Category: Personal

Max props to my employer for providing pronoun pins not just in a diversity of options but also offering blank ones for people not represented by any of the pre-printed options.

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Boxes of pin badges representing various pronouns, plus blank ones and a sharpie.

Well this is a sight to wake up to. 😍

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Sun rising over the sea as seen from a tropical beach.

It took almost twenty hours of travelling but I made it to Mexico!

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Dan, looking tired, in a hotel room.

Think I blew Ruth's mind this morning when I set off for a week in Mexico with only a medium-sized, underseat-suitable backpack.

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Selfie of Dan in a tunnel walkway wearing a backpack.

But since working for Automattic five years ago I've totally been bitten by the travelling-light bug. Highly recommended!

Harry Segell's 1938 play Heaven Can Wait went on to inspire such an extraordinarily long legacy of follow-ups.

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Chart showing relationships of various films and a play. Down To Eath (2001 film) is a remake of Heaven Can Wait (1978 film), but takes its name from a 1947 film upon which Xanadu (1980 film) is based. Down To Earth (1947 film) is a sequel to Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941 film), of which the 1978 Heaven Can Wait is a remake. Here Comes Mr. Jordan is based on 1938 play Heaven Can Wait, which lends its name to the later remakes.

I've only seen the most-recent few and my experience is that the older iterations are better, so I probably ought to watch Here Comes Mr. Jordan, right?

This morning's actual breakfast order from the 7-year-old: "A sesame seed bagel with honey, unless there aren't any sesame seed bagels, in which case a plain bagel with honey on one half and jam on the other half, unless there aren't any plain bagels, in which case a cinnamon and raisin bagel with JimJams on one half and Biscoff on the other half."

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Dan, looking confused, next to a cinnamon and raisin bagel with JimJams on one half and Biscoff on the other half (and their respective jars).

Some day, this boy will make a great LISP programmer. 😂

At work, we recently switched expenses system to one with virtual credit card functionality. I decided to test it out by buying myself lounge access for my upcoming work trip to Mexico. Unfortunately the new system mis-detected my lounge access as being a purchase from lingerie company loungeunderwear.com. I'm expecting a ping from Finance any moment to ask me why I'm using a company credit card to buy a bra.

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Screenshot from expenses system indicating that a purchase was made at loungeunderwear.com, with a photo showing an example of something sold at that website - a lacy bra - overlaid.

One might ask why our expenses provider can (mis-)identify loungeunderwear.com from a transaction in the first place. Did somebody at some company that uses this provider actually buy some ladies' briefs on a company credit card at some point?

We made it! This young furbaby managed to pose a bleppy picture every single day of Bleptember. Thanks for coming along for the ride!

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Behind a handwritten sign with the words 'Happy Bleptember!' and a pawprint, a French Bulldog lies in a soft basket with her tongue stuck out.

"You want more Bleptember pictures? I demand payment in the form of tummy-scritches!"

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A French Bulldog lying on her side on a sofa, her tongue slightly out, enjoying a tummy scritch.

(Wow, it's the penultimate day of Bleptember. )

The eldest is really getting into her WW2 studies at school, so I arranged a trip for her and a trip to the ever-excellent Bletchley Park for a glimpse at the code war that went on behind the scenes. They're clearly looking forward to the opportunity to look like complete swots on Monday.

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Dan sits on a padded bench in a cinema-style room, pointing his thumb at the two children sitting on a row in front of him.

Bonus: I got to teach them some stories about some of my favourite cryptanalysts. (Max props to the undersung Mavis Batey!)