Weeknotes 2026-W40

Website

I haven't done a great deal on the website. I have replaced the thousands file with a more general one for activity, which I am planning to use for both /thousands and /daylog. However I haven't got around to implementing it yet, so the pages are still not up to date. Will get around to it eventually!

I added /want, a page detailling things I want to do or try at some point.

I've sort of decided I want to use AI less, for example stop using it for my Fifty More series to review my language skills. Instead perhaps post onto HiNative or something like that. The more human the better.

Movies

So, I've been watching movies more often recently, and this week too. I saw Inglourious Basterds which was very good, and also Gake no Ue no Ponyo. One Tarantino, and one Studio Ghibli.

I've enjoyed both of them thoroughly.

Octave Mandola

I've bought an octave mandola, made by Paul Hathway, from Hobgoblin this week. I bought it last week for an admittedly hefty sum...

It's a nice mandola. It sounds very good, and has a good projecting sound, and reverberates for a long time. I'll put a video up playing it at some point.

The only things that I don't like are of course the extra movement that is required on the left hand (relative to a mandolin) due to the size, and the G string sometimes twangs a bit. Maybe needs some adjusting, or maybe it's me not playing it very well. Other than that it's a lovely instrument, and very well made.

The plan is to use it over time for the mandolin group, eventually possibly shifting from the mandolin II part to the mandola part.

Flat cap

I bought a flat cap, only cheap, about £20, this week. It's set to be delivered next week. I would like to start wearing hats a bit, and have had my eyes on wearing flat caps for awhile: I like the aesthetic.

It's also all cotton, which is good. They seem to be largely made of wool which isn't great for me...

Also regarding my look, in the past few weeks I've decided to start growing a beard out again, as I've spent quite a long time with just the moustache. So I'm changing my look up again... I can't grow very full beards, but with any luck it'll be fuller this time than last a bit, since I have aged a little.

Miscellaneous

I sewed up a pair of my beige chinos with a patch obtained from the leg of another pair of trousers of the same colour. I did this before but it came undone; I am hoping this time it will be a bit better. Problem is, I used a bad colour of string, and then in tidying up my room afterwards found the right colour. So, I need to undo it and redo it with the right colour of string. One for next week. I don't just want to chuck these trousers away, as they fit well (if a little loose and requiring the belt) and are very comfortable.

Another pair of trousers I use for work has worn apart the seams at the groin - they were already coming apart when I first bought them. As such I'll need to sew a patch onto those, but don't have one of the right colour at present.

This is sort of the issue with buying second-hand, still, it's good in its own way.

Screentime

The stats this time, are :-

• Mon 28th Sep: 3h 38m
• Tue 29th Sep: 3h 02m
• Wed 30th Sep: 3h 45m
• Thu 01st Oct: 1h 51m
• Fri 02nd Oct: 5h 08m
• Sat 03rd Oct: 4h 39m
• Sun 04th Oct: 2h 08m (so far...)

Quite high still...

Next week

Dentists Tuesday morning and mandolin Tuesday evening. Going to Wigmore Hall on Wednesday evening to see some music. I think there are drinks on Thursday evening then with work colleagues.

And unless I've got my weeks confused I think I have Friday off of work for a long weekend!