Working like a boss

Practicalli Websites continue their upgrade to a full zensical setup, switching to the zensical.toml configuration and the Catppuccin community theme for zensical.

Most practicalli websites use the Catppuccin theme as a plugin. Due to limitations with the new Zensical theme (there can be only one override), a modified catppuccin theme is used with the main landing page.

This week I start applying for interesting engineering manager or leadership roles, as I seek gainful employment for the rest of the decade.

To support this effort I continue to update the people and processes sections of Practicalli Engineering Playbook

Whilst I am job hunting I am also considering my high level financial plan for my eventual 'retirement'. Where retirement means not working full time again.

Its wet and cold outside so time to switch over to winter tyres and wheels, keeping my really nice wheels and tyres for next summer (and many more summers to come 🤞).

Lenovo¶

When the prices is right I plan to acquire a small form factor PC to use as my main computer (rather than a laptop as I rarely go anywhere that needs a laptop).

The Lenovo ThinkCentre M75q Gen 5 Tiny is a robust PC with tool-free maintenance.

A ThinkCentre with AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 8700GE CPU, 16Gb RAM, without storage currently retails at 1,170 GBP on the Lenovo Website.

Lenovo send me a 30 GBP discount code for supplying my email address. Prices often fluctuate with regular offers, so it is worthwhile checking the website regularly.

Lenovo provides a build your own configuration with:

• No operating system (no Windows 11 Pro) @ -110 GBP
• 32GB DDR5-5200MT (SODIMM 2*16) @ 320 GBP
• 512 GB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 TLC Opal (1^st drive) @ 230 GBP
• 512 GB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 TLC Opal (2^nd drive) @ 150 GBP
• 1 TB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 TLC Opal (1^st drive) @ 430 GBP
• 1 TB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 TLC Opal (2^nd drive) @ 430 GBP
• Wi-Fi 6E RZ616 2*2 AX & Bluetooth® 5.3 @ 10 GBP

Instead of adding via Lenovo,

I could purchase extra memory and storage from other suppliers (than Lenovo) which would give more options and perhaps a better price. As the ThinkCentre has tool-free maintenance, then it is simply a matter of purchasing the right specifications for the hardware.

I have used Scan.co.uk to buy many computer components in the past and they are a trusted and reliable source.

Scan.co.uk has 1Tb M2.PCIe NVMe solid state drives from 160 to 290 GBP.

SANDISK OPTIMUS GX PRO 8100 1TB M.2 (2280) PCIe Gen 5 NVMe 2.0 SSD with Heatsink - 279 GBP

Prices for memory and SSD storage are currently inflated due to the 'AI' tools gold rush. Once that craze has simmered then prices for storage and memory should become more reasonable.

Review of ThinkCentre M75q Tiny Gen5 AMD - ServeTheHome

Debian Linux¶

• update kitty config key mappings to open split in current directory
• installing zoom and then uninstalling.

Clojure¶

OpenJDK vunerability advisory - 2026-10-21 warns of compromised certificates affects all current versions back to Java 8.

ca-certificates package update is available in the Debian Linux package repository, via a stable-security

ca-certificates/stable-security 20250419+deb13u1 all [upgradable from: 20250419]

OpenJDK vunerability advisory - 2026-10-21

It also seems prudent to update all security updates that are currently outstanding, which are likely to be related to the compromised certificates advisory.

sudo apt update

apache2-bin/stable-security 2.4.69-1~deb13u1 amd64 [upgradable from: 2.4.68-1~deb13u1]
bind9-dnsutils/stable-security 1:9.20.30-1~deb13u1 amd64 [upgradable from: 1:9.20.29-1~deb13u1]
bind9-host/stable-security 1:9.20.30-1~deb13u1 amd64 [upgradable from: 1:9.20.29-1~deb13u1]
bind9-libs/stable-security 1:9.20.30-1~deb13u1 amd64 [upgradable from: 1:9.20.29-1~deb13u1]
ca-certificates/stable-security 20250419+deb13u1 all [upgradable from: 20250419]
code/stable 1.143.0-1792533444 amd64 [upgradable from: 1.141.1-1791833136]
firefox-l10n-en-gb/mozilla 158.0.1~build1 all [upgradable from: 158.0~build2]
firefox/mozilla 158.0.1~build1 amd64 [upgradable from: 158.0~build2]
gir1.2-javascriptcoregtk-4.1/stable-security 2.54.0-1~deb13u3 amd64 [upgradable from: 2.54.0-1~deb13u2]
gir1.2-webkit2-4.1/stable-security 2.54.0-1~deb13u3 amd64 [upgradable from: 2.54.0-1~deb13u2]
google-chrome-stable/stable 156.0.8078.47-1 amd64 [upgradable from: 155.0.8059.79-1]
libexpat1-dev/stable-security 2.9.0-1~deb13u1 amd64 [upgradable from: 2.8.3-1~deb13u1]
libexpat1/stable-security 2.9.0-1~deb13u1 amd64 [upgradable from: 2.8.3-1~deb13u1]
libjavascriptcoregtk-4.1-0/stable-security 2.54.0-1~deb13u3 amd64 [upgradable from: 2.54.0-1~deb13u2]
libjxl-gdk-pixbuf/stable-security 0.11.2-0.1~deb13u3 amd64 [upgradable from: 0.11.2-0.1~deb13u2]
libjxl0.11/stable-security 0.11.2-0.1~deb13u3 amd64 [upgradable from: 0.11.2-0.1~deb13u2]
libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0/stable-security 2.54.0-1~deb13u3 amd64 [upgradable from: 2.54.0-1~deb13u2]
linux-image-amd64/stable-security 6.12.113-1 amd64 [upgradable from: 6.12.111-1]
linux-libc-dev/stable-security 6.12.113-1 all [upgradable from: 6.12.111-1]
tzdata/stable-updates 2026e-0+deb13u1 all [upgradable from: 2026c-0+deb13u1]

Kitty¶

Adding key mappings to kitty to support my Zensical workflow, where I run the local server in a separate terminal window underneath the main editor window.

# ---------------------------------------------------------
# Key mappings

# Ctrl + Shift + Arrow up/down moves between kitty tabs

# Open new tab in current window
map ctrl+shift+t launch --cwd=current --type=tab --location=neighbor

# Open short window as horizontal split in current window
map ctrl+shift+enter launch --cwd=current --type=window --location=hsplit --bias=20

# Switch window split focus
map ctrl+up neighboring_window up
map ctrl+down neighboring_window down

# Resize window splits
map ctrl+shift+j resize_window shorter 3
map ctrl+shift+k resize_window taller 3
map ctrl+shift+h resize_window narrower
map ctrl+shift+l resize_window wider

# reset all windows in the tab to default sizes
map ctrl+shift+home resize_window reset
# ---------------------------------------------------------

Zoom¶

Installed Zoom from website, searching for "Zoom Linux download" showed the right website at the stop of the search.

There wasnt a obvious way to script the download of the latest version, as the download is behind a button of a page with a fixed version. I could ask an 'AI' service, but using zoom via the browser should meet my needs.

The install requires just over 1Gb of storage space, which seems excessive.

sudo apt install ./zoom_amd64.deb
Note, selecting 'zoom' instead of './zoom_amd64.deb'
Installing:
  zoom

Installing dependencies:
  gir1.2-ibus-1.0  ibus  ibus-data  ibus-gtk  ibus-gtk3  ibus-gtk4  im-config  libxcb-xtest0  python3-ibus-1.0

Suggested packages:
  ibus-clutter  ibus-doc

Recommended packages:
  libegl1-mesa  libgl1-mesa-glx

Summary:
  Upgrading: 0, Installing: 10, Removing: 0, Not Upgrading: 9
  Download size: 15.7 MB / 318 MB
  Space needed: 1,135 MB / 5,097 MB available

Continue? [Y/n]
Get:1 /home/practicalli/Downloads/zoom_amd64.deb zoom amd64 7.2.1.5760 [303 MB]
Get:2 http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie/main amd64 gir1.2-ibus-1.0 amd64 1.5.32-2 [372 kB]
Get:3 http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie/main amd64 ibus-data all 1.5.32-2 [13.2 MB]
Get:4 http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie/main amd64 python3-ibus-1.0 all 1.5.32-2 [309 kB]
Get:5 http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie/main amd64 ibus amd64 1.5.32-2 [652 kB]
Get:6 http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie/main amd64 ibus-gtk amd64 1.5.32-2 [318 kB]
Get:7 http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie/main amd64 ibus-gtk3 amd64 1.5.32-2 [319 kB]
Get:8 http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie/main amd64 ibus-gtk4 amd64 1.5.32-2 [318 kB]
Get:9 http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie/main amd64 im-config all 0.57-2 [57.4 kB]
Get:10 http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie/main amd64 libxcb-xtest0 amd64 1.17.0-2+b1 [104 kB]

I uninstalled zoom package

sudo apt purge zoom

Then removed the extra packages the zoom package had as dependencies

sudo apt autoremove && sudo apt autoclean

Personal¶

I can collect a state pension in 12 years time, which would cover my daily cost of living. I dont live a fancy life and my cats are much cheaper to run than children.

Ideally I will work for at least another 3 years so that I can:

• reach National Insurance contributions for full state pension as the maximum level
• Increase savings by at least 100,000 (or add that amount to a personal pension)
• Save 40% on new bike (or a couple of bikes) via the bike to work scheme

I will continue making pension contributions to off-set personal tax liability, especially if my salary is in the higher tax bands.

Personal plans include:

• move to the country (find a small house with a large garden, which is approximately the same price as my current house)
• identify areas that I would like to live in that have great cycling and walking opportunities near by
• Yorkshire (Peak district)
• Scotland (Aberdeen, West Highlands, etc.)
• Wales (?)

Aspects to fully comprehend¶

Understand Tax implications once I reach state pension age and start drawing from that. - tax on personal pension income - tax on savings

Once I take a lump sum from my pension, I am no longer able to contribute to that pension.

• if I take a lump sum from pension A, can I still contribute to pension B ?
• do I need to take a lump sum from all 4 pensions at the same time ?

Financial plan for retirement¶

Take full amount of tax free cash from personal pension (25%).

If lump sum is taken before state pension age, then it is used as my income (with some placed in savings account)

If lump sum take from state pension age, all is placed into savings.

Thank you.

Practical.li Website

Practical.li GitHub Org practicalli-johnny profile

@practicalli_johnny