You're semi-regular reminder that SSRIs/antidepression, antipsychotic, and other mental health medications* can make heat even worse for yo. Stay safe, stay cool and covered, and stay hydrated. www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-...

Off to UK Games Expo today, and got some fames to sell. And so I've got them on the back of my bike, and then a short train ride to the event. I feel like Santa delivering presents with those bags 😂

Another lazy weekend with my son [his request], where after lunch he wanted to do some colouring in and then painting. As he was doing that, I joined in by drawing and colouring in a Gengar from pokemon. He's incredibly supportive and encouraging 🥰

Next week it is Learning at Work Week, and I'll be giving an internal workshop on sketch noting. After plenty of overthinking on how to show concepts and approaches in a remote-only event, I realised why not sketch what I wanted to show and take a picture. #PirateTesting

Re-watching Babylon 5. Series 1, episode 4. A world that had biotechnology, wiped out 1000 years ago. Watching at the time, that's cool. By the time you get to series 3, "Oh. OH! This all comes together." The little hooks early on that get revealed over time was amazing.

On my way to Empire E1 2025! Hopefully no drama with the train, and room for bags 🤞 Two stops makes it easier thankfully. Look forward to seeing folks on site.

Classic bank holiday weather for my part of the UK today - rain! But having a nice few hours seeing my partner and going out for lunch (unsure where yet).

Endometriosis: - millions of women (and fellow uterus-havers) suffer from severe symptoms on a monthly basis - it takes YEARS to get a diagnosis (if you're lucky) - there's still no proper treatment b/c "women" But sure, take your absurd amount of money and use it to harass trans people. 🖕

Bonus stage 5* Structuring a Sustainable Quality Engineering Strategy christovskia.blog/2025/04/08/s...

It's a nice day, so I thought I'd go with a nice summer shirt 🌞

Today has (so far) been productive 🥰 I've prepared my dinner for tonight in the slow cooker - Pork mince chilli As the mince was browning (not just grey, keep cooking it people!), I diced onion, added mixed beans as well as frozen peas and chopped tomato to the cooker Rice washed and now soaking

I'm alone for the next few days, and I feel lost. My son is with his mum. My partner is focusing on her studies (but we were together in the middle of the week). I feel I should do something with the time. But that I'll then overthink, and it will stop me getting anything done.

Playing with my son building Lego. He wanted to do themes. I said we could do a mash-up! Both pick a theme, get 5 minutes to build. Then swap, and keep using our theme with the new piece. He picked car, I picked house. He enjoyed the approach, very different, and will suggest it at school.

My lab coat arrived today, so I decided to try it on for my Professor Oak cosplay. On Saturday 29th March, I'll be at MegaCon Birming, with my son as Ash, and my partner as Nurse Joy. I've not done cospkay in years, and only done Larp recently. #Pokemon #Cosplay

In police movies, why are Internal Affairs seen as the enemy? Making sure the police follow rules is a good thing, right?? Yet somehow even in entertainment, can't be shown making sure the police follow the rules. Renegade cops get results and more appealing, right? See most cop movies...

I had a wardrobe clearout after my formal shirts sadly not fitting any longer. Body wise ok, but they're all 15.5" neck, and I'm a 16" these days (got measured last week). 11 shirts to get rid of. Will try selling on Vinted, and donate if no luck. Don't wear even 1 formal shirt per month though.

7 years ago I was at TestBash Brighton. How the time flies @ministryoftesting.com !

Rewatching Dark Knight, and I'm at the part where they escort Dent to jail and get ambushed by Joker. When the road was blocked and they went underground, why didn't they just drive in the oncoming lane instead?! The road was blocked off to all other traffic, and missed the Joker.

Does any accessibility experts out there know of any resources that can tell me exactly how a screen reader uses the tool? I’m not interested in how to use the tool, but _how_ it’s used. I’m after almost how to create good UX for SR users, beyond the basics

If someone ever asks if you can lose money on penny shares, show them this screenshot. I bought £2 worth in 2020, giving me 39 shares. They have fell 99.81%! They are worth £0.00 to me. Stock pucking can be exciting, but very risky. It's not my job for a reason!

I am running a Masterclass on Communities of Practice on 20th March, and the slides are looking 👌 Expect lots of insights and practical steps for communities at all stages. Join me at leap-online.mn.co/plans/1510719

Testing a big project on our pre-prod env, and I made something happen that wasn't considered, and wouldn't have happened on local testing Bug magnet!!

How are folks doing? Monday mornings are full of meetings for me, so I worked from my living room as it faces the sun (unlike my home office), which has definitely helped me mood today 🥰

Watching the QE Babble webinar on accessibility, which includes the wonderful @adystokes.bsky.social. And it's been a while, but I did sketch note for the talk, and feel happy with it.

I'm liking how I look today. Meeting my partner in town, do some shopping, browse an alternative market, get lunch.

I've had some clothes arrive recently, so I went for a mini fashion show, to try a combination of jumpers/turtlenecks, trousers, and belts together to see what I liked. I however, hate looking back at myself, but my partner told me her favourite, which did help me.

My level of confidence at work is probably at a bit of a low right now. Nothing has changed from an effort or functional perspective, but for whatever reason, I’m not feeling good at what I do. Possibly a phase, but would love to hear how others have overcome this.

Inspired by Callum, I thought I would share what music I am listening to for my mood: Various versions of The Ballad of the Witches' Road. Getting my mojo flowing for some non-work stuff, and getting the in the spirit for it, as well as inspiration.

A question that is biased towards those in UK as it's to do with pensions, but I imagine the principle can apply wider. If you got a bonus at work, would you put it into your pension? Would it depend on how much the bonus was? £1k? £5k? £10k? More?! Would it be none, some, or all?

Looking through at clothes on Vinted, seeing what I'd like to expand my wardrobe with. Continuing to look at ways to add more colour, such as burgundy or mustard trousers. One thing I read was to be inspired by the looks of other men to emulate as I find my style. But I can't think of anyone 😵‍💫

What are my fellow #Testing folks up to these days? Back in lockdown, making the testers hangout, a continuous Google video call folks could come and go to, was wonderful. I felt connected. These days I feel I barely interact with folks, I miss it. How are you all? What are you doing?

I had the pleasure of joining Gem Hill on the Mental Workload podcast, talking about self care and how to get back into work and community in a sustainable way. Listen to the podcast now: selfcarebackpack.com/the-mental-w...

It's been a few days, I've made a few updates: - HTML5 export with touch buttons for mobile - Add celebration on victory for collecting all coins - Bug fixes to enemy collision Gameplay video: youtu.be/OzP6tMp_Ecw Play the game: fullsnackgamer.itch.io/full-snack-k... #devlog #godot

New article alert! My hatred for all things AI forced me to consider the lovely drug that is cognitive dissonance once again. In the article, I present a visual metaphor that explains cognitive dissonance clearly: the cognitive dissonance pyramid. #blog #tech

In London with my partner for an early birthday/Valentine's celebration. Had lunch at a very nice Italian restaurant, so I'm dressed up for #ReverseCasualFriday without realising!

Bought some new trousers, a turtleneck, and bracers. Thought I'd share me trying them on. Wanting clothes outside the normal drab colours/looks is difficult! Trousers didn't feel right without a belt. And feel unhappy with my bodyshape 😞

reflections on a month of #CalmAndSteady growth | A Tester's Journey: Calm and Steady - Off to a Good Start www.lisihocke.com/2025/01/calm...

Is your first public speaking event coming up? Looking for some tips? I've collected some ideas for preparation, tech set up, and what to do on the day. Take a look here, and add your own tips: www.cassandrahl.com/blog/tips-fo... #PublicSpeaking #Speaker #CallForPapers

The Call-for-Papers for the most awesome conference of all time has just open. Click the link below, and submit your session(s) for @agiletdzone.bsky.social ! #agileTD agiletestingdays.com/call-for-pap...

Lunch today I decided to do something a bit different. Rather than just plain cheese on toast, there is corned beef, with sweet pickle between that and the cheese. Embrace the rare energy I'm feeling to make more of an effort than I usually do for lunch.

Does anyone have any recommendations for an at-home weights strength training video series - ideally aimed at peri/menopause and led by a woman? (not Joe Wicks!)

Accessibility doesn't only help a small group of people. Accessibility helps everyone

Hearing Dick Van Dyke mentioned on the radio 😱 Discovering it's a fluff piece about him still going to the gym at 99 years old 😮‍💨

New blog: #Onboarding Tips for #Testers , based on my own onboarding experiences www.cassandrahl.com/blog/onboard... #SoftwareTesting #QA #NewJob

A timely cartoon for @newscientist.bsky.social

Making my dinner, and realised after dropping my son off at school this morning, I haven't spoken by voice to another human today. Only work call was a webinar, so no chats. Friends I normally voice chat at night with are away for a few nights. So, it's just me. I might record something...?

Again, a tech worker like you or me is the one implementing shit like this after management decree. Sure, you can stop using Meta products. But also be aware that someone implemented this, and that someone probably just needs to earn a paycheck. How can we get out of this awful situation?