Sunday, 19th April, 2026

The more the kids use the computer, the more I look for somewhere else to sit. Now that it’s not freezing, I’m in the garage with my Apple keyboard and printed phone stand and this is where I’m writing. The worktop is a bit messy, and the keyboard must be slightly different to the one I’m used to as I keep hitting \ for enter and sometimes other keys. However, it’s a nice typing experience and I’m pleased. I did think about getting an iPad so. The screen is bigger but then the kids will just snaffle the iPad and I won’t see it again. Whereas no one takes my phone. I could get a laptop that’s just mine (hello Neo) but I worry it’ll be prone is distractions and just another device to watch YouTube / look at reddit on when I don’t really want to. I obviously could use it to do productive things (whatever those might be) but I still like the idea of fewer devices in the house.

So I’m thinking about a new phone 😅. I’m quite drawn to the new iPhone 17 Pro as I think it has the 48 MP telephone (unless that was the max - I can’t remember, still half way through a conversation with Gemini about comparing iPhone models) and when I’m out hiking, I do often use the telephone to frame the interesting features. I rarely use ultrawide, I just find the distortion too much, I suppose I could crop it a little, but I find the standard lens a good focal length for capturing the broad summit views. What I do like to take though, are photos of other summits in the distance, and this I use the telephoto for. They’re okay on my 13 pro - it has a telephoto lens but 12 MP, so any zooming and it’s a pixel mess. Also occasionally I’ll see a mountain hare or eagle or other more interesting wildlife and it would be nice to capture that so it’s more than just a splodge on in the frame.

These phones are more than the Neo, and basically MacBook Air prices. However, it is the most used device and the camera aspect is instead of me carrying a camera - which I could do but the three lenses in the device is nice. I do have thoughts of bringing a medium format camera with me up a mountain - and in fact there’s a nice thread about it on the SOTA reflector. But this isn’t going to replace my phone - maybe I’ll do it this week…not sure what 120 film I have but it’s probably going out of date.

I’ve done my Mountain Goat to get to 1,000 points and now I’m not sure what my purpose is. What my purpose should be is to have nice walks out, enjoy the scenery, get some peace and quiet, get some exercise and have a bit of fun on the radio. I still can’t help being drawn to checklists and completing sets - like doing all the munros, or doing all the Central Scotland summits (I’ve done all the Eastern Scotland ones but then that’s where I live) - and so I’ve lost interest in the summits close by. Have to say, I do get a bit tired of all the driving when I want to go further afield. This week coming I could take Monday off and have a long day, but the weather looks disappointing, especially when the whole of the rest of the week is blue skies and sunshine. The only other day I can sensibly take off work is Friday, but I have to do the school run, and so I don’t get much time. However, I’m going to do it and go on Friday vs. My plan of going on a long walk in the drizzle and cloud to tick off another Munro. I’m going with Fraser, so it’ll be a nice day out anyway.

Reading that Digital Minimalism book in bed at night is probably not the best way. I tend for forget about the book when I go to sleep and then remember it again when I start the next night. This is fine for fiction books as I remember the story but I’m not doing anything with it later. Whereas this book is perhaps instructive and I should be thinking about what I should do.

Last night it was about walking and solitude. That resonates with me! The book is written with social media and phones in mind, whereas I think for me, it’s the computer. Sometimes I will look at reddit on my phone for too long - I have set zero minutes for screen time but I think that doesn’t work as I just skip it at the start, whereas giving myself 10 minutes then it stops helps cut me off when I’m on it. I’ve not investigated a way to completely remove it from my phone - I’m just visiting in a browser - and if that would be better - i.e. do this 30 days with no reddit to break my idle impulses to open it up to see if there’s anything interesting (rarely is the answer).

We sorted out one of the boy’s Yoto card collection, and I made new cards for the audiobooks that are only on my phone. So now he can listen to anything and not ask for my phone to control stuff. He also wanted to print a new box to hold them all in, and of course there are already 100s of designs on makerworld and we just picked one. I dug about in my colours and found several I’d ordered by never opened. I’ve not done much on the printer recently, so it was nice to have something to print. I think I should finish or maybe redo the 5” rpi rack I was printing and actually setup the pis in it.

There are a few other projects lingering that I’ve not started yet. Again, I should probably finish them - a few radio antenna, and a mic I want to make. I’ve got all the bits, just need to actually do it. They’re the perfect thing to do in an evening - not particularly difficult or a big project. Just never work up the motivation to do it - or just tired.

My excitement for Obsidian peaked and died very quickly. I think I’ll stick to using it for work, as it’s nicer to read the text than VS Code was, but not sure about the whole note system and everything else for home use. Feels like creating work. I reminded myself of my dynalist setup, which once upon a time was supposed to be my note system. Still has a bunch of notes in it from way back, some are useful and some aren’t. Mostly a collection of lists. I’m just not sure what I want to make notes on.

Read a book, make notes, change your life. Maybe.

Analyse spending to see where money is going. This boils down to “don’t buy stuff”. Most everything else either has no option or I look for the cheapest at time of renewal. All the kids activities cost money, but not going to not do them. Streaming stuff - we have Netflix, Spotify and BBC TV licence (bloody tax). It’s me who spends money on stuff!

There’s logs of “useful” things, like doing x with car, or met so and so, and whatever that I might want to remember later. I think I like the idea of capturing those things. Just never seem to get round to it.

Then there’s a DayOne family journal I like to keep - although it’s been bare for quite a while now. I tell myself I’d rather spend time writing in that, than some well organised system of notes. But I do neither.

I’ve not even touched the subject of paper notes, typewriters, and pens etc. Least you get lovely physical things if you go down that route.

Perhaps I should try and migrate myself away from here into my personal daily notes, and then anything and everything can go into them. Which might be surprisingly as often this site is everything and anything! Probably time I wasn’t hiding in the garage and was doing something.

I also like this keyboard as it has a physical on/off button, which makes it simpler to disconnect from my phone.

I wish I had a farm…or mostly just a big space with a barn so I can do fun stuff, radio things etc.

Saturday, 18th April, 2026

Got a new to me Magic Keyboard to use with my phone for writing notes, blog, journal etc. I do have a perfectly good Bluetooth Microsoft surface keyboard…so why another? It’s mac and white and most importantly, tenkeyless. This makes it a little nicer on the desk, or table, or bureau, wherever I am to write. Fits the symmetry of the iPhone better too. I printed a very small iPhone stand that folds up (meant to be a keychain one) to use to hold up the phone. It’s nice.

Slightly annoying is that it’s Lightning connector and not USB-C. I’m sure when I looked up the A2450 model it was USB-C. It’s fine as I have lightning cables, and my phone is old enough to still use lightning, but it would’ve been nice if it was usb-c as everntually, everything will be usbc. Probably by eventually, I’ll have bought something else anyway.

Was looking in my dynalist files last night…perhaps for inspiration about how to setup Obsidian. Found an export of my original Drummer blog. Was fun reading back though it.

Sometimes I don’t want to take notes for myself. I like public wikis and blogs as then my notes are fo everyone. Maybe noone will look at them but seems better to keep them there than in a folder hidden on a computer which I probably struggle to remember where they are.

In safety, the most preferred solution is to remove the risk entirely. I don’t own a petrol lawnmower, so I don’t have a tank of petrol in the garage anymore, and no tank can’t burn.

If I have no notes then I don’t need a storage system…?

Friday, 17th April, 2026

Two things, or maybe three.

1. Been going to bed far too late this week. My watch tells me I’m bad and I feel it.
2. Going to bed late means I don’t read and it’s also because I’ve been wasting my time on YouTube or Reddit.
3. Reading a little last night reminded me of my train of thought about quitting the computer. Which is a little opposite of spending all night messing about with obsidian.

Thursday, 16th April, 2026

Moots of excitement over Obsidian today. I don’t know where to begin but I think it’ll cover lots of bases for me.

I even had the thought that I don’t need blogs and I can just use obsidian. But hopefully it’ll let me write more posts and I can copy paste the text or maybe automate it somehow.

After finding a very good mapping plugin, I think I can skip trying to make my route planning tool and just use it in obsidian. It’s a bit complex but the docs suggests it can do everything I want. Probably once I figure out the first one, the rest will be easy.

Having the iOS app is nice too. Makes it better than just markdown in a folder.

Also Apple shortcuts and automations are nice and I should’ve used them before.

Wednesday, 15th April, 2026

I won that Apple keyboard. Just got rid of electronics clutter and here I am buying more. If I ever buy a Mac mini, now I’ll have a keyboard 🤪

Pika export is a nice folder structure of markdown files and images. AI tells me it almost perfectly fits with Jekyll and 11ty is so flexible it would work just fine. So that’s nice to know. Although I do like keeping images with the blog post in it folder vs a single images/ folder. Makes naming things easier.

Started talking to Claude to ask it what I should do given my blog situation. Wrote a big long explanation and then it told me to use Hugo and NetlifyCMS (has a new name, but I forget it). I don’t like that answer.

I like the idea of using it to make a static site. Maybe Jekyll or 11ty. Take my existing design and finally add the things I want and sort it out perhaps? Still want a single blog but I can’t get past the fact that the radio blog fits nicely - the domain, the content.

Perhaps as a compromise, I’ll keep the radio blog but somewhat duplicate some content. I think the radio blog could have more specifics about radio vs regular? Bulk of my radio posts are actually nice hill walks with a bit of radio usage at the end….which I rarely talk much about unless there’s something of interest. Or I just point both domains at the same site and let people deal with it.

First step is still the same, make a new site. Write content. Then there’s domains. I think I like the blog at fondoftea, radio one I’ll leave for now, and alexjj I’ll maybe turn into a landing page or the wiki.

Anyway, I’m sure by this evening I’ll have changed my mind.

Had a hospital appointment to check up on my finger. Which was fine but had to wait an hour for a 15 min appointment. Decided to write up yesterday’s radio hill walk on pika. As odd as this sounds, it was nice doing it from my phone. Maybe if I hadn’t forgotten the X4, I would’ve just read a book. Anyway, it was easy to do and got the job done. I still struggle with tagging - one per post or lots.

I do write 90% of these posts from my phone in 1Writer, so maybe I’m a phone blogger…I think I find it less distracting than on a computer, and can do it anywhere and anytime. So maybe that should inform my decision…

Maybe I should install Wordpress and the iOS app and just roll with it. (Can’t do it).

Pika.page are clearly wise to using their editor and exporting, as you can only do it once a week - at least with markdown and images. I sat on the sofa for a while this evening and thought of lots of things I needed to do on the computer. Then I got to the computer and just watched YouTube, and have since forgotten all those things. Oh well, probably not important, just busy work. Or making a new blog or something.

Monday, 13th April, 2026

I really want one blog, that I look after, write in and slowly improve and add to over time. I need something easy to write in. Like Wordpress or pika but I shame myself when thinking about those as they’re for “people who don’t know how to make websites”. Which I know is rubbish and makes no difference. Then I say “I don’t want to pay for something I can do myself for free”. Fine but I still haven’t done anything.

So what’s it going to be?

Probably nothing, as that’s the tradition.

The new iPhone 17e for my wife arrived. Even though it’s the “cheap one” it still looks every bit as premium as a regular one. Plus coming from a 12 Mini, it seems leaps and bounds better. Do I need one? 😅

I’m getting into the meat of Digital Minimalism book now. 30 days of not doing what I don’t want to do - perhaps stopping for 30 days makes more sense - but stopping what? Reddit for one. YouTube? Maybe, I remember some TUI YouTube feeds thing, which I think may be part of the solution so I watch a handful of channels that I like and then not watch crap for an hour more. But I think I’m meant to stop for 30 days, as I really don’t need YouTube for anything. I’m kinda thinking no computer full stop. Or maybe no internet browsing. The only thing I’m thinking is I still want to make this blog (yeh right) and still yet to try out Claude code for a few app ideas for myself.

Is hill walking route planning a good use of time? I think so as I like walking but maybe planning out hills that I’m probably never going to get to for years is maybe unnecessary.

I do sit on a computer all day at work, and it’s easy to do some life admin or even maps for the upcoming walk, so no computer at home is feasible.

I do need something else to do. I’ve been enjoying reading books on the kitchen sofa. I kinda want to learn morse code and daily practice is said to be the best way.

Usually moderation of everything in sensible amounts is the best solution. Not going without and not doing too much. But I suppose the purpose of the 30 days without is to break the habit and then form better ones.

Sunday, 12th April, 2026

Disneyland was good but also exhausting. Be nice to get home.

Finished three Andy Weir books whilst away (The Egg is perhaps a short story vs a book!) and then browsed to see what else was on my e-reader. I didn’t take the X4 because I wanted to read at night in the dark as we share the room with the kids - although they frequently go to sleep with full lights on.

Anyway, started Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism. Only just started but I think I’ll like it.

the key to thriving in our high-tech world … is to spend much less time using technology.

This is exactly what I feel about computers/devices.

Whilst I was away, a friend joked me with as to if “I was missing my computer”. Not at all.

Anyway, back to the book.