Last days of December and year 2017 are through. Follow me on this monthly update before starting a countdown to the beginning of 2018!
The current year will end tomorrow and I will also write the yearly summary in next couple days. But for now, I would like to focus on this month.
Training
In this month I did improve over November. According to my Strava calendar, I tracked 8 hours of training in 12 activities that accounted for a total distance of 60 km. That’s actually a good increase. I’ll try to keep the pace and get at least the same scores in January. But we’ll see.
Run in Kraków
I’ve visited Kraków for couple days, mostly to join creativestyle Christmas Party and to visit my family.
The air quality wasn’t that bad (and believe me, it can be really bad…) so I’ve also found some time to go for a short run around Krakus Mound.
I’ve reached the top of the mound, looked briefly at the panoramic view of the city and circled back down to my hotel running around Kamieniołom Liban and through couple streets in Podgórze district.
Parkrun at Gunnersbury Park
Today morning I’ve joined last Parkrun race this year at Gunnersbury Park. I don’t run there often because it’s a bit further away from my home, but during the winter I prefer this course as there’s less mud there.
I’ve finished with the elapsed time of 26:26, which is not a bad performance considering rather lazy time around Christmas.
Work balance
Last month I’ve posted a bit about looking for a balance and some bits satisfaction from my work. I’m not sure if I’ve found it yet, but I think I’m going in the good direction. End of December is a usually slower month in the e-commerce world, so I’ve got bit more time to look into some other topics.
I won’t say I’ve accomplished a lot (look for next headline) but I did some interesting stuff. I went through couple lessons on Egghead, explored GatsbyJS and GraphQl.
It’s nil ‘til you ship it
In my previous entry, I’ve promised to finish & launch one of my side ideas. Unfortunately, I think that won’t happen in December. I still have couple features in progress and besides that, I’m working on processing and importing a larger initial set of events.
But to face the challenge. I’ve shipped it… It’s just sailing in the stealth mode ;-) Message me if you want to get a sneak peek link.
Stuff in London
I’ve been living in London for more than a year now. While I personally don’t need a very active social life, I can say that winter time isn’t that bad here. It’s warmer than in Poland, so going out somewhere is easier. Surprisingly it doesn’t even rain that much.
Playing games
I’ve spent a solid chunk of time playing two games: XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Civilization VI.
I’ve enjoyed playing XCOM as it had quite interesting although simple storyline and felt like it was maintaining the spirit of the original UFO series which I remember playing quite the long time ago.
I must say though, that Civilization was a bit boring. Not much new additions, besides some changes in civic policies and research. The game felt too long, especially in the end phase and I don’t know if it was because slow CPU of my mac or because I always choose “epic” game length ;-)
Christmas at Kew
Together with N. we’ve visited Kew Botanical Garden for the Christmas at Kew special exposition.
It was a very nice experience! The trees and plants were illuminated with many different lights, composing various scenes often accompanied by sounds and music.
The culmination of about 1-hour walk was a Christmas-themed laser show over the Palm House and the pond. It was a place definitely worth visiting.
I want also to visit the regular botanical garden at Kew during the spring season to see the trees, plants, and flowers.
Evening photo walk in London
One of the evenings I took the camera & tripod and went for a walk to take some pictures of the city during the night. I’ve captured couple interesting views although I’m a bit disappointed with the sharpness and overall photo quality. I guess my 10 years old Canon needs a replacement.
I guess that’s all for the current month. I’ll be writing also my yearly update, but I wanted also to do it separately from December’s notes. So, off to 2018 and Happy New Year to everyone who will celebrate it tomorrow!
