Charlotte Walker

Hi, I’m Charlotte, early 50s and I relocated from London to #Pembrokeshire in west #Wales 8 years ago. Interests include #QualitativeResearch, #books, #cats and capybaras. Bisexual, cis (pronouns: she/her). General CW: I post a lot about living with bipolar disorder, I try to CW individual toots about it but some sneak through, sorry.

Currently reading: To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara
Looking forward to: My forthcoming trip to India
Cat: Miss Cinnamon, age 7
Currently watching: The Diplomat, Slow Horses, Last Seen

Public Key

npub1vjwdpx6j4uscm937zg08h4tsulkzcfydhscsm3dff63tp5u4yzcsv27s9n

NIP-05 Address

purplepadma_at_beige.party@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsxf8xsndf27gvdjclpy8nm64cw0mpvyjxmcvgdck55ag4s6w2jpvgpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsjt3qtx

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1vjwdpx6j4uscm937zg08h4tsulkzcfydhscsm3dff63tp5u4yzcsv27s9n

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Last Notes

2026-10-23 18:58:36 UTC

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I’m sure it’s only got worse

2026-10-23 18:46:43 UTC

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oh I didn’t even know this was a thing! Is it animated?

2026-10-23 18:43:58 UTC

"You can only hold your phone up at a concert one time for maximum 30 seconds" https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/781946 Rejected UK parliament petition of the day. A shame, I think concerts would really be enhanced by have scores of patrol officers in the crowd shouting, “Put that phone down!”

2026-10-23 18:18:19 UTC

Something I was not expecting to read:
The promiscuity of Coccinellids (ladybirds) has led to their being affected by sexually transmitted infections.
A real TIL.

2026-10-23 17:20:00 UTC

The lights have been flickering (Tom dismissed my suggestion that it was due to poltergeist activity), then we had a brief power cut. It’s not even that stormy now. If the power goes out while #celebritytraitors is on, I’m going to kick off.

2026-10-21 13:35:26 UTC

RE: https://masto.ai/@Miro_Collas/117477323903363955
This is fascinating - TIL that the US State Department has a hip hop diplomacy program and that The Scorpions’ Winds of Change might have been written by the CIA. The US really does a finger in every global pie, scary stuff.
#note1uen…unnq

2026-10-20 16:53:35 UTC

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Correct!

2026-10-20 16:48:13 UTC

I’ve just been reminded of another more recent piece of rhyming slang, “I haven’t got a Scooby”.
Any non-Brits care to suggest what this means?

2026-10-20 16:37:45 UTC

Still flowering! #autumn #october #bloomscrolling
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/117/474/165/437/217/671/original/4239c65337aa42a8.jpeg
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/117/474/166/169/060/394/original/22a20aa3ba9e4d66.jpeg
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2026-10-20 11:00:51 UTC

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Smart but needs to not be the only one trying to respond to every question. “Anyone know the answer? Anyone other than Charlotte?”

2026-10-20 08:28:04 UTC

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To be fair she was apparently in her 20s and we don’t even have bluebirds in the UK 😂

2026-10-20 08:09:10 UTC

Hooting with laughter just now after hearing a snippet of last night’s Mastermind: “According to the song popularised by Dame Vera Lynn, what type of bird will be over the white cliffs of Dover?” “Albatross”

2026-10-19 13:43:41 UTC

RE: https://journa.host/@fulelo/117466220223310509
As lots of people raise in the article, who is going to enforce this? Bus drivers can’t do it. If it’s going to be a local authority responsibility, how can they carry it out? Councils can’t afford to employ people to ride around on buses hoping to catch people causing a nuisance.
#note12uj…nqps

2026-10-16 17:02:33 UTC

Some interesting mushrooms popped up on our lawn overnight. Anyone able to identify? #fungi #FungiFriday
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/117/451/653/723/051/208/original/be6a38873d36032b.jpeg
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/117/451/654/453/182/030/original/8e559e43006d83a4.jpeg

2026-10-16 08:18:16 UTC

RE: https://veganism.social/@Geri/117447053377592831
This is just a terrible strategy
#note1dak…hcey

2026-10-05 06:19:59 UTC

Good morning! I was too tired to post after I got in from the craft workshop last night but it was such fun! We made mini scrapbooks like wallets with pockets. Some pics attached. It was great to go with Alice, she very much enjoyed herself and the two hours just flew by.
I’m up for a morning walk with her, then I have to make soup. This afternoon I have a video call with a very old friend who is struggling with her mental health, then flu jab.
The dawn light is lavender.
Happy new week everyone.
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/117/386/814/611/200/494/original/ee7221d6951f00aa.jpeg
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2026-10-04 14:53:32 UTC

Yaaaayyyy there is a new Becky Chambers coming out very soon! This makes me very happy #bookstodon #books

2026-10-03 15:41:23 UTC

This sign at the zoo made me laugh
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/117/377/720/173/819/603/original/cc32836ae0c0afd6.jpeg

2026-09-24 03:01:10 UTC

Just typed the phrase “Lil Red Riding Hood” and then realised that my whole life I have never stopped to question
a) what a riding hood actually is, I mean I kind of thought growing up that it was the girl’s surname
b) if it is a special head covering meant for riding, why was the girl wearing it to walk in the woods?

2026-09-17 09:07:23 UTC

People who design trousers without pockets should be put in the stocks

2026-09-07 12:52:24 UTC

RE: https://mastodonapp.uk/@bbcnewsfeed/117229820612734988
If it’s gonna be dangerous… how about… not making it?
#note1tz5…k7eh

2026-08-21 08:54:33 UTC

Perfectly baked #CatsOfMastodon #cats
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/117/132/639/885/016/933/original/be6392bb6c4e1ca8.jpeg

2026-08-16 18:42:50 UTC

For financial reasons, I had to remember the 8 times table recently. I recalled the drudgery of learning them by rote and the anxiety attached to being asked to come to front of the class to recite them. Were you required to learn your times tables by heart at primary/elementary school? And what country did you grow up in?

2026-07-12 07:54:31 UTC

RE: https://h4.io/@brettezeleliquide/116889804604420654
I absolutely love this! The delicacy of the painting on ephemeral “canvases” which must be eaten or wither
#note19k2…74df

2026-07-11 07:16:10 UTC

RE: https://flipboard.social/@newsguyusa/116898329613173808
Annnnd the backlash has been so huge they’ve had to pull it already. Good.
#note1wur…rtqk

2026-06-25 09:46:37 UTC

RE: https://mastodon.me.uk/@PoliceStateUK/116809391515868195
Oh this is very interesting. Link to a site where you can look up any MP and see how close to the average they are for their party or the Commons as a whole
#note1z73…r98u

2026-06-18 08:27:52 UTC

RE: https://mastodonapp.uk/@bbcnewsfeed/116769993946668788
Yes, but WHY are they repeat shoplifters? In most cases, the answer is poverty and/or addiction. People are either stealing things to live (food, clothes, infant formula, etc), to consume to feed their addiction (in the case of alcohol), or to sell on to raise money to be spent on necessities or drugs/alcohol.
Shoplifting isn’t going to go away with tougher sanctions or swifter court hearings.
#note1s4z…xkph

2026-05-03 08:53:15 UTC

People have been pointing this out for decades. We had a whole women’s justice strategy in the form of the Corston Report back in 2007. It was never implemented. Successive governments fail to act on prison reform despite overwhelming criminological evidence, presumably because they are frightened of seeming too soft on offenders. @npub12pw…zvxn
From: @npub12pw…zvxn
https://zirk.us/@ChrisMayLA6/116509711774044044

2026-04-16 17:19:02 UTC

Mastodon men would do well to look upon this chart
From: @npub1rl7…sy4k
https://fediscience.org/@michcampbell/116413329329478410

2026-04-11 12:15:23 UTC

I think this sounds like a fascinating conference and I don’t even like tea!
From: @npub1r02…f6ma
https://fosstodon.org/@catselbow/116385797808790408

2026-04-02 08:00:30 UTC

I applaud the sentiment in terms of pushing back, but I do not approve of equating it to disability. Disability is not a choice, and a matter of conscience is. Disabled people cannot simply choose to change the impact disability has on them, these people might not like it, but they could get another job if it really bothers them that much.
From: @npub12pw…zvxn
https://zirk.us/@ChrisMayLA6/116333458728387244

2026-03-01 08:33:18 UTC

I’m a Green Party member but I’m urging anyone who doesn’t want to vote Green to vote Plaid. Labour are so unpopular that they haven’t a hope of forming a government, and we absolutely cannot afford to allow Reform in.
From: @npub1zhz…9xyw
https://toot.wales/@NationCymru/116152964073145714

2026-02-25 21:10:52 UTC

Mental health services are already obsessed with getting people back into work, and once someone does return to work they are deemed “recovered” and not deserving of further support. The whole “recovery model” assumes that the measure of successful treatment is whether a mental ill person can be restored to economic productivity
From: @npub12pw…zvxn
https://zirk.us/@ChrisMayLA6/116129856577895245

2026-02-14 12:45:27 UTC

Exactly what the UK needs, another tiny right wing populist political party. Maybe eventually all former Reform politicians will each have their own mini-party
From: [@bbcnewsfeed](https://mastodonapp.uk/@bbcnewsfeed )
https://mastodonapp.uk/@bbcnewsfeed/116068752254138876

2025-12-16 11:59:39 UTC

I did not, of course, go to the social. Instead I stayed in bed until I had missed my train then cried about what a useless twat I am. Other thoughts: IDK why Tom bothers with me; I just want to get smaller and smaller until I disappear; I would like to chop both my legs off. Even I can see that my brain is absolutely infested with weasels but I lack the strength to see them off

2025-12-13 11:59:12 UTC

Good morning (just). I’m off to the dentist to get my teeth bonded after a long and expensive period of straightening. My teeth will never not be a bit wonky but as long I don’t mix with judgemental American people I guess it’s fine. Not looking forward to an hour in the chair. In fact I feel a bit gloomy this morning. Ah well.
Any Saturday shenanigans your end?

2025-12-12 18:28:41 UTC

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“unaudited” certainly doing a lot of heavy lifting but I thought it worth sharing at very least to compare Tory and Green membership. What mechanism is there for verifying claims?

2025-12-01 11:58:21 UTC

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Excellent band name

2025-11-30 18:47:37 UTC

I feel very mentally unwell indeed. Some friends just asked what they can do to help, if jokes and memes would help, or if I wanted to chat. Any sort of interaction would help. I’m crying in the bath because my head’s so messed up and it feels like familiar bad territory. So anything to keep me feeling connected would be wonderful

2025-11-27 19:21:11 UTC

*cat flap noise*
Tom: Is it raining? Yes, you’re all wet. Come on, let me rub you down. Don’t run… don’t run away from… come here!
Cat: *indignant squawk*
Tom: I know, but you’ve got to be dried, haven’t you?
Cat: *squawk!*
Tom: All right, there we go, good girl. That wasn’t so bad, was it?
This exact same piece of dialogue plays out every time it rains
#cats #MastoCats #CatsOfMastodon

2025-11-27 13:58:05 UTC

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OMG you are so lucky you don’t know The Wiggles. They started off in Australia in the late 90s and my kids (born 97 and 99) were OBSESSED with them. They were referred to in the press as “the Fab Four for the under fives”. Over the years they have, like so many great bands, undergone many personnel changes. I could still sing you some of their original classic material. No?

2025-11-26 13:53:28 UTC

Unbelievably, pecan won the nut poll. I am shook, I tell you. Thought almond was going to take the crown for sure.
In other news I walked into town in the rain and I’m now going to join an online coworking session and see if I can concentrate on work for a couple of hours. What I really want to do is sleep more…

2025-11-25 23:56:34 UTC

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I don’t even know what it means, I just know The Kids are all saying it and I wanted to sound down with them

2025-11-25 23:45:21 UTC

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Six seven just sounds like a London bus number

2025-11-25 16:44:13 UTC

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Beautiful!

2025-11-25 13:48:38 UTC

Best nut

2025-11-24 11:34:31 UTC

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Men call for a national screening program for prostate cancer quite often. Unfortunately this misses the memo that testing is just not specific enough as yet to avoid creating lots of false positives which could lead to unnecessary invasive treatment. Those treatments can lead to erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence, diminishing quality of life perhaps needlessly.
I have had men tell me that the only reason such a programme doesn’t exist is that women’s health needs are prioritised in health screening. That is simply not the case

2025-11-24 05:13:37 UTC

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Oof that sounds tough. Sending you cooling thoughts and anti-migraine juju

2025-11-24 00:58:49 UTC

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A lovely boy, I’m so sorry to hear he’s been so poorly. Best wishes for the new treatment

2025-11-23 16:51:31 UTC

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I’m more of a horror fan and thought #ScreamingSocks

2025-11-23 16:43:39 UTC

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The existence of #SilentSocks implies some of your other socks are noisy

2025-11-20 17:29:28 UTC

I am loving The Witching by Silvia Morena-Garcia. Set between Mexico in 1908 and a New England college campus in 1934 and 1998, it’s weaving motifs of witchcraft, mysterious disappearances and malevolent spirits as a lonely Mexican PhD student follows the literary trail of an obscure female horror writer. I don’t want to do anything but read it #AmReading #Bookstodon #horror

2025-11-18 21:28:14 UTC

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A scorpion was IN THE BED??

2025-11-18 09:31:47 UTC

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That’s an amazing follower count for Mastodon! I always enjoy your posts

2025-11-18 03:16:54 UTC

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Is Donk short for Donkey? Or is it onomatopoeic? *donkkkk!*

2025-11-17 20:45:54 UTC

My washing machine displays the word Wilkommen when you turn it on. I always sing, “bienvenue, welcome!” at it

2025-11-17 04:30:54 UTC

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I try not to worry about by DNF rate because life is just too short to persevere with a boring or depressing book 💜

2025-11-16 21:02:31 UTC

All news these days
Labour: *something something fascist policy*
Tories: this just doesn’t go far enough

2025-11-12 09:25:43 UTC

Your annual reminder this charity week in the UK that children in poverty getting a hot meal should not be dependent on the public sponsoring non-sporting celebrities to run ultra marathons. That is supposed to be the government’s job #ChildrenInNeed

2025-11-10 20:43:34 UTC

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How do you feel about the return to work?

2025-11-09 12:51:25 UTC

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Yes, in a perverse way I enjoyed lockdown because my local community really came together. There was a secret window painter who went round painting rainbows and messages on ship and house windows. People shopped for each other. We had socially distanced drinks with the neighbours with our chairs about 5m apart.

2025-11-09 10:38:25 UTC

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Except I think spaces like Mastodon allow us to build connections and networks even if we’re too sick or disabled to get outdoors. It’s a window onto the world for those who cannot access common spaces

2025-11-04 15:59:33 UTC

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Why shouldn’t you, indeed. It’s easy enough to change your mind. My son has an excellent handlebar moustache because that is his Look.

2025-11-04 14:47:59 UTC

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Are you growing it for Movember, or are you dressing your face for the job you want, not the job you have?

2025-11-03 12:41:39 UTC

My daughter shared this pumpkin design from her manager’s kid. One to embarrass her with in later life
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/115/485/811/466/900/751/original/55ec4bb7b10bb8c6.jpeg

2025-11-03 10:16:56 UTC

I did meditate but in a quite half-hearted way, bamboozled by poor sleep. I now need to pop into town in the rain once the cat has finished with me (she’s currently using me as a pedestal for an enthusiastic wash). Then I suppose I should get started on some work. There’s nothing pressing today. Maybe I deserve a second breakfast first?

2025-10-31 18:43:59 UTC

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Oh I’m sorry to hear this. Why does this sort of stuff seem to occur in clusters? I really hope you can get someone reliable and affordable to fix the plumbing

2025-10-31 15:14:39 UTC

When my stepdaughters (35 and 33) were here last week they asked us the dates of the first and second world wars. That’s something I can’t imagine not knowing, but is that tied to me being Gen X growing up around grandparents who had lived through WWII and parents who were born in the 1946 baby boom?
My hairdresser who is 32 went to Poland earlier this year but when I told her I visited in 1990 just after the fall of communism, she said, “What’s that?”
Are millennials just divorced from major events and ideologies of the 20th century because it’s such ancient history for them? Am I expecting too much of people born in the 90s to know this stuff?

2025-10-28 07:03:29 UTC

Good morning. I did not sleep well knowing that I had to be up to catch my train, which is allegedly running on time. I’ve got more postgraduate researcher training in writing skills this morning and then I want to go to the library to return my interlibrary loan (probably setting off the alarm on my way in).
Hopefully I’ll be home by 4pm, trains permitting!
What are you up to today?

2025-10-26 21:22:23 UTC

Rest assured I will never create a free account just to keep reading

2025-10-26 12:09:35 UTC

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on Twitter I had 22.5k followers. I once did an unscientific audit of how many of those accounts actually interacted with me and it was fewer than 100. I think I get a lot more human engagement from my Masto followers

2025-10-24 20:31:19 UTC

My stepdaughters have decided to go home tomorrow instead of Sunday. They’re missing their partners and feeling like lone parents with all the nappy changes and night waking. I quite understand but I will be sorry to see them all go. Sometimes I wish we could establish a huge compound so that all of our kids and grandkids could live in close proximity yet autonomously

2025-10-17 16:42:19 UTC

I wanted to read a relevant looking 2025 book on research paradigms. I thought of buying it but it was like £140. My uni library didn’t have it, so I put in an interlibrary loan request. The document supply librarian came back to say that they couldn’t find a copy, but if I thought it would be a valuable addition to the library, I could ask for it to be purchased, so I did. I just got an email to say it’s been purchased, and it’s been reserved for me, and I’ll be notified when I can pick it up.
Stunningly good service in an era of crappiness. Genuinely excited to be the first person to check this book out!

2025-10-16 12:21:25 UTC

In the break in my deep work session I went out into the garden to capture the very last flowers from the summer. We haven’t had much of a cold snap yet so they’ve lasted well #bloomscrolling
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/115/383/790/275/296/509/original/5ab535d796e89e8e.jpg
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2025-10-16 08:49:15 UTC

Good morning. I never want to see the word “dishwasher” again. This is worse than Brexit

2025-10-14 10:22:44 UTC

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it’s not worth me even trying to touch the dishwasher, Tom is absolutely anal about it and has rules about the angle of forks and the gap between plates. Just one of the reasons I sometimes wonder if he is on the spectrum

2025-10-14 10:19:39 UTC

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Is this part of your project to be OK with arachnids?

2025-10-13 02:46:05 UTC

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oh I adore artichokes!

2025-10-12 08:51:06 UTC

Good morning. I have a mainly lazy morning, apart from stripping and making up the bed, but I have to cook an early lunch to fortify Tom before he sets of for England to start his new job tomorrow.
This afternoon I’m booked into a 3-6pm pomodoro online co-working session to try to put this review paper to bed. It may however spill over into tomorrow. Really not enjoying it.
This evening will be a quiet one home alone, I may watch some TV but for some reason I struggle to do that when I’m by myself.
Tell me what your Sunday holds.

2025-10-11 16:53:44 UTC

I asked why I am so tired. A locked friend posited that it’s maybe the change of season - or the ongoing fascism. Sure to be one of those

2025-10-10 20:24:33 UTC

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😭

2025-10-10 17:22:10 UTC

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I see you are still going

2025-10-07 19:41:23 UTC

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Jumping in on this thread to ask if you have any ideas for houseplants that can cope with lower light levels? I really want one for my desk but my office is kind of gloomy

2025-10-06 18:59:40 UTC

French politics as illustrated by Matt
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/115/328/748/805/284/641/original/557f31d05844e9c8.jpeg

2025-10-05 16:30:49 UTC

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This troubled my cat

2025-10-03 11:33:44 UTC

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What a national treasure

2025-10-03 11:09:01 UTC

last boost: fucking YES! Working at close quarters with “prolific offenders” committing crime to finance their class A addictions only strengthened my belief that it’s prohibition that drives a lot of drug-related crime. Next up talk about abolishing the prison estate, Zack

2025-10-01 09:51:00 UTC

OK so I fucked something up at work yesterday and I’ve been a wreck ever since. If not for yoga class I think I would’ve really fallen apart. I was so upset and ashamed that I couldn’t even talk to anyone about it and I was awake in the night worrying. I was thinking I might even get a formal warning, and then my PhD supervisor would find out…
I emailed my manager early this morning with a formal apology, and guess what she came back and said?
“Please don’t worry about it!”
Not saying I know how to catastrophise or anything, but FFS Charlotte

2025-09-30 12:55:34 UTC

Tom is doing battle with the Disclosure and Barring Service and by extension, the police. He has a new job but he can’t start because they’ve been waiting FOUR WEEKS to someone to press a button to run a search show that he hasn’t got any criminal convictions. He’s in danger of losing the contract. He’s tried to make contact with the DBS via phone (which gives useless information then says “goodbye!”) and web chat (which simply doesn’t open) #and there seems to be no way of speaking to a person. His next step it to ring our local police force, they complain to the Police and Crime Commissioner.
WHY ARE ALL GOVERNMENT THINGS SO SHIT???

2025-09-23 12:34:34 UTC

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I would question whether things were ever better than this. My experience as a schoolgirl in the 80s and 90s was exactly the same. I don’t recognise these great strides in progress that are supposed to have happened in the past

2025-09-20 05:26:01 UTC

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I struggle a lot with staying in the happy now without projecting fearfully into the future when my husband (who is 18 years older than me) is gone. I will try to take your advice

2025-09-19 11:26:36 UTC

I have had a lunch composed of salt, fat, sugar and caffeine and I feel much restored

2025-09-19 09:30:22 UTC

Oh dear. Despite travel sickness medication Alice and I were both horribly sick on the boat and have had to be deposited at a beach along the coast. The tour company is sending someone in a car to pick us up and take us back to the hotel. I haven’t been sick like that in absolutely years.
Quiet afternoon by the pool beckons

2025-09-17 06:10:47 UTC

Can’t… wake… up… I was supposed to be at breakfast 25 minutes ago. I had a very intense dream that I was in a particularly dramatic episode of Coronation Street which included car crashes and a grisly murder. Maybe that’s why I’m so tired, emotional exhaustion 😂
Today is a spa day, sauna, steam room, jacuzzi and treatments, with time in the pool at some point. A very relaxing day.
What’s your Wednesday agenda?

2025-09-13 04:23:52 UTC

5am is really too early for anything

2025-09-09 18:24:26 UTC

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ooh season 3 is coming this autumn, is it?

2025-09-09 17:04:22 UTC

I stood up for ONE SECOND #mastocats #CatsOfMastodon
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/115/175/413/213/307/750/original/f1e4ebd72343cfdb.jpg

2025-09-07 12:47:01 UTC

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Ooh that sounds so simple!

2025-09-07 10:40:47 UTC

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Hi Caity! Cake sounds amazing

2025-09-04 20:13:46 UTC

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Is life expectancy in the USA really only 77 years? That’s surprisingly poor