100DaysofBeing
Writing for a 100 consecutive days, first in 2026. No rhyme or reason, just stuff and thoughts that bubble to the fore.
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37. The Finest Hotel in Kabul
It has taken a month and a bit, but I have finally finished Lyse Doucet’s The Finest Hotel in Kabul. As with all books, my interest waxed and waned but in the end, a clear weekend with the brood out of the house was what I needed to power through. Intertwining the lives of ordinary… Continue reading
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36. Poetrying
Poetry has been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember, reading, pretending to write some, and seeking out poetry podcasts such as Poetry Unbound and Read Me A Poem] from time to time. It was therefore a particular delight to discover Read a Little Poetry as part of JUnited.… Continue reading
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35. Sports Day
Photo by Philip White on Unsplash — The plan was for a variety of outdoor activities. The reality was that plans met the unstoppable mountain that is the great British Summer, which meant the day was spent indoors in the end. There were tears, there were fumbles and laughs to boot. In the end, it… Continue reading
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34. Job Search Revisited
The neither here nor there job search continues “at pace”. In today’s edition of interviewing, I somehow ended up across the table for a guy who used to be my boss, four times removed (i.e the boss of the boss of the boss of my boss at the time). Of course that stint came up… Continue reading
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33. How I Met Your Mother, The Alternate Ending
I stumbled on an (the?) alternate ending to How I Met Your Mother on Twitter the other day and it took me down memory lane! I was a big fan, back in the day, seeing far too much of myself in Ted Mosby (My Mosby Problem, Mosby-itis) Being so beholden to Ted, I never felt… Continue reading
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32. Re: Where do blogs go when they die
The prolific blogger (and initiator of JUnited), Robert Birming asks a particularly pertinent question, Where do Blogs go when they die? His experience of broken links and blogs entirely disappeared is one I can relate to, as would most people who have written on the web or been digital natives for any significant amount of… Continue reading
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31. Life In A Song – Golden Motorcycle
I had a snippet of this song in the back of my mind, the “I got the gold motorcycle” part of the bridge being all my mind could grasp. Neither Spotify nor Gemini could help: the song it would appear is not on Spotify, whilst Gemini assumed I wanted it to generate a song for… Continue reading
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30. A Very British Summer
It should be the start of Summer, meteorologically at least, but the rain has other thoughts it seems. Only a few days ago (whilst we were out in America), it was warm and dry out here. Back now, it is a blood curdling 11 degrees C and wet. For the first time in a while,… Continue reading
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29. Of Language and Of Words.
Two conversations – one in person and one over on Bluesky (if that counts) – brought words and language to mind for me today. First off was a work conversation in which a Venezuelan expression, Donde ronca el tigre, no hay burro con reumatismo was used. The wider context was a work project which is… Continue reading
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28. A Bird in Hand…
I self describe as a middling mid-career Materials & Corrosion Engineer in jest mainly, but recognise there is a kernel of truth there with much of the past year and a bit feeling like I am treading water. A big part of this derives from my career to date being largely of a specialist nature… Continue reading
A Geek's Life 