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Weeknotes: 2022, week 20

· 3 min read

[16–22 May]

On Monday (a public holiday) we drove back from Sagunto to our home in Madrid. We stopped twice to recharge the car because we didn't want to risk finding our one planned charging station busy or out of order; although energy consumption was higher this time, we could very well have made it with just one stop (as in the outbound trip). Because of that extra stop, and also some intense traffic near Madrid, the journey was a bit tiring for us all.

On Tuesday around 7:50 AM I left riding my bike for a picturesque town near Madrid for a three-day event organised by my company. There I met more than 250 of my colleagues, mostly engineers, for a packed agenda of presentations, workshops, and off-topic activities. It was all very well organised, we accomplished so much, and the meals, excursions and other activities were great fun. For me it was especially valuable to meet physically for the first time a few brilliant workmates with whom I've been working for two years or more, but had never seen IRL.

On Thursday morning I rode the bike back home, continued working from there, and in the evening took the kids out to the park.

On Friday noon I took Breaker of Horses out from school and to our GP, where he got administered some vaccines. He had a couple minor bouts of fever during the weekend because of the two shots, but nothing else. In the hot evening we met C., her parents and another family at their estate. The three girls played with the water while we chatted, someone brought beer and snacks, and finally we improvised dinner out sitting at the terrace of a Chinese place around the corner.

We spent Saturday at my parents', visiting the local library (Breaker of Horses has his own little membership card now, too!), chatting and going for walks. On Sunday morning we went to Juan Carlos I park with Miss Entropy's little pedal-less bicycle and the frisbee — and in the evening my wife went to see an old friend, while I stayed with the kids, gave them their afternoon snacks and started bathing them.

MPD (“Mild Physical Discomfort”) of the week: allergy. Allergy! I had never had allergy to anything in my life. But last Spring (or perhaps the year before) I experienced those annoying symptoms for the first time. In all two or three occasions it has gone away without any medical intervention, and it hasn't prevented me from working or anything. But for half of the week I felt under the weather, and on Friday I didn't enjoy the warm night with our friends and the little ones as much as I could have, with my eyes itching and my nose running. Luckily it didn't last much more after that weekend.

Toot of the week: