Three wins

1. Read the eleven peer reviews I had received at work, and was stunned, inspired, and humbled by the kindness and positivity. Part of me thinks that’s just because people felt sorry for me and my Christmas Eve surgery. A more positive part sees I’m doing things right.
2. Despite what I was told, my PICC line, which delivered antibiotics intravenously, was able to come out on Wednesday. This meant I no longer have to carry the dispenser pack, that I can pick up the dog again, and that I can take normal showers!
3. Had my first physical therapy session, where the therapists straightened me out right quick about my posture. The younger one, a senior student, massaged my calf in a way that gave me so much more flexibility it left me speechless.

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In a fortnight, I’ll be celebrating one year of employment at Gerimedica, the healthcare technology provider I was keen to join last spring. Coincidentally, I’m working on one of my professional development goals right now: turn coworker feedback into concrete goals for the second quarter. It seems a fitting moment to reflect on the past year as a whole. As expected, healthtech is the bomb diggity I’ve never made a secret of this: Gerimedica had me at hello. (Continue)

Isn’t it one of God’s cruelest jokes, Manuele, our ability to feel imposter syndrome? When I read your post — late, obviously, because RSS feeds and I will never quite be best friends — I was struck by your openness on the matter. You feel like you don’t know shit. Samesies! I suppose most of us suffer from imposter syndrome every now and then, even the famous ones to whom we compare ourselves: (Continue)

Playing the piano is helping me put some puzzle pieces in the right place. I’ve always had the ability to reproduce the pitch of a song, but it wasn’t until I began playing the piano that I now seem able to identify the key by name. It may seem silly or small, but that’s a game-changer for me. It makes me feel that I can put everything together now; as though I’ve come full circle.

I was today years old when I learned that American Express and AMEX are the same thing.

In a few days, I’ll hit my one-month mark on the piano. When I bought it and began playing, I made sure to keep an open mind about how I learn best; not following any particular method, but tailoring practices to my interests, speed, challenges, and desires. One learning strategy that always works best for me is a top-down approach. With the piano, there’s great benefit in playing music from sheets (of which I’m capable), but I could tell something had been missing. (Continue)

Happy Hanukkah and/or Christmas to those who celebrate! Even though our house is (reluctantly) multi-religious, we forgot just about every tradition we were ever taught for this time of the year. On Hanukkah Eve, Anja said “where are the tea lights?”, but we had no luck finding them to produce a makeshift chanukiah. Probably for the best. I don’t mind that we didn’t put up a Christmas tree, but I did find myself missing our outrageous ornaments. (Continue)