Timezones

The clocks went forward in the early hours of Sunday morning so we’re now running on British Summertime rather than GMT, although summer still seems a way off just yet.

It’s been a long week of late shifts and I’ve been prioritising my sleep over staying up late after work. But even though I’ve been getting in a good amount of sleep each night I’ve still been feeling tired when I eventually rise from my pit each morning.

At least I’ve only got one more late shift to go until my rest days, which, this week are Wednesday and Thursday.

I don’t have much of any significance planned for my days off other than watching the Atemis II launch, which, at the time of writing has a targeted launch time of 18:24 EDT (23:24 BST) on Wednesday. Then I’ll likely continue to follow the mission in real time on the NASA website.

As there is no currently agreed Coordinated Lunar Time on the moon, the mission will likely operate on Universal Coordinated Time, so that’s BST+1 for us Brits.

Instead of wearing my Omega Speedmaster, which I’ll save for the actual Lunar landing, for this mission I’m going to be wearing my ‘Mission to the Moon’ MoonSwatch. Hopefully, the Artemis II crew won’t need to use their Speedmasters like the Apollo 13 crew had to back in 1970.

Godspeed, you steely-eyed missile people.

NMIXX in London

NMIXX were playing at the Hammersmith Apollo yesterday, as I found out when I piled though the station alongside a few hundred fans on my way home from work last night.

Some of the fans were carrying banners whilst others had lightsticks or were clutching oversized photos of the members. And although I’m not really a fan of the group or their music myself, I couldn’t help but feel a little bit envious seeing all those who got to go to the gig.

I was surprised to learn while writing this post that there’s a pop-up store at Waterloo station with timed slots for entry, so I’ve booked an afternoon slot for later today so that I can have a quick look around even though I’m not sure if I’ll have time to stop by on my way into work or not.

Strange Times

I worked my first night shift in a couple of months last night, and consequently, when I woke up mid-afternoon after six hours of sleep I was tired and disorientated, and I had a dull migraine that was almost certainly caused by the spring sunshine attempting to burn it’s way through my bedroom’s blackout blinds.

A couple of paracetamol later and I’m sitting in front of my computer, finishing off my third cup of coffee and contemplating ordering myself a pink mohair cardigan in the mid-season sale. Bearing in mind that I did actually buy the flared jeans that I said I was going to get last week, and these are strange times fashion-wise for an old man like me.

Anyway, the fashion strangeness continues:

Korea Herald » Dress like a poet, express inner identity and stay on trend
“A quiet, introspective mood is reshaping fashion. Dubbed “poetcore,” the trend channels the romantic sensibility of writers into understated silhouettes… extending literary influence beyond bookshelves and into wardrobes.“

Yes, ‘poetcore’ is apparently a thing.

And this:

FEMA Official Claims He Sometimes Spontaneously Teleports, Including Once Directly to a Waffle House 50 Miles Away
“I ended up at a Waffle House, like, 50 miles away from where I was.”

Strange times indeed.

auglie – secret

A great little electro-ambiient track that’s been on my Apple Music playlist ever since it dropped at the end of last year.

Links to stream or purchase on Apple Music, Bandcamp and Spotify here.

Journeyman

I took this photo on the train into work this morning as I thought that the sunrise looked particularly spectacular.

Unfortunately, this is my last early morning shift for a while, and consequently, it’ll be a a couple of weeks before I get to see another sunrise (or a sunset for that matter) again.

Len Deighton is Dead

According to the BBC, British spy novelist Len Deighton has died. He was 97 years old.

Perhaps his most famous work, 1962's The Ipcress File was turned into a Bafta-winning film starring Michael Caine,

The story involved Cold War brainwashing and the development and testing of atomic weapons. Unlike James Bond, however, Deighton's secret agents were ordinary working-class people, often frustrated by the incompetence of their own side.

I particularly liked this quote of his:

“The best thing about writing books is being at a party and telling some pretty girl you write books. The worst thing about writing books is sitting at a typewriter and actually writing the book.”

Is the Herman Miller Embody Chair Worth It?

I’ve been wanting to replace my cheap and uncomfortable eight year-old IKEA computer chair for a while now, and did have it in mind to pick up a discounted or even a second-hand Herman Miller Aeron office chair in the Black Friday sales last year.

But instead of an Aeron I’m now thinking to go all in with the upgrade and treat myself to a super expensive HM Embody gaming chair instead. However, even if I could pick one up in the sales and as good as ithey are at supporting your back and your body, I’m wondering if the Embody is too much chair for me?

I realise that I’m not going to be able to answer that question until I actually get to sit in one for real, so I’m planning on stopping by the MillerKnowll flagship store to try one out for myself before I even start to think about spending the money and ordering one online.

Still, no matter how I try and justify it by telling myself it’ll be worth it given the amount of time I spend in front of my computer each day, £1715 is almost certainly too much money for a gaming chair, no?

Obligatory Food Photo

I don’t usually post pictures of my meals on social media, but here’s the obligatory photo of the bowl of ramen that I ate in Ippudo on Saturday afternoon:

Ippudo is a Japanese chain ramen restaurant. They have multiple branches located in various parts of central London, and if I feel like eating ramen when I’m in town I usually go to the restaurant in Central St. Giles near to Tottenham Court Road Tube station.

The ramen was a bit pricey but was tasty and filling.

Despatches: Thu 12.3.26

For the last seven days I’ve been on early shifts, which, for me, means having to wake up somewhere between 3:30am and 4am each morning. Due to a severe lack of sleep it’s been a pretty exhausting week, but now that I’ve got a few days off I’m going to attempt clear at least some of the sleep debt I’ve accrued by sleeping in as late as possible tomorrow morning. Very late indeed.

As I type this, it’s blowing a gale and bucketing it down with rain here in south west London, but, in typically British fashion the forecast for tomorrow and for the rest of the weekend doesn’t look too bad. So, if the weather holds up I just might pop into town on Saturday as there’s a few things I’d like to pick up – one of which is Yena’s new album and another is a pair of Levis flared jeans. No, really! They’re back in fashion, allegedly.

As for the rest of my three-day weekend off, I’m gonna try and catch up on some reading and take things easy in preparation for another bunch of early shifts, which start on Monday.

I just hope I’ll be able to get more sleep next week than I managed during the week just gone.