Mary

Ugh.

That is all.

Good luck, but everything seems to be galumphing enthusiastically to "the NHS app".

Ugh. I love the NHS but there's no denying that it's enormous and unwieldy, and in a space where automation and efficiency and organisation don't entirely mesh with the chaos of humanity in crisis.

I'd also bet his examples are like "she VENGEFULLY signed one of them up for after school sports club so I'd have to figure out the logistics of picking them both up," or "she moved to a house nearer her job PURELY to make it harder for me to visit."

Magically, it then turns out the receptionist *can* do it.

Locally and anecdotally, quite a few people are just saying no and, with a greater or lesser degree of amateur dramatics, queueing up at the reception desk to say the app won't register them/their elderly parent can't use the internet/etc.

Got through the day, mostly on bootstraps but hey, it still counts. The child is fed, clean, and sound asleep. I'm waiting for my painkillers to help me do the same. Fresh day tomorrow.

This morning I'm skittering around the edge of a panic attack, for precisely zero identifiable reason.

A monster high reference as well!

I don't think it's an overreaction to have it framed.

AND. Just in case it needs saying.

You right away TELL other people who care about the person, whether that's their spouse, adult kids, social worker, whatever, what you did and when and why. At best, they'll help you next time. At minimum, you'll be obliged to examine your actions.

Today, we're publishing Don't Steal This Book - a (mostly) empty book from almost 10,000 authors, protesting the theft of their work by AI companies.

🧵 1/3

The only scenario where you don't "let" a grown adult leave the house is when you believe they are not in their right mind (drunk, drugs, neurological issues) and you're straight up scared for their safety.

For some reason I doubt that's what this guy means.

Happily it was just -scopy, not -ectomy. So wide awake and no anaesthetic while he used a weird thing with a camera and a saline squirter shoved through the cervix so he could get biopsies.

The doctor was explaining the hysteroscopy procedure and gesticulating with his pen.

Which was great until he dropped the pen. 😧

Period: nah.
Period: [crickets]
Period: half-hearted teaspoonful
Me: I can definitely deal with this!
Period: oh REALLY? [turns taps on full blast]
Doc: probably just hormones
Doc: but let's do a cancer scare
Doc: btw, ever had a hysteroscopy?
Doc: LOL

I bring no useful apocalypse skills and my wheelchair, even when charged, could not outpace the ravenous horde (nor the ravenous horse that autocorrect is convinced I must mean). Sigh.

Alas, my Zombie Apocalypse role is only as spare protein.

And that is how I ended up spending my Sunday morning writing #goodomens fanfic. Amazingly, I kept it smut-free, although it did start with our ineffable duo regarding each other across their dining table in a cottage in the South Downs.

Jamie woke up inspired to write Bunny Vs Monkey fanfic. This is the child who, despite scoring way above his age on reading, comprehension and vocab, hates writing with a passion. Thank you @jamiesmart.bsky.social !

But he wanted me to do it too - fanfic of one of my books.

Jamie hates dressing up, so I used to send him as Harry And The Bucketful Of Dinosaurs.

Literally any plain comfy trousers and t-shirt, accessorised with a small plastic bucket containing a handful of toy dinosaurs.

But that's just it! You've laughed, you're relaxing, that day is melting away, it's a great start for intimacy!

We're at the point, 15 years in, some of the wedding gifts will need replacing soon. It's heartwarming for the state of our marriage... but I kind of don't wanna.

Yes! It's not that I don't have any, it's not that I'd be incapable of grabbing a multipack of basic socks from whatever shop. It's that I wear socks almost every day, and I like choosing which ones to wear, and remembering.

Group of young lambs running towards the camera with grazing ewes in the background. There is an orange hue to the sky, as the sun sets.

If you're out in the National Park with your dogs, please keep in mind there are plenty of new born grazers in fields.

Keep dogs on a short lead and leave those gates as you found them.

📸: Jamie Fielding

Let's test it with a thought experiment.

You come home and your spouse has built a pillow fort for two. They walk towards you proffering a hot cup of tea. They are wearing a VERY snuggly hoodie.

...well, I'm saying "yes, yes, yes!" Are you?

A bit surprised to see "hoodies" on the list.

But really I think most women are capable of deciding on appropriate attire for different situations, activities, weather, etc. He isn't really talking about going to a white-tie event in gym sweats.

It's probably better than "and now we're referring you to oncology," or "is there anyone you need to phone before the ambulance gets here?"

If I ever meet anyone who was involved in Numberblocks I probably owe them a drink.

I love the children's parts of the BBC. The shows, of course, but also the Bitesize online educational stuff is absolutely incredible, and Newsround is definitely where I prefer 10yo to get news from.