Stargates & Steps.
1. Data Has Mass.
It does. Apparently. Not in the lifting-a-dumbbell sense, but in the “a full hard drive weighs more than an empty one” kind of way. Barely anything, but it adds up. Same with thoughts. Fill your head with junk, it gets heavy.
Which brings me to…
2. Sherlock Holmes.
He had it sorted:
“A man’s brain originally is like a little empty attic… A fool takes in all the lumber…”
We could all be more careful with what we let in. News, emails, WhatsApps, the daily scroll. It’s all data. All has mass. All weighs us down. Especially when it gets in the way of something important like… remembering to bring a bottle of water.
3. The Water Scam
£1.50 for 1.5 litres.
£1.75 for 750ml.
Same water. Same label. Same shelf—just one’s tucked away in the aisle, the other’s grinning at you from the till.
It’s not careless. It’s calculated.
The supermarket knows you’ll grab the small one in a rush. The brand knows you won’t check the maths. And together, they rinse you for it—literally.
This isn’t about design. It’s not about choice.
It’s about margin.
You’re not buying water—you’re paying for being in a hurry.
They’re all in on it.
And we let them be.
4. More robots, more dogs.
If AI really does reduce the amount we need to work, we’ll have more time on our hands. And what do people do with free time? They get a dog.
More dogs means more walking. More walking means more steps. More steps means better health. It’s basically NHS policy—just via Labradors.
And if you think robots will be washing spaniels anytime soon, think again.
The dog care economy will boom. Groomers, walkers, trainers, therapists. A golden retriever age.
All thanks to the machines.
5. Round robot. Square room.
Why are robot vacuum cleaners round? Most rooms aren’t.
Corners exist. Dirt hides in them.
Designers: we need edges. Not everything needs to look like a doughnut.
6. NHS appointments can save your life.
Not the appointment—the wait.
If half of us walked during a 20-minute delay, we’d rack up 1.4 billion extra steps daily across the UK.
That’s fewer chronic diseases. £5–15 billion saved.
And more years lived, simply by pacing the car park.
So next time you’re waiting for a blood test, don’t scroll. Walk.
Your cholesterol (and your dog) will thank you.
7. Stargates and Road Trips
I rewatched Stargate the other night. You know, the one with the ancient portal that zaps you to another planet in a flash. It got me thinking.
Imagine if you could open a portal and just appear somewhere. No travel. No transition. You’re there.
Sounds efficient. But maybe something’s lost.
I’m off next week on a golf trip—Scotland, Ireland, Wales. Me and my son.
If we could teleport to each course, would we?
We’d miss the road between.
The bad jokes. The wrong turns. The space to think.
Maybe the journey matters more than the jump.
Have a great weekend!
You will always find me at carl@carlarchitect.co.uk
This Week’s Links:
Best robot vacuums in 2025.
Why you should embrace the messy garden.
A new house to replace some old garages. More on it here.
And a Grand Designs about it here that I’ve not watched here. I’m not even sure I like the house that much! What interests me is that it was slotted onto the site of two garages (photo in the second link above). Perhaps in Hackney that’s easier, but I’ve had two similar houses with garages turned down in the last year. The key with this one over the ones I’ve been working on is the space at the rear. These little garage sites tend to be surrounded by other gardens and are often too close to neighbours. Anyway, I’m going to try and find out where it is and dig out the planning documents to see how the planning process and see if there is any learning
Main Image credit: Step while you wait, walk the dog, dodge the robots — and avoid the expensive water.
