Nathan

Tom Bombadil

Wow, my first Tolkien essay since…August?! And the first since creating my new site! Speaking of the new site, you can read my latest, and longest, essay over there: https://tolkienessays.com/tom.html Thanks for reading!

The Indian SIM Card

When I arrive in a foreign country, I always like to have a local SIM card for my phone. Despite the fact that smartphones were invented and rose to popularity within my lifetime, it’s difficult to overstate the confidence boost obtained from having a map, navigation system, translation device, and Internet access portal all inContinue reading “The Indian SIM Card”

The South African Phone

As you may recall, my first solo trip overseas was to South Africa. I definitely learned a lot of on that trip, including some experiences that would shape my future travel and which explain why I do what I do when I travel.

The Youngsville Raid

As the News & Observer reports, the small North Carolina town of Youngsville has stated they will continue with plans to hold their annual Christmas parade as scheduled, in spite of Governor Roy Cooper’s executive order limiting outdoor gatherings to 50 people. A bit of a debate ensued, and I found myself writing the followingContinue reading “The Youngsville Raid”

The Flip Phone

Although cell phones were becoming ubiquitous about the time I was at university, I never had one or even wanted one. I just didn’t see the point. I hated talking on the phone, for one thing. For another, I preferred to communicate via either e-mail or instant message. The fact that in the early 2000sContinue reading “The Flip Phone”

The New Site

One of the many tasks I assigned myself over Thanksgiving weekend was to write another blog essay (blessay?) on a Tolkien-related topic.

The Surprisingly Useful Browser Extension

When I first started at my first job out of college, in addition to watching a lot of instructional videos I had to read a lot. Much of the information I had to read was on the company’s internal wiki, and I felt like I was spending hours and hours just staring at the screenContinue reading “The Surprisingly Useful Browser Extension”

The Indian Supply Closet

My first job out of college certainly had its flaws, but one thing they got right was the attitude that it’s not cost-effective if employees don’t have what they need in order to get their work done. As such, every floor of every building in the company had a well-stocked supply closet. Employees could justContinue reading “The Indian Supply Closet”

The India Trip

My first job out of college was a fairly large, multinational corporation. In order to save money on engineering costs, they had an office in Bengalūru, India (at the time known as Bangalore). Although at the beginning I didn’t really interact with any of the engineers from the Bengalūru office, eventually the company started buildingContinue reading “The India Trip”

The Clock

In my office I have a digital clock. I only own digital clocks, because I never quite got the hang of telling time on analog clocks. I can do it, but not at a glance. Anyway, this digital clock is one of those that has a radio inside and can set itself by receiving radioContinue reading “The Clock”