zerograv – Q3 2022 – Content // Q4 2022 – My Way

Double-blog post incoming!!  I didn’t post anything in Q3, so I’m writing up two entries here!  In fact it’s become a rare occasion for me to use social media, so please subscribe to my blog if you are interested in keeping current!  There is a ‘Subscribe’ button on the homepage where you’ll automatically be notified of any future posts.  :]

Q3 2022 – Content

There has been a multitude of excellent shows to watch on various streaming platforms, and some great games.  Here were some of my favorites:

Stranger Things season 4 (netflix) – Unique, spooky, and kind of like being a kid again (but with scary monsters).

Halo (paramount+) – Super well done, high-quality.  Very accurate depiction of the game.  I may re-watch this!

Sonic 2 (paramount+) – Sonic is awesome, Jim Carrey is awesome, enough said.

Star Trek: Discovery seasons 1-4 (paramount+) – I grew up watching ST: The Next Generation, however didn’t follow the subsequent series too much (Deep Space Nine, Voyager, etc), and my only real continuance was with the big Star Trek movies in theatres.  So I was stoked to get back into an actual series.  I greatly admired the Captain in this series (Burnham, human raised vulcan).  Very cool to follow the constant battle/balance of logic and emotion in this leader!

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (paramount+) – Cap’n Christopher Pike is also awesome in his own regard.

Star Trek: Picard (paramount+) – OK, so I watched a lot of Star Trek this year… 😉

Thor: Love and Thunder; Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (disney+) – Obligatory blockbusters, looking forward to seeing where the Disney/Marvel partnership goes next.

1883 (paramount+) – Probably my favorite series of the year.  Not a happy show, and it shouldn’t be.  The wild west as it was.  (Hard to fathom this was reality ~139 years ago).

I think there were several more noteworthy movies/series…hmmm on netflix… Don’t Look Up was great!  Also, the Resident Evil series was off the chain. But, as netflix seems to do quite frequently with good series, they cancelled it after one season.  OH – and of course, Cobra Kai Season 5 was excellent (and contradicts my prior statement about cancellations… meh).  And finally – Biohackers, quite thought-provoking, a conspiratorial look at the ethics behind gene editing, best watched in original German with subtitles.

Hades (xbox one) – As you can imagine, the game is about Hades (ruler of the underworld and all that).  But what you may not imagine are the vivid neon colors, deep character and lore details, substantial amount of unique dialogue, and near infinite/addictive replayability.  Easily my favorite game of 2022.

Halo Infinite (xbox one) – I am not a fan of the multiplayer (it’s a big change from Halo 5: Guardians), however the single-player campaign is excellent.  Lengthy, challenging, lots of cool stuff to see and environments to explore, and of course fun.  I am playing on Legendary difficulty and trying to obtain 100% collectibles, so that has slowed me down quite a bit… still working on this one!

Alright, onto the second entry.

Q4 2022 – My Way

I have been working tirelessly towards a career goal for the past year and a half, and I am glad to say that I have accomplished it.  yeah!  It goes back much further than that though, I feel it has been years in the making, and has not been the traditional slow and steady climb up the career ladder.  Rather I feel like I did things on my terms, albeit with a few choppy waves, a lateral move or two, and fast pivots thrown in!  More than the sense of achievement (which was startlingly fleeting, lol..), I am proud that I did it ‘my way’.

Early in my career, I would only put in the standard 8 hours, and set aside plenty of time for work/life balance (family, hobbies, etc).  I have kept this up throughout the years, always focused on balance.  Even when pushed to do more I always set my boundaries.  (Disclaimer, this only works for so long… There is no substitute for hard work!).

Working remotely is also something I approached in my own way.  10 years ago I was taking the train to Fenway every day… that’s easily 2.5 hours commuting daily… and I felt it was a literal waste of time.  So I was the squeaky wheel who helped initiate a work from home program, even though I’m sure at the time it was viewed as complaining .

Jumping from one employer to another was also typical for me.  It is not something that I planned, but rather I always felt there was ‘something’ missing at each employer – Whether it be related to the work itself, compensation, direct manager, or company culture.

In all three examples, I feel like I was early, but not wrong.  I may have been going against the grain at the time, however work/life balance, remote work, and finding the best fit as an employee are all now standard practice.

Heck, here I am back working in Fenway again 10 years later, located directly (and ironically) adjacent to one one of my former employers’ buildings… only commuting once or twice a week……and exactly where I want to be on the career ladder.  That is what I call doing it My Way… :]

Now that things have finally ‘clicked’ into place (culture, manager, opportunity), I feel settled.  No need to jump around… the New Year will be focused on self-growth and personal goals.  🙂

In closing, I leave you with the one and only Frank Sinatra’s lyrics… whatever you do… do it your way!

And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I’ll say it clear
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain
I’ve lived a life that’s full
I traveled each and every highway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way

Regrets, I’ve had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course
Each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way

Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all, and I stood tall
And did it my way

I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried
I’ve had my fill, my share of losing
And now, as tears subside
I find it all so amusing
To think I did all that
And may I say, not in a shy way
Oh, no, oh, no, not me
I did it my way

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels
And not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way

Yes, it was my way