Bit of a day. Bitten by a cat yesterday (my fault). Woke up to swelling and pain. Afternoon in A&E, tetanus and antibiotics. Xray clear for feline tooth fragments.

okay, what the hell I'll ask please reach out if you're trans-friendly and hiring for platform engineering, devops, or embedded development in the Seattle area (or remote). I live eastside but am flexible I keep getting twisted up over worrying if a given company is safe and it's been paralyzing

an of the British brewing world”. He was known for arbitrarily sacking landlords, closing historic buildings, and preventing public access across a river bridge in Tadcaster when the town was cut in half by floods. www.theguardian.com/news/2024/de...

Hot off the press: constituency MP will live part of the week near his constituency.

Coming to the realisation that my favourite pizza, the Fiorentina, is rare because it's not a classic, it was probably invented by Pizza Express.

Come to a cool(ish) church building tonight and be entertained! A charming compère will try his best to make sense of the ever so slightly bonkers programme. Excellent singing as per usual.

Dear Pellicle, a line like 'young families alongside the London commuter set' in relation to Hertford is a bit crap. They're the same thing in lots of cases. Except they probably don't think of themselves as a 'set'.

I somehow managed to miss the ICO drama. It is interesting how bullying and sexual harassment - separate types of unacceptable behaviour in the workplace - do tend to go together.

If you are not bald but have already tanned, do think twice about shaving your head. Unless a striking two-tone look is the one you are after.

There's quite a lot of Salley Vickers' The Librarian I would take with a pinch of salt but a pub by a canal called The Troubadour? Unheard of!

I would like to feel smug about my house (tolerable upstairs, cool downstairs) but I'm so bloody cold the rest of the year I can't bring myself to.

I was in temperatures up to the late 30s in Italy but absolutely nothing has prepared me for the heat of the 253 bus, a new routemaster.

I stopped at Chambery because it was as far up the HS line as I wanted to go yesterday but it's a really pleasant town and highly recommended.

Can anyone remind me what was so important about my being in the office on Thursday that I left my laptop in my locker?

Getting French adverts on YouTube even before I've left Italy. Including World Cup-related which, as you might imagine, is really not such a thing for them this year.

Me: regrets so few of my fellow-singers travelled by train. Also me: oh god this carriage is filled with English people.

“A man has been charged following a series of suspected anti-Muslim attacks in Edinburgh that left five men injured.” White supremacists are taking to streets emboldened by media and politicians who vilify migrants and Muslims. We cannot stop racist violence by ignoring how it’s institutionalised.

At 53 I'm the youngest person on this trip. We are all middle class white folk. There's another Kath(ryn), 2 Barbaras, 2 Alisons, 2 Jo's, 2 Karens, a Jan, Jane and Jeanette. All 6 men have different names.

They've also had at least one data breach. Most places give you the best price if you book directly with them.

I had book anxiety and bought My Brilliant Friend in English for 16 euros. I always felt I should read it but I'm not loving it. Will it grow on me?

For years I used to dismiss age gaps. Full disclosure, my two most significant relationships have been with +12 and +14 people. My father went older woman, 11 years younger (interim) MUCH younger (although she's my mate). But I do now ...

I done a tourism.

Observing holidaymaker dress (in a resort not a city). Men, of all ages, in shorts and athleisure tops. Women (myself included) pull out something different for the evening. The exception is German women, still in sports gear and sensible sandals. (It may be that these are their *evening* sandals)

I often feel that people don't appreciate their good health and abundant energy enough. One of those times is just before a choral concert. All that talking and unnecessary moving around. I need to save every scrap of energy I have.

I can at one and the same time a. Be glad that David Szalay's Booker was mentioned as he opened Hungary's Festive Book Week b. Not have liked the book very much ...

Following yesterday's train eating discourse .. I'm on a train. Not long eaten breakfast. I have a sandwich for later. And I keep thinking about snacks.

Reflecting, as Mr S moves to nursing care, the end of my three and a half year relationship with Tower Hamlets. Got to know Stepney, Whitechapel, Limehouse and Bethnal Green well. Onwards. There's still my mammogram at Mile End Hospital!

The best rule I no longer have to obey because I'm grown up is the one about reading while eating meals.

This has made me think. I haven't looked at banknotes (while I do use them) since Florence Nightingale, Charles Dickens and a bloke in a periwig. Who was that?

'Oh so great this village uses a power point your adapter won't work in and has rubbish WiFi, we can all switch off'. I have some serious remote care organising to do, I don't have the luxury of switching off.

Just been to see a friend play in a field in terrible weather. Suburban and rural types, please nurture your non-driving friends who come out in terrible weather. It's very hard for us to know there's only one bus (full stop) we can get (which didn't turn up and we got a cab).

Bloody cat somehow knows I'm going away. She's moulting insanely and there have been two dirty protests. How do they know?

More ER talk - did everyone else known Romano was the intense ginger Montgomery in the original Fame film?

Come to my choir's concert! We have a harp, settings for choir and harp and even some Renaissance Polyphony mentioning harps (of a sort). Saturday 4th July 7pm near the Tower of London. Tickets £15 on the door or book ahead from hanoverchoir.org.uk/events/

Everyone knows the sun is bad for you, but I appear to be the only white person I've met (on teams or in person) who is the same colour they were before the heatwave. I had a deeply tanned (female) friend celebrate the topless sunbathing in Spain while claiming to have covered up and used Factor 50.

Reflecting on a long day (not quite this long, I did yoga when I got in). Most people I know find team days a bit annoying, but ours are great. And a bit of social afterwards for those who can. And I've developed such an affection for Birmingham, I didn't once yearn to stay on my Edinburgh train.

Just checked the DB app to see what time I arrive at Euston. What do normal people check to find out what time the train they are on will arrive?

I'm very privileged to be able to write with ease and do not grudge assistive technology to anyone who needs it. But I do suffer from brain fog and there are no apps that can help me unknot situations and find solutions. I have to do the thinking myself.

This is obviously really bad, but what’s worse is that it isn’t headline news, and everyone concerned will still have a job tomorrow

This reminded me to look at the lightning map and ooh Belgium at this minute!

Earlier this evening I attempted to post a picture of a gimlet for #ConfinedCocktails - it doesn't seem to have worked. But thinking how much joy that hashtag has brought me. Thanks @melindahaunton.bsky.social

Thinking about when you had to buy Radio and TV Times when there were only 4 channels anyway. Because I'm in a household that regularly buys 3 newspapers on a Saturday, I now have 3 listings supplements.

Musing that the two season 9 ER interns are Pratt (arrogant, stupid, foolish) and Gallant (upstanding, idealistic, brave). I think the scriptwiters had been reading Anthony Trollope.

For the first time in my husband's care, I've just spoken to a consultant geriatrician. He didn't tell me anything I haven't worked to find out myself over the last ten years, but it was reassuring to speak to an expert.

Whisper it folks but I am really enjoying a contemporary novel. It feels honest and I want to spend time with these people. (Link the one from her own website, so she may get referrals) Expectation by Anna Hope | Waterstones share.google/veEIJrVYM1Da...

Job adverts- all that text and no salary information. Just why? (Not actually looking, just seeing them on the lists).

Was trying to explain to someone that I can't shut down everything just because there's a crisis. Bad things have happened but I have to try and find things to enjoy because .. well, it's later than you think!

Well praise be to the lord for the bank holiday weekend as it meant I went to Evensong at Barts rather than going home to rest for the working day.

I didn't want to do a happy post yesterday because something *really* shit related to Mr S happened. But for now I can't do anything about it. And .. on Tuesday I am going out for a fabulous lunch of the sort I've booked a half day for.