Recent events have been messy. The general thrust is that I’ve resigned from a rather awesome company to rejoin another company that feels like a strange kind of home. Some other thonks from this week:

• When you walk a cute dog, people tend to be much nicer to you; it’s much easier to get a “good morning” from someone when they’re appreciating your mutt.
• Getting out of the house every day, even just to help a dumb animal move its bowels so that you can pick it up, adds a surprising amount of positivity to the day.
• In his book “Bullshit Jobs“, David Graeber describes work as a sort of involuntary S&M relationship with your boss; the difference being that there is no safeword beyond “I quit”. Over the years I’ve noticed that there is an addictive quality to this safeword: be warned.
• The Cardiacs were one of the most extraordinary and wonderful bands that ever existed. RIP Tim.
• Amazon parrots are extremely good companions, and seem to share a great sense of humour.
• The cold is better than the heat, especially if you can snuggle up in a warm bed at night.
• The Internet has proven that access to information doesn’t guarantee global enlightenment.