One of my least favourite feelings is waking up on a Saturday knowing you’ve got some DIY to do this weekend.#

The NEXT strategy, announced in June at the company's biennial franchisee convention, is built around upgrading food quality, value, hospitality, and menu innovation. Wednesday's event filled in the operational details: McDonald's intends to streamline how its kitchens run, roll out a new restaurant design format, deepen staff training programs, and broaden adoption of ArchIQ, its AI-driven platform that handles functions like drive-thru order-taking.#

The design of the new "restaurants" looks decent too – better than the current ones. The playground for kids might even return (which I have mixed feelings about).#

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I don't know why the headline mentions Burger King. I mean they're both fast food burger chains. But Burger King isn't even in the same league. Though apparently in the last quarter McDonald's global sales grew +1.3%, whereas Burger King's grew +8.6%. So maybe they are catching.#

I ate a McDonald's yesterday, and briefly considered Burger King instead. But the only thing BK has going for it over the Golden Arches is the nice smoky (and I'm sure entirely artificial) flavour of its burgers. The chips aren't as good. And the nuggets are abysmal.#

To be fair though, I'm a big fan of the rebrand they did a while back:#

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I've got so many domain names (mostly clowes.something). But sometimes I wonder if I should of just used subdomains instead – and had all my various online presences under "one roof". clowes.me, blog.clowes.me, notes.clowes.me, photos.clowes.me, thoughts.clowes.me, etc.#

However, I didn't get the clowes.me domain until... 11 years ago (geez, I didn't realise it was that long ago). But my original personal domain – elliotclowes.com – I got over 19 years ago! That one always felt a bit too long to use for subdomains (blog.elliotclowes.com seems too long).#

Just stumbled on an old Tumblr post with a photo of my EDC (every day carry) from the 7th of December 2013:#

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• Then: iPhone 5. Now: iPhone 15.#
• Then: Longines Legend Diver. Now: various watches, but I still have the Longines (though considering selling it)#
• Then: Tom Ford FT5178 glasses. Now: Still have these glasses, but I don't wear them. My prescription changed and I fancied a thinner pair. Currently wearing some Gucci frames.#
• Then: Hard Graft iPhone case. Now: I used this for years. But modern iPhones got too big for it. I now have a rubber case on my phone and a separate wallet. #
• Then: Fisher Space pen. Now: Still owned, but it's a bit small and uncomfortable to write with. My default now is the uni-ball Jetstream 101.#
• Then: Remove Before Flight keyring. Now: Still used! I purchased a pack of five of them and I'm currently on my third one I believe.#
• Then: Field Notes Expedition edition. Now: I still love Field Notes and have used them on and off down the years. In fact, I currently have two on my desk as I write this (see photo below).#
• Then: Dog tag. Now: still owned, but no longer in use. It was a bit cringey.#

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I feel like people do their best not to sneeze (or hide it) in an office to avoid the awkwardness of the "bless you's".#

Because it can be weirdly awkward (at least in my opinion).#

No one's sure if they should be the one to say "bless you", so sometimes no one does.#

Sometimes multiple people say it.#

Sometimes everyone pretends to ignore it.#

Sometimes people seem slightly disgusted (especially in certain sunlit lighting when you can see a salivary spray of mist).#

Then when the person sneezes more than once there's a whole new world.#

If it was just five seconds prior, are they still protected by the first "bless you".#

If it's two basically back-to-back, does one "bless you" cover it.#

A god forbid you sneeze more than three times.#

People start spinning in their chairs to look.#

People start making jokes.#

Luckily I'm yet to really encounter a loud sneezer. Everyone seems to try and muffle it as best they can.#

I’ve taken a risk and purchased another book about walking. I’ve tried to read a few down the years. And failed.#

I love walking. But prose about it really does little for me. Walking somehow transcends language. And the written word can’t capture what it is to walk.#

Books about it tend to say a whole lot of nothing.#

I’m only 5 pages in on this new one and I know I won’t last. It’s too poncy (though it is written by a philosopher, so what did I expect).#

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Late dinner tonight as Abigail wasn’t hungry when I got home from a day in the office.#

She’s cooking. Tacos.#

I’m in the bath. I’ve just started reading Samuel Pepys for the first time properly.#

It’s very handily got lots of footnotes giving context and explaining people, events and things. However, there’s so many that it kind of ruins the flow of the reading. And his now out of date language can making it slightly tough anyway. So it’s swings and roundabouts.#

I’m reading each entry once pretty much all the way through. Then re-reading it, consulting the footnotes on second go.#

I’ll say this for Samuel, he wrote with brevity. I’m sure he was using a quill in poor lighting on expensive parchment, so it makes sense.#

Must go. 5 minutes until dinner.#

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I saw Van Morrison at the British Airways ARC last night with my Dad.#

Will write a longer overview of my day at some point. But right now I’m too hungover.#

It’s annoying that I need to drink alcohol to enjoy a concert, but I really do. I’m too in my own head otherwise. But as a result I often forget parts of the concert because I’ve drunk.#

Anyway, I had a nice time and it’s always lovely spending time with Dad.#

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I always try and smile if I meet the eye of someone I'm passing. But I'm shocked by the number of people who don't smile back. Maybe their brain just doesn't process the encounter fast enough for them to smile 🤷#

One my least favourite parts about buying coffee from a coffee shop is the to-go containers – they keep the drink hot for ages. Useful for some people I'm sure, but not for me. I haven't had caffeine all morning and I need it.#

But I bought this drink 30 minutes ago and it’s still way too hot to drink. ☕️#

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Google Maps on the web is painfully slow these days. It's close to unusable at times.#

There must be 250+ desks at my companies office. Each with two monitors attached to a very versitle arm where you can put the monitors into portait mode. But not a single person has a monitor in portrait mode.#

Maybe they just don't realise it's possible (though after I did it and my boss noticed he let employees know via his technology newsletter that it's possible). But still no one has done it.#

To be fair, I've put mine back in landscape mode. A regular 21" monitor turned sideways isn't wide enough for certain content.#

I didn't realise that GitHub has its own version of Patreon: GitHub Sponsors (example of one here)#

I've got quite a fancy – though simple – homepage these days: clowes.me. But I have to admit, I do love those old school simple HTML homepages of old.#

They're often hosted on the domain of the University they work for, haven't been updated since 2007, and have an outdated photo of themself on there.#

Some examples:#

• Kreps#
• Eric S. Raymond#
• Stefano Zacchiroli#

When I create a website I very quickly start adding things which increase the load time. Custom fonts, JavaScript to do various things, complex CSS.#

So I'm rather enjoying how lightweight the site currently is (when there's no images involved anyway. I need so sort something out there, as currently there's no resizing or CDN, just the raw images delivered from a server in the Netherlands). Your average post page is about 6 KB:#

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And there's just two files to load the page – the page itself and the CSS:#

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Will I be tempted to add things? Probably. But there's something magical about how fast it loads right now. Someone could visit my blog on dialup and I'm sure it would load fast still.#

It's almost spooky how quickly things loads. It feels like I'm loading local files.#

Actually, I was lying about this blog not doing anything to make images more efficient in my last post.#

It is! It's reducing the width/height and also doing some sort of compression, I presume. Clever Claude.#

I thought the mosquitos were done with me, but they’re not. I’ve woken up to three bites on my foot. One of which is on the underside, which means walking is annoying.#

Mosquitos tend to do this with me. They bite me on unusual places. Feet, face, ear and elbow.#

Just seen a man walking down the street wearing a T-shirt with “WOMEN DESERVE LESS” in huge lettering on it.#

Then there was a stall trying to promote paintball. The man shouted out “anyone need shooting, lad?”#

Ahh, London.#

This is just a test post – please ignore.#

When I learned to use a table saw, my teacher impressed upon me that the machine wants to cut fingers. Fear the saw!#

Powerful tools can do powerful things. If you want to make handmade wooden furniture you must cut wood. Your desire to have limbs and your desire to have furniture are not at odds if you learn to use tools safely.11 Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit et soluta est facere dignissimos magna sunt ullamco praesentium laborum non consectetur est in consectetur ea praesentium dolorum facilis proident cupidatat ipsum voluptate vero ad nisi est aute esse excepteur dolor accusamus quos pariatur dignissimos eum sit officia placeat odio qui cillum#

There are22 This blog supports footnotes! 🙂 table saws that will stop at the touch of a finger, but I don’t know of any chainsaw that won’t cut an arm. There is a limit to how safe a tool can be before its function is crippled.#

We should not stop making powerful tools because they are dangerous. Rather, we should empower people to use powerful tools safely.#

I use the saw, I fear the saw. I have handmade furniture, and I have all my limbs.#

This is a H2 header#

This is a H3 header#

This is a H4 header#

This is a H5 header#

This is a H6 header#

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit et soluta est facere dignissimos magna sunt ullamco praesentium laborum non consectetur est in consectetur ea praesentium dolorum facilis proident cupidatat ipsum voluptate vero ad nisi est aute esse excepteur dolor accusamus quos pariatur dignissimos eum sit officia placeat odio qui cillum#

Straight quotes are a typewriter habit. In traditional printing, all quotation marks were curly. But typewriter character sets were limited by mechanical constraints and physical space. By replacing the curly opening and closing quotes with ambidextrous straight quotes, two slots became available for other characters.#

Word processors are not limited in this way.33 I use the saw, I fear the saw. I have handmade furniture, and I have all my limbs. You can always get curly quotes. Compared to straight quotes, curly quotes are more legible on the page and match the other characters better. Therefore, straight quotes should never, ever appear in your documents.#

It’s a fun philosophical experiment, testing what you really need.44 I use the saw, I fear the saw. I have handmade furniture, and I have all my limbs. Especially when costs are high, it raises the bar on that word: “need”.#

(Note: I will say “I” and “my”, but my teenage son was very involved in most of these decisions, and loves this place even more than I do.)#

My land is an off-grid forest valley with a creek running through the middle. No buildings, no electricity or services. Just land. So I really started from scratch.#

For two years, before building anything, we spent time there in all seasons, finding our favorite spots. We built a path through our forest. Twice, we came face-to-face with a wild boar.#

Growing older is a long series of moments where you think: wait, I wasn't ready to let that go yet. It's subtraction as much as addition. Or a trade. More money, less time. A partner, a family that feels further away. Better mental health, worse physical health. Confident, less carefree. Each version of you had something the current one doesn't. And it can be tough to get over what you've lost and appreciate what you've gained.#

Some bullet points:#

• This is a bullet point#
• This is another bullet point#
• One more bullet point#
• I'd like another...#
• Two more#
• Let's see if this.#
• Goes under.#

➡ What does it look like?
➡ Does it look good?#

Social media doesn't help. It shows me old adverts, games and TV shows whilst painfully sad music plays in the background. It hurts like heartbreak watching them. And yet, I watch. Casting my mind back in longing to events and moments that are gone. The "good times". Times that in the moment I didn't even think were "good".#

Another test post.#

• bullet point with a number#
• bullet 2#
• another bullet 3#

This is an image test.#

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I have to admit, I’ve soured slightly on A.I.recently. I use it everyday, but my love for it has lessened of late. Partly as I’m worried about the future. Maybe there’s a limit to how good it can get and it’s not that far away. Or maybe we’re currently in the “internet in 2001 stage” and it’s going to go from strength to strength.#

Anyway, I got Claude Code to build an entire blogging service for me from scratch in one prompt. It was miraculous. I typed something, it thought for 58 minutes, and then I had my own custom blogging platform, designed how I like it.#

And I’ve been refining it since and it’s just as easy. Amazing.#

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