I do love a bit of Lava Lamps action

Now I'm retired, I find I miss office Christmas meals much like I miss Slasher punching me in the head at School...

I'm seeng a lot of posts about this year's DOAG conference, the ACE program I used to be a part of, lots of friends. And I do miss it. For me the social side of the community was and remains important. But I'm retired now and, Oh Boy, do I like being retired!

It's like when companies demand a postcode off me, just to get a quotation or show an interest in something. You have no need for this information yet, I'll give my full details to ONCE I know I want it. So don't make it mandatory! They get the postcode for my local Waitrose store.

Why in hell would paying my water bill (online, using a card I've used for years, all other details have been the same for years) need my mobile phone number? As a mandatory piece of information? Well, I gave them *A* mobile phone number. It might just have been the scam one that called me today.

Makes you think maybe kids need teaching more practical stuff 😁

What's worse is, we have world leaders & governments who are acting like this. And the rest of the kids in the playground say it's not nice and they should not do it, but cower if the bully looks at them. Rather than, I don't know, ganging up & dragging the bully behind the bike sheds for a lesson.

The last box really made me laugh 😄

Absolutely this! Not just java devs but everyone who can should use the "Application Info" fields that can be set against an Oracle session. It really aids problem solving and greatly simplfies performance monitoring/improving and has almost zero overhead.

One of his best ever! And, before anyone kicks off, Jane Goodall loved it and had this on her desk, apparently.

Sometimes you've just had enough of workmen doing stuff that does not work. 3 times I've had people out to fix our external TV aerial, putting up bigger poles with more expensive aerials on it. Well, I tried a cheap aerial on a crappy stick at my head height. It works! Welcome Back afternoon TV

Note to self - If the gas hob stops working, don't check if the ceramic plate for spreading flames is properly in place by touching it. It hurts like fuck! Swapped to second cylinder, I can continue cooking dinner. My fingers hurt!

A 4-word horror story specific to the Oracle world: "Burleson taught me this"

Hurgh, handling the arrangements for a deceased parent. 7 hours in the car, +1 with the funeral director, +1 with the registrar doing legals, swing by the home to collect personal belongings & chat with staff. A lovely interlude for lunch with wife & brother. Long day, but much organised.

I'm sad to see that Jane Goodall has died. She led the way in so many ways - that chimps were tool-users with individual personalities, that women are equal in scientific work, and to understand primates you needed to see them as individuals. Simply a Legend. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

We are about to see Bill Bailey. I wonder if he will play all this lot or it’s just a tease? Bonus, a bit of Queen playing as we wait!

If this treatment for Huntington's disease works out, this is going to be huge for those affected and their families. It’s another example of the legacy of the Human Genome project and the growing field of gene therapy. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Now with picture! Origami (well, paper art to be exact but in an origami exhibition) David Bowie for @rfoote.bsky.social

I’ve now got my own weather station! It’s not ideally placed and I won’t be challenging the U.K. Metrological Society, but I’ll know much it’s actually rained and how strong the wind is.

Rosalind was born four years ago today. We fostered her mum, Hera, through giving birth to and raising her kittens. And then adopted both Hera and Rosalind. Rosalind at 3 days, 7 months, and almost 4 years.

Pretty much 4 years ago to the hour, I was playing midwife to Hera. She was only one year old and her second litter was on the way!

To celebrate the world athletics championships being on, I’ve baked a discus. Even Hera is unimpressed! It tasted very nice though (yes, it's a loaf of bread).

Hmmm, Rosalind is using one of the hats my wife lovingly crafted as a pillow. This may not end well! Happy #caturday

No “blood moon” lunar eclipse for us, a solid bank of slow-moving cloud in the East. To the West, clear skies, so I think people West of the A1 will have an excellent view. Maybe be even just West of the M11

I don't think you need to know UK politics (though it helps) but there is something deeply reassuring that, despite changes to government and the recent reshuffle, @number10cat.bsky.social still holds his position. More cats in control, they make more sense than most politicians!

This was my introduction to computers, my older brother's Spectrum! Of course, being my older brother he got to commandeer my portable TV and my tape recorder to make his Spectrum work - but was I allowed to touch HIS Spectrum? Well, when he went out…. What was your first computer experience?

Does this given anyone else flashbacks to the early 80's?

Since it rained (first proper rain in 2 months) the ground nesting bees have been very active -fighting, mating, excavating burrows.

I've been thinking of getting a weather station for years. You know - white box, rain guage, little, spinning anemometer which you pop out to each morning, notepad in hand. God I'm old, they ate all like this now!

I'm thinking of muting the words "Oracle", "PL/SQL", and "DBA" 😁

Oh please, oh please, oh please! It's only light rain but any moisture falling to the ground would be nice! If the usual happens, a hole in the front will appear, centred over our hamlet.

Hera's litter tray showed she has been having digestive system issue. It appears she failed to get to said litter tray in time - but being a genius cat she left this *exactly* as shown, right in front of the carpet cleaner, which I had not put away since the vole dissection incident. Clever kitty

Look away now if you are of a nervous disposition. One of the cats seems to have developed a curiosity for anatomy rather than simply hunting for food. I love my cats but sometimes…

I’m not sure what creature one of the cats caught last night, but it either lived in long grass or she wanted a side salad with it. I also know where on the cream carpet that dinner occurred. Pen for scale, neither cat can write yet.

I'd love to know how many of you are starting to see "X-like" follower patterns of people ("people" maybe) following you with no connection to your interest but clearly selling stuff (crypto, politics, that they cannot afford enough clothing). Maybe time for Bluesky to introduce "remove follower".

What *Does* Tim do? This post made me smile. He knows more about cabbages than most butterflies.

Ahh, sad day. The voice of "Mr Benn", Ray Brooks, has passed away. He did lots of other things (e.g. starring in "Big Deal" which I fondly remember) but as Mr Benn he has a special place in my child hood. Nod to @thebowlerhatman.bsky.social who I know will be sad. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Rosalind dozing in the sunshine . #caturday

I’ll just leave this here as witness to my less-than-mature sense of humour.

USB cable sorting day! I'll throw most of these out. I'll throw some of these out. Maybe I should keep one or two of the really short ones I already put in the bin?

I missed #caturday and this was actually a few weeks back but... Ahhh!

It’s that time… Let the annual Odd Sock Pair-fest begin! Only, this year , I *will* throw out all the unpaired ones at the end.

Weekend loaf - I’m rather pleased with this one.

This is the sort of thing I say to Sue which usually results in me, somewhat ironically, needing an ice pack...

Ossy Osbourne, crazy & wild lead singer of Black Sabbath, the most famous metal band from Birmingham and one of the best heavy metal bands of all time, has died. It's kind of wonderful that he did his farewell gig only a few weeks ago. Bats can sleep safely tonight! www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cn...

Bugger. My lovely-looking loaf stuck to my hand as I moved it to the dish for baking, and it went Splat. It will taste the same but the rise will probably be poor.

The book I helped to write comes in really useful sometimes! @mhmillinery.bsky.social is using the four of them to weigh down & flatten a hat brim!

What to do during a heatwave? Climb into the dried-out stream and give it a good clear! In 22 years I’ve never known the stream to dry out so early, when we first moved here it would dry out every 3 or so years, now it’s every year. That’s climate change for you.

My poor raspberries!!! I hate wasps. I know, I know, they fill several vital & useful roles in our environment but I don't care, I hates them. A swarm attacked me as a child, they get my apples every year, and now my bumper crop of raspberries. There's 100's of 'em! How much do flamethrowers cost? 😆

I’ve been watching a bumblebee nest in my grass pile develop. The number of bees and activity increasing- until a badger dug them out😞. A few bees remain, I’ve no idea if the nest will recover or the badger return.