Why is direct observation unfair? Keynote conference speaker, scrutinised by session organiser.

Attending the Midlands Medical Education Conference at the University of Nottingham today.

Gorgeous demonstration of how scrutinised observation changes behaviour in assessments.

One of the organisers stands in the corner of the eyeline of a speaker, holding a clipboard and writing notes.

Made the mistake of opening my inbox at 2100 to check something.

It is now 2345 and I am just closing it again.

I did this to myself, didn't I?

Rookie error.

Silhouetted foreground, with trees punctuating the dark horizon. Grey blue sky and clouds, with amber and red afterglow of the sun setting, just above the horizon.

The sky is on fire tonight.

It is different every night.

Nikon D80, wide end of a cheap lens.

#photography

I don't think I am always sufficiently grateful for the NHS, despite my roles within it.

We do some great things, don't we?

Starving to death in the land of plenty.

The NHS is imperfect, and often pretty frustrating both as a patient and as an employer.

However, and I believe this from the bottom of my heart...

"Illness is neither an indulgence for which people have to pay, nor an offence for which they should be penalised".

Meanwhile, in the UK, continuous glucose monitoring and insulin pumps, paid by the NHS, have become the norm in the last decade.

I know some of the folks who made this happen, @parthaskar.bsky.social being one of them.

The idea of the "freedom" to die because you aren't rich, is profoundly stupid.

Still watching The Pitt.

Season 2 features a chap who is rationing his insulin, and not testing his blood glucose because he can't afford the insulin or the testing strips.

His insurance came from his employer, and he lost his job.

It is a ridiculous system you folks have in the US. Sorry, folks.

I really love that @robertspictures.bsky.social puts the effort into making these. Every week, I follow new accounts from this.

I'm also delighted that some of my photos have been featured in the last couple, which is very kind.

Interestingly @thatcherscider.bsky.social do have a bluesky presence, they just don't seem to have posted since 2024.

Shame, or I'd have asked if they want to sponsor my misadventures.

Thatchers zero can, balanced on a fence post.

Barbecued, and enjoyed a refreshing beverage while doing so.

I should do product photography.

Want your product balanced precariously on an ivy covered fence post? Want it photographed at a jaunty angle? Want it to then fall off and spill on the grass?

I am your man.

#photography

Saturday evening bluesky debate.

What is the correct burger accompaniment?

(assume beef, or plant based alternative).

I'll start:
White floury bap (ideally an oven bottom muffin)
Ketchup on the bottom
Burger sauce on top
Sliced mature cheddar cheese (not melted)
Sliced gherkins

What's yours?

The new doctor sounds seriously dodgy.

I am going to miss Ncuti Gatwa.

The best camera is the one you have with you.

Expensive kit can be fun, but an interesting subject and good light are the most important aspects of photography.

It was raining, so this was taken with my Olympus waterproof compact camera.

This has been my most liked photo of 2026.

Silhouetted foreground, with trees punctuating the horizon. Blue sky and white and grey cloud.

It stopped raining long enough for me to watch the sun set.

This is just after the sun dropped below the horizon.

Night, all.

TG7 #photography

Went to see the utterly brilliant Idlewild in Sheffield last night.

Still energetic, with Roddy Woomble's poetic lyrics perhaps even more meaningful to me now that they were 20 years ago. Great gig.

"Those bishops should stick to moving diagonally" - Vance, probably.

Trying to work in a bears in woods, silly hats, Volkswagen type angle, but I have struck out.

This IS as funny as I'm getting today folks.

Based on the significant differences in opinion between the typical US Christian Conservative, and the Pope, I am forced to ask the obvious question:

"Is the Pope Catholic?"

Today, I am apparently this fence post.

Narrow strip of silhouetted foreground, with the horizon punctuated by trees. Huge expanse of blue sky, with dark grey and amber clouds, illuminated from below by the sun setting at the middle of the horizon.

Landscape skyscape thing.

Nice sky again tonight.

D80, wide end of a cheap lens.

#photography

Short strip of black silhouetted foreground, with a single tree in the centre of the horizon providing scale. Huge expanse of blue sky and dark grey, and amber cloud, illuminated from below by the setting sun.

Portrait landscape thing.

Nice sky again tonight.

D80, wide end of a cheap lens.

#photography

We have run out of The Pitt, so she is now making me watch ER.

I'm going to have to move out.

Rainbow across two frames. Green field in the foreground, trees and houses along the horizon. Blue sky and white / grey clouds overhead.

Rainbow over Kirklington.

The wide end of my zoom lens wasn't quite wide enough, so I had some fun cropping two photos together. The polaroid-style white frames was initially accidental, but I liked it so left it that way.

Nikon D80, 18mm end of a zoom lens.

#photography

Bett'r no added sugar hazelnut cocoa spread.

For anyone who likes Nutella, but would rather it was more than 15% hazelnuts, or less than 50% sugar, this stuff is really lovely.

Not cheap, but then neither is Nutella.

I spent my morning cooking a bolognese from scratch for the freezer, cooking a roast dinner for six, walking the dog, hoovering, washing up and unblocking the downstairs loo sink, plus laundry.

At this point, The Pitt is an improvement.

However, so would pulling my beard hairs out with tweezers.

Mate.

She is STILL making me watch it.

Today, a nun has gonorrhoea, and a man has maggots under his cast.

Mate.

She is still making me watch it.