I’m entirely convinced that the key to life and happiness is having low expectations for things outside your control and high expectations for things within it.
Dear @ICC,
It is with a heavy heart that we now announce our unavailability to replace Pakistan in the upcoming T20 World Cup. Regardless of whether they now withdraw, the short timescales ensure it is impossible for our squad to prepare in the professional manner necessary to compete effectively in this global cricketing spectacle. We are not like Scotland and able to turn up on a whim, with no kit sponsor.
Our players are from all walks of life and cannot simply drop their occupations to fly halfway around the world to experience temperatures only normally felt in Finnish saunas. Our captain, a professional baker, needs to attend to his oven, our ship captain needs to steer his vessel, and our bankers need to go bankrupt (again). This is the harsh reality of cricket at the amateur level of the game.
This news will be extremely disappointing to our fans. Despite being the most peaceful nation on Earth, we maintain an army of online followers, and are the world's 14th most followed national board on X. We were ready to give the Dutch the biggest shock they have experienced since William of Orange lost the Battle of Landen in 1693. And the Americans were looking forward to taking on Greenland, or so their orange-dyed leader thought.
Our loss is likely Uganda's gain. We wish them well. Their kits cannot be missed unless you have epilepsy, in which case they are probably best avoided.
The future is always ice, until it isn't.
Yours sincerely,
Icelandic Cricket Association
Just left the office and realized I forgot to respond to about 30 Slack messages from today. I'm not going back to answer them.
Here's what I learned a long time ago: if you respond to messages immediately, people expect immediate responses.
If you respond slowly, people assume you're busy with "important work."
Tomorrow morning, I'll open Slack and reply to everything with "Just seeing this now - was in back-to-back meetings yesterday. Still an issue?"
Half of them will say "No, figured it out."
The other half will have forgotten what they even asked about.
Either way, I didn't actually do anything, but I look responsive and people solved their own problems.
I've trained this entire company to troubleshoot first and escalate later.
Not because I told them to, but because I'm strategically unreachable.
The best Help Desk ticket is the one that closes itself while you're ignoring it.
A lesson I wish I learned earlier: Your entire life will change the moment you stop looking for more information and start acting on the information you already have.
President Droupadi Murmu presents Padma Bhushan in the field of Art to Shri Anant Nag. Shri Anant is a veteran Kannada Film actor known for his versatility and contribution to Indian cinema over the past 5 decades. He has captivated audiences across languages, regions, and generations, solidifying his status as one of the Indian cinema's conspicuous actors.