gershamabob

I have a pronoun badger on my work badge now! :)

@j4 I'd rather lend the clip on ones tbh, I can't wear them with glasses anyways and the glue on ones are expensive.

@j4 Oh! Yes! I have two different kinds, the ones that clip around the ears, and the ones you glue on. (Sorry, just seen this.)

Long shot but do I know anybody nearby (or able to post quickly) who could lend me a pair of ELF EARS? Feels like the sort of thing one of my LARP/cosplay-adjacent friends might have?? Elder is playing Puck this Thursday & needs to look a bit more fae than usual. :-)

@j4 Libby has saved me so much money/sanity as B has an audiobook on constantly. Have expanded our book availability by adding my parents' library in the states. (On my dad's card as he doesn't use Libby.)

Installed Libby (library e-books app) for H last night; today she is gleefully borrowing, reading, & telling me all about her books. She's explained to me how long you can get books out for, how to return them, how to highlight & zoom text. But screens are bad for kids, m'kay?

@j4 Very late to the party, but useless is not a word I'd apply to you?!

My friends think I'm useless. I _am_ pretty much useless as a friend & partner. I keep feeling that somehow if I could just get through the next thing, or the next, somehow there will be ... something? But what? ("age, and then the old end of age") What am I hanging on _for_?

This. And I can't stop stuff happening to me. I'm fortunate that I've been able to afford to reduce my work hours temporarily so I don't go [any more] insane, but it's only deferring most of the crises, I'm still struggling to stay afloat. twitter.com/realgirl_fieri…

@johngounaris @redhistorian Two reasons: 1) there are laws stating that no building can be taller than the tallest spire in the city centre 2) Skyscrapers are office blocks, not housing. We have plenty of jobs already in our city. Also, we're a heck of a lot smaller than Boston.

@redhistorian Easily solved by building a ton more houses, but “planning” “character” etc are in the way. Why doesn’t downtown Oxford or Cambridge look like downtown Boston? A historical quarter surrounded by scyscrapers?

The average property price in Oxford last year was £625k. The average semi was £649k & even flats cost £336k. You'd have had to save £57k just to keep up with the *increase* since 2022. This isn't a "ladder", it's a space-station, orbiting far beyond the reach of most mortals.

@Ruthcrafts @kariebookish I recommend a post-birth hamper of all the lovely cheeses and meats you've been denied. :D It's rough being that pregnant, I hope the last few weeks go smoothly.

@kariebookish It's fine - we're on the final countdown, but I could have wept buying lunch: the nice healthy & low-sugar options tend to include either a cheese that's 'out' or smoked salmon (both of which I *love* but have not had for 8.5 months?!)

[CW: food, pregnancy] Totally recognise this as #FirstWorldProblem & ashamed at how much my privilege has been exposed by the experience (will do better) - need the void to know: being put on a low sugar diet as well as the no 'unsafe in pregnancy' foods a week before xmas sucks.

@celestialweasel This is really interesting, thanks. Explains the large minority of East Timorese students at the school.

Cleaning staff speaking, I guess, Tetun. Oxford's own barely visible ethnic minority. cherwell.org/2021/02/11/oxf…

Oxford station was quite quiet I thought for a Thursday morning, maybe people put off travelling by the weather (plus we are into the November slump). The AMT coffee kiosk has gone, leading to a weird feeling of its absence. Overall definite "we have all given up" vibes

@j4 How about some more money? More money for schools. Without strings attached. :P

Christ almighty I hope the Government _doesn't_ start taking the MH crisis in young people seriously, I genuinely dread to think how they might try to address it. Could be some frippery like free yoga mats for schools ... could be gulags for anxious teens. twitter.com/YoungMindsUK/s…

@j4 @LeveretBand Hurrah! I shall!

@gershamabob @LeveretBand I still have ONE spare -- come and see Leveret, they are brilliant! :-)

Oxford folky folks, does anybody want a ticket for the @LeveretBand gig at the North Wall tomorrow night (Sat 14th)? I have TWO spare!

Assholes. We'll lose the same amount it takes to pay a full-time teacher. "England’s schools to be given less money after DfE admits bungling figures" theguardian.com/education/2023…

AKA "Why I use Duck Duck Go unless I'm looking for something to purchase".

My phone is stuck in an infinite-fucking-bootloop that not even a factory reset will fix.

@j4 @jinty That's very sensible, but it becomes my business when she has a panic attack/meltdown the night before it's due.

@gershamabob @jinty I have taken a fairly determined stance of "homework is between Child and School unless Child asks me for help". (I do occasionally ask "have you got any homework?" if there's not been any mention of homework for a while, but that's about it!)

Currently logged in to Parentmail, Parentpay, Schoolgrid, Classlist, and MyChildAtSchool. It's a full-time job keeping on top of school admin, and I already have a part-time (80% FTE) job, and would quite like to have AN ACTUAL LIFE as well.

@j4 @jinty Count yourself lucky that Elder can manage their homework on their own! (I may even say I have to *micromanage* on that.) At least I have the benefit of 1 child at 1 school tho.

@jinty Oh yes, Elder has Google Classroom too, but fortunately I don't have to interact with that myself so I didn't count it!

@j4 My brother was paid to look after me until we were "old enough to look after each other. (3.5 years older) Probably depends on the level of responsibility/time involved and whether younger will listen/mind elder.

Vague straw poll of parents & other beast-wranglers: if you get your elder kid(s) to babysit the younger one(s) when you go out, do you pay them for it?

@jinty @j4 Yep. And I realised there is a name for the thing we learned was helpful last year - which is just sitting in the same room. It's called 'Body Doubling'. I have ordered some wool to knit myself through night of homework yet to come...

My kids use that time to have a life, something which Britain's Stupidest Headteacher wouldn't recognise if it jumped up and gave her six of the best. They're learning, playing, socialising, & relaxing. (Elder does also do homework, without complaint.) twitter.com/Miss_Snuffy/st…

@jinty @j4 Will she be able to cope aged 14, 15, 16 - hopefully better. I'm not sure how much homework I had in high school, it would take me all evening because I would go into inattentive mode.

@jinty @j4 And personally, I don't think B would cope with an hour a night of homework if that also included Friday and Saturday. Mostly because she goes into full shutdown mode if she gets stuck and can lose loads of working time that way. An hour would become 2 some nights, easily.