Republic of Tatarstan
Today is January 1st, so the New Year has officially begun. For me, this day was quite usual, but I still started the year in a productive way. I woke up at 9 a.m., even though I went to bed at 2 a.m. As soon as I got out of bed, I got dressed and went straight to the bathroom. I didn’t want to stay in bed and waste time. I felt energized and had several plans for the day, so I decided to follow my morning routine and start the day properly. When I woke up, I noticed the weather through the window. The sun was shining, and the temperature was around -10 degrees. However, the wind was strong enough to sweep snow across the road. Later, during my evening walk along the embankment, I clearly felt how the cold wind penetrated through the hood of my jacket.
Today I slept until 11 a.m. and got out of bed at 11:15. I can explain this situation. Something understandable happened today. All night, the street lights were on, and the light came slightly through my window. My bed is located right next to the window, so the room was as bright as possible. Usually, the street lights are turned off around midnight, but this night they stayed on, and it really bothered me. As a result, I fell asleep around 3 a.m., even though I went to bed at 1:30 a.m. For about one and a half hours, I tried to fall asleep and read Reddit posts, as usual. After I woke up and finished my morning routine, it was already close to lunchtime. So I waited a bit and started my day with lunch.
Today I woke up a bit late, around 8:45 AM. Because of that, my morning was fast and busy. However, I still managed to finish my morning routine on time and had an opportunity to join our morning meeting. The meeting was without the team lead because he was absent until around 2–3 PM, so the deputy team lead was responsible during that time. During the meeting, the deputy team lead mostly wanted to have casual conversations, but the lead developer started asking questions about tasks and discussing them. Eventually, we got involved in work-related topics. Honestly, the meeting didn’t last long — about twenty minutes in total — but we could have used that time just to relax and take a short break from work worries.
I started working at 9 a.m. and finished at 6 p.m. During the day, I had several tasks to handle. One of them was new for me and was related to the Telegram API. I needed to check its functionality and analyze the code because there were issues with notifications. Today, I managed to test and review all of that code, although I still haven’t reached a final conclusion.
After some time, the lead developer sent me a message about one of my previous tasks. We discussed the main problem, and I explained what fixes I had added and why. His questions weren’t about mistakes on my part; on the contrary, I needed to extend the solution by adding a few more fixes within the scope of the task. Overall, the workday was quite good — not too difficult and without any serious worries.
I got out of bed at 10 a.m., although I actually woke up around 9. I had gone to bed only at 2 a.m., maybe even later, so in the morning I felt a bit weak and didn’t really want to get up. I stayed in bed for a while, scrolling through Reddit and listening to someone speaking loudly in another room. I also reread my post from yesterday, reviewed my blog, and planned some changes. I want to implement these updates during the New Year holidays and fix a few bugs in the mobile version. In general, I spent the morning — or rather the first part of the day — in bed, then did my morning routine and had lunch. It was a simple, quiet, and even slightly cozy start to the day, a bit unusual for me.
The day was very busy and a bit difficult. I spent almost the entire day in Kazan—from 12 PM until 9 PM. However, I left home around 10 AM. I woke up at about 9 AM, which was quite late for me, so I had only one hour for my morning routine, and that wasn’t enough. I had many routine tasks that morning and couldn’t finish them without rushing. I started by brushing my teeth, which is always the first thing I do after waking up. Then I shaved my face because my beard had grown quite a lot, and I hadn’t shaved recently. After that, I took a shower and had breakfast. Since I had to visit the dentist after breakfast, I brushed my teeth again. All of this took more than an hour, so I ended up being late. I had planned to hit the road as early as possible, but everything turned out the opposite way. I finally left home at about 10:15.
It’s already December 26, and there are only five days left until the end of the year. I clearly remember the first months of this year — how I obtained my Schengen visa and traveled to Europe twice. I also recall my trips to several Asian countries. These experiences became some of the most unforgettable journeys of my life. Time passed incredibly fast, but fortunately, I managed to preserve those moments. My blog pages are now filled with travel stories, and, of course, these memories remain vivid in my mind as well. Despite everything, I truly enjoy this period of the year. I’m not entirely sure why, because the final days are usually quite hectic. Yet, I feel calm and comfortable. There’s a noticeable New Year atmosphere everywhere — decorations in the streets, people in a festive mood, and the pleasant realization that I’ll have long weekends over the next two weeks. It’s simply a wonderful time to slow down and rest.
My night was comfortable enough because the previous night was a bit annoying. The main problem was our heating system. It broke when the temperature outside was –25 degrees. Because of that, I was forced to go to bed fully dressed, which made me unhappy. Yesterday, the technician fixed the broken part and serviced the system. Now our heating system and hot water are working effectively. I described this in more detail in my previous posts. However, my morning was a bit early. I woke up at 8 a.m., and I managed to complete my morning routine without any worries. I even had some free time before work and talked with my family. Overall, it was my second quiet and happy morning. Recently, I usually woke up around 9 a.m. and immediately started working, and I couldn’t finish my routine properly.
This morning started a bit unusually. It was around 8 AM, and while I was sleeping, I heard an unusual song from my phone because it was very different from my alarm ringtone. In the morning, I never remember anyone calling me, so I was confused and thought my alarm had started using the wrong ringtone. But it was not an alarm — it was a call from my uncle. He decided to call me because nobody from my relatives answered. Therefore, my morning started earlier and was very productive. I finished all my morning routine without rushing, and I could start my workday easily without any worries because I had enough time. I need to start waking up early and make a routine that satisfies me.
Yesterday, I checked my teeth again. I tried using my manual toothbrush instead of the electric one, and I didn’t see any changes. As usual, I saw the same stained areas between my teeth. Maybe it was even a bit worse. In general, I couldn’t find any improvement. Now I have doubts about why I bought that electric toothbrush if it cleans my teeth almost the same as a manual toothbrush. Another point is that I probably used the liquid incorrectly. So today or in the next few days, I need to test it before brushing my teeth. Then I’ll be 100 percent sure whether I used it correctly or not. As for the surgically treated area in my upper gum, I can still feel the stitches, but everything is fine. There is no pain and no discomfort. When I rinse my mouth with chlorhexidine, I don’t feel anything disturbing.
Yesterday at night, after brushing my teeth with my new electric toothbrush, I checked how clean my teeth were. For this, I used a newly bought liquid for testing dental plaque. I used cotton swabs to apply it to my teeth and then carefully rinsed my mouth. After that, I saw some places between my teeth that were painted light pink. All other places were clean; I couldn’t notice any painted areas. Now I know which places I need to spend more time cleaning. If my toothbrush can’t clean those places effectively, I will need to buy extra tools. But I think everything is okay with my toothbrush; probably I can’t use it effectively yet, and I need to learn how to use it properly. Generally, I’m very glad about these results because I thought my teeth were much dirtier. However, today I want to try my classic toothbrush and brush my teeth with it. I hope I can see the difference between an electric toothbrush and a classic toothbrush.
The last two days were full of trips. Yesterday, I visited a village that I mentioned here before. Today, I visited Vyatskie Polyany. This city is located in another region — Kirov Oblast — not in Tatarstan. So today, at around 11 a.m., my relatives and I started our trip. This journey was not new for me because I had already visited this place a few years ago. Our main purpose was simply to visit our relatives. The trip took about one hour, maybe a bit more, because the road conditions were not very good. The temperature was relatively warm again, around +1°C, so everything had melted. Because of that, driving was not very enjoyable. Also saw the border of my republic, Tatarstan. I wanted to take a photo of it, but I couldn’t. I think it would have been more interesting.