Kelsey J.R.P. Byers

Ahh, that makes sense! "Wheelchair-bonded" does sound lovely with that association, actually, even if "wheelchair-bound" still rubs me personally the wrong way. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

I was just thinking myself also that tasks other than directly digging themselves might be suitable - e.g. rough processing of samples (sifting is what I thought of too!), sorting, initial scouting, sketching/site description, and so on. But it depends on what the student wants to do, of course

Personally I like the terms "wheelie" or "wheelchair user" or "wheelchair-based" - they carry the "this person uses a chair" meaning while avoiding the negative connotation that the chair is somehow hindering rather than freeing their mobility.

Individual preference does apply for sure! But I've (at least personally) yet to meet a fellow wheelie (speaking as a majority-time wheelie myself), entirely chair-based or not, who prefers the term "bound" - agree 100% that it's because our chairs give us freedom, they don't take it away.

Also dropped you an email just FYI!

I'll drop you a line via your email below!

I've replied, thanks so much for putting us in touch!!!

Hi there Sarah! I'm a wheelie who does biology fieldwork, though admit I often do my fieldwork with limited walking ability and by sitting on the ground, which won't quite match your student's needs. However, I think this can be done & would be up for chatting if you'd like some help brainstorming!

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Like... usually you can see the blinky lights from planes; on this plane I saw the fiery orange light of his afterburners, and it was only just after sunset so they shouldn't have been /that/ obvious if he hadn't been flying super low!

Sorry, that was a bit nonsensical!

The pilot who fucked up this time was flying so low and with such high velocity/power that it was overwhelming even at ground level, and made me want to plug my ears.

Starting to be tempted after this to (a) keep a diary for a little while about noise levels and (b) talk to my MP if the diary looks problematic...

I wish - it's been quite bad the last six months, and the pilot who fucked up this time was so loud outside our house when the sonic boom happened was so low and loud that I wanted to plug my ears just from being outdoors.

They also often are practicing after dark, and it's hard to fall asleep...

/but the pilot was making a small mistake and it's totally necessary that we not blame them for making a small mistake right!?!?!?!/

ugh

Sonic boom heard in Norfolk and Suffolk was inadvertent A USAF F-35A, based out of RAF Lakenheath, was in the area at the time, it is confirmed.

Welp, the USAF have at least admitted it, though not with a great apology or any promises to avoid it in the future... www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Buuuuut the RAF has just confirmed they weren't involved (no Quick Reaction Alert aka scramble), and won't speculate either way on whether USAF stationed in the UK were, which is the only other viable option. So thanks USAF, I guess, but no thanks for terrifying people for no reason!

Yeah... I can definitely see why! Fun in a chair with sufficient braking confidence too!

and there's an awfully suspicious RAF intel/recon plane track that got to Norwich around 4:15pm (15 minutes before the boom) and circled until 5:15pm before heading back to its base...

'Huge sonic boom' heard over Norfolk and Suffolk, say residents People are reporting the sound of an explosion and buildings shaking.

Beeb now covering it, but no updates yet other than "it happened": www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I do recall my visit there being fun, in that I took a taxi to the uni from the rail station but then wheeled from the uni to the station - was worried about missing my train until I realized how lovely and steep the downhill was! Made it in plenty of time haha!

Not a surprise there! I visited Bristol and my colleague got me a taxi for a literal 1-mile wheel and I asked him why not just walk/wheel, he insisted on the taxi, and then I saw /why/ and went "... I see. I'm not sure that is even a safe angle for me to wheel uphill at."

Valid! I miss mountains and hills but we are, as you say, flat as a pancake. At least Norwich has something that pretends to be a hill, unlike Cambridge where the biggest hill I ran into was a bridge over a rail line...

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/618151... is an interesting summary of claims...

TIL that you can write to the MoD and get compensation for damage caused by sonic booms! Not that we need it but it was impressive how far the glass went in and out.

We have loads actually - Lakenheath, Mildenhall, Marham, etc - apparently East of England (where Norwich is, for the non-UK folks reading) is where the sonic booms get heard most often!

Normally I thought RAF policy was that they can only do supersonic speed over land for emergencies...

Little worried about /why/ we just got a sonic boom (esp given the VERY loud jet afterburners I've been hearing the last twenty minutes), given that they're not supposed to do them over land...

... TIL that a sonic boom (which is apparently what we all just heard here in #Norwich?) can cause my patio door glass to bow several inches in and out without shattering. Whew.

Wacky! Yeah, I always have to be proactive about it, since I never get the invites.

Exactly!