Alasdair Craig

The week of Jun 10, 2019 – Jun 16, 2019

A little woodworking again…

Monday: Gym, body corporate work, Coursera work, reading.

Tuesday: Good day at work. A successful implementation of an algorithm that I’m confident is the correct one. A little Coursera work, and reading.

Wednesday: Gym session with Johnny. Grocery shopping. Coursera work, browsing, reading.

Thursday: Quiz night at Palmyra Junction with Paul, Barbs, Barry, Sonya and Lilly.

Friday: Eye exam appointment. Reading. Finished reading Bad Blood by John Carreyrou.

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I began thinking this is a book of merely a failed venture, dubious business decisions and a toxic work environment. Instead it quickly became an eye opening exposé into a shockingly successful sham.

Saturday: A bit of early running around, then some time at Maker Station. Nice to be back in a workshop. Then some hamburgers cooked at home with mom. A walk twice round Rondebosch common.

Sunday: Glued up the panel. Lunch with mom at Simon’s Restaurant. Great venue, good food and service. Atlantic seaboard drive. Wasted the afternoon and evening though, couldn’t get motivated for the Coursera work.

My work week was divided into: New development 60%; Bug fixing 30%; Testing 10%.

Podcasts listened to this week: CppCast; Making It; Beyond the Grid; Dave Gilmour.

The week of Jun 3, 2019 – Jun 9, 2019

Revisiting Coursera…

Monday: Feeling headachy. Thai takeout from Arawan, not as good as Thai World used to be, miss that place. Admin, reading.

Tuesday: A very rainy day. Reading.

Wednesday: Another rainy day. Gym session with Johnny. Reading

Thursday: Inbox zero. Poker with the boys, I performed dismally, still fun though – beer helped.

Friday: Took cake to work for my (second) five year anniversary. It went down well. Grocery shopping. Reading.

Saturday: Finished reading The Wolf and the Watchman by Niklas Natt och Dag. Side project coding. A fast walk twice round Rondebosch Common. Sushi dinner with Barbs, Heidi, Estelle and Paul.

The Wolf and the Watchman by Niklas Natt och Dag
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow, quite a story! In parts brutal and gruesome. The depiction of place and time is very believable. I’m not sure I understood all the machinations and historical context, but still very readable.

Sunday: Signed up for a Coursera course on Introduction to Self-Driving Cars. Lunch with mom at Forrester’s Arms. The carvery never disappoints. Watched the Canadian F1 Grand Prix.

My work week was divided into: Bug fixing 30%; New development 20%; Code review 20%; Building install 20%; Testing 10%.

Podcasts listened to this week: CppCast; NYT Book Review; BBC Books & Authors; Beyond the Grid;

The week of May 27, 2019 – Jun 2, 2019

F1 in Cape Town…

Monday: Gym, admin. Roasted a nice piece of beef. Started a new book.

Tuesday: Seem to be sleeping better. Assembled all my rental income tax information. Body corporate trustees meeting. Ill-prepared. Reading.

Wednesday: Gym with Johnny, but almost forgot about it. Body corporate work: writing minutes and writing letters. An after work beer at Jake’s. Reading. Watched the president’s new cabinet announcement that the media has been building up to.

Thursday: Body corporate letter writing. Bought some wood for a small project that I’ll use as a trial Maker Station project. Quiz night at Palmyra Junction with Paul, Barbs and Gareth.

Friday: Before work gym session. Sprint review day at work, always a busy day. Grocery shopping. Tired, early to bed.

Saturday: Slow morning, changed a tap washer. Lunch with mom at Fireman’s Arms. A walk twice round Rondebosch Common. Dinner with David at Col’cachios, Cavendish Square. The polo saltimbocca is really good.

Sunday: Finished reading Theo & Flora by Mark Winkler. Body corporate work. Brunch with mom at Cafe Magnifico. Then off to the Red Bull CT circuit event. Great to see and hear a 2011 championship winning V8 F1 car.

Theo & Flora by Mark Winkler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this. I liked the characters and I liked the story. Its very clever in how it’s self referential.

My work week was divided into: Testing 60%; Code review 20%; Meetings/meeting preparation 20%.

Podcasts listened to this week: BBC Books & Authors; Beyond the Grid;

The week of May 20, 2019 – May 26, 2019

Some focused reading…

Monday: Gym session, a tough legs workout. Reading, finding my current book gripping.

Tuesday: Content just to spend the evening reading.

Wednesday: Gym session with Johnny. Finished reading Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham.

Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Riveting, fascinating, and really well researched.

Thursday: Quiz night at Knead, Palmyra Junction with Paul, Barbs and Gareth. A good evening and great having the old quiz group back together again.

Friday: Tired at end of long week. Content to just read.

Saturday: Book Lounge visit. Hardware Centre visit for a talk by Rare Woods, which turned out to be a bit lame. Thinking of doing some wood turning at Maker Station. Brunch with mom at Rhodes Memorial tea room. Met up with Greig for a catchup and beers, first at Toad in the Road and then more at Home Bar. A fun afternoon.

Sunday: Hung over. Slow morning. Lunch with mom at Raj, they do a chicken korma very different to what I’ve had elsewhere. Watched the Monaco F1 grand Prix and the Indy 500. Indy was better. Finished reading The Lost Man by Jane Harper.

The Lost Man by Jane Harper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As I’ve come to expect with Jane Harper’s novels this was an easy to read, fun and gripping whodunit that does well to set the scene of outback Australia.

My work week was divided into: New development 50%; Testing 40%; Documentation 10%.

Podcasts listened to this week: BBC Books and Authors; Beyond the Grid; CppCast;

The week of May 13, 2019 – May 19, 2019

Getting back into reading…

Monday: Gym session with Johnny. A little admin, body corporate work and side project coding.

Tuesday: Satisfying evening spent reading.

Wednesday: Gym session with Johnny. Body corporate trustees meeting.

Thursday: Fascinating tour of Maker Station in Woodstock. Very well resourced generally, a bit rudimentary and small in the woodwork space. Pasta takeout from Col’cachios. Finished reading Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis.

Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Well written, but for an award-winning book that’s supposedly hilarious I didn’t find it very funny.

Friday: Awake early. Registered for Maker Station. Early gym workout. Donated blood #95. Book Lounge visit. Grocery shopping at the Waterfront.

Saturday: Franschoek Literary Festival, by myself this time, Helga couldn’t make it. Interesting as usual, and attended by the usual sort. Sushi dinner with Barbs, Heidi and Estelle at the Tokai place. Long day.

Sunday: Walk/jog twice round Rondebosch common. Lunch with mom at The Eatery, Claremont. Impressed, good food, good service. Wynberg Pharmacy visit, coffee at Ou Meul. Afternoon nap, chores and reading.

My work week was divided into: New development 90%; Bug fixing 10%.

Podcasts listened to this week: BBC Open Book; NPR How I Built This; NPR TED Radio Hour; NYT Book Review;

The week of May 6, 2019 – May 12, 2019

400 of these posts!…

Monday: After work gym session. NCIS watching.

Tuesday: Gym session with Johnny. NCIS watching.

Wednesday: National voting day. An hour and 15 minute wait in the rain to vote. Spent the day at work preparing for Friday’s talk. Finished season 14 of NCIS. A shameful waste of time. All in the past 6 months or so.

Thursday: Mended my work jeans, by hand! Reading.

Friday: Tech-talk at work on some interesting (to me at least) multithreading work I did. Grocery shopping. Finished reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed it, but it didn’t grab me. The ending was most unexpected.

Saturday: A little touch up painting in my passageway. Body corporate work. Lunch with mom at Ferryman’s. A drive along Tafelberg Rd. Grocery shopping for Sunday’s lunch. A twice round walk around Rondebosch common. A couple beers at Cafe Verdi. Watched movie 13 Hours.

Sunday: Lazy morning. Mother’s Day. Cooked lunch cottage pie, special request by mom. Took her to Starke Ayres. Watched the Spanish F1 grand Prix. Reading.

My work week was divided into: New development 60%; Demo/Presentation 40%.

Podcasts listened to this week: Beyond the Grid; Inside Line F1; NPR What It Takes.

The week of Apr 29, 2019 – May 5, 2019

Painting…

Monday: Gym session with Johnny. Quiz night with Barbs and her teacher colleagues at Col’cachio’s.

Tuesday: Made some chicken soup.

Wednesday: Public holiday. Gym, haircut with Lynn. A little body corporate work, renewed my lapsed LastPass premium subscription, a beer at Fat Harry’s. A little side project coding. NCIS watching.

Thursday: Made my yearly donations to Wikipedia, Guide Dogs Assoc, Blind Inst. and Muscular Dystrophy Soc. Poker with the boys.

Friday: Sprint review at work. My demo wasn’t the greatest, I’ll make up for it with a “how I did it” session next week. Grocery shopping, tidying up, NCIS watching.

Saturday: Painted my passageway, two coats. Job well done. Nap, NCIS watching.

Sunday: A walk around Rondebosch common. Coffee with mom at Ou Meul, then a drive along Atlantic seaboard, lunch at Dunes and coffee and cake at Vovo Telo. More NCIS watching.

My work week was divided into: Meetings/meeting preparation 50%; Testing 20%; holiday 20%; New development 10%.

Podcasts listened to this week: BBC Books & Authors; Beyond the Grid;

The week of Apr 22, 2019 – Apr 28, 2019

Too much TV (NCIS) watching…

Monday: Easter Monday. A pleasant walk in Kirstenbosch. Gym, grocery shopping. Made chicken soup. A quick beer at Banana Jam. TV watching.

Tuesday: TV watching. Finished reading Numero Zero by Umberto Eco.

Numero Zero by Umberto Eco
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

There are two aspects to this book: Manipulation of newspaper news, and a Mussolini conspiracy theory. I found the two not sufficiently intertwined to make for a novel. Disappointing.

Wednesday: Gym session with Johnny. Bought paint for kitchen and passage painting. Grocery shopping. A little side project coding. TV watching.

Thursday: Bahari takeout, admin, NCIS watching.

Friday: After work walk in Tokai park. Some side project coding.

Saturday: Took stuff to recycling depot. Side project coding. Helped mom with a few chores. Lunch with mom at Greens in Plattekloof. Watched the Formula 1 qualifying which led to NCIS watching.

Sunday: Late lie in. Gym, grocery shopping. Based on the success of the last chicken soup, I cooked another chicken and made chicken stock. Watched the Azerbaijan Formula 1 Grand Prix. Cake with mom, and a walk along Pinelands canal with Helga. A pretty good day.

My work week was divided into: New development 50%; holiday 20%; Testing 10%; Documentation 10%; Refactoring 10%.

Podcasts listened to this week: BBC Books & Authors; Beyond the Grid.

The week of Apr 15, 2019 – Apr 21, 2019

Easter long weekend…

Monday: First light gym session in over a week. Feeling mostly better. After work clothes shopping at Canal Walk.

Tuesday: Feeling much better. Body corporate trustees meeting. Quite a long one.

Wednesday: Gym session with Johnny. Grocery shopping. TV watching.

Thursday: Struggling at work with making a progress dialog for multiple threads. After work dinner at Tai Chi, Tokai with Paul, Barbs and Heidi.

Friday: Good Friday. A very productive day where I built version 2 of Category-Diary from start to finish. Thoroughly pleased with the result.

Saturday: Browsed Claremont Home Appliances for washing machines. Lunch with mom at Mugg ‘n Bean, canal walk. A shopping centre on Easter weekend was a bad idea. Helped Heidi fix her wardrobe for and misaligned kitchen drawers. Then sushi dinner at Village Sushi, Noordhoek. NCIS watching.

Sunday: A lazy morning. Lunch with mom at Lilly’s restaurant. A bit disappointing. A drive along the Atlantic seaboard. Since TV watching then took Paul to the airport. A waffle at the Spur never disappoints.

My work week was divided into: 80% new development, 20% holiday

Podcasts listened to this week: BBC Books & Authors

The week of Apr 8, 2019 – Apr 14, 2019

Not well…

Monday: Day sick leave. Finished reading All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Watched many episodes of NCIS. Started feeling a bit better in the afternoon.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I tend to struggle to read Pulitzer prize winning novels, but this was surprisingly easy to read. Beautiful, moving and masterfully written.

Tuesday: Gut still not right. Tried to do some admin, got bored and watched TV instead.

Wednesday: Gut still not right. Did some admin. Watched TV.

Thursday: Gut still not right. Watched TV. Didn’t sleep well.

Friday: Back to the doctor, we suspect a gastrointestinal infection – onto antibiotics.

Saturday: Watched the Formula 1 qualifying. Got a new battery for my car. Starting to feel optimistic about the medication I’m on. Visited Heidi to see the wood cutting she’s needing. Scheduled for the long weekend. Walked around Noordhoek Common with her. Caught up by phone with David. Watched NCIS.

Sunday: First proper breakfast in a week. Watched the Formula 1 race. Lunch with mom at Primi Piatti. My gut feeling fine. Caught up by phone with Rob, Barry, Steph and Greig. I should do that more often. 

My work week was divided into: 33% install building, 66% new development.

Podcasts listened to this week: NYT Book Review; Beyond The Grid; CppCast