Been awake since 4.45am listening to scaffolding being removed on a nearby building. Guess many others in flats next to the building also awake. 6.16am it's gone quiet just as I've finally got up to make coffee accepting my night's sleep is over. Noise regs, whats the point?

Its not that the media is not covering what is happening, but it does feel like the military occupation of an American city should be treated as a national crisis.

Having had a poor quality & v expensive experience with vets in the town I moved to a year ago, I now travel 60 miles to my old independent vet in the next county. Eg locally charged £70 for dog urine test by lg well known chain, old indie vet charges £12. No excuse for profiteering.

Thanks Iceland 👍 Pack of 5 so that's 2 tonight, then breakfast, lunch & tea tomorrow. 10p each instead of 30p each.

Lot of people (men) waste their time and mine telling me the government and media haven't deliberately turned the public against disabled people. Lemme save you the trouble lads, I literally wrote the book on it. And I report on it nearly every day.

She is on remand, not even convicted of anything, David Lammy might have crown immunity but he doesn't have moral immunity.

Just learned an interesting thing from ChatGPT (we're getting v pally)... Apparently we cry when we feel safe. Didn't know that. But that explains why I cry when someone is kind to me. And maybe explains why I'm defiant & hard faced in tough times.

Wasted trip to town 😡 Went to banking hub to speak to my bank & pay the DWP overpayment. Advisor was busy. Told to wait, didn't know how long. Waited 15 mins till noon when advisor said she was going for lunch back in 1 hr. Been trying to pay since 29 Dec. I just want a witness & receipt. 1

First UK health, now the military. On top of the takeover of many British organisations, institutions & infrastructure by private equity. UK being given away. So vulnerable now without actually being part of anything, isolated from Europe & effectively controlled by USA & the rich & powerful.

Post a pic of the venue where you saw your first concert and the band or artist

#OriginalRollCall Hey ORCs, apols for extracurricular use of the # But something you might like here. Spent a lot of time today on ChatGPT trying to problem solve. I mentioned about my current chaotic lack of routine & forgetting about ORC a lot recently. This is what ChatGPT says about ORC... 1/4

I did it!!! (had to use a few streak freezes) - a whole year of #Duolingo The 1st 2 months were mostly learning Music, also #Italian but I dropped music at Easter & focussed on Italian. I can now say theres a ghost in the sugar in Italian 😁 Not sure I've ever kept something up for a year before.

Without revealing your actual age, what's something you remember that if you told a younger person they wouldn't understand? "10 Richmond menthol for my mum, here's a note" Needing a pencil to fix a cassette Needing wallpaper the evening after the 1st day of new school year Woolies Pick & Mix

*sighs (in tired frustration) GP has put me on auto repeat script for blood pressure meds for 6months as I forget to order them. Popped to Boots to make sure all set up ok. Boots says I have to go in week before its due to remind them to check on their system for my script🙄 No further forward🤷

Using social media is getting harder & more anxiety inducing to use, not just every day but every time I check in, with both international & national news. Greed of the powerful & influential is destroying us & it seems we've passed the tipping point of being able to stop it.

As "Weirdstone..." by Alan Garner is one of my earliest reading memories (age 8 or 9), my next long-ish campervan road trip will be to Alderley Edge, an area I've never visited before, & I'm going to follow this trail, maybe while listening to the audiobook triskelepublishing.com/weirdstonewa...

OMFG! The ham shank...😲 It's huge! And heavy. And easily 3 good meals. With crackling😍 This is like a late Xmas for me except I'm not bothering with spuds, veg etc. Happy to live off ham shank for the foreseeable, it's delish. Can't wait for next dentist appt, the ham shank shop is right opposite.

No snow forecast here, in fact not even any rain, & temp above zero for next couple of days with Sat looking sunny. Might have a few nights in campervan over the weekend🤞 Not so grim up north sometimes.

Just remember, anyone that still uses X is funding this kind of sick abhorrent behaviour & putting more money into Musk's pockets. Unfortunately that still includes UK govt & many MPs, statutory orgs, media, charities...

Big Think: 'The medical myth that still shapes misunderstandings of women’s health' 'Emily Mendenhall traces the medical myths, gender bias, and neurological truths behind hysteria, one of history’s most damaging diagnoses.' bigthink.com/books/invisi...

In other timeline cleansing news.... Socks! 8 pairs for £14, incl 3prs wool mix & 1 pr Alpaca & wool mix (which wd probably normally cost £14 for 1 pair). Definitely worth a bus ride into the city for dentist appt, & setting off early for a mooch in the shops beforehand. Can't beat wool socks♥️

The saga continues... Just been to Job centre to repay the £508 overpayment, via banking app on phone. I want there to be a witness to the payment & a receipt as there's no clear paper trail & I don't want the payment to go astray while DWP is investigating over the next month or 2.

Recommendation - Smart Audiobook Player I'm so impressed with this app that I've paid for premium £2.19 for lifetime access on any device. Never paid for an app before. I use Borrowbox free audiobooks from library website, download to laptop, transfer to mobile. 100s hrs free books on mobile now.

I'm a technological luddite but got to admit these rechargeable handwarmers are pretty damn good, even on lowest setting. Nice shape too fitting snugly into palm of hand in pocket. Great for waiting for bus on a chilly day at draughty bus station. Had them ages but never really used them before.

#HiveMind #food #advice needed... (I don't really cook, I usually rely on ready meals) Just spotted these ham shanks, I could probably get 3 meals out of one so a bargain & they look tasty. Question 1 - how long would it keep for in fridge? Question 2 - could I (safely) freeze the meat?

I've always disliked (& been scared of) #DWP but I can't find the words to express my fury & rage & hatred of #UC which was almost certainly designed intentionally as a means of control &, as IDS has admitted, when designing it no thought was put into how vulnerable ppl without family would cope. 1

The Department for Work and Pensions is refusing to explain which disabled people it expects to lose out from nearly £2 billion in new cuts to disability benefits, six weeks after the “savings” were quietly revealed in budget documents. #DWP #PIP #WCA www.disabilitynewsservice.com/dwp-refuses-...

Absolutely.

Average FTSE 100 CEO took less than 3 days to earn what a typical UK worker will in all of 2026. Just 2 hours for the highest paid CEO. Median FTSE 100 CEO pay is £4.4m, 113 times the median earner. No relationship between exec pay and performance. UK real average worker wage stuck at 2008 level

The US may be about to launch an operation from its bases on UK soil against an oil tanker. I ask what and when the UK government will be informed about the operation. Will we have any say on its nature? No answer #Sovereignty?

Do you see the problem here

Private equity (aka rich men getting richer by looting long standing successful businesses) is the scourge of today's society. So many of our high street names lost bcos of them. They wield so much power & can buy political influence so there's nothing to stop this happening.

I've never been a fan of Emily Thornberry but got to give her credit for having the balls to be honest & say what everyone else is thinking. No doubt there'll be some form of censure or punishment for her by PM or PLP. But good on her, she's probably quite correct.

A gentle stroll along sea front with friend from local #autistic group on a stunning day; clear, sunny, v cold & icy but no wind & I've never seen the sea so still & flat. So refreshing to have like minded company & clear direct unambiguous communication -"Nice Xmas?", "No, it was crap"😁

After invading Venezuela Trump threatens Colombia. Describes Cuba as “ready to fall”, reasserts desire to take control of Greenland. Threatens action against a number of other countries, including Mexico and Iran. The 1930s being repeated, Trump building the US Reich. archive.ph/rmtmG

And back from private equity companies who now own a large part of the UKs infrastructure, & whose greed for more is driving the poverty & social probs we now have. These companies are hand in pocket with influential politicians, many of them funding political activity & influencing govt policy.

Asset-stripping Asda and Morrisons’ private equity owners raise £6.5bn by selling supermarkets, petrol forecourts, distribution centres. Companies deliberately loaded with debt. Sale and leaseback of supermarkets increases offshore controllers' profits, reduces UK tax liability. archive.ph/6McJ4

THIS is why we have the situation we have! The bloody press! We need responsible journalism not click bait FFS! Raging here 🤬

9mnths ago i moved from rural Cumbrian village with harsh winters & much snow & ice, to coastal town further south with much milder climate. "It never snows here", they said... Town centre car park is like an ice rink 🙄 It doesnt get direct sun this time of year so it'll stay like an ice rink. 1/

Took dog out into car park & wandered round visibly, didn't engage with the kids, someone else said they'd had a load of abuse. Then they started messing with a car so I rang 101. Kids had gone by time police arrived. But police think it's same ones who'd caused trouble in town earlier today.

Historic and unprecedented heat wave with June-like minimum Temperatures in SE Europe and North Africa (see previous post). Records fell allover the area. Max Temperatures up to 33C in Algeria,but it will be much hotter next days up to 35C. Expect an avalanche of records next week.

2026 will be the year the world changes irrevocably in so many ways. And so many of us are powerless to stop bad stuff happening. Wtf has happened with humans in past 20yrs to get to this? - such suffering, wars, intolerance, entitlement, greed, disregard for the planet. We're self destructing.

Snowing ☹️ V unusual where I am. Just a dusting but enough to be PITA esp if it freezes. Group of youths in car park throwing snowballs & & pushing others around, bumping into cars etc. Having to stand on flat balcony watching as they're around my van. Can't go in shower while they're there 🤬

Back in the flat. I'd forgotten what a mess I'd left it in. Only had to do 2 trips to unload, the 2nd with my granny shopping trolley. Mobile signal still 💩 so no videos to watch tonight g it might take 15 mins to post this. Got an hour to wait for a shower. I really really don't want to be here.

I don't know much about international business these days but this thread theory seems entirely plausible to me & v alarming. This is potentially more catastrophic on a worldwide level than the soviet threat in the 80s. As a teenager then, I still remember the scary public info films on TV.

I've been waiting for this for all over Xmas but the Truckers Restaurant has been closed till this weekend. Roast beef dinner £10.50 (with 3 good slices of beef) Worth every penny & a 20 mile round trip. Best meal I've had in weeks.

Thick ice on windscreen this morning. Just realised, having taken dog out for a walk, that it's on the inside not the outside! Still Oc in the cab, still probably at least -2c outside. But sun starting to give a bit of warmth & it's melting a bit altho van still in shade from trees.

Scarborough this afternoon resembling a Lowry painting -Winter wonderland

Watching the Wolf Super Moon through the roof light in the van 😍 Can see it much better than in the photos. Need a better camera & need to clean the roof light. But what a treat to lie in bed & see the moon above you.

Last night in the van for this trip ☹️ And the coldest so far. Deep frost & frozen puddles already. 18C in van after a drive round to pick up a takeaway & then heater on. Pizza, chips & pop while rewatching a fave classic Gen X film from my youth. Dopamine rush 👍