Bird Poop & Watch Straps

I’m gonna keep it real here - the abandoned essence of this blog post is dated mid April, and here I am sitting at the local cafe during my flopped a-day-late-and-it’s-alamost-October ‘summer’ staycation trying to sweep my laziness and procrastination under the faded carpet that I currently call my life. The seemingly infinite amalgam of responsibilities, ideas, and errands below it growing beyond the measurements of modern day physics with every passing day.

So, TL;DR: yes, this will be a short project post, though the actual of it would be shoved below several paragraphs explaining why I’m still being held hostage creatively all those months.

Still on the struggle bus with Easy St. nowhere in sight

Friend, you know how sometimes you’re just minding your own business doing whatever when it hits you out of nowhere - time is passing by, we’re all visitors here, and the sudden realization of not having achieved anything major over the passing year is just crippling.

I have a somewhat valid excuse here - in between getting a surgery rescheduled several times (oncology, my life long arch enemy), being super busy at work and trying to take it easy, the liveliness of my mind has been a scarce resource that’s not getting renewed as fast as it used to.

Guess everyone is entitled to their own existential crisis every now and then - a sign of the (Covid) times.

Too much work, man

Work has been going mostly good, though rather busy. That’s probably the norm for hyper fast startups. And I got used to it - keeps you on the edge, so it’s harder to slip into doing mundane tasks every day. Speaking of tasks, I’m not spending a lot of time testing right now. And I’m not really coding that much either. Rather, I’m shifting focus towards an overseeing/advisory role for all teams in my tribe going forward. A quality advocate if you will.

Live a little, love a not

The massive decrease in events, gigs, conferences, and workshops brought to us by Covid has made me somewhat desensitized to almost everything in sight right now. Things just kind of happen while I’m watching silently from the passenger seat while we’re trucking down 2021 highway, contemplating whether the next road would be less bumpy.

I managed to rush a rather long business trip last month which was quite refreshing given how well Prague has been dealing with the pandemic. Even though it was packed with meetings, workshops and get togethers with my remote team, the few galleries and exhibitions on the side did not bring any lasting joy, so things relapsed as soon as I boarded off my return flight.

But I’m actually cool with that whole deal right now, really. Shallowness can be a convenient excuse to not really care much about the present and regenerate your mental self in preparation for better times.

A sizzle reel of small joys and pleasant distractions:

Mopey stuff aside, here’s a short curated list of things I actually liked in 2021 - all highly recommended:

I enjoyed an album. Zoe delivered and I’m a couple of years late. Again.

And this audio drama. Quite gripping with an excellent cast.

And this memoir. It’s about grief and gluttony.

And this game. Very anime.

End of rant, now for the story

Earlier this year, I went out to grab a bite in between the maelstrom of meetings that is a regular day working for a startup. Now, mind you, this was a few weeks after getting my gallbladder removed, so I still had to be faithful to diet №5, more commonly known as bread and prayers. I opted for whatever pastry with something minimal on top to give it some flavor and the miracle happened just as I was entering the coworking. I don’t recall what exactly I’ve sinned to piss Mother Nature off that much, but she sent one of her trusted zealots - a morbidly obese pigeon at me. Before I knew it, a Big Bertha sized crap flew my way and the epicenter of that aerial strike was my hand, with my watch taking most of the damage.

Cue the pigeon shit shot.

Needless to say I had to throw the strap right away and figure out a usable replacement same day.

Here’s what I came up with after fiddling in Fusion for a bit and printing a couple of different prototype templates that same evening.

I opted for something very simple and more importantly - doable with the limited tools I had back in the day. Spoiler alert - I’m now fully decked out with the highest tier custom made Korean masterpieces right now, but more about them later.

In retrospect, basic style watch straps are really simple, even double faced leather designs. Been trying to make some more sophisticated ones and they require a lot more skill to actually look good.

That’s Il Ponte waxed veg tan leather with a rather thick 1mm Ritza thread. A bit too cowboy and chunky for my taste, but I really like how this one turned out, and I actually still wear it. Along with the dozen or so more I made later. Watch straps can be quite the rabbit hole.

Friend, sorry if this post read like a clickbait. Let’s meet again sometime in near future, and I’ll make it up with a better story.

Stay safe!