2025-05-15 22:34
Just finished Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. What a game!
Will have to write a proper post about it to get all my thoughts down.
"Audentes Fortuna Iuvat".
Notes (Page 2)
2025-04-26 11:04
Donning my tech support hat this morning, trying to get notifications working again on Susan's iPhone XR. Some apps send notifications. Most don't. Seems like a problem with iOS 18. Fun times.
2025-04-24 20:37
The tummy bug has struck the Gammon house again.
We were at a family BBQ on Easter Monday and as the week has gone on more of the family have become ill.
Ellie didn't finish her breakfast this morning and after she barely touched her lunch, the school called us to come and get her.
I've experienced waves of feeling rough throughout the day, with a headache and achy muscles to boot. I will now starve myself until I know with 100% certainty that I'm hungry and the worst of the bug is over with.
Here's hoping for a incident-free evening...
2025-04-22 13:18
Readjusting back to work life today after a week off for Ellie's half term. Time off is always nice but the bad habits always creep in when you remove the structure of school and work during the week.
My worst habit during time off is going to bed much later than normal. I still get up around the same time each morning, so I feel more and more tired the longer that I let it go on.
Anyway, the time off was enjoyable. We went swimming, played crazy golf, visited the Winchester Science Centre and its awesome planetarium, had BBQs and spent time with family over the Easter weekend.
There is so much chocolate to eat and I'd rather we didn't have it in the house at all because it is derailing my summer body goals.
2025-04-09 19:26
Popped in to Tesco on my way home from work to get a few bits.
A tinny-sounding 'Gotta Get Thru This', the 2001 Garage anthem by Daniel Bedingfield, was playing through the shop speakers. "Tune!", I thought to myself as I walked past the carrots and potatoes, chucking a bag of organic spinach into my basket.
It wasn't until I was back in the car that it dawned on me: the music playing in Tesco now includes songs from my own childhood. No doubt picked to make shoppers feel nostalgic and happy.
Did it make me feel more nostalgic? Yes, but that's not the point. I'm now one of the old guys in Tesco and I don't like it.
2025-03-18 09:49
While browsing my Spotify home page, I noticed some audiobook suggestions that are labelled "Included in Premium". Normally, I listen to music when I work, but I thought it worth giving these a try - I'm already paying for them, after all. Whether I can concentrate on work while listening to a story remains to be seen. Hopefully, I won't constantly have to skip back to re-listen to missed sections.
2025-03-14 12:21
At the start of February, I purchased a walking pad so that I could get some steps in whilst working at my standing desk.
The WalkingPad Z1 has been such a good purchase, I'm really happy with it and I will write a more detailed post about it soon. However, step count aside, I've noticed an additional benefit that I've not seen mentioned before: focus.
My ability to focus and crack on with a work task has surprised me. It's like part of my mind is occupied with walking and that makes it easier to concentrate.
I know that music, or certain genres of music, such as those with a consistent beat or rhythm can help some people with concentration. Walking, like running, is rhythmic, so this makes sense.
I'll have to do some digging and see if there have been any studies into this.
2025-03-03 12:57
Back from a weekend in Amsterdam for my brother-in-law's 40th birthday celebrations.
Had a great weekend but I am absolutely broken.
Ate some incredible food and will post more details about it when I have more time.
2025-02-14 10:25
It's been a frustrating couple of weeks trying to get my PC to be more stable when playing games.
Helldivers 2 continues to be hugely frustrating. One day you can play for hours without any problems and the next day it'll crash back to Windows within 30 seconds of starting a mission.
I'm not alone, either. This is a problem that huge numbers of PC players are experiencing, as a search for 'PC crash' on the Helldivers subreddit highlights.
I've also had issues with No Man's Sky and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, although recent Nvidia driver updates seem to have ironed those out.
At least I'm learning lots about PC optimisation in the process. I think I'll look to buy a larger SSD soon because I can't currently fit my most played games on the SSD Windows is installed on because there's not enough space!
2025-02-05 11:43
Had a nice surprise waiting for me at the office today.
After the hectic week I had working on the latest No Man's Sky update, the lovely Hello Games team sent me a big box of chocolates to say thank you.
The No Man's Sky updates can be huge and sometimes stressful, but I enjoy working on them. So thank you, Hello Games, you're good people!
2025-02-03 13:26
Last week, I had a bit of a mental week, working on the latest update page for No Man's Sky. These pages are always a ton of work, but I enjoy doing them.
Afterwards, the Hello Games team mentioned me on their LinkedIn post, which was really nice. It still feels surreal to be involved in a game that I've enjoyed playing—and still do—so much.
2025-01-07 08:32
Norovirus has found its way to our house.
Send thoughts and prayers...
2025-01-03 21:54
In an attempt to diversify the content that I post, I've decided to start recording my favourite tune of the week.
2024-12-31 10:23
Our shiny new diverter valve actuator motor arrived today and we have hot water again! It's only when you can't have a hot shower or run hot water to wash the dishes that you realise just how much we take it for granted.
2024-12-28 15:08
Today, a rather important part of our boiler - the bit that controls whether heat is applied to the central heating system or to the taps - decided to die.
It died whilst set to heat the central heating, meaning that the house is lovely and warm but we have no hot water to wash with.
At least I now know what a diverter valve actuator motor is. Every cloud.