Category: everyday life

Why I Don’t Like Remote Work

I like flexibility; I always liked the option of being able to work remotely, but not the idea of working remotely full-time. This WBEZ podcast mentions some of the issues which are important to me regarding working from home. If I would be honest with myself, I have to admit that the most important factor for me is a relatively small and seemingly unimportant thing – the lack of physical movement when you work from home.

A funny story is that twenty years ago, it was just the opposite: when I worked from home, I had the option of going biking during the lunch break, and I didn’t have to time my morning workout to make sure I was not late for the train. Back then, working from home meant more physical activity, and now it’s the opposite.

When it comes strictly to work, I know that 1) you can be very efficient while being remote;2) I had exceptionally successful emote projects; 3) you can have social interactions working remotely. But you can’t seamlessly incorporate move moving into your everyday life.

… and yes, there is nothing better than whiteboarding!

A Long Bike Ride

The longest bike ride of this season so far, 25.34 miles. For Bike the Drive, I signed up for a 30 miles challenge, but I should also add about 3 miles to get from my house to the official start and 3 miles back :). I will have at least two stops on the way, including the breakfast, so I am pretty sure I can make it with no problem. Today was not a stretch.

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Another Crazy Week Weather

One thing is for sure – Independence Day was perfect weather-wise. My friends visited Chicago during the holiday week. They stayed in a hotel on the Near North, and I volunteered to give them a city tour on July 4 (having that most of the museums were closed anyway). It turned out that not only museums were closed! We could not get in neither Chicago Cultural Center, nor Rookery building Foye, nor Chicago Fine Arts Building.

Nevertheless, we had a great walk around the city in a perfect weather, and then I took then for the Brown Line Loop to see the city from the unique perspective, and then I we went to Rogers Park and I showed them how I live, and how close the lake is.

Although it was a perfect beach weather, the beach was so packed that I didn’t think I could find any pleasure and enjoyment being on the beach on in the water, co after I saw them off, I returned to catching up with life :).

Then, there was 90F on Wednesday followed by this horrible thunderstorm that started during the concert. I still can’t get over of how bad it was, and how quickly everything was flooded, and my mom had such a horrible experience (in addition, she could not sleep the night before that because of the illegal fireworks).

And then there was Thursday, when it was barely warm (lower 70-s), but since the lake was already warmed up, it was a beach weather, and it was such a fun to jump. in the waves!

Summer is the only time when I try to work from home one or two days a week to be able to have a lunch break ar the beach!

Health Updates

After my biking accident and the doctor’s appointment a week later, the x-ray results came earlier than I expected – on Sunday. The results stated I had a fracture with minor displacement. On Monday (June 11), the doctor whom I saw on Friday called me with “I told you!” message and sent me to the orthopedic doctor. That doctor took yet another bunch of x -rays and said that he did not see any fracture and I did not need to wear a splinter, wait for this whole thing to heal, and come back in three weeks.

Because of my travel and the holidays, I ended up going back only today. Both my left thumb and the left index finger hurt to some degree when I was doing something with my left hand, including applauding at the concerts, and overall, I was not convinced that I didn’t have a fracture. But just a couple of days before this last visit to the doctor, I started to feel much better, so they said everything was fine and I do not need to come anymore unless I want some special hand therapy. I am not going to waste my time on that.

The last mom’s physical therapy session was at the beginning of June, and I told our physical therapist that I was going to do all the exercises he prescribed to my mom. So that’s what I am planning to do because my left thumb still bends only a halfway in comparison to the right one 🙂

Finding Nature

On Saturday, I did what I had planned to do for a very long time: I took Metra to Chicago Botanic Garden. I love the Botanic Garden, and I often went there when I lived in Palatine, but taking public transport there appeared to be not as easy as I initially thought.
There is a bus from Howard, but it takes a relatively long time and does not run on Sundays. And in any case, I feel extremely dizzy when I ride on a bus for a long time. As for Metra, I knew that I would need to walk fon the station to the Botanic Garden, and I could not decide whether I should take a bike with me or walk, and ended up not going at all.
Finally, I decided to choose a day when I would go, and that day was July 1.
I took a train from Ogilvie after my escorting shift; it was drizzling most of the day, but didn’t pore, so I kept walking.
The most exciting part, however, was that I found the Forest Preserve! While it takes more than twenty minutes to get to the garden entrance, the Forest Preserve is right there, you get off the train, and here you are!

The pleasure of walking the trail in the woods was even more than seeing the familiar sites of the Botanic Garden (although the Garden was great!)

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Thoughts On What’s Happening…

SCOTUS decisions … I do not even want to talk about it. During my escort shift on Saturday, we talked about what happened last week, and the verdict was unanimous: we don’t know what was worse; every day was just new craziness. However, I think that the end of affirmative action is the worst. I don’t know what universities will do. I do not know how in the world these judges could think it was a great idea… How were they thinking?!

… upon returning from Finland, I started to go to the beach each time I worked from home. Same as last summer, it is a most satisfying relaxation, even if for a very short time. Most days, the Park District Day Camp is out there. Each time, I pass a large group of eight-nine-year-olds playing in the sand, splashing in the water, building castles, hugging and piggy-backing, all skin colors mixed – a perfect emblem of Rogers Park. I hope these beach memories will stay with them for the rest of their lives…

***

So, the recent events didn’t bring Ukraine back to the front pages… They brought Russia to the focus of attention. Since the start of the war, I have become used to the adverse reaction to the fact that I am Russian. These reactions subsided through the last year, but on Saturday, I had it again: “You are dangerous; what are you guys doing?” I replied to the effect that “it’s them, not us,” because I do not want to be associated with the fight between two evils. Maybe I am not expressing it clearly, but I would be instead blamed for Russian aggression toward Ukraine than the mutiny and what’s not. I am sad that people focus more on Russian internal affairs than the war. 

***

We had heavy rain for most of the weekend, but especially today, and our gym flooded again! Less damage that time, but still…

And working on the book – lots of tedious tiny things…

Small Home Improvement

Did you ever think that a small rolling desk would be so useful in the kitchen?! Boris was hesitant to get this one (he uses it for work when he needs peace and quiet and the house is occupied by our granddaughters, but I told him if he gets it, I know very well how I am going to use it!

Yes, I know that people these days do everything from their phones, but I still prefer to consult my recipes using a bigger screen!

Artists Of The Wall 2023

There are at least two people I know who can tell the story of the Artists of the Wall annual event better than I do. The only thing I can say is that I love this annual celebration of people’s creativity, and I really really liked a lot of this season’s works.

Last Wednesday, when I visited my mom, I went to see the new paintings, and I think I took pictures of all of them – you can see them here.

And here are some of y favorites:

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This Week In Chicago

Although I arrived on Saturday and, technically speaking, could attend the Pride Parade, it was not on my mental list, so I ended up not going there. Instead, I tried to catch up with tons of little things and was petty successful with that.

Some Pride in Rogers Park:

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When The Bike Is Slow

Now, I have five bikes in total: thee in Chicago and two in Helsinki. Bois asked me a couple of months ago whether I am interested in a new bike with disk brakes: they were on sale. I said – sure, and he got a bike for me. Meanwhile, the biking season in Chicago was in full swing, and I encountered a problem: my new bike, which I purchased last fall, was slow. Boris kept telling me that I was making things up and it was just the start of the season, and I was a little bit slower than I was at the end of the last one, but the Apple Watch told me otherwise.

When I dropped my new bike for the tune-up, I asked to check what could be wrong and is it possible that the brakes were too tight.

They said that there was nothing wrong, but I didn’t believe them. On the day when I was going to pick up this bike from the shop, I also dropped my old bike for a checkup. Having both bikes right here, I demonstrated the difference in the speed the wheels were spinning. Then one of the shop workers started to look closer. After twenty minutes of exploring the situation, he found the culprits:

He explained that these extra rubber rings were there to prevent water from getting inside (I am not sure what :)), but they were slowing down the axis. After he removed them and tuned the brakes, I got the difference right away! Now I can bike even faster than at the end of the last season!

And my new bike in Helsinki is a real beast! Even though i Helsinki, it’s almost constantly up/down hill, I still get around fasted than in Chicago!

I biked twice so far, once in a rain, and it was fine as well, and my “salamandra skin” worked great. Actually, this time around, when it was very hot during my first bike ride and cold and windy during my second time, it really proved being a second (and better!) skin!