My trip to my first python meeting was quite eventful today, full of lessons. I have been planning to attend a python meetup for sometime now as it is very difficult to appreciate all the nuances from just reading blogs and books.
But today is not a day of python, today is a day of life lessons on habit; my commute is regularly along the same routes so I only check Google Now (yes Google probably stalks me) who almost always pops up those travel card at the exact moment. So I checked Meetup(link) on my phone and clicked on the address and Google maps pointed to 568 11th Ave; I did not bother to check the actual address, as I know (deep down in my heart) Google CAN'T be wrong. So I embark the moving city (at any given time there's more people in NYC subway system than small town in Alabama) under the ground. After almost 45 min of riding in two trains and waiting over 10 min I begin my walk down the street trying to appreciate the diversity and culture NYC has to offer, and smiling at all the intriguing newyorkers around me. Almost 15 min later and over half a mile of walk I reach the pin and start looking for building number 568. I walked up and down the street looking for my destination, but alas, Google only mislead my until I met a nice newyorker out with his dog for a walk. As he ask me for the address specifically, I looked at the address carefully on Google maps for the first time and then went back to recheck on meetup. And low and behold, I needed to be in East Village but I was in Lower Manhattan!
As I bid farewell to the benevolent newyorker, and was on my way again, I had not yet learned my lesson. I looked at Google maps and walked back to Port Authority station to get on A and then F to get to East Village. And once again, I was waiting for trains to show up and they did not. While waiting for the F, 2 Ds passed by and I waited until I realized that D also goes to the same station, but I had wasted 20min waiting for F! :(
So I hopped on the D and in about 20min, I was on a soft couch in the 11th floor, with an amazing view of the city through the window left of me. I was almost one and half hour late to the meeting but it was still great to see all the python programmers.
So, whats the point of me filling you in with all these boring details of my stride through trek through the city? I have been recently reading The habit loop (listening to be absolutely truthful) and so reflecting back on my travel endeavor made me realize how intricately Google services have become pillars of my travel habits. When a habit is being execute, there is no escape, as our brain stops focusing on the specific habitual activity. There are only two moments of awareness for habit execution, prior to and after execution, and my behavior is quite a strong evidence supporting the idea. Its not my singular experience which matters, as I believe there are experiments to backup the claim, but experience the affect gives a far more nuanced appreciation foe the idea.
And as for the title, I am not sure which one I actually said while ordering my drink at Starbucks a few minutes ago ..... something else I can explore!!
I am almost done reading the habit loop, and you can expect a review pretty soon!
But today is not a day of python, today is a day of life lessons on habit; my commute is regularly along the same routes so I only check Google Now (yes Google probably stalks me) who almost always pops up those travel card at the exact moment. So I checked Meetup(link) on my phone and clicked on the address and Google maps pointed to 568 11th Ave; I did not bother to check the actual address, as I know (deep down in my heart) Google CAN'T be wrong. So I embark the moving city (at any given time there's more people in NYC subway system than small town in Alabama) under the ground. After almost 45 min of riding in two trains and waiting over 10 min I begin my walk down the street trying to appreciate the diversity and culture NYC has to offer, and smiling at all the intriguing newyorkers around me. Almost 15 min later and over half a mile of walk I reach the pin and start looking for building number 568. I walked up and down the street looking for my destination, but alas, Google only mislead my until I met a nice newyorker out with his dog for a walk. As he ask me for the address specifically, I looked at the address carefully on Google maps for the first time and then went back to recheck on meetup. And low and behold, I needed to be in East Village but I was in Lower Manhattan!
As I bid farewell to the benevolent newyorker, and was on my way again, I had not yet learned my lesson. I looked at Google maps and walked back to Port Authority station to get on A and then F to get to East Village. And once again, I was waiting for trains to show up and they did not. While waiting for the F, 2 Ds passed by and I waited until I realized that D also goes to the same station, but I had wasted 20min waiting for F! :(
So I hopped on the D and in about 20min, I was on a soft couch in the 11th floor, with an amazing view of the city through the window left of me. I was almost one and half hour late to the meeting but it was still great to see all the python programmers.
So, whats the point of me filling you in with all these boring details of my stride through trek through the city? I have been recently reading The habit loop (listening to be absolutely truthful) and so reflecting back on my travel endeavor made me realize how intricately Google services have become pillars of my travel habits. When a habit is being execute, there is no escape, as our brain stops focusing on the specific habitual activity. There are only two moments of awareness for habit execution, prior to and after execution, and my behavior is quite a strong evidence supporting the idea. Its not my singular experience which matters, as I believe there are experiments to backup the claim, but experience the affect gives a far more nuanced appreciation foe the idea.
And as for the title, I am not sure which one I actually said while ordering my drink at Starbucks a few minutes ago ..... something else I can explore!!
I am almost done reading the habit loop, and you can expect a review pretty soon!