Cats, good books, AI, and religious walking in the city of Sofia
The first snow is always surprising, especially when it comes so close to the summer and after a drought.
Some of the mountain passes are closed, and the local emergency system bg-alert got triggered to tell us to not go to the mountain because of a high risk of falling trees and branches.
Cold and rainy today, cheers from Sofia. We celebrate the end of a long dry period, I hope the dams get a bit of a refill.
Last month I read less than the recent months. Maybe I just didn’t click with the books I picked up, or maybe life was too busy. Either way, my stack was smaller, but there were still some highlights.
The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin – The second book in The Broken Earth trilogy was great. In this world, the Evil Earth is a living, hostile creature. People with magical power can bend volcanos and seismic forces to their will. It’s apocalyptic, imaginative, and also a slow read. This was my only ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ book for me this month.
Right now I’m juggling three books at once, giving each so little attention that I’m wondering if October will turn out any better. We’ll see.
The Cathedral.
We have two cathedrals. This is the touristy one. It is difficult to miss unless you’re local. We miss it every day like it’s the opposite of a black hole. It’s surrounded by an empty square to deter any residents.
Bus line 200 is a tourist line run by the municipality. It uses regular credit card taps for 0.8 euro that cannot exceed 2.1 euro per day (you stop being charged after 2.1 euro). Way better than the regular tourist tour buses around the continent.
4th kilometer and a cat having a snack.
And last but not least, the King’s palace.
For the past two years, I’ve averaged more than 10,000 steps a day.
A colleague recently asked me how I stay motivated to keep up with something like this. The question wasn’t specifically about steps, but since walking is my example, here’s how I approach it. Felt like a good writing prompt.
Getting 10K steps every day isn’t easy. Each morning you start from zero. On good days, it feels like nothing. But on days that are grey, freezing, hot, rainy, when my mood is low or my feet hurt, the empty steps bar on the Health app can look like a vertical wall.
(below, steps over the last 5 days, and the weather outside with a nasty AI-generated gambling ad)
So, the only way I can do things like that, and the steps, is by forming and following a habit. There are days where the cats are friendly, people are smiling, the weather is nice, and I’m looking forward to doing the steps. Other days, the only thing that gets me out the door is the habit.
That habit means I don’t waste mental energy deciding whether I should walk, when to walk, or why to walk. The only challenge left is dealing with the obstacles of the day like weather, fatigue, a lengthy todo, mood, and not the decision itself.
For example, today I’ve done 5,800 steps. It’s already 7 p.m., so I’ll head out one more time to add another 1,500–2,000. It’s not always fun, but I’ve got a waterproof jacket, so I’ll be fine.
Veselin.blog 