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After yesterday’s trip to Kazan, I was pretty drained, so my day only really started around 10 AM. Even though I didn’t manage to finish my previous post yesterday, I stuck to my morning routine and made it my first priority to complete and publish it. After that, I was finally free, with no particular plans other than to rest and make the weekend feel productive in a calm way. The weather, however, had a different plan. The day started off sunny, which naturally gave the impression it would stay that way. But it gradually shifted into something much more autumn-like — overcast skies, a drop in temperature, and a slow rain that quietly turned the roads wet. I barely even noticed how quickly the conditions changed, but in the end, it didn’t affect my walk in a negative way at all.

I had a dentist appointment in Kazan at 5 PM, so I didn’t rush out early—I left sometime after lunch, around 3 PM. The day itself was pretty standard, nothing particularly memorable. I wrapped up a few personal tasks and spent some time watching podcasts, easing into my first weekend after the first full week at work. I didn’t plan much for Kazan either—just a quick stop at a hardware store and the visit to the dental clinic. Still, even with such a simple agenda, I didn’t make it back home until around 10, maybe even closer to 11 PM. Overall, though, the trip felt worth it. There’s something oddly satisfying about driving through streets you used to know so well—I used to be there almost every day four years ago—and that familiarity made the whole experience unexpectedly enjoyable.

Yesterday was a bit chaotic — my laptop, specifically Firefox, started acting up. Today, thankfully, everything’s stable again. But I wanted to continue this story because there were a few important moments worth sharing: how I managed to recover my tabs, and how that whole situation pushed me to build my own backup system. Honestly, I got pretty lucky. Being able to restore my tabs felt like a small miracle, and building my own backup solution turned into a surprisingly valuable experience. It’s one thing to try a new programming language once and forget it — it’s something else entirely to actually use it to solve a real problem.

Today didn’t feel pleasant from the beginning, even though I woke up on time and the weather was just adorably nice. I had a very strange dream that left me with confusing and hard-to-explain thoughts. I also had a headache, and my head felt like it was surrounded by fog. I think it was because of that dream, since I woke up multiple times during the night, and each time I fell asleep again, the same dream continued. It was ridiculously unusual and creepy, and even after waking up, those thoughts wouldn’t let me relax. I really didn’t want to experience something like that again.

When I woke up, though, it didn’t look promising at all—the sky was completely covered in clouds, the roads were still wet from earlier rain, and it just seemed like one of those dull, rainy days. But that guess didn’t hold for long. By the time it got closer to lunch, the weather shifted almost unexpectedly—the clouds disappeared, the sky turned a clear blue, and sunlight gradually filled the streets, making everything feel brighter and more alive. That change alone lifted my mood and made the second half of the day feel much more positive.

Yesterday I noticed a small but surprisingly meaningful moment in my blog’s metrics—something I forgot to mention at the time. It honestly caught me off guard in the best way and even made me smile. I hadn’t really expected that someone from another city would be reading my posts in Russian. That felt different. Of course, I’ve seen readers from other countries engaging with my English posts before, but this was the first time I became aware of a local reader. The metrics didn’t reveal anything more about this mystery visitor, but even that tiny hint was enough to make my day. It felt like a quiet confirmation that I’m on the right path and that what I’m writing actually reaches someone.

Since I got back, the weather in my city has been gloomy, and next week doesn’t look any better — just clouds and rain, almost like autumn showed up uninvited. I was really hoping to get back into riding my bike around the city, maybe even take a few routes through the forest, but that didn’t happen. Instead, I ended up spending the evening at home in front of my laptop, watching YouTube. It’s ironic, because during my trip I barely had time for screens, and now I’m right back to it. To be honest, that’s the last thing I want — I’d much rather be outside, walking, breathing fresh air, and enjoying warm, sunny days.

My trip to Seoul, South Korea turned out to be surprisingly smooth—maybe even easier than my experience in Japan. From the moment I arrived at the airport to getting into the city, everything just felt convenient and intuitive. Taking the bus was simple, paying with my debit card worked everywhere without any friction, and the metro system was easy to navigate without overthinking anything. I never found myself confused or making mistakes, which made the whole experience feel very comfortable. In some ways, it even reminded me of the best moments I’ve had traveling around Europe, where things just work the way you expect them to.

Today, I began my day with cloudy and foggy weather. I especially noticed the fog during my trip to the tire service, as the road was covered in it and visibility was quite low. Honestly, it didn’t bother me; I arrived safely at the tire service, where the work feels familiar to my people. There, I changed my winter tires to summer ones because the weather was already warm and the roads were no longer icy. Even though there are still some patches of snow in certain places, I decided it was time. 

The process went smoothly without any issues. It took around thirty minutes, maybe even less, as three workers operated quickly and in good coordination. For the service, I paid 2000 rubles (about $24.90) for my 16-inch radial tires.

I started the day with a cloudy and foggy morning. The fog was extremely heavy and completely covered the city. From the window, I couldn’t see the hill at all — it was fully hidden and seemed to vanish into the fog. The last time I experienced something similar was during a winter blizzard and a few times in autumn, but today the fog felt much heavier than usual. Around the river, it was especially dense and almost perfectly white. I first noticed it from the window, but when I observed it from a distance, it looked even more beautiful. It felt as if a thick layer of fog was floating above the river, while other parts slowly spread across the hills and trees.

In this post I already mentioned my work results, but today during the monthly meeting there was another discussion about our productivity. The CEO talked about the most important things that happened during the first quarter and said that the quarter was unsuccessful for the company. Honestly, I don’t remember that the main plan was not completed successfully during January, February, and March. In fact, the company achieved about 97% of the plan. Of course, it’s not 100%, but I don’t think it’s that bad. They also reported revenue of more than 110 million rubles.

I got completely stuck on a task and didn’t manage to finish anything. This was already my third full day working on it, and I’m starting to feel a bit unsure about my situation with my team lead. He might ask me, “Where are your results?”, and although I do have some progress, I’m not confident in it. The task itself is quite specific and involves working with a Google API, which makes it more challenging. Honestly, it made me feel a bit down. Just yesterday, our CEO was talking about productivity, and today mine was extremely low. That didn’t make me feel good at all—if anything, it made me stressed and annoyed.