Words this audiobook narrator has mispronounced that have made me question my sanity: zhuzh (he said it with an uh to rhyme with mud), and furries (he said it to rhyme with curries).

I had the opportunity this week with @bodleianhcl.bsky.social to support an @ouhospitals.bsky.social writing retreat for nurses, midwives and AHPs at Egrove Park (part of the Saïd Business School). Extremely fancy lunch and venue! The event was thanks to funding from @oxfordbrc.bsky.social

I just saw on the way to work that Beeline Bicycles on Cowley Rd has closed, and I feel really bereft - they were such a lovely team and over the last couple of years more or less completely rebuilt my perfect bike 😭 www.beelinebicycles.co.uk

lots of pain in the world but sometimes you stumble on a stranger’s obsessive wikipedia table. michelangelo had the sistine chapel, this guy had the “guess who” article. perhaps both sacred

Niche Oxford cycling post: has anyone cycled beside Eastern/Southern Bypass Rd to Egrove park - is it fine? Terrifying? Tricky?

A campaign win for @cyclehavering.bsky.social on the #A12 approaching J28 of the M25. An upgrade to the southern side for a better shared path which will run on signals though the junction. What should have been done when the motorway was built.

Considering just replacing all my induction slides with this one.

Hospital: our patients with outpatient appointments are going to the main reception instead of the outpatients reception, how can we fix this? Installs huge, shiny, "Outpatients reception" sign above outpatients reception. Patients: completely ignore sign because it is so shiny it is unreadable.

This is a big concern for me about AI summaries at the moment. I can see errors and missing nuance in topics that I am an expert in, which leads me to believe that this is also happening in topics that I am *not* an expert in, but I can't tell what they are!

This whole section really.

Late to the party, but watching the excellent BBC drama The Bombing of Pan Am 103. But distracted by how Patrick J. Adams (Suits) looks exactly like an American Joe Thomas (The Inbetweeners).

I'm actually grateful to Monster (the anthology series that started as Dahmer) and mostly @yourewrongabout.bsky.social for helping me realise that I have mostly given up on my true crime/serial killer fascination phase. Only really here for the campy fictional versions (eg HBO Hannibal) nowadays.

Well done new All Creatures Great and Small for reducing me to tears almost immediately. Such a lovely show.

Timeline cleanser 🐈

Got my performance review.

Time for me to deploy my expertise from having worked with databases of individuals and their data in the public sector: whatever you might imagine will be happening behind the scenes of a digital ID card, the actual reality of that dataset is going to be an information governance nightmare.

Good wishes to all the librarians for inductions/welcome events! Even if it goes badly, console yourself that it's probably not as bad as the year I poured a kettle of boiling water over my hand the weekend before, and had to spend the term wearing fingerless gloves to hide the burn 😬

All my favourite podcasts have Patreons, and I'd like to support them, but I actually DON'T WANT any additional content! My listening schedule is full and paying for access to more would just stress me out. @michaelhobbes.bsky.social @planetoffinks.bsky.social please consider making a tier for this!

From Bad Pharma: Did you know that when the head of Cochrane (the systematic review people) was given a knighthood, his team did a randomised controlled trial to see if signing his letters "sir" got a better reply rate? 🤣 #medlibs

I'm reading Ben Goldacre's Bad Pharma (very good, would recommend) as CPD at the moment, and he is clearly the epitome of annoying people for good, something I also aspire to. Sometimes it's worth having someone willing to spend too much time on an issue to make enough noise about it.

Love to try and book onto a webinar I was told about this morning on "managing burnout in the university environment", only to find it's fully booked already! 🙄

Ultimately, social media is a helluva poor substitute for sharing a room and singing Stan Rogers songs.

I had time today to catch up with @nedpotter.bsky.social's talk from the recent Ovid webinar day about using library social media to have conversations with users and influence behaviour, and handling bad actors and challenging conversations. Great stuff and I'll be sharing with our comms team :)

This is NOT just america. This is happening here. Local coverage of it, if you can bear the pop up ads.... www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/2548259... #UKKidlit #Edusky

It’s quite do-able from a legal perspective. I don’t think dismissing Reform in this way is wise. Voters need to understand that this stuff can happen if they vote for it - and that it would be morally, socially, culturally, economically disastrous. So they shouldn’t vote for it.

Today is #HobbitDay because both Bilbo and Frodo Baggins were born on September 22nd. Normally we'd shire a hobbit pun or two but it might just feel like a tolkien gesture and we don't want to embarrass our elves. Anyway come and boromir #Tolkien books.

A plea to academic publishers: please stop publishing articles formatted in columns. It’s a pain for people using screen readers and is generally more difficult to read on a screen, which is likely how the majority of articles are read these days.

My thought process every single time I forget my bike helmet: "Gosh, isn't cycling lovely? The breeze in your hair...ah, crap."

I refuse to wear small-framed glasses, so I'll need to work out how to make mine look least likely to be AI (probably pink and sparkly?)

First week back at work after two weeks off has been a lot, feeling like this most of the time.

Some men will open a whole ass fine dining establishment with impossible standards, deprive themselves of joy, and try to earn a Michelin star to avoid going to therapy.

Does anyone have any recommendations for where to buy ebooks for Kindles that isn't Amazon? I think there aren't any really. I already know about: public libraries, Project Gutenberg etc, and Calibre.

I am mystified as to what this arrow means - it's just been repainted on Windmill Rd by the NOC by @oxfordshirecc.bsky.social but I think it's just a remnant from when the bike lane used to be on the pavement, whereas now it's on the road.

PSA for UK friends: you can pay to get a covid vaccination these days, even if you're not eligible for an NHS one. They're more expensive than flu, often ~£100 but if you shop around you can get it for ~£85. But according to Pfizer, immunity only lasts 3-4mths because of mutations.

Morning rainbow! Also a useful reminder to put my waterproof trousers on just in case before cycling.

shoutout to tumblr user kleinergeist for this post which is going straight into my powerpoint for Grendel day in my monster class this week

Me, throughout my New York trip (quote I believe from The Stepford Wives, courtesy of the You're Wrong About podcast): www.teepublic.com/sticker/3081...

Perfect #caturday with the sun streaming in from the garden, tea in the pot, cat commandeering my crafting pillow but tolerating me cross stitching around her.

I also agree with experts that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. I feel pretty hopeless about being able to do anything to help, though, unfortunately. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I haven't generally been very outspoken on here, but I'm furious about the UK government and media's ongoing attacks on trans and non-binary people's rights. And also, JKR will never get another penny from me (and hasn't for years), because it goes straight into hurting trans people.

A new report from TransActual shows that trans and cisgender people face job loss, violence, vigilantism and wholesale exclusion following the Supreme Court Ruling and EHRC guidance. Read the report at: tinyurl.com/trans-segreg... #Trans #Transgender #Nonbinary #EqualityAct #EHRC #TransRights

On a plane recently I finally got to watch the first 6 eps of The Pitt (not available in the UK even for ready money) and it was everything I had hoped for. Absolutely perfect TV for people who like intense drama and medical stuff (basically The Bear in a hospital).

I will add that it wasn't all sunshine and roses - it's quite unnerving being in the US with the current administration. Visa applications now require social media handles, and ESTAs ask for them optionally. There were a few nasty experiences on the subway (more than I've ever had on the tube).

Despite easily being the most British fighting vehicle ever developed, the mock-Tudor AT-AT programme was sadly cancelled due to budgetary concerns

Had an amazing time visiting friends in New York City - we went to lots of museums and libraries, saw an off-Broadway show (Gene & Gilda), went to the top of the Rockefeller building, and explored some parks. It's nice to be home again, though.

Any idea if this UK government emergency alert will go off on my phone even though I'm abroad? I can't find any clear info online, just "UK phones"...

Tickets for @studiotheatreclub.bsky.social's latest Pratchett play are now on sale - get them while they're still available! wegottickets.com/studiotheatre

This should be headline news - the implications are horrifying …