2026 Week 15

Jet-lag is bad enough but jet-lag with children is a nightmare. Poor Ethan has been so confused over the last couple of days. He ignored a suggestion to sleep as it wasn’t dark outside, then we found him fast asleep on the sofa still in his shoes and jacket. I carried him up to bed and just left him to sleep. Around 4am this morning he got up and, realising he was dressed already, put his pyjamas on and tried to put himself to bed. As Alicia left for an early flight, he said she couldn’t go out because it was still dark. His confusion reflects how we all feel. We are back in the UK.

We celebrated Ethan’s third birthday while we were out in Beijing. It coincided with 清明节 (qīng míng jié), the tomb sweeping festival so it was a good excuse for a big family gathering. We met up in 天坛公园 (tiān tán gōng yuán), The Temple of Heaven and ate way too much. The highlight of the day for me was watching Oscar hunt around in his room for something that he could give Ethan for his birthday. He ended up giving him a small flying drone like ball that you could throw and it would come flying back to you. A little advanced for Ethan but he was obsessed with it. When I found him in bed later in the evening he had his rabbit in one arm and this flying drone in the other. It meant so much to him that Oscar had given it to him.

I found myself starting to enjoy life on the outskirts of Beijing. The daily trips to the park, the idle conversation with other parents or grandparents, watching the boys make local friends. People seemed able to enjoy themselves by being outside together. Maybe it’s just that I enjoy life without work, life after retirement. People often ask what I do in Beijing, what sights we saw. I’ve started to enjoy those trips where the highlight is letting the boys run wild in the local supermarket.

I’ve started reading AI Engineering by Chip Huyen. I’m not reading it because I have any grand plans to be an AI Engineer. I’m curious about what makes AI Engineering different to traditional software engineering, if anything.

Back to work this week.

Things I Read

• first impressions of shanghai - Winnie is an incredible writer but her photography is equally moving.
• the public - I used to separate online v.s. the ‘real’ world. I was wrong.
• Wild, wild tech - I love the idea of the poetic programming language.
• Successful products - This echoes much of the frustration I’ve felt at business advice Alicia has received.
• Why You Can’t Change Anyone - and my reply

Things I Watched

I don’t normally watch much. Long haul daytime flights gave me an opportunity.

• Senna (2024) - I enjoyed this one. The memory of watching that race as a young boy will never leave me.
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Somewhat tired. This is a story I’d prefer to see done as a documentary rather than dramatisation.
• Witness for the Prosecution (1957) - thoroughly enjoyed this.

Week in Pictures