Saw a sort of Three Ages of Cycling moving tableau while I was out. Walking along a shared use path, there were three cyclists coming towards me. First a little boy, maybe six years old, pedaling as fast as his little legs would go. Following him, his dad, probably just collected him from school. A little behind them, an older gent, well wrapped up against the strong wind, tootling along on a trike with a large parcel in the trike's basket. It made me smile.
#cycling

Just been reading the rather panicked letters that Darwin wrote to Lyell shortly after receiving Wallace's manuscript that set out the exact same theory Darwin had been working on for twenty years but hadn't published yet. Poor guy is so freaked out. The follow up one a few days later includes: "I would far rather burn my whole book than that he or any man shd. think that I had behaved in a paltry spirit." Relateable.

https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/view/letters/DCP-LETT-2285

Windowsill visitor.
#Bird #Magpie

Some people structure their curricula around the academic year, but of course you don't have to do that. Heading into winter is a good time to get one on the go, as the long dark nights draw in. You could spend the winter binging some streaming service, or you could study something you've always wanted to learn more about. And crucially, in a relaxed way with no pressure.

Part of it is that you should preferably use things you already own (like books, craft and art meterials) or have access to - library books, online resources, like free courses, the internet in general, videos. There's tons of video courses on YouTube. And if you're an Audible member, check out the many Great Courses audios in that are in the Plus catalogue. (Or maybe on Spotify if you get audiobooks there.) You can do loads without spending anything.

A personal curriculum, in case you're not familiar, is a trendy term for "a customized learning plan built around your goals and/or interests." It's usually for an informal goal - that is, not for work or formal education, more out of personal interest. It adds a structure to learning about something you're probably already learning about more piecemeal, just out of interest. It can also include skill based things, like crafts or art.

Did you know that the Open University has a whole library of free courses? In lots of different subjects and different levels, introductory, intermediate and advanced. Some long, some short. Some of them "badged" and assessed. Some are based on content from modules of the OU's degree courses.

If you're into building a personal curriculum, it's a great resource.

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/free-courses/full-catalogue

Pen of choice today - red Lamy Safari, with fine size nib, inked with Pelikan Dark Green. #FountainPens #Lamy

R.I.P. Margaret Hamilton

BBC News - Margaret Hamilton, whose software helped land Apollo 11 on the Moon, dies at 90
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx5yn46j41zpo

These people had children in the car, FFS. It doesn't sound like it was a case of the car breaking down, because the RNLI emphasised that people should check the safe crossing times, so I assume this means they drove onto the causeway too late and got caught by the tide. Why are people so stupid? If you get in a fight with the sea, the sea is going to win.

Remember - you cannot beat the tide at Holy Island. If you head onto the causeway after the prominently displayed safe crossing time, you can say goodbye to your car - and potentially your life

BBC News - Holy Island causeway rescue after five people stranded in car - BBC News
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cked7dq8xjd7o

So maybe not as much of a nothingburger as it seemed for a minute, but definitely not the obviousburger that it might have appeared when the five guys were first arrested.

So now a different dude has been arrested in connection with this RAF Fairford thing. Potentially an actual terrorist or plotting terrorism, though we'll see. Given that one of the men who were arrested and then bailed, apparently made a 999 call, was this newly arrested guy trying to buy fuel from them to make a bomb? And they weren't having it?

This is going to be a wild story once the whole picture is clear.

Pretty epic reading month in September. 2007 pages read. Yes, I pushed to hit that 2000 yesterday. 503 of those in Bleak House, my current "long read." I'm at 46% of the way through that, so reading a chapter at a time as I am currently, I should finish in November. How was your reading month in September?
#Books #Storygraph

The nothingburger gets an extra pickle.

The BBC "understands" that one of the five men arrested near RAF Fairford called 999 himself.

LOL, what is even going on? Definitely not terrorism, that's more apparent with every new development.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqn8m342rgk9o

British autumn is Britishing very hard this last couple of days. Yesterday, bright sun, freezing cold - or very close to it, being 3C at about 9 am. This morning, 19C at 9AM, and so muggy you could scoop the air with a ladle and serve it as soup.

I've been out just to pop round to Waitrose and now I'm in for the morning and it's about to rain. Will head out for a proper walk later - and definitely won't need a coat, hat and gloves, like yesterday.

I get the feeling this incident at RAF Fairford is going to turn into a great big nothingburger and the "terrorists" (who have now been released on bail, which seems unlikely if the police still think they're terrorists) will be nothing of the sort. (Whatever fantasy Trump is having about "Scotland Yard" at the time.) Lots of speculation on UK Reddit that they were stealing fuel, which is apparently quite common in the area. They probably should have avoided a US airbase though.

Watching Star Trek:TNG Skin of Evil. You know trouble is on the way when someone is coming back from a conference in a shuttle craft. I wonder if there are conspiracy theorists in the Federation who keep track of all the misfortunes that befall people who try to get home from conferences in shuttles. #StarTrek

I'm fact I'm giving the pool a swerve for the next month, because I've been having so much trouble with dry skin on my ears. Just my ears. Everything else is fine. FFS. It's probably at least made worse by pool chemicals. I use earplugs to keep water out of the middle ear, but this is the actual outside part of the ear. I've got some cream from the doc to hopefully clear that up. So I'm going to give it the best chance of doing that and then see how it goes after that, protecting them AMAP.

Went to a new exercise class yesterday. Strength and conditioning, circuits based. Am now deceased. RIP, me.

Okay, I'm still alive, but my muscles are not happy with me.

I need to do my lifting that's for sure. I'm so 3 the age where I have to start thinking seriously about making sure to protect my bone health, and stay strong. Got to start hitting the gym, not just the pool.