February 2024 was quite nice, to be honest. The weather ended up being less dry and more windy, so it became harder to get out on the bike. Which was a shame, after weeks of still, dry weather. Such is the nature of a false spring.
It's got to to the time of the year: small pots of mud on the window sill, gently heated from underneath, condensation forming on the plastic dome, the morning, afternoon, and evening checks to see if anyone's come up yet. The joy of seeing something white, and half the size of a grain of rice, emerge.
To see it turn green, and tiny leaves unfold.
Spring is a nice time to feel lucky. Lucky to share my house with these plants, and a live-in gardener. Lucky to see the shoots come up and know (as much as one can) that I'll be around to see them flower. Lucky that the inescapable dark of winter happened long ago, and will return long in the future.
Yet more of my life is viewed in relation to the wedding. Chasing guest RSVPs, making wedding rings (10/10 experience, would recommend), the suit. The Suit, there is so much suit to make. So many things to hand-stitch, to consider the finer details closely. How on earth we came to purchase these things for hundreds of Great British Pounds is beyond me. The seven year tailor's apprenticeship seems fitting (forgive the pun).
I've spent more time taking photos. A brief dalliance with my parents' film camera yielded nothing but mechanical failures and issues. I'd love to spend the money and time to find someone to get it fixed, but not right now. I purchased an 85mm prime lens (second-hand from MPP). I've a lot of social engagements this year, and I'm hopeful I can capture some nice portraits and candid shots with it.
I an struggling to make the time to read, but I am continuing through Wool by Hugh Howey, and enjoying it. A superb piece of dystopian sci-fi. Apple TV's limited series Silo brought it to my attention. I'm only a half way through the book, but it's interesting to see the drift. Similarly with Lessons in Chemistry - the adaptation to limited series made artistic and plot changes that were interesting. It's nice that they're essentially separate pieces.
What of work, of software engineering? Yeah, it goes. I am still only months into a new company, I have seen the challenges and problems, and found where change is slow.
I am still using neovim for test editing (I am using it right now). I'm writing plaintext and some code with it, but the features of JetBrain's IDEs are a) worn into me, and b) incredibly good for working in legacy and large codebases.
I also gave into another pull I have felt for a while: I span up a new Ruby on Rails project. Just a little side project. Rails was the framework I wrote my first ever major piece of software with. I am amazed how productive yet uninformed I was, as a solo engineer. I've found myself thinking "this isn't what I should be spending my time doing" a lot recently.
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