Weeknote 2024-09

I spoke about Ruby at the University of Sheffield on Tuesday this week. I think it went really well. The lecture theature was pretty full.

I spoke in total for just over an hour, and there were about 20 minutes of questions afterwards, which I’m taking to mean that people were switched on and engaged.

Sheffield seems like a pretty fun city. I had a good time being shown around by my hosts at the University.

And I really enjoyed being able to talk to some young people about my experience with Ruby, its history, some of the cool things that we’re doing with it right now as well as to just express the fun and joy I still get from working with Ruby day to day.

Sadly Southeastern managed to fuck up my return journey though, but still, not even their continued inability to run a functional train service harshed my buzz too badly.

I switched up my pens a bit this week (in what should be a shock to nobody, yes, I am a pen nerd).

I have two main pens that I use every single day.

The pen that I carry with me literally everywhere is a Kaweco Brass Sport fountain pen. This is attached to my standard sized Travelers Notebook. The TN is primarily my life management tool, but also a daily journal, so it goes everywhere with me.

Since I bought the Kaweco a year or so ago I’ve always used it with an extra-fine nib, and used either deep purple or black inks.

But I was reading something in one of the online pen communities that made me want to try something different. So I’ve changed the nib out for a Fine nib rather than EF, and I’ve switched up my usual purple/black for a lighter shade of brown - Diamine Ancient Copper specifically.

The current verdict is that I love the colour, I’m less enamoured with the nib width. I absolutely love journalling with it, and writing more long form stuff. The extra width just makes writing a smoother process, and because I’m writing for relatively long periods, the longer drying time is not really an issue.

I’m less pleased when it comes to my planner and todo workflow. The thicker line means it’s harder to write in small block, which makes my planner look less legible and means I can fit less information on a page (I write block handwriting in my planner, and cursive everywhere else, don’t ask me why).

It’s also much worse for my japanese homework. I can’t write kana with a thicker nib, without making my handwriting really large, which just feels unnatural.

I’m in Washington DC for work. So technically when I’m publishing this it’s still Sunday.

The flight was, I have to say, one of the crappiest flights I’ve ever had. It was very turbulent, and I have a cold. So I’m feeling pretty rubbish right now.

And I think someones cabin bag leaked water in the overhead locker - soaking my backpack in the process. So I’ve had to empty everything out and check it’s all ok in the hotel. Thankfully my laptop still appears to work, and my camera is weathersealed, so damage appears limited - a little gross though.

DC seems nice so far, from what little I’ve seen of it so far.