I was panicking a bit last week because I felt like I was really behind with the TechUp course (I was a week behind the advertised schedule). I knew from the online course forum that most people were in the same boat, but it still felt like it was taking forever. However, once I’d finished the huge beginners’ Python module, the next few course modules turned out to be much quicker and easier and I’ve been able to get through them in the space of a few days. It means I’ve got some time to have another look at the Python projects I had to rush through in order not to fall further behind with that module.
In hobby coding this week, I’ve now got the skeleton of my short PunyInform game and am gradually ‘painting the walls’, i.e. adding colour to the game by coding examine responses etc. I’m hoping to have a first draft by the end of the week.
Some exciting retro computer news to talk about in the next few days too…
An old favourite, and something to investigate again soon.
…because we’ve had two varieties of it this year – they’ve seemingly changed the recipe. The first variety contained actual chunks of cake within the ice cream. Geth was a big fan of that one but I wasn’t so keen – I didn’t like the soggy texture of the cake chunks. They then switched to a variety that didn’t have the cake but had chewy candy sprinkles in it instead. The taste of the actual ice cream hasn’t changed – it’s nice, but a little too sweet for me. There are other flavours of Asda ice cream that I much prefer.
…has been my motto for a few years now since life got a bit manic. I’m trying to remember it now that I’m enjoying my software course so much that I want to go and learn all the coding languages at once. Python is quite enough for now!
That said, during my downtime I’ve been wrestling with PunyInform/Inform 6, but that’s been quite a lot of fun and mostly involves prose writing, which I can do. Work is quiet this week (so far) so I’m looking forward to getting lots of coursework done.
This will be a useful read! It’s slightly out of date but most of it will still be sound.
I’ve had a fairly productive weekend, but it’s still felt like a weekend because it’s been different from what I’m doing during the week. I’ve got about half of our Christmas presents wrapped (the other half are yet to arrive), some of the Christmas food prepared and in the freezer, and a few more other random things booked. I’m determined to have all the Christmas prep organised and done by the end of November this year!
Geth was running the Town Moor Half Marathon this morning so I spent some time in the nearby café with my book. I had a good view of all the marathon and half marathon runners as they went round and round the lapped course! I’ve also been getting on with my hobby coding – I’m really glad I decided to combine it with my NaNoWriMo because it’s meant I’ve had the motivation to get a bit more done every day, even when I’m really busy.
Looking forward to another good week of software dev learning 🙂
Geth at the Town Moor half this morning. A tough and breezy one by all accounts!
Back to the Dene this morning for the monthly volunteering slot! Geth and I were in the same spot where I marshalled last time and I think it may be my new favourite.
Today was my 24th parkrun volunteering day, which means that my December volunteering slot will earn me my V25, one of the two parkrun milestones I wanted to achieve this year. (For the other I need to do two more parkruns I’ve not done before… we’ll see how we get on!)
Gorgeous autumn day in the Dene.
Back on the Moor next week (in fact we’ll be there tomorrow as Geth is running the Town Moor half).
The to-do list doesn’t really stop at the moment – I’m back and forth between work and studying and house tasks and running and all the other stuff that seems to come out of nowhere… but it’s making life very interesting, as I’m basically doing something different every day.
Geth and I are doing our weekly parkrun volunteering slot tomorrow as he’s got a race on Sunday. The rest of the weekend will be spent doing all the stuff I didn’t have time for during the week!
It’s certainly a lot fuller than last year’s version.
Two weeks’ worth of earworm playlists:
Saturday 23rd
Ray Parker Jr – ‘Ghostbusters’ Edison Lighthouse – ‘Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)’ Bee Gees – ‘Stayin’ Alive’ Radiohead – ‘No Surprises’ Tracey Ullman – ‘They Don’t Know’ Duran Duran – ‘Anniversary’
The Power Station – ‘Some Like It Hot’ Dead Or Alive – ‘Something In My House’ The Beatles – ‘Drive My Car’ Revo – ‘Battle Against The Ones We Inevitably Confront’
Wednesday 27th
One Direction – ‘Little Things’ Rockwell – ‘Somebody’s Watching Me’ Shakira and Wyclef Jean – ‘Hips Don’t Lie’
On the way to the start line of the London Marathon, I came across four very smart K2 boxes in the Hay’s Galleria centre next to London Bridge tube station! They stand as two pairs, guarding either side of the archway that leads through to the station entrance. I’ll log one pair today and the other next week.
Red phone boxes, Hay’s Galleria, London, 3rd October 2021.
Their distinctively large size and bulbous tops identify them as K2 boxes, a London-specific design, examples of which are generally listed and preserved by the city (in great contrast to the sad fate of many of the more-ubiquitous K6 boxes in the rest of the country!). It does help that these ones are under a roof, but you can see how smartly they are kept. Phones remain intact too.
We’ll stay in Hay’s Galleria and look at the other pair next week!
I am still making my way through the TechUp course and learning a little bit more about Python every day. It’s a gradual process and some days I feel like it’s going in one ear and out the other, but I know from experience that it will sink in with practice! We’re moving onto testing modules this week and there was a really interesting lecture on it this evening. I still think I prefer the development side of things, but it’s given me some things to think about.
I’m still buzzing from making my four-hours-to-code-it Petite Mort game for EctoComp. It was so much fun to be able to squeeze in a bite-size piece of Adventuron coding in the middle of everything else that’s going on at the moment! I’m getting some nice feedback and some useful reports of bugs to fix for my post-competition release. I’m now hoping to do the same with a small PunyInform game for the jam they’re holding this month – I’m getting a tiny bit done every day and counting it as my NaNoWriMo this year! It’s so important to be able to spend a bit of time with my creative projects even when I’m super busy with other things.
As is standard for the autumn, day job work has quietened down a bit recently – which is absolutely fine by me, as I wouldn’t be able to fit all my studying in if business was as manic as it was in the summer. I’m still getting a chunk every week, but it’s at a nice manageable level.
Next door’s cat has been visiting us a lot recently. We think he just really likes our cosy sofa throw!
I’m finally getting round to logging this year’s food collection! I probably won’t get it finished until we’re into 2022 though…
A quick note about why I do these yearly food logging series: it encourages me to try new things. I have various issues around food tastes and textures and am very much of the ‘I know what I like and it’s not much’ school. I don’t consider this a bad thing, but I do like to search for possible new favourites in a ‘safe’ way (i.e. food type I know I generally like, particular version I’ve not had before).
2021 was all about the ice cream. This was actually because 2020 was all about the ice cream and for 2021 I decided to make it official. I waited until spring as it’s very much a seasonal food for me, but there were still a lot I ended up trying this year!
Jude’s Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream.
The first one I tried was this vegan chocolate one from Jude’s. As it’s vegan, it’s made with coconut milk – which I wasn’t sure about when I first had it, because I’m not a big fan of coconut and it meant that it didn’t melt in the way I expected – but I had it a few more times during the summer and it ended up growing on me. I quite like it now!
The Hallowe’en decorations are down. Well, except for the pumpkin and neep lanterns I carved, which have still got a few good days left in them before they go in the bin. I always feel that Hallowe’en can be extended right up to Bonfire Night if necessary 🙂
November, when I’m not busy working and/or studying and/or working on some interactive fiction for NaNoWriMo, is going to be all about getting everything prepped for Christmas so that I’m all organised by the beginning of December and can just enjoy the festivities. This time next month I will hopefully have a fully decorated house and everything done and dusted!
Now, if I could just think of something I actually want for Christmas… I’m drawing a blank this year!
I made a Hallowe’en cake at the weekend from my pumpkin and neep innards. It doesn’t look like much (I need some spider decorations or something) but it tastes nice!
