Giving the new shoes a proper christening. Wish Brimmond Hill was a bit nearer. I definitely can’t be doing that very often before work; However, did make it back in time to take the dogs out before a meeting.
Note: Should have said it last Friday, but the Heartworms album is probably going to end up as my album of the year. Can't stop listening to it
The Snow Did Not Look Like A Killing Blanket
"And, today, the snow did not look like a killing blanket but like a tender coverlet designed to keep the cold away from germinating seeds."
Sarah Walters says in the forward “it’s also the most engaging and accessible of her fictions” and I was going to say “but I can’t remember The Magic Toyshop being this bonkers”, and yet it turns out I did say just that.
Why A Woman Should Want To Murder Her Husband
"There are many reasons, most of them good ones, why a woman should want to murder her husband."
I mean, in the grand scheme of things, she’s not wrong.
From Water That Holds Within It The Entire Sky
"Outside the window, there slides past that unimaginable and deserted vastness where night is coming on, the sun declining in ghastly blood-streaked splendour like a public execution across, it would seem, half a continent, where live only beads and shooting stars and the wolves who lap congealing ice from water that holds within it the entire sky."
Beautiful.
And From The Coffin Of Your Madness There Is No Escape
"Farewell, old man. And from the coffin of your madness there is no escape."
First book of the Christmas book haul done. Since then I’ve got another two. Due to the rest of life getting in the way I could see it taking me until near the end of the year to get through all these.
Apple Watch Series 3 Five Years On
Five years on it’s still going pretty strong: It has a 90% battery capacity (although Apple are very generous with their percentages). I can, however, get up at 6-7am and either do a couple of runs (one for me and one with A) and have just enough battery to make it to bed time at 11pm ish, or I don’t do any GPS activity and I easily make it to bedtime with around half my battery left.
Since I don’t have an iPhone anymore I am literally just using it as a running/exercise watch as opposed to a smart watch (well, I do use timers for cooking - WorkOutDoors and the timer app are the two things I have in the “dock”) so that probably helps with battery life. In the day it’s connected to the house WiFi - I could turn that off I guess, but no real need.
I had thought that I’d need to replace it last year but I guess I might get another year out of it before the battery is completely knackered. Perhaps if I was doing longer runs I’d notice it, but it’s fine for what I’m doing currently. There are rare occasions where I’d like to have a watch that has days long battery life (so not even a new Apple Watch) for tracking runs and steps, but I don’t need it.
Some follow-ups since the initial review:
- I’ve realised wrist based heart measurements are just what they are. They are very person dependent, etc. WorkOutDoors having Precision Start where it starts measuring heart rate before starting a run helps a bit. So I use it, but it’s hit and miss: sometimes records perfectly during runs, other times gets maybe a couple of readings.
- I used Siri via my watch once to phone little M whilst out in some bad snow and there was no way I could have unlocked my phone. Worked a treat, but that was the only time.
- I stopped using the Strava app for WorkOutDoors and use audio sparingly for sprint intervals. I e. I could completely cope without a speaker on a watch.
- Display-wise, when running I just have average pace and time nowadays which really helps with readability.
- I stopped using Teuxdeux (sadly), but could still use the Shortcuts app for Taskwarrior. I do miss this specific smart watch functionality, but can cope without it (obviously).
In general I really can’t fault it and I’ve loved it as a bit of technology. If you have an iPhone, getting a Watch SE is a far better value purchase than whatever iPhone you have. It is Apple’s best product in my opinion, especially when combined with WorkOutDoors for the mapping, etc.
I am not unaffected by consumerism - I’ve window shopped hard for a new watch over the last year from the most realistic option (a forerunner 55) to dream level stuff (like a Suunto Race S or Polar Vantage M3). I’d love to buy something, but know there is no real point yet. Anything in my price range isn’t really going to be better it will just have more battery life. It’s not going to make any difference to my exercise routine.
Note: (Ma: Torture those privileged white kids. The token black teen and token poor white mum didn't balance it out)
Note: Watched Ma because Netflix said I'd love it based on Ready Or Not. But 2/5. A bit teeny and mostly I was rooting for Ma.
Note: Watched Ready Or Not. 5/5. It knows what it wants to do (even if the viewer doesn't), sets out and pulls it all together by the end.
LINK: Drinkaware
I’m not doing dry January (why make an already hard month more miserable than necessary?) so this post is just coincidentally in January - I actually started using Drinkaware last year, but only got around to writing about it now.
These are my uncollected thoughts on it:
- As far as doing what it says on the tin I can’t fault it: It does make you very aware.
- It would be nice if it worked offline / without an account.
- It would also be nice if it didn’t nag every time about enabling notifications.
- And further, if you could edit existing entries (names, percentages, volumes, etc) rather than having to delete and replace.
- The unit goals can only go down which I find a bit silly. Ok, yes, I am trying to stick to 14 units a week, but if I only have 10 units one week I can’t then set a goal of 14 for the next week.
- Related: It’s not the most positively re-enforcing app. It tends to want to tell you you’ve “significantly increased your drinking” if you’ve gone from a week with 0 units to a week with 10 whereas I feel it should be saying “well done, you are under 14 units”.
- 14 units a week is not a lot at all.
- What’s more, 8 units in a session (any more is technically binge drinking and a session is a whole 24 hours) is really not much at all. That’s less than four pints at 4.5%. If you had two pints at lunch on a Saturday and then two in the evening you’d be a binge drinker (technically).
- It’s really made me aware how strong drinks are. It’s hard to find craft beers under 4%. It’s easy to find beers over 5%. Similarly it’s so much easier to find wines at 13% than 10.5% (and it makes a lot of difference: You can do a whole bottle of wine at 10.5% and stay under 8 units).
- I’ve found a new found appreciation for “bests”: Bellhaven Best and Caledonia Best are only 3.2%
- Of course there are lots of great alcohol free beers nowadays, but I also wish there were more around 3%. Similarly with lower alcohol wines (alcohol free wines are… not good).
- I could probably give up drinking for myself, but, like everything else in my life, I’m trying to stick to these guidelines as a compromise.
- But I’m also doing “everything in moderation, including moderation” - I.e. I didn’t bother over Christmas (I did have a very light New Year though just by accident).
The Jazz Bar Edinburgh
We’ve done quite a few visits to the Blue Lamp since, but yesterday we managed a brief stop off at Edinburgh’s The Jazz Bar. It is more like a movie jazz club and a very cool place indeed.
Christmas Book Haul
Genuinely so happy when I’d already unwrapped a load of books and then unwrapped Addie LaRue. Also really looking forward to Butter - that wasn’t on my list but looks great. Will take me awhile to get through these though. Quotes incoming.
LINK: My Music Picks Of The Year
Highlights of the highlights? Could I pick a top ten? I doubt it. Right now that Divorce track is stuck in my head, plus I’m loving the Honeyglaze Ghost song (which I overlooked when I first listened to the album as I was so distracted by the brilliance of Pretty Girls), but this playlist sways from Ariana Grande to Architects so it really depends on my mood. There is some great stuff on here.
The craziest thing though is, that despite there being almost six hours of tracks here, I know there will have been songs that I will love that have completely passed me by.
Looking forward to next year.
These are the ten most recent posts (not counting any note drivel), for older posts see the Archive.