Weeknotes 332

A week of weird, indecisive weather. Sunny most days, but I’ve seen hail and (I’m pretty sure?) snow too.

Three gyms. Holding steady.

On Thursday morning I rode to Battersea again, a shorter route from Peckham this time, and back to Bishopsgate for lunch. That’s the last trip for now but I think I’ve converted myself into a Battersea cyclist; the Northern line there is horrendous and the ride’s easy enough to be far preferable.

On the way home I popped into the Shoreditch launch of Dark Arts Coffee’s new magazine. It was rammed with coffee nerds and there were plenty more around during the weekend because of the London Coffee Festival.

Yesterday I met Sana for a spontaneous lunch on Columbia Road, alternating between glorious sunshine and the ominous threat of rain, then we wandered down to Brick Lane where I split off for a stop at Brick Lane Bookshop and home.

The second wave of IKEA’s Matter-compatible products has started to become available, so I bought a few KAJPLATS bulbs and a GRILLPLATS plug, as well as another three-pack of BILRESA dual button switches since I liked them so much.

The bulbs and plug are working really well so far. Again they were very easy to set up directly in the Home app and I get a little thrill out of not having to deal with the IKEA app at all. This degree of straightforward interoperability all feels kind of futuristic at last.

Unfortunately I realised that the Sonos (i.e. Alexa) integration with my old TRÅDFRI bulbs was working via the IKEA skill, so I’m still forced to pair the new ones with the IKEA hub until/unless I can work out how to make any of my Sonos devices Matter-compatible — or, more temptingly, abandon Alexa altogether.

I polished off the first season of The Pitt in no time. It’s consistently gripping all the way through, and escalates well in the final few episodes without running out of steam.

I’m already five episodes into season two. It’s pretty good so far, mostly keeping the season one vibes going, although this time it’s occasionally triggering unwanted thoughts of my own workplace stresses which somewhat blunts the escapism. I particularly could’ve done without the AI subplot which feels more like lazy pandering — because AI has recently become catnip for grifters, we must find some way to crowbar it in to remain relevant — than a narrative necessity.

Relatedly: I’m behind on For All Mankind.

I’ve exhausted The Unmade Podcast and am bereft. My Answer Me This! backlog is tiding me over for now but I’ll need something more substantial when that runs out. Starting again from the first episode is looking increasingly likely.

This minor inconvenience aside, I don’t miss tech podcasts at all.

One more week til the bank holiday. Hang in there.