/blog

This is an RSS Club only post! Please do not share.

Well hello there and welcome to 2024.

I just realised I only wrote three RSS Club posts during 2023 so want to do a lot better this year. As I see these as a sort of newsletter delivered via RSS that's not a very good return.

I am expecting good things from 2024. Whether that's because it feels right to start the year on a Monday 🤷‍♂️ it's also a leap year so we get an extra day. Am I just clutching at straws?

I was surprised to see that Chris McLeod's fully RSS only blog was described as "openweb hostile" by oguchi/devpapa. As Chris himself says:

The format is open, nothing is locked behind a paywall or registration system, people can choose the tool of their choice to read the content. It’s just a different experience to what you’re used to.

The difference between his experiment and a typical RSS only post is that there is no page you can visit (usually under specific conditions) — a post is only accessible via the feed. Chris has just taken this to its full, logical conclusion. Is that really openweb hostile? I think having items available on the web by some means is just a holdover from the way most CMS's work.

I'd be keen to hear your thoughts.

New year, same mental health

When I wrote about my anxiety over returning to work I mentioned slipping back into negative thoughts but it goes deeper than that and I need to take steps to catch it before spiralling, before the urge to hide from the world kicks in.

I've written an email to my manager to say that I'm struggling with my mental health again and, because I'm having to play catch-up, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Nothing I have to do is that difficult, it's the classic problem of looking at it as this "big thing" that has to be done and not knowing where to start … so I haven't. The mail said I'll be breaking it down into a more manageable list so I (and he) know exactly where we stand and I can work through the individual items one at a time.

Such is the problem with currently being the only person in the team — there is no redundancy should anything happen like being off sick for a couple of weeks. Things pile up making for a stressful return.

This may not sound like "expecting good things" from 2024 but I'm pleased that I am taking corrective and preventative action way earlier than I would have done in the past rather than letting them fester for weeks until reaching breaking point.

Getting moving

I also weighed myself and confirmed how much I had put on since my 'recent lightest' in August 2022. ¹ COVID, depression, etc. it all has an impact. The difficult thing is getting going again when you feel bad but that is really when you need it most.

James wrote about framing running in the context of mental health, rather than weight loss, to help motivation. I know I need it for both but have to trick my brain somehow.

Once I manage to shake the current cold/infection or whatever it is it's going to be time to get moving again. More often, more vigorously. If nothing else it will help to offset some of my poor dietary habits.