The disappointment of going through the whole process of making a cup of tea and then remembering I didn’t buy milk yet.

At some point we are going to have to deal with the uncomfortable truth that there is a genuine lack of research into the impact of environmental exposures on chronic disease, and that has been a major factor driving formerly reasonable people into the antivax, raw milk, beef tallow wellness cults.

I need to add a book suggestion for my bookclub. I’m out of ideas. I need a book that: - does NOT feature a missing woman, because we’ve had 3 in a row now - is not horror - is a recent (popular-ish) paperback - is not heavy sci-fi or fantasy - is a normal book length - is pretty light in subject

Channel 4 and SUTC have just launched a screening checker where you can see what cancer screening programmes you are eligible for. screeningchecker.co.uk

laptop has also been playing up all week, finally got a reboot that seems to be functional but it has recovered a document from “00:00 1st January 1601” and honestly i get it, it does feel like it took that long

car passed it’s MOT yesterday and broke down today, my week is going great

Said it before will say it again: never used it. Won’t use it. I will go into the woods and become mulch before I use it.

Genuinely thought I’d survived and moved on from the plague but now I have a whole new cough to contend with, wtf

I don’t hate this house, surprisingly, but the write up is so telling - commissioned interiors for a high profile athlete? So it’s just a bland personal hotel for someone, when they happen to be in the country. (“Athlete”). I feel like this *could* be a cool place to live …

Autumn calling.

Been desperately hoping for the last 48hrs that I was just suffering post-champs fatigue but no, I’m actually sick (post-champs plague, yes probably covid, no I don’t have any tests nor was I eligible for a updated vaccination)

My 3yo old niece today clocked her grandma’s knee replacement surgery scar, and the world is truly a weird and wonderful journey of discovery for a toddler.

Went to the vets today to drop off a thank you card for their care of Rio (+nice teabags and biscuits, which is a bit unconventional but felt like it would be appreciated more than chocolates?).

I finally got around to replacing the screen protector on my phone and it is quite nice to scroll without being stabbed by tiny slivers of glass?

the problem with anxiety is that occasionally it’s like living in a building where all the alarms are going off abruptly, sometimes for several days. And even recognising that there is no reason for the alarms, as the alarms are in fact faulty, does not stop the alarms.

More people saw this than I expected & so I want to clarify: our local moorland is peat blanket bog, which is not open water but damp spongy expanses of vegetation with small pockets of exposed peat. When the girls fall in peat bog, it’s not muddy water, it’s liquified soil (more like quicksand).

Horrible stinky creature and perfect angel baby (one of these dogs had previous experience with peat bogs and one did not. Lessons were learned.)

Took the dogs for a walk, forgetting that I currently look like I’ve been making really poor life choices*. I can’t adequately describe this without a rare photo of my face.

Service animals should only be provided by a recognised external organisation who can assess and advocate for the animal throughout its life.

I got to cuddle a puppy today! One of those magical puppies who is just incredibly self-possessed from the start. She did not need any of us, but she was happy for the company & politely willing to entertain our nonsense. She was so calming for the soul.

The problem with being efficient — OR with linear time??? — is that making croutons for soup later just means I have eaten the croutons now.

so remember when this happened on august 5th? My dog is dead now but I’m still dealing with everyone else’s fuckups, but it’s okay, Medivet have forwarded my complaint to be dealt with in 10-14days so that’s something to look forward to, right?

What a great evening, love the BFI for allowing special screenings outside of London. 11/10 for Pictureville for their hosting too (& no spoilers!)

horrifying scenes in house as I encounter three (3) giant spiders in the space of 15mins. I know it’s that time of year and all but jfc, I’ve got enough on my mind right now without the spider related jump scares

It is hard to not have Rio here, because she’s been here for 14 years, and the space is tangible. But whilst I’m very sad, I am comforted in knowing she lived a truly full life, and that we made the right decision to let her go before she declined.

If this intends to make it legally compulsory for every adult in Derry to carry something called a "Brit Card", then I'm willing to offer some high-paid consultancy on why this plan might be flawed.

Chose to give my beautiful best girl our last gift, and let her leave this life today. We couldn’t outrun cancer, but Rio tried so very hard and made it further than I could have imagined. She was the gentlest, sweetest girl with an iron will. 2011 - 2025

Finally got to bed and there’s a fuck off huge spider in the ceiling corner of my bedroom. Obviously I can see him, but more importantly I can HEAR HIM jetsetting about. Maybe I’ll just never sleep again, I’m sure that will work out fine.

In the last 24hrs, I’ve had 3 consecutive hours of sleep, I prevented Rio from choking to death, & I had a screaming argument with my sister where she said some hurtful things that actually didn’t bother me because they were true. All we can do is keep moving forward.

It’s 7:45am, it’s 7° and extremely damp, and I can see a woman wearing shorts in front of me. Shorts! Some people have a constitution for cold that I can barely fathom.

Signs I need above my laptop: when you make a website for a national canine association, they will not follow your user account recommendations, and it WILL come back to bite you.

so many of the small indignities of daily life come from us being denied the ability to tell a rich man in a tech company to fuck off. minesweeper has microtransactions. paid services have ads. the opt out says maybe later. the drive thru is a broken chatbot. your car is an ipad. fuck off! fuck off!

I’m especially tired of a) not earning a lot of money, b) being told I should do <thing!>, c) having to explain that I can’t afford <thing> because I’m paying for Rio’s medication & the cycle of insurance means as soon as they repay me, I’m then buying the next lot and guess what, see a)

I’m so tired and tired and tired

The exuberance with which this website tells me I have qualified for free delivery \o/, immediately followed by their sad little message that actually, I don’t :(, because they can’t possibly comp the necessary courier service, even if it’s for a £359.66 small ibuprofen-sized box of tablets.

No cheating post the last photo of your pet

I am looking for book recommendations once more! I am open most genres of fiction or non-fiction, if you can quantify it! (a list of titles is not likely to pique my interest to further research)

That’s the big Outdoor Championships done for another year. No big trophy yet again, but we’ll keep working on it. It’s genuinely just a privilege to compete against top class teams and I’m always bringing home the best dog.

SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR MEMORIES, THEY'RE KILLING THE EARTH, ALSO WE'RE BUILDING NEW AI CENTERS feels absurdly farcical and dystopian while perfectly illustrating Stage 4 End-Stage Capitalism in all its dipshit horror.

Made my pizza dough just before I could set off on a long drive so it could rise in the car, ready to eat this evening. I did not account for the warm car being a perfect proving oven, and now my dough is threatening to escape the bowl.

Everything is sorted out, and I do strongly feel like I deserve some karmic or financial compensation for being really nice to everyone about their dire administrative incompetence. Instead, I shall pay all these companies £££ for the medication and Rio’s insurance premium.

I was SO organised this morning. Called Rio’s oncologist for more of her complex meds, then called my vet for some of the easy different meds. 4 phone calls later, 2 genuinely lovely receptionists doing their best, 1 increasingly panicked me, still no meds. I can sort this out, however …

Have put dedicated time into getting this dog to peak for the Championships next week but I forgot that this also means I have turned my high-drive high-energy Aussie into a buff endurance tank who can wrestle me to eat all the blackberries she can cram into her endless maw.

The energy efficient lightbulb that has been going since 2006 has finally died, with a dramatic fizz pop, smoke, and fusing all the lights. One of the greats. (Is this adulthood? Is this the true herald of being middle-aged?)

Things giving me anxiety about Rio’s vet appointment today: having to ask why blood test results aren’t being sent to her specialist, getting a timeline for her UPCR results being sent to her specialist, & demanding that I be CC’ed into every future email. Things not giving me anxiety: Rio

Added this one book on my to-read list years ago, but it’s out of print and so niche that I have never found a copy for sale. Quietly checking all the used book sites every six months or so, just in case.

good feature, this www.cyclingweekly.com/news/farewel...

Not gonna lie folks, my vet practice continues to be absolutely fuckin useless!

Reluctantly tried to do the bsky age verification and it says it can’t be sure my face is a real face so I’m just gonna sit with that for 24hrs before I consider trying again. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯