Hahah I never thought I would put lang="lb" in an article, but here we are. Also, yup, language code for Luxembourgish is lb, apparently lu belongs to Luba-Katanga, you are welcome for random knowledge.

Also maybe this is a good time to remind people that there is project for two screen reader voices in Luxembourgish: https://accessibilite.public.lu/en/news/2026-03-30-screenreaderLB.html

My teenage son is doing a course on animal care. As part of it, he's been asked to investigate animal-related jobs. If you work with animals, would you mind answering a few questions about your job, please? Thank you!

1. What is your job?

2. How did you get into it?

3. How long did it take you to get into your job?

4. Why do you like your job?

5. Are there any disadvantages?

6. Are there any skills you specifically need for your job?


Please boost 😁

We have reached that stage of #parenting when sometimes we can leave our kids home alone for a while. Obviously, this has to be done in a safe way. To support this, we've developed a set of ever-evolving rules. I'm sharing them in case they are helpful for any other parents whose children are just approaching this stage.

1. Don't burn the house down. You can use things like the microwave that switches off automatically, but not the hob that might be left on.

2. No Playstation. You'll get drawn in so deeply you'll forget to eat, drink, walk the dog, etc, and those things are important.

3. Don't join a cult. Or start one.

4. If there's a problem or a question, get in touch. Call if it's urgent, message if it isn't.

5. Do not summon Cthulhu (I want to join in).

6. You can watch any film you've seen before or has a rating younger than you.

7. Do not give away the homeworld.

I'm really getting tired of the repeat prescription dance.

Send it too late, and I won't get the new pack in time. Send it too early, and it gets ignored until admin deem it due (which can be the day I need to start the next pack). Send it via the NHS app, and there's no way to add a note like, "I'm away next week, can I have it a few days early, please?" and the NHS app is flakey and doesn't always work. Send it via the surgery's online form and I have to do it during office hours (yes, really - the online form is unavailable outside working hours), plus there is then no visibility or tracking for me to check it's being dealt with.

I'm on 7 meds, which all run out on different days. I can't even get them to align because some I get a month's supply, some 6 weeks', and some 2 months'. Oh, and one is not possible to request via the NHS app.

There are currently two I need to request. I can't. Neither GP form nor NHS app is working right now. I hope I remember tomorrow.

I see the #UK government are making my son's life more difficult *again*.

Having made SEN support, CAMHS, and schools so underfunded, under-resourced, and over-rigid that he was forced out of formal education, they now want to cut off the one link he has with his closest friends.

Despite no longer seeing each other on a daily basis at school, they still chat regularly. They share fun things, they comfort each other through different times, they encourage each other's art and creativity. Guess how they do all that.

They meet up to hang out, they go to each other's houses, they go to events and films together. Guess how they organise it all.

Yes, a lot of social media is toxic. Yes, we need to protect children from the worst corners of the internet. But firstly, we should do that for everyone by holding the big platforms to account. Secondly, everyone going through age verification is a massive overreach and a hugely problematic proposal. Thirdly, you don't save a child by cutting them off from their lifeline.

Hello #UK folks! Remember all the invented outrage over Churchill being replaced with a badger on the fiver?

Well, the Bank of England are designing new notes, as they do from time to time, and they are featuring British wildlife. But the badger isn't on the shortlist.

There are lots of lovely animals shortlisted, and you can help choose which ones make it into our notes! Voting open until the 3rd July.

www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/help-us-design-our-next-series-of-banknotes

Hello, #UK friends with lawns.

If you've just completed #NoMowMay thank you! May wildflowers are super important to support our pollinators and provide food for many small birds and mammals. They are also far prettier than bare, boring, flat grass.

I now invite you to continue into #NoMowJune and beyond. While the benefits to our wildlife might be most profound in May, they exist all year round. And all you have to do is not do a heavy, difficult job that you don't want to do anyway.

If you've actually been missing your lawn, consider mowing just the bit you really want. Maybe a path to the shed, or a small area for playing, and leaving the rest. It doesn't have to be all or nothing.

I went round to a friend's house today.

That shouldn't be noteworthy. But it is, because it's a thing that has been lost.

Ever-increasing work expectations, longer commutes, side hustles, more disparate and distant socialising, life admin becoming ever more complex and adversarial... Our time and energy have been slowly sapped away over the last few decades.

At the same time, we've seen the rise of the influencers and oversupply of tat. Everyone must  have the latest plastic prize, while also keeping our homes clutter-free and Insta-ready. But we can't, because we don't have the time or energy to throw last year's tat out, and we're caught between the shadow of make do and mend, and the guilt of waste, both saying "maybe I'll use it."

Add in a global pandemic that had us hiding away in our homes for months. Only "economically important" stuff got "back to normal," with ongoing risks poorly mitigated (barely acknowledged) across society.

No wonder it doesn't seem normal to go visit a friend. It doesn't even seem normal to genuinely mean that word: friend.

But carving out time and dedicating energy to just go and be with another human being whose presence makes you feel good is part of what makes us humans.

Maybe you need adaptations, or can only manage half an hour, or have to know plans in advance, or whatever. But that's the whole thing with friends: they will adapt to your needs. And here's the thing about making friends: asking for small favours is one of the most effective ways of turning an acquaintance into a friend. It promotes good feelings for both parties and creates a link. So *ask for what you need*.

Go visit a friend.

I've been looking at #hydroponics and #aquaponics mostly for fun and because fresh green stuff is good. But good grief it's complicated!

I want something small, DIY, and cheap, that I don't need to remember my chemistry A-level for. But every "for beginners" guide I've found starts with a thesis on plant nutrition and I can't read it let alone learn and apply it.

Is there such a thing as a "My First Water Garden" guide? Something more the size of a pamphlet than War and Peace? With standard gardening you can get started with a pot of dirt and a bean. I can manage a little more than that, but not much.

Anyone know how to fix electric recliners?

We bought a second hand recliner sofa. Both ends independently recline, with completely separate mechanisms, cables, plugs, etc. One end (the end we use all the time) reclined, and then wouldn't unrecline. The button makes its little mechanical click, but nothing else happens. No whir, no groan, no movement. The other end (which tends not to get used) is fine.

The LED on the adapter box for the working end is solid. It's a dim flicker for the non-working end. We have tried swapping power cables and adapter boxes. The result is the same, with the same end not working. So it must be something inside the sofa itself.

It did this last week. We switched it off at the wall for a while, then switched it on. It spent a good ten minutes doing the vague flicker with the occasional few seconds of solid bright LED. Eventually, the light stayed on and the sofa started working again. It's not coming back to life this time.

So, any tips? How do we get at underneath? It weighs a tonne and won't be easy to turn over in its current reclined position. What do we look for once we're there? Would it be feasible to move a part from the working end to a) check if that's the bit that has failed or b) switch which end works? What should we be wary of?

#repair #fedihelp #fixingstuff

#ADHD team: We're not going to assess him for ADHD. We think he should be assessed for autism.

#Autism team: We're not going to assess him for autism. We think he should be assessed for ADHD.

Three years of wait and this is your answer? Ffs, #CAMHS, sort yourself out.

Fediverse seems to like a bit of #Morris, so here you go.

@kmdk hey Karen! Long shot, but do you recall the ISTC Halloween short story competition from about 10 years ago? Or are you in touch with anyone who might?

I submitted a story and I'm trying to find a copy, but it doesn't seem to exist in any of my archives. I'm wondering if it might be lurking anywhere in the depths of the emails of whoever I sent it to.

Friends in Europe,

Like many around the globe, one of my course students recently has lost his job and is now looking for a new opportunity. ✨

Do you know any good companies in Belgium that are looking for a Frontend developer with a passion for UI/UI and Accessibility to connect him with?

I made a thing!

I've put together some #LongCovid communication cards, incorporating suggestions from @MamaLake and @UndeadMinotaur .

I put them on my website so other people can use them if they wish: https://jen.phillipsuk.org/long-covid-communication-cards/

I want every product* and its packaging** to come with positive disposal instructions.

I am sick and tired of "not currently recycled" or "check local provision" or "lid recyclable (but we're not telling you about the rest)". It should have a positive statement of what I absolutely *can* and *should* do to dispose of it.

And everything that has to say, "general waste" gets taxed into oblivion.


* mass produced, at least. I don't want to make life hard for individual artists and makers.

** If people buy in stacks of boxes or bags, they should already be stamped.

My son is watching One Piece and he's on episode 1000 or something and there's this character who is drawn very like the beautiful women in the main crew: obvious curves, a little side boob showing around her skimpy-yet-flowing clothes, small face with soft features and large eyes.

But just once, this character said something like, "my hero was a man, so I decided to be a man too," and everyone just shrugged and switched pronouns. The main character was like, "I don't get it, but whatever," and has never misgendered him since. Even the bad guy, who happens to be the character's dad, uses words like "son" to talk about him.

And it's just so refreshing that he doesn't even bother trying to look "like a man", he's just up front about who he is that's that.

I've said for years that there are two kinds of religious people:

1) My religion is about being good, therefore I work hard to be good.

2) My religion is about being good, therefore whatever I do is good by definition.

It's taken to this morning to realise that billionaires fall into category 2.

Help me find a song, please?

I heard a very brief snippet of a song earlier and I know I know it but I can't remember what it is and I can't find it searching the one line that keeps looping in my head and it's bugging me.

The line is "but when you close your eyes" and I'm pretty sure it was in the leadup to the chorus. It was a smooth-but-bouncy sort of vibe, kind of like something The Killers would do (I've checked their biggest hits). I think it was released between 2000 and 2020 and it was quite big here (UK).

I know that's not much to go on, but I also know the Fediverse can be amazing at knowing stuff.

I've just had a professional (mental health nurse) tell me "ADHD symptoms don't change in different settings" and, I'm like, really? Isn't body doubling a thing? So wouldn't it make sense that it is less apparent with people around, especially the inattentive type?

Thoughts appreciated, especially from #ActuallyADHD #ADHD #AuDHD people.