Little jumping spider on the table. Poor thing got fed up with me and started attacking the camera!

A close-up, side view of a small brown and tan jumping spider on a gray textured surface. The spider’s large front eyes are visible.

A close-up, side view of a small brown and tan jumping spider on a blue and black woven mat.

A close-up, side view of a small brown and tan jumping spider on a gray textured surface. The spider’s large front eyes are visible.

“Our study found that, in the case of a crash, being hit by an SUV or LTV increased the odds of a pedestrian or cyclist being killed or seriously injured by around a quarter. The odds of a pedestrian or cyclist being killed increased by 44% for adult/all-age samples and increased by 82% for children."

At this point, you basically have to be a pretty special kind of person to own an SUV (in fact we’ve known how lethal they are for at least 10 years). A good summary on Forbes of this and the other reasons why SUV owners really ought to rethink their ownership.

Just watched an episode of The Thundermans with my son. It’s a really funny Nickelodeon comedy series on #Netflix with a lovely mix of drama, charm, humour, slapstick, and action. We both really enjoy watching it. Sadly, they’re not making it anymore, so we watch it endlessly on repeat!

14 years old and still going strong!

A 14-year-old Doberman dog is eating sliced sausage and cheese off a plate on a patio surrounded by potted plants and a green watering can.

When someone dies and you prepare for their funeral and reach out to their friends and siblings, you learn about all the other people they were, beyond the person they were to you. And you get to know the full person they couldn’t or wouldn’t let you know, and you wish you could have known that person too. But now it’s too late and you couldn’t have known them in any other way anyway. So you’re grateful for knowing them as you did. And that has to be enough.

Treating ourselves to coffee and cake

Historic buildings - one a cafe with people sitting outside - on the market square, framed by a clear blue sky.

I just watched The Last Jedi. I haven’t watched it since it originally came out, and while I didn’t hate it when it came out, it was so different from my expectations that I was a little disappointed.

Watching it now, for the second time, I actually think it’s a very clever way to take the story forward and I really enjoyed it.

Seeing it a second time, I don’t think Luke’s character is mishandled; I actually think it’s very believable and quite a powerful message throughout the film.

I’m looking forward to watching The Rise of Skywalker, which I enjoyed more the first time I saw it, so it’ll be interesting to see how I feel about it now.

Proper consumer protection would force either HP or Humane, I don’t care which, to refund customers the cost of their now-useless hardware. And that should probably come out of the enormous amount that is going to otherwise go to the shareholders/owners in this deal:

daringfireball.net/linked/20…

#tech #consumerprotection #customerrights

Had a beautiful cold walk up in the woods today. Just about enough snow for my wife and son to have a running snowball fight. After three days of being ill, it was a wonderful welcome change to the confines of my bed.

A tranquil landscape features rolling hills, scattered trees, and a cloudy sky.A person and a child in winter clothing walk hand in hand on a forest path with a black dog nearby.

Into the woods #photography

Two people are walking on a dimly lit path through a forest at night, holding lighted torches.

‘Stockbrot‘ #photography #campfire #Odenwald

Bread dough wrapped around a stick is being roasted over an open flame.

Winter walk. #photography #dog #dogs #forest #silhouette

Clear winter sky #photography #sunset #skyline #horizon

A silhouette of bare trees stands against a colorful sunset sky.

We took our 7-year-old to see #Wicked at the weekend. He absolutely loved it and understood the majority of the narrative & messages of the film. I sign on to all the hype about this movie. It’s wonderful! I also recommend reading the book - darker, deeper, and even more hard-hitting.

If you haven’t seen this story yet somehow (WaPo nixing a cartoon critical of Bezos and Trump), the blog post from the cartoonist, Ann Telnaes, is very much worth reading: anntelnaes.substack.com/p/why-im-… #politics

Not a big frequenter of McDonalds, but we’re in the road travelling back to Germany, so it’s convenient. Here in France, they serve the fries and other things in reusable plastic holders/bowls. This is great! Has it come to any other country? Not in use in Germany yet, I think.

A red, ribbed container with a logo resembling McDonald’s is placed on a white surface.

This heartfelt speech from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez seems worth boosting as we move toward January 20th. #politics www.youtube.com/watch

“Remember – hate is always foolish and love is always wise. Always try to be nice and never fail to be kind.”

This perspective has stuck with me since Peter Capaldi’s final #DoctorWho episode in 2017 (Twice Upon a Time). I hope it resonates with you too. (Images generated with Microsoft Copilot).

A cartoon scientist in a thoughtful pose stands beside a futuristic machine with glowing panels and intricate controls. The TARDIS console, basically... with a pixar Doctor!