Weeknote: 23/11

Knitting:
I've been working through the stocking stitch back to Volt. I think I'm about halfway in terms of row numbers, but the top portion is wider so not really halfway. I am a bit bored with the endless stocking stitch, particularly purl rows - I so much prefer working in the round; but I am now starting to get worried about having enough yarn so that is keeping me at it. I reckon I've used about half of the available yarn now. Logic tells me I should be OK because I was only about 20m shy of what the pattern calls for, but I am keen to see how much yarn I have left at the end. Must also remember that it has drop shoulders so the requirements for the sleeves won't be quite as high as I'm used to.

Going to:
On Thursday I had dinner with my friend Rich and Mike, my old tutor. It was a really nice catch up, particularly since Mike has recently left the role that meant we were working together: he was the ultimate professional so it's nice to hang out with him in a non-professional way. They talked me out of trying to go to the conference next summer and concentrate on Sib's wedding instead: definitely the right choice, but I was in line to do a keynote and didn't want to say no. It's good to have somebody else point out that your expectations of yourself are unreasonable.

I went for a drink after work yesterday that turned into a curry and a late night. Always fun to hang out with friends from work. Only three and a half more weeks before a few of us are off skiing together - so exciting!

Entertained by:
I've been reading an excellent book called Under a Scarlet Sky, which was recommended to me by one of my GCSE students. It's about an Italian teenager living in northern Italy under the Nazi occupation, and it's very engaging.

I've also been listening to another audiobook - Invisible Women, by Caroline Criado Perez. She narrates it herself, which I think really improves the quality of an audiobook. I keep reminding myself that she is coming from a very clear position and also that, like many similar books about big data, data can be framed many ways. However, a lot of what she's saying is irrefutable and it's very interesting. If anything, though, it makes me feel quite old, because I find myself thinking that this is the world we're in and it's not going to change very soon. It strikes me that the younger generations are not of this opinion, which gives me hope.

I've continued watching World on Fire which is really quite fascinating, whilst at the same time being quite sad so far.

Feeling:
Tired but also STRONG! I've started going to the gym to do more lower body strength stuff ahead of skiing and I can feel the difference that moving around a bit more is making. I just need to get better at making time for it. As always.