2019-01-07 Productiveness

[2018-01-07 15:09]

Wow! I have been super-productive today. I guess
the time off from work did actually restore my energy. The trick now
is to keep this up. The real drag on my energy is how full our
schedule is. The kids have programs and my spouse and I have things on
in the evenings occasionally. Mornings are always a rush. I wish there
was a way to make things less hectic without taking away all the
extracurricular programs from the kids. At this point, they haven't
asked to stop anything. In fact, they seem to be interested in doing
even more!

I'm still thinking about writing more frequently in my blog. I have to
come up with a slightly bigger idea to expand upon. Recently, I
listened to a podcast called IRL
(https://irlpodcast.org/). Specifically, Season 4, Episode 2 ("Your
Password Is the Worst"
https://irlpodcast.org/season4/episode2/#show-notes). It got me
thinking about improving my security online in general. At the end of
the podcast, they noted a offer with 1Password to get the first 3
months of their service for free (https://1password.com/promo/IRL/). I
signed up for the family plan and basically I'm looking at $4.99 a
month (billed annually so $67.63 with the tax). Now, I just need to
get my spouse on it. In addition, my brother-in-law just signed up for
NordVPN (https://nordvpn.com/) and we're going to share the cost of
the subscription ($2.99 per month, billed for 3 years as a block).

The VPN has helped me out already. I had to book an internal flight
with a European carrier. The site wouldn't let me log in from Canada
but when I connected to a VPN in Europe I was able to buy my flights
and take advantage of a one-day sale they had. Basically, the VPN has
already paid for itself with the savings I got.

******

Hey! That was big block of writing and I now have an idea for a blog
post! :)