Amy Says…
Hello {{first_name}} ,
Welcome to January. The longest month of the year. A month that feels like it's made up entirely of Mondays.
This week in my house, I took down the holiday decorations and brought some technology up to date.
In my home, I am the technology team. I do have one child who is an engineer, and this job would be better suited to them, but they don't live in my house, so it falls to me.
Anybody who I've Zoomed with since mid-December has heard me whining about my WiFi issues.
I really wanted this to be a problem that somebody else could fix. I rebooted everything. A lot. Through a lot of Googling and asking Perplexity—and also people in person—I decided that probably it was my mesh routers that needed an upgrade. I mean, we were using first-gen Google WiFi, which were at least 10 years old. I guess they don't last forever. Who knew?
They don't even make them anymore. When I asked perplexity whether this upgrade would improve the performance…it was like, “yes.” No hedging and no uncertainty.
So I ordered new gear and tried to pick a time when it would cause the least amount of interruption. In preparation for the switcheroo, I watched some YouTube videos. As one does. I texted my husband that after 3 pm I was going to shut everything down for the switch, and he texted back, “how confident are you that you can do this?”
I was very confident that I could take everything apart. I mean, that's always the easy part.
How confident was I that I could get everything back up and running? Well, fair-to-middlin'.
I shared that I had watched a YouTube video. He was not super enthusiastic. Then again, he knows that he'd never even attempt it, so that was all the permission I needed.
It has all pretty much worked out. After I got all the bits talking to each other, we did speed tests and everything is sooooo much faster. My husband was running around the house shouting out things like, "350 in the closet!" He checked the speed in all the bathrooms and the driveway, too.
They give the advice to rename the network the same as the old one. This is good advice that I almost followed perfectly. In the old network, the name was Wi-Fi. The new network I named Wi-fi. Oopsie. I am now deeply aware of how many things are connected to the network because I've updated a lot of settings.
Weirdly, for some reason, this upgrade has upset one of the TVs and the sound is cutting in and out. That's a problem for next week.
Please enjoy this first Imperfect Adulting newsletter of the year.
Amy
Table of Contents
Body & Brain | Sobriety Without Hitting Rock Bottom
Lesley Jones
The loss was coming. Lesley Jones could feel it with every drink, every calculated moment of planning her alcohol consumption around work presentations and family obligations. On the outside, her life looked polished: a marriage that had lasted since seventh grade, multiple degrees, marathon finishes, three children, and a successful career. But inside, shame was eating away at the foundation of everything she'd built. The dice she kept rolling with every drink would eventually come up snake eyes, and she knew it.
In January 2015, Jones made a decision that would redefine not just her relationship with alcohol, but her entire understanding of what it means to hit rock bottom. She got sober before losing her job, before a DUI, before her marriage crumbled, before any of the external markers that society associates with having a serious drinking problem. Nearly 11 years later, her story challenges one of the most persistent and damaging myths about sobriety: that you have to lose everything before you can justify quitting.
Special offer from Lesley for the audience:
Special offer for podcast listeners 20% off entire purchase at www.travelingpendants.com Use the code Imperfect to get that deal.
📆 Upcoming Community Events
If you have a podcast or YouTube channel I’d love to connect. I’m hosting a weekly conversation with creators. Find info here.
Raquel Sands (episode 143) is writing a new Substack series called, Go With the Flow.
Career | Career Change and Rediscovering Adventure
Most people spend years planning a career change, building safety nets, and waiting for the perfect moment. Laura Ericson spent 14 years in higher education, climbed to director level with 20 employees, and enjoyed the security of benefits and a steady paycheck. Then she walked away from all of it without a business plan, without a website, and without a following. What she did have was a realization that the person she'd become in her marriage and career wasn't the person she wanted to be anymore.
The catalyst wasn't dramatic. After her divorce in 2017, Ericson found herself booking the same resort vacations she'd always taken, repeating patterns that no longer fit.
Laura Ericson
Check out Laura’s Podcast:
Type 2 Travel https://type-2-travel.captivate.fm/
📕 🎧 Things Worth Your Time
This is where we share the cool suggestions for books, podcasts, gadgets that make life better and other fun stuff that our guests share during their interviews.
Lesley suggests the book: What Made Maddy Run
Laura suggests: Buying yourself a luggage scale. Like this one
It’s Your Turn 😄
Who handles the tech in your house?
Hit reply and let me know. I’m curious.