daily slice-of-life photo blog of a Gen-X dad
One of the perks of working in the office is easy access to the coffee machine. Actually, we have a coffee machine at home too, but it’s not as fancy as the one at the office. Our home espresso machine, which grinds whole beans for each cup, is far superior to the pods in the office. All that being said, I guess the office coffee machine isn’t really a perk.
I spent the day at an event and the commute was about 45 minutes each way. It was okay because I had a nice audiobook to listen to, and some decent scenery to look at such as the Pennybacker Bridge. Still, my preference is definitely work-from-home. 😀
I enjoyed meeting my coworkers in person at the work event held at the Omni Hotel and Spa today. It was great to finally put faces to names and get to know them better. However, the 40-minute commute (one way) was not my favorite part. It was a long and tiring drive, but it made me appreciate being able to work from home.
Today I picked up my new work laptop which will replace my current one, which must be about 4 years old.
It was very strange again to go into the office because there were only maybe 10 people there, whereas normally there are a couple hundred. Very eerie…
I like my office, but I enjoy working from home more. I get a lot more done, both work-wise and on the home-front. I suppose it’s like that for a lot of people. We’re lucky to have that option and flexibility and I am grateful for it.
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Warning, this post is a bit of a rant… but here goes.
There’s a school of thought that says the surest way to lose passion in a hobby is to turn it into your job. There’s some truth to that sentiment, and I experienced it today. If you follow my blog or know me in person, you know that I love photography. However, I don’t like to take photos for my work and for a few years now, I’ve kind of handed that job off to others as much as possible. I don’t mind the occasional photoshoot when we’re in a bind, but I’d rather leave it to the professionals, or others who have interest in it.
So it was with serious reservation (and after kindly refusing once) that I agreed to do some headshots. Well, that seems to have turned into taking photos for several more small events. Ugh… Don’t get me wrong, I love taking photos, but the time spent culling and post-processing can be long, especially because I want to spend the proper amount of time to do a good job. (plus the common perception from non-photographers is that you just snap the photo and upload it)
This morning I took photos for a company event, and it was time-consuming. It was a one-hour event, and I ended up with 440 shots to go thru. After four passes of culling, I got it down to 19 images. From there, it was on to post-processing. And there goes 2+ hours of the day.
I enjoy processing photos in Lightroom, but not for work. I want to enjoy it purely for fun and relaxation at home, with photos I have interest in.
This afternoon I was supposed to take photos for another event, but after spending all that time in Lightroom, I was kind of burnt out, plus the event was outdoors and the lighting was contrasty and harsh. So I really wasn’t in the groove. I still got a few shots, but it was difficult and I deleted most of the photos because they weren’t good. 😫 Also, each click of the shutter adds a few minutes to the workday. It sucks to think that way, but that’s reality. Hey, time is money, and I’m not getting paid by the hour. 😆
Also, photography is its own totally different discipline so it’s hard to shift attention in the middle of other tasks. I don’t think people realize that. I mean, I know people realize that task-switching is inefficient, but they don’t realize that photography is a separate way of thinking from print design, ad design, etc. It’s all the same, isn’t it? (no)
Anyway, I usually carry my camera with me when I go out, but this evening, I didn’t even want to pick it up. 😓 That was kind of depressing. I like to keep my work and my home life separate, but these photo duties at work steal the enjoyment out of something I really like doing for fun on my own time.
So, today’s daily photo is just a simple still-life of some of my favorite things: watches, pens/pencils, and a coaster from a bar in Japan. Oh, and my passport since I need it for a visa application for a China trip.
I don’t know… maybe I’m just a bit burnt out because it was two photo shoots in one day? Or maybe it’s because I am kind of swamped with work and the photography is a significant time-sink? I’m hoping it’s one of those because I enjoy my work and I’d hate for photography to ruin the good thing I have going. Or maybe the solution is to not spend what I think is the proper amount of time on work-related photos, and just do a half-assed job? (I don’t know if I could do that, actually)
Sorry for today’s rant. I rarely vent, so today is an anomaly… I promise!
I’ll see you tomorrow.
またね～
こんばんは。How’s it going?
These past couple weeks have been extremely busy at work. It’s funny that sometimes I have so many projects lined up that it feels like it would be almost impossible to complete them all, and then I finish one of them and it seems to clear a roadblock and I am able to make a huge amount of progress on many of my other tasks. It’s kind of like a magical wave of momentum!
What I have noticed is that it happens quite often, so now I try to set myself up to kickstart that momentum in the morning. This is not really that mysterious or difficult to do. It’s often just the completion of a small morning task, or a productive meeting, or even a chat that can get the ball rolling.
What is great about this is that with each hurdle that is overcome, a bunch of stress is shed and that is a wonderful feeling of relief! I actually enjoy having that bit of pressure or stress when a project or task is looming because I am anticipating the amazing feeling of relief that comes with finishing the project.
Since projects come in never-ending cycles, it’s actually kind of cool to know that I have all these little wins to look forward to. In the past, I’ve been kind of depressed because it seemed like work never ends, but you know, I’d kind of feel at a loss if I had nothing to do. It’s so strange how people change…
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Today’s photo is of my new Aquila ukulele strings. I love them! They certainly aren’t anything fancy nor exotic, but they sound a lot crisper (more clarity as Koa told me) than the strings that my ukulele came from the factory with. I’m very pleased!
I hope you had a nice Monday!
おやすみ
こんばんは。
It’s interesting to me how people decorate their workspaces at the office. Not so much in how they do it, but the fact that some people don’t decorate at all. Most of my coworkers put up small framed photos of their family and/or pets, maybe a nice landscape or motivational meme, a houseplant, or even flowers (real or fake). But other people have absolutely nothing. And by nothing, I mean the desk is completely bare of any personal items, even pens or notebooks. It basically looks like no one works at that desk. It’s odd but fascinating!
As for my workspace, I have things that help me in my job: color palette, stickies with image size specs that we often use, pens, pencils, notepads, and Pantone book. And then I have my personal items: Instax photos, funny sticky notes people have left over the years, memes, and Tech Deck skateboard toy. It’s not a whole lot, but I guess having these things connects me to the company a bit more if that makes any sense.
Anyways, that’s all. 😌
I hope you had a nice Friday!
おやすみ
