Day 3: Little more advance trick, the hand grind. Always love this trick and quite like switching position with the fingers (maybe for another day). If you are wondering if it hurts, no because the axel is a bearing keeping it only running in one direction. However if you are not careful, when your finger does rub against the side by accident it does burn and hurt.
Category: just-plain-life
Dec 2: Diabolo advent calendar
Day 2: Little more intermediate trick, the stick grind. Always love this trick and quite like switching sticks (maybe for another day). I remember when I used wooden sticks with fixed axel diabolos. Those were tricky days.
Dec 1: Diabolo advent calendar
Day 1: Starting with one simple throw, the first trick most people learn quickly while learning the diabolo. Still like doing these while I think about what trick to do next, although higher gives more time.
Free period products at long last, in Scotland at least
Scotland becomes first nation to provide free period products for all
Lennon said: “This will make a massive difference to the lives of women and girls and everyone who menstruates. There has already been great progress at a community level and through local authorities in giving everyone the chance of period dignity.
“There has been a massive change in the way that periods are discussed in public life. A few years ago there had never been an open discussion of menstruation in the Holyrood chamber and now it is mainstream. MSPs have enjoyed being a part of that, and it has encompassed the menopause, endometriosis, as well as the types of products we use and their sustainability.”
Period poverty – the struggle to pay for basic sanitary products on a monthly basis – has surged during the coronavirus pandemic, according to charities
Its about time…! Massive throw down to the rest of the nations around the world. How much do you want to bet Finland, Iceland and New Zealand are next?
Little note, who on earth votes this down on Youtube?
Update on Islington Wharf
You may have seen the previous blogs and the summer follow up.
This week we got the above PDF email/letter from Waterside places.
It seems there was a lot of support for the latent defect work but not enough to make it so. Although the actual figures don’t seem to add up or they were looking for 100% of residents to get in touch?
As you can imagine this has caused a lot of distressed. I made my position clear.
I said No to access to my flat before I got the answers back from Waterside places. They had planned to use the shared garden as workers yard for 2 years. Because of that I stuck to the original date sent off my reply 5 days before the original deadline to make sure its was registered.
Waterside places did push the deadline back and I engaged with them over email saying I will change my vote to yes if they can insure garden access throughout the 2 years. They never confirmed this over the multiple emails and because of this I had no real choice.
I had a lot of problems with the whole thing but Waterside places never made clear the garden position. The committee also made clear that if they could confirm the garden, most residents would change their position.
The engagement with the residents I feel has been mishandled (maybe deliberately?). The options on the table were poor then follow ups have been slow and brief.
Of course I do honestly feel for all the flats which are heavily affected by the latent defects. Its awful news, but something else will happen as the latent defects are clearly there and the court case with Laing o’rourke did end in a settlement. Still love to know how much?
Keeping the Pebble smartwatch alive
My last pebble 2 smartwatch suffered a number of button problems. Luckily I was able to fix it with Sugru moldable glue. The pebble is showing a lot of wear and tear.
I’m still looking for an alternative to Pebble smartwatches, but the there is simply nothing close, even the new Fitbit is LCD based. Although I’m considering maybe now I have the Oura ring, maybe I could rely less on the health and tracking parts?
Testing sushi while at home
I mentioned in the previous blog post wondering how coconut oil ended up in vanilla ice cream, I have been experimenting at home. My love of sushi is like the forbidden fruit I can’t have.But I did find one type of sushi I could eat.
However as I decided lockdown is a good chance to try some of the more dangerous foods I would try but not when out and about.
So far I gave Sainsburys non-fish sushi, Tesco’s duck sushi, Morrisons vegetable sushi pack and finally M&S’s katsu chicken sushi all a try at home.
Of course I didn’t touch the soya-sauce and if there was obviously dangerous sushi like edamame bean one in the Morrisons vegetable pack.
Generally its not be too bad, I have felt a bit rough after most of them, indicating I was picking up something. However I’m happy to say the M&S sushi pack didn’t cause any problems. I will agree with the review of M&S, the rice wasn’t the best but the carrot and egg yoke was good.
I feel like I should add some warning saying don’t try this at home…!
When did coconut milk end up in Vanilla ice cream?
Over the last few months I have bought Vanilla ice cream to cool down during the summer months. But for some reason I was feeling pretty sick after eating it. I assumed it was something else I was eating (theres a blog about that). I never thought it could be a problem with the ice cream, I have eaten enough ice cream in my life.
But then I happen to look at the ingredients list of the ice cream I bought from Tesco.
Reconstituted Skimmed Milk Concentrate, Partially Reconstituted Buttermilk Powder (Milk), Sugar, Coconut Oil, Palm Stearin, Palm Oil, Dextrose, Palm Kernel Oil, Emulsifier (Mono- and Di-Glycerides of Fatty Acids), Flavouring, Stabilisers (Locust Bean Gum, Guar Gum), Vanilla Pods, Colours (Carotenes, Beetroot Red, Curcumin).
Coconut Oil is 4th just after sugar… (yeah I know but its ice cream people)
Carte D’or Vanilla Ice Cream is the same…
Reconstituted skimmed MILK, water, glucose syrup, glucose-fructose syrup, sugar, coconut oil, whey solids (MILK), emulsifiers (mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids), exhausted vanilla bean pieces¹, stabilisers (guar gum, locust bean gum), natural vanilla flavourings¹, colour (carotenes)
Reconstituted skimmed MILK, water, glucose syrup, vegetable oils(palm, coconut), glucose fructose syrup, sugar, whey solids (MILK), emulsifier (mono and diglycerides of fatty acids), stabilisers (tara gum, guar gum, locust bean gum, carrageenan), colours (annatto, curcumin), flavourings
So I need to be more careful in the future because I had no idea and although not a instant reaction like my other allergies. My body really doesn’t like coconut.
I did noticed there is a bunch of vanilla ice creams which don’t have coconut milk oil.
Kelly’s Clotted Cream is all good however
Cornish Whole Milk, Sugar, Clotted Cream (Milk) (10%), Butter Oil (Milk), Dried Skimmed Milk, Emulsifier (Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids), Stabilisers (Locust Bean Gum, Guar Gum), Natural Flavourings, Colours (Annatto, Curcumin)
Haagen-Dazs Vanilla ice cream is also perfect for me.
Fresh Cream (39%), Condensed Skimmed Milk, Sugar, Egg Yolk, Vanilla Extract
Tesco Finest Ice Cream Madagascan Vanilla also looks good
Whole Milk, Double Cream (Milk) (27%), Demerara Sugar, Dried Skimmed Milk, Pasteurised Egg, Maltodextrin, Vanilla Extract, Sugar, Ground Vanilla Pods.
The lesson seems to be, look and read. Also generally it seems cheaper ice creams use coconut milk oil. I knew I should have stuck to Haagen-Dazs.
Correction!!! Sunday 8th November
My friend Cristano pointed out to me that I mixed up coconut milk with coconut oil.
Sure. What I meant though is that all these ice creams seem to have oil in them. It milk. Or did I read it wrong?
— Cristiano #BlackLivesMatter (@cbetta) November 8, 2020
This is what happens when you get excited about the US election and are not paying as much attention to what you are writing.
Both are dangerous for me, to tell the truth., depending on the amount coconut oil can be worst than milk. Thanks Cristano.
Whats happened in Islington Wharf over summer?
You might remember I blogged about the potential works at Islington Wharf.
So a little update, we received a letter about securing a different location for the builders yard. Originally Waterside Places was planning to take over our garden for 2+ years but I gather the council stepped in and they found another site. Where exactly isn’t very clear, like a lot of the comms from Waterside places.
So with this there has been a lot of talk about the alternative, would releasing Laing O’Rourke of their obligation be the worst idea? Each person has different views on this all. To be fair now the garden is off the table I feel slightly better about things. Although its not super clear (I have asked directly this question).
As it seems typical in 2020, a blackswan event like the Covid19 pandemic? just hit Islington wharf.
HS2 the high speed two train system wrote a letter to most of Islington Wharf.
I am writing to you today to advise you that following further development of the design for High Speed Two (HS2) Limited, some or all of your land and/or property may be required in order to build and operate the railway for the Western Leg of HS2 Phase 2b.
Its a proposal and its not clear how much of Islington Wharf will be affected as I thought the inner ring road and Ashton canal would be problem if they wanted to expand Piccadilly Station. On top of this, there is a lot of land around Piccadilly Station currently the Red light zone or Piccadilly East if you been watching Manctopia. Between Fairfield Street, Chapeltown Street and Great Ancoats Street theres quite a bit of room and a lot of it is made up of old commercial places. Places which would be cheaper to move and are generally not that occupied either.
Its a interesting dimension on top of the saga with Waterside places. Wonder if they were even aware of the HS2 change?
Its Dyslexia week
As a proud man with dyslexia, I’m always happy to talk honestly about it with people willing to really listen about my superpower.
If you spend any time with me, you will get a sense of how my mind will blend from one thing to another. Its that flow state which my mind feels comfortable in but others wonder how I made that leap? I actively have to stop myself from doing it. Thinking about what I should write for the week I just started writing as my mind works…
I feel unprepared for #Dyslexia week.
Should have done something for it— Ian | #blacklivesmatter | @cubicgarden (@cubicgarden) October 7, 2020
One important thing to say always is, each person is different and each person with dyslexia has different experiences and different ways of managing or thriving. Some struggle all their lives trying to fit into a neurotypical world. I remember when I heard Dr Jonathan review Disability: the book, there was a quote which stuck me.
“some people have physical impairments, but it’s society through exclusion, through stigma, through oppression that makes people disabled”
I found this quite powerful. Dyslexia is classed as a disability and the quote above summed up a lot. The stigma of dyslexia from a stereotypical society is what makes people with dyslexia disabled… Although its exactly right, I don’t feel disabled in anyway, except when I rub against societal norms.
Last year I asked at the Mozilla Festival in the brand new Neurodiversity space. What do people think of when they think about when thinking about dyslexia? The results were different from what I was expecting. Zero of them said disabled or indicated that. However I had put up a bunch of the M.I.N.D strengths straight out of the Dyslexic Advantage. A book I recommend and lend to other people with Dyslexia when ever I can. I recently subscribed the dyslexic advantage site as it helps fund more academic research, which is very much needed.
When they asked me to be interviewed, I of course happily said yes!
I will never forget the conversation myself and Kate (two dyslexic minds in conversation) had for the listening project. A conversation which you could hear on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio Manchester and finally in the national archive. Only half the dare/bet/conversation has actually happen with Kate taking me to Ireland in a bright yellow camper van.
We just bounced off each other and it sums up the good things which can happen when you have confident dyslexics in a room. Of course its not all positive as describe in the posts what is daily life like and what its like to love someone with dyslexic (something I was expecting a lot more criticism about, although I likely did most of the damage previously).
A lot comes from experiences and talking with other people with dyslexia. Lots cover it up or won’t reveal it to others, but they have good reason. Like lots of others I was finally diagnosed in University not junior school although they had thought I might be dyslexic. I do wonder about what might have been different if I was rightly diagnosed back in junior school?
Think about all those young people growing up (even now) not aware of their strengths. All those people who don’t understand how powerful it can be. Of course there is a petition for this.