Weeknote 36/2025

It’s late Sunday afternoon and I only have the energy for bullet points. I know people prefer that anyway! So, this week I’ve been…

• Working on a couple of projects:
  • WAO: community platform stuff for Amnesty International UK (AIUK) mainly with Laura. We did some big-brained stuff around information architecture, user journeys, and UX.
  • Dynamic Skillset: strategy workshop stuff for SEBI-Livestock with Aaron. We’re running the workshop up at the University of Edinburgh next Tuesday.
• Publishing a couple of posts on this blog:
• Getting back into the routine at Thought Shrapnel, after putting it in “low energy mode” over the summer. I published seven posts:
  • From misdiagnosis and error to unequal access to care
  • A remarkable 45% increase in solar capacity
  • “Zurich doesn’t want to pool with Jakarta”
  • A list of intentions; a poem; the “I want” song; not a bucket list——
  • Are we decentralised yet?
  • The hysteresis effect means that practices are always liable to be objectively adjusted too late
  • AI and the future of education: disruptions, dilemmas and directions
  • “You know what this needs? Less safety testing and more venture capital!”
• Receiving test results after six weeks(!) showing NO evidence of a pheochromacytoma as my urine test came back normal. That means that there’s nothing wrong with the structure of my heart, my lungs, my thyroid, adrenal glands, and I’m not anaemic. The GP is calling me about next steps tomorrow, I think to recommend a tilt-table test to see if I’ve got POTS.
• Celebrating our 22nd wedding anniversary with my wife (“copper”), which coincided with…
• Driving my daughter to the outskirts of Hull on a five-hour round trip to play a team in a Junior Premier League cup match. Her team won 3-2 and she was awarded Player of the Match.
• Paying some upfront rent as a my son got his first choice of accommodation at Northumbria University, where he’s going to study the BSc in Sports & Exercise Science. He can move in next week! (He’s actually going to wait until just before Freshers Week.)

Next week, as I mentioned, I’ll be up near Edinburgh on Tuesday. The rest of the week will involve working on AIUK stuff, prepping for some work with Skills Development Scotland, and doing some business development.

Image: a collage of photos I took earlier today on a walk in the Simonside Hills, Northumberland