July 2023

Like every month for the past nine months, time has flown by. I’ve spent this month working hard, and hanging with Hazza, Jack and friends.

Hazza and I have made it out for a couple of meals, to Saboteur and Luxford Burgers, plus spent a few lovely lunches with food from Alby’s and the African wrap places up next to the University.

Jack has been great fun this month. He is very interactive and social, yelling “da da da” and “ma ma ma”, but we don’t think he quite knows what they mean yet. He’s been weaning well, enjoying almost all the food we’ve been giving him. I think family meal time is very important, and I’m glad we are establishing a routine. It’s a joy to spend time with him, even when he wakes up way too early. I wrote a tiny note on Jack eating a strawberry, one of my favourite things to watch.

My running hasn’t gone particularly well this month - Jack had a cold, which I then caught, plus I haven’t been able to make time alongside work and family time. I did attend ParkRun with Gordon, but I’ve only whipped round the block a few times after that.

We held the EdinburghJS summer social at JPs. It was nice to not have to organise talks for a change, and it was great to see everyone. The meetup is on a summer break over the festival period, and will be returning in September. I’m running scottishtechnology.club Discord server for announcements and chat in the meantime.

At the end of the month we took Jack on his first trip to Edinburgh Zoo with his cousins. It was a fun day out, and I’m excited to go back there with him over the coming years. He was somewhat interested in the animals this time!

I’m still making progress with The Rise and Fall of American Growth, by Robert Gordon which has been an interesting history of the changes in American society. I have also browsed Anchored by Deb Dana, The Oxygen Advantage by Patrick McKeown, and Time to Think by Nancy Klein.

As July was Tour de France month, I watched the Netflix documentary Tour de France Unchained. I really recommend this, even if you are not into cycling. It’s a show about ambition, endurance, suffering and teamwork. A great watch!

I’m off hiking for a few days - see you in August!