Spring promised in the garden today.

Back in beautiful Embra after meeting my boy for a meal and a cheeky old fashioned in Champagne Central in GlasVegas

Noooo! That cannot be!

UK Special Constables!
If you’re working have a safe shift, and all of you a happy and fulfilling New Year.

Here’s a challenge for the New Year, nominate a colleague for an award!

We were sadly thin on the ground in the new years honours, let’s change that by getting nominating!

t.co/dawt6TuSkN

So enjoying #DuvetKnowItsChristmas and such a worthy cause.
Stirring many good memories of Christmases away from home, and of accommodating unfeasibly large numbers of nieces and nephews in times past!
Thanks so much @rhodri.biz

I am so looking forward to a large Negroni when I get in, and while enjoying it also indulging in my guilty pleasure, the Strictly final.
Going to be an epic combo.

Busy first aid shift with St Andrews at Hibs / Ross County today.
Very sad life story for one of them, after our initial care we handed over to SAS, due to the serious nature of the incident, who transported to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary for tests and observation.

Great mysteries of our time.

The effort spent to bag dog poo to then leave it behind.

Why?

Taking value from failures and creating emotionally safe environments for individuals are just two of the cultural characteristics needed to make this work.

Not sure these can be retrofitted to public sector organisations like policing, it will be interesting to see how this develops.

Pat McFadden vows to make the state "more like a start up" as he deploys reform teams across country £100 million fund will see teams use “test and learn culture” pioneered by digital companies to tackle some of public sector’s biggest challenges.

I heard Pat McFadden on @BBCr4today this morning respond to tne police chiefs who are complaining about their funding.

#TestAndLearn is at the heart of new tech IT, and the approach that has delivered the astonishing success of SpaceX when applied to engineering.

www.gov.uk/government/n...

The Sycamore Gap trial starts on Monday 9th December at Newcastle Crown Court.

There’s still an enormous amount of anger, sadness and bewilderment about this crime. Hopefully the trail will shed light on what actually happened…

A chunky Old Fashioned glass, sitting on a coaster on a mahogany table, containing a dark red-orange drink over ice, garnished with a slice of orange cut so it hangs over the rim half in and half out of the drink. In the background a grey marble fireplace with a black slate base and brass fireside utensils on a stand. A subtle Christmas feel to the picture.

17:15 is now officially Negroni time in he household.

Is 1630 on a Sunday an acceptable time to have a cocktail?

Well I can recommend Aldi deep filled mince pies this year. If I could find them on here I’d tag them 😁

It’s beginning to taste a lot like Christmas over here!!

Make it a mandatory promotion criteria for CI and Supers. It would need careful attention to measurement of quality and effectiveness.

UK Emergency Services Network fiasco — have we crossed the Rubicon? David Hilliard, CEO of Mentor Europe, shares strategies to redeem the much-maligned ESN with TelcoTitans. Years late, billions wasted, and with no resolution in sight, learn more about the seeds of th...

So I did do some research. This was a good synopsis read.

www.telcotitans.com/infrawatch/u...

Wow.
I’ll be well retired lol.
It does make you wonder what other countries do in this space.

How is this still ongoing? Not sure I have the strength to research it lol but this can’t be business as usual surely? What’s been delivered for all that money? Where’s it gone?

What’s the latest date for that, btw? I lose track…

What’s the progress on the unique needs of specials? They easily fall through the cracks of regular well-being initiatives and services, but carry much more risk to their livelihood.

One step at a time mate

Inquests & Inquiries Our mission is to help organisations operate safely and effectively

My labour of love - lots more to come. Working on a podcast series to support it with deep dives on themes and incidents inquestsandinquiries.com

Try it!

Probably little chance that we’ll get to it today given the assisted dying debate, but good to see my Association of Special Constabulary Officers colleagues championing the employment rights of specials.

We will get there.

a cup of tea is on a saucer with the words cup of tea below it ALT: a cup of tea is on a saucer with the words cup of tea below it

Thank goodness for tea. Where would we be without tea.

Why is it that planned big changes in life’s routine, moving house, changing job, new hobbies, new family members, that sort of thing, things that you want to do properly without distractions, always seem to trigger the washing machine going on the blink.

After a challenging day in my policing role (but I love it so no violins please) I chose to decompress with the help of this wine choice (and some vintage prog rock from my King Crimson).

Loved it. Well worth the money. Reminiscent of my fave Torrontes from Tesco. www.tesco.com/groceries/en...

A bit of an emotionally challenging day today. Feeling blessed to have so many supportive people in my close circle and in my wider friendship circle too.

Another long serving special in BTP tells me he’s resigned. The new regime removing specials from senior roles has diminished the organisation and the volunteering experience.

Ma’am D’Orsi has always had a difficult relationship with specials. She has diminished BTP as a result.

Gritter tracker | Traffic Scotland Traffic Scotland gives you the real-time information you need about Scotland’s trunk road network

Hey Bluesky, welcome to the winter joy that is the Scottish Gritter Tracker!

www.traffic.gov.scot/gritter-trac...

a man in a black jacket and khaki pants is standing in a dirt field Alt: A sad walk

Me living in Scotland and everyone down south has snow.