Old habits too...

Today Sergio and I were supposed to work on our video game, but since we started playing Diablo 3 again, we are kind of obsessed with it, so I pulled an old trick that we used back when we were in school to play without remorse.

Back in the day when we had to do team work, before getting together one of us would try to do most of the work so when we got together, we would have time to play video games (usually smash). Most of the times we didn't have any problem, or at least I don't remember having trouble because of that.

So, today before going to Sergio's house I tried to finish at least two things that I had assigned, and I did, so when I got there, I had no remorse for playing all day video games since I already had done some work.

Btw, it isn't always like this, it's just that we have made so much progress in the last days within the game that we needed to show ourselves how much we can do playing together.

Science experiment... in the kitchen

For the last two weeks I have been working on making a sourdough, today was the first time I used it for making bread, it has been a pretty interesting experience, first I tried to make a starter with all purpose flower and it didn't work, after a few days it smelled awful and it didn't start to show any activity of yeast.

After that I decided to start all over again, but this time I decided to try two ways. One of them would start with only whole wheat flour and water, and in the other one I put a little bakers yeast with the flour and water. In just 1 day I could see some activity in the one that I added the yeast, and the other had a little activity too, but it was to small.

After a three days the one with the yeast started to develop pretty well, it already had some alcohol smell. The one that had only flour and water started to show some more activity and it was already starting to rise.

At the fifth day the one with the yeast was already starting to double its size in just a few hours, so that one was ready to bake, and the other one was catching up, so far there isn't much difference between the two of them, just that the one that I didn't use yeast has a stronger smell, but that might be because of the container.

So, today I used the sourdough that had yeast to make some bread, and it taste so good, even though I, as always, forgot to put salt in it, I seriously have a problem with salt.

I leave here some pictures of the development of my sourdough, it has been a really great experience and I'll try to make some bread with each sourdough to see if there is any difference. So far I can tell that it really makes a tastier bread than using bakers yeast, and it had a better crust and was fluffier, but it might be other factors there too.

Energy Boost...

This past months I have been feeling a little tired, sometimes physically, others mentally. Several months ago I didn't have a problem working when I was tired since I would just drink something to give me that energy boost and then recuperate with some sleep, but back when I started working out seriously I stopped drinking coke, and I have never been fond of energy drinks, and I try to use the minimum sugar I can in coffee and teas, so I no longer have that either.

I remember a "smoothie" that I used to drink when I started college, it was cucumber, bell pepper, celery or something like that, it was weird, didn't taste awful, but it wasn't good either, but damn, it worked, but I don't know if it was real or just a placebo.

The only thing that I have found is to stand up and walk a little or getting distracted for a few minutes, but still it doesn't beat sugared beverages or caffeine. So yeah, I have been in need of an energy boost that isn't sugar/caffeine based.

Bad trip on a manatee idea balls pool...

While I was preparing breakfast this morning I was hearing the tv. Usually I don't care what they talk about, I don't really like watching tv, specially talk shows or other crap like that, I just need the noise.

So, there was this segment about pregnancy and the guest started talking about auras and shit like that, it was boring, but it really caught my attention when the guest said, and I quote "Babies are affected by the aura of both parents from 5 years before conception", or something like that, I was just like WTF!!!!?!?!??!?

I don't care that people believe that, but letting someone on national television say that is a complete different thing. The worst part was that the host of the program was so interested in the bullshit the guest was saying that she might now be a believer, along with many other watching the show.

I really wonder how people come up to this things, do they use drugs and write this shit down while they are on a bad trip? Do they have a manatee idea balls like in south park? Or what, because I can't thing of a way for people to come with that kind of shit and believe that it is true...

Ok, enough for one day... no more tv for me for a couple of months.

Grade...

Yesterday I finally got the results from the first course I finished at Coursera, I was surprised that I received a document certifying that I finished it, and although it isn't that big of a deal, it will go well in my resume.

Lets see how many of those I can get for this year :P

Mental Breakdown

So, the lasts days have been rough, Saturday and Sunday I had to study for two exams I had and one of them took me like 4 hours of work to finish it, I literally finished it today at 2 am, but it was worth it. This time was for a class of finance I am taking, some parts of it are easy, but other require some knowledge of accounting and that's why it took me so long to finish them. I like to know what the hell I am doing and not just use the right formula and get the numbers I need, what does that numbers represent and how can I use them.

So yeah, that is why I didn't write the past days, that and because I have been very busy with other things here at home, but I'll write about it later, so now I feel like I am going to get some rest before my head explodes.

So here are a few examples of what I had to do in the first exam, they are the easy ones, I have some spreadsheets for other problems that took me much more time.

Whiteboard vs agenda...

For the last month or so I have been writing every morning the things I want to get done that day in a whiteboard. Since I tend to get distracted very easily if I don't have a clear objective of what I have/want to do, I had to force me to do this to get more organized and get things done.

I have found that it works for me better than an agenda since it is done on a daily basis, and no matter how much I try, I end forgetting the agenda or not following it as I should, although, I do try to use it to schedule important events.