Begin Again
Well this is all very exciting. After months experimenting with a variety of blogging platforms, I have retreated back to my own small island in the middle of the internet ocean. A self imposed reclusion from the world at large.
Perhaps the most interesting thing is how these posts are now making it to the web – I push plain text files in “markdown” format to a source code repository at GitHub, who then automatically run a static site generator called “Jekyll” that creates the pages you're looking at. The comments are provided by Disqus, the photos all come from Unsplash, and the domain is managed by CloudFlare.
Running my own site means I can do all sorts of clever things that were impossible before – like automagically pulling in the RSS feed of the podcast on the Podcast page – go take a look – it's got all the show-notes and everything!
I suppose now I really need to get back to writing about daily life, instead of boring the pants off everybody.
Half an hour ago the Prime Minister announced the schools will be closed for all except the children of “key professions” from Friday until “further notice”. We told the children a few minutes ago – I don't think I've ever seen them so excited about anything. Bizarrely, they are already making plans to help with chores, and to do online courses (if their schools don't issue homework via the internet).
Our middle daughter was a month away from starting to take her exams – I imagine her grades will now be projected based on her mock exams. Thankfully she has worked her arse off in recent months – attending breakfast and evening study sessions, and putting a huge amount of work in. She's almost guaranteed a place on the course she had hoped for in the autumn as a result.
Have I ever written about her chosen occupation? She wants to join the police. In the autumn she will start a uniformed services course at college, which covers everything from citizenship, to psychology, sociology, and of course square bashing. You never know – perhaps they will teach her how to put things away too.
Anyway. Dinner is about to arrive on the table in the lounge, accompanied by shouts through the house of “DINNER'S READY!”.