Our family uses Fastmail as the central hub for all calendar management, with integrations to various other services for a complete scheduling solution.
Primary Platform: Fastmail Calendar
Family Accounts:
- Purpose: Shared family events that affect everyone
- Who can edit: All family members
- Examples: School events, family gatherings, medical appointments, vacations
- Color: Green
- Purpose: Cultural events and activities
- Who can edit: All family members
- Examples: Concerts, museum visits, cultural celebrations
- Color: Purple
- Purpose: Travel planning and itineraries
- Type: Subscription calendar (automatic updates)
- Who can edit: Auto-populated from TripIt service
- Examples: Flight details, hotel reservations, trip itineraries
- Color: Green
- Purpose: Dad's personal calendar
- Integration: Synced from Google Calendar (dratspiker@gmail.com) via Fastmail integration
- Who can edit: Matthew (edits sync between Google and Fastmail)
- Visibility: Shared with family (can see events)
- Color: Blue
¶ 🔴 Kandy
- Purpose: Mom's personal calendar
- Who can edit: Kandace
- Visibility: Shared with family
- Color: Red
- Matt Speicher - Personal work calendar
- Forensics USDS | Team Travel & OOO Calendar - Team calendar
- Access: Read-only in Fantastical and other calendar apps
- Editing: Must be done directly in Lark application
- Purpose: View work schedule alongside family calendar for coordination
- Status: Legacy calendar - ignore
- Action: Do not add events to this calendar
- Color: Purple
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Fastmail Accounts
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Google Personal (dratspiker@gmail.com)
- Synced to Matthew's Fastmail via integration
- Matthew's personal events appear in both systems
- Bidirectional sync
-
Lark (Work)
- Read-only access in calendar apps
- Must edit work events in Lark directly
- Provides visibility into work schedule
-
Personal Productivity (Matthew only)
- Todoist for personal task management
- Obsidian for personal notes and projects
- Groceries: Shopping list integrated with calendar
- Purpose: Coordinate shopping with family schedule
- Access: Available in Reminders app and calendar view
- Automatic: Travel bookings automatically create calendar events
- Email parsing: Flight confirmations, hotel bookings, etc.
- Subscription: Calendar updates automatically
For Family Events:
- Use the Family calendar (green)
- Include location for automatic directions
- Set appropriate reminders
- Add family members as attendees
For Personal Events:
- Matthew: Add to personal calendar (syncs with Google)
- Kandace: Add to Kandy calendar (red)
For Work Events:
- Must use Lark directly - calendar apps are read-only
All Calendars: Default view shows all active calendars
Filtered View: Toggle calendars on/off in calendar app
Work Schedule: Lark calendars provide work visibility without editing ability
- 🟢 Green: Family events, TripIt travel
- 🔵 Blue: Matthew's personal
- 🔴 Red: Kandace's personal
- 🟣 Purple: Culture, DO NOT USE (legacy)
- Various: Lark work calendars (read-only)
- Built-in Calendar app
- Fantastical (premium features)
- Automatic sync with Fastmail account
- Use Family calendar for events affecting others
- Add locations for automatic directions and travel time
- Set multiple reminders for important events
- Check calendar before making plans
- Update immediately when plans change
- View work schedule in family calendar apps for coordination
- Edit work events only in Lark application
- Block family time around important work events
- Coordinate travel using both work and family calendars
- Shared calendars: Full details visible to family
- Personal calendars: Visible but respect privacy
- Work calendars: Read-only visibility only
- Sensitive events: Use personal calendars when appropriate
- Check internet connection
- Force refresh in calendar app
- Verify Fastmail account settings
- Allow up to 15 minutes for sync
- Family/Personal calendars: Check account permissions
- Work calendars: Must edit in Lark directly
- Subscription calendars: Read-only (TripIt, etc.)
- Check calendar visibility settings
- Verify account is properly connected
- Look in "Other" or "Subscriptions" section
- Bidirectional: Changes sync both ways
- Unified view: See Google events in Fastmail interface
- Family sharing: Google events visible to family through Fastmail
- Schedule coordination: See work commitments alongside family events
- Travel planning: Coordinate work and family travel
- Availability: Family can see when you're in meetings
- TripIt integration: Travel plans automatically populate
- Email parsing: Confirmations create events automatically
- Itinerary management: Complete trip view in calendar
⬅️ Back to: Family Services