iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Man turns up at hospital this morning with an overnight bag, for his operation, as per the appointment letter he’s brought with him. Nobody in the hospital knew he was coming. They don’t have him down for surgery today. With this kind of admin, is it any wonder our local NHS Trust is in crisis?

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Been taking a few pills of late. I always read the small print (just to scare myself about the alarming potential side effects). I do wonder what one is supposed to do about the many instances where it says “if you get side effect X, see your doctor straight away”. How?

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Contentious opinion: extendable dog leads are a public nuisance and should be banned. [Softened from: dog owners who are completely oblivious that their long dog lead is tripping people up, or that their dog is walking in the middle of the road facing oncoming traffic, shouldn’t be allowed a dog.]

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Alex de Campi @alexdecampi.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

With alt text. I know someone who actually did this

kbarton1001
On my first big overseas client conference, I was at a dinner seated next to a drunk client who kept trying to fondle me under the table. I was young, distressed, and had no idea what to do. I moved my legs as far away from him as I could, moving into the space of the man next to me, who then started patting my legs! The Regional Manager was a French woman who caught my eye, gestured for me to go to the bathroom and when I came back had switched chairs with me. What happed next was epic. A few minutes after I sat back down, she raised her hand with his hand captured in hers and announced loudly "Does anyone know whose hand this is? I found it in my lap." There was dead silence at the table. She threw his hand back at him and said calmly "next time I pick it up with my fork." Then she started a new conversational thread and things moved on. After the meeting she found me, gave me a hug, and said seriously "Never be afraid to make some noise. It is their shame, not yours."

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

@claer-barrett.bsky.social Re your latest column on digital PAs - see this thread and comments. bsky.app/profile/flip...

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Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 25/09/2026

I have blamed The agents That hacked Your website And which You probably Reasonably thought I controlled Forgive me I am rich And unaccustomed To taking responsibility

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Jane Hill @janehill.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I’d like to see posters with symptoms lists on the back of public toilet doors and in doctors’ surgeries.

OVARIAN CANCER
SYMPTOMS
→ Tummy pain
→ Bloating
→ Feeling full
→ Needing to pee more
Ovarian cancer symptoms can also include indigestion, back pain, changes in bowel habits, post-menopausal vaginal bleeding, and extreme tiredness.
ovarian.org.uk

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Jane Hill @janehill.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

A year ago today I went to my GP’s surgery after a summer of being treated for IBS, feeling somehow that we were missing something. By the end of the day I was admitted to hospital with Stage 3 ovarian cancer. Here’s the blogpost I wrote about it. janehill64.substack.com/p/have-you-g...

janehill64.substack.com

Have you got somebody with you?

Thoughts from the longest day.

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I’ve had more contact with the NHS than anyone would wish this year, and I *still* keep finding parts of the (dis)organisation that have addresses for me or my GP that date from 2 house moves ago. You’d think updating your details in the NHS app would cascade info to all relevant databases…? Nope!

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Alice Roberts @profaliceroberts.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I’ve reached the point - well actually, I reached it a while ago - where I’m militantly anti-AI. Fine - use it in bioscience labs and radiology where it might help analyse data more effectively. Use it sparingly for systems engineering. Everywhere else, it can fuck off.

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Jane Hill @janehill.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

I see Monty Don is stepping down from Gardeners’ World. This will be a huge loss to my good friend, lady poetess Cynthia Cartwright, who used to make occasional appearances at open mic nights.

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Chapeau to the artist, who managed not to eat his subject long enough to paint it.

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Daniel Sugarman @danielsugarman.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

The world's most notorious custard-pie thrower is dead. What an obituary. He got Bernard-Henri Lévy seven times.

Known to his army of fans as L’Entarteur or Georges le Gloupier, Godin launched his career as a serial deflator of egos in 1969, when he planted a tarte à la crème on the face of the French novelist Marguerite Duras (“She has a kind of intelligence and cleverness that serves only her own vanity,” he complained), and he went on to “pie” a cast list of celebrities for sins ranging from pomposity to “choosing to function in the service of the capitalist status quo”.

The same could not be said of Bernard-Henri Lévy, one of France’s “new philosophers,” whose provocative views on sex, frequent appearances on television and penchant for white silk shirts unbuttoned practically to the navel, had made him a cult figure – and one of Godin’s most satisfying victims.

Levy once declared: “I am the most gifted writer of my generation,” and often boasted of his reasonableness and tolerance, but he was forced to endure footage being repeatedly shown on French television of himself, covered in cream, during a visit to the Belgian city of Liège, trying to strangle Godin and shouting: “Get up, or I’ll kick your head in.”

Noël Godin was born on September 13 1945 and came to pie-throwing after a rebellious youth in which he scandalised the priests in the confessional by speaking of his “horrible sexual life”, and was thrown out of Liège University after emptying a pot of glue over the head of a law lecturer who had helped write the constitution for the Portuguese dictator António de Oliveira Salazar.

He found work at Friends of Film, an obscure magazine published by the Belgian Catholic League. It had a tiny readership, which was just as well, as Godin made up most of his articles. In one he claimed that Louis Armstrong had once been a cannibal and had invested in a film called The Vegetables of Good Will in which Claudia Cardinale played a giant endive.

In another he conjured up a fictional blind Thai filmmaker named Vivian Pei, describing her film, The Lotus Flower Will Never Again Grow on the Edge of Your Island, in such convincing terms that an Asian film specialist travelled to Thailand in an effort to track her down.

“We’re very careful not to hurt people,’’ he explained. “Well, they are hurt, but always in their amour-propre.”

In 1995 Godin published an autobiography, Cream and Punishment. His other targets over the years included the New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard (who charmed his assailant by hailing the attack as a homage to silent film), the French politician Nicolas Sarkozy, the choreographer Maurice Béjart and the Ryanair chairman Michael O’Leary. He tended not to pick Belgian victims, he explained, because few would notice if he did.

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The Secret Barrister @barristersecret.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Apparently £5million can’t buy you enough security to protect you from an imaginary threat.

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Kentish Fran #FBPE @kentishfran.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

You should not be using spot on insecticide as a preventative but only if you find pets have fleas. If you're paying for a monthly veterinary treatment you should think again. These insecticides are killing baby birds in the nest and wildlife in rivers. www.channel4.com/news/common-...

channel4.com

Common pet flea treatment ‘should be banned’ due to environment concerns

A House of Lords committee is urging the government to ban pet flea and tick treatments from general sale.

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Rob Morgan @durutti74.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

The DWP are asking for people to contribute evidence for a forthcoming review of Carers Allowance and how it operates. Admittedly this is niche, but please spread the word so it reaches the right people. www.gov.uk/government/c...

gov.uk

Carer's Allowance: call for evidence

This call for evidence is being administered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to gather information and views to build on the Department’s existing evidence. What we hear will help shape ...

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Slightly mystified by this. Do some supermarkets sell scotch eggs that don’t have eggs in them?

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

It’s finally a temperature where we can open the windows and let in a nice breeze, rather than being shut-up against the heat all day…. ….so some bastard farmer has decided that today is the day for muck spreading. It pongs. Windows closed again. *sigh*

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

I’m regularly cleaning and refilling my birdbath to reduce the spread of bird diseases … but the sweet little birdies could do themselves a big favour by not promptly shitting in it. *sigh*

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General Boles @generalboles.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

🎶 if I was a rich man Ya ba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dum 🎶

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Farmer & farm worker tips on working outside in hot humid weather: First, the normal stuff. Stay hydrated. Take breaks in the shade. These are the basics! They'll get you pretty far & you won't make it without them! They are also not enough to get through a day on the farm IME!

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Have decided that perhaps now is The Time. I’m going in. Wish me luck.

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Today’s Executor Moan: Why on earth should it make a difference whether someone was buried or cremated when it comes to how many lines you can have on a memorial tablet on their grave? Death admin is difficult enough without this ridiculous pettifogging by the CofE.

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

How did people dry their washing in places like Singapore where the humidity is really high? Did they just put damp clothes on? How did the clothes not just rot when you put them in cupboards? (Friday questions prompted by the washing on the line Just Not Drying)

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Far from freshening things up, this early morning’s mahoosive thunderstorm and torrential rain has created an atmosphere rather like a steam room.

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Looking back, it all started when Facebook dropped the “is”.

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

After 5 workdays (extending into work evenings) in front of a computer, my list of jobs for the weekend contains mainly ….admin, requiring more hours in front of a computer. Modern life is rubbish.

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Laptop updated and Excel has started trying to second-guess the formulae I’m writing. It’s even more annoying than someone always trying to finish your sentences for you. Mostly it’s wildly wrong. Sometimes it’s spookily right - but I still have to check. At least - for now - I can turn it off.

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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

I'm doing a story on cuts to the Universal Credit disability payments - I'm looking to speak to anyone who started claiming means-tested disability benefit (LCWRA, either in ESA or Universal Credit) for the first time when they were in their 50s or 60s My DMs are open, grateful for any reposts

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Are they booing? Or are they cheering for Wu?

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Alexander Glass @alexanderglass.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

I was bored, so I made our toilet look like Nigel Farage

Toilet with the lid down, made into a frogging face with two full toilet rolls as eyes, and one used toilet roll tube jammed between seat and lid as a cigar.

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Been re-reading the Narnia chronicles as an adult. Just finished The Silver Chair, of which I remembered absolutely nothing from my childhood reading of it. Zilch. Pauline Baynes’s enchanting illustrations stayed with me, but not a sausage in terms of plot or characters. 1/3

Fine line drawing of a galleon and a castle with tall turrets

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Will no one rid us of this turbulent beast?

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Do the ducklings help? I’m not sure even they can lift my mood. But here they are anyway, in case they lift yours. (After I stopped filming, the goldfish started nibbling their toes.)

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

So the cycling has now moved to HBO and I can’t find the 1-hour highlights shows so it’s a choice between the 8 hour replay or the 15 min highlights. Nutty.

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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

The median age in Britain is about 40. The median Briton has not experienced sustained economic growth in their adult life time.

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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

But that would make sense, so we're not gonna do that

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

It is genuinely fascinating and also deeply depressing that the carpets are only used for a few days before being replaced. Why such waste? Yes, recycling is good, but reusing is better!

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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

It’s beyond insane that the BBC World Service might end in 7 weeks when its funding runs out. A beacon of information, education and UK soft power - Ministers would be crazy not to find money to support it www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.com

The Guardian view on the BBC World Service: this is London calling | Editorial

Editorial: With just seven weeks before its funding runs out, the UK’s greatest cultural asset and most trusted international news organisation must be supported

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Splendid Colemanballs on the Beeb: “ ‘Olympic Champion Matt Weston’ - that must sound like nectar to his ears.”

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Ten nested IFs in an Excel formula that I need to decipher. My head hurts.

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

@edibledormouse.bsky.social ICYMI - this was in the FT’s list of books to read in 2026. Happy New Year! May it bring you Good Things.

Preview of new book “Vocal Break: On Women, Music & Power” by Lauren Elkin

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

I’m a Christian allegory in the guise of a talking lion.

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Marie Phillips @mariephillips.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

NIGEL FARAGE STOLE MY SATSUMAS

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contrarybass.bsky.social @contrarybass.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

Just eaten a “Seedless Easy Peeler” and had to sit out nineteen pips. Nineteen. Even allowing for the analogy with “stainless” steel (which still stains - but less) I feel nineteen seeds is surely taking the pith.

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