From: Duarte O.Carmo
To: Kev Quirk
Subject: PenPals - July 2024
Date: 01 July 2024

Hey Kev,

Can’t lie, was a bit anxious for this date to arrive. From one side, I was excited! I’ve been an avid reader for the past 3 years. I think we have a lot of things in common! From the other side, I also felt a bit anxious. “What will we talk about?”, “Don’t you have enough on your plate Duarte?”. Impostor syndrome comes in mysterious ways - we should, always, kick it in the butt.

I’m originally from Portugal, but been based here up north in Copenhagen for the past 7 years. Summer has been flaky, to say the least - and with so many clouds in the sky, it’s the perfect writing scenario.

Not sure what we should talk about. But I do think we have a lot of common interests. So I’ll just shoot some topics that I think could be interesting for us to dive into! (If you have others, feel free to ignore these and let’s get into it!

How’s the Fatboy project coming along? I’m an avid runner. Not much into the lifting weights side of things, more into marathons. Me and Vittoria have just signed up for Nice in November.
How do you maintain your blogging routine? Do you have a number of blog posts per month/week? Do you just write when you feel like it? I’ve noticed you have gone more on the opinion stuff more! I try to keep mine balanced. Do you also write when on the go?
Do you work fully remote? If you do, me too! How do stay active/moving? I know, such a classic question - but we might have different strategies!

I also do fairly enjoy adding features to my blog! The newest couple of additions is a rebuilding of my photos system, and the ability to listen to my blog with my own voice! I should note that this last one has an upgrade planed - it sounds a bit robotic still ahah.

Talk very soon,

Duarte

From: Kev Quirk
To: Duarte O.Carmo
Subject: RE: PenPals - July 2024
Date: 03 July 2024

Hey Duarte,

Thanks for taking part in this little experiment of mine! No need to be anxious, it’s just a bit of fun and I’m sure there will be plenty to talk about - I haven’t struggled with anyone for topics to talk about yet. :)

So fatboy project is going really poorly. I got myself down to 102kg but have since fallen off the wagon, got back on, fallen off again etc. I’m currently at around 105kg and I’m really concerned I won’t make complete it. I’m in this slump at the moment that I’m really trying to pull myself out of, but I’m struggling. Like, really struggling. Hopefully I’ll pull myself out of it in time. I’d love to get back into running - I always really enjoyed it, but I’m too big and my bad knees won’t be able to handle it until I lose more weight. I need to get a grip of myself...

I really don’t give blogging too much thought. I maintain a list of things I’d like to write about at some point, and when I get half an hour, I type something up. I then come back to it at some point in the future (could be a day, or 3 months) re-read it, and if I still like it, I’ll publish it. This means I have no schedule, but I do tend to publish around once a week on average.

I have been writing a lot more opinion stuff recently. I don’t know why, it’s just where my head is at currently. I have a tonne of technical posts in my drafts list, but I just don’t have the motivation to write them at the moment. I’m sure I will at some point though.

I very rarely write on the go. It’s always either at my desk at home, or in the office when I’m on a break. I do write my notes from my phone though, but they’re different.

That’s a good segue…

I split my time between home and office. Generally speaking I’ll do 3 days in the office and 2 at home. It works for me, as it gives me both the time alone to focus on stuff (especially if it’s something sensitive that I can’t easily do in the open office) and the time around the people in I work with. I love the environment in our office, so would really miss it if I was to be fully remote.

I get that everyone is different, but I personally couldn’t work fully remote. I prefer to feel like I’m a part of something, and I think I’d struggle with that if I were at home all the time. When I’m at home, I always take the dogs for a nice long walk; my standard route is around 8km in the Welsh hills. It’s a beautiful walk and sets me up nicely for what is usually a busy afternoon. I actually just got back from today’s walk with the dogs. :)

I also have a rising desk at home, so can (and do) work standing up regularly.

I know WFH is very divisive, what are your thoughts on it?

I think the reading of your posts is a great idea. Jan-Lukas does that on his blog (https://jlelse.blog/) too, he doesn’t use his own voice though, I don’t think. I think that’s a really cool tidbit. The photos page is fantastic, and I love that you post to it via a telegram bot, What a great idea! Unfortunately, I’m not a good enough developer to come up with something like that. I’ve thought about doing a photos page too, but I don’t take that many photos, and I’m certainly not as talented as you, so it would be a waste of bandwidth, I think. How did you get into photography? I’ve always wanted to get into photography, but every time I’ve tried, I’ve ben overwhelmed by the sheer number of differing opinions on what’s a newbie should be doing. Any tips for a layman like me?

See, lots of stuff for us to talk about!

Looking forward to hearing you soon,

Kev

From: Duarte O.Carmo
To: Kev Quirk
Subject: RE: PenPals - July 2024
Date: 04 July 2024

Hey Kev,

Very happy to take part in the experiment. Having fun as well.

Sorry to hear about Fatboy project. It can really hard to get back into a running/gym/workout routine. For running, once I buy that marathon ticket, there’s no going back. In a way, it’s a bit like your blogging, I don’t think much about it! I just get up and go. Must be the same with gym. Less thinking, more going! Something that also helps me is thinking of how much better I will feel once I’ve done it. That really helps.

I’ve started trying to write more and more on the go. We do quite a bit of traveling, so I want to be able to blog on the weirdest places possible. You’re definitely more consistent than me there! I think we also share that. Most of the times, I also need to be in a quiet place with no distractions to write. (Even though this one is written from Galiano - over a Messina).

I completely understand what you say about working remotely. Being with someone in the real world makes things - much more, well, real. Whenever I'm in the same place physically as the people I work with - something clicks in a special way. So I usually don’t argue a lot when people tell me they prefer a mix of home and office. I can’t say that I see it completely eye to eye though.

Last time I’ve worked from on an office (regularly) must have been around 5 years ago (wow!). I now realize that’s quite a bit of time. I like working from home and having my routine of morning runs around CPH’s beaches or nature. (Note that they’re nothing like the Portuguese or Italian ones!). Every once in a while we break the routine and work from somewhere else while traveling. I guess the freedom of it is what I like the most about not being tied to an office. But I see you have that freedom too!

Yeah, when you work from home a nice setup and habits are a must. I tried a standing desk as well actually! Which one did you buy? I bought a good one but my OCD could not handle the micro vibrations when typing on my keyboard. Maybe I got a bad one? I needed something that fits these Danish apartments!

Yeah the post reading is fun. The program I designed creates a podcast for them too! But like I said, due to an upgrade ! Nobody is going to listen to a robotic voice like that. (I certainly won’t). I’m sure you could come up with something similar ahaha. Once I’m done working on my current side project I’ll get to it.

I’m glad you liked my photos page! Good question. I don’t really remember when I got into photography. But I have an on/off relationship with it. Sometimes I am really inspired, forget anything else, and start sucking in everything around me. That’s usually when I take photos.

Not sure I have any tips for you. The ones I do have might be a bit more on the “spiritual" side. Every photo on my /photos page is taken on an iPhone. I once purchased a camera, but never really used it. The best camera is the one you have with you (I heard it from Casey once). Whenever I see something that my like eyes like, when I’m in that inspired place, I capture it. For years, I used VSCO to edit my photos, nowadays Darkroom works great! So I guess that’s my advice, use whatever camera you have, take a photo of things you think pretty, and publish them.

Any plans ahead for the summer? I know weather must be getting better (even in the UK!)

Talk very soon,

Duarte

From: Kev Quirk
To: Duarte O.Carmo
Subject: RE: PenPals - July 2024
Date: 07 July 2024

Hey Duarte,

Keeping the training routine is so difficult because keeping any routine is difficult when you have a busy life. There always seems to be something that crops up that scuppers my plans. It could be a football tournament with one of my kids, or a days out with the scouts, or an incident at work, or a sick animal, or a thousand other things. There’s always something.

I’m thinking about trying my hand at going for a short run again (maybe around 2km) to see how my knee holds up. I have a bad knee from when I was in the Army, and running usually messes with it. I went to see someone about it and they told me that running would likely help as it will strengthen all those little muscles and tendons around my knee cap, I just need to be careful of the pain and make sure I don’t overdo it. We’ll see. For now, I’m walking the dogs regularly and that might have to be enough.

Your desk looks beautifully tidy - mine is a complete mess. There’s always bit of crap scattered across it. It’s not horrendous, but it’s bad enough. :)

I have a Fully desk. They’re not cheap, but they are good. There’s no vibrations on this when I have it in the standing position. It’s really solid. I’ve been thinking about switching from a dual monitor setup to a single wide screen, like you have. That’s my setup in work, and it works rather well. Although I do prefer that I can snap both screen into halves, giving me 4 spaces. That isn’t as easy to do on wide screens.

Phone cameras today are just amazing. I see so many people taking amazing photos on their iPhones. I really should pull mine out more and snap photos. Thanks for the tips.

No plans for the summer really. I’m going away with work for a few days tomorrow, then we’re just going to relax and spend some time together as a family. We’re very lucky to live where we do - people come to our village to go on holiday, and we’re lucky enough to live here, so when the sun is shining, it’s a beautiful place to be.

I have been thinking about a short trip to Europe for my wife and I later in the summer. I’ve always wanted to visit the alps, so I’m thinking my Switzerland or Austria, but we will see. As usual, it all depends on the kids.

What about you? Any plans?

Best,

Kev

From: Duarte O.Carmo
To: Kev Quirk
Subject: RE: PenPals - July 2024
Date: 12 July 2024

Hey Kev,

I tend to agree with you. I don’t have kids so everything I say must be taken with a grain of salt. But for me, the routines help giving a bit of sanity into my life. But I stress again - no kids; so might very well be that it changes once/if I do.

Makes sense, any kind of exercise is a great starting point in my opinion. Myself, I’m in between training blocks at the moment, and slowly increasing my running volume at around ~50K/week and seeing where that gets me. Going down south for the summer will always make it hard due to temperatures, but I will give it a shot! I’m also working on a small web app to track my training so that’s giving me that extra bit of motivation (every bit counts!)

Every soldier has their battle station ahaha, I am not the one to judge!

Just landed back in Denmark around ~4 days ago after some days with Vitto visiting family in Italy. Sorry for the late reply by the way - things have been a bit hectic on my side as well - in the good way! Good news is that we will be very soon heading back down to Italy again to one of my favourite places (where Vitto’s from) - down in the Adriatic coast.

There’s nothing quite like being down there. I love traveling the world and seeing exotic places, but it’s funny how some places are just special and different. She comes from this super small (but we can’t tell her that) region in Italy - filled with wonderful people and nature. So I’m super blessed to spend some time there working or taking a break every year.

So only some days more left of Scandinavian summer left to go 🙂

I also just finished Same as Ever and loved it! How’s the reading going? I’ve noticed you’re quite a bit into Sci-fi no?

Talk very soon,

Duarte OC

From: Kev Quirk
To: Duarte O.Carmo
Subject: RE: PenPals - July 2024
Date: 13 July 2024

Hey Duarte,

Sounds like it’s been a busy few days for you. That part of Italy sounds amazing. I see some of the pictures that Manu posts on his blog some times and it’s just incredible.

I’ve never been to Italy, but my wife and I have spoken about it many times. Since moving house and ploughing all our money into that, holidays have taken a back seat. We are hoping to get away for a few days this year though. I really fancy a trip to the Alps. Maybe Switzerland or Austria. I dunno, we’ll see. All depends on whether we can get someone to mind all the animals (and the kids!)

You know, it’s funny you say that I’m into reading sci-fi. I never have been in the past. I actually found a lot of fantasy and sci-fi quite tedious. But since starting the book reading log on my site, I’ve been given so many great recommendations and my list keeps growing. I have sone non-fiction on there too, but it always seems to be the next sci-fi series that piques my interest.

I’m currently reading the second book in the Five Warrior Angels series, and I’m really enjoying that, but I think I’ll flip to a different genre for a little bit after I finish this series. Mind you, I’ve said that many times in the past, then someone recommends another interesting series of sci-fi books and off I go again.

I recently bought Dan Brown’s Digital Fortress, which looks really good and is aligned to my interests. It’s a “techno thriller” apparently, so I think that might be my next book, but we will see. :)

“Same as ever” — and self-help book in general -- don’t really do it for me. I’ve read a few of them and always found them to be very dry and boring, like reading a text book. “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck” was pretty good, but still rather dry. I think the best self-help kind of book I’ve read if probably Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport, but even then I thought it was way longer than it needed to be.

Do you have any decent book recommendations?

Best,

Kev

From: Duarte O.Carmo
To: Kev Quirk
Subject: RE: PenPals - July 2024
Date: 17 July 2024

Hey Kev!

Busy, for sure - but fun as well! Fortunate to do something I enjoy (for the large majority). Manu’s has such a nice blog! He’s really the type of no bs writer I enjoy 🙂.

A trip to the Alps sounds like the perfect getaway. Whenever I watch one of Jeff’s videos down there I get a sudden rush to get there!! Makes sense. You sound like you have your own little paradise going on over there - so I’m sure you’re not too bad as well ahah.

I think my reading interests have been a bit all over the place throughout the years. I’ve been a sci-fi fan all my life. And normally read a lot of fiction. But you’re right - I have been tending more towards non-fiction/history lately. And technical books - also love to get very deep into the technical stuff!

Have you ever read the Red Rising series? That must be the last saga I was really into. I’m still finishing the last one on the series called Light Bringer. I normally don’t stick to a book because of the genre, but more because of the writer. Some writers are really appealing to me - others not so much. Piece Brown writes incredibly well! You should give him a shot!

Yeah I know, “Same as Ever” does sound like a classic airport book. But I really like Morgan’s writing so I decided to give him a shot and I was not disappointed! Also like Cal Newport. The books are ok, what I love is the different ways of thinking, that’s what really gets me hooked.

I can definitely recommend some I really like in the past 2/3 years:

• Finding Ultra
• Think Again
• Sea of Tranquillity - What a book!
• How to Lie With Statistics

Those are some nice books! I think I have yet to read something on the level of those ones this year! (But I’m at 5/15 this year - need to read more!!!)

How are things going with you?

Liked the post about Social Media today! I’ve also always struggled with it. I think it’s very nice if all I saw were pictures and updates from my close friends. But that doesn’t make money for any of these companies. I’ve tried most of the networks, and they’re good! But I always come back to X.com. But I wish there was something that allowed me to post on X.com every time I post on MastoDon and vice versa. Without it being something like buffer.com which feels a bit too social media management for me..

Even though I take time to reply - I am fairly enjoying our exchange!

Talk very soon,

Duarte OC

From: Kev Quirk
To: Duarte O.Carmo
Subject: RE: PenPals - July 2024
Date: 19 July 2024

Hey Duarte,

Manu’s blog is fantastic - him and I “talk” via email semi-regularly. He’s a great guy, and I really love his writing too.

I just checked out Red Rising - sounds right up my alley. It’s also free on Audible too, so I’ll probably listen to the audiobook first, then decide if I wanna read/listen to the other books in the series. Thanks for the recommendation.

Things are good with me. I decided to take your advice and just go for it - so I went for a run on Wednesday. It was only short (as I haven’t ran for a couple years). I did just 2.6km to see how my knee held out. It’s been a little sore the last couple days, but nothing major. I do have a little bit of DOMS in my quads too, but that was expected and will go soon enough.

Planning on going again early next week. Again, I’ll keep it short to see how my knee holds up. If I can get to 5km a few times a week, I’d be very happy with that.

Thanks for the push.

Social media is a difficult one for me. I’ve received a lot of emails off the back of that post, and have been thinking about it a lot. I’m still not sure what the problem is, or how I can fix it (or if it’s possible to fix it). So for now, I’m just gonna try and enjoy it for what it is.

Best,

Kev

From: Duarte O.Carmo
To: Kev Quirk
Subject: RE: PenPals - July 2024
Date: 21 July 2024

Hey Kev,

Yeah I don’t know what is it about the Italian scene, but even in the blogging/youtubbing, I’ve always been a big fan!

Are you big into Audiobooks? Not sure why, for some reason never really got into them. I do listen to a lot of podcasts during runs/walks/chores. Let me know what you think of Red Rising when you start with it. I’ve heard Pierce Brown also sold the rights to the movies not so long ago - so excited for when that gets out.

Very nice!!! Good job. It really doesn’t matter how much you run, or how long you run. What really matters is just getting some activity in! How did you feel after it? Just pain or some satisfaction as well? Consistency is the name of the game - you’ll soon be regular with it I’m sure!

Yeah, I think that’s the way to go. I was actually just thinking about it today. For example, I wanna follow Andrej. Should I follow him on Threads? Should I follow him on Twitter? I guess I should follow your lead, just ditch the FOMO and enjoy the ride.

We’ve just came down to Italy again last Thursday. And damn it’s hot down here (30ºC+)! Running can only be done very early in the morning.

It’s weird how relaxed I feel whenever I’m in the South. Denmark has been good to me for the past 8 years. But I just feel more connected here. Not sure what it is. It’s a mix of the people, the weather, the atmosphere. Whether it’s in Portugal or in Italy - I just feel like home. My mother-in-law lives on the top of a small country town down here. They reenacted this amazing Lucio Dalla song.

Are you a big music fan? Or not so much?

Talk soon,

Duarte

From: Kev Quirk
To: Duarte O.Carmo
Subject: RE: PenPals - July 2024
Date: 24 July 2024

Hey Duarte,

I do enjoy audiobooks. I usually have one audiobook and one eBook going at the same time. I tend to listen to them when walking the dogs, or commuting to work.

I had a little bit of pain in my knee, but it wasn’t bad. I went again today and so far not as much pain, but we shall see. I always feel good after a run - there’s a lot of be said for endorphins. :)

It’s all about the JOMO, man! The JOY of missing out.

I love that you get the jump down to Italy so much - I’m very jealous of that. I have a person on my team that goes away most weekends. They just pack a rucksack and disappear to another place. I’m so very jealous haha.

I love music. I always have it on and I don’t understand people who say they don’t like music. It’s such a visceral things, I don’t get how someone can be indifferent about it.

I have quite an eclectic taste in music - I’ll listen to pretty much anything other than Drum & Bass - that shit’s just noise to me. :) I do tend to listen to a lot of classic rock though - the Beatles, AC/DC, Toto, Lynyrd Skynyrd etc. I actually have Bon Jovi “Wanted Dead or Alive” playing at the moment.

What about you?

Kev

From: Kev Quirk
To: Duarte O.Carmo
Subject: RE: PenPals - July 2024
Date: 04 August 2024

Hey Duarte,

I didn’t hear back from you before the end of July, but wanted to quickly follow up and say thanks for taking part. Enjoy all those lovely travels to and from Italy…I’m very jealous!

Best,

Kev

From: Duarte O.Carmo
To: Kev Quirk
Subject: RE: PenPals - July 2024
Date: 04 August 2024

Hey Kev!

Sorry for not getting back to on the last post - Also really enjoyed our conversation!

Hopefully your walks/runs are going well! Just came from a long one along my favorite river (the Tejo - in Lisbon where I am from).

Enjoy the rest of the summer and keep in touch!

Duarte