Writing - Neil Turner's Blog

Playlist of the month: I feel better

June 27, 2026 by Neil Turner

Screenshot of the 'I feel better' playlist

Seeing as last month’s playlist was a bit of a downer, this month’s is all about feeling better and regaining strength as I slowly get back to normal. As usual, you can follow it on Spotify.

“I Feel Better” by Hot Chip. Honestly the main reason for including this is the bizarre music video, directed by Peter Serafinowicz.
“Stronger” by Britney Spears
“Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” by Kelly Clarkson
“Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” by Daft Punk
“Fighter” by Christina Aguilera
“Survivor” by Destiny’s Child
“Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor
“Roar” by Katy Perry
“Faster” by Within Temptation (oh look, another Within Temptation song, I wonder how that got there…)
“The Power (of Bhangra)” by Snap! vs Motivo. This is a bhangra remix of the famous song and it works surprisingly well.

RHS Garden Harlow Carr

June 25, 2026 by Neil Turner

A photo of the main borders at the RHS garden at Harlow Carr

On Sunday, we took advantage of the lovely weather to visit the RHS Garden at Harlow Carr, near Harrogate. This was my first day out following last month’s fall, and was a family occasion as we met up with my parents there.

We’ve been to Harlow Carr before – we had membership of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in 2023 and made a brief visit that June, and we’d also been in September 2012. We didn’t cover the whole garden this time and instead focussed on the areas that had changed since our last visit.

History of Harlow Carr

The RHS web site has a more detailed history, but it has been open as a visitor attraction since the 19th Century. Back then, it was a spa resort – Harrogate was well-known as a spa town and its history is detailed in the Royal Pump House Museum in the town centre. We visited in 2013. However, as Harlow Carr is about a mile and a half out of Harrogate town centre, it wasn’t as popular as other spas in the town and closed in the early 20th Century. However, its bath house remains and is now Grade II listed.

During the 1940s, the site was taken over by the Northern Horticultural Society, and re-opened to the public in 1950. This organisation merged with the RHS in 2001, and is now one of the five gardens operated by the RHS across England.

The Gardens

Compared to the flagship RHS garden in Wisley (which we visited in 2023), Harlow Carr is significantly smaller. You can probably spend slightly more than half a day here though.

The garden is split into several areas. On arrival, you enter the Main Borders, which are one of the garden’s original features, before dropping down to the stream at the bottom of the valley where more aquatic-friendly plants grow. A woodland area sits on the other side of the valley, and this includes a play area for kids.

In an area that wasn’t open when we first visited in 2013 is a kitchen garden, with edible plants, and there is a newer sub-tropical garden too. At the top is the Alpine House – an unheated greenhouse which is home to hardy plants that typically live above the tree line.

There’s certainly lots to see, and almost every plant is labelled should you wish to get ideas for your own garden.

Accessibility

As mentioned, Harlow Carr sits in a valley, so there are slopes. Whilst there are steps, there are usually alternative sloping routes, but not all paths are paved. Wheelchairs and mobility scooters are available to hire. There are accessible toilets, and one of the car parks features a Changing Places toilet.

There are three car parks; when we arrived at about half 10 on Sunday, one of these was already full and the second almost full. Two of these car parks offer electric car charging on the RAW charging network, and these are a mixture of ‘standard plus’ Type 2 AC chargers and rapid CCS2 DC chargers with plenty of chargers available.

If you’re able to arrive at Harlow Carr without a car, then there’s a 30% discount available on entry. The number 6 bus runs every 20 minutes from Harrogate bus station (hourly on Sundays), which is next to the railway station. Alternatively, there’s a mapped walk from Harrogate station to Harlow Carr which passes through the valley gardens and woodlands – it’s about 1.5 miles. Trains to Harrogate are normally half-hourly from Leeds and hourly from York, with an LNER service from London King’s Cross every two hours.

As the crow flies, Hornbeam Park station is closer, but it actually takes longer to walk from there to the garden so you’re better going to Harrogate.

Entry is free for RHS members, and there are a limited number of £1 tickets for those on certain benefits if booked in advance. We decided to re-join the RHS, for which you can use Tesco Clubcard points to part-pay. Tickets are cheaper mid-week, and in the winter, and are cheaper when booked online in advance.

Nearby

The main entrance to Harlow Carr is home to a branch of Betty’s, which is where we had lunch. Weetons Food Hall is about a 10 minute drive away, and has a good butchers and deli counter as well as plenty of nice foodie things to buy.

Logitech M720 Triathlon mouse review

June 23, 2026 by Neil Turner

A photo of my new Logitech M720 Triathlon wireless Bluetooth mouse

I mentioned at the start of the month that I was considering buying a new mouse, as my existing Arteck mouse was on the blink after not quite four years. I also noted “I’m sure I’ve had Logitech mice that have lasted far longer in the past” – and so, I’ve bought a Logitech mouse as its replacement.

Specifically, I’ve bought a Logitech M720 Triathlon mouse (sponsored link), thanks to an Amazon gift card from my aunt and uncle for my birthday last month. Like the Arteck mouse before it, this is a multi-device mouse – as the name Triathlon suggests, it can connect to up to three devices. It includes a mini USB dongle for RF mode, and can then connect to two additional Bluetooth devices – I’ve connected it to my iPad. I normally use the RF mode as I believe it’s more energy efficient than Bluetooth, but clearly Bluetooth mode is useful for devices that lack USB ports.

Additional buttons

As well as the standard left, right and clickable scroll wheel buttons, there are five additional buttons on the mouse:

Below the scroll wheel is a toggle button which affects how fast the scroll wheel moves. If you press it down, then it’ll scroll with a tactile click through lines at a time. Release it, and it’ll scroll faster and more freely through longer documents, but with less accuracy.
Above your thumb, there’s a button that defaults to navigating forwards in a web browser
Next to that, unsurprisingly, is a back button
Below that is the button to select which device you want to connect to.
Finally, at the bottom of the mouse below your thumb, is the ‘gesture’ button

When you first plug in the USB dongle, you get a popup to install the Logi Options+ app. This allows you to customise these buttons, and update the firmware on the mouse and dongle. It’s optional, and it’s only available to install on Windows and MacOS – as far as I can tell, on Linux, buttons 2, 3 and 5 can’t be configured to do anything.

Battery

The Arteck mouse had a built-in rechargeable battery, with a USB-C port to charge it. Charging was only needed about every six months, and you could still use the mouse whilst charging.

This Logitech Triathlon mouse, by contrast, takes a single AA battery, and a single-use alkaline battery is included with the mouse when you buy it. It claims to offer two years of battery life on one battery.

Inside the battery panel is a storage hole for the USB dongle. If you have other Logitech devices, like a wireless keyboard, then one dongle will be sufficient to connect to both – indeed, it can connect to six Logitech wireless devices.

Overall, the Logitech Triathlon mouse is good. It’s slightly heavier than the Arteck mouse, but offers the additional lower thumb button and control over scrolling. I found it slightly more comfortable to use as well. Whilst I prefer the rechargeable built-in battery, I have plenty of rechargeable AA batteries to use when the provided single-use battery runs out.

Surrendering my driving license to the DVLA

June 21, 2026 by Neil Turner

A photo of an envelope addressed to the medical team at the DVLA. My surrendered driving license is inside.

The good news is that I was discharged from hospital on Wednesday.

The bad news is that, as I’ve now had two seizures in six weeks, I’ve had to surrender my driving license to the DVLA. I can’t get it back until a doctor confirms that I haven’t had a seizure for 12 months, so it’ll be next summer at the earliest before I can drive again.

Reporting to the DVLA

The doctors who were treating me in hospital advised me to contact the DVLA to tell them I was no longer fit to drive. This is done online and is quite thorough, although you probably won’t get an immediate outcome. As it was, I received a letter through the post a couple of days later, confirming my unsuitability to drive and with a pre-addressed envelope to send my license back in.

As much as it will be a pain not being able to drive for at least the next 12 months, we’ll manage. Christine thankfully passed her test 18 months ago and so she can drive. Once I start going back to work in the office, I can take the train – we bought our house before I passed my driving test and so public transport remains an option for me.

Meanwhile, I’m taking anti-seizure medication twice a day and will have some further tests and scans to narrow down what’s caused the seizures. This may include surgery in future, but, fingers crossed, I won’t have another seizure in the next 12 months. Obviously, if I do, then the 12 month counter resets.

The need to self-report

Unlike most other European countries, it is an individual’s responsibility to tell the DVLA that they’re no longer fit to drive. And, unfortunately, some people carry on driving despite being told not to, sometimes with deadly consequences. It’s a particular problem with older drivers with failing eyesight, and who end up in prison for causing death by dangerous driving rather than enjoying their retirement. Nobody wins.

Hopefully, in future, there will be a system set up for healthcare professionals (doctors, but also optometrists and others) to report people unfit to drive to the DVLA directly, rather than relying on self-reporting. That way, people unfit to drive who are reluctant to give up driving can be forced to do so. It would need enforcement, and arguably resources to help people find alternative transport, but could save lives.

In any case, I understand why I can’t drive and have done what I’m legally required to do. I would never want to be responsible for injuring someone (or worse) because of a seizure whilst driving. And even if all I do is injure myself or damage the car, driving against medical advice will almost certainly invalidate my car insurance, leaving me out of pocket. It sucks, but driving right now just isn’t worth the risk to me or anyone else.

Catching up with Red Dwarf

June 19, 2026 by Neil Turner

After I’d caught up with Doctor Who, the next series I focussed on was Red Dwarf – another long-running BBC sci-fi series. I have a very minor connection to Red Dwarf – my godmother’s husband, Mel Cross, was a camera operator on the first two series. Sadly, Mel passed away last year.

I own the DVDs for the first eight BBC series, and the Blu-Ray for Series X which was commissioned by UKTV (which in turn is owned by BBC Studios, the commercial wing of the BBC). After series X, there were two further series, and a film, The Promised Land. Every episode of Red Dwarf, including the film, is available on BBC iPlayer in the UK. Which is odd as UKTV has its own streaming service, U, where these episodes aren’t currently available. Still, iPlayer doesn’t have adverts so it’s a plus.

Series XI

I started with Series XI, as I thought I hadn’t seen it before. It was first broadcast 10 years ago in 2016, back when our 10-year-old was a baby. However, as I watched the series it became clear that I had watched it before. Still, I enjoyed watching it again, and whilst none of the episodes are all-time classics, there are some inventive ideas there.

Series XII

These two series were filmed essentially back-to-back, either side of Christmas 2015. There are some stronger episodes here, like Siliconia where the rest of the core cast get turned into Mechanoids along with Kryten.

The last episode, Skipper, certainly feels like it was written with closure in mind, with various old faces re-appearing in cameo roles.

The Promised Land

And finally the film, or rather the ‘feature length TV special’. It was produced in 2019, and broadcast early in lockdown in 2020. The film focuses on the Felis Sapiens species – i.e. Cat’s distant relatives. There had been plans for a Red Dwarf film following series 8 that never went anywhere, and although series 9 (Back to Earth) could be considered a film, it was broadcast as three episodes.

The Promised Land, like all series apart from 8 and 9, was filmed in front of a live audience, and so it feels more like an extended episode rather than something different and special. Certainly, unlike when many other TV shows get adapted for the big screen, there doesn’t appear to have been a big increase in budget. For the most part, the story is free-standing and you can watch it without having caught up with the rest of the episodes.

The Man In The Rubber Mask

As well as watching lots of TV and film, I did also do some reading during my recovery period, and this included The Man In The Rubber Mask by Robert Llewellyn. Llewellyn plays Kryten in Red Dwarf, and this book is his autobiography. It was originally published in the 1990s, but Llewellyn has updated it more than once (as per the cover, it contains “57.4% more smeg”). The latest edition is self-published, and available from Llewellyn’s web site, and comes signed as well.

The future of Red Dwarf?

I suspect we won’t see any more new episodes of Red Dwarf now. The first series was broadcast all the way back in 1988, and apart from the addition of Kryten in series three, has had the same cast throughout. And they’re getting old; Llewellyn turned 70 this year, and the other three are in their 60s. However, I do hope that there is something special commissioned for Red Dwarf’s 40th anniversary in 2028 – perhaps an update to Can’t Smeg, Won’t Smeg?

Back in hospital

June 17, 2026 by Neil Turner

I’m writing this from my hospital bed, having been re-admitted on Sunday. I had a seizure at home, and this time Christine and our ten-year-old were there to witness it.

Last month I had a fall at home, which I put down to feeling faint but a seizure hadn’t been ruled out. Now it seems like a seizure was the most likely explanation. This time, I was lying down, so no broken bones, but my first memory after coming around was when the paramedics had arrived. This resulted in my first ever trip in the back of an ambulance.

During this hospital stay, I’ve had another CT scan, and an MRI scan as well. I may have some kind of infection which hasn’t been cleared by the medication I was given last time, but we’ll see. I’m also now taking anti-seizure medication, and I cannot drive a car for at least another six months.

I’m hoping to be discharged today.

Working with three screens

June 15, 2026 by Neil Turner

My home working environment showing a laptop with Windows 11, and two external screens, for a total of three screens

In a further evolution of my home working environment, I now have three screens available to me when I’m working at home. Today marks the start of my second week on a phased return to work, where I’m working a couple of hours a day at home.

Last year, I got an updated work laptop, but it took me until last week to find that it could support more than one external screen, as well as its own. It’s a relatively standard issue Lenovo Thinkpad, if you’re wondering. Whilst the laptop has one HDMI port, it can also pass video data through its USB-C port, and so I could add another screen using this and my Orico docking station (sponsored link) that I reviewed last year.

The third screen

The screen is an old square-ish 15″ Dell IPS screen. I think I picked it cheaply up at a junk shop many years ago, and I had used it with my Mac Mini, back when that still worked. I don’t know exactly how old it is, but it only has an analogue VGA connector – i.e. no DVI, DisplayPort, HDMI, Thunderbolt or USB-C. Bearing in mind that I bought a similar-sized screen in 2005 which included DVI. Of course, since it only has a VGA port, I had to buy an HDMI to VGA adaptor (sponsored link) to be able to connect it to the Orico docking station.

It’s been tucked away in our spare room for years as my previous laptop could only support one external screen. Whilst it had a single USB-C port, this couldn’t carry video data. So it’s nice to be able to use it again.

Once I’ve got some more strength in my arms, I’ll get it raised to a better height, in line with the other screens. The stand looks like it can be removed and replaced with a VESA mount, but it’s quite sturdy and so I can probably just stand it on some chunky books.

As for how it is to work with three screens? Much easier. I can have Outlook open on my laptop screen, our main web-based work IT system open on the large 24″ screen in the middle, and use the smaller 15″ screen for a remote desktop session.

And having three screens isn’t quite as extreme as some. Famously, the late Sir Terry Pratchett worked from six screens, arranged in a double row. “Why do I have six monitors?” he said. “Because I don’t have room for eight.”

Catching up with Doctor Who

June 13, 2026 by Neil Turner

Screenshot of the Doctor Who series on BBC iPlayer

Since I’ve had a lot of time at home recovering, I’ve taken the opportunity to catch up on missed episodes of Doctor Who. From when the series restarted in 2005, until 2020, I watched every episode either at or shortly after broadcast, and own several of the series on DVD and Blu-Ray.

Alas, after series 12 (the second one with Jodie Whittaker as the thirteenth Doctor), I fell behind, and hadn’t found the time to catch up with the series. So, a period of enforced rest was a great excuse to catch up, and bring myself up-to-date with the three more recent series and specials.

Series 13 – Flux

This appears on BBC iPlayer as nine episodes, as it encompasses the six episodes in the Flux story, broadcast on 2021, and the three specials broadcast in 2022 that tie up the thirteenth Doctor’s story arc. I liked Flux – since Doctor Who resumed in 2005, I don’t think we’ve had such a prominent story arc across six episodes. I also enjoyed the specials, especially the feature length Power of the Doctor which managed to incorporate three of the Doctor’s most well-known foes well.

2023 Specials

These are the first episodes to appear on iPlayer in the current ‘third’ era (the first being ‘classic’ Doctor Who from 1963 to 1996 and the second from 2005 to 2022). The Doctor regenerates into the Tenth Doctor (also considered to be the Fourteenth Doctor), played by David Tennant, and is reunited with his old assistant Donna Noble, played by Catherine Tate. There’s also a brief cameo from Bernard Cribbins, in what would be his final acting role before his death, as Wilfrid Mott, Noble’s grandfather.

The reason for the change in era was because Doctor Who became a joint production between the BBC and Disney, with episodes being released internationally on Disney+. It also saw the original 2005-2009 showrunner, Russell T Davies, return to the role. The title music changes with most series and it was nice for it to be closer to the 2006-7 music, which I consider to be the best. It felt like the series was going back to what made it great in the 2000s.

These are also the first episodes of Doctor Who to be broadcast in 4K Ultra HD – specifically HLG HDR which is backwards-compatible with older TVs. We bought a 4K TV during lockdown in 2022 and the improved picture quality was noticeable.

Series 14

Wikipedia calls this series 14, so I’m sticking with it even though the BBC considers it to be series 1 of the third era. This is the first series with the Fifteenth Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, and I liked how the series included some musical numbers which was a first. As you would expect from a Russell T Davies series, some episodes were very camp, but I enjoyed Millie Gibson as the Doctor’s companion, Ruby Sunday.

Series 15

Which brings me to the most recent series, broadcast last year. It’s a bit of an odd series, as although there’s a new companion (Belinda Chandra, played by Varada Sethu), Ruby Sunday also appears in several episodes.

I also felt that in the last episode, Ruby’s story isn’t tied up very well. I gather she’s not likely to be in the next series, so it would be nice to know what she ends up doing instead.

The next series

So now I’m up-to-date, and ready for the next episode which was expected to be a Christmas special this December. Except it’s been cancelled, and the next series is now up in the air.

We know that there will be a new Doctor, as he regenerates at the end of the episode, but we’re not sure who they will be. On the whole, I’ve enjoyed the new episodes, and it’s been good to get caught up.

I’ll be blogging about some of the other TV series and films that I’ve been catching up with in the coming weeks.

Just going wireless

June 11, 2026 by Neil Turner

Back in 2017, I invested in a series of Powerline adaptors, which allowed us to use our household wiring as an Ethernet network. At the time, we were having issues with Wi-Fi speeds and coverage, and so having a wired connection seemed like a good idea. Because wired connections are usually more reliable – right?

Well, it appears not. Or at least, newer Wi-Fi devices seem to be faster and more reliable, to the extent that I have dismantled our Powerline network. In November, we upgraded to a Fritz!Box router and repeater which both offer Wi-Fi 6. When I’ve tested our speeds on both Powerline and Wi-Fi, Powerline seems to max out at 80 Mbps, which is less than our incoming broadband speed of 105 Mbps. Meanwhile, I’ve also had some issues with flaky connections when watching streaming video on our TV over Powerline, which went away when I unplugged it and used Wi-Fi instead.

As someone who has been using networking equipment since the turn of the century, to have Wi-Fi outperform a cabled connection just seems wrong. But the performance just is better all round. And, as a bonus, not having Powerline frees up several plug sockets to use for other things, and uses very slightly less power.

In any case, there is only one device that we own which doesn’t support Wi-Fi, and that’s our Home Assistant Green. For that, I’m just using one of the Ethernet ports on the back of our repeater. Everything else that we own which has an Ethernet socket, also supports Wi-Fi. At some point, I’ll get around to tidying away all of the now redundant cables.

The injury explanation post

June 9, 2026 by Neil Turner

As it’s been almost five weeks since my fall, it’s probably about time that I explained what happened, and how I’m recovering.

How did I fall

I actually don’t remember the fall, or getting up from the fall. What I do know was that I had felt faint a couple of times earlier in the day, and had lunch much later than I would do normally. I was at home on my own, so there was no-one else there to see what happened, and no CCTV footage, so we don’t know for sure what happened. It’s likely that I fainted, which would explain why I didn’t stop the fall by putting my arms out. I also had a bruise on my nose, and I was treated for an infection in hospital, which may have been a contributory factor to me fainting.

What we can’t yet rule out is that it was a seizure instead of fainting. That’s more of a problem; if I’ve had one seizure then it’s possible that I may have others in future. As such, even once my arms are better, I can’t start driving again until I’ve been signed off by neurology, as having a seizure whilst driving would be dangerous. I have a phone call with them next month, but it may be some months before I’m seen in person.

What did I break

The specific injury I’ve sustained is a stable bilateral humeral fracture. Let’s, ahem, break that down (pun not intended):

Stable – though the bones are broken, they’ve not moved out of place. This is the ‘good’ kind of fracture to have, as it’s meant that I haven’t needed an operation to pin the bones back together, or a cast.
Bilateral – I fractured the same bone on both sides of my body.
Humeral – the fractures are in my humeri – better known as the funny bone. It’s the bone that makes up the top part of your arm and connects your shoulder to your elbow. Both breaks are at the top, by my shoulders.

For someone like me, who is relatively fit and healthy and in my forties, to sustain such an injury is unusual. As such, I’ve had a number of blood tests to check calcium levels, and I’m due to have more to check my liver and kidney functions.

The good news is that the fractures are healing well – I had follow-up X-rays last week which show significant improvement. However, I still have pain in my rotator cuffs, which are the muscles surrounding my funny bones at the top, and limited mobility in my arms.

I didn’t study Biology past GCSE, and so I have learned quite a bit about my anatomy in recent weeks.

Treatment

I spent six nights in hospital, which included treatment for the infection, investigations, and fitting with slings. Until last week, I had both arms in slings, but I have stopped wearing the one on my right arm now. I should be able to stop wearing the left sling next week. The fracture on my left arm was slightly more severe, but I’m also right-handed.

I’ve then had three and a half weeks of recovery at home. Yesterday, I started a phased return to work – 25% hours initially, and only working at home. By next month, provided I make good progress, I should be back up to full-time hours and also be able to go back into the office in person.

I’m receiving fortnightly physiotherapy sessions to work on regaining mobility in my arms. As it stands, I can mostly dress myself, but can’t put on t-shirts or jumpers without assistance. I also need assistance with washing myself on a morning, and I’m still not allowed to lift anything for at least another week. I’m still taking painkillers, although I only need prescription-strength medication (Codeine) at night now. The pain comes and goes, and depends on how active I have been.

A month on, and I still have a way to go before I’m mostly recovered. But I’m getting there.