Knittingdancer🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

Adventure queen, bookworm, passionate about dance, #OpenWaterSwimming and #bouldering.

At various points in my life I have spoken Cymraeg, Français, and Español pretty fluently. #Cymraeg ydy iaith fy nghalon. Currently learning #Nederlands and 日本語. I have varying levels of Deutsch, Català and LimbaRomână. I keep dreaming I'll stick with #Gàidhlig enough to actually learn it.

Terminally curious, perennially restless, dabbler in this that and the other. Usually moving.

Last Notes

2026-03-17 07:15:25 CET

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though to be fair, the kind of communication skills you need for that kind of examination are often sorely lacking in people I interview in my line of work.
Appreciate need for the resourcing to be there, but if this led to supporting young people to be able to articulate complex ideas verbally, essentially on the fly, then that would be beneficial.

2025-10-26 18:47:36 CET

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I thoroughly agree. Especially about the clams.😂

2025-10-25 10:35:54 CEST

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not sure what you meant by "asocial" so apologies if I'm repeating, but also less accustomed to being around other people, putting up with their foibles, and not having complete control over your environment.
As a car-free person I spend a lot of time in the same space as people I probably wouldn't socialise with, and who I don't necessarily find pleasant to be around.
But you rapidly learn to live and let live. You're all stuck on the same damned bus.

2025-10-20 13:15:48 CEST

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This. You are always trading off efficiency and resilience. Many businesses and governments have gone all in on efficiency (eg headcount savings / outsourcing to less skilled resource) and then are surprised when the resulting systems are fragile and buckle under comparatively small changes in the inputs (eg volume / complexity increases).
They then add additional output requirements (activities required to reform) while maintaining or even decreasing the available inputs.

2025-10-20 09:34:09 CEST

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corollary: once an organisation is in crisis, the wrong reforms will be undertaken due to the high profile consequences of the crisis and the political requirements of those that take it on themselves to "fix" it.

2025-09-16 07:30:14 CEST

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this isn't the fault of the students. They are just as human as everyone else, and have the same human rights as everyone else.
My point is that "they're not illegal, they're students" isn't really a counterargument to what people experience day to day. Recent governments have chosen to chase dreams of free markets and trickle down economics that do nothing for actual citizens, and create a sense of alienation that puts migrants in the firing line. 3/

2025-09-16 07:25:38 CEST

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Not in the context of migration, but I increasingly feel alienated by big tech, large corporates, and the government. There's just this sense that I am being forced into a future that isn't for me, that I am just something to extract money from.
I can imagine a parallel feeling if you live in a university town that is frantically trying to make itself attractive to wealthy overseas students for economic reasons, but due to political choices has no money for locals. 2/

2025-09-16 07:20:25 CEST

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I absolutely understand that students are keeping universities afloat, but am also reminded of an article about the new luxury student developments in Manchester and my son talking about how a lot of the overseas students are far wealthier than him.
Never mind that they are here legally, as a result of a political strategy, and are a net benefit economically. I can see how this political choice can also feel alienating as cities are reshaped for wealthy students. 1/

2025-08-08 10:39:13 CEST

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this is why we prefer playing games that are more story focused than mechanic focused.

2025-07-27 19:32:53 CEST

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why would disclosure exert pressure? Most large companies are already tracking their cash flow and target payment terms as long as possible. If anything this would just improve their data quality.
The only thing that would change poor payment practices is legislation on allowable payment terms. There is already some mandatory reporting and for certain public sector contracts you have to be able to show you meet certain terms, but I can't remember the details.

2025-05-27 13:21:13 CEST

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beautiful!

2025-05-27 08:55:24 CEST

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But that's privilege, right? Straight, white, wealthy men don't expect to feel vulnerable and have much less experience of having to adapt, as the world has historically been organised much more around their needs and desires. That sense of vulnerability and instability is real, it's just a pity they don't have the empathy to realise life has always been like that on the other side, or to push together make it life better for everyone.

2025-05-25 10:10:42 CEST

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We spend so much time wondering why governments make "illogical" decisions that won't meet their stated aims, when the stated aim is just a veneer, and the actual goal is entirely different.
Under the Tories the goal was usually to enrich themselves and hold as much power as possible. I haven't made up my mind what Starmer's goal is but I'm very sure that it's not actually to reduce inequality, protect the vulnerable, strengthen democracy or protect human rights.

2025-05-25 10:05:23 CEST

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Corollary: I increasingly feel we spend far too much time contesting the arguments laid out as bait rather than challenging the underlying intent.
We see those most clearly in the US where the media insist on discussing "policy", but even in the UK it feels like we're having polite university debates on the assumption the best argument will win, and are ignoring fundamental shifts in how we allow our society to be organised and the real drivers of those shifts.

2025-05-25 09:44:54 CEST

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Can't remember where I saw it, but somebody commented that the violence is the point. If governments and the right wing were interested in solving the various problems in society, they would invest in the social safety net. However they are interested in control and an excuse to amp up violent interventions, so they're fine if more people are desperate and on the street as it "justifies" more police and more aggressive policing.

2025-04-13 08:59:40 CEST

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To add: if you are unable to to drive, then the challenges are even higher. Running a car is expensive, but what if there's no or no sensible public transport to where you need to be, when you need to be?
Investing in public infrastructure creates opportunities and lifts people out of poverty. Cutting it to save money pushes people further into poverty.