Coursera's fantastic. The calibre of material you can find there is amazing.

Yeah, that's fair. I'd like to see what Google could do with a weather-only app but I'm not that interested in seeing what news it thinks I should be reading.

Really nice piece. I've found that one of the best ways to avoid overspending is to learn to appreciate the economical pleasures in life.

I'm the same way. Airports are great for people watching and if you've got reading material or other amusements to hand they're almost like hyper-stimulating versions of your own living room:)

Probably my favourite way to while away an idle few minutes:)

Definitely a great use of down-time. Those little 15-minute nuggets add up to a huge chunk of time over months and years.

Duolingo's great. I've been using it for the last few months to bring my French up to speed. Really compulsive and you learn a lot without even thinking about it.

One thing that I've always found to be really important to the whole process isn't mentioned as much as it ought and that's preparation for the shave. I get a much cleaner, smoother shave if I've just come out of the shower and usually have much less irritation, if any.

As one of the earlier commenters noted, the trick is doing a series of consecutive with-, across- and against-the-grain passes (reapplying cream each time) to progressively remove more layers of stubble.

My skin can be pretty sensitive too, but I've been using the original eucalyptus and menthol Proraso shaving cream (whipped up with a brush) for years and have always found it really luxurious. Perhaps something you can give a try:)

This is one of the best ways to accomplish great things. Thanks for the reminder:)

Hasn't come up much here, but no one miss the aroma of paper and ink?

Cool. Will try to get hold of a set and do my best not to get caught carrying them by the fuzz:)

Me too. I'm pretty impressed so far. Starting from scratch with HTML and CSS, so I've got a long way to go but enjoying it so far and learning a lot.

That's great. Hope it works out for you:)

This may well have much truth to it, but doesn't the body get a bit of a boost in the middle of the day from a surge in cortisol secretion? This goes back a while for me, but it's what I remember from physiology classes many years ago.

Those lockpicks look really cool. Easy to get the hang of for those of us without Macgyver's dexterity?

Reminds me a little bit of Jamie Foxx in Collateral tuning out life as an LA cabbie with a picture-postcard of a fantasy tropical island (pretty good film too, one of Michael Mann's better ones).

Really interesting post Eric, lots of useful insight. Am particularly struck by your experience of missing the morning commute. It's often really surprising the things you miss most when they disappear from your life.

I do this too (albeit only when I'm exceptionally stressed). Showers are great for clearing your mind.