Author: Stephen James

My two thoughts on yet another Tory prime minister.

Given Truss has been tossing political red meat to the party members during the leadership campaign, and her capacity to ‘adapt’ in the interests of ambition, how quickly will she change tack in order to survive, once in office?

While Truss argues for small-state, low tax policies, and economic growth rather than helping those who are struggling (are the two mutually exclusive?), oil and utility companies look like they are profiteering, with dividends for shareholders and big payouts for bosses coming before investment in infrastructure and such.

Doesn’t look much like trickle down economics to me.

Being cooped up at home because of the hot weather feels weird. It’s a thing I associate with winter. To be stuck at home, indoors, albeit voluntarily, at this time of year is odd.

We’re all getting a bit grouchy, including the pup. We did go out yesterday morning for a short walk and a coffee, while it was relatively cool, which helped.

One more day of these temperatures, according to the forecast, and then dropping to the lower twenties. And the possibility of thunderstorms.

I’d love a good thunderstorm.

It really is quite melty today. 7:30 in the evening and still about 30 degrees. I think it will be a hot night. If sleep doesn’t come easily I will watch the supermoon.

Checking in with the blog after 3 weeks (is it?) of puppy….mayhem….wrangling…settling in.

Not blogging has been a good plan as it’s been pretty hectic. An incremental adjustment to a new normal.

And she is a star.

Come Friday she can go out and about on the ground, as the vaccines will be in play. Adventures await!

In between all the puppiness small achievements have been achieved.

Finally got around to setting up Google pay on my phone. Thought it time I caught up with technology. And not having to always remember my wallet means forgetting my wallet will be less of a problem.

Bird observations have been fewer and further between. All that looking down to see if our puppy has done her business instead of looking at the sky. Still, I did spot, or rather heard a flock of swift’s a couple of nights ago flying high and heading south. Maybe 50 or so. I wonder if they were leaving?

And so the summer rolls on. A very dry one at that. And looks to continue in the same vein for a while to come.

Hopefully, I’ll be posting a bit more frequently again.

I keep seeing a puppy running around our house and garden – is this down to the lack of sleep brought on by hot weather and very bright moon, or perhaps a cheese dream?

No, we really do seem to find ourselves with a new puppy.

Hot weather in the summertime. Not my favourite but equally it imparts something of a holiday feel. A step outside the norm. I find the hottest part of the day enervating but enjoy the warm/cool evenings and the fading light that seems to last long after the sun goes down.

Daylight when I go to sleep and daylight when I wake up. A state of hyperrealism.

I am mystified by our swallows. Two nests, two broods. Both broods seem to have fledged.

And yet, I have not seen anything of the young ones since. Usually, they’d be very obviously in and out of the nest site, often sitting in a row on a roof beam waiting for the parents to feed them.

The adults are still very much in evidence, and presumably will be gearing up for second broods.

I’ve no idea what has happened.

I haven’t actually checked, but I think my posts here have become more sporadic. Haven’t felt like I have much to say right now so the perennial voice in the background that asks ‘what’s the point?’ has felt louder. In reality I know that at this time of year fatigue is a big player – hayfever and a busy time at work combine to cumulative effect.

However, I’m not going to abandon the blog. Instead, I am going to re-evaluate my approach to it and perhaps do things a little differently. Or I may continue on as I am. Who knows?

A friend stepped back from their blog earlier this week. And a post from [Sameer Vasta](https://www.inthemargins.ca/) has popped up in my RSS app announcing that he his effectively closing his blog down after 25 years.

Is there something in the air? No. Just the ebb and flow of life. Nothing is permanent. But that does mean new things appear in the footsteps of the old. And my blog is supposed to evolve, not be a finished product. I hope I can find a better way to write.

All I wanted was a nasal spray for hayfever. I’d read on patient. info that other than over-the-counter steroid sprays all others require a prescription. I used AskMyGP to request a prescription.

I assumed this would be a straightforward process.I won’t go into *all* the details. Suffice to say that I found myself caught up in a new system that seems to outsource some of a GP’s traditional work to local pharmacists.

The system was having teething problems.

I’m sorry, I’m going to have to put you on hold’

I’m just going to check this with a colleague’

I am sorry, I’m going to have to put you on hold again because this computer isn’t showing the right information. I need to switch to another machine’

A pharmacist did ring me in the end. Told me that what is available are all over-the-counter products and don’t require a prescription.

Which is not where I was expecting this to take me.

I just hope that people with serious issues get the help they need without being bounced around by a process that is probably meant to be efficient. Or more cost effective. Or to make the end user experience more pleasant.

Well, having broken my blog and then spent a while fixing it I think I’m back where I started. Everything is working as before; right through to the deploy being triggered on Render, but as before, the new post that should be showing doesn’t, until I do a manual deploy.

*scratches head*

Having been bending my brain over this for a few days, I’m going to leave it as it is for now. In the meantime I will consider my options. Again.