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snaptophobic

@[email protected]

Humanist, atheist, UK republican and lefty tea drinker. I used to build models of railway things for people. I build models of winged things for me. My personal opinions live here.

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@Erased_Citizen@cupoftea.social avatar Erased_Citizen , to random

I have whipped cream AND double cream on my chocolate fudge cake today

snaptophobic ,
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@Erased_Citizen

I can feel my cardio-vascular system furring up in sympathy. 😨

@snaptophobic@mastodon.me.uk avatar snaptophobic , to random

Okay, I’m going to stop being a grump now. Is it time for lunch yet?

@snaptophobic@mastodon.me.uk avatar snaptophobic , to random

Ah. Penguin Cafe Orchestra. That’s lifted the mood.

@snaptophobic@mastodon.me.uk avatar snaptophobic , to random

I’ve been out. I didn’t like it.

@snaptophobic@mastodon.me.uk avatar snaptophobic , to random

I just spent a couple of hours with my poorly friend. He gets himself in a muddle with letters, appointments, bills, etc.

Together, we’ve been through lots of bumph, and set him up with a "master diary" with the current Important Dates in it.

There will be more to do, but it’s a start.

It got me out of the house, if nothing else.

@snaptophobic@mastodon.me.uk avatar snaptophobic , to random

We’re having a family lunch at the local pub. It’ll be a carvery. It’ll be nice.

@snaptophobic@mastodon.me.uk avatar snaptophobic , to random

Today I am heading to the Bucks/Northants border. The journey will take me about three hours if I don’t hurry. I can’t check in to the hotel until 1500hrs.

So, I don’t really need to leave home until midday. I am, therefore, not exactly rushing around to get ready.

The trip is to deliver Paul's old school blazer to the Milton Keynes museum. That’s happening tomorrow at midday, so I’ll probably do some exploring in the morning - weather permitting.

snaptophobic OP ,
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I’ve decided to have my usual cooked midday meal before I leave. I can buy a sandwich when I fill the car, for something later.

Leaving a bit later will hopefully avoid some of the motorway snarl-ups I’ve been seeing.

snaptophobic OP ,
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Here we are. Travelodge, Old Stratford, with a commanding view of … the A5.

It’ll do for one night. I must ask about the breakfast thing before I forget.

@snaptophobic@mastodon.me.uk avatar snaptophobic , to random

Morning world. It has been decreed we put up the Christmas lights today. I’m not going to argue.

Today’s mood: twinkly

snaptophobic OP ,
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The job will take all of a quarter of an hour. Quite what I shall do with the rest of the day, well, I don’t really know.

snaptophobic OP ,
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@FourT4

It rather depends on if I switch the beggars on. It’s not even December yet.

@TheBreadmonkey@beige.party avatar TheBreadmonkey , to random

It's quite difficult as a man who's trying to be better and aligning themselves as a feminist (and it's not lost on me that some men who brandish their feminism turn out to be a bit shit), when the feminists they largely support turn out to mean 'not trans'. Particularly when any support of trans women means you're branded by those people as someone who hates women. It becomes a thorny issue for men who don't have a vested interest to then choose a side. Where do your loyalties lay. Are you someone who hates women for not supporting women or are you someone who hates women for supporting the wrong kind of women. A lot of well-intentioned men, I assume, therefore get caught in this crossfire. The answer, as I see it, is to support people. As much as in any other way. Be it any marginalised community. It doesn't really matter what you are or what others are. Hate is bad. Love is good. If you're saying 'I accept all people except....', then this isn't a brilliant starting point. You're saying you feel you have agency over someone else's life and decisions. It's overly simplistic, but to me it's like someone saying to you - I think how you cook your toast is is wrong and you should be dead because of it. It's madness. Being trans to me is homeostasis. A return to the correct balance of being. We all strive to be the version of ourselves we wish to be. Bigger. Smaller. Faster. More intelligent. We change our clothes, our hair. You're born with a disability you work to find a way to live in the world with it. Imagine being born in the wrong body. Imagine how it feels to have everything wrong. Not just within yourself but all perception and all of society and expectations. Imagine if someone - everyone - said that changing yourself was evil and bad and wrong. Then persecuted to fuck for it. Whatever you believe, if that's something you want to impose on another human being - you are not a good or kind person. You're causing pain at no benefit to yourself or others. I'm not trans. I don't really understand what it means to live with that pain. I have no lived experience of having to go through the sort of hardship required to live any of the infinite steps needed to move from pain to acceptance. But I do know I will give nothing but love and support to someone going through that. Because I am a human who wants joy and love and acceptance for others and don't want to cause pain and hurt. This got away from me a bit. Be nice to trans people. X

snaptophobic ,
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@snaptophobic@mastodon.me.uk avatar snaptophobic , to random

I’m making an effort, alright? My workbench lights are on, and I’ve arrayed some tools about, and rummaged in a drawer for some suitable material.

I just don’t want to actually do the 20-minute job that comes next.

@snaptophobic@mastodon.me.uk avatar snaptophobic , to random

Yay! Made it home safely!

snaptophobic OP ,
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I’ve paid my toll charge, too. I think £3.50 is far too expensive to gain access to Essex. It ain’t worth that much. 🤣

@snaptophobic@mastodon.me.uk avatar snaptophobic , to random

I thought I had plans for the day. I still have plans, but they’re topsy-turvey.

It’ll work out in the end.

@snaptophobic@mastodon.me.uk avatar snaptophobic , to random

I don’t know whether it’s the sore neck or something else. I’ve been feeling a bit out of sorts all day. Vaguely unsettled, with nothing I can actually point at as a cause.

Perhaps I’ll feel better tomorrow.

@snaptophobic@mastodon.me.uk avatar snaptophobic , to random

For those who care for such things, here are some speed test results of my new optical internet.

(My lunch is in the oven, and I had a minute or two spare.)

The slightly slower one is over wifi on my ancient iPad. The other is Ethernet (100 base T, I dimly recall) from my Mac mini. The service is the most basic level available, because I really don’t need anything faster.

Enjoy!

An online internet connection speed test result for a new fibre to the property installation, over 100 baseT Ethernet to the modem/router. Download 103.64mbps; upload 18.90mbps

An online internet connection speed test result for a new fibre to the property installation, over 100 baseT Ethernet to the modem/router. Download 103.64mbps; upload 18.90mbps
ALT
@snaptophobic@mastodon.me.uk avatar snaptophobic , to random

'Ome, sweet 'ome.

My poor old car isn’t at all keen on the hilly bits of the A303. It may need a bit of a tune-up.

@snaptophobic@mastodon.me.uk avatar snaptophobic , to random

I did just swing by my workbench to see what's happening. I don’t think I can avoid it much longer.

snaptophobic OP ,
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Soldering iron powered up, tools laid out, "Magical Mystery Tour" and "Sgt Pepper" as soundtrack.

A pair of rough and ready bogies appeared. My, but those castings are awful. I’ve done the best I can to tidy them, but crikey.

@snaptophobic@mastodon.me.uk avatar snaptophobic , to random

Isn’t it amazing? I can go for days, mooching around my house, and my phone will never ring.

I go out to a neighbour for an hour, for tea and chinwags, and the bloody phone won’t stop ringing!

@snaptophobic@mastodon.me.uk avatar snaptophobic , to random

I’m thinking of redesigning my web site. What’s the accepted norm for general page pixel width these days.

The site will, obviously, be flexible to cater for phones and tablets as well as 4K monitors. I just wonder what basic width to aim for.

Currently, if memory serves, it’s 960px wide.

https://heatherkay.co.uk

snaptophobic OP ,
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@JessTheUnstill

Thanks Jess! That's brilliant.

(I’m one of those that doesn’t maximise the browser!)

@snaptophobic@mastodon.me.uk avatar snaptophobic , to random

Something that's bugged me about Mac OS X for a while is the font handling. Specifically, all the non-Roman typefaces loaded by default.

On my systems, these always show a generic Roman style font so I don't know how or where they would be used in a native language.

Now, I'd like to deactivate them, because I dislike having to sift through enormous lists of essentially unusable fonts in my design apps.

Anyone able to advise how to do this safely? Thanks.

snaptophobic OP ,
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@gsymon

I'll read it again. Thanks!

@snaptophobic@mastodon.me.uk avatar snaptophobic , to random

I am on neighbour cat-sitting duties this weekend. My charge is called Saxon, and he will love me because I will be feeding him. At all other times I can be ignored.

Saxon is a cat breed similar to Siamese. He has short hair, is light grey in colour, with slightly darker grey round his face and ears. He is standing on a kitchen table, looking at the camera, eagerly waiting food!
ALT