Automator & Alfred

 

I'm a big fan of automated workflows. In fact, I've made a mini-career of optimizing workflows. With that being said, it should't be surprising that I love Automator, a workflow optimization program that comes with MacOS and gets very little attention. Tucked in the depths of the Launchpad in the "Other" folder with other MacOS staples like Grapher, it is a program that is very easy to overlook. Additionally, I can't recall ever reading an article or seeing a headline on any of the tech sites I follow on Twitter discussing Automator. It essentially gets no attention. Despite this, it has become one of my favorite Apple programs.

What can Automator do? Improve and speed up any workflow, especially if it is repetitive. It comes with numerous actions that it can perform, such as accessing websites and adjusting the volume. I have a workflow to start work, which opens Outlook and other work websites as well as launching the Calendar app. When checking my paystub, I have an Automator workflow which launches my bank websites as well as my work site which has my paystub and the Numbers app where I record my financial data. I built an Automator workflow where you can right click on a heic file and convert it to jpeg, which is useful since Apple's heic file format doesn't always play nicely with picture websites. These are just a few examples, but essentially any workflow that you do can be accomplished using Automator. If your workflow doesn't exist within Automator's numerous actions, you can use scripting code as well.

This brings up two points. One, how to build in Automator, and two, how to access the workflows. Building is mostly intuitive, though if you are trying to accomplish a complicated workflow, especially one that uses scripting code, you can usually find examples to mimic through Google searching. I access most of my Automator workflows using Alfred, and I wouldn't be complete in my workflow assessment if I didn't mention Alfred. Alfred is a productivity app for MacOS, which allows for program launches through hot keys, as well as web searching and workflow optimization, among other things. Unlike Automator, Alfred is a well publicized Mac app and in my opinion is a must-have for Mac users. Double tapping the command key opens up Alfred's search bar, and typing "fi" and pressing space launches my finances workflow which I mentioned above. It is that simple. Alfred can even optimize workflows itself, but you have to pay for the more advanced features. Regardless, even the free features that Alfred utilizes are fantastic, and are a great way to launch Automator workflows, as well as accomplish numerous MacOS tasks with its built-in features.

Standardized Tests

 Doctors are some of the most tested professionals in the workforce, especially when it comes to standardized tests. If I remember correctly, I took the MCAT test while in college to get into medical school, followed by three rounds of national boards during medical school, followed by specialty standardized board tests in residency, followed by my specialty board test at the end of residency to become "board certified" when graduating from residency. They really want to make sure we know what we're doing when we graduate from med school and residency, which makes sense given the nature of the work that we do.

After graduating residency and passing my board certification test, I was determined to be board certified in my specialty for the arbitrary duration of 8 years. During that time period, I had to maintain 150 continuing education hours every 3 years but there were no additional standardized tests. During the first 3-4 years in practice following residency, I felt up to date on medical topics in my specialty, relying on my knowledge from residency. However, as time progressed and medical knowledge evolved, I needed to rely on continuing education in its various forms more often. This is a normal phenomenon and the reason why continuing education requirements exists. Medical knowledge evolves rapidly, and as practitioners settle into their style of practicing medicine, it makes it easier to fall behind the education curve. I have no issue with maintaining education to stay up to date on the newest guidelines and recommendations (though surprisingly there are some drawbacks to this which I may explain in a separate post). However, a funny thing occurs at the end of that random 8 year time period where you are board certified: you have to take another certification test.

When I was in medical school and residency, I was at the peak of my educational career. This is no longer the case. Turns out, a lot can change in 8 years. Back then, I was a full time student who did little of anything except study. Now, I have a career, a house, a family with two kids, etc. There's a lot going on. While I have kept up to date through conferences and reading, I haven't taken a standardized test with any meaningful result since the last time I certified my boards 8 years ago. Needless to say, I was a bit nervous about the test.

I started dreading this test a couple of years ago. I didn't think about it a lot, but it would periodically enter my mind as we approached the end of the 8 year period. It doesn't help that despite the number of standardized tests that I've taken, I'm pretty average at it, which adds to the anxiety. I didn't want to cram, so I started studying in January. This gave me five months to prepare. With my busy schedule of things to worry about, I decided to approach studying with a slow but steady cadence. I wasn't going to be able to dedicate hours of study time per week. Instead, I studied for 15-20 minutes daily in the months leading up to the test. This slow pace also prevented me from getting burned out studying. I decided to study by doing test questions. This allowed me to get into the habit of taking tests again, while forcing me to read about subjects I'd likely avoid if I were picking the content myself.

When test day came, I felt prepared. I had been studying and preparing for months, what else could I do? I took the test at home with a proctor watching me on camera. Overall I liked this because it allowed me to be in the comfort of my own home (there were a few oddities to this, however). The test was 4 hours long, consisting of 200 questions, which is half as many as my previous tests. When the test was over, I did not feel good about it. I was not confident at all. I had to wait two months to get my result. The entire two months I was worried about needing to take it again, mostly because I didn't know what I could do differently to prepare. After two months of worrying about my result, I finally found out that I passed, taking a huge monkey off my shoulders. 

I'm bringing all of this up, because I think the idea of this standardized test is ridiculous. Once you've gone through everything that is required to practice medicine, and once you've been practicing medicine for nearly a decade and have a career and family and everything else going on that comes with life, it seems a bit ridiculous to potentially put someone's career in jeopardy over 200 random questions answered on a random Thursday. Thankfully, a lot of specialty boards are moving away from this standardized test and if I understand this correctly, I won't have to worry about taking such a large test with such large ramifications in the future. The education will be more frequent but in smaller chunks, which is honestly a better way to learn. In fact, I believe my class was the last class to have to take the recertification exam. Starting next year, certification requirements are changing and no longer require taking a huge standardized test. Lucky me for missing this by one year. 

Remodeling Our Bathrooms

 When first purchasing a home, there is this innate desire to fix what ever breaks on your own, within reason. I think part of it is being cheap, and part of it is not knowing who to ask to do the job. You hear about your dad or buddies fixing things around their houses, and there is also a "if they can do it I can too" attitude that comes into play as well. This attitude comes despite the fact that I have no experience fixing anything. We grew up in a new house and what few projects my dad tackled on his own didn't involve me. 

With home ownership, we (mostly Sarah) became more comfortable with tasks like replacing lights, ceiling fans, hanging up curtains, etc. Otherwise, for bigger projects that actually require construction or working on appliances, we have turfed out to the experts. The one thing I did do as a kid was mow grass, so I was comfortable with that and basic yard work. However, with home ownership comes extra yard responsibilities such as taking care of trees, taking care of mulch, planting plants, etc. Sarah and I took care of these responsibilities for the first few years of owning a home, but eventually we started turfing this work out as well. I'll still trim a tree every know and then and Sarah will pull weeds periodically, but we no longer spends hours shoveling and moving mulch. 

I bring up all of this based on my observation of our current project. With the Covid-19 pandemic came schedule changes to my job. I currently work 2.5 days at home.  We are in the process of having two of our bathrooms remodeled. Working from home with my new schedule has allowed for observation of how much work it takes to remodel two bathrooms. There are 1-2 guys, sometimes up to 4, working from 8-5 Monday through Friday. I never really thought I could do such a project on my own, and this was confirmed after watching how much work it takes to do such a project. Even if I had the expertise for the project (which I don't) and the correct tools (which I don't), there is no way I would have the time. Even with the expertise and the tools, it is taking these guys 2 months to complete the remodel, and that's working at a full time job duration. When it comes to owning a home, we pick our battles carefully. One thing I've learned as I've aged is that time is quite valuable.

Loki

 

This TV show explains what happens to Loki after he steals the tesseract during the events of Avengers: End Game. Shortly after being transported to the Gobi desert, he is detained by the TVA (Time Variance Authority), a mysterious organization tasked with maintaining the "correct" flow of time. Anytime an event occurs that could skew history and change what was supposed to happen, the TVA arrives and resets the event, essentially rewinding time and preventing its occurrence. They even capture people to prevent reoccurrence and sometimes prune them, sending them to a sort of purgatory at the end of time to prevent them from repeating their actions. Apparently Loki was not supposed to end up with the tesseract, hence his capture by the TVA.

A nexus event is one that skews the main timeline, and the people involved in these events are called variants. Variants are who the TVA chase to capture, and Loki's stealing of the tesseract was a nexus event with Loki being the variant. There is one variant of Loki who has evaded the TVA for years, so once they capture the Avengers: End Game version of Loki they use him to help them find the Loki who has escaped capture.

The first half of the season focuses on who this other version of Loki is and how to capture them. The second half of the season, after the Loki variant is found, focuses on who is behind the TVA, pulling the strings. I feel like we only get a partial answer in the season finale. The two Lokis figure out that the timekeepers are actually robots, fake leaders of the TVA. They are able to get to the real puppet master, a man who is called He Who Remains. He explains that galactic chaos and war lead to the creation of the TVA, where events and time could be controlled to prevent annihilation. 

The show ends with that information. The Loki variant Sylvie kills He Who Remains, ending the TVA. This creates timeline chaos, with multiple branches developing from the main timeline. The Avengers Loki did not want this to happen, and ends up at the TVA headquarters in a different time line where no one knows who he is. Internet reviews say that He Who Remains is a version of Kang the Conqueror, a villain I am not familiar with but apparently is a powerful time-traveling foe to the Avengers and is slated to make his appearance in the next Doctor Strange film in 2022.

This show mostly acts as a plot catalyst, as the MCU enters its next phase in the post-Thanos era. It introduces the concept of timeline variations and the multiverse, as well as the character Kang. Having a storyline that involves multiple possible timelines sets up a scenario where endless plots can be plausible, albeit at the expense of adding confusion. It will be interesting to see how Marvel handles this scenario moving forward. Additionally, the show itself left a few hanging plots that will apparently pick up in season 2 of the series, which I'm happy to see is occurring. I also enjoyed the visuals of the TCA headquarters - obviously very futuristic in their abilities to manipulate time, but at the same time having a very 60s-70s vibe going on. Also lots of paperwork, with literal paper, which seemed interesting.

How To Be A Man

 

James Breakwell was someone who was not on my radar. He's become a bit famous from his social media accounts where he shares funny details about life and being a parent. He is from the midwest and has moved to the same city as us, making him a local celebrity to some degree. Sarah stumbled upon his work from one of her reader groups and now follows him on social media. She bought me the above book for father's day, giving me a well deserved break from all of the Star Wars reading I have been doing.

How To Be A Man is a collection of amusing stories from James' past where a lesson is learned (such as a man should always tell the truth, and if he doesn't he should lawyer up) or where he discusses common social norms for men (like placing our wallets in our back pockets). There are educational points in each chapter, though the book is far more amusing than it is serious. In fact, I might be a bit more confused on what it means to be a man after reading it. But I chuckled a fair amount while doing so, which is what is important. Some of the topics discussed include handshakes, holding one's liquor, home remodels, and buying engagement rings. An overarching theme among all of these topics is that a lot of traditional thoughts about what makes a man don't necessarily apply in today's society. I agree with most of what he says, and had a good laugh while doing so. I now also follow James on social media so any upcoming books or projects of his will be on my radar.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury

 

Super Mario 3D World is a mashup of Mario genres, mixing the best of 3D World/Land with the multiplayer action of Deluxe with the colorful worlds of Super Mario World and Mario 64. Mario fans will quickly become familiar with the gameplay, which is traditional Mario with the addition of cats (which appeals to my 7 year olds). The gameplay is fun, challenging at times but never frustrating. 

Between the new Mario 3D games (Land & World) and the 2D games (The New Super Mario Bros. Deluxe), I actually prefer the 2D games. Their stage design to me is more innovative and overall more fun. I also think the 3D games look and play more like the main Mario games (like Odyssey), so my brain tends to compare them, which isn't fair since they are remakes of older games and not a brand new game.

Regardless, 3D World was a fun game with classic Mario platforming action we've all come to love. Stage design, as in other Mario games, is fantastic. Every item is deliberately placed, serving a specific purpose. As a kid, except for the secret warp zones in Mario Bros., I was completely oblivious to the hidden levels and shortcuts in Mario games. Playing these games as an adult (and with the help of guides) I have discovered a lot of these hidden items and stages which emphasize how well thought-out these stages are designed. In this game in particular, finding as many green stars as I could was one of my favorite parts of the game. 

My absolute favorite part of the game, however, is the co-op play. It is so cool that I can play through the game together with my girls. While having multiple people on screen simultaneously can be challenging (i.e. when you have a player channeling their inner LeRoy and going rogue), it does lend itself to working together to achieve a common goal (like getting a green star). My only complaint with co-op play is that when a player dies, there is a brief pause to the game. For a platforming game, this can really screw up your timing of jumps, and it would be nice if they could figure out a way to eliminate this pause from the game.

Bowser's Fury appears to be a completely different kind of Mario game. I've watched my girls play 15 minutes of the game, and it seems to be more of an open world style of game. It reminds me a bit of Sunshine, which is one of my least favorite Mario games. Based on what I've seen, I'll likely skip this game and let my girls play it. Skyward Sword HD comes out in less than two weeks so I need time on my gaming calendar to get started on it.

Mythic Quest: Season 2

 

I started watching Mythic Quest partly because it was a TV show about a video game company that started during the pandemic. What interested me the most in the show, however, was the backing from the crew behind It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which has been one of my most favorite show over the past ten years or so. As I finish season 2, I kind of have mixed emotions about the show.

The show isn't really about video games. It focuses more on the complex colleague relationships that develop when people with different personalities work together. They just happen to work at a video game company which serves as the main setting for the show. I'm completely fine with this. The show has its moments where Sunny-like comedy occurs, but there is one major difference between Mythic Quest and Sunny that really limits Mythic Quest's appeal: a lot of the characters are not very likable. All of Sunny's characters are likable. About half of Mythic's characters are kind of annoying, which limits the shows appeal quite a bit. It has its funny moments, but it also has its fair share of moments with characters that I don't really care about. Maybe this is a problem for me only? Don't get me wrong, the show is good and well made. I think the annoying characters limit its appeal, however.

Season two's most memorable episodes for me featured a two episode arc involving writer C.W. Longbottom. The first episode was a trip down memory lane, taking place when C.W. was much younger and his career was just starting. The funny thing is, this was a documentary episode and wasn't even trying to be funny. The second episode takes place in the present and involves C.W. visiting his "friend" to take revenge on him. I thought the episode had several funny moments, and ended with C.W. learning his friend was dying and they reconciled their differences. It's interesting to me that these were my favorite episodes of the season because one wasn't even a comedy and C.W. is more of a side character than a main character. Maybe that's why I enjoyed the episodes so much. 

Overall I think this show is good and I continue to watch it, but I wouldn't get Apple TV+ just for this show. We've had access due to repeated free subscriptions because we continue to buy Apple products. It has its funny moments and is well made, but I find half the staff at MQ headquarters annoying which subtracts to my overall enjoyment of the show.