Peter

Another message on Grin Dr from an impossibly handsome US soldier in Syria. Why would he message an old & ugly gay in provincial UK? *block*

Wes Streeting improves offer to resident doctors in England in attempt to stop strikes BMA puts health secretary’s offer, which includes pledge to double number of extra training places, to resident doctors

This feels like a way for resident doctors to call off their strike without losing face. Let’s hope it works. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

High Kicking obviously…

Campnesss is Alive!

They’re pretty good. I used a couple while on holiday in Phoenix. It was weird at first but got used to it. Was it a Jaguar I-Pace?

‘I’m rapt!’: meatball chants but no mania as New Zealand assembles for first Ikea store Overnight camping was banned and motorists were told to plan their journey as New Zealand finally joined the flatpack family

I lived in NZ for about 3 years around 20 years ago & would have been delighted to have Ikea. There was not much choice of affordable homeware - I daresay that some local retailers will be very unhappy www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

Manchester-London 7am ‘ghost train’ to carry passengers after outcry over regulator’s decision Avanti service was to have been axed from mid-December but would have still run because of needs out of Euston

Glad that sense has prevailed here - while empty coaching stock movements occur across the network every day, this seemed a mistake given that Network Rail and others supported its retention as a public service. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Thanks yes, he’s fine. His sister makes him feel unwelcome here so he’s at our neighbour’s.

Have messaged the local FB group to ask neighbours not to feed our cat Bede. His prescription diet food stops a recurrence of his urinary problems. Of course he acts like he’s never been fed before, but he could have died this weekend.

Piglet then?!

Why not a whole pig?

Update, Bede is now recovering from the procedure to remove the blockage in his bladder. On a drip to help his kidneys to recover. Thank **** pet insurance is paying for all this.

Introduce yourself with 5 cars you’ve owned.

2012 Ford Fiesta
2015 MINI Cooper
2018 MINI Countryman
2021 Jaguar E-Pace
2024 Jaguar E-Pace

All except Fiesta on PCP. The 2nd E-Pace was bought because it was the best car I’d owned & they stopped making them last year, or I would have kept 1st longer

Annoyingly, his chip seems not to be properly registered so we’ll be taking that up with his normal vet. Fingers crossed he’ll be ok and back to his normal self soon. Here he is in happier times when he lived at home and let me stroke him. We think his sister Hild is the problem

Stressful morning sorting out emergency care for our part time-cat Bede. Our neighbours, who he’s adopted, took him to emergency vet overnight as neither of us heard them knocking. Thankfully his urinary issue should be fixed with a small operation. Almost as thankfully, pet insurance should pay.

I need to give the city another go - on a Canada holiday a few years ago, we arrived tired in torrential rain. Added to the need to adapt to the language, I felt less enamoured than I should have

Spent a day this week working from home and hated it. Reinforced why I go to the office every day.

Twenty people allege he has a racist past. He denies it. Who’s telling the truth about Farage’s schooldays? Reform UK’s leader refuses to answer questions about his abusive behaviour, claiming there’s ‘no evidence’. We talk to victims and witnesses

A pattern of behaviour that will surprise no-one but should appal everyone. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Daily Mail owner strikes £500m deal to buy Telegraph titles Acquisition likely to trigger in-depth investigation by regulator after agreement between DMGT and Redbird IMI

A match made in hell. www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...

‘I think my mum’s going to like it’: Alexander Skarsgård on his gay biker ‘dom-com’ Pillion In May, Cannes went weak at the knees for Harry Lighton’s tale of BDSM and bootlicking in suburbia. Ahead of its release, the director and his stars reveal the explicit shots snipped from the final cu...

Lots for the Mail to clutch its pearls over (not a euphemism) www.theguardian.com/film/2025/no...

‘People still blame me for their perforated eardrums’: how we made the Tango ads ‘Gil Scott-Heron did the closing voiceover. He was giggling away, saying, “You English guys are crazy!”’

Hadnt realised who did the Geordie commentator www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...

Sadly it’s the last one due to the change in control of the county council.

Just returning from Durham Lumiere. Some great light installations.

Pretty intense day of data crunching today which seemed to be well received by the client. Pretty unsustainable workload at the moment though, with multiple projects (and sub-projects) requiring my focus. Another project opportunity landed this week too, with my inputs likely also required on that 🤯

Currently watching Murder Before Evensong, based on Rev Richard Coles’s book. Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom from Potter films) plays Canon Clement really well. It’s an enjoyable whodunnit

Delicate today?

What was the final tally, wine-wise?

Yes even better having staff who care and know stuff. I remember a DIY store in my local village near Wakefield in my childhood called Mak-a-Home - it’s still there apparently.

They’re great. I’m not sure if it was your post or someone else’s that prompted me to buy some (there goes being good!). I think I prefer the gingerbread and white chocolate cookies though. They’ve got a nice kick!

I miss having Wilko in town and city centres. It filled a useful gap for miscellaneous DIY products, electrical spares and hardware that avoided a trip to B&Q etc. Yes you can order things online but sometimes it’s good to be able to browse and compare in-store.