Elwood Scott
Author
Podcaster
Newsletter Writer
#4 October 2023
Hey There
Greetings from – it was sunny a minute ago – downtown Melbourne.
When was the last time you had a break? I mean like a proper break. I just took a week for what I designated as a – get away from it all – break to catch up on some writing without having to worry about work, my annoying new boss, or the neighbours who appear to have just discovered ‘Bass’ on their stereo.
At some point in my misspent twenties, I fell in love with the idea of writing while sitting next to a lake. Books like Bag of Bones by Stephen King and the film Love Actually reinforced it over the years (I wonder if they’ve ever been mentioned in the same sentence before🤔).
Anyway, the plan was to write, but also to relax. And I found the perfect AirBnb, located on a lake, in a nice quiet little corner of South Australia.
Unfortunately, as you know, I’m in Melbourne – roughly 800 km/500 miles away. So after a brief nine hour drive, I whipped out my computer (not a euphemism), flopped onto the outdoor lounge; and promptly fell asleep.
I was struck by an overwhelming compulsion to put Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Born on the Bayou on repeat
Day two was slightly more productive. I started work on the ‘Cybersecurity for Amateurs’ book I’ve been wanting to write for a while. Did some planning for the cozy mystery idea I have. Came up with a few ideas for book two of Colin Calls the Help Desk… and fell asleep in the sun. I’ll give you some behind the scenes into all this in the next issue (the writing not the sleeping).
When I wasn’t writing, I watched the birds soar and swoop, gazed out over the water and fed the regularly visiting ducks.
My main activity on day three was moving what I was now referring to as – ‘My sleeping lounge’ out of the shade when necessary.
I wondered whether I should feel guilty that I wasn’t getting more writing done (after all that was the point of getting away) but by day four I was more relaxed than a sloth in a commune. All those dramas that had been the most important things in the world had somehow dissipated like the morning mist over the water. I wrote, I slept. I didn’t even unpack my pants. It was great.
Eventually I had to leave, and come Check-Out time (after an unsuccessful exercise googling – Squatter’s Rights)
I said goodbye to the ducks and reluctantly drove home.
So, now I’m back home. Typing this; sitting in exactly the same spot I was before my ‘getting away from it all’ break… and do you know what I’ve realised?
Nothing changed.
I’ve still got too much to do, my boss is still annoying, and the ace of bass next door is still thumping.
But none it bothers me as much as it did before.
Sure, nothing has changed… but my perception of it has.
Having a break allowed me to wind down, de-stress and relax. It gave me the chance to think about what’s going on, what’s important, and how to manage it all (it’s also made me add – write a story about getting away from it all – to my list).
Here’s my two cents worth of life advice:
Get Away!
Even if it’s for a day or two; even a couple of hours. Get away and relax. Put the adulting on hold for a while and take the time to re-evaluate where you are and how you ‘re perceiving what’s going on.
You don’t need to do something as dumb as drive nine hours to do it; just be somewhere else.*
Because I learnt that when you’re down in the weeds, it’s hard to recognise there’s a sleeping lounge that’s in the sun on your lawn.
(*Important note – if you have young children, animals or plants, probably best to organise someone to look after them).
Bonus Content!
For new subscribers – I work in cybersecurity, so I like to take the opportunity to spread a little bit of info to help keep people safe online.
This month – MFA.
You may have heard the term MFA. It stands for Mother F*cking Authentication.
Wait. No it doesn’t, it stands for Multi Factor Authentication. Sorry, I think I channeled Samuel L. Jackson for a second there.
What is MFA?
Okay, imagine you’re in your backyard on your sleeping lounge, and someone manages to sneak in through your front door. Once inside they could rummage around, maybe pick up a few things, and sneak back out, and you might not even realise they were there. But if you had a dog, your dog would bark and stop them getting in.
MFA is your barking dog. If someone does manage to get hold of your password, they can’t get in to your account, because you need to approve letting them in (call of your dog).
MFA comes in many forms, and it’s essentially anything that requires two or more ways to verify who you are. It might be a password and a PIN*, a PIN and a fingerprint, a password and a text message with a one time code.
Yes, I know MFA can be annoying to do every time, but it’s less annoying than having to recover your entire account if someone does get in.
If you have the choice, go with a verification app on your phone over SMS (it’s more secure) and also because there’s always a countdown timer. in the app.
Whenever I log into my bank account, I cue up the Mission Impossible theme and pretend I’m Tom Cruise for five minutes.
See, it’s all about perception.
Well, I think that about wraps it up for Issue Four. I’m always interested in a good getaway story, so if you have one, I’d love to hear it, or if you have a preference for whether my next book is mystery, cyber or Colin, feel free to drop me a note by replying to this newsletter.
*You’ll note I didn’t say PIN number, because that would make it a Personal Identification Number number.
Cheers till next time
Elwood
Elwood Scott 