Universal basic income is back on the agenda with yet another pilot to test whether or not such a scheme will work. UBI has had more pilots than Ryanair. It has been proven to be beneficial in providing a basic level of income to everyone. The clue is in the name. There remains, however, a … Continue reading Doing nothing
Gone Swimming
Anyone who has met me will know that I am not the athletic type. I wasn’t bad at running short distances when I was at school and did play some competitive sport until my early twenties but that is in the (distant) past. Exercise comes in the form of turning over the pages of a … Continue reading Gone Swimming
Little trees
I wish... Honestly, I am trying my best to slow down, with a view to eventually stop what I am doing. It’s not that easy though as there is so much going on that is interesting and the world doesn’t turn to my rhythm. The end of September is supposed to be some hiatus for … Continue reading Little trees
Proofreading
Image thanks to Looking Glass Optical. Sometimes, it doesn’t matter how many times I read something, I don’t see the spelling and typo mistakes I have made. I have a particular problem with mixing up the letters in the middle of the word. These are especially difficult to spot as the human brain can read … Continue reading Proofreading
Coworking space
Image thanks to Coworker I know it’s a long time ago now but I do miss Campus North. For those of you either too young or not from these parts it was a coworking space on Carliol Square close enough to the centre of Newcastle. It was a place where you could hang out, meet … Continue reading Coworking space
Flower of Scotland
Image thanks to Radio News Hub Now that the men’s Six Nations rugby is over for another year I thought I would settle down to watch the women’s competition, especially as the England versus Scotland match was coming from Kingston Park. If I had planned a bit better I could have gone along as the … Continue reading Flower of Scotland
Our own prejudices
Image thanks to Thebigindianpicture. I’ve just finished Zoe Heller’s book ‘Notes on a scandal.’ It was another Lit and Phil find. I enjoyed it very much even though the subject is a bit difficult. Without giving too much away it tells the tale of a relationship between a female teacher and a male pupil. It … Continue reading Our own prejudices
It had to happen
For over eleven years now I have been writing this blog. I started with five days a week and, when I semi-retired, went down to three times to reflect the number of days I was working. Ever since the first time that someone read my blog, which wasn’t until a week or so after I … Continue reading It had to happen
Stop and reflect
I was making my way to Aspire on the Quayside at Gateshead, along the road from the small car park to its new offices. Just outside the door, on the other side of the road, there were some wilted flowers tied to a lamppost, something you see all too frequently on busy roads where someone … Continue reading Stop and reflect
Draw your circle
The Penguin Book Of The British Short Story (volume 2) is a heavy tome. With 708 pages of prose plus an introduction and author biographies it was some job to hold in the bath. I apologies if the thought of me in the bath has put you off whatever it was you were doing but … Continue reading Draw your circle
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 