Just donated a dehumidifier to the local charity shop. Had to walk up the street (the shop is on my street) pushing it on a small luggage trolley, trying to pretend to be invisible.
Moments like that are when I (as an able bodied person) notice how bad the pavement surfaces are, and how poor the supposed dropped kerbs at crossing points are. 😡 It's no wonder I see people who use mobility scooters sometimes having to use the road. They probably can't get back onto the pavement. 😡
I'm reading The Ministry for the Future right now, a near-future novel which starts with a horrific heatwave in India that kills 20 million people.
Meanwhile here in the real world, it may have hit 52°C in Delhi yesterday (they are literally checking out the machine that recorded that one reading, in case it's faulty, because that temperature is so shockingly high.) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c166xxd4y36o
Don't save good things for a mythical future "special occasion" that may never come. Don't leave pretty journals blank for fear of ruining them with your words. Don't leave the nice wine on the rack to get corked.
Use the good things to make today the special occasion. When they come to clear your house when you're dead, let them find full journals and empty bottles. Not the other way around.
(The bottles can be from fancy olive oil or something if booze isn't your thing. 😉)
@beecycling cleanfeed which we use to record crashed halfway through, so we had to find alternative. Consequently we finished very very late, so Lee is editing it today, and should put tomorrow:)
Jodi Picolt speaking at the Hay Festival: Having books banned in US schools is "not a badge of honour" and writers “whose livelihood is writing for middle grade and young adult readers. They are suffering greatly”
On one of her banned books:
"She said the reason Nineteen Minutes, which is about a US school shooting, was banned, was not because of the shooting scenes: “They have no problem with that. The problem is that on page 313, I use the term ‘erection’.”
It's new book release day for me. Check out my new Western/Historical F/F romance short novella. Three Times Elspeth Harris Rode to Town. Perfect for a quick weekend read. Just sayin'
So far it's up on JMS Books and Amazon. It will pop up on more stores over the next few days. #sapphicbooks#ffromance
I said it previously, but now the election campaign is actually starting, if I happen to talk to a candidate, or their campaign team, the first thing I'm asking them is their policies on mitigating climate change. I don't care if they're the Monster Raving Loony Party, or "Save Our Weekly Bin Collection and Fill in Potholes" party. (Filling in potholes is a good policy on that score, because it's better for cycling.)
There are many many important issues for the election, some of which feel more urgent to people in the short term, and that's very understandable. But if people never even mention climate change as something important to them, politicians won't bother doing anything, because they don't think their constituents will support those policies.
Climate change is going to have an effect on so many issues people consider more immediate, that ignoring it reduces all other policies to mere tinkering.
Re photo ID for voting. Just a note that they don't seem to accept the Post Office Easy ID app as an ID (even though that's based on legit ID like driving licence or passport.)
I don't know for certain if it's officially not accepted, but the polling station staff I asked the first time we had to use ID said no, so if you have that, don't rely on it for the election. Take along the actual ID. #UKPol#GE2024
Who's gonna pull an all nighter on July 4th for #GE2024?
I live in a constituency that could potentially be the first to declare, being in Newcastle, where we go in for competitive election night counting, trying to beat the old enemy, Sunderland. Newcastle has won that race the last two elections, so Sunderland will be trying extra hard this time around. But there's always the new challenger, Blyth.
Okay, UK folks, it's on. Few of the choices are great, but the Tories have to go. Make sure you're registered to vote. Set up a postal vote if you'll be on holiday on July 4th. Make sure students are registered in the place where they'll be then, as uni terms will be over. Make sure you've got suitable ID. Especially make sure to do all of this if you are in a marginal constituency, cos that's where the election is decided. #UKPolitics#GE2024 https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote https://www.gov.uk/how-to-vote/photo-id-youll-need
Ovation for MP returning to parliament after losing hands and feet to sepsis. Speaker says he doesn't normally allow applause in the chamber, but made an exception. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-69048172
His story is terrifying. How fast he went from feeling a bit ill and having an early night, to hours later being on the brink of death from sepsis. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-69037424
Oh lawd, I've got to bite the bullet and start rewatching Star Trek Enterprise, now Greatest Generation podcast has finished Voyager and is about to start on Trek's red-headed stepchild. I mean I don't have to watch, but the pod is better if you've seen the episode they're discussing. The things I do for @GreatestTrek
Today I learned that the famed landscape gardener "Capability" Brown was given his nickname not as a description of him being very capable, but because he often told clients their grounds had "great capabilities." I also learned that his actual first name was Lancelot.
::record scratch::
Yes, Lancelot. A grand name for a lad of fairly humble origins.