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I have taken part of the day off, or rather, taken it a little easier today. I think I came back from illness too early and now at the end of the week, I am feeling it. And, lo and behold, one of my colleagues has some last minute family thing and I have to  run an interview in the US, which means Friday evening. 

>No adventure friday with Smallsteps :(


![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/tarazkp/23uQhz9QUJdsoGUTRdFzWEjWqyCTXnk1hWrU9H2axHzjT7My7Db2LgWD8J8Cqx6M3HTpx.jpg)


But, there will be an adventure Saturday, where the plan is to head to another city to pick up a secondhand standing lamp for our loungeroom. Hopefully it is worth it, but by the looks of the pictures and chatting with the owner, it should be okay. 

I have been looking for a lamp for a while already, but I haven't been able to find one that I like *and my wife approves of.* I wanted this really cool 60s boom light similar to one in our house as a kid...

>She didn't.

So, this is a bit of a compromise, still a boom light, but a more modern take on it. It is also a third of the price of a new one, which suits me. 

We haven't done much to the house in the last year after I had the stroke, including decorating and, it is looking pretty bare after all of this time living in it. We don't even have any pictures on the wall yet. The one thing we did do was hang some curtains before Christmas, because it was looking like a bit of a mental asylum with no height to the rooms, but light, natural walls. The boom light *should* bring some much needed height, closing in the lounge a little, plus, it is always nice to have some more mood lighting. 

It is quite a long drive away though, with almost two hours each way and, not much along the route to see or do, so the "adventure" part is hopefully going to be once we get there. It isn't a big city and there doesn't seem too much to do for Smallsteps, especially since it is going to be cold and raining. But, anything can be fun with the right attitude. 

I am glad that Smallsteps doesn't need to have anything too fancy to have a good time, where for example, last night she was happy where we all sat around coloring in together for an hour. She is also becoming more appreciative of the time we spend together also, which is part of growing up and, a response to the last couple years of often having to be home will both her parents are working. She seems to be in this stage of wanting more independence, but also wanting to be looked after a bit, which I think helps her feel supported enough to branch out by herself and take more responsibility. 

>She is growing up

She starts preschool in the Autumn, which means she only has a couple weeks of daycare left - which after so many years there and all the challenges between, feels *super weird!* 

But, soon I have to go into the interview process with a candidate hoping to work for us, which is both interesting and valuable to do, but also difficult at times when people don't fit. Of course, it is better to have the right people who complement the team, than shoehorn the wrong person in the hope that they will adjust, because in my experience, *not many do.* But, with the job market the way it currently is, I know quite a lot of companies who are making hiring decisions because they need to fill the role, not because they found the right person to fill it. 

>I am glad that this company doesn't do that. 

Right - best not be late!


Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]


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