1SE for June 2025
Jun. 30th, 2025 10:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nanilaI can't quite believe how much has happened this month. At least 60 days of stuff were packed into June's 30. And now we're halfway through the year. Dear Time, Please slow down, Love, Me.
nanilaI can't quite believe how much has happened this month. At least 60 days of stuff were packed into June's 30. And now we're halfway through the year. Dear Time, Please slow down, Love, Me.
Rebuilding journal search again
Jun. 30th, 2025 03:18 pmalierak posting in ![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png){kind=small}
dw_maintenanceWe're having to rebuild the search server again (previously, previously). It will take a few days to reindex all the content.
Meanwhile search services should be running, but probably returning no results or incomplete results for most queries.
Meanwhile search services should be running, but probably returning no results or incomplete results for most queries.
Joint Union Statement
Jun. 30th, 2025 05:53 pmlnrWe did finally meet with the university senior management on 10th June, over a month after we originally requested a meeting. It wasn't a complete success, but we did come out of it with assurance that the existing policy on gender reassignment was still in place, and trans people can continue to use the toilets that match their lived gender, that no-one should be challenging people in the toilets, and that any changes to the policy would not happen until after the EHRC guidance is published in the autumn, and would involve a proper consultation, and a full Equality Impact Assessment of the changes
We asked them to respond to the EHRC consultation as an institution, and gave them a deadline of 20th June to communicate the above facts with all members of staff, including information on how to seek advice and support (other than just the staff counselling service!)
Instead they published a statement on Sharepoint on Tuesday (24th June), which did not meet our requests. The unions have put out a joint statement today (drafted last week, but it took a while to get it online) as a result:
EHRC Consultation
Jun. 30th, 2025 05:49 pmlnrFinished my response and submitted at 11:30 last night, having had to start from scratch on Sunday because a browser refresh had lost my previous attempt. I copied and pasted my responses into a document before submitting, as I'd been warned it wouldn't save them or send them to me. Tired now, and too hot today too, but glad I got it done.
Not sharing it all here, but from the final question:
Overall, as a trans inclusive feminist woman, I find this Code of Practice to be incredibly upsetting. I want to be able to include trans people in my life. I want to accept them in their lived gender. I'm happier with women's places which include trans people than I am with ones which exclude them. I want to have advice on how I can do this, and it's completely lacking here.
The Code is unclear in many places not just on how trans inclusive policies can work, but also on how the suggested trans *exclusive* policies can work in practice. It relies too much on the idea that you can always tell which people are trans and which people are not, and it seems willing to change existing practice significantly even where this will disadvantage trans people.
I don't think this is what the ruling in the Supreme Court was trying to achieve. The changes here are so incredibly broad, and so much at odds with other legislation, that they seem to go far beyond what is necessary, and it feels like an ideological stance to exclude trans people. If this is not the intention than it needs re-writing considerably.
Them on the other side
Jun. 29th, 2025 11:20 amflaviomataniWow. The Brazilian kids next door (next building, garden flat) are having a party again . 😮 Last time they lasted around 30 hours or so. They seem to have a very good sound system -by 'good' I mean 'extremely loud'. And, as I may have mentioned before, the current standards of popular Brazilian music have declined to some sort of reggaeton-like thing. Mercifully not loud inside my flat 😃 (different story if I open the door..)
Song of Farca
Jun. 3rd, 2025 06:04 pmlathanySong of Farca is cyber punk and about hacking investigations. I found it addictive and dark. And as I got it on a 90% sale it was also less than two quid for eleven hours of game. Recommended.
Oh, Hamilton…
Jun. 24th, 2025 11:43 amceiswynThe man was deeply flawed in so many ways. But he was only twenty when he wrote The Farmer Refuted and, well…
“But while I pass this judgment, it is not my intention to detract from your real merit. Candour obliges me to acknowledge, that you possess every accomplishment of a polemical writer, which may serve to dazzle and mislead superficial and vulgar minds; a peremptory dictatorial air, a pert vivacity of expression, an inordinate passion for conceit, and a noble disdain of being fettered by the laws of truth.”
Clearly we have a natural for internet comment sections here :)
“The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for, among old parchments, or musty records. They are written, as with a sun beam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.”
Oh. Oh my.
“If the sword of oppression be permitted to lop off one limb without opposition, reiterated strokes will soon dismember the whole body.”
Just take me now, Ham.
“But while I pass this judgment, it is not my intention to detract from your real merit. Candour obliges me to acknowledge, that you possess every accomplishment of a polemical writer, which may serve to dazzle and mislead superficial and vulgar minds; a peremptory dictatorial air, a pert vivacity of expression, an inordinate passion for conceit, and a noble disdain of being fettered by the laws of truth.”
Clearly we have a natural for internet comment sections here :)
“The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for, among old parchments, or musty records. They are written, as with a sun beam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.”
Oh. Oh my.
“If the sword of oppression be permitted to lop off one limb without opposition, reiterated strokes will soon dismember the whole body.”
Just take me now, Ham.
Camping 27/05/25 - 01/06/25
Jun. 22nd, 2025 07:10 pmsatyricaI was back at work on Tuesday and didn't get away until nearly 7 but had an evening in to continue festival-recovery, then on Wednesday we had one of our Vauxhall meet-ups: N & I rendez-vousing with W (who I'd only seen briefly at Bearded Theory, so could properly catch up with about his festival) and K&D in the (slightly unloved) bar/food-stalls set-up in the arches at Vauxhall, which was really lovely.
After two days back at work, on Thursday I disappeared again to head off camping: luckily we had the morning to get ourselves ready, then lugged our stuff over to M's for just after lunchtime, where we packed her car, collected E from nursery, then drove on down to Marshwood Farm in Wiltshire once more for camping with KES lot. We were all only doing half a week this time, which felt about right to me: TQS and E, E&A and most of the Hornes had come down the night before, with the Robinsons and ourselves joining Thursday afternoon. N had come so we were in a bell tent again this time, which at least meant minimal set up. It was lovely to see everyone and we did a lot of chilling out around the campsite: Em had prepared a chilli to feed us all with, whilst J&E had brought an oversized bottle of champagne for us to celebrate their 15th Wedding Anniversary with them.
I hadn't done too badly for sleeping at Bearded Theory but between the light, the birds and the sheep, I pinged awake very early on Friday and snuck out of the tent (not very successfully, given some very loud zips) at about 5.30 to hang out in the hut, so I could enjoy the early morning peace without disturbing N. As they move towards a more consistently teenage demographic the kids were generally up less early to join me this holiday (although little I was already there when I got up on Friday, meaning she ended up stroppy and overtired at the end of the day. As we eased into the day, the main activity of the day turned into a trip to a local cheese shop (and general deli) that N had heard tell of. TQS gave us a lift [getting stuck in some police-halted traffic for a while whilst a lorry transported what appeared to be half a house through a village] and J&E also came before E headed off back home to see to responsibilities there. Back at camp, the Sucharovs arrived and in the afternoon we all (minus N, looking forward to some child-free time) walked up through Dinton Park to the recreation ground in the village, where we sat on the grass with our cans while the kids hit the playground. We walked back to camp, where S conjured up a pasta dinner for everyone and we had a fire at night.
I managed to sleep until 6am on Saturday, then once we were all up TQS drove N & I to the big supermarket in Salisbury to do a shop for the BBQ we were having that evening. We all ventured out to Old Wardour Castle in the afternoon sun, which despite being a ruin had a surprising amount still going on inside the parts that remained, and the adults lounged on the grass while the kids (and a couple of adults too) ran around playing 'the wave game' which never seemed to tire. E came back in the evening, bringing eldest son T with her, who it was good to see, although they drove home again after the BBQ which, despite some false starts with some unsuccessful fuel, ended up working out well, what we had bought being supplemented by some offerings from CostCo that T&T had brought along and a fantastic cheesecake which Miri had whipped up.
I was up at 5.20 on Sunday which was departure day and we all rounded up belongings, packed-up tents and ate exciting combinations of leftovers for breakfast as we fairly efficiently cleared out by mid-morning. M drove us back to West Hampstead, only for us to find that the Met, Jubilee and Mildmay lines were all down and the Ubers we tried to book cancelled on us, so we eventually managed to lug all our stuff home via the Thameslink and Victoria lines, somewhat frazzled. I immediately crashed out on my bed, with all my unpacked bags around me, for a much longer nap than I intended, but did still have time to head out to do a shop and then had Family Zoomtime in the evening.
After two days back at work, on Thursday I disappeared again to head off camping: luckily we had the morning to get ourselves ready, then lugged our stuff over to M's for just after lunchtime, where we packed her car, collected E from nursery, then drove on down to Marshwood Farm in Wiltshire once more for camping with KES lot. We were all only doing half a week this time, which felt about right to me: TQS and E, E&A and most of the Hornes had come down the night before, with the Robinsons and ourselves joining Thursday afternoon. N had come so we were in a bell tent again this time, which at least meant minimal set up. It was lovely to see everyone and we did a lot of chilling out around the campsite: Em had prepared a chilli to feed us all with, whilst J&E had brought an oversized bottle of champagne for us to celebrate their 15th Wedding Anniversary with them.
I hadn't done too badly for sleeping at Bearded Theory but between the light, the birds and the sheep, I pinged awake very early on Friday and snuck out of the tent (not very successfully, given some very loud zips) at about 5.30 to hang out in the hut, so I could enjoy the early morning peace without disturbing N. As they move towards a more consistently teenage demographic the kids were generally up less early to join me this holiday (although little I was already there when I got up on Friday, meaning she ended up stroppy and overtired at the end of the day. As we eased into the day, the main activity of the day turned into a trip to a local cheese shop (and general deli) that N had heard tell of. TQS gave us a lift [getting stuck in some police-halted traffic for a while whilst a lorry transported what appeared to be half a house through a village] and J&E also came before E headed off back home to see to responsibilities there. Back at camp, the Sucharovs arrived and in the afternoon we all (minus N, looking forward to some child-free time) walked up through Dinton Park to the recreation ground in the village, where we sat on the grass with our cans while the kids hit the playground. We walked back to camp, where S conjured up a pasta dinner for everyone and we had a fire at night.
I managed to sleep until 6am on Saturday, then once we were all up TQS drove N & I to the big supermarket in Salisbury to do a shop for the BBQ we were having that evening. We all ventured out to Old Wardour Castle in the afternoon sun, which despite being a ruin had a surprising amount still going on inside the parts that remained, and the adults lounged on the grass while the kids (and a couple of adults too) ran around playing 'the wave game' which never seemed to tire. E came back in the evening, bringing eldest son T with her, who it was good to see, although they drove home again after the BBQ which, despite some false starts with some unsuccessful fuel, ended up working out well, what we had bought being supplemented by some offerings from CostCo that T&T had brought along and a fantastic cheesecake which Miri had whipped up.
I was up at 5.20 on Sunday which was departure day and we all rounded up belongings, packed-up tents and ate exciting combinations of leftovers for breakfast as we fairly efficiently cleared out by mid-morning. M drove us back to West Hampstead, only for us to find that the Met, Jubilee and Mildmay lines were all down and the Ubers we tried to book cancelled on us, so we eventually managed to lug all our stuff home via the Thameslink and Victoria lines, somewhat frazzled. I immediately crashed out on my bed, with all my unpacked bags around me, for a much longer nap than I intended, but did still have time to head out to do a shop and then had Family Zoomtime in the evening.
The Friday Five on a Sunday
Jun. 22nd, 2025 04:13 pmnanila- If you were a fruit, which would you be and why?
I would like to be a guava. They are a tropical fruit that does not export well, and are almost as tetchy as avocados. Unripe, unripe, unripe, unripe, unripe, RIPE AND SUCCULENT, hahaha you missed the 10-minute window when I was perfect and now I shall rot secretly on the inside so you won't be able to anticipate your disappointment.
When you do manage to catch them at the right moment, they are sooooo delicious. - If you wake up and smell smoke, and you have to get everybody (pets included) out of the house safely, but you have time to grab one item, what would you grab?
My phone. No question. Once upon a time it would have been passport or driving licence or some such, but we do everything on our phones now, so I can think of nothing more essential than that. Yes, the documents are a faff to replace, but how are you going to get online to do it without your phone? - If you were stuck on an island, who would be the one person you would want with you and why?
I hate it in films (and in fact in real life) when people are ordered to choose between beloved family members. I would want my partner AND my children with me, or else I would refuse to choose. - If you could change one thing about your physical appearance, what would it be?
I'm not sure changing one thing would make much of a difference. - If you could spend the day with one famous person, dead or alive, who would you choose?
I'd quite like to have a chat with Jaron Lanier.