Rick's b.log - entry 2024/08/03

Autism Problems

This box is telling you that it is green.

It isn't. It is tan, the fairly universal colour of generic cardboard. Or, if you are one of those people that only have a dozen colours (*)... it is light brown.

Yes, I know what they mean: the box is environmentally friendly and they were too scared of the big word. But every single time I see the box, my immediate thought is "no, you aren't". So I put it out in the shed where I ought to see it less, if ever again.

* - Seriously, though, how do you distinguish things like wood, coffee, cocoa, pecan, tawny, caramel, cinnamon, sepia, and so on?
That being said, at work I do have light-hearted disagreements with cow-orkers when they talk about the green silicone moulds that are painfully clearly blue. In reality given that they have aged and been passed through the ovens a billion times, they are somewhere between ocean and turquoise so visually there is a hint of green, but only a hint. They are closer to blue than to green. Much.

Holiday!

Thursday morning, I had a two-yearly "employment prospects and training" interview with my boss. It's a bit of a waste of time but it is obligatory. She was patient as I pointed out some of the flaws in the questions - for example one of the questions was would I accept doing training outside of work hours? This cannot be answered as presented, because if I was doing training to operate an industrial knitting machine to change my career direction, obviously this would need to be done around work hours (or by taking some days off?). However, something related to my work I would expect to happen during work time.

I asked her what my hours on Friday would be. Everybody and everything stopped at 12.30pm. There was a summer fête being held by the worker's committee which some people would be going to afterwards. I said that I was not going to the party, so I didn't have any problem with staying on to help sort out the mess in plonge because we all know that all the dirty stuff will get dumped there in the last moments.
My boss took this as "he's happy to work normal hours", but said I could start at 8am and finish an hour earlier. I think this was a favour for volunteering, as I wouldn't be missing any hours doing it like that. The morning girls, upon finding out that I was doing a normalish day, immediately demanded to be able to work until the habitual 1pm instead of half noon. It was refused, so they had to be done by 12:30.
I worked mostly on my own. From time to time one of the quality managers would come along and feed stuff into the machine for me to collect. This made me a lot more productive as otherwise I'd have to load up the machine until it turned itself off due to the output being clogged, then go to the other side and remove the clean things until the machine was empty. It's a huge machine, so we're looking at maybe 35ish industrial size baking sheets. Takes about three minutes to pass through from end to end, a prewash unit, the main wash, a powerful rinse, first stage drying (that isn't too powerful as stuff coming in is soaked), and a more powerful second stage drying. Remember, I mentioned that this thing when fully operational can drain over 100kW. It's a monster.

If you can't visualise an industrial washing tunnel, click this link for examples. Scroll down to the third category, "Tunnel de lavage grande cadence" and look at the photos. One of those is the exact machine I use, but I'm not saying which. ☺

Of the stuff left behind, I think I got through about half of it. There was somebody coming in later in the evening to finish up.

At 2pm I went on break. Sat in the staff break room with my headphones in noise-cancelling mode and enjoyed a well-desired cuppa. Shortly after, the meal part of the party started and all those people who either forgot to bring a chair or didn't have one to bring came into the break room. My break is a mandatory 45 minutes. After 20 I had had enough and went and cleaned my locker. I clocked back in after 32 minutes. I'll have lost 13 minutes but whatever. Honestly I'd rather work unpaid for a little while than deal with all those people.
Then it was just an hour more, then clean the machine's filters and floor and...

...grab my stuff, pass through the raised gallery, and sneak out the front door of the admin section so I avoided the rambunctious celebration entirely. The theme was "The '80s" and, well, it seemed that a lot of people felt like the '80s meant wearing a neon wig. Hmm... I wonder how many were actually there? I was! ☺

So for my first day I made a start on reorganising the kitchen. An English couple up in the village offered to take my bags to the recycling centre so I started looking at stuff to work out how it should be sorted, but was eventually sorting nothing because, you know, a lot of that stuff was mom's and emotional attachment, etc.
So I threw everything back onto the pile of junk I was working for and tried a different approach. I opened a recycling bag (for plastic, cardboard, etc) and a black bag (for everything else) and switched myself into "F**k it" mode.
After a pause to put a number of aprons and a set of bedding (WTF?) into the washing machine, that I decided would make a good tea break, I reduced the pile quite a lot. As in eight black bags of rubbish and four of recycling. The black bags are piled up out back. Like when I tidied the living room, household rubbish cannot be taken to the recycling centre (only properly sorted stuff for recycling can go) so it needs to be in my bin. My bin that takes two bags if I stand on them to flatten them down, and gets collected every other week.

At this rate, I can see myself having maybe 16-24 bags of rubbish. With getting rid of one every fortnight... it'll take a while to shift that lot.

Why the kitchen? I'd like to get a little wood burner in there in order to have a room that is nicely heated in the winter. I can cope in my bedroom with just an electric blanket, and I don't need much in the way of heat, but as I'm getting older I feel like the cold is more pervasive.
Additionally, the idea of having a stocked larder didn't really work for two reasons. Firstly it was a monumental pain in the arse to enter and retire stuff from inventory. I might have a crack at doing something with RISC OS if a dirt-cheap barcode scanner works with it. Does RISC OS support those cheap little display panels with touchscreen? If I can teach the software the barcodes of things, then I can stock up by simply bleeping a product and then entering an expiry date.
Also, because the shelves were arranged side by side along their longest edges (like to form a square), stuff towards the back was hard to access and thus easily forgotten. So I plan to put the shelves side by side along the wall where the bench is right now. Shallower and easily accessible, that ought to do the trick and, due to not having hard to access parts, end up giving me more shelf space. Plus, I will then be able to access the cabinets (that the shelves are in front of) in order to make use of them. It looks like one of the cabinets is full of linen. Mom...what?

Destructive activism

The problem is that protest that is non-violent can be damaging, whether it be chucking soup at a masterpiece or bringing a major motorway to a stop. They cannot know that they are not causing enormous distress to somebody, who might be travelling to hospital for immunotherapy, for example. It's what my mom did on the Rennes circular back when, and given that 181,000 motorists were delayed, there could be all sorts of stories of lost opportunities and missed appointments. All because some dickhead thinks that shouting "Just Stop Oil" is enough to stop a society heavily dependent on oil from using the oil that it depends upon.

These people are not protesters. They are non-violent anarchists, and should be treated as such. It simply isn't acceptable for people who think they have a "cause" to go and cause trouble in the name of that cause.
Or, to put it another way, I really want to see autism/ADHD/etc testing being efficient, to not break the bank and/or take forever. For people that pass a basic screening test, access to competent mental health facilities should be a standard provision of any properly functioning health service.
But, no. I either have to wait years along with loads of interviews with various medical professionals, or I can go private and have it done a little bit quicker but it'll cost thousands. That's a pretty crappy arrangement and I'm not happy with it. Does this justify me walking into an art gallery and throwing tinned ravioli at the wall? What would be the point? If I superglue my hands to the floor and scream "mental health access for everybody", then everybody will believe that I need the other sort of mental health treatment, wouldn't they?

I can understand the frustration of believing in a cause and seeing world plus kitten basically ignoring the issue entirely. And, yes, we're very obviously in deep shit when it comes to the environment. However becoming a public nuisance doesn't help a cause, it makes them seem like a right bunch of arseholes and, sorry, a stint behind bars should remind them that if everybody goes off and messes stuff up in the name of their belief... no, society just can't function like that. These sentences need to be harsh to send a message to the next set of delusionals who might decide it's a good idea to spray-paint Nelson's Column bright fluorescent orange or something.

Destructive destruction

Following this, a bunch of hot-head "Patriots" being stirred up by bullshit on social media started rioting over immigration and, well, this is probably directly related to Labour being elected. The sorts of people who told me "You lost, get over it" and "I hope one of those millions of fucking migrants kills you you ugly faggot." (actual quote: link) seem completely unable to cope with them having lost. Labour getting rid of that Stop The Boats nonsense and ditching Rwanda is probably seen as a massive betrayal despite the reality that it was a money sink that was completely unworkable.

These people aren't rioting to support the UK. Them attacking the police and setting police cars on fire demonstrates that. They aren't patriots, they are thugs, and should be treated as such.

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David Pilling, 4th August 2024, 01:47

Saturday in Blackpool - holidaymakers, punks (the Rebellion festival is in town), protesters and a huge police presence.

Gavin Wraith, 4th August 2024, 09:20

Last month I had occasion to travel by train from Southampton to Brighton, a rare event for me. The coach was not very full. Up and down the aisle a very ugly disfigured youth was wandering. Fifty years ago he would have been described as spastic - I do not know what the polite term is these days. He could not speak clearly. He was clearly fascinated by the job of railway conductor and was acting out a fantasy of being one. A real railway conductor got on at some point, and the youth followed him like a puppy, mimicking his actions and making gargling noises. Passengers, myself included, were embarrassed. But the conductor took him aside, spoke to him kindly and gave him encouragement. And suddenly I realised that the idea that angels walk amongst us might be right. This little scene gave me some relief from the grimness of world-news.

Rick, 4th August 2024, 14:26

I found a simple little USB handheld barcode scanner for $9.99 with free shipping. It's a Netum NT-2012. Probably not a recent model if that model number is a date, but then EAN13 codes are much older. It pretends to be a keyboard and will just feed the scanned code to the machine as if entered at a keyboard.    Well, that's the theory. Will RISC OS play along? ;)

Rick, 4th August 2024, 20:32

Well, did I ever underestimate that...    Past two days, cleaned up one side of the kitchen. But there were too many things of supposed sentimental value, so I tried again.    Things I wanted to keep get piled on the table, which being of limited space means that I'd have to only put really important things there.  Everything else goes into either black bags or the recycling bags.    There are now fifteen black bags out back. We're looking at half a year to get rid of them (just like with the living room). And that's only a *part* of the kitchen. So I'm going to stop for now, will pick up again later on when fewer/no bags out back.    So, won't be this year. Probably not next. Maybe it'll be nice and cosy for 2026? Maybe by then I'll have found the key so I can open the door that goes through to the cave. I tried picking the lock with a coat hanger, but I suspect it might have rusted and might therefore need some more dramatic work done to the door to get it open. Luckily it opens out to the cave, so I can always fit a big sliding bolt on the kitchen side to keep it closed (though, really, it's a cardboard door so...).

C Ferris, 5th August 2024, 09:12

I can't see why these boat people couldn't be put on ferries back to France - unless Rick thinks it isn't a safe place.    Doing something to take the heat out of things :-(    A bouncer with a stick and shield may have prevented the disaster attack of these poor children.

Rick, 5th August 2024, 10:35

Because they're not from France and France doesn't want them either?  This is a far bigger problem than just one country.    The first way to take heat out of things is to stop indulging the likes of Farage. His "they're withholding something" comments at the beginning were utterly irresponsible - as if an ongoing investigation would feel at all compelled to give information to a loudmouth provocateur.    Yes, a bouncer might have helped. But are you seriously suggesting a little dance studio with some young girls in it needs to have a bouncer? Is that the sort of country you want to live in?    It's already bad enough that the deaths of three young girls has been swept aside by night after night of rampaging thugs (and, of course, Farage opening his mouth again)...but to need "security" for things like that? That's not the country I grew up in, it really isn't.

David Pilling, 5th August 2024, 12:37

The country I grew up in... at school assembly mysterious instructions to not accept lifts home from strangers. It was the era of the 'moors murderers'.    I suspect getting into a school from off the street is now more difficult than back then. Kids don't play out like they used to.    The country we now live in, is one where kid's dance studios will look at their security.    Post the Manchester concert bombing "Martyn's Law" is either in effect or about to be - a requirement for venues to have security.    Incidentally Southport is a very nice place - different to its brash neighbour Blackpool.

David Pilling, 5th August 2024, 12:40

How exciting to have a cave - any paintings. You could always add some.    My grandmother's house had a coal cellar - too low a ceiling for an adult to stand up - interesting place to visit as a child.

C Ferris, 5th August 2024, 13:19

This country encouraged people to rebel in North Africa - 70% of people here did not vote for this Parliament!

C Ferris, 5th August 2024, 13:34

In South Africa - the government has to have more than 50% of the vote.

jgh, 5th August 2024, 15:12

The theme was "The '80s".    So.... police charging protesters, neighbourhoods being burned down, race riots, ....

Rick, 5th August 2024, 15:36

Colin:    "70% of people here did not vote for this Parliament!"    Is that counting the *electorate* or the number of votes actually cast? Because there is the double whammy in that turnout was low (around 60% if I recall) and the First Past The Post system favours the larger parties. It probably would have been Yet-More-Bloody-Tories if Farage hadn't opened his mouth and split the far right from the right. Essentially, vote Reform and get Labour. There's a sort of poetic justice in that.    Having said that, I prefer the FPTP system. America's Electoral College is arcane, bizarre, and with the overabundance of lawyers I can't help but feel corrupt as well. Other countries like France split the Parliament and President and if nobody gets a 50% vote share then there's a second round between the top two. Which assures us of two things. Firstly, most of the population will likely end up with somebody other than who they voted for - Macron's last mandate wasn't that anybody liked and wanted him (they don't), they would just rather have him than the National Front. And, secondly, it leads to situations (both France and America suffer from this) in that the supposed leader and the house can be opposing parties, leading to stagnation and deadlock and a massive waste of time. You can see this in the US with the Republican House and Democrat Harris; and in France? Oh boy, what a mess. The only reason it isn't a bigger mess is because Macron is procrastinating because of that itty bitty sporting thing happening in Paris.    At least, for all of the faults of FPTP, it's a pretty simple setup of "the party with the most seats rules, the end".    "In South Africa - the government has to have more than 50% of the vote." - Yes, and the ANC had to form a coalition...mostly with the ideologically opposed DA, so we can probably expect a lot of bickering rather than anything getting done. This isn't like the Tories joining up with the LibDems and then ignoring most of what the LibDems said, it's like the Tories and Labour joining together. Can you even imagine how such a thing could work?    David:    "at school assembly mysterious instructions to not accept lifts home from strangers." - that was normal. I think these days it has been dumbed down to "Stranger Danger". That being said, in the '80s (my childhood) we were pretty free range. Nobody thought anything of a bunch of children, of both genders, getting on bikes after Saturday morning TV and buggering off who knows where until sunset. The "you be home by dinner" and mothers wouldn't bother cooking because they knew we'd always be "oh, nobody had a watch" or some other lame excuse.    And this was where, at 11am every Monday morning, you could hear the air raid sirens as they tested the network to notify of an escape from Broadmoor. And, to be cruel, one of the siren towers was positioned literally right on top of a primary school in Sandhurst. Some children had to take a change of clothing with them, as the thing is hellascary even when you know it's about to go off.    "a requirement for venues to have security" - define what you mean by "venue".

David Pilling, 6th August 2024, 02:05

'define what you mean by "venue"' - rhetorical? The word is used by a lot of the documentation on Martyn's law. Somewhere an event happens (define event?), less than 100 capacity won't have to conform, so Church halls and the like will escape.    I meant the terrorism effect, something rare happens and despite there being little chance of any one person being involved, people change their behaviour.    These do not seem to be Mr Farage's finest days - as if making him an MP has elevated him to his level of incompetence. In the past he's been all about a protest vote, doubt he will spend 5 or 10 years building a coherent party.     Yay, the return of Buggins (turn). That is if we survive the insurrection, stock market crash and Iran/Israel war this week.

C Ferris, 6th August 2024, 08:46

Having a shield and large stick available at these doo's might be handy :-(

SteveP, 6th August 2024, 21:54

"These do not seem to be Mr Farage's finest days - as if making him an MP has elevated him to his level of incompetence."    I think he broke through that barrier years ago, he's been running on a spare supply of 'irritatingly obnoxious' for many years.

A tree-dwelling mammal, 7th August 2024, 19:47

Think I'm a couple of posts behind with this - RealLife [TM] has got in the way lately.    As for the Just Stop Oil lot, I'm going to borrow a quote from a meme that's been floating around recently:    "Let's see how much they complain about petroleum-based products now they're all somebody's bride in prison."

A tree-dwelling mammal, 7th August 2024, 19:53

DP - I lived up that way during the 90s for a bit. As one of my friends from Southport was so keen to remind everyone, "Southport... LANCASHIRE... P.. R... 8!"    Apparently Southport used to be in Lancs, not Merseyside, and locals are very keen to remind anyone that the postcode is still PR8, not L-something. "We're not bloody Scousers you know!"

SteveP, 9th August 2024, 09:30

"the postcode is still PR8, not L-something. "We're not bloody Scousers you know!""    Just an add-on for Preston :)

Clive Semmens, 27th August 2024, 11:41

I have lighthearted disagreements with my family about the colours of traffic lights. Modern LED "green" lights often look much closer to blue than to green, to my eye. Is my visual biochemistry altering with age?? Other green things still look perfectly green.

Clive Semmens, 27th August 2024, 11:46

As for Farage breaking the barrier of his incompetence - I think it was the amniotic sac, no?

Rick, 27th August 2024, 15:24

Clive - you are correct. It's an ITU standard to have newer traffic lights where the green is more of a turquoise colour.  It's close enough to green that people used to green will still perceive it as green, but it's far enough away from green that people with red/green colour blindness see it those as two different things.  Sadly a lot of UIs and print that use traffic lights to mean something have not kept up and they tend to use pure green and pure red. Here's an example: 🚦 and 🚥. Probably depends on your device if that's a green green or a bluish green...

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