Tag: life

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.

Today’s tip is to look around and spot three things you find unusual or pleasant.

I was lucky enough to travel recently a few times. One trip was to upstate New York to see my daughter, and I made it a point to look for a few different things. Here are a few things I noticed:

Cheese Curds

I don’t see these around Colorado (or many places I travel), but looking for a late night dinner on a drive between cities at 10pm I found multiple bags of these at a small rural gas station. At a few other convenience stores, I saw quite a variety.

Interesting, and quite tasty.

Cash Only

We drove a few towns over to bowl one day. We walked in, got our shoes and a sheet, and proceeded to bowl. The person at the desk said we would settle up later.

While we were there, my wife went to get a drink and was told that it was cash only. I had some in the car, and again, they said to settle up later.

It was interesting. They used old fashioned, mechanical cash registers to total our bill and then gave us change for the cash. They trusted us to pay, and I was reminded of times when I was a kid when that was how many businesses ran: cash, trust, and things totaled without electronics.

I miss those days sometimes.

Weather

The weather was rainy, chilly, and damp. The old house we were in was designed early in the 20th century, with older architectural elements, big floor heating ducts from an oil furnace, and a bit of a draft.

We looked over the weather, on average, for the area. It’s often cloudy, which made us miss Colorado but reminded us to be thankful for all the sun we get. I missed the sun last weekend and am glad to be home.

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.

Today’s tip is to get really absorbed in an interesting or creative activity.

I try to engage in some creative pastimes in my life, but often I don’t have the time to work on them. That’s been especially true lately.

A couple of nights last week my wife was busy. Rather than read or watch TV, I got my guitar, opened up YouTube, and spent an hour working through learning a song. At least until my fingers were hurting.

Didn’t completely learn anything, but I did improve some skills and enjoyed the time doing so.

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.

Today’s tip is to stop. Breath. Notice. Repeat regularly.

Yoga has helped me to appreciate this. I will stop and breathe while coaching, especially at tournaments. I’ve used this as I prep to deliver a session as well. Stop, breathe deep, often raise my arms and stretch.

I’ve also found this good for focus, or for trying to relax. I’ve written about box breathing, but today I’m taking a few minutes to breathe and look, rather than think about something specific.

Just breathe, sit, and look out at the world.

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.

Today’s tip is to get outside and notice how the weather feels.

I haven’t done much of this lately. It was cold in Denver for lots of Feb/Mar, and in London I was busy inside, running from place to place. I did like walking a little outside, but the walks were short.

I did, however, get a bit of a walk. The train dropped me off at the West side of the ExCel center. My hotel was about a mile away on the East side. I started to a restaurant to get some food, but since they were not open yet, I decided to walk to the hotel. Rather than going back along the North side of ExCel, where the train was, or inside, I took a slightly longer route along the Thames.

It was a pleasant day, about 50F/10C, a bit of a breeze, but not too bad. I plopped a cap on my head and sunglasses on my face. I walked along, looking at the water and the sites. It was a bit chilly, but invigorating. I had enough clothing to not feel chilled in my core, but the wind and cold air kept me from being too warm.

I breathed deep, enjoying the sensations of a a wonderful day in London, at least mentally. I wouldn’t want to be outside for a long time, but the walk reminded me to appreciate I wasn’t in a rainy (or snowy) London, and I was in London. One of my favorite cities.

As a note, I was in Greenwich and it snowed in London. Another not so great day, but one that I appreciated walking around and enjoyed the chilly weather.