Weeknotes 327

Alright? It was 25 ºC on Wednesday! First ride of the year in only a T-shirt. (And trousers.)

Three times at the gym. Exercise is currently losing the battle against the twin indulgences of Easter backlog and anxiety-induced snacking. Still, it’s better than nothing and I want to keep the habit alive so it can at least attempt a triumphant comeback one day.

Children of Strife is hard work. I accept I’m probably just not clever and/or attentive enough to read it, but parts of it are all over the place and I’m finding it difficult to stay focused and understand what’s going on. Maybe I’m just in the wrong genre for a straightforward narrative.

A more sociable week than usual, including a trip to Bounds Green on Thursday for beers with Murray at The Prince.

I’d planned to cycle because the sun was out but the icy wind that whipped up in the afternoon came as a real shock after the warmth of the previous day. I chickened out and took the tube instead.

(Overground → Victoria → Piccadilly: £2.50. Great Northern: £4.60. Sort it out TfL.)

Yesterday I wandered over to Shoreditch Church to buy a spicy tofu breakfast burrito from Bad Manners, then to Arnold Circus to sit and eat it in the sunshine. It was oily but delicious and, unlike any other burrito I’ve had in the UK, immediately made me think of San Francisco.

Work’s become much less stressful now that I’ve stopped pushing so hard and accepted — nay, chosen — ego death. I don’t know what I’m meant to be doing so I’m just taking things a day at a time and not worrying about it.

I watched Wuthering Heights (2026) which, despite being well-made, was boring and full of twats.

I’m hanging in there with For All Mankind. It’s trundling along okay, and it was nice to see some old (young) faces in this week’s episode, but I hope it picks up the pace now that it’s got the main unfinished business out of the way. The beginning of the season has been a bit provincial (a murder mystery? who cares) and it’d benefit from more exciting space stuff as it progresses. If there isn’t a catastrophic explosion in microgravity I’ll be disappointed.

When’s the last time you had cornflakes for breakfast? For me it’s been at least a decade, if not two. Maybe you ate some today! Really makes you think.

A combination of annual leave and bank holidays means it’s been a full month since my last five-day week. The prospect already seems a bit inhumane.