Chilli Harvest
Charlotte's been growing chillis. The stupid scotches are taking ages to ripen. They tastes really good though. And made for a heck of a leftovers pizza.
LEGO Technic Tenting
It's become something of an obsession: trying to make my desk cool. I grabbed my monitor and chair from the office about six months too late and now it's such a good space
We signed up for YouTube Premium because the ads are irritating. To be honest, I miss skipping them. Timing that skip click perfectly so you don't see a second more than you need to is really the last act of rebellion I had in my life, and I've paid to remove it. What have I done?!
Now I want a BMX
We took Tabitha to the pump track at Newhaven skatepark. It's super nice; seems to be very well looked-after. It took her a little while to get going, but then once she got it, she didn't want to leave. I'd love to come back and have a go with a BMX there - it's not a place for a road bike.
I heard someone pronounce "ASCII" "A-S-C 2" instead of "ASKEY" and I think the last time I was this angry was when someone tried to convince us that "GIF" is pronounced "JIF"
Two ideas for annoying things today. Neither will ever be made (by me), but it's fun to think about them occasionally:
- A website which is super SEO-friendly, but completely unusable
- A dictionary where all the definitions are accurate, but unclear (this comes from the dictionary definition of "sycophantic", which is "to behave in an obsequious manner". If I'm trying to explain "sycophantic" to a seven-year-old, don't then make me explain "obsequious")
As an aside, when you have a child, you realise just how many words you use on a daily basis with no problem, that you cannot clearly define. It's a lot. I look up words quite frequently at the moment.
In software development, the only thing worse than "WHY ISN'T THIS WORKING?!" is "WHY IS THIS WORKING?!"
Park
I feel really bad for Tabitha that we haven't been doing Fun Kid Stuff. This morning we went for a walk (it was freezing) to a good park and she slid and climbed and swung and monkey-bars'd
Pulling me back in
Damn it, Animal Crossing, with your cute pumpkins and halloween decorations! Fine I'll play some more.
A couple of weeks of food, bikes and keyboards
The last few weeks has not been the most fun. I can't find time to take pictures, so here's a montage.
I'm finding myself increasingly irritated by how bad the internet is becoming.
Remember when we thought popups were annoying so we blocked them, and what followed has been the systematic dismantling of any and all pleasure that could be derived from the internet. Now we have constant popups, overlays, cookie warnings, ads that you can't differentiate from content, services that try (and succeed) to build a map of your entire life online that they can keep and know for themselves, then attempt to make you feel guilty for blocking it!
And it seems to be getting worse. I'm finding myself needing to enable stripped-back reader views on every site I visit, just so I can actually parse the content I arrived for. I know some websites are trying to make money, but doing it by annoying everyone in the process doesn't feel like a super sustainable business model.
Walk
This week felt like it lasted forever. Work has seemed never-ending, evenings have been hollow respite where I have no motivation to do anything
We're watching classic Mr Bean from the 90s and Tabitha hasn't stopped laughing her head off since it started. I never liked this show when I was younger but it's hard to argue with its effect on her!
W1092020
This week has been non-stop but a lot of fun. Starting to get out of my super-busy-focus period, which is always bittersweet.
Weekend
We did some weekend things.
Sky
Love a good sky, me.
Some Desk Space
Charlotte set up some desk space again. Sitting at the dining table became problematic months ago.
Every Time
Whenever I get busy at work, the whole of the rest of my life suffers.