New Perspectives

Photo/Video of the Week

This used to be a very fun, very solid round bank building. Then it was our Sheriff’s Office for awhile, and it’s been empty for a few years now. They’re tearing it down to put in more employee parking. My parking spot is on the far side of the bus transfer center directly behind the construction site (by that tan building in the background).

The Long Way Around

My day job is in IT, and while what I do specifically is mainly organizing data and making sure it’s available to the people who need it in a format they can use, the requests and environment are often very chaotic. It’s difficult to set and keep any kind of schedule, which drives me nuts on a daily basis.

Chaotic environments make my head chaotic too, and it takes a bit after I leave the office for my brain to settle down enough to be productive and/or creative on a personal level. My parking spot is two blocks away from the building I work in, and the most direct route is right out the north doors, east up the sidewalk past the parking lot behind our building, across the street and up one more block – half of which I normally cut across the bus transfer station to shave off a few seconds.

But with the recent construction on that second block over, the sidewalk I’d normally take is closed, and crossing the street to the other side is sometimes a very frustrating experience, as the traffic is steady during the day, and the crosswalk is invisible (or may as well be). So while I still go that direction after work when traffic is pretty well gone, earlier in the day, I go a block south around the Federal courthouse that sits kitty-corner to our building across the alley.

The route I normally take is busy and bustling with people, cars and noise. But the sidewalk in front of the federal building is a completely different environment. Pedestrians are few and far between, the sidewalk is wide and empty, the building blocks a good deal of the noise from the other side, and I’ve found it to be far more calm and relaxing than the more direct route just on the other side of the block.

Isn’t it odd how different two sides of the same block can be? I may keep using the alternate, quieter route even when the construction is done (at least until it’s so cold I don’t want to go “the long way” around). Considering they’re just going to make another parking lot in the spot where they knocked the building down, traffic, noise and bustle will only get worse over there after everything is done.

Now I just need to figure out how to trigger the writing part of my brain to turn on as soon as I round the corner in front of the federal building on the way to my car.

Writing News

I got some editing done last week, but no writing to speak of. It was a crazy week at work, and I was often running late both leaving and coming back for lunch, which means I didn’t feel like I had the time to set up for dictation (to say nothing of bringing my brain into writing focus that quickly).

I need to figure out a good way to get my head switched faster from work to writing & vice versa. Set myself a mental trigger of sorts. If I could switch faster, it would be easier to jump into writing as soon as I get to my car. Interestingly, while I wouldn’t want to be looking at my phone and trying to navigate the busy side of the block, walking on the calmer side of the block I could get my phone out, open up Dragon, and skim through my last dictation session while walking to my car.

I do believe I’ll try that today, actually.

Recommendation(s)

We’re currently watching the second season of Joe Pickett on Paramount Plus, which is a series based on the novels by C. J. Box. I haven’t read any of the novels, but the series is definitely intriguing, and the main character somewhat of an enigma. If you’re looking for something to watch, I’d definitely give this a try. I may pick up one or two of the novels just to see how “Joe” in the books is similar or different to “Joe” on the screen.

I just started playing a couple of games (Android, because I’m usually far too lazy to play on a console or my computer). Merge Dragons is engaging and fun, and the lower spending levels aren’t out of line for gems and such. I’ve spent a grand total of $4 so far – I always like to buy a few inexpensive things here and there from free games I enjoy, to “pay” the developers a bit.

And Elvenar is a city building strategy game that I’m quite enjoying as well. It also has some lower level spending tiers, though I haven’t purchased any of them yet due to all the resources you get just for starting.

More on why I play games and what I get out of them in a later post, but if you’re looking for a couple to try, I’d recommend both of these. They can both be played on PC as well.

That’s it for this week! If you have a favorite thing to share, or want to recommend a book, TV show, video or podcast, comment below, email me at jamie@jamiedebree.com, or catch up with me on Facebook or Instagram.

Jamie DeBree

Writer | DBA | Dog Wrangler

Photo/Video of the Week