Fraser Steele

Would have been a boring book, though.

@tymeilliog Well done, Rachel!

We are so proud of Rachel completing her first ever marathon in London last Sunday. After all the hurdles and setbacks she has faced trying to get fit for the marathon, it was wonderful to see her having a wonderful day. Like to thank Maggie’s Cardiff for their support too

@DaleVince I don’t understand what the y axis is referring to. Percent change from what baseline? Also it looks like the waiting lists were increasing under Labour, but not as rapidly.

On Question Time last summer, I said the NHS was being set up to fail by the Tories.  I believe it.  This graph of NHS waiting lists shows a clear political pattern.  The Tories drive them up and Labour drives them down. The Tories want us to believe that the NHS needs privatisation.  It doesn’t - it just needs another Labour government.

@dieworkwear The theory is from the point of view of a man born into and living in poverty. He’s only ever known crappy cardboard soled boots and can only speculate what decent boots are like. Vimes’ bad boots will leak from the start, his fantasy rich man’s boots will keep his feet dry.

Vimes Boot Theory is a nice little theory that makes people think they're unfairly getting duped by the system. But it's simply not true. I think most people don't know how much it costs to buy and maintain well-made things. Let's do the math: There are three main ways to produce well-made shoes: handwelting, Goodyear welting, and Blake construction. Let's review some of the costs of each. - Handwelted bespoke shoes from the West End start around $3.5k. Most are closer to $5k. - Handwelted ready-made shoes cost about $600 (Vass) to $1.5k (Saint Crispins). Meermin has a limited line produced in China for about $300. For the purposes of this tweet, I'm lumping Goodyear welting and Blake construction together, as they're basically the same on the ready-made market. - Goodyear welted and Blake stitched shoes will cost you anywhere from $250 (Meermin) to $1,500 (John Lobb, Edward Green). So the upfront cost here can range anywhere from $250 to $5k. Remember you have to double this, as well-made shoes should be given a day of rest between each wearing. If you wear the same pair of shoes every day, you will prematurely break them down beyond repair, as the sweat from your feet will ruin the uppers. So you need at least two pairs of shoes to rotate through. This means your upfront cost is now anywhere from $500 to $10k. Now you have your shoes. You will have to resole them about every five years, depending on how much you walk (some may get a little more time between each resole, some a little less. But let's say five years). There are two ways to resole shoes. You can give them to your local cobbler, who will charge about $100. The downside is that this person is unlikely to have the original last on which the uppers were made. When you resole shoes, you are effectively removing the spine. So the uppers can get all floppy and distorted out of shape. On the upside, sending these to your local cobbler means that you only pay $100. But if the shoes have been made on a very well-crafted last (e.g. bespoke) or if you're finicky about quality, you will want to send them back to the original manufacturer. Sending shoes back to the original manufacturer will also incur some costs. If you're based in the US, this means sending things back to England or even Romania (as I have done). Shipping charges here can be expensive. A proper recrafting on Goodyear welted shoes can cost anywhere from $150 (Allen Edmonds) to $450 (Edward Green). A proper recrafting of handwelted bespoke shoes can cost as much as $1k. Remember: this is on top of your upfront cost. This is what you pay every five years to replace the sole. Most people are not even spending $200 on a pair of shoes. They may spend $100 every two or three years. In ten years' time, they've spent maybe $300 on footwear. The person who's buying high-end, well-made shoes will have spent $250 in upfront costs and about an additional $100 for resoling. Double this because they need to buy at least two pairs of shoes. And add shipping charges if they are sending things back to the original manufacturer. In ten years' time, they've easily spent more. The main reason for buying high-end, well-made things is not financial. It's because you will love your wardrobe in the end. It feels nice to be able to keep a pair of shoes or boots you've grown fond of, rather than throwing them away (see pics below). They also look nicer in outfits. But the poor are not being tricked into spending more. It's expensive to own nice things!

@technicolor_cap @pauldauenhauer The opposite, if anything.

@pauldauenhauer Wait, royalty checks from academic publishers are a thing?

@HWarlow @GrrlScientist His paintings of birds are lovely, he was highly regarded in his time. It’s how he earned his money before his eyesight deteriorated.

From man whose Limericks and poems we’ve all heard about Edward Lear (1812-88) Literary Nonsense These are his birds . He was also a considerable artist

@RM_EYE @v_khutor @RSofPharmacy @VK_group_RSOP @UniofReading Congratulations, Roman. Excellent work!

Thanks to my brilliant supervisors Prof. @v_khutor and Dr @frasersteele, and my family, friends, and colleagues. #UoRGraduation #UniofReading #UoRClassof2022 @RSofPharmacy @VK_group_RSOP @UniofReading

@RachHopkins We’ve now spent five minutes working out the relationship between the two. Double step siblings?

A lovely thing happened today. My daughter who's living in Scotland met up with my husband's (her step dad's) ex-wife's husband's son who had a delivery job from Swansea to the Scottish Highlands. #extendedfamily #TruckDriver #IMightHaveLostYou

@MrJamesMay ‘Building Traffic’, the equivalent of ‘Heavy plant crossing’.

No idea what this one means.

@Lenovo Is there a way of adapting these for use by people with vision problems? For example, macular degeneration where vision is lost in the centre of the vision but more peripheral vision is fine. A live feed into the screens but adjusted to account for their blind spot.

Introducing the Lenovo Glasses T1! A wearable virtual monitor that is small-in-size & big on privacy. A pocket-sized solution that ensures your content is for your eyes only. Learn more: lnv.gy/3R1X4RX | #LenovoTechLife

@SoVeryBritish Waterloo Sunset (The Kinks). Also, possibly the best song.

What’s the best song with a British place name in the title?

@Gregor_notwork @newberryfruits1 I’ve used the ‘like the metal’ line only to be tutted at and told ‘actually that’s an alloy’.

@MrKenShabby Which episode is this? I don’t remember it at all.

Do you remember when you joined Twitter? I do! #MyTwitterAnniversary

No relation.

@Broo0ose @Jimllpaintit @serafinowicz I’d be thinking “Neil! Neil! Orange peel!”

@Jimllpaintit @serafinowicz “Bathroom’s free! Unlike the country under the Johnsonian junta.” And- “This calls for a delicate blend of psychology and extreme violence.”

Raaaaaaah!!!

#OnThisDay 1996: Discworld author Terry Pratchett explained where his love of reading and writing began.

@RachHopkins They have the local theatre booked for July. Last year she would have had a major role but the show was cancelled, obviously. Two years before she had a broken leg so couldn’t perform.

@frasersteele Excellent, I'm glad she's keeping up with classes. Send me an invite to the next performance!

Timmy and younger daughter‘s dance teacher strutting their stuff again tonight.