Manchester’s week ahead is moderately OK

t starts as another rainy day today, but later today we’ll have some sun and we’ll probably start working on the fish. Today in the early morning I counted all the loaches, which is hard because they typically hide. Perhaps some time soon we’ll get more pets. That depends on several factors.

Tomorrow the Champions League starts for Manchester City and I plan to cover the EPO affairs (Munich, Germany).

This month won’t be particularly eventful, but there are two anniversaries on the way: ours and GNU’s.

It’s a good time to start planning.

Manchester sort of feels like “post-summer” though I still somehow managed to sunbathe a bit yesterday (maybe last time for this year). The prices of homes over here aren’t insane; that’s a relief.

London, on the other hand, is crazy.

Yesterday I had an interesting face-to-face discussion with a lady that I know in Manchester. She ranted about how awful London became and that during street events (like carnivals) the city does not provide portable toilets. Instead, people are expected to shell out 2 pounds for some private place, even just to urinate. Some people make a fortune out of this.

We’ve glad we live in Manchester.

Not that Mancunians run the country (in Westminster) we hope that gravity of power can be shifted to the north. We have a lot to offer.

Because winter is coming and they need more heat (and T.L.C.)

managed to find some amazing bargains this morning. Equipment that typically costs about 100 pounds was sold to me for just 2 pounds. I took it home. Next we need to wash it and prepare it for the pets.

Maybe I’ll take some photos after it’s all done.

Manchester City deserves it

‘m not surprised. Arsenal did not easily win at home.

Arsenal has beaten Chelsea (video), Chelsea had some good chances, but Manchester City remains on top for now.

Big test next week in the derby but first (Tuesday) a hard game in UEFA Champions League.

A week after the derby we’ll go near Old Trafford a few times. It’s our anniversary.

Hard to find

oday we had a lot of spare time, so we watched some movies, including White Apache (1987), which relates to others (Bianco Apache). It’s actually a gory (but censored, a lot of stuff blurred out of view) movie with a sad ending. Lola Forner (from Spain) and Sebastian Harrison (from Italy) star in it and it seems like their career went downhill years if not decades later.

They didn’t make it into famous lists and the movie is relatively obscure by now.

Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) does nothing

f you are a regulator and you say regulation is not possible (e.g. lack of resources, fear of challenge from the regulated entity), then you do not belong in the “regulation” “business”.

This ongoing series about the UK’s so-called ‘regulator’ of solicitors should lead to action and we hope that it already sounds the alarm. We are some of many who complain this month.

In the UK, solicitors are above the law.

High-profile publisher

n some sense, today was a special day.

It’s about science, not football.

I did not watch this London match, I only followed the score, hoping both teams would lose points (more so Arsenal).

While keeping an eye on the score I noticed having been cited in a major publication. As it turns out, an old article of mine has just been cited in ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) and it’s about Gemini Protocol where my writings became more prominent in recent years:

‘ve already asked around before writing this, as I generally wanted to ensure this observation and sentiment was not just my own.

Many decades ago a “household” (with kids, car/s etc.) could – but no longer can – be managed by a single provider or breadwinner as they called it. That sort of ended after the 1990s with stagnation of wages. Then two parents were expected to work full-time – with dashes added as it became a proper word – to attain the same income level (comparatively).

Now the couple is expected to not only work full time (for the same lifestyle) but to also work overtime.

Sometimes overtime is voluntary, but there is a hidden cost. People fall behind on critical chores like food-buying, laundry etc.

As a result of that, even with a weekend off, there is no true rest, just “catchup” ahead of Mondays.

This won’t be sustainable as it leads to mental fatigue.

Did the “architects of the system” take this into consideration?

Lack of sleep worsens the quality of work. Lack of rest makes moody people, which interferes with health of relationships (couples, parents, peers).