When we last rounded up our staff’s Weekly Upgrades, our editors were easing ourselves back into the gym, exploring new holiday options, finding the best music for Getting Stuff Done, and buying wine that comes in cans.
This week, we’re revisiting the Pokemon GO craze, improving our cloud storage, upping our retirement savings, and learning more about poetry.
What upgrades did you make this week? Let us know in the comments.
Revive your Pokemon GO habit
I’ve started playing Pokemon GO again in an effort to have more physical activities. I was one of those people that downloaded it the minute it came out and played hardcore for a month or two, then completely forgot about it for a long time. A lot has changed since its release, though, so it’s a little more fun now. It’s keeping me active and satisfying my craving to play games when I feel as though I’m too busy to sit down and veg out for hours at a time.
Patrick Allan, Staff Writer
Find an easy way to get into poetry
I’ve been enjoying the American Poetry Foundation’s Poetry off the Shelf podcast, and they’re currently doing a series on how women made space for their voices in the 20th century poetry establishment. I know basically nothing about poetry so I get to learn about people such as Audre Lorde for the first time.
Once I run out of recent episodes I plan too check out their other podcast Vs, which is hosted by modern day poets as they “confront the ideas that move them.”
Beth Skwarecki, Health Editor
Help someone else with their upgrade
I upgraded my boyfriend by buying him swim shorts that are an appropriate, mid-thigh length, not board shorts, which are too long and not good looking.
Claire Lower, Food & Beverage Editor
Increase your retirement savings a little at a time
I’m inching my retirement contributions up as high as I can possibly stand. I figure it’s better to get the money invested as early as possible.
Melissa Kirsch, Editor-in-Chief
Take your cloud storage into your own hands
I have decided to turn away from cloud-based backup services, which get expensive, and am attempting to figure out an automated solution among the myriad of hard drives I own – both internal and as part of my network-attached storage device. And people ask me why I don’t get outside much…
David Murphy, Senior Tech Editor
Pay for a literal upgrade
I was wracking my brain trying to think of any way I’d improved my life this week, and then I remembered that on my late night flight back from the west coast on Wednesday, I shelled out $US80 ($106) for…. an upgrade.
I don’t usually go in for this kind of thing (and resent airlines squeezing us for every cent to the point that you have to pay money to maintain any shred of dignity). However. My original seat was a middle seat all the way in the back, and when I saw the chance to pay for a window seat in the “extra leg room” aisle, I jumped at it. It made my flight infinitely more pleasant, and I regret nothing.
Virginia K. Smith, Managing Editor
Get rid of guilt-inducing apps you no longer need
I deleted the Moment app from my phone. While it’s cool to see how much I use each app, it doesn’t really help me change my phone habits right now. The notifications were becoming more of a distraction than a time saver. But actually shutting off Twitter helps, so I still have Freedom!
Nick Douglas, Staff Writer
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