A trip oop north Following the placement of tantalum markers, the next hurdle in my sister’s eye journey was a day appointment at Clatterbridge Hospital in the Wirral, near Liverpool – waaaaay up the ot…

rdramblings.wordpress.com/2026/04/17/a...

Surgery at Moorfields: tantalum marker placement Just over a couple of weeks ago, my sister and I headed out on our extremely well-trodden journey back to Moorfields Eye Hospital. This time, she was the patient and I was (attempting to be) the ey…

rdramblings.wordpress.com/2026/04/14/s...

A Moorfields visit, and the cruelty of fate I recently had one of my standard vitreoretinal (VR) check up appointments at Moorfields. It was supposed to be in early February but as is so often the case, I had to chase it up and it eventually…

rdramblings.wordpress.com/2026/03/24/a...

Christ... 😳 Based on the criteria used there, do they actually have any books left in the library?

It's also somewhat frustrating when they DO actually spend ridiculous amounts of money to bring in a new system which then isn't fit for purpose because they haven't actually listened to the people on the ground who will be using them.

Wait a Minute…What If I Don’t Want to Use AI? AI is everywhere right now. It writes summaries, explains theories, fixes grammar, and recommends playlists.But here’s the thing nobody says out loud: you’re allowed not to use it. Whether you feel…

By popular demand, here is the full, glorious message from Aberystwyth University Library, on their blog:

wordpress.aber.ac.uk/librarian/?p...

Hat tip to @walkyouhome.bsky.social for prompting me to realise it was a blog post, and thus available to you all ❤️

The Gaslight Fish Bar.

"Cod and chips please."
"I already served you."
"No you didn't."
"Yes I did."

Where's option 3: "No, and I have absolutely no intention of ever doing so"?

Wordle 1,721 4/6

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🟩⬛⬛🟨⬛
🟩🟩⬛⬛🟩
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It's definitely a proper word! 🤣 Can't win 'em all though...

🤣🤣

Aaah, my favourite after 'Jane Eyre'! 🙂

Sight loss in literature: “Keep Laughing” I recently finished reading Chris McCausland’s autobiography, “Keep Laughing”, so thought I’d share a few thoughts about it. As this isn’t the first time I’ve wr…

rdramblings.wordpress.com/2026/03/01/s...

Oh! Is that the plant out the front that we planted last year?!

A daffodil poking its head through a piece of trellis, with another collection of daffodils seen in the distance through the hole of the trellis, bathed in sunshine.

A bee, busily working its way through the light purple flowers of a rosemary plant.

Spring's on the way...

Artificial Zinc Buttons – Ep. 70 - Off-Grid In which we pronounce upon Artificial Zinc Buttons, go mining in Missouri, ponder Eddie's attractiveness, and seek new speakers.

#OffGridPod no.70 in which we jack into some highly speculative etymology, see how Olympians in the water can link the stars, get our international tongues in a twist and face a dog of a quiz offgrid.tlmb.net/2026/02/22/a...

Fuck your ChatGPT, if I want to see a caricature of myself I will make the effort to go to the seaside and pay £15 for a cruel man to give me body dysmorphia like we’ve always done.

Sympathies... ☹️ I've reached the conclusion that perimenopause is essentially the mid-life equivalent of the most vindictive school bully. Hope it eases for you soon.

Fantastic! Only now I want to know the full story... Who's Grooze? What did Shelley do to get bollocked by Matron? Where were she and Martin going? This could be the start of a mystery novel...

I asked AI to name my wife. To the hopelessly incorrect people it cited, my deepest apologies | Martin Rowson Authors, a newsreader, a lawyer and an esteemed colleague: they’re all great – but I’m not married to any of them. Can we really depend on this technology, asks cartoonist and author Martin Rowson

Bloody hell! Me in today's @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Ah ok. Do you give examples of what would be suitable? I'm guessing simpler is probably best when attempting it for the first time.

🤣🤣 I'm going to have to bite the bullet sometime!! I'd want to bring a pre-prepared idea with me though, to be sure I didn't mess it up!

I need a demo! There's so much I don't know about printmaking!

That's beautiful, Tina!

Calling anyone who knows more about tech and accessibility than me! Now come on… there must be loads of you out there! I’m not a tech expert, and most of what I’ve learnt about accessibility has been picked up along my visual impairment journey. B…

rdramblings.wordpress.com/2026/02/08/c...

A cartoon of robots, entitled 'The end of the cartoonists' by Marshall.

Does Marsh AI count?!

Ah - thanks! I'm off to find the podcast now and give it another listen to see if it was the same person!

What's the book? Michael Rosen talked about found lists in his Word of Mouth programme last year and it was fascinating. Wondering if this book is by the person he spoke to - can't remember her name though!

A calendar page for February 2026, showing a colour block background of saturated pink in the bottom two thirds, with a warm yellow in the top third with a white/beige patterned semi-circle which looks like a rising sun. There's a scattering of tiny metallic crosses underneath the semi-circle and the days of the month are printed below.

Hello February... what took you so long?

🤣 Damnit, I didn't realise that was an option! I haven't finished solving issue one yet! 😳

Ed Zitron on big tech, backlash, boom and bust: ‘AI has taught us that people are excited to replace human beings’ His blunt, brash scepticism has made the podcaster and writer something of a cult figure. But as concern over large language models builds, he’s no longer the outsider he once was

Well worth a read, particularly for those who keep being assured that the emperor isn't naked: www.theguardian.com/technology/2...