Jen

Geek of many colours.
Queer mum interested in climate and social justice, TTRPG, boardgames, SciFi.
She/her.

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npub1r5fz7zt9edgly6ldhan0j2myk7q4plrrpfdynxyxc463ss9vadzsp0jlnd

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JetlagJen_at_geekdom.social@mostr.pub

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Last Notes

2024-09-13 19:52:38

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@npub1s97…lg0g it sounds like an excellent and well thought out project. Good luck!

2024-08-30 20:06:57

Family gathering this week. Lots of people I don't see often. Lots of sad looks and sympathy. Really quite wearing.
Uncle: Nice to see you! You get yourself sorted.
Me: That's not going to happen.
Uncle: Be positive!
Me: I am. I could wait around for a miracle that probably won't happen, or I could live the life I have. I choose to live.
I'll keep saying the same thing until people listen.
#LongCovid #Disability

2024-08-05 06:59:56

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@npub1hpc…hjn3 6/10
Not bad for a native speaker.

2024-07-07 12:50:47

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@npub1hpc…hjn3 you've just seen at small scale how rewilding can be an excellent flood defence.

2024-07-05 09:04:19

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@npub1hpc…hjn3 I've never tried freezing out milk. Does it defrost OK?

2024-07-05 08:56:45

Accidentally ended up with lots of oat milk that's about to go off. We've got rice pudding in the slow cooker, plans for soda bread and scones, and we had custard for breakfast.
Any good suggestions to use up the rest?
https://objstorage.f7it.net/masto1/media_attachments/files/112/733/044/490/785/446/original/dcc85befa8b59271.jpg

2024-06-27 05:48:54

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 I hope both the doctors and patients like your wife see improvements in their situations soon. Xx

2024-05-31 19:17:43

I can no longer see tweets nor tiktoks that people link to in other places, because I don't log into either.
Oh, well.
🤷‍♀️

2024-05-24 19:14:44

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@npub1hpc…hjn3 I have questions. Many questions. But I shall limit myself to two:
1. Does that pun work as well in Swedish as it does in English?
2. Is it available in English translation?

2024-05-14 16:01:44

Can anyone recommend any good #CitizenScience #nature surveys happening in June in the UK?
I'm looking for something like the Big Garden Birdwatch or the Big Butterfly Count, but the timing is key.
I've been asked to bring an eco activity to the local community allotment on a specific day. It needs to be simple, interactive, and fun.

2024-05-12 12:47:19

My diagnosis is #LongCovid, but like many, #MECFS also fits my symptoms.
People only see me on good days. I don't seem disabled.
Yesterday, I helped at a fête. I sat at a table, smiled at people, and helped them do craft.
Today, I slept OK, but I'm so tired I could cry. My head feels awful. My legs ache. I haven't washed. I'm not dressed. I can't get food. Writing this is so much effort it hurts. But I've had far worse days.
Please, see us on our bad days, too.

2024-05-02 08:37:27

Today I get to vote for a Police and Crime Commissioner.
I still don't get why the job exists, even less why it's appointed by public ballot.
My three candidates are:
- tough on crime!
- tough on crime!
- tough on crime (but maybe remember we should work *with* the community?)
Not much choice. Not much point. And I have to find ID to be allowed.
But I will turn up and mark my paper. Possibly by writing "fuck the police" across it.

2024-04-28 22:01:42

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 some of the local hotels that were housing asylum seekers are now quiet.
The rumour is that they've already been moved to somewhere easier to round them up. Nobody knows for certain, though.

2024-03-23 09:49:39

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 I agree.
Someone may be well enough to work 7.5hrs at a moderately stressful job with a 30min commute, 5 days a week, knowing they have job security and progression options. But that same person may not be able to manage 9hrs at a high-stress job with 1hr commute, plus "catching up" at weekends, knowing that they could be made redundant tomorrow.
These describe Dad's job 40 years ago that he was good at, and a similar one now that would very likely burn him out.

2024-03-14 16:23:36

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@npub1px0…7698 that link isn't working. You might want to check it.

2024-03-09 12:28:55

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 one thing I appreciate about them is that they know what they are and they lean into it.
They're a pie shop. They sell pies. They don't get pretentious about corporate values, they just get on with the business of baking and selling pies. They move with the market, but they don't try to reinvent themselves. In a world of image and buzz and spin, I really like the down-to-earth honesty of it.

2024-02-27 10:16:28

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 this has been a source of friction in our family for a while. Dad took a job in his early 20s and stayed there, with multiple promotions, until he retired. He can't get his head around the fact that jobs just don't work that way any more.

2024-02-27 09:53:25

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 I wonder how many of the "secure" jobs really are secure?
My last job was permanent. It would have been categorised secure. I was made redundant after three years.
My current job is fixed term, extended if funding can be found. It would be categorised insecure. I've been in it three years so far and have a contract until the end of 2024.
My "insecure" job has already lasted longer than my "secure" job did.

2024-02-23 23:09:57

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@npub10zv…nz7m I nearly crashed my car once because of a pigeon.
I was happily minding my own business, watching for my exit. Suddenly, a blur of grey dive bombed the wing mirror a foot from my hand, bounced across the windscreen, and disappeared towards the hard shoulder.
How I got safely to my destination I do not know. When I did, there were still feathers on my car.

2024-02-09 15:07:10

At hospital for a #LongCovid appointment, we made use of the drop-off/pick-up point.
It's a one-way loop, so vehicles can come in, pause at the side, and move off again. It works pretty well and keeps flowing. It's right outside the main door, perfect for dropping off low mobility folk near where they need to be. It's got shelters outside to keep people dry as they wait for pick-up. There are plentiful benches, and a smoking shelter.
But there's one very annoying flaw.
1/2
https://objstorage.f7it.net/masto1/media_attachments/files/111/902/127/624/008/333/original/8169bb803a1fa470.jpg

2024-02-08 22:39:44

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 I have often wondered just how much positive and useful work our armed forces could do if they stopped doing the killing stuff.
Whenever they're brought in to deal with major emergencies (foot&mouth, flood response, etc) they're fantastic.
Set them to creating temp schools while the RAAC is sorted, have them drop polling stations in hard to reach areas, get them supporting major infrastructure work like bridge building.
It would probably be far cheaper, too.

2024-02-06 21:59:01

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 I can just imagine the People's Conservatives and the Conservatives of the People shouting "splitter!" at her as she sits all on her own.

2024-02-01 14:46:12

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@npub1se6…cmph
It's not just men on allotments who can make compost. Hurrah for a bit of diversity and representation 👍

2024-01-30 11:07:09

Can anyone point me at a very basic guide for getting started with home #compost? I can find many (somewhat contradictory) online guides, blogs, tips etc, but I'm looking for something shorter and easier to print. Ideally, a picture-heavy one- or two-page pdf leaflet.
@npub1se6…cmph ?

2024-01-30 07:28:22

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 what side was that on, please? Is it a Beeb / iplayer thing?

2024-01-24 08:45:14

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 oh what a surprise. My council is a little spot of dark orange surrounded by off-white. I'm sure it's not at all related to being a traditionally Labour, working class, industrial area. I'm also sure the council equivalent of the poverty trap* isn't at all relevant.
On paper, we've had huge red wall gov investment. All capital, like the fancy new museum wing, but no staff to run it.
*low value homes -> low council tax income -> low investment and services -> low value homes

2024-01-21 09:26:19

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@npub1g0t…tvm4
#WealthExtraction
#CostOfGreed
#EconomicAuthoritarianism
#WorkhousePolitics
#OppressionByAusterity
#PovertyStorm (perfect storm of austerity, brexit, capitalism)
#ConsumerExploitation
#PovertyPandemic
#CreatedOmnicrisis
#ToryTreadmill

2024-01-14 13:06:29

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@npub1x0f…xzau this was an interesting recent article on the targeting and effectiveness of "disruptive" protest.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-023-02507-y

2024-01-14 11:10:32

I now have an official, NHS-issue walking stick. Alongside it, I have been granted a neon sign that says "This person is incompetent."
I honestly don't mind answering questions and describing (most of) my symptoms. I believe it's important that people know what #LongCovid can do.
But if I politely refuse an offer of help, please don't repeat it. I know what I can manage better than you do, and if it looks awkward, I need to practice.
https://objstorage.f7it.net/masto1/media_attachments/files/111/753/963/099/622/048/original/1388f241bb1d97a2.jpg

2023-12-13 14:10:19

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@npub1se6…cmph each individual action is a drop in the ocean. But is not the ocean made up of drops? And will we not drown the elites if we all flow together?

2023-12-06 08:09:09

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@npub1cjk…d93r @npub1g0t…tvm4 I totally agree! It's like browsing the morning paper, but pre-filtered to only the interesting bits.

2023-11-28 06:55:05

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@npub1437…ranm @npub1g0t…tvm4 you would be amazed at how often us disabled folks end up being each other's (unpaid) carers.

2023-11-27 06:48:39

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 weird how "that's just free market capitalism 🤷‍♀️" never seems to apply when big companies feel threatened.

2023-11-26 09:59:35

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 and it would be so easy for Labour to make political capital by pointing out the scale of utter chaos and damage the Tories are doing and promising to start the big job of fixing things. But they're so wedded to their magnolia politics.

2023-11-21 07:45:42

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 I've got a pension from each job and honestly it's silly. I keep thinking about consolidating but can't get my head around it.
Surely it can't be difficult to legislate same ee and er contribution terms to pension of choice? Support us to decide between starting from scratch, continuing an existing one, or rolling old one(s) together into a new one?

2023-11-18 10:42:23

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 I used to shop there, partly because of its ethical stance. Then it was bought by a company known to use animal testing, and it lost its positive credentials. It's been bought and sold so many times that I now have no idea what, if anything, it stands for.

2023-11-09 16:15:43

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@npub1se6…cmph great, thanks.
I've been composting by trial and error for the last few years. Balancing browns and greens is something that I've definitely found helpful, both for making better compost and for recycling cardboard that isn't as clean as the bin collection demands.
It's good to learn new terms for it 😀

2023-11-09 14:55:17

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@npub1se6…cmph what do you mean by bedding?

2023-11-06 08:37:19

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 the skeptic in me suspects that the powers that be really don't want people thinking like that.
Social mobility, self-sufficiency, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and all the rest of it sell the idea that your starting point doesn't matter, and it's all about hard work. If you just work at it, you can achieve anything. Statistics proving that isn't true would undermine the lie that Tory voters vote for.

2023-11-02 15:10:29

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@npub1pu6…u9fd there's a whole list of reasons why that wouldn't work for me right now. Getting active that way is filed away in the back of my head as a future possibility.
I do, by chance, have good contact with some of the councillors and various 3rd sector folks. I'll have to chat to them about ideas, see if we can build on some of the excellent arts work that's already happening.

2023-11-02 14:31:03

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@npub1pu6…u9fd I wonder if we can conjur up some kind of Britpop Madchester-esque music and arts revival? We've certainly got the raw talent, as evidenced by the ceramics industry.

2023-11-02 14:28:40

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@npub1pu6…u9fd you're preaching to the choir here!
The difficulty is that we now don't have access to the EU. The now-Labour council seem to be making positive noises, so we'll see what they come up with.
I honestly can't imagine Gullis keeping his seat. There is a *lot* of bad feeling towards him locally, not least because he keeps getting in the news for saying awful things. But it's not yet clear who will replace him.

2023-11-02 13:53:28

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@npub1pu6…u9fd it certainly can. So much suffering. It just gets wearing that SoT always gets picked on. It's no fun being the poster child for poverty, and I'm sure it doesn't help encourage visitors or investors.

2023-11-02 13:41:21

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@npub1pu6…u9fd and of course, this must be illustrated with a photo of Stoke-on-Trent. We've had the rough end of so many economic decisions for so long. It's no wonder parts of it look like that.

2023-10-31 15:28:38

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@npub160k…ucsv @npub1psd…9sr7 that's even more ridiculous than the time we had a ban put on travelling First Class.
There was some kind of offer on, and First was cheaper than standard. It also included lunch, wiping that expense off the claim altogether and saving more money. But the Powers That Be noticed that we plebs were having a nice time and banned it, immediately doubling our expense claims.
They also banned overnights, saving £50 on hotels and costing £100+ more on peak time trains.

2023-10-23 06:13:55

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 it still doesn't address the major issues with EVs.
- Much of our housing stock has nowhere to fit a charger.
- Our infrastructure may not cope with that much extra draw.
- It's still traffic, with all the delays, jams, and parking issues traffic has.
We already have all the technology necessary for massively reducing car use (WFH, local access, public transport, etc). We just need to use it.

2023-10-10 07:22:56

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@npub1hpc…hjn3 it strikes me that it shouldn't be too difficult to build a basic reinstate function to rectify that kind of error. On blocking a server, take a snapshot of all accounts followed. On unblocking the server, offer to reinstate the follows.
On the whole, it's maturity of tools like that that Mastodon is missing. It just needs to be that little bit more slick and rich for the mass audience.

2023-09-28 06:39:11

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 from what you see in the press, being a doctor ticks all those boxes, but the reality doesn't live up to the promise. Is this perhaps a factor in the high rates of people starting training and later dropping out?

2023-09-17 06:48:03

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@npub1hpc…hjn3 thanks. It is obvious when you see it. I shall be mentally rewriting other weasely headlines in a similar manner.

2023-09-17 06:26:54

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@npub1hpc…hjn3 journalists are likely to say they're just reporting the board's view, not making their own judgement. They're avoiding libel claims. It's the same when they use "scare quotes". But they seem happy enough to print lies when it suits them. It's all weasel words.
I'd love for journalists to just come out and use the words racist and sexist, wait for the libel claim, and prove themselves right in court.

2023-09-16 07:47:27

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@npub1zpw…dk8l @npub1g0t…tvm4 without any outcry? Have you missed the whole thing about fining families for taking holidays in term time? It's a whole national mechanism created to work against people trying to avoid the seasonal price hikes.
Arguably not enough of the outcry has been aimed at the airlines and hotels, but it has existed.

2023-09-05 07:40:55

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 we used to have something like that. Every high street and every village had a place you could go to do a whole range of life admin jobs. They were staffed by friendly, knowledgeable people and they were all run as a public service. I think we used to call them post offices.

2023-08-30 09:15:08

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@npub1s8n…susg @npub1g0t…tvm4
They really don't understand basic maths, do they? 100 well people need less health care than 10 ill, injured or disabled people.

2023-08-30 05:04:24

That's a lot of words to say "we're not building alternatives quickly enough."
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/640606

2023-08-19 17:24:53

Symptom of #LongCovid : poor temperature regulation
Symptom of #ClimateChange : heat waves
These two things do not sit well together. How much will one affect the other? Will we see heat waves have a higher death rate in populations with high rates of long covid?
What will it mean for me, if (when) the UK hits 40C again?

2023-08-06 10:03:34

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 it would be interesting to see the same data split by gender. How much of this effect is simple misogyny? Without separating that known factor it's hard to get a handle on how big this effect is.
It would also be interesting to cross-reference socio-economic background and how health inequality in childhood affects eventual adult height.

2023-07-17 15:15:57

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@npub1hpc…hjn3 yep. I get annoyed when people telling me I'm doing activism wrong because my way looks different to theirs. We need *all* sorts of activism.

2023-07-17 14:20:31

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@npub1hpc…hjn3
Absolutely.
I've reduced my own carbon footprint to around 3 - 4T CO2e and I'm always interested in ways to reduce it more. But realistically, it's tinkering at the edges now, and I refuse to lose sleep over the fact that the reduced price sandwich I had for lunch had chicken in.
I'm not a lie-in-front-of-bulldozers sort of person. But I can and do chat to people, give talks, visit schools, etc to share my knowledge in the hope that some of them start lying in front of bulldozers!

2023-07-13 17:35:12

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 very interesting article.
I see a *lot* of wasted effort inventing, recording and analysing KPIs without understanding that they only measure the very narrow thing they measure. When it's "saleable quality plates", that's OK. When it's even a tiny bit more complex, it fails.
Upper management are obsessed with KPIs because it's all they have. Lower managers don't have the skills or power to push back. Workers work to the KPI only, to the detriment of all else.

2023-07-13 11:42:59

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@npub1g0t…tvm4
My top tip for surviving the cost of greed crisis is to buy a house 20+ years ago. It's the only reason we're not drowning. The mortgage is going up, but starting from very small makes it still manageable.