BRUNCH #41

Good morning, and happy Sunday!

I’ve been busy with travel for over a week, so I haven’t had much of a chance to come up with interesting links for you. Since I have travel on the brain, I thought I’d talk about that instead. Specifically, let me tell you what goes into my Travel Cocoon of Solitude, within which I have happily slept away the miles on many a flight.

  • First, Bose QC-20 noise-canceling earbuds. These enjoy a long-time and deserved reputation as the best in the business. They are by far the most expensive item in this list, though, and you can probably get most of the effect with $1 box of earplugs from your local pharmacy.
  • Cabeau Evolution Memory Foam Neck Pillow. Far superior to typical travel neck pillows. It’s supportive enough to let me sleep sitting upright in a middle seat, when necessary. And it’s made of memory foam and comes with a compression sack, which means it travels a lot more compactly than most pillows.
  • A reusable face-mask. It was an epiphany when I read somewhere that the jet lag and head-colds associated with air travel are partly attributable to spending hours breathing the cold, ultra-dry air in airliners. These days I travel with a face mask, not for its contagion-blocking abilities, but in order to wake up without feeling like my nasal passages have been desiccated.
  • An eye mask. Any eye-mask will do. I use this one. Keeps random light fluctuations in the cabin from disturbing my sleep.
  • A packable blanket. Never trust an airline to provide you with a decent blanket. I have this one, which folds nicely into its own built-in pouch and has cozy foot-pockets.

Those are Amazon referral links, so you can think of your clicks as tiny BRUNCH sponsorships 😀

(No title photo today, but the next title photo could be yours!)

Meanwhile, here’s what I’ve been up to…

  • I was at RubyConf! My first in a couple of years, and the first time I’ve gone purely as an attendee. I wrote up some thoughts and feelings about it.
  • Lots of people at RubyConf were excited about my upcoming Mastering the Object-Oriented Mindset course. Speaking of which, it’s looking like it might actually sell out, so if you want a seat in the beta run it might be best to sign up sooner rather than later…

Thanks as always for joining me for BRUNCH. See you next week!

Avdi