From the frustrating of trying to stitch together too many fitness gadgets, to whether financial services technology is suffering from a brain drain.
Fitness Tech fails
Sound and fury, signifying nothing
All has not been for the best in the best of all possible worlds1 recently. The world we knew seems increasingly meaningless, and our sense of control over the events of our lives has eroded to the point that my understanding of Voltaire has increased considerably. Unfortunately, the garden is too waterlogged to weed at... Continue Reading →
The titanic in a pandemic
I'm totally acing this home schooling business. Yes, it's going swimmingly. Let's take last week's topic of the Titanic, which was set by the school. Conrad was very enthusiastic. We went through the PowerPoints that showed up on Teams. Did some pictures, and some timelines. He read all the accounts of how large and luxurious... Continue Reading →
The architecture of John Lautner
Things are tough at the moment. I mean, who knew that a 7 year old digging in his Lego box all day would drive me to absolute distraction! Oh yes, and also the climbing wall is shut, and we can't go to Fontainebleau. I think I've covered all the important bases there. On the plus... Continue Reading →
2018 time capsule
Comparing the trivial passing of a day with three small children in 2018 to its equivalent in 2020.
Things we can do with money, and things we can do with time
At the end of last year, back in a life that seemed full of now obsolete concerns like train delays, I was thinking about giving up work. It has been some time since I found work fulfilling, and the sense of purpose I used to derive from it has been eroded by three sets of... Continue Reading →
Why does belonging matter?
January 2020 seems a long time ago. Back then, I was frustrated by the new-at-the-time HSBC ad. I hate being asked where I am from, and I hate thinking about it. Of course we all ask each other various questions designed to understand the parameters of the person we are talking to, for no particularly... Continue Reading →
7 days into the Netflix drought
We had a pretty uneventful Christmas. Just the same as every other person who comes back into the office a few days after New Year, I'm sure we both fell into the same patter of "Yeah, quiet one for us, stayed at home". I vaguely envy the people who post pictures of their family Christmas... Continue Reading →
The late mountaineers
Tom Ballard's surely soon to be confirmed death on Nanga Parbat makes me so sad. When his mother, Alison Hargreaves, died on K2 in 1995 I was on holiday in Cornwall, and still remember opening The Independent (when it was still a great paper) and reading a two-page spread about her quite amazing achievements. They... Continue Reading →
The exquisite torture of skiing with children
I have a twin sister who currently has a lot more time for crazy adventures than I do. As she's a translator, she can work from anywhere, and spends several months of the year skiing. So she decided to take our five year old on a ski holiday to Grindelwald. I had thought she was... Continue Reading →
