Blog

  • Production line hours versus deep expertise

    Like many people, I have to fill in my timesheets. Clients and employers like to know how many hours have been spent working for them, and on what tasks, so they can sign off on invoicing and payroll.

  • Disconnect to connect

    I think I try to cut back on social media at least once a year, but I always eventually fall back into the social media and news trap. But I’m giving it a go again. I’m doing it because those regular quick check ins and rants give an illusion of connection to other people and…

  • 2 years of Covid-19

    Today marks a year and a day since the United Kingdom imposed a lockdown due to the spread of Covid-19, a virus that was seen to be causing devastating numbers of deaths and hospitalisations across the world, in Europe and was taking effect in the UK.

  • Finger wagging

    It’s easy to point fingers. You might even say it is natural human behaviour. So much easier to find fault in others, to shout angrily, to condemn and tut your way to feeling some kind of victory against all the bad things that regularly happen in the world.

  • First vaccine dose

    I cycled this morning to get my first dose of the Astra Zeneca vaccine for Covid-19. I’m really impressed by the number of available centres and the way it has been organised, and I’m really happy to have done my bit.

  • History teaches us everything about pandemics

    We are living through a major pandemic. Yesterday the UK ‘reflected’ on its 1 year anniversary of lockdown. This is fact, it’s not fiction. Wishing that it weren’t so changes nothing. I was thinking back to last spring when I would stare at people wearing masks on public transport, thinking “Oh that’s a bit much!”.…

  • 1 year on

    It is hard to believe that a year has passed since the start of our first lockdown in the United Kingdom, and we’re now in our third which had required the schools to close for about 2 months from the beginning of January.

  • 3 Vaccines in under a year

    We cautiously prepared not to expect any vaccines for at least a year, and that getting them would take even longer. We now have at least 3 seemingly viable vaccines, with jaw droppping efficacy rates of up to 90%. One type is based on introducing mRNA into the host, inside a lipid container, where it…

  • New cat

    After resisting for a few years, and then being at home all the time, we finally decided to fulfil our daughter’s dreams by getting a rescue cat. We wanted a pair but the demand is very high at the moment! Will post some some updates soon, but for now he is in the living room,…

  • 7 months later

    I write this on the day that the USA goes to the polls, after 4 years of having an openly, unapologetically terrible man as the President. I don’t think that the country had been perfect before he took office, but I think removing a leader who gives validation to the very things that hold back…

  • School’s in!

    So the summer holidays are over, things have calmed down a little, and the kids went back to school this past week. It’s almost like everything is ok now. Or is it?

  • 156 days later

    Summer is almost over, the weather is turning towards autumn a little bit. I’m sitting at home in my garage, looking at the back garden recovering now from the unusually sustained heatwave we had a few weeks ago. Where there were bare patches and scorched grass and moss, new blades are sprouting up from the…

  • 3 weeks away

    I just returned from holiday, seeing family in Finland. Initially I was really nervous and unsure if going away was a good idea, but it turned out to be a lifesaver.

  • First pandemic flight

    I haven’t left my hometown in 4 months. So it was really strange to find myself getting ready to get in a cab, go to the airport and fly abroad to Finland.

  • Week 15 – Monday

    Restrictions are relaxing, and from the 4th of July this weekend more shops and bars are going to be allowed to open. Whether this will be a good thing will depend on how diligent people are in acting sensibly.