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Sabbatical Lesson #1: Boundaries
Today was my first day back at work after three months of paid leave. I'd meant to write about the overall experience of my sabbatical and the things I gained from it before I returned, but I'm glad I didn't because one of the lessons only crystallised this morning.
My typical work schedule automattic, sabbatical, work, slackSabbatical Magic
A couple of weeks ago, I kicked off my first sabbatical since starting at Automattic a little over five years ago.
The first fortnight of my sabbatical has consisted of:
Three Rings CIC's AGM weekend and lots of planning for the future of the organisation and how we make it a betterMeetup Magic
I've spent the last week in Tulum, on Mexico's beautiful Yucatan Peninsula, for an Automattic meetup. And as usual for these kinds of work gatherings, it was magical (and, after many recent departures, a welcome opportunity to feel a closer connection to those of us that remain).
Only after automattic, cocktails, work, travel, memorable, magic, party, swimmingHurricane Milton
From safely outside of its predicted path, just around the Yucatan coast, Hurricane Milton seems like a forboding and distant monster. A growing threat whose path will thankfully take it away, not towards, me.
My heart goes out to the people on the other side of the Gulf of Mexico who findDigital Dustbusting
tl;dr: I'm tidying up and consolidating my personal hosting; I've made a little progress, but I've got a way to go - fortunately I've got a sabbatical coming up at work!
At the weekend, I kicked-off what will doubtless be a multi-week process of gradually tidying and consolidating some of the abnib, automattic, sabbatical, rockmonkey, hosting, web, deed poll, blogging, github, dungeons and dragons, hangman, geohashing, freshrss, internet, murder mysteryWP Engine's Three Problems
If you're active in the WordPress space you're probably aware that there's a lot of drama going on right now between (a) WordPress hosting company WP Engine, (b) WordPress hosting company (among quite a few other things) Automattic, and (c) the WordPress Foundation.
If you're not aware then, automattic, web, philosophy, ethics, wordpress, laws, dancast, open sourceThe Sprint Plan And The Noise
Power's out yet again at my house (though not for the last reason nor because of our weird wiring: this time it's for tree trimming), so here I am in my favourite coworking-friendly local cafe with The Signal And The Noise (which I've talked about before) in my ears and a whole lot of sprint automattic, music, telecommuting, work, pagan wanderer lu, teleworkingWindow Tax
...in England and Wales
From 1696 until 1851 a "window tax" was imposed in England and Wales. Sort-of a precursor to property taxes like council tax today, it used an estimate of the value of a property as an indicator of the wealth of its occupants: counting the number of windows provided the tax, automattic, capitalism, history, politics, canal, work, boats, travel, windows, laws, published on gemini, netherlandsIcebreakers - Heraldry and Compairs
I'm in Amsterdam for a meetup for my new team at Automattic.
When we've not been out tackling escape rooms, finding geocaches, and eating curry, we've been doing a variety of activities to help solidify our new team's goals, priorities, and expertise: y'know, the normal things you might automattic, networking, games, work, travel, escape rooms, game, netherlands