October 2021

The big news of the month was that Harriet and I moved into our new flat. We’re really pleased with the move, and despite a fair amount of stress we’ve settled in nicely. Art is on the walls, books are stacked waiting for bookcases, beds built and boxes (mostly) emptied.

We now have a guest bedroom, so would be delighted to welcome friends to Edinburgh.

I also now have (the dream!) an excellent bike-storage solution in our entrance hall. I got the “Pro Bike Tool” hanger which rotates the bike out when you want to take it off the wall. I also purchased a Karcher portable pressure washer to make it less likely that I spread mud everywhere. I feel like I have made it in life.

It’s been great to welcome some friends over for dinner in the new flat. I think it’s important to make an effort to create good memories in a home, and what better way than with great company and food.

We spent most of the month checking out our new local coffee shops, plant shops, and places to get snacks. We have also been on a couple of runs around Arthur’s Seat and Duddingston in the autumn weather.

It’s often beautiful seeing the Pentlands from Arthur’s Seat in the low autumn light. It’s great to have such a beautiful park in the middle of our city.

My parents visited Edinburgh to drop off a lot of the stuff that I’d stored at their house during the move. We spent a nice afternoon in the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens. I’m always amazed at how much my mum knows about plants.

At the end of the month Harriet and I went down to Peebles for a day to walk along the River Tweed path. I added a post to my journal about the trip with some photos.

This month I read a few books: Reflections on the Revolution in France by Burke, for the Interintellect Great Books series; Science Fictions by Stuart Ritchie; What Money Can’t Buy by Michael Sandel; and Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman. They were all fairly quick reads, and all worth picking up.

I also started work on re-doing the EdinburghJs website for the local JavaScript community. I’m working with a few other people to relaunch the meetup which has been on hold since the beginning of the pandemic. We’re aiming to re-start some small real-life meetups in January, alongside live-streaming for those who are not yet comfortable with in-person events. The new website also has a jobs feed, to help spread information about local and Scottish opportunities.