Weeknotes 114

I’m a bit ashamed to say that I’ve forced myself to break the habit of instinctively looking at the news every hour or so. It makes my stomach drop every time I do it and I’m not sure who that’s helping. Work is matching donations so I did that instead.

I’ve taken a break from baking this weekend. Next weekend some friends are coming round for brunch and I’m going to try to produce both a loaf and some croissants at the same time, so I’m keeping my powder (in this case flour) dry until then.

I wrote a UTF-8 tutorial which has gone down well so far. UTF-8 is a nice example of a small, ingenious idea that’s become commonplace without most people needing to be aware of how ingenious it is, so it was fun to pick it apart and try to explain it as straightforwardly as I could. If a few people get some satisfaction from understanding it then I’ll be happy.

I’ve found it frustratingly difficult to get a simple and actionable answer about what I need to do, COVID-wise, to enter the US next month. I know from experience how capricious border control can be, so I’m keen to minimise the risk of being caught out on some minor technicality by following the requirements exactly instead of using common sense alone.

Normally I’d rely on GOV.UK for this sort of thing but their advice to “show a negative COVID-19 test result taken no more than 1 day before travel” is next to useless since it implies options (e.g. taking an unobserved home test) which clearly aren’t allowed. There’s a tangled mess of information online, of which the CDC FAQ is the most specific, but it leaves plenty of room for interpretation and I still don’t feel confident that I know what specific action to take.

I have at least squinted at enough acronyms to convince myself that a rapid lateral flow test is acceptable. I suppose I’ll just pick a scammy-looking Google result for a place that’ll do one of those in person and give me a piece of paper to prove they’ve done it, and hope that the vagueness of the documentation is matched by a similarly vague enforcement process. I don’t feel particularly comfortable staking the success of my entire trip on the trustworthiness of a company I’ve chosen at random but I can’t see how else you’re meant to do it.

I realise I’m overthinking this. I just don’t want to mess anything up.

I absolutely hate this kind of shit.

I enjoyed this Tim Key short film which Alice correctly recommended. It’s likeable and surprising and — most significantly — portrays mobile phones in a realistic way.

I also enjoyed Hbomberguy’s 3.5-hour video review of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, a game I played for less time than that when I bought it ten years ago. It’s very good and worth watching all the way through, but if you’re busy and can’t be bothered, just watch part twelve.

If, like me, you’ve been avoiding Spider-Man: No Way Home spoilers until you have a chance to buy it on iTunes and watch it at home, my advice is to not look for it on iTunes, because its iTunes banner art is a massive spoiler. Thanks a lot Tim Apple.

One evening this week I went to pour myself a small glass of whisky but accidentally (honestly) poured like twice as much as I actually wanted, so I laughed out loud and said “help yourself!” to myself, by myself, in my flat. Stay tuned for more updates on my mental health.

Summer time confusion begins now.