Weeknotes 106

I went to the dentist this week for the first time since the pandemic began — a long time between checkups even for me. Going to the dentist is exactly the sort of anxiety-inducing experience that somebody wouldn’t subject themselves to if they were a massive baby, which I am not.

As I sat down I asked, wisely yet hesitantly, “should I take my mask off?”. The answer was yes because I was at the dentist. In the end it was fine and my teeth still work and I don’t think any COVID was transmitted.

The moment when everyone except you steps outside for five seconds so they don’t get cumulatively X-rayed to death is the most fun part of going to the dentist. It feels transgressive to be in a room like that by yourself, with easy access to the computers and medical supplies, however briefly. I never know what to do with the opportunity. On this occasion I decided to look at the ceiling and notice it had Blu Tack on it, and then my time was up.

Of course a visit to the dentist is the main cause of other visits to the dentist so I’m going back in a couple of weeks. What a racket.

I also went to my local GP surgery because I’ve been in some mild discomfort which could conceivably be caused by kidney stones again. It’s not painful enough to create any actual problems but it’s been going on for over a month so I decided to get it checked out.

I’d let it drag on partly because I was nervous about having any contact with the NHS this winter; I’d assumed everyone would be swamped and that I’d basically be told off for wasting resources on a condition less serious than the inability to breathe. But instead I spoke to a GP on the phone and then a couple of hours later got to see a doctor and a nurse and two medical students in person, all of whom were very friendly and treated the situation as though it was worth their time, chatting and prodding and taking my blood and just generally being good-natured about the whole stupid thing.

It was such a great experience, and everyone I saw was so kind and helpful, that it made me slightly emotional. Technically they haven’t actually fixed anything yet but just being on the receiving end of some high-quality care made me feel quite a bit better.

For international readers I should clarify that this was all free at the point of delivery, a situation which I took for granted as a child but now seems increasingly amazing as I watch people in other countries struggle to pay for even basic medical care. I don’t know how long this miraculous safety net will persist in the UK but for now it remains a marvel of human society and I feel incredibly lucky to be able to benefit from it even when it’s under pressure.

In hindsight maybe I am a massive baby.

We finished Dexter: New Blood. It broadly succeeded in its mission to supply a better ending for the show than the previous one, even though it didn’t make much sense on its own terms. I found it hard to take anything seriously in its desaturated cartoon reality but it was a cosy winter ride and I enjoyed spending more time with its characters.

I probably could have skipped it and not missed much, but I’ll also probably watch another season of it if they make one. I liked it a normal amount.

We also watched The Matrix Resurrections, which was bollocks.

I made some decisions about the book club: our first meeting is now scheduled for the end of January, and everyone’s going to work on their implementations whenever they want to, albeit with a deadline to get every chapter’s code working in time for the following chapter’s meeting.

About twenty people have signed up so it should be a healthy crowd for the first few sessions at least. As always with book clubs, I’m nervous about the risk of well-adjusted attendees gradually falling away until only the pathologically stubborn remain. We’ll see what happens.

Instead of actually reading the book or writing the code I chose to indulge in some outside-in TDD faffing by hooking up the official acceptance tests to run with RSpec and on GitHub. I’ve told myself that this is an investment in future productivity but I’ll have to be careful not to accidentally measure the return on that investment in case it discourages indulgent faff next time.