It was a short week this week, really only about 2.5 days of work. I had Monday off to go do a big run in the mountains, and then my wife is leaving in a few short hours (I write this Thursday) to race near Mt Rainer. That means I’m on kid patrol after lunch today and all tomorrow.
I got a bunch done though, maybe one of the most complex things is looking at resurrecting my deployment configuration scripts for WordPress. I’m exploring a few options, but once I nail something down again I’ll share it so that you can see what I do when I want set specific things up for staging/live/local environments in WordPress. Much better than clicking through UI elements to set things up.
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## I Shipped
[Monday, I shared some of my shortcuts for building my blog posts with Statamic](https://curtismchale.ca/2019/08/19/shortcuts-for-publishing-with-statamic). I had a bunch of emails about this, with most people saying they don’t use iOS/iPadOS like I do, but they get more ideas about automation when I share things like this.
[For the book lovers, I wrote about Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell on Wednesday](https://curtismchale.ca/2019/08/21/getting-to-the-tipping-point-with-malcolm-gladwell). Overall, decent book but I think [Connected was better](https://curtismchale.ca/2018/05/17/connected-how-a-social-network-works-in-everything-from-stds-to-friendship/). Maybe not better, but certainly deeper into research. Gladwell does great at talking about a topic for those that don’t want to go into the research so deeply.
## Friday Five
**1. Feeling Safe on your Bike**
[Enjoyed this comic about feeling safe on a bike](https://thenib.com/why-am-i-scared-to-ride-a-bike). My city is pretty good with bike lanes, though none are fully seperated from the roadway. We do have a few walking/bike only paths that are going through the city and they’re looking better and better. I could now travel about 1km from my house and then be on side roads with lights to control traffic for bikes, or a bike/walking only path. That would get me all they way across town without dealing with traffic.
I think we have further to go, but we’ve got a decent start.
**2. For the Love of a Bookstore**
[Very much enjoyed this piece about Brazenhead](https://jomc.substack.com/p/i-dont-want-this-party-to-end), a bookstore that was in New York.
I have a local used bookstore, and while it’s not quite the same thing as a late night party, it’s a place I cherish. I head in almost weekly and come home with 2 or on occasion 20 books. I certainly accumulate them faster than I read them, but I still love going there.
**3. Science says – we’re not actually that busy**
[From Inc](https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/science-confirms-it-talking-about-how-busy-you-are-is-a-humble-brag.html):
> Ask basically any professional American how they’re doing these days and chances are good you’ll hear a single, standard answer: “busy.” But ask any expert in time use, or one of the many researchers who have painstakingly documented how we use our time, why Americans are so slammed all the time and you’ll get an unexpected answer: they’re not.
It goes on to say that we do this because we associate success with a packed schedule.
I’m working to change that, or I just don’t care. I don’t work Monday’s. I work for clients Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday for about 3 – 4 hours in the afternoon. Friday, I do some calls and spend the afternoon doing whatever I want. That’s work sometimes and other times it’s a walk by the river and a swim.
**4. InterLibrary Loans**
I had no idea there was [InterLibrary Loan](https://lithub.com/interlibrary-loan-will-change-your-life/) but I looked it up for my local library and yup there is. My local library already sort of has this since it shares books with all the libraries in the Fraser Valley. Lots of times I request a book and have to wait a few days for it to get sent from somewhere else.
Getting back into my local library this year has been one of the best decisions I’ve made. I’ve diversified my reading by browsing shelves, and had my kids out to lots of great events.
**5. What We Really Do All Day**
Just added [this book to my list](https://literaryreview.co.uk/where-does-it-all-go) and I’ll be heading to my favourite used bookstore in about an hour to see if they have it.