w/e 2022-08-22

Ahoy!

I visited my parents in Essex again this week, so traveled back and forth through London. Last time I did that I managed a nice lunch with an excellent Matt. This time I had lunches with an excellent Nick and four Toms! It is so, so nice to see such familiar faces.

On the way back west I did more walking than ever, starting with Liverpool Street Station to Hackney Central to see one of the Toms. It had been a while since I was up that way so it was good to see everywhere. I’m surprised it’s taken this long for a chain (Planet Organic) to arrive on Broadway Market.

Then I walked to Paddington Station, much of it along the canal, although the highlight was stopping at Cafe Oto in Dalston for a coffee – I’ve heard about the venue a lot but had never been so sitting outside, on a quiet side street, under the shade of trees, was very nice.

A photo of a canal from the towpath, curving off to the left in the distance. There are trees on either side, lit up by the sun and reflected in the almost still water, along with the clear sky. Two canoeists are in the foreground in red boats heading away from us.

It was probably a bit too far for me though, especially in the sun – my phone tells me it was 22km (13½ miles). Still, lovely to see a lot of London, some grimy bits and some beautiful bits, some old bits and some very new.

§ These weeknotes are a day late because I spent last night at The Angel Hotel in Abergavenny for some belated birthday celebrations with in-laws (the week’s fifth Tom!), followed by more canalling today – in an electric “day boat” from Beacon Park Boats in Crickhowell, along to a pub in Gilwern for coffee, and then tootling back again. Very pleasant.

A photo looking along a canal towards a moored narrowboat, which is reflected in the still water, as are the trees and bushes that fill the rest of the image, almost hiding the sky entirely.

§ It’s been more than a month since I last pondered here about how best to host existing and new Django websites and I still haven’t made a decision. But this week I did remind myself what was involved with setting up a VPS, getting one of Mythic Beasts’ virtual servers and following various tutorials to successfully get a site up and running.

I kept detailed notes last time I tried something similar, in 2015, when it took me six hours from start to finish. This time it took five hours, but there are still a few things I know I need to do. It wasn’t difficult but it’s fiddly and I don’t feel confident I’ve done everything well, never mind securely. It’d be OK for a hobby site with nobody’s personal data but I wouldn’t feel confident about hosting anything more serious like that. I’m sure plenty of people do but I am cautious. Maybe I’m over-thinking it?

Still, it was good to remind myself what’s involved, for when I next respond to someone on r/Django telling a newbie that setting up a VPS is a super easy way to get their first ever website online.

§ We finished watching season three of For All Mankind and I enjoyed it more than the second season. Although, nearly a week later I can’t actually remember a huge amount about it, never mind how I actually felt, so I’m not sure it hit me terribly deeply. Still, less soap-opera-ness and more space-ness was good.

We also finished the final episodes of Better Call Saul and it was fine? I’ve always found it Very Good, like you can see and feel the quality, but I’ve rarely felt emotionally attached or interested in most of the main characters. And I ended up a bit confused by some of the final episodes’ flashes forwards and backwards, and then it finished and I assumed there was more to come.

And we finished season one of Ted Lasso (or Football Man as we call it after forgetting his name) which you’ve all seen. It was nice and sometimes funny, and Keeley and Nate were excellent. (Nate was exactly the same character as he played in his own Intelligence, which we never finished; he was the best thing in it.) But, god, Ted Lasso is a very, very annoying man isn’t he.

§ Because I’m late this week is going to be extra short. It’s nearly the weekend already!