• It’s the start of California wildfire season, aka the starkest, most depressing reminder that a) the climate is going to shit, b) we’re still not doing anything to stop it.

  • And as if things in the world weren’t already precarious enough now China is firing missiles over Taipei. It really feels like we’re sliding into a very dark time for humanity.

  • Less significantly, my Thunderbolt hub, the snappily-named Icy Box IB-DK2701-TB3, has decided it doesn’t fancy doing anything with its USB-A ports. The video and USB-C ports still work but the USB-A ports don’t. I’m limping along with my keyboard dongled into the hub’s only spare USB-C port. Its failure is very inconvenient because although it’s still within warranty I bought it in Zürich and, presumably, will need to return it to the shop there for a replacement. I’ll try pleading with the manufacturer first.

  • I had a vasectomy. I have two lovely kids and I am sure I don’t want any more. It was quick and relatively comfortable and the recovery is going fine. Thanks, NHS!

  • Related to the above: we’re starting to sell or give away some Small Kid things we aren’t going to need again. In one way it’s a little bit sad to think the times when they were tiny are behind us but being able to offload some of the vast amount of kid stuff one accumulates is very satisfying.

  • Our oldest daughter has been quite difficult to get to bed recently. What used to be an easy bath-book-bed routine turned into lots of running and tears and an infinite set of further demands (I need another book/socks/water/milk/no socks/a specific toy/etc). On the advice of my mum, who apparently does know what she’s talking about, we moved her dinner a bit earlier and bed a bit later so she can burn off some energy and it has worked wonders. She’s now so cream crackered at bedtime that we could probably just plop her into bed without a story and she’d barely protest. 🏆

    I shouldn’t be too smug: this too will pass, of course.