Halloween was on Monday. My wife and I didn’t grow up in America, so Halloween still feels foreign to us. We used to be able to ignore it. (We still could, I guess, but that would be mean to our kids.) It’s my least favorite holiday. For one, it normally falls on a weekday, so it’s not even really a holiday. It’s work and effort.
We went trick-or-treating in the Allied Arts neighborhood of Menlo Park, near where we used to live. It has a good density of houses and throngs of trick-or-treaters which makes for a good atmosphere. It’s also an expensive area so the variety of quality giveaways is typically pretty good. The kids had fun, at least.
Because we were out of the house, we left out a full bowl of candy, which was a mistake. Our security camera showed a group of 5 tweens rocking up early in the evening and emptying the whole thing. At least they didn’t take the bowl, which apparently was a problem for some people in our neighborhood.
Election Day is on Tuesday. I think the Republicans will easily retake the House and Senate, and then we have 2 years of a Congress where even less gets done.
Lots of painful layoffs at tech companies this week. Musk fired half of Twitter on Friday. I actually think Twitter will be fine despite suddenly feeling short-handed. If that turns out to be the case, that suggests that previous management left a lot to be desired. But you still have to feel for the people who find themselves heading into the holiday season unemployed.
The Fed raised interest rates by another 75bps this week, as did the Bank of England. The RBA only raised rates by 25bps, which I think is just crazy. I reckon the Fed will raise by another 50bps in December. Some of our savings now earn more interest than we pay on our mortgage.
Daylight Saving Time ends this Sunday morning. I actually like waking up in near darkness because it makes me feel like I’m waking up earlier than I actually am. (I like the idea of rising early. My body hates the practical reality of it.) Nonetheless, America might be transitioning to permanent daylight savings time at some point, which essentially means that California will become a UTC -7 time zone. The Senate passed a bill in March — the Sunshine Protection Act — that would achieve that… but the House has yet to vote on it.
In case there’s any doubt that women do the lion’s share of caring for kids, this is the sign up list for an event at our pre-school (one parent from each family was requested). Most, if not all, of these are working mums.
Biglaw Firm Tells Associates Exactly How Many Times They Need To Check Their Emails Over The Weekend (Above the Law) Slaughter & May’s answer: Once on Friday night, and twice a day during the weekend (except 10pm – 8am), unless you’re working on a matter that demands greater availability. “We’re a bit like a five-star hotel … [clients know] that if you call room service at 2 a.m. for a sundae, you’ll get one” is correct, even though it can be a very exacting (but well-compensated) job. If my employer is paying $800-1000 an hour for an associate, we better be getting Rolls-Royce service. If you had to pay any other person working in the service industry $1000+ an hour, you’re going to expect them to deliver client service with rings on their fingers and bells on their toes. Sadly, this is not always the case.
Amazing what a consumer drone can do in air that thin
On Twitter
I've now been asked multiple times for my take on Elon's offer for Twitter.
So fine, this is what I think about that. I will assume the takeover succeeds, and he takes Twitter private. (I have little knowledge/insight into how actual takeover battles work or play out)
9:00pm 
