While I was planning the slowly cooked pork belly there was another recipe I also wanted to try out while I was on it. So yesterday I saved part of the meat before taking the rest into the last roast for that other dish: smoked pork mac & cheese. Tender pork and cheese with pasta, what could be better than that?

Today I finally had a chance to put our new Kamado grill to a real test. I got myself dome pork belly, rub mix and marinade as well as chopped apple wood for smoking. Time to try some slow cooked and smoked food.

Scottish fold is a cat breed with distinctive look due to their forward folding ears. This feature, when first appeared at the scottish farm during the early sixties made the breed quite desirable.

Unfortunately the mutation that causes the folding also causes anomalies to their bone structure. Due to these anomalies they are prone to severe bone and cartilage problems that can be quite painful. Because of this the life expectancy of Scottish folds is only between two and six years.

It's been already a while since most of the pandemic restrictions were ended. I remember it took some time to get used to the restricted "normal" back then, but once you got over the initial shock it just came the everyday thing.

Now it still feels strange to go to any public spaces without a mask for example. I still get those moments of "oh, I forgot the mask, need to go get it". It also doesn't feel weird that some people still wear them. More often I also look at people without masks and almost thing why don't they wear it.

I was going to write about a completely different topic when I got stuck on a word for the day before yesterday. In Finnish it's a commonly used word toissapäivä, but I couldn't recall ever coming across a translation of it in English.

Of course that doesn't mean there isn't a word for that. It's just become obsolete and considered archaic. Actually, there is not only one, but two words that can be used to refer to the time two days ago: ereyesterday and nudiustertian.

I love to have something to do all the time. I don't necessarily want to do those things all the time, but knowing there is something to do is relieving. It gives purpose. On the other hand I don't even want to get everything done ever. There needs to be some next things to look forward (and plan!).

At the same time it's annoying that there are so many unfinished things around. Would be nice to see everything done and not to worry about finding time and other resources to fix all the things.

I've been an avid supporter of the green tech thinking. The technology we use every day has become one of the biggest contributor to the climate change.

Of course it's hard to live that path when you are also a technology enthusiast. There is always a new gadget or better, more powerful version of the ones you already have. Big part of the lifetime emissions of those things come from manufacturing and shipping. So longer you use them the more ecological they become.

Sometimes the secret of becoming good at something is just receiving a really good tip. Such tips could feel like cheating when they actually make you perform better, like those people you look up to.

But after you have been shared such a simple tip you immediately start noticing all those people you used to admire actually using the same trick. They weren't natural talents either!

My phone is truly a beautiful piece of engineering and design. Unfortunately I haven't had much of a chance to "admire" it's beauty. I don't really care about such things, I got this mostly for it's specs.

One of the criteria for the new home was a yard with minimal need for maintenance. Having a yard is nice, but keeping it in shape can be a lot of work. And neither of us is a green thumb either.

Turns out I didn't really hate exercising. I just prefer doing it on my own solitude.

I don't know what it is that makes me feel uncomfortable getting out there training in public. It doesn't matter if it's at the gym or on the road. I prefer privacy and rather work out when nobody is watching.

That's why I prefer running in the forest for example. There rarely is that many people there and you only see them shortly passing by.

Three years ago I was part of creating something extraordinary: a larp called The Odysseus inspired by the TV series Battlestar Galactica. It was the biggest, most expensive larp produced in Finland and big even in the global scene.

The project of that scale, while it was really interesting and rewarding to work on, was also quite draining to many team members. Even I was thinking "never again" after the game.

The stars between stars in those new JWST images reminded me of an old paradox about infinite universe. The so called Olbers' paradox or dark night sky paradox is a conflict between the assumption of infinite universe and the darkness of the night sky.

If the universe would be infinite and static there would be infinite amount of stars in it as well. That would mean that every line of sight in the sky would end up in a star making the sky appear bright all the time. The sky not being lit with infinite light all the time is a proof of that the universe is indeed not static.

Seeing the latest test images from he James Webb space telescope immediately brought this quote from 2001: a Space Odyssey to my mind. The pictures, when compared to ones from older generation telescopes reveal stars after stars where in those old images there was just darkness.

The telescope has now finished the calibration of it's main mirror. The job is still not complete. Next phase is two months of calibrating the scientific equipment onboard. Until then we just need to enjoy these "boring" test images with scenes from random spots in space.

I don't really read any news, any kind. I do follow things through various discussion platforms where those news get discussed more widely.

This has many benefits. There is usually somebody summarizing and explaining the article saving me some time understanding what's it all about. There might also be additional information about the background of the matter at hand. It's also possible to get alternative, even opposing views through the discussion. People rarely agree completely on anything.

Mother's day brings to my mind my two dear grandmothers who have passed away. While I cherish their memory it also reminds me of the importance of spending time with my mother while she's still with us.

My grandmothers were both wonderful persons. The one from my fathers side never gave up her inner child and embraced life with curiosity and without any prejudice. She even travelled the world, both real and fiction.

As a manager I have had to give up on a lot of hands on work. Sometimes it's still hard to pass those tasks and delegate them to others. It's not that I wouldn't trust "my people", it's just back in the old days I found joy doing those things.

Part of being a leader is giving others the opportunity to do those interesting tasks. Sometimes you have to take it even so far as of taking care of the boring tasks by yourself to give others the chance to work on something more interesting.

I don't have much of an experience sitting in interviews. The jobs I have held are all been pretty much the first tries. I've also not been on the job market for almost a decade now. Sure, I've been in a couple of interviews during my current employment when given an interesting opportunity, but never taken those too seriously. I've also been participating in group interviews in our hiring process helping to assess candidates cultural fit and technical skills.

Yesterday was 4th of May, the "official" Star Wars day (you know, May the fourth ..). A perfect day to see a Marvel movie.

Now that I have (finally) become more active again I notice myself missing all the tracking I did before. I know I'm doing things, but I don't have clear picture how much. I also still notice the progress, but soon the change will slow down and it's harder to see it.

It's easy to lose motivation when things feel stagnant. Another benefit of tracking my activity is getting back into streaks. It's harder to skip s day when you're on a streak