Hi,
Not a post about the weather, no. Although I do wonder if the British keenness to discuss it, is a mix of A) it changes frequently, and B) it’s difficult to offend anyone. Well, unless you happen to say “Yeah, well climate change, innit?” to a science denier 😋 Mind you, the good thing about science is that you don’t need to believe in it for it to work.
This time around there’s been a flutter of beautiful news here and there. At the start of the month, a company released a Christmas advert that has love and kindness at its heart (link via PinkNews).
There’s the Cambridge Dictionary updating the definition of the word ‘woman’ to “an adult female human being” and further along “an adult who lives and identifies as female though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth…“. They’ve done the same for the definition of man as well, which should suit Child 2.0 down to the ground when they reach eighteen. They will have been living socially as a male for four years or so by then.
Twitch listened to community feedback and removed an organisation that many described as a hate group, not a charity. The other day I heard some teens talking about them as Let’s Go Backwards. 😁
Despite the campaign of hatred and lies by certain politicians, journalists, and talking heads, the rest of humanity are getting on with life, accepting difference, and letting people be. Claire writes about the Council of Europe’s report about the UK. While the statement is not easy reading, I feel it at least acknowledges what’s going on and there’s a need for those in power to dial down their hateful language. As was said in the last century: Careless words cost lives. But for all that, there’s a statement from the UN on supporting improvements. Furthermore, what the Scottish are moving forward with has led Northern Ireland to reconsider as well. 🏳️🌈
I’ve noticed a number of emails coming in – at the group and professionally – where folk who share their pronouns, now link to this. I sort of expect that for organisations who work with Chameleons, so it’s great to see it in the wild with allies as well 💜
I don’t know about the rest of you, but as the energy bills hammer home, summer temperatures spiral upwards, and inflation bites into our wages; I feel reassured that those in power are hyper focused on the key issue facing humanity: has or hasn’t that person next to me, got a winkie? 😋
Luckily they’re not campaigning against gobbo bloggers who love a long sentence. Maybe I’ll be second against the wall come the glorious revolution? 😁
As it’s nearly the end of the year, I’ve had an extra day off. The Every Lovely Mrs J and I wandered around the frost covered country park with the hounds. Cold, yes, but time well spent enjoying each other’s company and nature. Although reducing my hours is going to affect my wage, I hope the trade in more time will help. I guess I’ll just have to watch the pennies.
Gah, and I said this wasn’t about the weather 😉
L x
Thank you for sharing all those items. I’ve been maintaining for a while that, despite all the aggression against the trans community in places like Britain, both the public and organisations that matter are not so hostile and, frankly, have got a lot else to worry about right now. The Cambridge Dictionary is aimed at learners, either children or foreigners, so it will be interesting to see if the main prescriptive dictionaries also add that new definition.
I admire and approve your reducing your hours to regain quality time. A country walk with the one you love (and some doggies) sounds to me like optimal use of time. Have a nice weekend, too
Sue x
As numerous folk have pointed about other minorities, there’s a small and vocal core of fools, ignorants, bigots, and populists. I should add that those categories could be viewed as a Venn diagram 😉 I’ll let regular readers shuffle folk into the zones.
Sadly, such voices are amplified within the media and given more platform than they probably should. As you point out and on listening to the experiences of Chams folk who are out in public, it’s not how the public react. Most folk seem live & let live.
I’ve not put the request in for reduced time and when I do, it has a minimum of one year. That does worry me a little. But with all that’s going on at home with long term health issues and the knock on effects of those, it’s a struggle many weeks. Too much week at the end of the energy! 😁
Small flurries of good news are always to be welcomed.
I wish you well making the trade between wage and life – I suspect you will have made the correct decision and that you will look back on this moment with pride in the future. As well you should. 🙂
Thanks Joanna. I’ve not sorted out the paperwork yet, but I think both Mrs J and I are sold on the idea. I’m somewhat nervous about the drop in money, but we will manage.
I think it’s that weird balance of having money but little time, or having less money but more time. With certain health issues in mind, having time together seems the right choice. As Mrs J said to me the other day: better to enjoy the time we have, than keep flogging ourselves when we don’t know about the long term.
Certainly wouldn’t want to go back to Monday to Friday, I really enjoy having a Friday off every other week. Although I have to make up the hours, rather than a salary reduction. The ones I do have to work are quieter as the other half of the company is off though.
I know you didn’t want to talk much of the weather, but curious if you got the app setup with your car, I love the ability to defrost it from the app, although it’s not 100% reliable at triggering.
Thanks, Izzy. I thought about the hour swap and decided it would probably make me more anxious! 🤦♀️ So it’ll have to be a wage swap I guess.
I noticed the Leaf has a climate timer and I’ve not yet tested that properly. Last time I tried it, nothing happened until after the school run. Not the best timing 😁 If i can get it to work, hopefully that’ll remove the faff of demisting and scraping the ice off the windscreen.