Category: Life
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Hipsters are pants
Last week, whilst my kids were ‘enjoying’ their mom’s summer possession period, I thought I’d take my mind off it by taking a long weekend away with the gf. We wanted to go somewhere that neither of us had been, and eventually settled on Seattle, WA as a suitable destination. We reasoned that Seattle had a pretty hip cultural scene, and had the added advantage of being somewhat nearer the North Pole than home, and therefore a suitable refuge from the searing heat of Houston, TX, in August. This latter assumption proved to be of marginal benefit, as Seattle seemed… Read more
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Apple Turnover
Despite having rented houses ever since I left England (some 20 years ago), every so often I think about how nice it would be to own my own home. Not because I think renting is money down the drain (although it is) or that I want to ‘put down roots’, or any of the usual reasons, but because I really want to wire the entire house for sound, so I can stream music to whatever room I am in at the push of a button (or swipe of a touchscreen). I’ve always got music on when I’m home – and… Read more
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Self-publish and be damned
Way back in 2009 I thought it would be fun to write a book. The result of this ill-thought-out endeavor was Oracle User Productivity Kit 3.5, a technical reference to an obscure piece of software that myself and apparently three other people used. Although it didn’t sell particularly well (around 1,000 copies), it was a fun little project that kept me busy for a couple of months, and gave me something new to put on my resume. Once I’d finished it I had absolutely no intention of writing another book (or certainly not another reference work – I’m still working… Read more
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Buying music not the medium
For several years now, I’ve been complaining about the need to pay twice for music if you want it in multiple formats. For example, I’ve got a reasonable selection of vinyl, but when CDs came out, they told us that we needed to upgrade to CDs for ‘superior quality’. (And now, ironically, they are marketing vinyl as the ‘purists’ medium!). I didn’t go out and replace all of my vinyl immediately, because I recognized it for the scam it was. The record companies and the artists have already had my money once for the purchase of the album – why… Read more
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A yearly cycle
I’m not really one for new year’s resolutions (on account of my life being so perfect already), but I’ve been meaning to start cycling into work again when I get the opportunity. Today that opportunity arose, so given that this is the first work day of the new year, I’m claiming this as my new year’s resolution. I used to cycle into the work back in the day (well, 3 or 4 years ago), and I’ve cycled longer distances in the meantime (it’s pretty much a flat 10 miles to the office), but somehow it seemed longer and harder this… Read more