Heating on. Clocks back. Two unrelated facts, but taken together a reasonable indicator that autumn is upon us.
On Wednesday I did my customary talk at the DevCon event at work (the 20th one, and now covering multiple sites via Teams). My topic was “How Do You Test That?”, in which I attempted to pass on some random tips I’ve picked up from 20+ years of trying to write half-decent automated tests (with a partially-hidden “please consider doing TDD” message). As usual I left it too late to prepare and spent so long on creating sample code and building a ludicrous number of slides (including animations, I worked out that I needed to hit “next” every ten seconds or so to fit in my allotted half hour) that I didn’t leave time for a proper run-through, but I think I mostly got away with it and only went slightly over.
Then in the evening I was back in the Fat Cat for the ex-colleagues meet-up delayed from last week. A decent turnout this month, with Mel, Tony, Rupert, Joe and Dave F. The pub was pleasantly busy for a random damp Wednesday, and they had the new Adnams Ghost Ship Baltic Porter on draught.
Sunday saw the return of the Suffolk Winter [cross country] League, with the first fixture at Framlingham as usual. It was a mild and gloriously sunny day, and the course was still mostly dry despite yesterday’s rain, but there was a strong wind. It’s a popular race on a course that restricts you to single file for long sections, and I’ll blame starting a bit too far back for my relatively mediocre time (that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it, although the photo below of me apparently on my own in the moat approaching the finish doesn’t exactly corroborate my story).
