Another week in the furloughed fun house…

Studying

I still have a couple of exams I’d like to complete this month. I’ve been procrastinating about whether to take the Microsoft Azure Architect exams in their current form (AZ-300/301) or to wait for the replacements (AZ-303/304). As those replacements have been postponed from late April until the end of June (at least), I’ve booked AZ-300/301 and am cramming in lots of learning, based on free training from the Microsoft Learn website.

I’m sure it’s deeper (technically) than I need for an Architect exam, but it’s good knowledge… I just hope I can get through it all before the first exam appointment next Thursday evening…

Learning and Development Days 16-18: AZ-300 exam booked for next week, cramming in as much study as I can before then… and realised there’s a “show more” on the suggested learning paths???? #Azure https://t.co/FJqKAOBouB

— Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) May 7, 2020

Thoughts on remote working during the current crisis

I’ve seen this doing the rounds a couple of times on Twitter and I don’t know the original source, but it’s spot on. Words to live by in these times:

1. You’re not “working from home”. You’re “At your home, during a crisis, trying to work” [whilst parenting, schooling, helping vulnerable people, etc.].
2. Your personal physical, mental and emotional health is far more important than anything else right now.
3. You should not try to compensate for lost productivity by working longer hours.
4. You will be kind to yourself and not judge how you are coping based on how you see others coping.
5. You will be kind to others and not judge how they are coping based on how you are coping.
6. Your success will not [should not] be measured in the same way it was when things were normal.

This animation may also help…

Also, forget the 9-5:

Took the morning off for grocery shopping. And that’s perfectly OK because I’ll work tonight instead. The idea of 8 hours, 9–5 is ridiculous in this day and age.

— Andy Clarke (@Malarkey) May 7, 2020

As for returning to the office?

Some good points in this article – both for and against office work. My PoV: we’ll still have offices, but the layout will change and we may visit them less frequently. Remote working is here to stay (but I’d also argue what we’re experiencing now is not normal remote working) https://t.co/6WW8joUTQC

— Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) May 7, 2020

Video conference backgrounds

Novelty backgrounds for video conferences are a big thing right now. Here are a couple of collections that came to my attention this week:

• Backgrounds by IKEA.
• BBC Empty Sets Collection.

Upgrades to the Zwift bike

My old road bike has been “retired” for a year now, living out its life connected to an indoor trainer and used for Zwifting. It’s needed some upgrades recently though…

Minor upgrade to the Zwift bike: new Shimano Ultegra BB and 105 crankset. The rest of the Campagnolo kit will come off when I can finally source a Wahoo Kickr Core and repurpose the 105 shifters, front mech and cassette from my CX bike (which will get a hydraulic brake upgrade) pic.twitter.com/LpUq0YVImb

— Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) May 9, 2020

I also realised why I struggled to do 90km on the road today… that was my fifth ride this week, on top of another 100km which was mostly off-road!