☀️ Some unexpected sunshine in Scotland!
☀️ Some unexpected sunshine in Scotland!
☀️ I didn’t have “Sunbathing in Fife” on my bingo card for this weekend, but here we are. Wearing shorts and lying back in some glorious(if sporadic) Scottish sunshine.
📸 I interrupted someone while he was taking a bath
✈️ Made it to Edinburgh in one piece. Landed 17:02. Out of the airport and on the tram by 17:20. Now waiting for my train to Dunfermline.
✈️ Next stop: Edinburgh
☀️ I’m working from home this morning, which means I get to enjoy the view over the river. And the sun has reappeared, making everything look wonderful.
Then I need to pack my bag and head to City Airport: off to Scotland for the weekend, to see family.
⚽️ I’ve just been informed by my Dutch husband, that we are, in fact, watching “the football” this evening.
Shook. I’ve no idea where all this football enthusiasm has come from, but I’ll need to stamp it out ASAP.
📸 The view from here this evening.
Definitely a game of two halves. The sun is fighting its way through those dark, depressing clouds.
🚶🏼 New blog: Where there’s a will, there’s a walk
Over on my new MacPsych.blog endeavour, using the very lovely Pika platform.
📸 July in London. 😭
I’ve had a client webinar cancelled at the very last minute, so instead of mainlining political news all over again, I’m going to head downstairs to the gym and get some exercise. A much better use of my time.
Starting my work day on a very positive note, including some incredibly nice client feedback and an interesting new business opportunity. Think I’ll treat myself to another coffee!
📸 Just look at that sky! And it’s July?! Ugh.
Counting down the days us until I’m in Spain, enjoying some actual summer sunshine.
📸 This beauty just sailed past my apartment building.
🍫 Took part in some market research earlier in the week and just received a massive box from Hotel Chocolate as a thank you.
A perfect start to the weekend!
🌶️ So glad I made a massive vat of chilli last night. It kept me going for hours while watching the election coverage, and today I can have delicious leftovers for lunch. 🍛
📸 The morning after…
My Apple Watch tells me I got four hours sleep last night. And that wasn’t event a solid four hours, but split across the whole night. And it shows!
No regrets, though - I got to see history in the making. And now? More coffee…
So my plan to stay up night to watch the election failed miserably 🤣
My last memory is of about 2am and I woke up again at 5:30am. That said, I’m waking up to some amazing news.
Not just a Labour victory - an overwhelming one - but some delicious results and the exit of some of the nastier and more feckless Tories. I also notice George Galloway and his divisive vitriol was rejected by voters.
It’s not all good news, however. Some truly dreadful people have kept their seats and Farage’s bunch of bigots have made gains. And where they weren’t actually elected, they came a very close second. How much of this was simply protest votes, rather than a systematic swing to populism - only time will tell.
I’m going to enjoy watching Labour settle into power, appoint their talent, and start to make a difference. Followed very quickly by an inevitable Tory civil war and they try to decide just how right wing they can be without actually actually wearing uniforms.
🗳️ I’ve brought my duvet and pillows out onto the sofa so I can keep watching the election results. I’m going to attempt to power through for a couple more hours. I have drinks and snacks galore and I’m enjoying a delicious Majorcan beer to celebrate the exit poll.
So, I’ve finished work for the week and I’m not sure what to do with myself between now and 10pm, when the exit polls are published.
Too wound up to have a nap (yes really!) and I’m all caught up on my favourite podcasts. Maybe some comics for a bit of escapism…?
Polling stations open in 20 mins and once I’ve finished this coffee, and showered, I’ll be heading over to do my electoral duty.
Then it’s a matter of keeping myself occupied until the exit poll at 10pm.
I’m delivering an in-person workshop this morning, which should definitely take my mind off the wait. Then a client meeting in the afternoon. I’m just wondering what to do between dinnertime and 10pm.
It may involve a nap, as I’m planning to stay up for as much of the night as possible, to watch the results come in live. And experience unbelievable levels of schadenfreude as Tory after Tory loses their seat.
Anyway, time to get moving! Big day ahead for us all.
Honestly. I’m quite literally counting the hours until I can vote in the general election and then sit back and watch the results come in.
It’s been a long 14 years of chaos and mismanagement under a series of weak and ineffectual Tory governments - despite their sometimes massive Commons majorities - and in the closing days of the campaign, with their dying breath, they criticise Kier Starmer for wanting to carve out some time on Friday evenings to be with his family.
Let’s set aside Boris Johnson literally parting while we were all under lockdown. Or his defence secretary going on holiday while the evacuation of Kabul was descending into farce. Starmer is saying he wants to ensure his family don’t suffer because of his job and, where possible, he’ll have dinner with them each Friday evening.
He will be living above his office, in 10 Downing Street. So the Tory howls of “What if there’s a crisis after 6pm on a Friday?” ignore the fact that the PM is probably the best connected person in the country. Instantly contactable, always kept in the loop.
But it also points at a certain disdain for anyone not glorifying the broken long working hours culture that pervades Conservative circles. Long hours somehow equates to being a professional. Whereas working your allotted hours, working part-time, or working with flexible arrangements in plane: quelle horreur!
I’m planning to stay up overnight on Thursday night, Friday morning. I want to see the looks on their faces as they realise they’ve lost badly and to see the chief apologists for the nasty culture war lose their seats live on TV.
And yes, I’ll have the champagne on ice on the off chance Rishi Sunak loses his own seat.
🗳️ After a quick scan of the news headlines, I can only conclude: Thursday can’t come soon enough.
We need to bin these desperate, lying, ineffectual grifters. Vote!
🏳️🌈 London Pride: the morning after…
I’m actually feeling surprisingly fine. Didn’t stay up too late, didn’t have too many beers, had a good dinner and rehydrated before bed. All that aside, I’m taking it very easy today.
Well, marching in the London Pride parade yesterday was an absolute blast.
The group I walked with from LGBT Humanists were lovely, the crowds were amazing, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many smiles in one place. Running up and down the street, high-fiving spectators while holding a placard was difficult, but no spills or falls occurred.
(Being screamed at by the religious extremists wasn’t as much fun, but they were quickly drowned out by the vast majority of free-thinking people in the crowd.)
After the parade, I met up with the usual suspects in the heart of Soho at Comptons, sank a few much-needed beers and had some lovely chats. The vibe was so friendly, so welcoming. Time flew by and suddenly, it was 9pm and I’d hit the wall. I was absolutely shattered. Time to make a move.
We made our way back home, stopping off for a couple of our favourite Burritos, then bed! This morning, I don’t have much of a voice, but I do have some incredible memories.
Happy Pride!