5-Bullet Grateful Friday (November 05–11, 2016)

The first post is located here.

Here is a list of things that during the last seven calendar days kept me happy, shiny inside and delighted with simply being alive.

1. At the weekend we went for a quick trip to a shopping mall called The Park Carrickmines to buy a few things. Among our purchases we ended up buying this pair of shoes for myself. I couldn’t stop laughing at the brand name. Having grown up in a Soviet Union (before I travelled the world and settled in Ireland) this name gave me a timely reminder about those humble beginnings in my childhood, and increased appreciation for what I have today. And they are pretty comfortable shoes too! :) For an opportunity to cast my mind back in time to recollect what it was like to be called a Soviet, I am very grateful to you, folks at Soviet company!
2. I continue my swims in a very refreshing waters of Irish sea. This week some of the days were especially cold (zero degrees Celsius = 32 degrees Fahrenheit) while the waves were unusually big too. So on one of the days I had no choice but to just stand there ashore and allow the waves crash into me trying to uproot my feet. And one of them managed just that and sent me into a whirlpool. For keeping me fit and for making me learn to live in a moment I am very grateful to you, the cold waters of Irish sea!
3. Every morning for the last few months my morning routine continues to stay exactly the same: a set of mobility exercises followed by a few sets of kettlebells, and then wrapped up with a cold bath/shower. After all of these shenanigans I then come to my kitchen and crack open a can of these oysters. I get so pumped with energy every morning that I feel like whatever the day has to throw at me I can easily handle. And the two people who introduced me to the concept of eating oysters in the morning are Tim Ferriss and Dom D’Agostino in this fabulous podcast. For your massive positive influence on my morning food intake I am so grateful to you, Tim and Dom!
4. Yesterday we had an amazing team offsite. We went to the place called Adventure Rooms to play an escape challenge. What a crazy awesome fun it turned out to be! I couldn’t believe how tricky it was to solve some of the clues, and how skillfully we ended up solving them. I also felt by far the dumbest person in the room. So most of the time I just tried to get out of the people’s way. :) Is that what a good manager does: hires amazingly talented team and gets out of their way when a problem needs to be solved? It was a total blast anyway, and I loved the fact that my team which we cheekily called “Baby Lizards” won. :) For providing a really interesting concept for a fun team offsite, I am very grateful to you, folks at Adventure Rooms!
5. I love Ryanair airlines. Their pricing model is what allowed my family travel a lot. Their SEO Michael O’Leary is a well-known character on these shores. So when this job post for his assistant went live it caused a ton of good-hearted laughter around Ireland. For your humour, writing style and overall ingenuity of such a marketing move I am very grateful to you, Ryanair’s Marketing/PR department!

Thank you for reading “5-Bullet Grateful Friday” weekly posts. You are awesome!

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