Monthly Archives: December 2022

December 31, 2022 · 11:00 am

Summary of (my) 2022

Time to look back and reflect on how the year which is about to end developed. Brief recap of my 2022. (*)

The personal memory from this 2022 was having my father back at home after nearly two months in hospitals, including a couple of days at the emergency room. He suffered a heat stroke at the end of June and only came back from it mid August. Those were testing times for him but also for the family, especially for my mother and brother who lifted the lion’s share of the caring for him during those months.

Family. Andrea is now 9 years old and David, 6. Andrea has been learning piano for most of the year, she enjoyed very much climbing, reading, singing in the school choir, drawing anddoing handcraft. She also started taking Spanish lessons once a week since the fall, on top of the Dutch lessons they both take every second week.

David is now nearly fluent in English and they both talk to each other in that language. He is improving with his reading and writing and very eager with maths. He started to play video games, is very fond of football and wants to help with anything, especially if it involves the use of tools (that probably comes from his maternal grand father).

Sports

Back to marathoning! After not having taken part in any marathon in 2020 and 2021 (breaking a 9-year streak), in 2022 I completed 2 marathons: Sevilla and Bucharest. Those were great and emotional experiences. With them I have now completed 23 marathons.

This year, together with some work colleagues we participated in a month-long sports (running and biking) challenge fighting against hunger in the spring and in the fall we ran the 15km-long Airbus charity run.

I ran 1,200km in 2022, around 100km less than in 2021. You can see below that I alternated periods of heavy training with some weeks of not running, due to illness, injuries, travelling or resting after the races.

Following a mantra I try keep to letter, “the running shoes, always in the suitcase”, the year 2022 caught me running in: Galapagar, Singapore, Seville, La Châtre-Langlin, Fontainebleau, Wijchen,  Pontoise-lès-Noyon, Isla, Derby, Hamburg, London, Torrelodones, Almuñécar, Hyères and Bucharest, plus the tens of times I trained in my village, Blagnac and Toulouse.

With those 1,200 kilometres run in 2022, this is the sixth year in a row that I struggle to add more mileage, as I used to do between 2011-2016… One would say whether it is due to the arrival of the second child (spring 2016), the moving of houses (summer 2017) or just getting older (!), but something has made it more difficult. Hopefully in 2023 I can break that trend.

Other sports:

  • Skiing. After the cancellation of our plan in 2021, in 2022 we could go back with the family for  a week to our favourite resort at Vars, in the Southern Alps. If in 2020 it was the first time I descended some tracks with Andrea, in this 2022 it was the first time that the four of us descended some tracks altogether. That was a great experience. This year Andrea got her Flocon medal and David his Ourson one (levels from the French ESF).
  • Swimming. On top of enjoying the pool at home, this year we went to the beach at three different locations: Isla (North of Spain), Almuñécar (South of Spain) and the Presque-ile des Giens (France). The kids loved it. During the holidays, they also took some swimming lessons to improve their style.
  • Golf. The whole family started taking golf lessons last year and for half of the year 2022 we continued doing so, though after the summer the kids wanted to quit.
  • Climbing. Both Andrea and David are very fond of climbing, so now, at almost every school holidays break they follow some climbing stage.
  • Real Madrid. Even if David and I did not have to play for it, we did enjoy watching a few football matches together supporting our favourite team all the way to winning the 14th Champions’ League, another memorable hapenning of this 2022.

Flying. Unfortunately, this year I haven’t flown much, just 7 flights and 13 landings (the least in 12 years of flying). This takes the total to just above 192 flying hours and 300 landings since I started taking lessons back in 2011.

Together with our Aviation Society we were planning some excursions for the summer time but for different reasons a couple of them were cancelled and I could not join another. Therefore all the flying this year has been around our South West region.

On the positive side:

  • I renewed the FCL055 qualification that allows me to speak in English to the ATC when flying abroad, this will permit me to attempt long excursions next year again.
  • This year I flew for the first time with a few colleagues: Iain, Scott, Emilio and Marcellin. I am sure that in 2023 I will have the chance to fly with more colleagues.

Travelling. After many restrictions during the pandemic, especially in 2020, in 2021 we started to travel more and in 2022 we had the chance to visit some new and old places: Singapore (first time for me), Spain (Seville, Santoña, Isla, Madrid (a few times), El Escorial, Bailén, Almuñécar, Las Navas de Tolosa, Tordesillas, San Sebastian), France (Gap, Vars, Avignon, Sully-sur-Loire, Fontainebleau, Péronne, Château de Blérancourt, Meung-sur-Loire, Nimes, Presque-ile des Giens (there we had great week at the beach in the French Riviera)), Germany (Xanten, Hamburg (first time for me, and where we were very warmly hosted by Burkhard!), Munich), the Netherlands (Wijchen), England (Derby, London (it was quite some time since the last time I was in London), Farnborough), Romania (Bucharest) and Pakistan.

In some of those trips we had the opportunity to meet some friends from the university and the high school that we had not seen in a few years. That opportunity to continue reconnecting felt good.

Work. The year 2022 marketing our Airbus widebody aircraft has meant lots of fun and a great learning experience. The everyday work is already quite interesting and exchanging with the team I learnt new things everyday.

This year, with the picking up of the aviation activity and the opening up of many countries, I had the opportunity to meet many of our colleagues working abroad, to give several presentations to customers about our products (remote or onsite), to welcome a few of them and show our A350 final assembly line, host in Toulouse and visit our colleagues from Rolls-Royce in Derby, fly with the press on one of our A350 flight test aircraft during the Airbus Summit, and especially take part in the air shows of Singapore and Farnborough, where I could showcase different A350s, from Singapore Airlines and ITA Airways, respectively. Those air shows have been real highlights of the year, at times showing the aircraft non-stop for hours to many different and varied groups of customers or institutional representatives.

These activities gave me the opportunity to fly for the first time on an A350 (!).

At the beginning of the year, one of our colleagues, Alex, switched departments and we reshuffled the activities within the team and that made it much more interesting, including the working hand in hand in particular with Raphael and Cedric.

At the end of the year, another of our colleagues, Florian, announced his departure and this offered another opportunity to grow. Following a recruitment process, in which a few colleagues participated, I was selected and from January 2023 I will change again the scope of the activity focusing now on the A330neo (back to it after having spent 4 years (2015-2019) working in its development!), working hand in hand with Anna and Raphael.

Reading. I started 2022 reading at a good pace until summer, then I got stuck with the second volume of Le Vicomte de Bragelonne and a series of trips interrupted my pace, and it took me months to recover it. In the end I completed just 13 books, the least since 2015 and read just above 4,800 pages, also the least in the last 6 years. For the detailed list of books, see the post I wrote about my 2022 reading list with a brief description of each book.

Other cultural activities:

  • Bullfighting. This year again together with Luismi, his family and my family we went to Nimes for a weekend to enjoy its Feria, and in particular to attend the corrida de toros with Roca Rey, currently the most successful bullfighter. The experience and his performance were simply splendid. Roca Rey performed together with José María Manzanares and Alejandro Marcos, and with bulls provided by García Jiménez. He was awarded three ears, hence, he was borne triumphantly aloft through the main gate, “Puerta de los Cónsules” at Nimes Roman amphitheater. The atmosphere in the city those days was ecstatic.
  • Museums. This year again we took benefit of every road trip to visit as many museums and castles as we could, among them: the Naval and Aviation museums in Madrid, the museum of the battle at Las Navas de Tolosa, the Great War musem at Péronne (finally! I had tried to visit it before but is always closed during Christmas), Château de Meung-sur-Loire, Château de Blérancourt (which includes the Franco-American museum), Château de Sully-sur-Loire, the visit of the roofs at Seville Cathedral and the Roman settlement at Colonia Ulpia Traiana (Germany).
  • Shows. In the past two years with the pandemic we had not gone to any show; in this 2022 I loved going to the cinema again, with some work colleagues to watch Top Gun Maverick (superb!) and the musical Malinche, about the conquest of Tenochtitlan, produced by the artist Nacho Cano, which was another great experience.

Blogging: This is the 13th year since I started the blog, but I didn’t manage to write much, only 5 blog posts in 2022. The blog received just above 21,200 visits in 2022 (the least since 2012) and over 473,000 since I started it in 2010.

Not everything was positive in 2022: a former work colleague passed away, so did the parents of other friends and colleagues, plus the Russian invasion of Ukraine which created havoc in many families, including the many refugees host in the region. Hopefully in 2023 that war comes to an end.

On the positive side, some colleagues and friends had new babies and got married in this 2022!

Now it’s time to rest, celebrate with the family and hope for the best in 2023. This year we will participate again in the San Silvestre Vallecana in Madrid running along tens of thousands of other runners in the evening of this December 31st as a farewell to the year. For the moment we have just a couple of planned trips for 2023, to the Netherlands and another skiing week in Vars, but hopefully many more activities will make it memorable as well.

I wish you the best for 2023, enjoy it!

(*) You can see here my 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 recaps.

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December 29, 2022 · 11:00 am

My 2022 reading list

In this post I wanted to share the list of books I read along the year (1) with a small comment for each one and links to some Twitter threads where I shared some passages that caught my attention while reading the books. I have also included a small rating from one to three “+” depending on how much I do recommend its reading.

  1. “Políticamente indeseable” (by Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo) (+++): The book is partly an autobiography and partly an essay where the author (a politician of the Spanish Popular Party) recollects memories from her childhood, to her settling in Spain around 25 years ago, her career as a journalist and to the current status of Spanish politics (to the end of 2021). The book is a call against nationalism, collectivism, tactics, and in favour of reason, freedom and individual responsibility. [Twitter thread].
  2. “La revolución española vista por una republicana” (by Clara Campoamor) (+++): The author is described in the Wikipedia as follows: was a Spanish politician, lawyer and writer, considered by some the mother of the Spanish feminist movement. In this book she describes her memories and provides an analysis of the months prior to the onset of the Spanish civil war (1936-39) and its first months, with emphasis on the government rearguard that she lived through. The irrationality on both sides that she describes is devastating, to the point that she fled Spain fearing for her life, while she was a Republican, was in Madrid (under the Republican side until the end of the war) and she still felt in danger from the Republican side. [Twitter thread].
  3. “Extremo centro: el manifiesto” (by Pedro Herrero and Jorge San Miguel) (+++): I started following the authors (who formerly worked for the Spanish political party Ciudadanos) in social media and in a podcast they started years ago. In this book they condensed many of the ideas they have come up along these past years. They offer many interesting analyses and various proposals around the caring for others, in favour of the creation of culture, creating ties with the community… Something special about the book is the fresh and provocative language they use together with a kind of “cards” that they have used to represent some stereotypes of characters of the Spanish public life. [Twitter thread].
  4. “Emma” (by Jane Austen) (+): I wanted to read Emma as this is the book from Austen included in the Great Books curriculum for the bachelor in arts of Saint John’s College (see section at the bottom of the post). However, chronologically Emma came after Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, so I arrived to Emma after having read the other two. The plot is around Emma’s willingness to play matchmaking with her acquaintances (even if her skills on that front are unimpressive) and her own negative views on marriage. Once again, as with the previous two Austen books, I found the narrative very slow, quite dense and too detailed. On the positive side: the plot and Emma’s situation are turned upside down at the very end of the book. [Twitter thread].
  5. “La matemática en el arte” (by Pedro Miguel González Urbaneja) (+++): This is a book from a collection of 40 short books on mathematics that my mother gifted me with in 2019. My idea is to read a few of those books per year. This one offers a review of the influence of mathematics and the Greeks on art since the Renaissance. Some of the artists that are looked at in the book are: Della Francesca, Pacioli, Alberti, Dürer, Leonardo, Raphael, Gaudí… [Twitter thread].
  6. “Soumission” (Submission) (by Michel Houellebecq) (++): I remember that when the book was published back in 2015 it created some controversy in France. I only got interested in the book more recently after having heard some positive reviews of it. The book tells the story of a university professor during the fictional transformation of a France governed by the Muslim Brotherhood, where the public university becomes Islamic, hence the profressor first resigns from his position and then after wandering around France for some time he yields in to the times, submits himself, prepares to convert to Islam and comes back to the university. When reading it I did not find it so provocative as to create the noise it did in 2015. [Twitter thread].
  7. “The End of History and the last man” (by Francis Fukuyama) (+++): First published in 1992, after the end of the Cold War and fall of the Soviet Union, the book’s case is that after old regimes and the failure of fascist and communist totalitarianisms, liberal democracy and capitalism stand out as the remaining system at the end of History. [Twitter thread].
  8. “Air Wars. The global combat between Airbus and Boeing” (by Scott Hamilton) (+++): The author is the editor of Leeham News and Analysis, a reference blog on aerospace industry. This book starts out as a biography of John Leahy (former chief operating officer for Customers at Airbus – retired in 2017) and frames it on the background of Airbus and Boeing competition during the last ~40 years until 2021. It is a very good read for anyone who has been working in the industry in the past years as it will trigger many memories. [Twitter thread].
  9. “Le Vicomte de Bragelonne“, tome II (by Alexandre Dumas) (++): This book is the second tome of the sequel to Twenty Years After and continues the Dumas’ story on the musketeers (see below). This is the book that I liked the least of the series. There is very little action with the musketeers and to my taste far too many amorous intrigues at the court of Louis XIV (I found it slow, almost as Jane Austen’s books). However, it serves the purpose of introducing the characters and jealousies that will be key in the development of the last book of the series.
  10. “Critón” (Crito) and “El Político” (Statesman) (by Plato) (++): These are two dialogues that show (1) the ethics of Socrates after being tried (the trial being described in a different dialogue, Apology) where he abides by the outcome of the trial even if unjust to the point that he resists Crito’s offer to flee and explains that he has to live up to his principles to the end; and (2) a criticism of politicians and the differentiation of what a statesman should be in contrast to sophists. Plato offers how the city should be governed and the preferences of some systems (monarchy, oligarchy, democracy) over others depending on whether the laws are respected or not, although he goes into less detail than in Republic. [Twitter thread].
  11. “Le Vicomte de Bragelonne“, tome III (by Alexandre Dumas) (+++): This was the last of the five books that make up the story of the three musketeers, after The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After and the first two volumes of Le Vicomte de Bragelonne. In all they make up for over 4,200 pages of reading and with no doubt it is among my favourite books or series of books. In this final book Aramis tries to strike a coup that could have changed the history of France with the man in the iron mask, the twin brother of Louis XIV, Philippe, who had been concealed and imprisoned from birth by his father, Louis XIII, and his mother, Anne of Austria. However, Fouquet (finances superintendent) rejects taking part in that plot even if he would have benefitted from it. That part of the book is thrilling. The last ~300 pages of the book are dedicated to giving an ending to each of the main characters: Aramais, Porthos, Athos and his son Raoul and d’Artagnan; some parts of this last section can be quite moving as by now one is attached to these characters.
  12. “Confesiones” (Confessions) (by Saint Augustine) (++): The first half of the book is a kind of biography of Saint Augustine until his conversion to cristianism and the death of his mother (Saint Monica); there he confesses the struggles he goes through, how with the help of Saint Ambrose and some friends he quits his previous lifestyle and gets baptized. From that point the confessions take the form of shared reflections on memory, time, evil or how to interpret the Creation in the Bible (book of Genesis). [Twitter thread].
  13. “Sobre la vejez” (Cato the Elder on Old Age) and “Sobre la amistad” (Laelius on Friendship) (by Cicero): Cicero was a Roman politician, lawyer and philosopher who lived first century BC. In these books and through dialogues he uses the characters of Cato the Elder and Laelius to explain the goodness of (1) old age, where different complaints against old age are addressed one by one, such as the lack of activity, strength, health…; and (2) friendship, which is shown as making life more enjoyable, bringing the best in people, not to be used as an excuse for wrongdoings and the only thing around which there is a consensus on its utility. [Twitter thread].

I started 2022 reading at a good pace until summer, then I got stuck with the second volume of Le Vicomte de Bragelonne and a series of trips interrupted my pace, and it took me months to recover it, as always, thanks to the rigorous approach following these two tips:

  • a blog post from Farnam Street blog “Just Twenty-Five Pages a Day“, which was published well after I had adopted such an approach to reading but captures it very well,
  • the Wikipedia article about the Pomodoro Technique, which enables you to efficiently use the last hours of the day.

Even so, in this 2022 I managed to read just 13 books, the least since 2015 (when I adopted the approach described above). In terms of pages I read just over 4,800 pages, also the least in the last 6 years. Fun fact: even if I only read 3 books in French language, they accounted for over 42% of the pages I read.

Another question that I have got a couple of times is about the source of the list of some of the classics that I read. That one comes from yet another blog post from Farnam Street blog. That post mentioned the Great Books curriculum for the bachelor in arts of Saint John’s College in Annapolis. You can get the list from the Wikipedia or directly from the college website. As I am not reading exclusively those books I try to advance at a pace of 5 to 8 books out of that curriculum per year, thus it will take me around 20 more years to finish the programme.

I wish you all very interesting reads in 2023!

(1) You can find here: my 2012 reading list, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 ones.

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