Rebecca Jones

It's a horribly common name!

Wrong person tagged, I think. I'm not a lib dem (am a trans ally though).

Pope Hot Cross Bun Bread VII

I'm not sure whether my gender or my unseasonal consumption of hot cross buns is the greater barrier to my election.

Redundancy Support for Over 50s guide

Have you ever faced redundancy?

Our new guide: 'Redundancy Support for Over 50s – A Guide for Union Reps' with unionlearn from the TUC engages with both employers and with members over 50 who are experiencing redundancy.

That seesaw from passivity to activity is affective work, so tiring. Independence is limited for everyone in a highly regulated context like an airport, but more feels better. So I do understand why 'independence' is so important as people age, however much I also want to problematise it.

are frequent. Today I got taken to the wrong gate - only a short distance from the right one, so not a problem for me - but I had to mentally shift a gear from 'I am passively waiting on the special assistance benches' to 'hang on, we should be boarding by now, I need to take the initiative' [contd]

that I am made mostly dependent. Sometimes I experience that as helpful care: staff are usually lovely & I appreciate the reduced cognitive load of navigating the systems. But it's always anxiety-provoking too because it's not personalised care and feels so inflexible. And mistakes/problems [cont'd]

I am thinking more about airport special assistance, in the light of conversations about care & in/inter/dependence at @enas-agestudies.bsky.social Recognising the reality of everyone's interdependence is critical. But at an airport the environment is so controlled and so fatigue-unfriendly [cont.d]

Information board within a coach on a high speed train, showing the current speed to be 298 kilometres per hour.

I love Spanish trains! So fast, so comfortable. I don't understand the ticket pricing system - I've twice got tickets significantly cheaper than my travelling companions despite them booking in advance and me buying at the station just before travelling, but it's a total bargain for my prices!

I have just spotted that Maricel is the figure in the photo I took in the cloister at La Seu Vella last night.Thanks so much Maricel and team for a great conference.

That picture doesn't look as if we are open to ducks though. The poor creature is shut out from the common room trying to get in!

[summary of slide] 1950s rewarding labour: large institutions only for old men 1960s Addressing needs: in-home services and clubs for active retirees 2000/after COVID Specifying needs: social cafes and therapeutic groups.

Summary of Bulgarian ageing policy shifts. 1950s sounds like UK policy for people with learning disabilities and mental health problems - large fairly self-sufficient institutions in the countryside. But only for men. @enas-agestudies.bsky.social

Aha, found @kassymbekova.bsky.social here. Thank you for such a brilliant paper!

Fantastic theoretically-sophisticated and emotionally complex paper from Botakoz Kassymbekova (Zürich uni) about ageing after hunger in Kazakhstan and Ukraine. A conference highlight for me. @enas-agestudies.bsky.social

These studentships are with several academics in the school, including me and
@angelikipapadaki.bsky.social and cover these topics:

LGBTQ+ people and adult social care

Understanding the landscape, sustainability and impact of Meals on Wheels services in the UK

Slide saying: Key arguments: The 'crisis of care' is not caused by people getting older. 'Independence' should not be the measure of success. Critiquing sociotechnical imaginaries of ageing futures is not enough.

Yes! @socbarb.bsky.social's manifesto for her plenary. @enas-agestudies.bsky.social

Conference presentation slide showing floorplans individualised by research participants with pink marks.

I also love this use by @nicoledalmer.bsky.social of floorplans to make things more concrete, to enable young people to imagine tech in their later life. Really interesting findings too @enas-agestudies.bsky.social

Conference presentation slide, showing a leopardskin pattern bag and a description of a serious game 'La valise de Lise' about the mistreatment of older people.

I love this idea for a serious game. And not just for the rhyme in the name in French!

Actually, linking to yesterday's thread about conferencing while chronically ill, comfortable chairs which support my body, especially my head, is really helping to make this more accessible to me. I'm still struggling, and having to miss out both formal and informal bits, but I'd be missing more.

It does!

Lecture theatre chairs in the foreground, a screen I'm the background with a conference logo.

And the award for the most comfortable lecture theatre chairs goes to ... the University of Lleida @enas-agestudies.bsky.social So comfortable! I could sleep here (but will not, due to intellectual stimulation)

Ooh, my picture has been flagged for 'adult content'! I don't think it is, it's just cartoons of naked women in a not sexualised way. Maybe the fact I said 'sex shop' in the tweet as well set off the alarms?

In the UK you wouldn't get these things together. Nor the cartoon. Is Catalonia more sex positive?

With my scholar of sexuality hat on, rather than my gerontologist hat (I am both and the intersection of both, I contain multitudes) I was interested in this shop. I'm calling it a sex shop because there were dildos in the window but there were also mooncups and what looked like feminist literature

A cartoon of 'ages of women' showing five women of different ages from childhood to an older grey haired woman.

'Ages of women' cartoon in a sex shop window in Lleida. I always find these fascinating for normative ideas about ageing and gender. They were really popular in the 18th and 19th century but I've not seen many modern ones that are not jokey. I don't think this one is jokey? But I may be misreading

Bah, a lot of queuing & faffing to get a fast train ticket, get through train station security and now queuing for the platforms. There was a good 'take a ticket to buy a ticket' system at the ticket office, which meant I could sit til my turn, but I'm sitting on the floor now shaking with tiredness

Since I seem to be liveblogging this (a concept so ancient my autocorrect doesn't recognise it as a word) I am now on the suburban train so should be okay to catch the fast train in an hour. Because this is not my first rodeo, I brought an iced coffee and am using the caffeine and sugar to power me.

And because my Spanish is rubbish and my helper's English not great, we miscommunicated and I have had to walk a tiring amount.

Forgot a way airport special assistance is often annoying - they insist on one size fits all so I'm having to wait for a lift to get out the plane when I could perfectly well walk down the steps, meaning I am getting stressed about making my train connection.

For me, it's worth it because I enjoy conferences, especially this one. And I can take the financial hit for the costs I can't get covered by my uni. But I didn't really understand this before I got ill, despite many disabled friends. What do you know, personal experience makes a difference!