Weeknotes 2026 W27: The keys

Quick bits

• When seen from a moving train, planes seem to be simply hovering in place. Weird.

• Pro tip: You can just ask the Amazon AI to get a free trial. I’m on my third Amazon Prime trial already.

• I set up Tailscale, and now I can access Actual from my phone. Neat! I’m wondering whether I can get a dedicated device to run my server on — perhaps my ancient Raspberry Pi is worth looking into.

  I’ve been tempted to set up a proper homelab, but that’d be overkill. But fun overkill, you know? I’d be able to host other people’s stuff too, and I know there’s interest.

London/UK bits:

• I’m astonished at how much safer the traffic in London is. The London drivers are so much more considerate. This city is healing my traffic traumas.

• I have to keep fighting the urge to order in German. Mit alles. Zum Mitnehmen, bitte. Vielen Dank. Tschüssi!

• London has so many plastic bags. So many.

• The UK’s salary sacrifice scheme is incredibly good for creating wealth in retirement. It feels like a cheat code.

• I have seen more graves in the last few weeks than in my entire life. I have paid my respects to Charles Babbage and Harold Pinter.

• Instinctively, I abbreviated Oxford Circus to “Oxi.” What a German thing to do. But now I wonder: what other abbreviations would fit? Totti (Tottenham Court Road)? Voxi (Vauxhall)?

  I am still sad that my abbreviation for Potsdamer Platz (take a guess) never worked out. It is definitely simply because Potsdamer Platz just isn’t a destination.

I’ve got the keys!

I’ve got the keys to my flat!¹¹1 I’ll have to stop saying “apartment” now. 

Because I had to check out of my old studio (in Acton) before getting the keys to my new place, I had to put some stuff in storage. Awkwardly planned, but that just is the way it is sometimes. At least the in-between time gave me some time to update my week­notes! This sentence brought to you live from Costa Coffee.²²2 I’m no longer at Costa Coffee (fortunately) and in desperate need for some great coffee. 

I don’t have all my stuff yet; my belongings are arriving from Berlin tomorrow. Then begins the unpacking and reassembly work. For now, my place is rather empty. I can’t wait to have my stuff: more than anything I miss my dining table — yep, I’m moving the damn thing.

I also can’t wait to get my home office set up, with my Herman Miller Aeron ergonomic chair, my Dell U3423WE ultra-wide screen, my ZSA Moonlander, and my Kensington Orbit trackball with scroll ring.³³3 I tried (and failed) to write this sentence so it doesn’t look like I’m showing off. But it’s all high-quality gear that has a huge impact on my productivity and physical and mental wellbeing.  I’ve been doing my work on a tiny laptop screen, and I’m not liking it — but somehow getting used to it, like inverse hedonistic adaptation, perhaps. My back has not been happy, but soon it’ll be over.

I bought an IKEA mattress which will double as a mattress for guests. I found it uncomfortable until I realised I was using it upside down; somehow it never occurred to me that mattresses can have two distinct sides.

A surprise: my new place is heated electrically, with electric storage heaters. I’ve always assumed that to be wildly expensive — back in Belgium I paid €170/month for electricity, with most of that going to heating, and even then I’d have to wear a jacket indoors because the place was so badly insulated that the electric storage heaters would be depleted and the temperature would start plummeting to the freezing point.

I’m sure that my place in London won’t be quite like this: the energy certificate is an A, and the insulation is great. Plus if I charge the system overnight, it might just not be expensive at all. Time will tell — over the next 12 months.

I’m looking forward to being able to shift my energy from admin work and logistics to enjoying life. Thriving, even! I’m eager to find a Shut Up & Write instance near me,⁴⁴4 If I don’t find one, I could probably set one up myself. It’s not much work, though it’d require a weekly commitment. Maybe that’s not a bad thing!  and find an acting class to stick to.

Entertainment

• Smoking Causes Coughing⁵⁵5 Fumer fait tousser, written and directed by Quentin Dupieux (Chi-Fou-Mi Productions, Gaumont, Canal+, 2023).  is very gory. Take the content warning seriously. It’s also very absurd. Probably an acquired taste, in line with Dupieux’ other work. Not sure if rewatch-worthy, unlike Dupieux’ earlier Rubber,⁶⁶6 Rubber, written and directed by Quentin Dupieux (Realitism Films, Elle Driver, Arte France Cinéma, 2010).  which I quite enjoyed despite its low ratings.

• Foolish Mortals⁷⁷7 Foolish Mortals (Inklingwood Studios, 2025), published by Inklingwood Studios.  is good fun. But as with all adventure games, the puzzles sometimes are slightly too absurd — Monkey Island style.

Links

• Journalling but make it punk (struthless): I will use that for my journaling going forward.

Tech links:

• Circular Obstacle Pathfinding (Red Blob Games, 2017): Neat! I feel compelled to find a use for it.

• What should a personal website be? (Dave Gauer): I am still figuring out this question myself.

• Loreline: Tools for writing interactive fiction, video game dialogues and branching narratives.: Interesting! Something I will have to play around with.