What's weird is that I wasn't even eating anything that would have been tough on my teeth, just some potato and veg.

I actually have a dentist appointment in 5 days time, so if ever there was a good time for this to happen then it was now. Fingers crossed it hasn't weakened the tooth.

However, by the 16th, I hadn't heard anything else, so I did what anyone in my situation would do and (politely) emailed the company's support address asking for an update on my order.

A day later (today), I got a response:

Good evening Ben, I hope you're well.

Our delivery partner will contact you once the order has been dispatched.

Kind regards,
<Company Name>*

What in the dismissive, unhelpful world of how not to reply to a customer is that? No acknowledgement or apology that the order is taking longer than expected (for reference, the website says delivery is 3-7 working days, and it's now been 9).

*I've left out the company name for now. Let's see how this plays out first. If it doesn't go well, I'll be back to spill the tea. 🍵

I was having some issues with my Ghost template files and I was using Claude to help me debug it. I attached my routes.yaml file and asked Claude if it could be causing the problem. A second later, Claude responded:

The routes file looks fine, that's not the issue.

The blunt response took me by surprise and made me laugh. It was straight to the point and just like talking to a dev - I loved it!

My biggest issue with Gemini is how much it pads out its answers with stuff that isn't useful. I can instruct Gemini to write brief responses for the current chat, but it looks like I setting that permanently for all future chats currently isn't available to UK, EEA, or Switzerland.

So, you tell yourself that when you go back to work you're going to hit things hard again. Back to the gym, playing football, getting in 10,000 steps every day, and eating cleaner.

Then, on the first day back at work, you get hit with a bout of food poisoning. Guess I'll start tomorrow, then... 🤮

Also started a new workout program, put together with help from Gemini. I'll write a proper post about that soon.

We were fed up with our Nectar memory foam mattress. Well, I was. A few years ago, it developed a dip on my side of the bed - insert weight-related comment here. It was still in warranty, so Nectar sent out an independent company to check it. The guy who came out acknowledged there was a dip, but it wasn't a big enough dip for Nectar to send out a replacement. Thanks Nectar.

I don't know why I continued to put up with it. But, after a couple weeks of sustained bad sleep and waking up achy and sore over Christmas, enough was enough. This time, we've ditched memory foam completely and gone for a medium-firm pocket sprung mattress. My back cannot wait.

I don't like the thought of leaving my thirties behind, to be honest. It's definitely worse than leaving my twenties behind. That said, I don't feel forty at all. I eat better than I ever have, look after my body better than I ever have, and I sleep... well, two out of three ain't bad! Maybe this is the year I start going to bed earlier. Maybe.

There'll be no wild celebration or party to usher in this latest milestone - that's not really me. Just eating good food with my best people. And maybe some DJing, definitely some gaming, a game of football, a walk in the forest, and a gym visit too.

Forty doesn't actually sound too bad at all...

Now if I could just stop getting colds...

This evening, I drove past a house that had Christmas lights already up. I'm no Scrooge, but that's officially too early. Ellie's birthday is at the end of November, so we wait until that's been and gone before we turn our attention to Christmas. Plus, the weather in November has so far been pretty mild and it doesn't feel cold enough to be thinking about Christmas yet.

I remembered pretty much everything I needed to do. The only thing I had forgotten is that you need to leave the adhesive on the inner tube for a minute or two before you apply the repair patch.

It was also nice showing Ellie how to find a inner tube puncture by submerging it in water and looking for the bubbles!

I've also just had a week off, spent down in Devon in a small town called Brixham, near Paignton and Torquay.

We took Ellie to Paignton Zoo, enjoyed beach days, ate good food, and enjoyed the coastal walks. However, I will not miss driving on the steep thin roads.