Preface#
This article is a record and reflection on the life of the week from 2023-03-08 to 2023-03-13.
This week mainly involved some work handovers. Compared to before, it wasn't particularly busy, but the urgent deadlines and pending tasks still brought a lot of pressure. After all, I am about to leave a city where I have lived for nearly two years, so I had more time for chatting and dining. It was a rare moment of relaxation. However, it felt like the clock that had been ticking suddenly stopped during these two weeks. I found myself quite interesting. When I was busy, I wanted to rest and relax, but when I could actually let go of some burdens, I felt a bit lost.
I just finished writing the previous article and didn't learn my lesson. I experienced another episode of drinking too much, but it turned into a funny memory when my colleagues collectively searched for my home address from various clues and ended up with a false alarm. My glasses broke, but since my prescription wasn't high, I didn't wear them for a few days. It was a bit uncomfortable to see the slightly blurry world, but it was manageable. Xiaoyu called and talked about recent events. I met some new and old friends, and I turned my home into a cat café to welcome two waves of visitors. There were many interesting things happening.
Don't Stop the Clocks#
During a phone call with Xiaoyu, she mentioned that I might plan to go to Japan to work remotely while studying photography, which is a profession I love. She suddenly said that since we met in high school, maybe it's because I have too many things I want to do or achieve, it seems like I have always been moving forward and never willing to stop.
Upon reflection, it's true. Even during the gap year after graduating from undergraduate in 19, I was busy doing many things to save up for tuition fees. It wasn't really due to pressure, as my family has always been supportive of my choices. However, it seems that around my sophomore and junior years, I started to think about what I wanted to do and what I wanted to become. I unconsciously kept moving forward, wanting to decide my own life freely and independently. I experienced some denial and setbacks, which made me want to achieve even more or rather, not willing to lose. I became so accustomed to this rhythm that I didn't know how to stop.
I remembered the title of a song I often listen to, "Don't Stop the Clocks." It seems that my life used to be like a clock, and I could only feel its meaning when it was ticking.
During my middle school years, I didn't think too much. As someone with average foundations, I seemed to only strive for better grades. During my undergraduate years, I knew that the major I chose wasn't what I liked, and I had plenty of time, but I didn't spend much time exploring my direction. Instead, I worked too hard to participate in various student organizations to pursue the "optimal solution" in that environment. At most, I was in four clubs, attending five or six meetings per week. As I was about to enter my senior year, when I thought I could relax, I started my own video studio business and returned to a busy state. It was only when I graduated that I realized I still didn't want to hastily engage in a job I didn't like. So, I embarked on a gap year, preparing for studying abroad. Even though I received an offer early on, I was always anxious. Before going to Hong Kong, I repeatedly reminded myself that it might be my last student life and that I should enjoy it. However, I couldn't do it well. Since the second semester started in January, I have been constantly anxious about internships and work. After starting my first formal technical job, I never dared to relax because I wanted to prove to others and myself that I could walk this path well.
In terms of results, it seems that all these advancements have been meaningful. They brought me good college entrance exam scores, allowing me to enter a decent university environment. They brought me good undergraduate grades and resumes, which at least didn't restrict me too much when applying for studying abroad. They brought me good technical skills, giving me the opportunity to pursue the direction I love, and many other things. But as Xiaoyu said, "You always seem tired." Yes, I am actually quite tired. I don't want to say something cliché like everything is worth it. It's just a matter of gains and losses along the way.
Now I am in a precious and difficult gap week between two jobs, and I am finally willing to slow down and not be so concerned about gains and losses, to not overthink things. I stay up late watching dramas, and the next morning, I have a standoff with my cat who tries to wake me up to feed her. I turn my rented apartment into a cat café and receive two waves of visitors over the weekend. I open my Switch, which I haven't touched for months, and play multiplayer games with friends for an afternoon (it's so fun!).
時計の針を進めて。
Let the clock's hands continue to move forward.
Even now, I still tell myself, "Don't Stop the Clocks," because there are still many interesting things in the future worth pursuing. However, I often remind myself not to always look ahead and occasionally appreciate the people and things around me. They are the scales that make my life flow and give meaning to my existence. All time is worth cherishing, even the "wasted" time.
Interesting Things and Objects#
Input#
Although most interesting inputs are automatically synchronized in the Telegram channel "Yu's Life," I will list some of them here, making it feel more like a newsletter.
Articles#
- Why Write?
- When Stablecoin is Not Stable - Atlas
- Using Cloudflare Workers to Solve the Inaccessibility Issue of OpenAI and ChatGPT APIs
- OKR + GTD + Note => Logseq · BMPI
Videos#
Similarly, I also recorded some interesting videos I watched:
- Web Development In 2023 - A Practical Guide
- Traveling with Family, How Frustrating Can It Be?! [Xishuangbanna Trip]
- We Only Have One Mission: To Find Ourselves | Demian [Book Recommendation]
- Can People Like Us Have Friends?
TV Series#
- Dark Glory: Maybe because I don't watch many Korean dramas, I found the production quite good. I finished it in one go and thought the plot was presented well, although it was a bit cliché. However, I liked Zhou Ruzheng's character. Their love was within bounds and quite compatible. I mainly just want to see them in a relationship.
Personal Life Highlights#
My middle school homeroom teacher wanted to demonstrate ChatGPT to the students, but there were many restrictions on accessing and logging in from within China. After some troubleshooting, I deployed it on Vercel and used the GPT-3.5 Turbo API.
I also used Cloudflare Workers to configure the OpenAI proxy according to this tutorial.
https://github.com/noobnooc/noobnooc/discussions/9
Finally, I had a good experience, and I felt a little happy.
My middle school homeroom teacher, Chun Ge, wanted to demonstrate ChatGPT to the students (or maybe he wanted to save time and let ChatGPT help with lesson preparation). So, I set up a service for direct access in the domestic network environment. It took half a morning, and I was really happy when I finally got to use it.
I have often been jokingly called "Xiao Dingdang" or recently, I have gained another title, being suspected of being an artificial ChatGPT. It seems that I can always fulfill my friends' requests in strange ways. It's quite interesting, and I really enjoy it.
And now, I hope everything goes smoothly next week.