Friday, December 4

It was drizzling this morning but since I had been told to expect heavy storms I was mildly pleased as I walked to the bus. At least I was pleased when I finally got to the bus. The temperature had dropped sharply in the night and the pavements were suddenly slippery.

Juha Varto emailed me this morning to ask if I would like to publish the speech from my doctoral defence in a journal he edits. I said yes and asked how I should edit and present it. I had a brief conversation with Nathalie about the plans Liisa and I made yesterday and she approved them in a delighted manner.

After that I spent almost all day working on my new WordPress theme, which is built using JointsWP, which is itself built from Foundation 5. After slightly less than five hours I have the entire structure built and working, the layout and menu finishe, and only the core Sass css left to customise. The framework has enabled me to use about a twentieth of the markup on the previous version, to the point where it feels as though I am not actually doing anything.

This all included a break for a lunchtime meeting, in which the lunch was Mexican chicken and the meeting was pointless.

Now I am standing up, because I have heard that standing up once an hour is a way of gaining immortality, or at least stifling backache. I am over by Monica’s desk checking to see if the kettle needs filling, and to see if her Christmas tree needs watering. That’s yes to the former and no to the latter.

I will have a cup of Strawberry infusion while going through the markup on the new version of the Fiveboys theme I am building, and then I will go home. Naa phoned half an hour ago to say that she had successfully got her Indian visa, and so all is well.

When I leave Arcada I will step straight into the promised weather. My trousers will be soaked within twenty metres.