What was amazing about 2023

 

AI generated image

1) Movies:

• Puss in Boots 2.
• Justice League vs. Fatal Five.
• Godzilla minus one.

2) TV Shows:

• Barry.
• Pantheon: This is the first time I have experienced a science fiction story like this in television format. I normally read books to get stories of this kind. I hope more shows can do this. 

3) Games

• Soma - I think at age forty I have finally lost interest in gaming, but for some reason I decided to play this game, and while the gameplay was fine, I think gameplay is something I can't enjoy any more, but the horror experience and the thoughtful story left an impact on me.

4) Microsoft Phone Link: If you get a job that requires you to look up a lot of numbers and call them, then this is an amazing program, letting you copy and paste numbers on the PC onto the phone and call them.

5) The Supernote A5X: I paid a lot for this thing, but it is absolutely one of the favourite things I have ever bought. I journal every day now, and I have one place to put all my notes. This thing has upgraded my life, and I am grateful to its creators.

7) This is the year we got AI chatbots, and while it has massively improved my life with basically everything, I have to say that this is one technology that I would rather the world never found. I have no idea the level of disruption it will create in just one year.

8) Using AI for therapy - having something that is not a person, is infinitely patient, and will keep giving you intelligent replies to any angle you want to attack your mental problems from—has been an amazing gift. I have been able to shed much baggage off my back.

9) Teal Swan: Whatever mental issue you may be struggling with, be it depression, anger, anxiety, hurt, limerence, addiction, lack of self-discipline, or whatever else, just watching Teal's short videos and doing the exercises she recommends will give you massive relief.

10) Coles and Woolworths online shopping: I knew this was available but had never used it. Just paying $4.00 and having all my groceries delivered to my doorstep is amazing.

11) The Android Chromecast - this has been around forever, but I only started using it this year, and it is amazing. I was actually going to purchase a brand new TV because I liked the software so much, but with the Chromecast, I just had to spend $40. With its casting and remote, it's probably better than any TV I would have bought. The Chromecast also taught me that I should look for alternative means to get just the thing I want. I was actually thinking about purchasing a new car just because I like the functionality in the screens of new vehicles, but I don't have to buy a whole car; I can just purchase a screen with a camera that I can mount on my dash, and instead of paying $40,000, I will only have to pay $100.00.

12) The Carnivore Diet: I have tried many diets in my life and have not succeeded in finding something sustainable. I kept putting on weight, ballooning to 127kg a year ago. Thanks to Carnivore, I have managed to get down to 112kg now and falling. I also managed to heal a kidney issue that a kidney specialist told me would not heal unless I went on medications that would give me terrible side effects. The diet also helped me get off caffeine, soft drinks, and sugar. I still struggle with things like "natural flavours and artificial sweeteners, but in another year, I believe I will be over them too.

13) Carnivore personalities: I think I have heard everything I need to hear to continue this way of eating, but I keep listening to carnivore personalities. Creators like Lilly Kane, Anthony Chaffee, Kelly Hogan, Dante Ferrigno, and so many others are all I listen to these days, because why would I listen to news that will upset me? Personalities like Sean Baker and Anthony Chaffee are already wealthy and can make more money as doctors, but they keep so much of their own time to help strangers. I like that as a role model.

My 30 Day Minimalist Challenge

Life has been feeling rather cluttered and I have not been able to keep up doing the things that I want to because I find that my living area is too cluttered. I have been thinking forever that I need to buy a new set of draws to store my stuff but because all my stuff has been taking up so much of my mental space whenever I look at it, I have to get rid of a bunch of stuff before I can do anything.

I am going to be using the 30-day minimalism challenge created by these guys.

Day 1

1. Orange glasses - I bought these years ago to protect myself from blue light but I never use it.

Day 2

1. I couple of random cards that I will never use.

Day 3

1. Tie clip - not the slide on type, the clip-on type that I will not use, went into the trash.
2. Two packet sealing clips - They seem to have stayed in my room after I ate some snacks.

Day 4

1. 4 pens, I just put them in my work pants, will take them to work tomorrow.

Day 5

1. A filled-out exercise book I used for affirmations - trashed.
2. Small capsule spoon, completely useless; into the trash it went.
3. Electrical tape - went into a toolbox.
4. Battery powered magnetic LED light - stuck it outside, to make bacon and eggs at night.
5. Eye Drops - will probably expire by the time I need it next. into the trash it went.

 

Day 6

1. A hair trimmer brush - trashed.
2. A small pencil that I will never use - trashed.
3. A pipe, I have another, so I gave it to Mukli.
4. A collapsible straw in a metal case, too much work to use, better to go straw-less - trashed.
5. Nasal inhaler - will get a new one, when I need it again, trashed.
6. Rechargeables phone light - great product that I have no use for - trashed.

Day 7

1. Fake glasses - moved to my car for the cops, if I am driving one day without my glasses.
2. Tube of pain relief gel - gave it to Mukli.
3. Two tubes of rash cream - gave it to mom for safe keeping.
4. Crappy notebook - trashed.
5. Two crappy pens - trashed.

Day 8

1. Eight bottles of Pepsi Max - they have been sitting on my floor unfinished for many months now. They are now in the fridge, to be finished in the next few days.

Day 9

1. Five pictures that have been on my wall for years, they don't mean much to me anymore. I feel happy with the pictures I have on the wall now, maybe I will add more.
2. Two expired pocket diaries. I will use these as notebooks at work and have moved them to my draw at work.
3. Two thirty-day tracking sheets that I have removed from my wall. Must have been there for years.

Day 10

1. Box of sweetener. I don't like this brand and have had it for too long, will be trashing it.
2. Long expired Activated Charcoal. This will make me sick if I eat it, I have to throw it and get another bottle because this stuff if pretty good for upset stomachs.
3. Another packet clip - have put it where it belongs.
4. Half used crappy notebook - trashed.
5. Expired bottle of moisturizer - trashed.
6. Book "How To Be Your Own Best Friend" - my brother Ritu lent it to me to read and I have not read that little book in over a year. I have to prioritize reading it, he obviously gave it to me out of love.
7. Plastic bag of two collagen supplements - trashed.
8. Bottle/Tub of vitamin c supplement that has been sitting on my floor for a long time. I have placed it somewhere that will allow me to easily take it every day.
9. USB Wi-Fi aerial - I can't think of how I will use it, so I am trashing it.
10. Empty pill bottle - I have filled it with nutritional yeast and have place it where it will be easy for me to consume it every day.

Day 11

1. Grey vest.
2. Three grey work shirts.
3. One Striped sleeveless work shirt.
4. Four long sleeved white work shirts.
5. One blazer.
6. One black trousers.

• I am too fat for most of the above clothes; they are all going to the Salvation Army. I will just buy new clothes when I lose the weight.

Day 12

1. Two sticky-note pads - they will be useful at work.
2. Two highlighters - will take them to work.
3. Phone charging cable - will take this to work.
4. Used Bikram yoga card - trashed.
5. Two expired medical concession card - torn up and trashed separately.
6. Expired dangerous work licence - cut up and trashed separately.
7. Shirt stays - trashed.
8. Broken suspenders - trashed.
9. Easy tie - trashed, it was actually not that easy to use.

Day 13

1. Two microfibre rags - trashed, I will just buy it again if I need it.
2. "Happiness a thinking person's guide" book - trashed I will read the book on a kindle.
3. Two Boxes of Claratyne - trashed, I don't like how my nose feels when I use this.
4. Collar extender - trashed.
5. Two mostly used packs to Panamax - gave it to mom.
6. Post-it notes - I'll take this to work.
7. Extra leg for my keyboard - I have saved it for years and have not needed it - trashed.
8. Lighter - moved to my smoking box to be used.
9. Spare house key - attached to my spare car keys.
10. Your Erroneous Zones book - will read this on the kindle - trashed.

Day 14

1. Old hair trimmer box - trashed.
2. "The Art of Happiness" book - I think I have had this book for 10 years; trashed, I use a Kindle to read books now.
3. Towel - I don't know why this in my closet - got rid of it.
4. Ugly red tie - donated.
5. Bug spray - moved it to a different closet with easy access.
6. A piece from a monitor or TV, that I don't remember the use of.
7. Lapel microphone - I have had it for over five and have barely used it - trashed.
8. Four batteries - moved to the front so it can be used in remotes when needed.
9. Two skin creams - I will not use it, gave it to mom.

Day 15

1. Shoe insoles.
2. Three anti-chaffing underwear - They were so uncomfortable, I never needed them, but Mukly gave them to me.
3. Glasses case.
4. Old Jersy.
5. Two shirts.
6. Six pants.

• All these went to the salvation army.

Day 16

1. Bottle of engine oil - topped up my cars oil and chucked the bottle.
2. Plastic spoon, fork, knife and it's case - gave it to mom.
3. Zip lock bags - moved it to the family pantry.
4. USB charger for some old phone - trashed.
5. Samsung note stylus - trashed.
6. Pencil - trashed, I don't imagine I will ever be using a pencil again.
7. Old bank card - cut up and trashed.
8. Two batteries - moved to the family room draws.
9. HDMI right angle - trashed, I don't need to store it for years in case I need it one day.
10. A screw - trashed.
11. Two instruction books from TV that I have not used in many years - trashed.

Day 17

1. Three amazing Xbox 360 games - will donate to library or will sell it with the 360.
2. Two notebooks - moved to the shelf on my desk to use for affirmations.
3. Six gel shoe souls - will donate to the Salvation Army.
4. One microfibre cloth - will use to clean my car, then trash.
5. Bottle of Osteomol - gave to mom.
6. Crappy laptop stand - trashed.
7. RGB cable for Xbox 360 - trashed, no one uses RGB anymore.
8. Expired tube of skin cream - trashed.
9. Expired packet of walnuts - trashed.

Day 18

1. Pack of batteries - moved to family room draws.
2. Mason Jar - moved to kitchen.
3. Old Xbox 360 peripheral - trashed.
4. Old shaver - trashed.
5. Crappy note-book - trashed.
6. Mini HDMI to HDMI cable - trashed.
7. Pair of AAA batteries - moved to draws in the living room.
8. USB extender cable - trashed.
9. Mini USB cable - I can use this at work.
10. Lint roller - never use these now that I just use a lint brush, moved to family cabinet.
11. Anti-bacterial spray - moved to work for use.
12. Expired medication - trashed.
13. White USB 3 cable - connected this to the USB port on my monitor.
14. Writing pad - will take this for use at work.
15. Bag of unknown screws - trashed.
16. Screw and washer - trashed.
17. Another USB charging cable - connected this to a USB port on my monitor also.
18. A training manual from a previous job - trashed.

Day 19

1. 19 pins - mom wanted them, so I gave them to her.

Day 20

1. Box of tissues - moved to family area, I don't really use tissues.
2. Phone that does not work - will take it to the phone repair person tomorrow, if it is too expensive to fix, I will just recycle.
3. Old notebook - trashed.
4. Two computer chair wheels - I may need them one day, am keeping them for now, may trash later.
5. Two AUX cables - trashed.
6. Cigar shaped plastic bottle - cool but trashed.
7. Two pens- will take them to work tomorrow.
8. USB charging cable - will take it to work to charge my headphones.
9. Mini usb cable - I can use this at work.
10. Expired blister pack of Panadol - trashed.
11. Shaving Head - I will shave using this tomorrow.
12. Hungry Jacks Glass - Moved to the kitchen.
13. Two usb3 to usb converters - trashed.
14. Mini usb to usb converter - trashed.
15. Empty box - trashed.
16. Two old ram cards - trashed.

Day 21

1. 21 hangers - gave them to my dry cleaner.

Day 22

1. Old USB memory stick - I will use this for listening to audio books in the car.
2. Mini USB to USB adapter - trashed.
3. Game controller - moved to family room.
4. Gel pad for shoes - trashed.
5. Gen 1 Keto Mojo - trashed.
6. Two water bottles - trashed.
7. Two old phones - will recycle.
8. Folder full of documents from an old job - trashed.
9. Old diary - trashed.
10. Half a modafinil pill in foil- trashed, been sitting there too long.
11. Bottle of coke - in the fridge to be drank later.
12. Two old tax reports - trashed.
13. Digital timer - I need this and have placed it on the side of my table.
14. Crap notebook - trashed.
15. Two letters from my old super company - trashed.
16. Two mason jar caps - moved to the kitchen.
17. Small capsule spoon - moved to kitchen.

Day 23

1. Nine shirts - too small for me so I gave them to Ritu.
2. Shoehorn - donated to the salvos.
3. Hanger - donated to the salvos.
4. Tafe notes - trashed.
5. Blood test results - trashed.
6. Doctors order - trashed.
7. Employment contract from old job - moved to documents folder.
8. Two Market Webster business agreements - trashed one moved the other to documents folder.
9. Student dept tracker - trashed.
10. 5 sheets of printed squared for tracking daily compliance - trashed.

Day 24

1. Twenty-four sheets of Tafe notes - I kept these because I thought I might review this for a job, but I have only used it once and I think I have given up the career path, I went to Tafe to study.

Day 25

1. Used exercise book - trashed.
2. Six hangers - trashed.
3. Double adapter plug - moved to toolbox.
4. Two pairs of earplugs - I need this at work.
5. Mint roller refill - moved to work.
6. nonstandard lint roller stem - trashed, after I am done with the rollers I still have, I will be using a lint brush only.
7. Electrical tape - moved to toolbox.
8. Sim card holder - trashed.
9. Lint tool - trashed, I don't know how to use this.
10. Lancet device - trashed.
11. Old phone - will recycle.
12. Pen - moved to my pencil case.
13. Room key - will move this to my toolbox.
14. Box for my Nokia 3310 - trashed.
15. Two charging plugs - trashed.
16. Arch pads - gave to the salvos.
17. Mini HDMI to HDMI adapter - trashed.
18. Bag of screws - trashed.

Day 26

1. New glass bottle - will give it to a customer at work or Ritu.
2. Wireless Charger - will use or give it to customer at work.
3. Toyota roadshow bag - will give to customer at work who asked for it.
4. Toyota bag of Jenga blocks - will give to customer at work who asked for it.
5. Physical book - trashed.
6. CD slot magnetic phone holder - will install in my car.
7. Three games - will trade-in to order God of War Ragnarök.
8. Empty box - trashed.
9. Bottle of MCT oil capsules - will take this to work and use it when I am feeling low on energy.
10. Pen that needs a refill - saved in my pencil case and will replace the ink because it's a nice pen.
11. Crappy pen - will take this to work.
12. Post it notes - will take to work for use.
13. Small tub of Vaseline - will give to mom.
14. Alarm clock - will give to the salvos.
15. Ball - will go to the Salvos.
16. Broken Bluetooth headphones - trashed.
17. USB memory stick - will used this to listen to audiobooks in my car.
18. Chapstick - will take this to work for when I need it.
19. Two empty capsule bags - will trash.
20. Empty bottle of deodorant - trashed,
21. Foot massager - gave to mom.
22. Precision screwdrivers - I will move this to the toolbox
23. Empty box - trashed.

Day 27 - I deleted the following bookmarks from Chrome.

1. Three bookmarks to buy the Rocketbook.
2. Bookmark to buy Gout capsules.
3. Two links to buy Skinners shoes.
4. Link to buy the Enophone.
5. Link to additional monitor. Don't need this.
6. Link to a Lancing tool.
7. Link to pack of Cream of tartar. Already bought this.
8. Link to air purifier. - won't be buying this.
9. Three links to the Qin phone. I won't be buying this.
10. Link to circle.life - I already changed my phone plans to this company.
11. Link to keystone testing meter.
12. Folder of Flutter tools - will have to relearn flutter if I want to make another flutter app.
13. Folder of tools for web development - too many for it to be any use.
14. Link to Protonmail - Not practical, takes too long to login.
15. Folder of movies I want to watch - I don't need this I would rather waste my time on YouTube.
16. Job applying folder.
17. Successfully applied folder.
18. Link to Quillbot grammar checker - Deleted but I can use this at work.
19. Two podcast links - ride the lightening and smart passive income.
20. Link to Kenobi book - deleted and added to my Goodreads list.
21. Indiegogo link - it's was a broken link; I don't know what was there.
22. Link to online courses - learning course, online marketing, android apps. google apps. typing
23. Link to articles - Kirk Sorenson, sleep and memory, better writer, social media images.
24. Indiegogo project I was following - Alternative commenting.
25. Website I copied to create the Tnt auto site - winks.
26. Websites - The work, hidden login. safe driving, logo maker, picmonkey.
27. Apps - minimalist phone

Day 28 - I deleted the following bookmarks from Chrome.

1. Small scissors - put it back in my sewing kit.
2. Used discoloured business card holder - trashed.
3. 3D glasses - trashed.
4. Screwdriver - put it in our toolbox.
5. PlayStation controller - moved it into the living room.
6. Plastic full of pills - put it all in a bottle.
7. Some metal part - trashed. 
8. Some business card - took a pic of it then trashed it.
9. An old bill - trashed.
10. Message gun that did not work - trashed.

Day 29 - 29 pins that I got from my drycleaner - gave it to Ma.

Day 30 - 30 hangers from my drycleaner - gave back to the drycleaner.

What Was Amazing in 2022

1) Movies - RRR, Top Gun Mavrick

2) TV - Book of Bobba Fett, Arcane.

3) Keto Mojo - I love this device for how convenient it is for checking blood sugar and blood Ketone levels. With this device I figured out what foods and exercises were messing up my weight loss effort.

4) Vitawerx Protein White chocolate - This has been a dream of mine; one day someone will create comfort foods without carbs. This snack tastes very close to a Milky Way and a large 100g bar only has 9 grams of carbs.

5) lookmovie2 dot to - I don't have to download anything I want to watch. I can just use free streaming sites. It has new episodes and lots of old shows that I will not have watched if it was not presented this nicely, it's not a good thing because I can dump so much of time on that site.

6) Vests - not inner, outer. If you have a large belly like I do right now an outer vest does a lot to make you look better than what you would look like without it by flattening out the look of the middle area.

7) Suspenders - these are an amazing tool for holding up your pants.

8) Clip-on-ties - these are easy and quick to put on and always sit perfectly around your neck.

9) Adam.Digital - this guy's channel is amazing. With the online tools he has recommended I have been able to at least double my effectiveness at work.

10) Circle.Life - The lowest cost mobile plan I have ever had.

11) ChatGPT - 2022 is when the world got access this crazy piece of AI and this is a bigger change to our life then when smart phones came into our hands. Kids growing up now will not be writing any code from scratch or write assignments of cover letters, it will all be done by chat and kids will just be editing. 

12) Text to image generators - another piece unthinkable AI technology. Now anyone can just write a sentence describing an image they may want, and a computer will just generate it. No more need for photoshop or purchasing photographs.

13) LinkedIn - This has been around forever, but I have been using it this year to follow start-ups that I like and LinkedIn is so much better than Facebook. 

14) Air Fryer disposable liners - airfryers are amazing but I hate cleaning them, I don't have to with airfryers liners. These are not available in stores and have to be bought online that is why I had never heard of them until I started searching for how to keep airfryers clean.

What was amazing about 2021

1) Using a dumb phone - this is pretty awesome, I am able to do so much more now that I do not have that distraction and television shows are so much more immersive now that I am not constantly looking at my smart phone.

My Nokia 3310

2) Television - Foundation, Squid Games, The amazing race Australia, Invincible, almost all Marvel and Star Wars shows from Disney. There is so much content coming out now because there are so many competing streaming services that I am missing a lot of shows that I may be great like Ted Lasso, Peaky Blinders, Warrior, Rick & Morty and Attack On Titan.

4) Movies - "Kong vs Godzilla", "Dune" and "Spiderman No Way Home" were amazing.

5) The Kindle - This thing has been around for a decade and I never thought it was worth it but it is one of my best purchases. I remember watching Kim read on his Kindle while I worked and Definition, thinking he was so stupid to use an extra device when he could just read from his phone. I was so wrong, the kindle is amazing, its easy on your eyes, more user friendly then a paper book and you don't have the easy distraction you are able to get with a smart phone. I ploughed through 9 books the first month I picked up the the thing.

6) Deleting Facebook and Instagram - I breath a sigh of relief writing this because Zuckerburgs products felt like a burden. I can write a thousand page report on all the good this did me like:

• Fakebook was incredibly dangerous because of how much of my identity was easily accessible through that site.  
•  I got to shed old contacts that I was dragging around with me, by deleting my own account, I was not upsetting people I did not want to upset by removing them as my friends. 
•  I got to shed old contacts that I was dragging around with me, by deleting my own account, I was not upsetting people I did not want to upset by removing them as my friends. 
• Facebook had me stuck in an old identity that I could not budge because so much of my history was accessible through that site. 
• I was not doing free work for Zuckerborg anymore by providing free content for him to monetize. 
• I am not providing free data that he can use to manipulate society. 

7) Birds Eye Vege Rice - This is not actually rice its shredded cauliflower and broccoli and because it in not rice its carb content is really low. Microwave a little bit of it with some salt and baked chicken pieces and it's the best tasting food I have ever had, no really better then any chocolate or cake or even a sausage sizzle with bacon. I love this stuff so much I would not mind eating it once a day for the rest of my life.

8) Libgen - I don't mind buying books since I love what authors are giving me unless they have political views I am against, but then I just won't read the authors books. I do hate the idea of Amazon tracking my purchases and interests so I torrent my books. If I can't find the books I want through torrents; I use Libgen which I only discovered a few weeks ago, it will now be the first place I go to find the books I want.

9) Books - The Almanac of Naval Ravikant, How to lose with almost everything and still win big, Atomic Habits, Attached I loved these books and will read them again in the future.

10) High Protein Keto - First let me talk about keto, I have been gaining weight from 85kg to 122 kg for 10 year, This year I discovered keto and lost about five kilos doing 75 to 80% fat but it became hard to keep my calories down doing this type of keto because I was always hungry and eating all the time but then I switched to 65% fat with more protein and staying satiated with lower calories has been easy.

11) Dr Eric Berg - I have been listening to him for years but this year because I was on the low carb diet, I listened to him a lot for my fitness and he is an amazing recourses for improving your health.

12) Crispy Bacon and Eggs - I think I have discovered a form of pure joy. Every morning since I have been doing high protein Keto I make crispy bacon then make eggs in the bacon fat from the bacon cook and I have to say the physical feeling of satisfaction I get after finishing my meals in the morning and enjoying a bottle of Pepsi max is like I have taken some drug.

Ohhh... Bacon

13) Quest Salted Caramel Protein Powder - This year I have consumed more Kale and Spinach then the rest of my life combined, because if you blend Quest salted caramel protein with Kale and spinach with an avocado and butter it tastes like a vanilla ice-cream milk shake, even though there is practically no carbs in that drink.

14) Vanguard - I learned about Vanguard from this video suggested to me by YouTube. Since I read the Four Hour Work Week I have been trying figure out some way to make money without having to work, just create an app or a website that makes me money while I sleep and I have tried so many businesses outside my main job that was a waste of time but with Vanguard I can just invest any extra money I make in my main line of work and as soon as I have 25 times what I need to live off I will be able to retire.

15)  Mouse wheel click - Did you know that the scroll wheel on your mouse clicks? I didn't, but I discovered it does this year. If you click on a weblink with it, it will open that link on a new tab making your web surfing faster. With programs like Freetube it opens up functionality that is not available without the scroll click. 

16) Abcoe - through this site I am able to buy all sorts of things that are not available in normal stores like Beqa cheese squares that are normally only available at hospitals and single serve cups of butter that are normally only get in hotels, planes and restaurants. The were selling expired Pepsi Max Mango and since Pepsi Max is not perishable, I bought a years supply of it. ... Bad Dpak

Bad Idea

17) Making my own supplements - this year I learned that I should eat egg shells, after cooking and blending them into a powder, but eating the stuff directly was disgusting so I started filling empty capsules with the stuff and it started going down a lot easier. Then I filled barley grass into capsules and I now eat it more consistently.

18) Technology - There are a few things I loved this year:

• Xcloud - Microsoft just started rolling that out, basically that means that people won't even need powerful consoles and computers any longer, they will just be able to pay $15 to play the one game they want instead of paying 500 - 1000 for the game machine then $15 - $100 for the game.
• Samsung Galaxy watch 4 - I am not going to spend 500 for a smart watch. but I am impressed by the technology. You just have to wear it and it will track and tabulate your body fat percentage. I remember having to take a dozen tape measure of various parts of my body then entering that into a website to get a guesstimate of my body fat percentage and now kids just have to wear a watch.

  

  Body fat calculation I made in 2006

  
  
• Unreal engine 5 - With this engine far more realistic movies, TV. shows and games are now possible at a lower price and faster then it was ever possible before.
• Plenny Bars - When Soylent came out, I kept thinking, "Why can't they deliver this in bar form? If the idea is for food to be as convenient as possible, why go through the effort of making this mixing this powder and cleaning up after? Why can't we just have a bar? " Soylent did not deliver, but Jimmy Joy did with the Plenny Bar. Now I want a low carb version.
• Manaburger - I would like to be a vegetarian like most of my family because I don't like animals suffering, but I like the taste and nutrition I get from animal foods. Manaburger is the most compelling meat replacement product I have seen in years. I hope Mcdonalds gets them soon. 

Re-discovering My Love For Books

I have read 30 books this year, don't believe me? here, have a look at my goodreads stats. I am someone who use to read a lot but had stopped doing it about 10 years ago, largely because of the smart phone but this year I dropped the smart phone for a dumb phone, deleted all my social media profiles and bought myself a kindle and I have to say that going back to reading has been one of the best decisions I have made in my life. The years that I was not reading books, I have missed out on a lot of wealth and life enjoyment while the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Google have made thousands from my attention and work while making me miserable and stupid.

I started reading The Expanse novels to get back into reading. The thing that struck me the most while reading these books is how different the entertainment experience is when you read a book compared to listening to an audiobook or watching a T.V. show or movie. Books transport you into the world of the story. T.V. shows can't do this, with these mediums it always feels like you are sitting in your own world while the story is happening on the screen, not like you are a person living in the story watching things happen. If you are not someone who reads novels, I suggest reading a story yourself to see what this feels like.

I did not just read stories. I also read educational books. I think I heard Brian Tracy say that when you read a book, you are taking in 10 years of a person's life experience, why would you ever not want to accept such a beautiful gift. Here are some of the great lessons I picked up from the books I read:

1. From the Book "Who Is Pulling Your Strings And What To Do About It" by Harriet Baiker I learned the many tricks people use to manipulate you so when I found my dream job and found the senior sales person there using various tricks to get rid of me like saying "Deepak you are a nice person and this job is not for you", I recognized it and was able to take steps to ensure this blew up in her face.
2. From the book "How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big" by Scott Adams I learned that the way to maintain a good diet long term is to be on a journey to discover how to make healthy foods taste delicious. I had never thought of maintaining my eating this way. I was just eating dry chicken breast, broccoli, beans and drinking water during my 20s to stay fit; not this year, this year I have only eaten delicious food that I looked forward to. I even discovered how to make kale and spinach taste like ice cream(no really), so I have consumed more kale and spinach this year then I had done the rest of my life combined before 2021.
3. From the book "The PE Diet" by Ted Naimen I learned why both low-fat vegetarian diets and high fat-keto diets work, its about keeping the protein-to-energy ratio high. the more protein you have for the amount of energy you consume, the more satiated you will be and thus the less calories you will consume.
4. From the book "Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It" by Gary Taubes I learned that fat just does not stay in your fat cells, it gets released into you blood stream constantly and if it is not used, it get stored in different fat cells, knowing that was interesting because I had been adding fat to my diet because I was doing Keto, why would I need to add more energy to my diet when fat from my fat cells were circulating in my veins anyway, it gave me the license to try cutting fat consumption lower. I also learned about rat experiments were rats were starved and they still became fat because their hormones were saying conserve energy and when the rats were dissected at the end of the experiment the researchers found the fat starving rats had shriveled organs because they were breaking down their organs to ensure they could store as much energy as possible, amazing. 
5. From the book "Atomic Habits" by James Clear I learned that you can engrain a new habit for yourself by attaching it to a pre-existing habit: say you want to plan out your day everyday, you can attach it to your habit of brushing your teeth everyday, if you want to drink more water everyday, attach it to your habit of eating everyday, say you want to do kettlebell swings everyday, attach it to your habit of taking a shower everyday.
6. From "The Almanac of Naval Ravikant" by Eric Jorgenson I discovered the only form of meditation that I have been able to do daily and it is to just sit with your eyes closed quietly for an hour. I don't quite do it the way Naval recommends. I go for an hour long walks everyday, I will start here then maybe move onto the sitting.
7. After re-reading "The Power Of Less" by Leo Babauta I threw away half of my things and have been able to add more things that I enjoy in my life now. It felt crazy going to the library and giving away all those text book like Tim Ferris books I had in my closet, but I had kept them in my closet for years and would have kept for years more.
8. From "Attached" by Amir Levine I learned that I have had insecure attachment style with which I have caused a lot of pain to avoidant attachment styles when I have tried to have relationships with them. I even blew women I was yearning for inside when they wanted me because my insecure attachment system had been triggered by some thing they did, wish I read this book long ago, would have saved me people I loved a lot of heart ache.

I even read some normal books that I was not able to find a kindle version of. I don't like normal books anymore, the kindle is a much more user friendly... mmm that's not entirely true, a kindle is good for reading a book front to back but it is not good if you want to pick up a book and flick to an important idea that you want to re-read; because of this I have been contemplating getting a book shelf(which is a horrible thing for a minimalist); I want to re-read the happiness sections of "The Almanac of Naval Ravikant", I want to revisit some of the lessons from "How To Lose At Almost Everything And Still Win Big" and I want to be able to flick through "How To Write Great Copy For The Web" the next time I build a website or go for a marketing role.

I have actually re-read a couple of books because I wanted to pick up something new that I may have missed on my first read through. I do not retain all the knowledge from these great books, but that's OK, Naval says that even if you don't consciously remember everything you read, the knowledge you do take in becomes part of you subconscious memory and becomes your character.

It was a great year of reading, being transported to new worlds, understanding mine and others psyches and gaining new knowledge to achieve more in life. I have had to go back to the smart phone because I need to scan in everyplace I visit due to Covid19, but I hope I can drop the smart phone again when Covid has passed so that I can dedicate more my spare time to reading. 

Amazing things that happened in 2020.

Pat myself on the back for not skipping making this record for a couple of years in a row. 2020 was not great because of the Corona-virus, many people died, but no one close to me did, so it was more bad for other people. 

1) Touch Typing - this is nothing new but its new to me. I learned it this year and it is an amazing skill, It feels like magic typing out words without looking at the keyboard. I can type out a page worth of words in less then 10 minutes. I wish I had learned how to touch type when I was younger, this skill would have been very handy in University and TAFE both for finishing assignments and for impressing the people around me. I learned to touch type with keybr.com, "The Typing of the Dead" game and typing speed challenge websites. I am thinking I should learn to play the Piano next because how much harder can it be if I can touch type.

2) Connecting a wireless keyboard and mouse to android devices - I am currently typing this blog out with a wireless keyboard and mouse which I have connected to an android tablet using an adapter and this works amazingly well, The mouse and keyboard are as responsive as they would be on a windows PC.

3) Uber - Disclaimer here Uber is a scam, if you took into account the degradation of your vehicle, you are losing money when you do Uber and one is a hundred people who gets in your car will be dangerous so you are putting your life at risk by being an Uber driver. Having said that I was an Uber driver for a while this year and loved doing it, I traveled all over Sydney and loved having conversations with all sorts of people that got in the car with me and I learned a lot to just by talking to people. I would only drive at night and loved the empty streets and I think I became a far more confident driver with Uber. When driving I had a lot of waiting time so I caught up on a bunch of Anime. Minus the not making any money, Uber was a lot of fun.

4) Movies - there was nothing really good this year, I have not even cared to watch anything because actors keep hating on the current POTUS, who I like and movies are made just to get into the Chinese market and the CCP are quite scary, I am worried even writing this thinking they will eventually take over Australia and this blog will come back to haunt me. Raking my brain I can't think of any movie I watched this year that I enjoyed.

5) T.V. - T.V. really sucked this year too, most T.V. made today is made to remind anyone who voted for trump they are bad so its constant displays of Racism, sexism, diversity, America's civil rights movement, refugees trying to make it somewhere, calling white men bad and all this is not presented in any type of intelligent way its all just cheap virtue signalling by millionaires, one positive of Donald Trump losing will be that all this may stop. The only new T.V show this year that I liked was called "His Dark Materials". Speaking of T.V. I also have to mention the second season of Altered Carbon, on this season they changed lead actors and the person they chose to act as Tekeshi Kovach was Anthony Mickie and he Anthony did such a great job that I found that his performance in filling the shoes of another actor was the best thing that happened in season 2.

6) I liked a couple of games this year, they were: "Ori and the will of the wisps" and "Doom Eternal". We got new consoles this year, I don't really care to purchase either of them. The PS5 looks large and ugly. The Xbox series s and x actually look good and their fast loading and game swapping is something I like but that is not enough for me to purchase a new console. I will just stick to my Xbox one x and PlayStation 4 for slightly less graphics and slower loading that I will not notice.

7) The Fediverse - a few tech giants have way too much power to control to interfere with society and there have been several companies showing up to take some of that power away like Gab, Bitchute and Rumble but the problem there is they are central points that can be attacked. With the Fediverse millions of people can have alternative to YouTube, Twitter, Facebook Instagram and a bunch of other things sites. If the Fediverse takes off it will take out the central power of these tech companies. As I write this I feel like this whole blog will be deleted by G!@#%^ and I will not even be allowed to back it up, I think they can be that vindictive and I did not think that of tech giants in years past.

8) Turning websites into apps - you can use the add to home feature while surfing a site on your phones web-browser to save that website as an app icon on your phone, then whenever you hit it, it will open like an app, its awesome more people should know about it.

9) Pepsi max mango - it tastes good, not good for you but its tastes good.

10) Raina bought a flat in Penrith and its beautiful, I miss her when she is not at home.

11) Alvin got married I like his wife, they look really happy together, I hope they have an amazing happy life.

12) Elon Musk just does amazing things every year, this year he:

• Flew his giant starship rocket and it came back down slowly on its side, I can't wait to for it to start delivering things to orbit. 
• Starlink started taking customers.
• Elon is getting close to becoming the richest man is the world.
• Finished building a Tesla factory in China.
• Started building the Tesla's largest factory in Texas.
• Started building a Tesla factory in Germany.
• Finished the first boring tunnel in Vegas.
• And probably a few other things I can't remember right now.

13) Sandy Munro - He talks about new cars, especially Telsa's and he is fun to listen to.