November has this funny energy about it. Summer feels like a distant memory, Christmas is just around the corner, and there’s that unmistakable pull towards the sofa with a blanket and something warm to drink. But between the darker evenings and questionable weather, we managed to pack quite a bit in this month.
Mate Date with Adam
One of the highlights of November was a proper dinner out with my mate Adam Todd. You know those moments where you look at the menu, see a massive sharing platter, and think “that’s meant for two people but I’m having it anyway”? That was this evening.
Sometimes you just need a meal that makes you question your life choices in the best possible way. Ribs, wings, chips, onion rings – the works. Good food, good chat, and yes, we both finished our platters. No regrets.
The DIY Corner
November saw some progress on a project I’ve been meaning to tackle for ages – getting proper monitoring set up for the solar system. The PPC-BB+2 board arrived, and I spent a satisfying afternoon getting it wired up and connected.
There’s something deeply satisfying about connecting wires to screw terminals and watching data flow into your home automation setup. The board talks nicely to Home Assistant, so now I can see exactly what the panels are doing at any given moment. One more step towards knowing everything about what’s happening in the house.
Black Friday Chaos
November wouldn’t be complete without the annual ritual of convincing yourself you need things you didn’t know existed five minutes ago. The TV deals were tempting – spotted a 65″ LG QNED for under £400 – and the mattress sales had us wandering around stores pressing things thoughtfully like we knew what we were looking for.
I also spent a good chunk of time watching Call of Duty download yet another massive update. The file sizes on these games are getting ridiculous, but Warzone with the lads never really gets old, even if my reaction times suggest otherwise.
Game Night
We’ve been getting into puzzle games lately, and picked up one of those murder mystery detective boxes. “Cryptic Killers” had us sorting through evidence files and visiting websites for clues like proper detectives.
It’s a great way to spend an evening – no screens (well, minimal screens), actual thinking required, and that satisfying moment when you finally piece together who did it. Highly recommend if you’re looking for something different.
Tech Corner: Docker Compose Tips for Self-Hosters
Since I’ve been doing more home automation work this month, here are a few Docker Compose tips that have made my life easier:
Use Environment Files
Instead of cluttering your compose file with environment variables, create a .env file in the same directory:
# .env file
PUID=1000
PGID=1000
TZ=Europe/London
Then reference them in your compose file with ${PUID}. Keeps things clean and makes it easier to manage secrets.
Health Checks Are Your Friend
Add health checks to your containers so Docker knows when something’s actually working, not just running:
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:8080/health"]
interval: 30s
timeout: 10s
retries: 3
This is especially useful if you’re using depends_on with condition: service_healthy – containers will wait for dependencies to actually be ready, not just started.
Labels for Reverse Proxies
If you’re using Traefik or similar, keep your labels organised with YAML anchors:
x-traefik-labels: &traefik-labels
traefik.enable: "true"
traefik.http.routers.myapp.tls: "true"
Then just reference *traefik-labels in your services. Less repetition, fewer typos.
Looking Forward
November was a good mix of productivity and relaxation. The solar monitoring is finally where I want it, the Christmas shopping is… partially started, and there’s still time to finish that murder mystery before the festive chaos kicks in properly.
December’s going to be busy with all the usual festivities, but I’m looking forward to it. Bring on the mince pies and questionable Christmas jumpers.
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