bob's ramblings

Things I did last week - 2025-03-10->2025-03-16

2025-03-16T15:51:44Z

things

ive been trying to use zoxide instead of cd this week
we had a our leaky bath tap replaced on friday. we replaced it with a thermostatic tap. its great. no more running the risk of the bath being too cold because i turned the cold tap to far.
my digestive system has not loved me this week. im swinging between constipation and diarrhea. hopefully it will calm down this week.
while dealing with a banking thing I found out that the Faster Payments system doesnt like it when you have an apostrophe in your account name
i could have done without dealing with the banking thing. its yet another sign of my dad's failing memory
kake dyed yet another shirt for me.
yesterday I made RGL read only for the general public so that we don't have to worry about the Online Safety Act hopefully. While doing this I worked out an issue I was having with basic auth for the edit instances of several of things based on openguides. As an aside chatgpt got the puppet for this wrong.
i got annoyed with a password reset page

videos

videos i think you might find interesting (quite a lot this week and there were a couple i didnt include)

750-day Dry Aged Ribeye Primal
Chinese Egg Salads
A keyboard with ten hundred keys
20 years of Badgers Must have missed this last year.
Podcast where Katee Sackhoff talks to Ron Moore lots of interesting things about Star Trek, Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica
Rave with Trumpton
How much progress have we made on climate change?
An interesting video about a Quake Speed run

comments

Things I did last week - 2025-03-03->2025-03-09

2025-03-09T19:59:54Z

things

fell down a rabbit hole which led to me sending a PR to Oath Toolkit for their website
really didnt get enough sleep during the week. it finally caught up with me on Friday and I took a half day off sick since I was basically incoherent.
chest pain at 2 in the morning isnt great. I suspect I pulled a muscle.
still posting Trivia Questions daily. I even got 6 out of 6 the other day.

videos

videos i think you might find interesting

comments

Things I did last week - 2025-02-24->2025-03-02

2025-03-02T16:16:35Z

thoughts

I rarely dream let alone remember them. However this week I had one where one of my childhood bullies found me at my place of work. I've been contemplating this dream quite a bit. I was always an easy and satisfying target I suspect. I've always been larger than average, would cry very easily (I still do but it takes a bit more mostly because of the bullying) and wouldn't fight back.

things

worked out how to make our scripts not output info messages if being piped or redirected. basically the test -t knows stuff.
added card cam to my trivial pursuit videos using DroidCam
watched the arnold strongman classic
wrote up what books i finished in 2025-02
trying to decide if i want to go and see a burlesque parody of star wars in London in June.

videos

videos i think you might find interesting

comments

books i finished in 2025-02

2025-03-01T16:53:38Z

From Hackerville with Love by Megan Carney: 2nd book in the navy trent series. still pretty good
Platformland: An Anatomy of Next-Generation Public Services by Richard Pope: If you work in Government Technology you should read this if you havent already
Schrödinger's Wife (and Other Possibilities) by Pippa Goldschmidt: Pretty good collection of short stories mostly based on real life scientists
The Meaning of Beer: How Our Pursuit of the Perfect Pint Built the World by Jonny Garrett: Interesting book on beer through the ages and the things it probably made happen.
Humans, Practicing by Megan Carney: 3rd Navy Trent book. Still good. Probably going to read the 4th as my first book of 2025-03
High by Adam Roberts: really good shortish story by Roberts. I really should fill in my gaps from his books.
Orbital by Samantha Harvey: So this is probably the first Booker Prize winner I've read. Its certainly a literary book and is plausibly SF which is why I read it. I enjoyed it but the overuse of words did put me off a touch.

comments

Things I did last week - 2025-02-17->2025-02-23

2025-02-23T19:47:08Z

things

downloaded all our kindle books using BulkKindleUSBDownloader
probably played OMG Words a bit to much
my total number of uniques on untappd has dropped to 4999. A beer must have been merged. I still have my badge for 5000 though.
dealt with far to many incidents which does bascially suck my will to live

links

links i saved to my bookmarks that others may find interesting

videos

videos i think you might find interesting

comments

Things I did last week - 2025-02-10->2025-02-16

2025-02-16T15:51:57Z

Things

did a Friday Five
played around with and started using OBS to livestream asking myself trivia questions
did a very long livestream where I asked myself 204 questions from all of my trivial pursuit question boxes
played OMG Words after having seen a youtuber play it
decided to make RGL read only for the general public so we can avoid having to do any Online Safety Act paperwork
had a filling replaced
currently reading The Meaning of Beer: How Our Pursuit of the Perfect Pint Built the World

Thoughts

I've been feeling pretty good recently. I "worry" this is because I haven't had a beer since xmas day. It also may just be that im currently in an up cycle with my depression and anxiety. I have had things which have made me anxious, depressed and indeed avoidant but they dont seem to linger as much as they have for last few years.

It worries me a touch because drinking beer is a thing which probably defines me. I've always been able to drink a lot (less than i used to these days). I'm known for the fact that I have drunk a lot of different beer. I also used to go to a lot of pubs (boo to the pandemic).

I suspect a lot of the feeling good is that my sleep is less interrupted if I don't drink. Then again im also breathing better over night at the moment. The other thing is that I've been exercisng more and keeping on top of my daily task list but without feeling pressured to do all of them apart from the washing up.

Videos

videos i think you might find interesting

Rice Cooker Japanese Rice Bowl recipe
The Best Pie in The World? - probably not since it contains cheese
You Can’t Find These Tools in Normal Shops
Scrabble Champ DESTROYS word-building video game!
Some oozing egg porn i posted a while back
Keep Cask Alive

comments

Friday Five about names.

2025-02-16T15:02:08Z

This weeks Friday Five

1) Do you like your birth-name? Why?

Mostly. It being a common first name means I don't go by it much. There were 5 Roberts in my class at first school so we went by our Last Names mostly. My family still call me Robert. My friends from School mostly call me Rob unless they remember I go by bob these days. At uni I introduced myself as bob and thats how you all probably know me. I get slightly annoyed at my middle name because its a variant spelling which means I keep on having to correct its spelling in legal documents. My middle name is Jeffery and people write Jeffrey a lot instead.

2) If you could change your name to anything else, what would it be?

I mean I've made that choice and its bob.

3) What names would you consider giving your children?

So, this is the main reason I decided to do this Friday Five. I'm not going to have children for many reasons but the answer I give is that until I stop thinking that giving any children a middle name of Sky and then one of Luke, Leia, Anakin, Jacean and Jaina as their first name is a good idea I probably shouldn't have kids. (My last name is Walker and I like Star Wars)

4) If you had a band, what would you name it, and why?

pass

5) Is there a name that you completely hate? Why?

I get upset if people call me Robbie.

comments

Things I did last week - 2025-02-03->2025-02-09

2025-02-09T19:55:29Z

things

worked out how to easily bring up VMs on our NAS from provided disk images. qemu-img convert and dd are the magic
installed Home Assistant from a disk image on our NAS. I did have it running in containers before but somethings didnt work due to networking issues
installed some Govee smart bulbs and then set them up on Home Assistant and the app. Failed to get a CLI to work.
set up an archiveteam warrior VM
worked out how to use yt-dlp to backup a certain sort of vimeo stream
started "live streaming" asking myself trivia questions. I do it as a live stream so i don't have to edit stuff to get them on youtube.
went to the dentist and didnt have any cavities due to decay. I do need a filling to replace one which was absent.
finished several books

links

links i saved to my bookmarks that others may find interesting

comments

2025-01 books

2025-02-04T17:52:01Z

books i finished

Throwing the Book by Wayne Barnes Enjoyed this one.
Permissionless by JA Westenberg A good read especially in conjunction with Platformland. It does get a bit libertarian and there are points where it is noticeable that the author didn't ask the permission of an editor(It gets a touch repetitive with the examples).
All 5 books in the Bobiverse so far These were all good and hard to put down. They led to several 'oh shit i should have gone to bed 2 hours ago' moments.
How Infrastructure Works: Inside the Systems That Shape Our World by Deb Chachra Finally finished this after having stopped a while back. Its a good book and you should read it.
Le Coq: A Journey to the Heart of French Rugby by Peter Bills I really enjoyed this look into french rugby.
Trap and Trace by Megan Carney Pretty good thriller and I've bought the others in the series. Was good that the main character wasn't a man.
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson Got through this quite quickly. Certainly going to try the sequeul

books i'm currently reading

From Hackerville with Love by Megan Carney
Platformland: An Anatomy of Next-Generation Public Services by Richard Pope Taking my time with this one since its a work related book. Its a good read though if you are into Digital Government stuff which I am. (Yes I do know Richard since we were at GDS at the same time)

comments

a belated friday five

2022-11-02T17:58:01Z

From https://thefridayfive.dreamwidth.org/113198.html

Do you like spicy food?

Yes, I really like Sri Lankan food. Although as a I get older my digestive system is less happy with spicy food.

Do you like your cereal crunchy or soggy?

Depends. Crunchy Nut cornflakes should be crunchy. Oats not so much.

Do you like ice in your drinks?

Once again it depends but mostly no. I once did have someone ask me if I wanted some ice with my bottle of Real Ale.

What is the strangest thing you have eaten?

What to pick. I suppose salted squid innards. There are very few foods I wont eat. I really don't like fried liver. the texture is all wrong. I choose not to eat chocolate and I'm lactose intolerant which rules out a few things. Balut is possibly the one food I may refuse to try.

What food would you like to eat right this minute?

Fish and Chips. Good things its on the way.

comments

bob's good beer festival 2021

2021-07-27T17:12:33Z

Since the GBBF is once again not running and I'm still not ready for indoor spaces which are not our house its time for another addition of bob's good beer festival.

This year I intend to take it at a better pace so that I don't have the repercussions I did last year (turn up and you can ask about them). Therefore I intend to do only 8 hours a day with plenty of time for food and stuff.

The timetable is currently (all times in BST):

2021-08-10 - 13:00-17:00 and then 19:00-23:00
2021-08-11 - 13:00-17:00 and then 19:00-23:00
2021-08-12 - 13:00-17:00 and then 19:00-23:00

I may spend the lunchtime sessions on alcohol free beer or I may not.

If you would like to drink some of the beer I will be drinking I bought the following cases.

The 24 beer pack of alcohol free dark beers: https://wisebartender.co.uk/dark-beers-12-or-24-beer-wise-pack-save-5-2185-p.asp

A box of 15 boring beers: https://www.bestofbritishbeer.co.uk/mixed-cases/case-of-15-traditional-bitters.html

If you would like to drop into the zoom call which will be running for all the sessions contact me via email/twitter/comment here and I will let you know what the zoom call details are.

comments

bob @ 2020-12-25T16:12:00

2020-12-25T16:17:47Z

Friday 5 from https://thefridayfive.dreamwidth.org/97518.html

1) What is your favorite December holiday food?

mince pies

2) What is your favorite December holiday beverage?

beer, always beer

3) What is your favorite December holiday song?

what even is music.

4) What is your favorite December holiday tradition?

Having an adana kebab from Mazi for xmas dinner

5) What is the one thing you will miss most this December because of the pandemic?

Having an adana kebab from mazi for xmas dinner.

https://london.randomness.org.uk/wiki.cgi?Mazi,_CR0_2RF

comments

Travel Friday five

2020-06-12T13:58:34Z

Where did you travel on your last vacation or other big trip?

Japan for the rugby world cup, it was awesome

What was the best trip you ever took? Where did you go, and with whom, and what made it so good?

Probably Japan, with my dad. Japan is awesome

Where do you dream of traveling on your next vacation when it's safe to travel again?

I'm contemplating several places in South America. (After that I only have Antarctica to tick off continent wise)

Where are you likely to actually travel to on your next vacation when it's safe?

Australia/Spain

Do you prefer to vacation to new places each time or to familiar places -- or maybe you prefer to stay home?

All of the above. they all have their merits and it depends on what I want from that holiday.

comments

Cheese

2018-11-12T10:53:58Z

1) What was the first type of cheese you ever ate?

Who knows but I'd make a bet on cheddar

2) What was the type of cheese you ate most recently?

Some vegan cheese in a vegan mac and cheese

3) What is the most unusual cheese you ever ate?

A lanark blue, an unpasteurised blue sheep's cheese.

4) What is your favourite cheese?

A vintage cheddar

5) What is your favourite dish made with cheese?

pizza

Not that I get to eat real cheese any more. boo to lactose intolerance. fermented tofu almost makes up for it.

comments

some notes about the previous week 2018-02-25 -> 2018-03-03

2018-03-03T16:06:29Z

things i did

ate pizza for my leaving lunch
left GDS after 5 years and 24 days
gave my own leaving presentation
looked very purple
drank a lot of beer
slept on the sofa for 2 hours
had pie and mash
had the tips of my hair dyed again
had bad anglicised cantonese
got very cold walking from London Bridge to dxw
joined dxw
had a disappointing lunch on my first day
increased the number of stickers on my door
only had 5 hours sleep two nights in row
had free pizza at work
had things disrupted by the snow
been surprised at actually having already got my P45 from shared services
worried about being too opinionated in meetings
been anxious about if I've made the right choice
increased the length of todo list by quite a lot.

next week

be opinionated in meetings
reassure myself I've made the right choice
have lunch with my dad at Hawksmoor for his birthday
explore more of the food around hoxton square
drink beer at someone else's leaving drinks

comments

getting older continues

2017-10-03T12:54:29Z

Hello,
I get older on 2017-10-22. To mark this occasion I will be in the Dog and Bull (CR0 1RG) from 12:00. Come along if you want.

comments

birthday plans

2016-09-18T15:08:53Z

So I get a year older on the 22nd of October.
I have a plan. You can join me if you want.
I'm going to go up the Shard at 10:30 and then go to china town for Dim Sum for 12:30. Where I haven't decided yet. I'm then probably going to go and sit in a pub.

So yeah. If you want to join us for dim sum let me know. If you happen to be at the shard at the same time that will be fine. I'll announce a pub at some point

comments

things i leanrt in southern africa

2015-01-03T21:03:36Z

via nou

"When you see this, make a post in your journal or in a community. It can be anything: a crosspost something you've posted on Tumblr, a few words about the last thing you read/watched, or just a "Hi, how is everyone?" Then go read your f-list and leave at least one comment."

Before christmas I spent about 6 weeks in southern africa with my dad. We visited South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Here follows a list of things I learnt while there.

White people in the past were arseholes. To each other let alone the locals.
White people are still arseholes.
rolling blackouts are called load shedding
there are a lot of elephants in botswana
you can get bored of seeing elephants
elepahant meat is supposedly quite tasty
south africa has a craft beer scene
what happens when a shark is spotted at Fish Hoek beach
the big hole in kimberley is big
Zimbabwe now uses other peoples currencies

comments

Free, to do whatever I want...

2014-08-12T09:03:59Z

as long as it involves beer, SF or cricket.

On holiday for a week where every thing clashes. So I made my choices of when to attend stuff.

Today and Tomorrow at the GBBF.
Thursday to Monday at Loncon 3.
Tuesday at the Oval.

In an ideal world they would have been 3 seperate weeks so I could have gone to the entirety of them all however I decided that Loncon 3 doesnt happen that often so it took precendece.

Possibly see some of you at the some of the above.

comments

things in my beard

2013-06-01T11:59:34Z

im down with the kids so have started a tumblr of things in my beard.

http://thingsinbobsbeard.tumblr.com/

comments

Birthday Plans

2012-10-17T09:30:00Z

So next Monday is my birthday.

During the day I'm going to do a speed circle line pub crawl on my own to celebrate the 5th anniversary of when I did it on pints.

In the evening I will need more beer and the company of others.

So If you want to celebrate my birthday with me or my doing a circle line pub crawl join me in Cask from about 18:00

comments

Round the World photos

2012-01-17T23:32:02Z

This evening I finished uploading the photos from my round the world trip.

Round the World Collection on Flickr

comments

coming home early!

2011-11-08T14:59:40Z

Im coming back to the UK early.

So yesterday I got up early before my flight to KL to get my wound redressed and a doctor to check it at the one of the medical centres in the airport.
Everything looked fine but what the doctor told me about the consequences of getting it infected would be concerned me slightly. I carried onto KL though.
After a day and night in KL I made the decision to come home this morning. I wasnt enjoying my self while worrying about getting infected. So im flying back to Singapore tomorrow which is clean and has somewhere where i know i can get the wound redressed. Then flying back to the UK late Thursday evening arriving at Heathrow at Oh dark thirty on friday morning.

I had a choice of two flights back. A 747 or an A380. Since ive not flown on an A380 i chose that flight.

comments

Leaking

2011-11-06T09:40:47Z

Currently at jhaelan's house in Singapore abusing his bandwidth. Flying on to Kuala Lumpar tomorrow morning. I have changed my plans slightly and will now skip Bangkok after Ho Chi Minh City because of the flooding and what follows after the cut.

So the other day a cyst ive had for a while obviously got upset and got a lot larger. Large red angry hard blobs on your chest are not good. The day after it started leaking pus. The day after that I went to Singapore General A&E since if nothing else I needed some antibiotics after having talked to my mum.

First they got a bit worried about my blood pressure. Yes mine is borderline high but I probably also get white coat syndrome and being worried about a pus discharging lump on my chest probably didnt help and the beeping because it was high.

Then the junior doctor got a bit freaked out by my burst sebaceous cyst and that I was still travelling and wanted to continue to do so. The senior one was less worried and said they would drain the pus by making an incision which they wouldn't be able to stitch up to make sure stuff drained afterwards. They warned it scar. Im not worried about scars and indeeed even stuff ive had stitched before has scarred anyway.

The dressing needs changing every 2 days and and i have an open would with gauze in it currently to keep it open. Also the kind of antibiotics you cant mix with alcohol. the joy of having a penicillin allergy due to having had glandular fever.

So and open wound in a city which has been flooded doesnt seem a good idea. I migth even come back early depending on how things go the next couple of days.

After the medical stuff I went and watched some of the singapore sevens at the singapore cricket club. Then went for chilli crab with jhaelan

We then went toa MindCafe where jhaelan beat me twice at scrabble even though in one game I had a 7 letter word. I blame the drugs :)

comments

I escaped australia just in time

2011-10-29T16:07:57Z

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15504838

My flight was at 05:50 GMT :) Possibly the last Qantas flight to leave Sydney.

So we made it Singapore which was fine for me since thats where I wanted to be.

Other people on the plane were going on to frankfurt or indeed connecting to elsewhere. must suck for them.
I dont need a Qantas flight until Nov 30th so I might be okay and from Hong Kong there are probably several options back to london.

Admittedly my stop in Bangkok might be at risk for other reasons anyway.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15491338

comments

bob's ramblings

Things I did last week - 2025-03-10->2025-03-16

things

links

videos

Things I did last week - 2025-03-03->2025-03-09

things

links

videos

Things I did last week - 2025-02-24->2025-03-02

thoughts

things

links

videos

books i finished in 2025-02

Things I did last week - 2025-02-17->2025-02-23

things

links

videos

Things I did last week - 2025-02-10->2025-02-16

Things

Thoughts

Links

Videos

Friday Five about names.

Things I did last week - 2025-02-03->2025-02-09

things

links

2025-01 books

books i finished

books i'm currently reading

a belated friday five

bob's good beer festival 2021

bob @ 2020-12-25T16:12:00

Travel Friday five

Cheese

some notes about the previous week 2018-02-25 -> 2018-03-03

things i did

next week

getting older continues

birthday plans

things i leanrt in southern africa

Free, to do whatever I want...

things in my beard

Birthday Plans

Round the World photos

coming home early!

Leaking

I escaped australia just in time