June found us with a full-blown Curfew. All-day black live matters protests. Between 10 and 2 am in the night, you could hear helicopters and crashes of shop displays. Going out during the day, you could see broken glasses everywhere. A lot of looting going on. Of course, looting and unrest have nothing to do with the protests that were super-peaceful. It's just that the police were overwhelmed, and the whole setup was ideal for looting.

I took a contact tracing course. I didn't learn anything surprising there. What I saw were simple, calm rules. If the media bothered to communicate those rules clearly, it would save many thousands of lives. Sufficient knowledge was available by June, but we still couldn't prevent a second wave.

WHO confirms that asymptomatic spread is very rare. Of course.

I also studied for the Alexa certification, and as a part of it, I created an Alexa app. It was mind-blowing. Super-demanding. Imagine a web page where there are no menus, and you have to help people navigate by discussing with users. That's hard! So be patient with your Alexa. It's not dumb AI. It's just that application developers have to do hard work to make that work.

At that point, we decided to postpone the wedding. It was kind of obvious a few months in advance. But at that point, it became certain. Why? Napkin laws. We could leave the US, but we couldn't come back.

In this year. We saw the emerge of napkin laws. What does it mean? For example, you want to ban some traveling. So no matter what the law you write, you have, it has to fit in a napkin, right? So for example, you write Europe, right? And then you say in, out. So you say this is done.

Yes. This can be done. This can't be done. And it must be so simple. So you can explain it clearly to everybody, no confusion. And it's fast. That's the most important thing, fast and clear, right? So then people will come and ask, like, what about L1 visas, H1B visas. Nope. It doesn't fit in here. What about people that have families? What about, Nope, that's it. This is a napkin law and this is exactly the laws simple and clear that we saw both in Europe and in the USA this year. It's brilliant. It's a global innovation and it really works.

All this is ridiculous since we represent a very specific group of people. But we were affected by laws intended for European tourists. It is what it is. The same napkin laws still apply half a year later. Anyway. No wedding, no more music production for this year. Tough luck.

At the end of June, outdoor dining opened again. We were so happy!

If you're like me every year, you feel dissatisfied because you've just crossed only two hundred out of two thousand things on your todo list. Your todo list might not tell if you're an interesting person, but it certainly tells that you're an interested person. Do you like things? Do you want to do things? That's a great thing! Not something to make you suffer. Of course, you don't want to overwhelm yourself, but at the same time, having a single interest or two is a risk.

Because a 2020 will come. And you won't be able to go to the office. You can't meet your friends. What do you do then?

Well - the answer is that you open your todo list. It doesn't have to be physical. It can be mental. And ask. What introvert things do I like?

For example, on the 19th of June, I made this list with all the certifications I wanted to take. Did I take all of them? No. But It was something I wanted to do for a long time. I know a lot about tech, but it's mostly proprietary tech. It's quite clear that it would be good for me to know how to do the same things with cloud technologies. Lockdown? Perfect opportunity!

Of course, I suffered because I couldn't travel and I like traveling. But did it devastate me? No. Instead of thinking of the magical places I could be right now, I focused my attention on the geeky things I could do from my apartment.

And I think that's the meaning of balance too. Balance isn't just a thing on a daily scale. Meditation and aromatherapy. Balance means that some months or years you take it easy and some others you run like crazy.

An inventory of what you like definitely helps.

All the parents that got a year to spend with your children, what the hell are you complaining about? 2020 isn't the year to get an A+ at work. Spend time with your children, man. You won't get fired! On the other hand, whoever was single this year and looking to start a family. Yes, you folks certainly lost a year you would spend with your children permanently. But who talks about you? Nobody cares about unconceived children. All that line of thinking would blow most people's minds.

So yes - your todo list is a blessing. Be an interested person. It's certainly worth it!

Can you believe it? It's just halfway through the year. It feels like a year to me already! But yes, this was June. Alexa, Napkin Laws, and Your todo list is a blessing