I have moved back to Scotland, and on the first night someone was playing bagpipes in a garden across the road. So that was nice.
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Posts between 2020/10 and 2020/11 (45 out of 45)
- Started and finished Victory Conditions; started Cold Welcome.
- Went to Edinburgh with two backpacks of stuff. Picked up some more household donations/lendings from K&M and moved into a flat by the sea in Kirkcaldy.
- Settled in, got a hammock from ebay and kitchen stuff from local charity shops. Really enjoyed the local zero-waste shop.
- Took part in #apconf; did a live Q&A after the prerecorded keynote panel about the history of ActivityPub which was fun, as well as listened/joined in with some of the ad-hoc sessions.
- Went to Edinburgh to pick up vegan deli not-meants from bbl, more house stuff from K&M, and my wee brother from the train station.
- Not a very productive week work-wise; had a migraine and lots of life admin and new-flat stuff.
- Another week of ridiculously good weather. Went out to enjoy the sun and various beaches (laptop beach working). It is nice to be so close to beaches for a quick stroll by the sea.
- Walked to Dysart through Ravenscraig to buy furniture. Slight furniture moving accident requiring bandages for my thumb. Thankful to tolerant bus drivers who let us on with a desk and a bedside cabinet.
- Then a walk to the other side of Kirkcaldy to pick up a Freegle desk, which it turned out we also could not carry home; more bus driver gratitude necessary.
- Still more moving house admin to do, somehow.
- New lockdown restrictions in place in Scotland, but the more severe ones don't apply to Fife.
- Not got a lot of work done (blaming house moving).
- Spent waaaay too much money, on secondhand furniture (just the bare minimum really) and grocery stocking up. At least I came in under budget for the past few months so I have some leeway.
- Made handwarmers, which Dave promptly borrowed and stretched.
- Finished Cold Welcome, started Into the Fire.
- Ended the week by hiking from Kirkcaldy to the Wemyss Caves and back (16 miles), enjoying the beautiful coastline, cute fishing villages and Pictish rock carvings (Dave's photos).
- Started learning about IATI.
- Brief trip to Edinburgh for errands and friends.
- Finished Into the Fire, started Dune.
- Did a 17 mile hike around Glenrothes and up East Lomond with Dave and got some Freegle stuff.
- Made handwarmers for Dave and started a hat.
- Watched lots of movies, and new Discovery.
- omg nanowrimo is soon..
- Did more thinking about IATI stuff.
- A bunch of mostly editorial work on the DID spec.
- Made my first ever submission of an IETF draft... (an update to RFC 6838 about media types with multiple suffixes, riveting stuff)
- Went to Dysart twice. Thought about buying a flat there, but thought too hard and missed the window. Not like I need that hassle in my life anyway.
- Bought a bike off gumtree and tested it around Beveridge Park.
- Gas got disconnected because Eon have not given any way for me to give them money yet. Made a nest. Cooked things to warm up.
- Ran to Kinghorn along the Fife Coastal path and back.
#apconf 2020
I'm gonna be in and out of APConf today and tomorrow, starting in a couple of hours. While the live video bits are full, the talks are all prerecorded and available to anyone, and there's chat on SocialHub that everyone can join in with as well.
I'm extremely multitasking so won't be 100% available but do feel free to ping me or loop me into any conversations you think I might be interested in and I'll do my best to keep on top of things.
(PS. I'm in the keynote panel :D)
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I got a letter from my electricity provider addressed to "Ms". The letting agent had passed on my details to them, and I had only ever given the letting agent "Dr". I wonder where in the chain it got mixed up. I wonder what it'd be like if I had a more gender-neutral first name?
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🗁Added 33 photos to album Misc UK 2020.
Moved to Fife. Settling in with some sunny days and rainy days by the sea. Nice beach walks, Enjoyed the Friday market and zero-waste store Grain & Sustain.
Weather in Fife is good when the sky is multiple shades of grey instead of just one.
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Week in review: 28th Sept - 4th Oct
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🗁Added 29 photos to album Fife 2020.
A trek to Dysart to buy furniture, enjoying the glorious Ravens Craig beaches on the way.
Only got caught in one or two torrential downpours, in between the sunshine, and soaked through. Lunch at Koku Shi.
(Also featuring a trip to Edinburgh the day before for doughnuts, bbl vegan deli, and my wee brother.)
A big essentials shop at a local zero-waste store costs more than twice as much as the same at my nearest big supermarket. I am happy pay to try to break the cycle of plastic, and to support a small local business instead of massive chains, but it's still infuriating. And I'm grateful to have a local zero-waste store in the first place. But ugh. Fix it, world.
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🗁Added 57 photos to album Fife 2020.
In the afternoon I took my office to the beach for a W3C call. Meanwhile my brother explored Seafields and he took most of these amazing photos.
oh good, maps.me now requires Android 5+
(which I don't have)
ye olde maps open app recommendations anyone? (Android 4.2.2)
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🗁Added 51 photos to album Fife 2020.
A walk to and around Ravenscraig Castle, exploring the walls and towers on the beaches.
🗁Added 64 photos to album Fife 2020.
Ravenscraig, from Dave's perspective.
🗁Added 40 photos to album Fife 2020.
Dave and I took our laptops to the rocks at Seafields for a bit. It was nice for a while but not long before we were rained off. We could see the cloud looming from a way off so we managed to pack up before we got wet. It rained on us on the walk home, then was sunny again by the time we got back. Obviously.
Later we tested our local chippy and found it excellent.
My ostensibly local and quite expensive fruit and veg box arrived, along with a loooot of plastic. Disappointing. I can't seem to find a greengrocer anywhere near me in Kirkcaldy. Might be going to Burntisland for veg at this rate..
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🗁Added 36 photos to album Fife 2020.
Sunset beach stroll in Kirkcaldy.
🗁Added 111 photos to album Fife 2020.
Dave and I hiked from Kirkcaldy to the Wemyss Caves and back. It was a gorgeous day. Dysart and West Wemyss are seriously cute. We saw lots of seals basking in the sun, and met a nice cat. There are gorgeous smooth sand and craggy rock beaches, as well as multiple castles en route. In the Wemyss Caves are 1500 year old Pictish rock carvings. We found one, but will need the guided tour for the rest. We got ice cream and chips in East Wemyss and limped home, after 16 miles in total (GPS).
🗁Added 103 photos to album Fife 2020.
Photos of the walk to Wemyss Caves by Dave. (See also my photos, notes, GPS etc.)
Week in review: 5th - 11th Oct
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🗁Added 3 photos to album Misc UK 2020.
Brief trip to Edinburgh to meet some geese, see friends, and get hauls from New Leaf, Starlight, and the bbl vegan deli. On the way I stopped at Burntisland for more things from Grain and Sustain.
It's not very often I have a cooking disaster so complete as to render something inedible, but today I reached into my cupboard of unlabelled jars of white powder and tried to thicken my creamy mushroom and not-bacon sauce with bicarbonate of soda instead of cornflour, and let me tell you folks, not recommended.
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In reply to: https://rhiaro.co.uk/2020/10/very-often
Why is it fizzing?? I puzzled over the pan for faaar too long before realising what I had done.
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Uuuuggghhh three balls of yarn are tangled up with my headphones cable, that's how I know bringing crochet to work has gone too far.
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🗁Added 62 photos to album Fife 2020.
A nice Freegler offered me some things I need, but was in Glenrothes. Glenrothes is only one stop on the train, and right next to the Lomond Hills, so I thought I'd make a day of it and go for a hike before picking up the stuff. But also it turns out Glenrothes doesn't have a central station, but is in between two that are quite far from town.
Dave and I started the hike at Markinch station; one hour to the Pitcairn Center which was the 'real' start of the hike. We walked through woods and fields and ascended East Lomond (aka Falkland Hill). It was perfect hiking weather; overcast and not to warm and not too cold, and all the beautiful autumn colours are out. There were some people dressed as knights filming swordfights in the carpark near the base of East Lomond, and a few small families out for a hike as well.
We descended the steep way, and made a loop back to the Pitcairn Center, with only a slight detour off the trail through some bushes. This took three and a half hours, which was longer than I expected.
Then we marched south for another hour, around Glenrothes town center, to pick up our Freegle items (and met a nice doggo called Duncan). Fortunately nothing heavy. After that it was just 45 minutes back along a cycle path to Markinch for the train home.
The hike itself was perfect, but the extras at the beginning and end totally wore us out; 17 miles in total. GPS trace here.
🗁Added 120 photos to album Fife 2020.
Dave's photos from the hike up East Lomond and around Glenrothes.
🗁Added 9 photos to album Fife 2020.
I made myself some handwarmers, which Dave promptly borrowed and stretched. So I made Dave some handwarmers. He wanted fingers on his too which is quite fiddly. Good use of small scraps of yarn.
I borrowed a chromecast, but it turns out these days you need a mobile app to set it up, and the app can't proceed without allowing google access to your location.
(Last time I used one - many years ago - you just used a browser addon and the same wifi network..)
So uh.. An HDMI cable will do just fine then I guess.
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My Mum is a big slow-cooker user, but it's something I never picked up. I've got one at the moment, so I'm trying it out. But I love the hands-on-ness of cooking, so I keep wanting to check on my stew, poke it with a spoon, etc..
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Week in review: 12th - 18th Oct
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So many RFCs, so little time.
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My brother keeps complaining that I won't let him have cling film, but doesn't seem keen on the compromise I offered: he can use cling film, but when he's done with it instead of throwing it away he has to keep it all in his room forever.
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My brother says he can't tell the difference between when I'm "off work" and when I'm "working" which I suppose means I have my life-work balance about right.
(I think it's come as a surprise to him quite how much I actually procrastinate.)
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🗁Added 26 photos to album Fife 2020.
A walk from Kirkcaldy to Dysart through Ravenscraig, followed by some lounging on the vast damp expanse of Kirkcaldy beach, and lunch and a Nice Sit Down in a good chair at Anderson's cafe.
🗁Added 16 photos to album Fife 2020.
Misc Kirkcaldy photos; settling in.. Beach and Beveridge park.
I'm psyching myself up for nanowrimo by reading the nanowrimo tag on my site.
I'm planning to write something altogether new this year. Some proper scifi. The frustrating thing is I did a bunch of character and setting brainstorming a few months ago I'm sure on paper and I can't find a trace of it. I usually photograph or type up things from notebooks before I throw them away and I've looked everywhere. Guess I'm starting that over.
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For tonight's entertainment my brother shaved the back and sides of my head with his beard trimmers. Seems pretty much fine. Only I made the rookie error of not covering my clothes. I have tried to vacuum the hair out of my trousers but it is impossible.
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🗁Added 36 photos to album Fife 2020.
Back to Dysart because I freakin' love it; still nice in the rain. Later, a sunset stroll in the Seafields direction to catch some vibrant skies.
A dear wish of mine is for Grain & Sustain to stock BBL vegan deli 'meats' and to get a peanut grinder so I don't have to go all the way to New Leaf in Edinburgh for peanut butter. Then my new life in Fife will be complete.
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🗁Added 28 photos to album Homemade food.
Misc homemade food from the last month. Bosnian grah and somun (not quite right but pretty close); Japanese curries; slowcooker stew; comfort foods... pizza, seitan doner kebab, mac 'n' cheese, chips, pancakes; chickpea flour omelette; bean burgers and homemade bread..
🗁Added 42 photos to album Fife 2020.
Woke up at sunrise cos the clocks went back. In the afternoon I ran from Kirkcaldy to Pettycur Bay with a pause to look at the pretty town of Kinghorn (GPS trace). Rain threatened ominously, but actually held off. Some brisk wind and some warm sun. Really nice trail.
Week in review: 19th - 25th October
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It's TPAC breakout week! I'm sad we can't do TPAC in person, but excited that I can join some sessions and some random IRC watercooler channels and imagine I'm seeing everyone around.
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Toasted sandwich presses are my favourite kitchen appliance that I could absolutely never justify buying (because basically the same effect can be achieved with some combination of one or more of toaster, microwave, grill which I usually have access to), though I have chosen short-term accommodation purely based on presence of a sandwich press. Anyway some kind Freegle soul gave me one today. My life is complete, I need nothing more.
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"if a google jamboard is not a sampler of various preserves I request our Gsuite money refunded" - mrshll
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I am absolutely floored by the Ethical Web and Consentful Communications panels at TPAC. I hope the recordings are easily available cos there are so many people I want to share these with. Visions of hope for a better Web!
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I missed the first shitscape of a UK lockdown this year. My brother just told me how he traded rice for toilet paper at one point. Exciting!
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