Greetings from My Living Room Couch + A Special Announcement!
Hey there!
I hoped to spend the weekend with family and then get some alone time to work on this newsletter and make progress on my blogs. But alas, a stomach virus decided Diego had other plans. We spent Thanksgiving at home for the second year in a row but enjoyed some yummy food courtesy of HEB and our super awesome neighbors.
Diego is feeling better now, and it’s a normal weekend again. With things getting chillier in Houston, I’m definitely looking forward to spending more time outside.
Anyway, this is an exciting edition of the newsletter! I’ve been working on a fun new project, trying to figure out how to create my own shortened URLs with apps like Shlink.io and YOURLs. I’m fighting the urge to buy the M4 Mac Mini I talked about last time, adding all the Peak Design gear and the new DJI Mic Mini to my Amazon cart in the hope that I’ll forget about it (I won’t). I’ve also been spending so much time in Adobe Express that I feel like a freelance creative director. Yes, Canva exists, but I already pay for Adobe apps, so I might as well keep it in the same house, right?
I almost bought a house earlier in the week (we withdrew), but that led to lots of existential realizations about our current home and financial situation. This has me doing my third fresh start in YNAB and re-reading the You Need A Budget book. I’m also reorganizing the office so it feels like a new space and trying to channel all this energy and motivation into a sustainable creative outlet.
We’ll see how all this goes. In the meantime, let’s get into it!
What’s Happening
• Go Horns! 🤘🏽 I have no skin in the game this weekend, but our UH home is pulling for UT against A&M today. Yes, UT took our football coach (how’d that go, huh?) and they refused to play us after the poaching. But at the end of the day, we spent a lot of time in one of the two towns being represented today, and it’s not College Station 🤷.
• Craft 3! I’m writing today’s newsletter in Craft. They just released their newest update, Craft 3, and I’m digging it. Craft is one of those apps that makes it easy to write and make things look pretty. While I love Obsidian, it’s nice to use Craft and change things up every once in a while. It has more task management features that I felt were lacking in the prior versions, which look promising, but I’ll need some more time to see if it’s worth moving other parts of my workflow. For now, it’s still a nice writing app.
• Extra Extra! I’m working on a new newsletter (keep on reading)! This one is staying as is 🙂
• Moana 2. I took Diego to see Moana 2 this week (I wonder if the popcorn at 10 am contributed to his tummy issues). It was a good time! I don’t know that anyone was asking for a Moana sequel. If anything, it seems like a Frozen 2 toy-grab attempt. But the movie itself was fun and gave a bit more of what I enjoyed about the original: a nice story with bearable songs that doesn’t have a dated love story weaved in.
• Toddler and a drum set? Diego’s grandparents got him a drum set. Don’t worry, it’s electric, so only he hears what he’s playing through his level-controlled headphones. This is one of those questionable parenting decisions that have turned out to be pretty fun because he enjoys it, he actually has some rhythm, and it’s a great activity that lets him let it all out without destroying the house. Admittedly, he usually heads to his drum set after he’s already destroyed the house, so…
Corporate Corner + Special Announcement!
This is a special one because I’m building something cool around AI and the workplace. I see this as an opportunity for folks to find ways to make their lives easier during their 9-to-5s and even build something different with what they learn.
That’s why I’m launching 9to5 AI. 9to5 AI is a weekly newsletter for everyday professionals, offering practical tips, real examples, and useful ideas to help you use AI effectively in your workday.
Chris Huerta
If this is something you’re interested in, please subscribe! Emails are going to start going out soon. If you know someone else who might like it, forward it to them! There will be a free and paid version, with the paid version getting a bunch of extra goodies. Head to 9to5ai.co to subscribe!
New Posts on the Blogs
I’ve been spending a lot of time gearing up for the launch of 9to5 AI, so new posts are light. But I did write about my favorite Peak Design products 🙂
Chris Huerta
Also did a thread on Threads about the same. Not sure why I'm on a Peak Design kick lately!
View on Threads
Tech I’m Enjoying + Gift Guide, Anyone?
I’ll admit that I spend a lot of time during the holidays mindlessly browsing gift guides from publications like The Verge, Wired, The Strategist, and some of my favorite YouTubers. I’ll include some of the ones I like below, but I also enjoy putting together my own kind of gift guide. I’ve done a Father’s Day Tech Gift Guide and a guide for overworked accountants. What kind of gift guides would you like to see? Reply to this email and let me know!
Here’s what I’m digging:
• Quinn’s latest video (and every holiday tech video) covers some out-of-left-field gadgets that are always home runs. I mean, who wouldn’t want a TinyTV?
• Anker 737 Power Bank. Multiple times during trips I have been left on an island with no power outlets in sight. Powerless no longer! I finally got this power bank, which is similar to the power banks used to charge your phones but much bigger and can charge a laptop.
• Outdoor Kasa Smart Plug. Every holiday season, I find myself thanking past me for buying this. It’s really basic—a smart outdoor plug that makes it easy to turn your holiday lights on and off. That’s it.
• Apple TV 4K. Whether you bought a new TV or are looking for a better way to watch TV, the Apple TV is the way to go. I won’t get into why using the default apps on your TV sucks (ads, tracking, bad experience), but plug in this Apple TV and you can make the oldest of TVs feel snappy and refreshed. Get this for yourself, as a housewarming gift, or a stocking stuffer for your close friends and fam.
• This Govee Floor Lamp is in the corner of our living room, and during the day, it’s just a lamp. But at any time, we can light it up with different colors, scenes, and even sync it to music for a fun dance/rock party.
Junk Drawer
• ChatGPT Trivia! ChatGPT has a memory feature that lets it remember things from your conversations. You may have seen some viral prompts like “create an image based on what you know about me,” but one that I’m having fun with is
“based on what you know about me, create a trivia game with 20 questions that I can play with my partner.”
The questions are hyper-specific to you and your chat history. Luckily, I have separate work and personal accounts. I don’t know how fun this would be if Karla had to answer questions about ERP and tax engine implementations.
• Dropout is a streaming service that has some very entertaining comedy series and game shows. You may have seen their shorts/videos on YouTube. Make Some Noise and Game Changer are some of my favorites. Great option if you’re looking for something to watch while you veg on the couch. If another streaming service is too much for you, YouTube has plenty of clips and full episodes to get you through the weekend!
• Play it safe this holiday season with a plastic safety cutter. Cuts through all the boxes and packaging, even that stubborn plastic packaging we all hate. It will almost certainly live in... your junk drawer. badum tsssssssss 🥁
Signing Off!
Hope everyone is having a restful holiday weekend. We’re getting into that weird time of the year where everyone will “circle back after the holidays.” As someone who works in professional services, I’m all for it. It makes the next few weeks more chill, but in reality, we’re just deferring a lot of things to our future selves… I’ll let you know in a month how it goes!
