Kate @griffinkate@sunbeam.city

My energy supplier keeps bugging me to get a smart meter. My instinct is to keep ignoring them, take meter readings myself and feel somewhat aggrieved that they don't employ anyone to do it. But maybe my instinct is wrong.

Do any of my followers on here have a take on smart meters? Are they problematic from an infosec point of view, or indeed any other point of view? Should I get one?

Can anyone understand what the hell Cymdeithas yr Iaith are blithering on about here?

https://nation.cymru/news/80-of-kids-would-be-deprived-of-ability-to-speak-welsh-under-proposal/

How the hell is allowing pupils to study Welsh as a second language "depriving them of the ability to speak Welsh"?

The reason I speak French now is because I got the chance to learn it in school as a second language for GCSE. How the FUCK is offering a GCSE in a language "depriving" anyone of anything?

Delighted that I've just learned the Welsh for "what's not to like?"

It's "Beth sy i beidio a'i hoffi?" / "Beth sy i beidio (i) hoffi?"

Guess what? The stuff you know is stuff you once had to learn. There will be people who haven't learnt it yet.

Sometimes people who learn something completely new are surprised by that thing. You have a choice about how to respond:

a) let them feel that surprise and then learn more;
b) smugly lecture them for being surprised and not coming to the conversation with the exact same knowledge you did.

Guess what? If it's b), it shouldn't come as a surprise to you when I block you.

Why am I suddenly on here after a fortnight of not posting? Because I'm taking part in a strike on birdsite to raise awareness of harassment on the platform.

It has been stupidly hard staying off it all day. To distract myself I've gone back on DuoLingo, on a whim, started learning Greek. Every time I feel the urge to go back on birdsite, I channel the urge to DuoLingo. So far I've completed 5 levels 😂

People who take a lot of pills and feel bad about how you can't recycle the empty blister packs...now you can! (In the UK, at least.)

https://passiton.miraheze.org/wiki/Pill_packets

Please boost.

Homosexuality is a sin, right? Which means that hell must be full of gay people. People who know how to build and maintain communities, who look out for each other, who do amazing creative things.

Maybe hell is a houseshare with some slightly annoying but ultimately lovable people, and a couple of cats.

@gromit Something weird is going on with my feed and I apparently wasn't following you! Other people I'm apparently following but they're not showing up. Anyway, have re-followed now.

If you're feeling upset by all the footage circulating of police attacking protestors and others, there is one useful thing you can do: donate to the GoFundMe for the Bristol protestors' legal costs.

It looks like they're well on the way to their £15,000 target.

As ever: if you can't afford to donate, don't feel bad about it! This is something to do only if you can.

https://gofund.me/380aec72

Last week my friend made a joke about sex dungeons
and then immediately apologised for "kinkshaming". I mocked her for being Too Online, but should really admit that my first thought was: "Hmm, it's actually more problematic to assume everyone has access to a dedicated indoor space." Absolute brainworms. We all need to just go and...live in a forest or something.

So far this year I've managed to pass on 18 magazines and one book to new owners. Mostly thanks to social media for connecting me with people who actually want stuff that would otherwise just go in the recycling.

Anyway, I have finally and reluctantly got round to trying to register with my local GP. You're not allowed to physically enter the surgery without an appointment (for obvious reasons), but the receptionist on the phone said that she could email me the application form.

"Great, so I can fill it in and email it back to you?"

"Oh no, you'll have to print it off and fill it in by hand and bring it to the surgery." 🤦‍♀️

When my now-deceased cat first changed vets, the old vet offered to send her notes directly to the new vet but (unlike the NHS) gave me the option of doing it myself. Given what I know about how well the whole "transferring notes" thing works with humans, I got Vet 1 to send the notes directly to me, then sent a copy to Vet 2 for their records.

When she changed vets *again*, I asked Vet 2 to send her medical records directly to me. As I'd suspected, her entire medical history started when she started with Vet 2. They hadn't uploaded her notes from Vet 1. Which was precisely why I wanted to have control and oversight in the process. I just wish I had the same control over my own medical notes!

Actually, I have a third question. If I'm the only true custodian of my own medical notes, which I obviously am because I always have to supply all the information afresh from memory with every new house move, why don't they just give me the notes to look after, or at least give me a copy?

In the UK, there is a widespread acceptance that when you switch GP surgeries, there will be a certain period for your medical records to be transferred over. Some people think it's 3 months, some people think it's 3 weeks.

What I really, really don't understand is the reality: my notes have *never* actually been transferred from one GP to another. I've changed GP many times because of various house moves, and the new one *never* has access to my old notes. They always start from scratch by asking me to fill in a form with all my medical history. Then, as I continue as a patient, there's never anything in my new notes that isn't what I've told them myself directly.

I suppose I'm confused about two things: 1. Why does this alleged transfer never happen when it should be so easy in an electronic age? 2. Why does everybody think it happens when it never does?