I was reading an article about running board meetings, for reasons that should be obvious. During the course of this article, I discovered an interesting (to me) discussion of the role of AOCB - Any Other Competent Business (that is, the bit at the end of the meeting where people bring up anything that hasn't yet been discussed).
Anyway, what was interesting was that the article recommended that AOCB be extremely strongly constrained - specifically, it should be allowed only for things that had come up in the meeting itself but that couldn't possibly have been predicted beforehand.
For other topics, these should ideally be submitted for inclusion in the agenda ahead of time, or they should be raised (but not yet discussed) at the outset of the meeting. Either way, they should be added to the agenda at the start of the meeting, at the latest.
The reason given for this, other than just for a more efficient running of a meeting, is that it protects against the case where someone has to leave the meeting early (or just "on time") and shouldn't later discover that something has been discussed, and potentially decided on, in their absence.
Which is, of course, quite right. And it's one of the things that I wish I had considered, and acted upon, while I was Chairperson of the band, and found myself stuck in very long, very repetitive meetings where AOCB so frequently was the thing that got out of hand.
But, as I said, it's a bit of an obscure topic for the blog. If not the most obscure ever.
Thursday, February 28, 2019
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
Strange Days
I never thought I'd find myself having a barbecue in February, at least not in Scotland. And yet, as of this afternoon, I have now done so.
On the one hand, the recent warm weather has been really nice - Scots tend to suffer, near-universally, from Vitamin D deficiencies; and the bright sunlight and warm weather just cheers everyone up.
On the other hand, this time last year we were house-bound due to being snowed in pretty thoroughly. And while I'm hesitant to immediately jump from the weather (which is transient) to climate change - if for no other reason than doing so gives succour to those who ask "what about global warming?" every time there's a cold snap - it is the case that average temperatures seem to go up year by year, the climate is most definitely changing, and that's a bad thing.
(On the wider topic of climate change, I still find myself in one of my very few agreements with George W. Bush - the solution to this is going to end up being technological. Either because we develop energy sources that are both greener and cheaper than those we're currently using; or because someone develops technologies that can directly counter some of the damage. If we're hoping instead to fix the issue with global changes of behaviour, I'm afraid I have bad news... people are just the worst.)
Anyway... the barbecue went well. I managed to get the amount of food estimated almost exactly, everyone had a good time, and the sun shone down on us. So that's a win, at least in my book.
On the one hand, the recent warm weather has been really nice - Scots tend to suffer, near-universally, from Vitamin D deficiencies; and the bright sunlight and warm weather just cheers everyone up.
On the other hand, this time last year we were house-bound due to being snowed in pretty thoroughly. And while I'm hesitant to immediately jump from the weather (which is transient) to climate change - if for no other reason than doing so gives succour to those who ask "what about global warming?" every time there's a cold snap - it is the case that average temperatures seem to go up year by year, the climate is most definitely changing, and that's a bad thing.
(On the wider topic of climate change, I still find myself in one of my very few agreements with George W. Bush - the solution to this is going to end up being technological. Either because we develop energy sources that are both greener and cheaper than those we're currently using; or because someone develops technologies that can directly counter some of the damage. If we're hoping instead to fix the issue with global changes of behaviour, I'm afraid I have bad news... people are just the worst.)
Anyway... the barbecue went well. I managed to get the amount of food estimated almost exactly, everyone had a good time, and the sun shone down on us. So that's a win, at least in my book.
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
What Happens if They Refuse?
So the latest gambit from May will see her bring her deal back to the Commons on the 12th of March. If it is voted down, as it surely must, there will then be two votes on the 13th - one to leave with No Deal, and a second to authorise a short extension to Article 50.
So far, so good.
But what happens if, as is very likely, the Commons vote against all of those options?
(Oh, and for that matter, what if the EU refuse to grant a short extension, instead insisting on 2 years? Or they put a hefty price tag on an extension, as they well might?)
So far, so good.
But what happens if, as is very likely, the Commons vote against all of those options?
(Oh, and for that matter, what if the EU refuse to grant a short extension, instead insisting on 2 years? Or they put a hefty price tag on an extension, as they well might?)
Interesting...
I see Brendan Rodgers is to leave Celtic. I'm slightly surprised by this, but only slightly - I wonder how much fun there really is in just winning everything with no real challenge.
Though, ironically, his leaving may mean that there actually is some real challenge for the remainder of the year - after Celtic went out of Europe last week, I expected them to go on a big unbeaten run until the end of the season, but it's just possible that the loss of their manager might unsettle them just enough to let Rangers close some of the gap. Maybe - we'll see.
I do wonder who is next for the hot seat. It sounds like Neil Lennon may be back in the short term, and actually I think Celtic could do worse than to give him the job on a permanent basis - and there would be something poetic about the manager who started the run to 10 be the same man who brings it to a conclusion. If, indeed, Celtic do reach that landmark. Then again, if Celtic really have pretentions of doing something in Europe, I suspect they'll need a bigger name for the role.
Anyway, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out from here.
Though, ironically, his leaving may mean that there actually is some real challenge for the remainder of the year - after Celtic went out of Europe last week, I expected them to go on a big unbeaten run until the end of the season, but it's just possible that the loss of their manager might unsettle them just enough to let Rangers close some of the gap. Maybe - we'll see.
I do wonder who is next for the hot seat. It sounds like Neil Lennon may be back in the short term, and actually I think Celtic could do worse than to give him the job on a permanent basis - and there would be something poetic about the manager who started the run to 10 be the same man who brings it to a conclusion. If, indeed, Celtic do reach that landmark. Then again, if Celtic really have pretentions of doing something in Europe, I suspect they'll need a bigger name for the role.
Anyway, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out from here.
Monday, February 25, 2019
Little Drummer Girl
I finished watching this over the weekend, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Well, 'enjoyed' might not be the right word, but I thought it was exceptional. Good work, and highly recommended.
Of course, now I have to read the book. But it may take me a while to get to it.
Of course, now I have to read the book. But it may take me a while to get to it.
Funsize's First Birthday
We had Funsize's first birthday party yesterday, a few days after her birthday proper. (Actually, it was a busy week, and weekend, for birthdays and parties - C and A turned 40 last week, so we had that party on Friday night also.) Once again, we were lucky enough to be able to borrow the church hall for the event, which meant we were able to invite a sizeable group of people, hire a soft play company, and lay on food. But more on that in a bit.
On Funsize's actual birthday, I took the day off work and we went over to the Kelvingrove to see Dippy the dinosaur. That was nice - once again, it took FS a moment to realise what we were pointing at, and then she realised just how big it was. Which was fun. We also spent a little time looking at the other animals, the exhibit on Ancient Egypt, the Leonardo da Vinci sketches, and various other things. Plus, we had a rather nice lunch - Funsize enjoyed their "Explorer's Box", which contained a sandwich, an apple, and a yogurt. I had a rather nice burger, LC has the fish.
Anyway, back to the party - the event was mostly organised by one of LC's cousins, who was also one of her bridesmaids some years ago. And a grand job she did, too - balloons fit to entertain an army of babies, the aforementioned soft play, a photo 'booth' where we took the picture with the cake. Oh, and a rather spectacular cake that she'd arranged to have made. (I'll endeavour to add some photos later - I don't have any on my phone, so will need to get them off another device.)
Some initial teething troubles aside, everyone seemed to have a good time, which is always the mark of a successful party. Huzzah!
And then we went home and collapsed in a heap. Funsize proceeded to sleep for three hours in the evening (missing dinner in the process), woke up just long enough to open the last of her million-and-one presents, and then went back to sleep. Somehow, we actually managed to get three halfway decent nights sleep across the weekend.
So that's that. As noted, I'll try to add some photos later...
On Funsize's actual birthday, I took the day off work and we went over to the Kelvingrove to see Dippy the dinosaur. That was nice - once again, it took FS a moment to realise what we were pointing at, and then she realised just how big it was. Which was fun. We also spent a little time looking at the other animals, the exhibit on Ancient Egypt, the Leonardo da Vinci sketches, and various other things. Plus, we had a rather nice lunch - Funsize enjoyed their "Explorer's Box", which contained a sandwich, an apple, and a yogurt. I had a rather nice burger, LC has the fish.
Anyway, back to the party - the event was mostly organised by one of LC's cousins, who was also one of her bridesmaids some years ago. And a grand job she did, too - balloons fit to entertain an army of babies, the aforementioned soft play, a photo 'booth' where we took the picture with the cake. Oh, and a rather spectacular cake that she'd arranged to have made. (I'll endeavour to add some photos later - I don't have any on my phone, so will need to get them off another device.)
Some initial teething troubles aside, everyone seemed to have a good time, which is always the mark of a successful party. Huzzah!
And then we went home and collapsed in a heap. Funsize proceeded to sleep for three hours in the evening (missing dinner in the process), woke up just long enough to open the last of her million-and-one presents, and then went back to sleep. Somehow, we actually managed to get three halfway decent nights sleep across the weekend.
So that's that. As noted, I'll try to add some photos later...
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Day 50: Update on Goals
50 days in, and 2019 has sucked so far. Which is a real shame, but there it is - I'm not inclined to sugar coat it. Anyway, it's time for an update on goals:
- Books: By day 50 I should have read 8.21 books. I'm actually right on target, which is something of a surprise (I finished book 8 this morning), but quite good. On the topic of The List, I'm currently a little under half of the first book - "Anna Karenina", so on that front I'm rather behind. I already think I'm highly unlikely to get that done.
- Weight: No change.
- Blogging: I'm a little behind here, but slightly ahead of target for the Imaginarium. So that's not too bad.
- Redecorate the Study: This is on hold until the Easter holiday. I'll have a better update next time - by the 10th of April we should either have done the job or at least be preparing to start.
- The To-Do List: The to-do list has eight items on it. Of most note is the clearing out of RPG notes, which is entering its final phase. But the list as a whole is actually in a reasonably good position. As with the previous goal, I expect the next update to indicate very significant progress here.
Perhaps surprisingly, the various goals are all more or less proceeding apace. And, in particular, they're setting up nicely for a good update next time. So I'm happy with that.
#7: "Creature Codex", by Kobold Press
#8: "Pathfinder: Rise of New Thassilon", by Greg A. Vaughan
Monday, February 18, 2019
Splitters!
As I've mentioned before, in a First-Past-the-Post electoral system there is room for two main parties and one "none of the above" option. For better or worse, in the UK at the moment the two main parties are the centre-left pro-Brexit Labour party and the centre-right pro-Brexit Tory party. The "none of the above" option is a fractured mess that is effectively impotent. (Northern Ireland is an exception to this, of course. Because in UK politics, Northern Ireland is always an exception.)
The unfortunate consequence of the above is that a group of MPs splitting off from the Labour party to become a new independent grouping is to help the Tories. They're not going to suddenly gain ground to become a new second party, and they're not suddenly going to be the central mass around which the "none of the above" grouping are going to coalesce.
All that this really serves to do is to demonstrate one of the other great truths of UK politics: it doesn't actually matter how terrible a mess your party is in - you just have to be marginally less dysfunctional than the other guys. Neither Labour nor the Tories are fit for purpose, but the Tories are just barely managing to hold together, so they'll win.
The unfortunate consequence of the above is that a group of MPs splitting off from the Labour party to become a new independent grouping is to help the Tories. They're not going to suddenly gain ground to become a new second party, and they're not suddenly going to be the central mass around which the "none of the above" grouping are going to coalesce.
All that this really serves to do is to demonstrate one of the other great truths of UK politics: it doesn't actually matter how terrible a mess your party is in - you just have to be marginally less dysfunctional than the other guys. Neither Labour nor the Tories are fit for purpose, but the Tories are just barely managing to hold together, so they'll win.
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Hit Bottom
Yesterday was another disastrous day. But it had one upside: I think we've now successfully hit the bottom and can start climbing back up.
The purchase of the birthday present is now done: we were able to get some direct feedback from the recipient which meant that we went from having a bunch of not-very-satisfactory options to having one solid choice. From there, it was just a matter of placing an order.
The issue with the wall switch has also been dealt with, thanks to a timely intervention by my father-in-law. My own efforts to resolve it were stalled out by a combination of bad light, sticky screws, and a lack of space in which to work. But, thankfully, it's now done.
And I managed also to get the church website updated, which needed to be done yesterday because it included events happening today.
The upshot of all of that is that there aren't any urgent tasks looming large any more, just a number of things that can be dealt with when time permits.
Of course, there's now all the fallout from the past eight days to deal with - as I said, it has been fairly disastrous. And much of the fault there is mine.
#6: "Game Angry: How to RPG the Angry Way", by Scott Rehm
The purchase of the birthday present is now done: we were able to get some direct feedback from the recipient which meant that we went from having a bunch of not-very-satisfactory options to having one solid choice. From there, it was just a matter of placing an order.
The issue with the wall switch has also been dealt with, thanks to a timely intervention by my father-in-law. My own efforts to resolve it were stalled out by a combination of bad light, sticky screws, and a lack of space in which to work. But, thankfully, it's now done.
And I managed also to get the church website updated, which needed to be done yesterday because it included events happening today.
The upshot of all of that is that there aren't any urgent tasks looming large any more, just a number of things that can be dealt with when time permits.
Of course, there's now all the fallout from the past eight days to deal with - as I said, it has been fairly disastrous. And much of the fault there is mine.
#6: "Game Angry: How to RPG the Angry Way", by Scott Rehm
Monday, February 11, 2019
Storing Up Trouble
I had two major tasks for the weekend: pick up a birthday present and replace the door seal on the washing machine. Unfortunately, both were pretty urgent.
And I achieved neither.
Oddly, the biggest problem with getting the birthday present was just finding any item in the approximate price range - I saw lots of items that were too low, and a very nice item that was about twice the budget, but only a tiny number that were about right - and most of those I didn't like.
That was Saturday, and was pretty disheartening.
Then on Sunday I had to change the door seal on the washing machine. I've done this once before on another machine, and it's an absolutely horrible job - but it's a horrible job that costs about £25 and adds a few years of life to a washing machine, which is a bit better than replacing the whole thing.
As anticipated, this was a terrible job, that has left my hands shredded. But, somehow, I did manage to get it done... mostly.
Naturally, there was a wrinkle - at the last step when reconnecting the power, the wall socket decided not to play ball and broke apart. The upshot of this was that the washing machine was completely out of action, and indeed left in a somewhat dangerous condition. So that's tonight's job.
The annoying thing here is that, on both counts, leaving the jobs in an incomplete step is just storing up trouble for the future. The birthday in question isn't about to be cancelled or to move to a different date. And we can't not have a washing machine for any length of time (plus, as I said, it's somewhat dangerous). So those are tasks that must be addressed soon - and done so when I have that bit less time than at the weekend.
(And that isn't to mention the other task I now have looming, which I'd decided not to address yesterday in order to make time for the washing machine... and which now needs to be dealt with today. That's only a matter of twenty minutes or so, but it's another task on a day without enough time as it is.)
Oh well. Sometimes, things just suck and you end up in a hole. And then, sometimes, you get to climb out of that hole, and that's good.
#5: "Book of Swords, Part I", edited by Gardner Dozois
And I achieved neither.
Oddly, the biggest problem with getting the birthday present was just finding any item in the approximate price range - I saw lots of items that were too low, and a very nice item that was about twice the budget, but only a tiny number that were about right - and most of those I didn't like.
That was Saturday, and was pretty disheartening.
Then on Sunday I had to change the door seal on the washing machine. I've done this once before on another machine, and it's an absolutely horrible job - but it's a horrible job that costs about £25 and adds a few years of life to a washing machine, which is a bit better than replacing the whole thing.
As anticipated, this was a terrible job, that has left my hands shredded. But, somehow, I did manage to get it done... mostly.
Naturally, there was a wrinkle - at the last step when reconnecting the power, the wall socket decided not to play ball and broke apart. The upshot of this was that the washing machine was completely out of action, and indeed left in a somewhat dangerous condition. So that's tonight's job.
The annoying thing here is that, on both counts, leaving the jobs in an incomplete step is just storing up trouble for the future. The birthday in question isn't about to be cancelled or to move to a different date. And we can't not have a washing machine for any length of time (plus, as I said, it's somewhat dangerous). So those are tasks that must be addressed soon - and done so when I have that bit less time than at the weekend.
(And that isn't to mention the other task I now have looming, which I'd decided not to address yesterday in order to make time for the washing machine... and which now needs to be dealt with today. That's only a matter of twenty minutes or so, but it's another task on a day without enough time as it is.)
Oh well. Sometimes, things just suck and you end up in a hole. And then, sometimes, you get to climb out of that hole, and that's good.
#5: "Book of Swords, Part I", edited by Gardner Dozois
Friday, February 08, 2019
The Star Trek Films, Ranked Worst to Best
One of my Christmas gifts was a blu-ray set of ten "Star Trek" films - the six with the original cast and the four with the Next Generation cast. I'm therefore in a position where I've actually watched all thirteen Trek films in the past year. So, my ranking...
#13: "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier". This film suffers from three key weaknesses. Firstly, it's just not good. Secondly, what qualities it does have are overshadowed by the director's bouts of ego. And thirdly, it suffers from heightened expectations - after the sort-of-trilogy of "Khan", "Search", and "Voyage", the Trek films were in a really good place. All in all, it's the worst of all the films.
#12: "Star Trek: Nemesis". The final film for the Next Generation is similarly weak. By that time, I think the producers had decided they needed to find the "new Khan", and it just didn't work. Throw in a fairly tired-looking cast, two key actors who clearly wanted to move on from their parts, and a rather distasteful mindrape subplot, and you've got a stinker, and one that has aged badly at that. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they were actually going for the "worst Trek film" title. But if so, they couldn't even manage that. Poor.
#11: "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". Unlike a lot of people, I don't consider this to be a bad film... I just think it is the wrong film. I think the company had some notion that they'd get a film like "Star Wars" - and certainly they timed the film for precisely that. However, what they got was a lightweight "2001: A Space Odyssey". Which is fine, except that it's not series enough to satisfy fans of 'real' sci-fi while also being too slow to really satisfy fans of Trek (or Star Wars). It's a film I re-watch every few years, and it's interesting enough as a piece of film-making (and the music is outstanding), but it's not a film I'd really recommend.
(Oddly, despite the advertising materials stating otherwise, and the set itself doing the same, the blu-ray in the boxed set does appear to be the Director's Cut. Which is good - that cut goes a long way to improve the film, and indeed is almost the difference between it being 'watchable' and not.)
#10: "Star Trek: Generations". A very frustrating film, this. The opening scenes, with Kirk, Scotty, and Chekov are surprisingly good, with the Enterprise-B giving a tantalising hint of what might happen between the two generations. And the middle of the film, with the Next Generation crew dealing with a mad scientist while Picard deals with a personal bereavement are likewise very good. And then it goes horribly wrong. As soon as Kirk comes back into the film, it all turns to dust, and it becomes a slog to get through to the end.
#9: "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home". This is a decent film, but very dated. Indeed, despite enjoying the film, this was one that I never bothered to buy on DVD, and there was a reason for that. Mostly, it serves to round out the sort-of-trilogy, getting back to the status quo as at the start of Khan. That said, it does have the introduction of the Enterprise-A, and it's almost worth watching for that alone.
#8: "Star Trek: Into Darkness". This is a strange one - when it first came out I really enjoyed this film, rather more than its predecessor. However, where I've enjoyed "Star Trek" more and more over the years, this film has diminished over time. It's not a film I'd avoid, necessarily, but it's also not one I have any burning desire to watch again, and given the choice I'd go for either of the other two Pine-era Treks instead.
#7: "Star Trek: Insurrection". I was surprised to be rating this one so highly, but when I rewatched it I was also rather surprised to find that this film was better than I remembered. I guess it has just aged well. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it... but I also wouldn't immediately change the channel to avoid it. In particular, the thought process Picard goes through as he contemplates his rebellion is worthwhile, as indeed is Worf's ever escalating firepower.
#6: "Star Trek". I have very mixed feelings about this film. On the one hand, I really like the cast they've assembled. On the other hand, much of the film feels like it comes from the Dan Brown school of writing - it doesn't matter how stupid the plot is provided you keep the pace up high enough that people don't notice. Sadly, I did notice. In particular, the scene where Kirk provokes an emotional outburst from Spock and then immediately turns around to take command just doesn't work. Still, I do find I enjoy this film more each time I watch it - as with "Insurrection", it seems to have aged rather well.
#5: "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock". This is a slightly strange film, in that it really doesn't work by itself - only the context afforded by "Wrath of Khan" allows it to make sense. Obviously, this film isn't as good as "Khan", but there's still an awful lot to like here - and the death of David followed by the destruction of the Enterprise make this one worth the price of entry all by themselves.
#4: "Star Trek: Beyond". I'm surprised how much dislike this film seems to attract - for me, this is the best of the Pine-era Trek films, both in terms of being the most entertaining and also in terms of being the more Trek-like. Basically, I just really enjoyed it.
#3: "Star Trek: First Contact". The second outing for the Next Generation crew is also their best. The Borg are the single best bit of Trek lore to be added since the Original Series ended, and are used very well here - that feeling of creeping horror is well done. Plus, the conflict between the human spirit and the inhuman Borg, and also Data's conflicting goals are strong. Good stuff.
#2: "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country". It was something of a toss-up between this and First Contact, but I give this one the nod because the message of peace and optimism was rather stronger in this one. Plus, Captain Sulu and the Excelsior were just great.
#1: "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan". Obviously.
My feelings overall are that of the thirteen there are only two genuinely bad films (although they truly are awful), plus two frustratingly poor films. Then there are four mediocre films, that are mostly watchable but really not great, and then four good films and one truly outstanding film in the series. Of all of these, "Wrath of Khan" is probably the only one that really counts as a great film while the next four are good Star Trek films.
Of course, my opinion may change with time!
#13: "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier". This film suffers from three key weaknesses. Firstly, it's just not good. Secondly, what qualities it does have are overshadowed by the director's bouts of ego. And thirdly, it suffers from heightened expectations - after the sort-of-trilogy of "Khan", "Search", and "Voyage", the Trek films were in a really good place. All in all, it's the worst of all the films.
#12: "Star Trek: Nemesis". The final film for the Next Generation is similarly weak. By that time, I think the producers had decided they needed to find the "new Khan", and it just didn't work. Throw in a fairly tired-looking cast, two key actors who clearly wanted to move on from their parts, and a rather distasteful mindrape subplot, and you've got a stinker, and one that has aged badly at that. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they were actually going for the "worst Trek film" title. But if so, they couldn't even manage that. Poor.
#11: "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". Unlike a lot of people, I don't consider this to be a bad film... I just think it is the wrong film. I think the company had some notion that they'd get a film like "Star Wars" - and certainly they timed the film for precisely that. However, what they got was a lightweight "2001: A Space Odyssey". Which is fine, except that it's not series enough to satisfy fans of 'real' sci-fi while also being too slow to really satisfy fans of Trek (or Star Wars). It's a film I re-watch every few years, and it's interesting enough as a piece of film-making (and the music is outstanding), but it's not a film I'd really recommend.
(Oddly, despite the advertising materials stating otherwise, and the set itself doing the same, the blu-ray in the boxed set does appear to be the Director's Cut. Which is good - that cut goes a long way to improve the film, and indeed is almost the difference between it being 'watchable' and not.)
#10: "Star Trek: Generations". A very frustrating film, this. The opening scenes, with Kirk, Scotty, and Chekov are surprisingly good, with the Enterprise-B giving a tantalising hint of what might happen between the two generations. And the middle of the film, with the Next Generation crew dealing with a mad scientist while Picard deals with a personal bereavement are likewise very good. And then it goes horribly wrong. As soon as Kirk comes back into the film, it all turns to dust, and it becomes a slog to get through to the end.
#9: "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home". This is a decent film, but very dated. Indeed, despite enjoying the film, this was one that I never bothered to buy on DVD, and there was a reason for that. Mostly, it serves to round out the sort-of-trilogy, getting back to the status quo as at the start of Khan. That said, it does have the introduction of the Enterprise-A, and it's almost worth watching for that alone.
#8: "Star Trek: Into Darkness". This is a strange one - when it first came out I really enjoyed this film, rather more than its predecessor. However, where I've enjoyed "Star Trek" more and more over the years, this film has diminished over time. It's not a film I'd avoid, necessarily, but it's also not one I have any burning desire to watch again, and given the choice I'd go for either of the other two Pine-era Treks instead.
#7: "Star Trek: Insurrection". I was surprised to be rating this one so highly, but when I rewatched it I was also rather surprised to find that this film was better than I remembered. I guess it has just aged well. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it... but I also wouldn't immediately change the channel to avoid it. In particular, the thought process Picard goes through as he contemplates his rebellion is worthwhile, as indeed is Worf's ever escalating firepower.
#6: "Star Trek". I have very mixed feelings about this film. On the one hand, I really like the cast they've assembled. On the other hand, much of the film feels like it comes from the Dan Brown school of writing - it doesn't matter how stupid the plot is provided you keep the pace up high enough that people don't notice. Sadly, I did notice. In particular, the scene where Kirk provokes an emotional outburst from Spock and then immediately turns around to take command just doesn't work. Still, I do find I enjoy this film more each time I watch it - as with "Insurrection", it seems to have aged rather well.
#5: "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock". This is a slightly strange film, in that it really doesn't work by itself - only the context afforded by "Wrath of Khan" allows it to make sense. Obviously, this film isn't as good as "Khan", but there's still an awful lot to like here - and the death of David followed by the destruction of the Enterprise make this one worth the price of entry all by themselves.
#4: "Star Trek: Beyond". I'm surprised how much dislike this film seems to attract - for me, this is the best of the Pine-era Trek films, both in terms of being the most entertaining and also in terms of being the more Trek-like. Basically, I just really enjoyed it.
#3: "Star Trek: First Contact". The second outing for the Next Generation crew is also their best. The Borg are the single best bit of Trek lore to be added since the Original Series ended, and are used very well here - that feeling of creeping horror is well done. Plus, the conflict between the human spirit and the inhuman Borg, and also Data's conflicting goals are strong. Good stuff.
#2: "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country". It was something of a toss-up between this and First Contact, but I give this one the nod because the message of peace and optimism was rather stronger in this one. Plus, Captain Sulu and the Excelsior were just great.
#1: "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan". Obviously.
My feelings overall are that of the thirteen there are only two genuinely bad films (although they truly are awful), plus two frustratingly poor films. Then there are four mediocre films, that are mostly watchable but really not great, and then four good films and one truly outstanding film in the series. Of all of these, "Wrath of Khan" is probably the only one that really counts as a great film while the next four are good Star Trek films.
Of course, my opinion may change with time!
Thursday, February 07, 2019
Goodbye
While waiting for my flight at Schiphol airport, I was musing on the fact that it was most likely the last time I would be flying home from mainland Europe while we were still a part of the EU. Which is a real shame - the EU in general, and Freedom of Movement in particular, have been a massive boon in my life, and I will be sorry to see that go, quite aside from the economic and political repercussions. (I appreciate that that isn't necessarily true for everyone. I'm just noting that it is true for me.)
Unfortunately, I now have no hope that Brexit can be avoided. The key issue is time - it is written into UK law that we're leaving on the 29th of March, and as long as that is true our government can neither ask for an extension to Article 50 nor can it rescind it. And while it is possible to remove that bit of law, the move to do so has to come from the government - there aren't any Opposition Days between now and then, and so it is the government that sets the business of parliament.
And the problem with that is the Theresa May doesn't want an extension. Even if she did, her cabinet really don't want an extension. And even if they did, the majority of Tory members want a No Deal Brexit. Which means we're relying on May doing something she doesn't want to do, and persuading her colleagues to do something they don't want to do, and doing so for the good of the country... knowing that it would split their party. That's as close to saying "it's not going to happen" as anything I can think of.
No extension means no second referendum, as there just isn't time. It also means that there's no time to negotiate a significantly different deal from the one that has already been rejected. It might be possible to tweak the existing deal, but I would be surprised if the current discussions result in anything more than another letter stating that there is no intention to use the backstop, and certainly no intention to 'trap' the UK in it... but nothing legally mandating that. And then the choice really will be May's Deal or No Deal.
I was at least heartened by the news that the EU are going to continue to allow visa-free travel, even in the event of No Deal. So we won't be totally isolated and our horizons won't have contracted completely.
But it's still a real shame. And I just thought it was worth noting that.
Unfortunately, I now have no hope that Brexit can be avoided. The key issue is time - it is written into UK law that we're leaving on the 29th of March, and as long as that is true our government can neither ask for an extension to Article 50 nor can it rescind it. And while it is possible to remove that bit of law, the move to do so has to come from the government - there aren't any Opposition Days between now and then, and so it is the government that sets the business of parliament.
And the problem with that is the Theresa May doesn't want an extension. Even if she did, her cabinet really don't want an extension. And even if they did, the majority of Tory members want a No Deal Brexit. Which means we're relying on May doing something she doesn't want to do, and persuading her colleagues to do something they don't want to do, and doing so for the good of the country... knowing that it would split their party. That's as close to saying "it's not going to happen" as anything I can think of.
No extension means no second referendum, as there just isn't time. It also means that there's no time to negotiate a significantly different deal from the one that has already been rejected. It might be possible to tweak the existing deal, but I would be surprised if the current discussions result in anything more than another letter stating that there is no intention to use the backstop, and certainly no intention to 'trap' the UK in it... but nothing legally mandating that. And then the choice really will be May's Deal or No Deal.
I was at least heartened by the news that the EU are going to continue to allow visa-free travel, even in the event of No Deal. So we won't be totally isolated and our horizons won't have contracted completely.
But it's still a real shame. And I just thought it was worth noting that.
Minor Gripes
We seem to have successfully standardised onto USB as the means of powering/charging a wide variety of small electronics (phones, etc). This is a good thing. Why is it, though, that we've not yet managed to choose one of about half a dozen types of USB connector as the standard port? Such that when you need to charge a device you inevitably find every type of cable within reach except the one that you actually need?
Why is it that some people insist on driving at a constant 40 miles per hour, regardless of road conditions or, indeed, the speed limit? Thus infuriating everyone else on the road who actually has somewhere to go and failing to drive safely in those places where the limit is lower.
Why can't we settle on a consistent set of rules for airport security? It's bad enough that those rules vary from place to place, or even from shift to shift, but yesterday I watched as the three lanes all had different rules at the same time - one group had to take all footwear off, one only had to take trainers off, and the third didn't have to take any footwear off. Surely, if there really is a meaningful threat from people wearing shoes (spoiler: there isn't), everyone should be required to remove their shoes in every airport, all the time? One set of rules, please!
And speaking of flights, why do some people think it's acceptable to get thoroughly drunk and then board a plane? You wouldn't like to be locked in a small space with a loud, obnoxious, and quite possibly abusive person, so why inflict that on other people. And, no, you're not as different as you think. Maybe we should start breathalysing people before they're allowed to board.
Anyway, that's all for now. I feel slightly better.
Why is it that some people insist on driving at a constant 40 miles per hour, regardless of road conditions or, indeed, the speed limit? Thus infuriating everyone else on the road who actually has somewhere to go and failing to drive safely in those places where the limit is lower.
Why can't we settle on a consistent set of rules for airport security? It's bad enough that those rules vary from place to place, or even from shift to shift, but yesterday I watched as the three lanes all had different rules at the same time - one group had to take all footwear off, one only had to take trainers off, and the third didn't have to take any footwear off. Surely, if there really is a meaningful threat from people wearing shoes (spoiler: there isn't), everyone should be required to remove their shoes in every airport, all the time? One set of rules, please!
And speaking of flights, why do some people think it's acceptable to get thoroughly drunk and then board a plane? You wouldn't like to be locked in a small space with a loud, obnoxious, and quite possibly abusive person, so why inflict that on other people. And, no, you're not as different as you think. Maybe we should start breathalysing people before they're allowed to board.
Anyway, that's all for now. I feel slightly better.
Monday, February 04, 2019
Some TV
For Christmas I received, amongst other things, the second season of "Supergirl" on blu-ray, which I finished watching on Friday. The first season started reasonably brightly, dragged for a bit, and then improved a great deal. The second season, sadly, did not really match this trajectory - it started brightly, dragged for a bit... then dragged for a bit more and then ended.
A shame. But it does let me skip out on the third and subsequent series.
Likewise, LC and I have been watching the fourth and final series of "Rebels", which I also received for Christmas. This one started quite slowly, ran slowly for quite a long time, and then ended with a phenomenal run of episodes that really showcased everything that was good about the show. The last episode, in particular, was outstanding (though it probably doesn't work by itself). Anyway, that was good.
Finally, I spent some time yesterday watching "Brexit: An Uncivil War", which was horribly watchable. That one is definitely worth a watch if you have the time - but be aware that it's likely to leave you both absolutely furious and rather depressed by the time it's done. (Also, I think it's important to note that while the show mostly focusses on the cavalcade of monsters in the Leave campaigns, it does rightly point out that the Remain campaigns were characterised by utter uselessness - they frankly didn't deserve to win either. Recognising that was definitely to the show's credit.)
Next up will be "Little Drummer Girl", which I expect to watch over the next two weekends (LC has opted out); "Watership Down", which I've heard isn't the best, but which we recorded so I do want to watch; and "Les Miserables", which we've been holding off on until it was done so we could in quick succession. Also, Channel 4 are now advertising that they have the whole of "30 Rock" available, so that might be being added to the slate soon too.
#4: "The Business", by Iain Banks
A shame. But it does let me skip out on the third and subsequent series.
Likewise, LC and I have been watching the fourth and final series of "Rebels", which I also received for Christmas. This one started quite slowly, ran slowly for quite a long time, and then ended with a phenomenal run of episodes that really showcased everything that was good about the show. The last episode, in particular, was outstanding (though it probably doesn't work by itself). Anyway, that was good.
Finally, I spent some time yesterday watching "Brexit: An Uncivil War", which was horribly watchable. That one is definitely worth a watch if you have the time - but be aware that it's likely to leave you both absolutely furious and rather depressed by the time it's done. (Also, I think it's important to note that while the show mostly focusses on the cavalcade of monsters in the Leave campaigns, it does rightly point out that the Remain campaigns were characterised by utter uselessness - they frankly didn't deserve to win either. Recognising that was definitely to the show's credit.)
Next up will be "Little Drummer Girl", which I expect to watch over the next two weekends (LC has opted out); "Watership Down", which I've heard isn't the best, but which we recorded so I do want to watch; and "Les Miserables", which we've been holding off on until it was done so we could in quick succession. Also, Channel 4 are now advertising that they have the whole of "30 Rock" available, so that might be being added to the slate soon too.
#4: "The Business", by Iain Banks
Friday, January 25, 2019
My Week on the Trains
From Monday to Thursday of this week I was at a training course, which was held out of the office. This particular course was held at a hotel five minutes' walk from a station that was on the same line between Edinburgh and Livingston, two stops from home, so I thought it would be ideal to get the train in and thus not mess around with traffic.
So on Monday I went to the station to try this. I had arranged to arrive just in time for the last-but-two train that would get me there on time. This proved to be flawed, as before getting the train I needed a ticket. (Scotrail do have a SmartCard travel system, which is better. But that only works if you already have the card!) So I queued and got the ticket, and was just in time to get that same train, which was several minutes late.
The journey was okay, but not really something I'd recommend - by the time the train reached Livingston it was standing room only. Fortunately, I was only going two stops, so it was only briefly uncomfortable. But then it was a short walk to the hotel, which was good.
Coming home, I unfortunately got back to the station just in time to see a train pulling away, which meant a rather cold wait for fifteen minutes for the next one. Then it was, once again, standing room only, but then I was home. And that was fine.
My conclusion was that using the train was okay - it was a bit more expensive that using the car, it was quite a bit more uncomfortable, but the actual journey was considerably quicker, so provided I timed it right it would be pretty good.
So far, so good.
On Tuesday I got to the station only to discover that there was a broken down train on the line one stop past my actual destination, meaning that all trains were cancelled until it was fixed. When would that be? There was no indication.
So I got the car in.
On Wednesday, I didn't even bother with the train, and instead just used the car, and the same was true of Thursday also. The experiment had ended.
My conclusion from all of this is that I was largely disappointed by the trains. Given one of the easiest and most convenient journeys, it proved to be a fairly poor sustitute - more expensive per day (or even for a five-day week with a weekly pass - which I couldn't get as I didn't have a photocard), considerably less comfortable due to there being one two few coaches... and then plagued by a key unreliability.
It was that last that really caused problems - when I got to the station on Tuesday I couldn't know whether the train was cancelled for fifteen minutes, an hour, or several hours. The boards said to ask station staff... but there aren't any at that station. So while a broken down train really isn't something you can legislate for or realistically avoid, it wasn't handled particularly well. And since my analysis of the pros and cons was already borderline by that point, this tipped it over the edge.
And yet, that shouldn't have been the case. As I said, this was the easiest and most convenient journey in the system, and it involved a single person travelling. For both logistical and environmental reason, the Powers That Be should be trying really hard to get that journey off the roads - if every lone traveller from Livinston-ish to Edinburgh-ish switches from a car to the train, the corresponding reduction in car use would make a massive difference to the system as a whole. That's something that really needs to be facilitated.
So how could it be made better? Unfortunately, that's where I hit a blank. I think there are three obvious changes: firstly, the comparison of the costs really should favour the train over the car, and should do so based on the patterns of travel that people actually use. (That is, there should be an option of a 5-day ticket, for people who only need it for the working week.) Secondly, they could really do with finding a way to make those season tickets more easily accessed. As I said, I couldn't get a weekly ticket as I first needed a photocard - either that requirement needs to be done away with or it should be easy to get the required card. And thirdly, on that specific route they need to be adding one more coach to the average train (which appears to be an issue throughout the system). Basically, if you have people being required to stand, you have a problem.
One other thing, specifically about the SmartCard. Having looked into it, it is indeed an improvement over the standard approach of tickets and ticket machines. However, they've managed to implement it in a considerably worse manner than London's Oyster Card (which itself is less good than most equivalents on the continent... but I digress*). In London the card is loaded with money and then the system applies charges as you use it, based on how you use it (so if you use the Underground, it detects where you get on and get off, and charges you accordingly. Also, it detects if your daily usage means a day ticket would be cheaper, and caps itself accordingly, and so on). The SmartCard system, by contrast, has you load tickets onto the card, which means (a) you need to know your exact journey and (b) you need to buy the tickets four hours before you travel - if you suddenly need to go from A to B you're stuck.
* The reason that most of the systems on the continent are better is that the providers of public transport are all joined up. So the same card can be used on the bus, trains, trams, and so on. London has made some steps towards this, but the system is far from complete; the Scotrail system only covers the trains and Glasgow subway. So if you need a bus to get you to the station, it's just a hassle.
(Of course the best solution would get rid of the cards entirely and do everything with a mobile phone app. First set up an account to sort out payment, then you scan your phone at the start and at the end (or even better, log in/out with Bluetooth), and the app will automatically be charged for the appropriate journeys - with all the discounts for daily tickets applied automatically. That way there's no requirement for a special extra card, since pretty much everyone already has a phone, there's no need to work through an arcane system to find the optimum ticket, since the app sorts that after the fact, and there's a minimum of fuss all around. Of course, that requires a public transport system that is optimised to get people using it, rather than one that is set up to generate profit. But we can dream...)
#2: "802.11 Wireless Networks: The Definitive Guide", by Matthew S. Gast
#3: "Version Control with Git", by Jon Loeliger & Matthew McCullogh
So on Monday I went to the station to try this. I had arranged to arrive just in time for the last-but-two train that would get me there on time. This proved to be flawed, as before getting the train I needed a ticket. (Scotrail do have a SmartCard travel system, which is better. But that only works if you already have the card!) So I queued and got the ticket, and was just in time to get that same train, which was several minutes late.
The journey was okay, but not really something I'd recommend - by the time the train reached Livingston it was standing room only. Fortunately, I was only going two stops, so it was only briefly uncomfortable. But then it was a short walk to the hotel, which was good.
Coming home, I unfortunately got back to the station just in time to see a train pulling away, which meant a rather cold wait for fifteen minutes for the next one. Then it was, once again, standing room only, but then I was home. And that was fine.
My conclusion was that using the train was okay - it was a bit more expensive that using the car, it was quite a bit more uncomfortable, but the actual journey was considerably quicker, so provided I timed it right it would be pretty good.
So far, so good.
On Tuesday I got to the station only to discover that there was a broken down train on the line one stop past my actual destination, meaning that all trains were cancelled until it was fixed. When would that be? There was no indication.
So I got the car in.
On Wednesday, I didn't even bother with the train, and instead just used the car, and the same was true of Thursday also. The experiment had ended.
My conclusion from all of this is that I was largely disappointed by the trains. Given one of the easiest and most convenient journeys, it proved to be a fairly poor sustitute - more expensive per day (or even for a five-day week with a weekly pass - which I couldn't get as I didn't have a photocard), considerably less comfortable due to there being one two few coaches... and then plagued by a key unreliability.
It was that last that really caused problems - when I got to the station on Tuesday I couldn't know whether the train was cancelled for fifteen minutes, an hour, or several hours. The boards said to ask station staff... but there aren't any at that station. So while a broken down train really isn't something you can legislate for or realistically avoid, it wasn't handled particularly well. And since my analysis of the pros and cons was already borderline by that point, this tipped it over the edge.
And yet, that shouldn't have been the case. As I said, this was the easiest and most convenient journey in the system, and it involved a single person travelling. For both logistical and environmental reason, the Powers That Be should be trying really hard to get that journey off the roads - if every lone traveller from Livinston-ish to Edinburgh-ish switches from a car to the train, the corresponding reduction in car use would make a massive difference to the system as a whole. That's something that really needs to be facilitated.
So how could it be made better? Unfortunately, that's where I hit a blank. I think there are three obvious changes: firstly, the comparison of the costs really should favour the train over the car, and should do so based on the patterns of travel that people actually use. (That is, there should be an option of a 5-day ticket, for people who only need it for the working week.) Secondly, they could really do with finding a way to make those season tickets more easily accessed. As I said, I couldn't get a weekly ticket as I first needed a photocard - either that requirement needs to be done away with or it should be easy to get the required card. And thirdly, on that specific route they need to be adding one more coach to the average train (which appears to be an issue throughout the system). Basically, if you have people being required to stand, you have a problem.
One other thing, specifically about the SmartCard. Having looked into it, it is indeed an improvement over the standard approach of tickets and ticket machines. However, they've managed to implement it in a considerably worse manner than London's Oyster Card (which itself is less good than most equivalents on the continent... but I digress*). In London the card is loaded with money and then the system applies charges as you use it, based on how you use it (so if you use the Underground, it detects where you get on and get off, and charges you accordingly. Also, it detects if your daily usage means a day ticket would be cheaper, and caps itself accordingly, and so on). The SmartCard system, by contrast, has you load tickets onto the card, which means (a) you need to know your exact journey and (b) you need to buy the tickets four hours before you travel - if you suddenly need to go from A to B you're stuck.
* The reason that most of the systems on the continent are better is that the providers of public transport are all joined up. So the same card can be used on the bus, trains, trams, and so on. London has made some steps towards this, but the system is far from complete; the Scotrail system only covers the trains and Glasgow subway. So if you need a bus to get you to the station, it's just a hassle.
(Of course the best solution would get rid of the cards entirely and do everything with a mobile phone app. First set up an account to sort out payment, then you scan your phone at the start and at the end (or even better, log in/out with Bluetooth), and the app will automatically be charged for the appropriate journeys - with all the discounts for daily tickets applied automatically. That way there's no requirement for a special extra card, since pretty much everyone already has a phone, there's no need to work through an arcane system to find the optimum ticket, since the app sorts that after the fact, and there's a minimum of fuss all around. Of course, that requires a public transport system that is optimised to get people using it, rather than one that is set up to generate profit. But we can dream...)
#2: "802.11 Wireless Networks: The Definitive Guide", by Matthew S. Gast
#3: "Version Control with Git", by Jon Loeliger & Matthew McCullogh
Friday, January 18, 2019
Ten Weeks
In exactly ten weeks time, unless something changes in the interim, the UK will leave the EU. At present, we will be embarking on a "no deal" Brexit, overseen by the worst government in living memory.
But, you know, no rush you guys.
But, you know, no rush you guys.
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Rebuilding the To-Do List
I wrapped up the previous iteration of my to-do list at the end of November, with a promise that when the new year arrived I would build a new version of the list. In the meantime, I have given a little thought to the best form for the list, and have settled on building it in phases, where I would expect to finish, or at least be well advanced, in one phase before moving on to the next one.
I expect this iteration of the to-do list to run through to the end of the Easter holiday, after which I'll wrap it up and take stock.
Already Done
We have already managed to tackle three of the tasks from the to-do list:
There are two tasks remaining in the first phase of the list:
Phase Two
Once the last drawer has been cleared, we'll be in a position where we've finished our decluttering for the time being. This leaves us quite a lot of stuff that has been earmarked for disposal but which is still taking up space. Phase two, therefore, is to correct that:
Phase Three
Once phases one and two are done (hopefully by mid-February), it will be time to move on to phase three, which consists largely of tasks that were deferred from last year...
And that's the list. As noted, I intend to run this one until the end of the Easter holidays, and I'm hopeful of completing eight of the nine items by then.
(Once we get past the Easter holidays, my suspicion is that I might end up without a to-do list at all - the lists have been getting progressively shorter with each iteration, so it might just be possible that we'll have reached the end, at least for the time being. But we'll see.)
I expect this iteration of the to-do list to run through to the end of the Easter holiday, after which I'll wrap it up and take stock.
Already Done
We have already managed to tackle three of the tasks from the to-do list:
- I spent some time sorting through our accumulated documents, and disposed of a whole bunch that were no longer needed. (I also grouped other documents into annual bunches, meaning that next year's task will be one step easier. Which is nice.)
- As noted yesterday, we spent much of Saturday clearing out the kitchen.
- And, likewise, we rearranged the sideboard on Saturday.
There are two tasks remaining in the first phase of the list:
- I've resumed my task of clearing out my old RPG papers. This mostly involves an awful lot of scanning and then shredding of the documents. It's proceeding apace, but is going to take several more months to get through, I think. (I don't intend to hold up phase two for the completion of this task!)
- There is one drawer I want to go through and clear out (again). This isn't a long job, but it's one that will bug me if I don't get it done. So that's my task for this weekend.
Phase Two
Once the last drawer has been cleared, we'll be in a position where we've finished our decluttering for the time being. This leaves us quite a lot of stuff that has been earmarked for disposal but which is still taking up space. Phase two, therefore, is to correct that:
- Take the books, clothes, and other useable stuff to the charity shop for donation.
- Take the boxes, appliances, and other junk to the tip for disposal.
Phase Three
Once phases one and two are done (hopefully by mid-February), it will be time to move on to phase three, which consists largely of tasks that were deferred from last year...
- Digital Declutter: I started this last year when I re-catalogued my music. My intention is to do much the same with photos, videos, downloads, and documents on my PC - these should all be moved into a single, easily-backed-up location. Then I'll take a copy onto safe storage, and then go through the various files trying to find a better arrangement for them. The goal is to get everything into a state where it is easily found and accessed, where file names are help with the above, and to get rid of duplicate copies of the same document. (That last, of course, doesn't count backup copies, of course!)
- Re-fix the Wardrobe: As I mentioned at the time, I wasn't really happy with the end result of my 'fix' of the bedroom wardrobe. I therefore set myself the task to revisit that fix, which was deferred from the previous list. It's time to address this once again.
- Garden Plug: Likewise, my previous list had a task to remove and dispose of a concrete plug from the garden. This was deferred due to the winter, but will need to be tackled before too long.
- Redecorate Study: I mentioned this as one of my annual goals, and it's something I have pencilled in for the Easter holiday. The intention is to empty the room completely, remove some fastening plugs the previous owners left, fix the resulting holes in the wall, then repaint the room (changing the colour scheme). That done, we'll then put things back into the room, but take the opportunity to replace some of the furniture, rearrange some others, and generally make the room more pleasant to use.
- Repaint the Dining Room: Unfortunately, one of the consequences of the Christmas period is that the paintwork in the dining room has been damaged. Since it's not really possible to hide the damage, nor to find some paint to patch it in exactly the same colour, we'll need to redo the paintwork in this room. For the moment, my intent is to repaint the walls (only) in as close to the same colour as we can find. I'm not currently planning to redo the skirting boards or door frames, though this may well change.
And that's the list. As noted, I intend to run this one until the end of the Easter holidays, and I'm hopeful of completing eight of the nine items by then.
(Once we get past the Easter holidays, my suspicion is that I might end up without a to-do list at all - the lists have been getting progressively shorter with each iteration, so it might just be possible that we'll have reached the end, at least for the time being. But we'll see.)
Monday, January 14, 2019
A Big Achievement
Originally, our plan for the weekend was to try to get out for a walk on Saturday afternoon. However, due to a spot of inclement weather we ended up having to cancel this, and when Funsize went for a sleep we suddenly found ourselves with a block of free time and no clear plans.
After some debate, LC and I finally settled on a task for that afternoon - we would clear out the cupboards in the kitchen, have a big declutter, and rearrange what was left. And, as a side effect, we would also rearrange the sideboard in the dining room, making better use of all of the available storage.
Fun times!
This task then took us the next several hours, and was fairly tedious work. And the end result was that almost everything was rearranged into the same places they were stored previously - I'm sure it's possible to find a better arrangement, but in the event I couldn't see one that had sufficient benefit to justify throwing away my knowledge of where to find things.
But the main result was that a significant amount of stuff that never gets used was marked for decluttering, another significant chunk of stuff was moved out of the kitchen to the aforementioned sideboard, and the remaining stuff was therefore given room to breathe.
All in all, it was a good job well done. Although we were left absurdly pleased at this, frankly minor, achievement!
#1: "Dark Sun Campaign Setting", by Richard Baker, Robert J. Schwalb, and Rodney Thompson
After some debate, LC and I finally settled on a task for that afternoon - we would clear out the cupboards in the kitchen, have a big declutter, and rearrange what was left. And, as a side effect, we would also rearrange the sideboard in the dining room, making better use of all of the available storage.
Fun times!
This task then took us the next several hours, and was fairly tedious work. And the end result was that almost everything was rearranged into the same places they were stored previously - I'm sure it's possible to find a better arrangement, but in the event I couldn't see one that had sufficient benefit to justify throwing away my knowledge of where to find things.
But the main result was that a significant amount of stuff that never gets used was marked for decluttering, another significant chunk of stuff was moved out of the kitchen to the aforementioned sideboard, and the remaining stuff was therefore given room to breathe.
All in all, it was a good job well done. Although we were left absurdly pleased at this, frankly minor, achievement!
#1: "Dark Sun Campaign Setting", by Richard Baker, Robert J. Schwalb, and Rodney Thompson
Monday, January 07, 2019
Christmas Preparations and Wash-up, Part Two
Okay, it's a little odd posting again about Christmas this far after the fact, but the post-Christmas activities didn't finally complete until yesterday. Additionally, I've had something of a blog-holiday, and am only now just getting back into things, so here we are. This post picks up from a previous post on the topic from back in December...
And that is that. I've been pretty happy with the way Christmas has gone this year, with only two caveats: the cook-time on the turkey and the wasted leftovers. If I cook again next year, I'll need to address both of these. (That said, hopefully next year I'll be in better health, and so be in a better place for that cooking. But I guess we'll see - being ill for Christmas happens distressingly often.)
The main thing I hope to add for next year, which I've quite fancied for a few years but just haven't found time for, is some Christmas baking - some nice festive biscuits or muffins or something. I think that's my next step, which I'll be building in some time early in December...
- Cooking the Meal (revised): The major 'lesson learned' of the Christmas period is that when cooking the big roast dinner the oven doesn't actually reach the claimed temperature - between the oven being so very full and between the door being periodically opened (for basting the joint and/or putting things in), it was probably a good 10 degrees lower than was hoped. This naturally messed up my cooking times, especially for the turkey.
- Leftovers: The big Christmas meal is likely to leave a significant quantity of leftovers, especially when catering for a family of two adults and one tiny person. The leftovers will keep for a few short days, so it's a good idea to have a couple of plans for using them up - this year I made a turkey korma and a festive soup, which was good but still led to more waste than I would have liked.
- Sorting the Gifts: This is a fairly benign task - the wrapping paper goes straight to recycling, the various bits of packaging want removed (and sent to recycling), and then homes need to be found for the various gifts.
- Dealing with the Cards: At the end of the Christmas season, the Christmas cards should be gathered and quickly checked: are there any that need to be saved (for craft use, or similar)? If so, these should have the relevant sections harvested and taken away. The rest need to be checked for addresses and other personal information, and shredded if appropriate. And then it all gets recycled.
- Packing Up: The decorations come down on the 6th of January, in a reverse of the process of putting them up. Fortunately, this is a rather quicker process, since there's no need to worry about an artistic arrangement or similar. The only things to check are that (a) anything fragile needs to be packed with care, and (b) anything that has become damaged should be discarded immediately - don't wait for next year, or you'll never do it!
And that is that. I've been pretty happy with the way Christmas has gone this year, with only two caveats: the cook-time on the turkey and the wasted leftovers. If I cook again next year, I'll need to address both of these. (That said, hopefully next year I'll be in better health, and so be in a better place for that cooking. But I guess we'll see - being ill for Christmas happens distressingly often.)
The main thing I hope to add for next year, which I've quite fancied for a few years but just haven't found time for, is some Christmas baking - some nice festive biscuits or muffins or something. I think that's my next step, which I'll be building in some time early in December...
Tuesday, January 01, 2019
Books of the Year 2018
As part of the end-of-year round-up, I can once again present a list of books read in 2018. Note, however, that this list is slightly provisional, as I have had to compose this post in advance, and won't have opportunity to update it for a few days. It is therefore possible that I may have to add a book, or even two, early in the New Year.
(Update: I didn't have to add anything to the list. I've been reading "Anna Karenina", which is taking a fairly long time to get through!)
Here is the list:
The book of the year goes to "White Knight, Black Swan", by David Gemmell, which served as a reminder of just why he was my favourite author for so long. A shame that there shall be no more from him.
None of the books from this year were particularly disappointing, so I'll leave that dubious distinction unassigned for this year.
And that's that. For 2019, the target is once again stated as being 60 books. However, the sublists are in a state of flux this year - I only have three (books from The List, books by Iain Banks, and Pathfinders), and two of these will end early. The rest will be made up of a mix of books. We'll need to see if I can come up with some more sensible sublists for the year...
(Update: I didn't have to add anything to the list. I've been reading "Anna Karenina", which is taking a fairly long time to get through!)
Here is the list:
- "The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún", by J.R.R. Tolkien
- "Pathfinder: City in the Deep", by Amber E. Scott
- "On the Road", by Jack Kerouac *
- "The Darkling Child", by Terry Brooks
- "Pathfinder: Tower of the Drowned Dead", by Ron Lundeen
- "Against a Dark Background", by Iain M. Banks
- "Lolita", by Vladimir Nabokov *
- "The Sorcerer's Daughter", by Terry Brooks
- "Feersum Endjinn", by Iain M. Banks
- "Only Dead on the Inside", by James Breakwell
- "Pathfinder: Beyond the Veiled Past", by Thurston Hillman
- "Ready Player One", by Ernest Cline
- "The Black Elfstone", by Terry Brooks
- "A Fine Balance", by Rohinton Mistry *
- "Pathfinder: Crownfall", by Thurston Hillman
- "Coruscant and the Core Worlds", by Craig R. Carey, Chris Doyle, Jason Fry, Paul Sudlow, John Terra, and Daniel Wallace
- "Espedair Street", by Iain Banks
- "Dangerous Women", edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
- "William Shakespeare's Star Wars: The Force Doth Awaken", by Ian Doescher
- "Pathfinder: Songbird, Scion, Saboteur", by Crystal Frasier and Richard Pett
- "The Hobbit", by J.R.R. Tolkien * **
- "O.L.D. Fantasy Heroic Role-playing Game", by Russ Morrissey
- "Walking on Glass", by Iain Banks
- "The Enchanted Wood", by Enid Blyton *
- "Pathfinder: The Twilight Child", by Ron Lundeen
- "The Algebraist", by Iain M. Banks
- "Rhyming Rings", by David Gemmell
- "Norse Mythology", by Neil Gaiman
- "The Magic Faraway Tree", by Enid Blyton *
- "The Bridge", by Iain Banks
- "The Jesus Storybook Bible", by Sally Lloyd-Jones **
- "Pathfinder: City in the Lion's Eye", by Mikko Kallio
- "The Folk of the Faraway Tree", by Enid Blyton *
- "Canal Dreams", by Iain Banks
- "Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes", by Wizards of the Coast
- "Pathfinder: The Reaper's Right Hand", by John Compton
- "White Knight, Black Swan", by David Gemmell
- "Up the Faraway Tree", by Enid Blyton *
- "Winnie the Pooh", by A.A. Milne * **
- "Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game", by West End Games
- "Stonemouth", by Iain Banks
- "Fools and Mortals", by Bernard Cornwell
- "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold", by John le Carré
- "Pathfinder: the Six-Legend Soul", by Amber E. Scott
- "The Quarry", by Iain Banks
- "The World of Peter Rabbit", by Beatrix Potter **
- "The Star Wars Sourcebook", by West End Games
- "Pathfinder: Secrets of Roderic's Cove", by Adam Daigle
- "Midnight's Children", by Salman Rushdie *
- "Complicity", by Iain Banks
- "Rivers of London", by Ben Aaronovitch
- "Dungeon Crawl Classics", by Goodman Games
- "Pathfinder: It Came From Hollow Mountain", by Mike Shel
- "Dunstan", by Conn Iggulden
- "Pathfinder: Runeplague", by Richard Pett
- "Whit", by Iain Banks
- "Father Christmas's Fake Beard", by Terry Pratchett
- "Pathfinder: Temple of the Peacock Spirit", by Jason Keeley
- "A Song of Stone", by Iain Banks
- "Pathfinder: The City Outside of Time", by Amanda Hamon Kunz
The book of the year goes to "White Knight, Black Swan", by David Gemmell, which served as a reminder of just why he was my favourite author for so long. A shame that there shall be no more from him.
None of the books from this year were particularly disappointing, so I'll leave that dubious distinction unassigned for this year.
And that's that. For 2019, the target is once again stated as being 60 books. However, the sublists are in a state of flux this year - I only have three (books from The List, books by Iain Banks, and Pathfinders), and two of these will end early. The rest will be made up of a mix of books. We'll need to see if I can come up with some more sensible sublists for the year...
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