Weekly Recap: Thermostat Tweaks, Lawn Conclusion, and Looking Ahead to Q3
As we wrap up another week, it's time for a recap of what I've been working on and a look ahead to the weekend. This week was packed with adjustments, projects, and a few personal updates that I'm excited to share.
Thermostat Tweaks
Last week, I decided to make some changes to my thermostat settings to better manage my air conditioner usage and save on energy costs. Initially I was running the AC with a schedule of 75°F during the day and 73°F at night, but I developed throat issues from the cold. So I tried a warmer setting of 80°F during the day and 78°F at night which helped with my throat issues, but this schedule disrupted my sleep, especially with the Arizona monsoon season bringing in thunderstorms and humidity.
After some trial and error, on Tuesday I settled on 78°F during the day and 75°F at night. This seems to be a comfortable balance, and according to my Garmin watch, my sleep quality has improved, and my throat issues have disappeared. A coworker also suggested getting a dehumidifier, which I plan to invest in for added comfort.
Lawn Project Update
I still have to finish writing my lawn blogs which will detail everything that I tried and learned with this effort. But for now I think that I am ready to conclude this Lawn MVP Project. The initial goal was to lay down this patch of grass in Q2 and learn from the experience in preparation for Spring of 2025 when I will lay down a full lawn in my backyard. Nevertheless this project was a success in that I learned what to do and not do. Going into Spring of 2025 I feel confident that I'll see true success.
As for what happened this week with the MVP patch; The thunderstorms this week brought winds that damaged my garden hoops which were covering the grass. Furthermore the grass wasn't thriving under the garden hoop plastic cover either way, so I removed the hoops and decided to reseed the lawn heavily on Monday night as my last action to help with coverage.
Despite the setbacks, this project was a valuable learning experience. I plan to maintain the surviving patches and use the knowledge I've gained from this MVP patch to prepare for next spring's main backyard lawn project.
Guest Bedroom Setup
Over the previous weekend, I made my final home furniture investment for the year. I decided to set up a proper bed, with frame and mattress, in my guest bedroom for my parents who visit regularly.
I set up the bed frame on Monday after work and the mattress arrived on Tuesday. While it's a minimal setup, it serves its purpose well. I think of this as the 1.0 version of the guest bedroom. And over time I will upgrade the room as I meet my other financial goals and free up some budget to shop.
Work Updates
This week at work, we began our pre-planning meetings for Q3. Aside from the pre-planning meetings I worked on optimizing a CircleCI config for an internal tool. Despite some challenges with caching strategies and a PR that didn't get buy-in, I'm looking forward to a 1:1 meeting with our Principal Engineer on Monday to refine my approach. I also traced the affected UI for a 500 error issue and have some ideas to discuss with the team on Monday.
Personal Life and Hobbies
I started playing Elden Ring which was inspired by my coworkers who began playing the game to prepare for a new ELDEN RING Shadow of the Erdtree DLC release.
I started the game as a level 1 and I was very limited on who I could defeat, but now that I've leveled up to level 25 and equipped myself with a decent weapon I'm finding it quite enjoyable when I need a break from reality.
On Wednesday I gave my dog a bath and spoke with my mom who reminded me about a family friend's funeral which I missed. I personally didn't have a direct connection to this man, and I was initially willing to attend to pay my respects, but when the funeral day came I decided to stay home. I have a hard enough time keeping myself in a positive mental state, so attending depressing events is probably not the best thing for me to do.
Balancing my mental health has been a priority, and I want to build a positive momentum to carry me into the next phase of my life. I'd like to get myself out of my hermit crab state, get myself into better physical shape, and work on being more consistent with my routines. But again, I didn't have a personal connection with this man so I'm sure my absence can be forgiven.
Blog Progress
This week, I published a blog about CircleCI workspaces and shared it on social media. Surprisingly, LinkedIn provided the most traction, bringing in some high-profile interactions and a new subscriber. It's encouraging to see my blog grow, and I'm excited to keep posting.
Ivan Ontiveros
Weekend Plans
With the end of Q2 and the start of Q3, I'll be doing some deep house cleaning. I haven't deep cleaned the house since my initial move in on January, so at this moment theres a few furniture pieces that are showing evidence of needing a good dusting. So I'll probably tackle this on Saturday.
Also I purchased a new steam cleaner that I saw some young girl using on Instagram. She was using this machine to clean her shower and floor tile. And when I looked up the model I found it on sale! So I ordered one as well as a pressure washer to tackle tasks around the house, including cleaning pigeon poop off the driveway.
After deep cleaning my house on Saturday I'll probably visit my parents and enjoy some family time.
Lastly Alex Pereira is headlining UFC 303, so I'll probably tune in to watch that on Saturday night.
Looking Ahead to Q3
For Q3 I plan to cut back on spending and continue this effort through Q4. Saving on bad spending habits is always a good thing, but in this specific case I'm doing it to save up for a pickup truck, which will be crucial for future backyard projects in 2025.
During Q3 I will also make the effort to sell my old Jeep, my 2016 Harley, and will probably cash in a small 401k from a previous employer that I've been ignoring. There's also some concerts in Q3 that I want to attend, so securing tickets is on my list. And finally I will finally make the effort to get my ass in shape, so definitely setting health goals for the upcoming quarter sometime between this and next weekend.
The End
If you made it this far I thank you very much for reading this! I am exploring new ideas to try with my blog and I figured that a Weekly Recap post might be a good way to share insight into my life and allow my readers to get to know me or what I'm up to, especially since in person I can seem "boring" or intimidating with my stoic look.
But again I appreciate you and if you'd like to get notified about more Weekly Recaps then consider subscribing below!
Also if you're a member, comment below and let me know what you thought of this post. Was it TMI? Is it boring? What could improve this type of post and make it more valuable?
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