my job, the novelty is wearing off. What am I going to do next? What am I working towards? Is there any future for me in England? How can I be a benefit to society? I need to slow down and think about these things, right?

I'm so fucking excited about my holiday. Most adventurous trip I'll ever have been on (in terms of the amount of ground I'll be covering, unfamiliarity of the environment, etc). I hope to see as many of you as I can. Already made a thread for that:

There are probably some other things I could talk about here but I can't remember what they are.

I GOT AN INTERVIEW FOR TOMORROW MORNING WISH ME LUCK!

Wish me luck. Just the usual chat over coffee but first impressions are everything! I'm reading about the company's domain and their competitors... I don't want to give away any details but now feels like a good time to be moving into this industry.

Anxiety has been bad as ever. Mitigated slightly by using some novel and fun technology at work but generally not great. I should quit coffee. MORE SLEEP. and getting to work early. I need to become much more in tune with what makes me feel good and what makes me feel bad.

ELECTION DAY TOMORROW

I'm glad you enjoy it! I really enjoyed meeting you and I wish you the best of luck with your post-college plans. This was my first time meeting someone from The Internet. I hope you have a good time in Europe. I expect posts.

Racism makes people so fucking stupid

Reminds me of this old joke:

This is great news. People should be able to identify themselves how they please.

I'm changing jobs. Got my offer, made my resignation, etc. It was more difficult than I thought it would be. I'm going to miss the people at my old job, but advancing in my career means seeking out new experiences and scenarios. I'll still be in London. I think this place may have started to grow on me. I still joke about it being a loud and smelly hellhole to my friends that don't live here but I'm not sure if I really believe it any more. I went to play badminton today and on the way home I walked past a building that absolutely stank of piss. I can't find that sort of thing revolting any more. It just is.

I'm visiting the west coast in a week - I would love to meet some of you IRL. I remember I asked a few months ago but it wasn't really possible to organise anything solid because I wasn't sure of the dates back then. I made a thread so we can coordinate meeting but feel free to shoot me a DM:

mute-iny... hehe

la la la everyone's sick of US political hegemony and has been for fucking decades

bye bye sam you will not be missed

time for a beer

PS: Americans and American culture are still great

Learn to cook learn to cook learn to cook! What's the simplest thing you know?

I've had periods of time where I have gotten out of the habit of cooking my own meals and ended up relying on bought food (kind of like at your local bodega, although probably not as delicious). The thing that always gets me back into it is buying packets of fresh pasta and fresh pasta sauce. It'll be a bit more expensive than cooking it from scratch but it'll be done in three minutes or so. Less time than I'd need to take to put my shoes on, leave the house and buy some takeaway.

Tired as hell today, I didn't get much sleep because I stayed on the computer like a fucking idiot. It doesn't help that a large number of the people I talk to online are from the USA.

Living in my new house is continuing to go well. We still haven't done a communal house activity (probably going to a bar) yet, which is a shame because they had happened a few times before I moved in to some success and we're all the same age and chat in the kitchen. We all have full time jobs. I have had my first cleaning rota, I'm glad I only have to do that every six weeks... Kitchen surfaces, Kitchen floor, all the hallways and the two staircases! Tiring.

I've been to the gym twice this week. Feeling really good about that. I'm going to go again tomorrow. I haven't got a routine together yet though. I would like to start lifting weights so I presumably need to watch a bunch of videos on how to hold the equipment properly and start veeeeeeery slowly with something light. It would be better if I could get someone to show me how to do it in person.