Disgrace

I knew the House of Commons was a cesspit, but I thought there were at least some limits - I would never have expected them to engage in base politics over as serious an issue as the situation in Gaza.

The whole edifice is a blight on our country. We need to shut it down, and start again.

Day 51: Update on Goals

Slightly late, here is my first update on goals for the year.

• Books: By this point I should have read 4.1 books. I'm actually very close to that - I expect to finish book 4 imminently, and have read the .1 already (book 4 took longer than expected and got bogged down somewhat, so I decided to read another book in parallel, allowing me to finish the stuck book at my leisure.)
• Blogging: As should be obvious from the fact that even this update is delayed, I've been finding it really hard both to find time to blog and find topics for blogging. So this goal already looks impossible.
• Redecoration: There has been no movement on this goal, but that's not a surprise - my expectation is that we'll aim to tackle the bulk of this task during the Easter break, in time for Surprise!'s birthday.
• Complete my Campaign: The campaign has resumed, and is about to start on part four (of four). However, I haven't managed to write any of it, which means they're about to hit the section I don't have planned out.
• Update the Church Website: There has been no movement on this one, which is becoming increasingly urgent.

The conclusion there isn't good - I'm behind on just about everything, with one goal already looking lost and two becoming increasingly urgent. I have some things to think about.

#3: "Smart Leadership", by Jo Owen

The Worst Combination

I've talked before about the tendency to avoid tasks - when there's something that needs done but that you don't want to do, suddenly it becomes vitally important to reorganise some documents, or sharpen every pencil to exectly the same length, or to alphebetise your DVDs, or whatever.

But there's one combination that's even more pernicious: having two tasks you want to avoid. Because that then opens up whole new levels of avoidance strategy: you get to spend a whole lot of time getting one ready for action, then switch to the other, then switch back long enough to decide it needs yet more preparation, then back again, and on and on it goes.

Ultimately, there comes a point where you do just have to knuckle down and address one of the tasks, get it done, and then face the other. But there's a whole load of sweet, sweet temptation to wade through before that point.

Please and Thank You

The story of how we came to have an Amazon Echo 5 in our living room is almost worthy of a saga itself - initially I bought it for the kitchen as a replacement for our CD-player/radio, only to discover I really didn't like it at which point I banished it to the garage, and then find that I really wanted to leave some ambient music on to keep the dog company during the day, leading to Alexa's triumphant restoration to the living room!

Anyway, this device is now the first part of the home automation setup I talked about some months ago, and plans are afoot to start expanding the ecosystem. Because while I initially resisted getting any of these voice-activated assistants, once we had one in place it gradually started to see more and more use. We've still barely scratched the surface, largely due to my lingering disdain, but it does seem to be a good place to start.

All of which is by the by. My main point for this blog post is that we now have an Alexa device in the living room, and of course there is therefore a need to address the device and ask it to do things.

I'm also in the process of raising two small children, and one of the important lessons to be taught is the importance of saying 'please' and 'thank you'. Always and every time, nay habitually.

The upshot of that combination is that I now make sure to say 'please' when asking Alexa to do things. Hopefully Skynet will take that into account when the time comes.

#2: "Promise of Blood", by Brian McClellan