I recently came across the company Framework, whose USP is a fully repairable laptop. Shouldn't seem revolutionary but somehow it is in this age of planned obsolescence and glued/welded components. Reminds me a little of Fairphone, who are also trying to disrupt tech hardware with their emphasis on ethical sustainable supply chains and modular, replaceable components.
Time for an Inquiry-style post, from the title with altered Simple Minds lyrics to the quotes from other blogs – here goes:
It's getting tense now as I enter the home straight of #100DaytoOffload. 15 days for 13 posts, including this one. That's a faster pace than I'd prefer so today will be a bit of a stream of consciousness that I add to as the day progresses. Let's start!
Sunday night (relax!) The weekend draws to a close Calm liminal space
Time to kick-off a series I've been thinking about for awhile now, exploring the broad concept of sustainability through the lens of alcohol production and consumption. This will span the whole system, including brewing itself, upstream and downstream supply chains, marketing and public perception etc. To begin with, I'm going to look at the example of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company.
Yesterday I voted for my first and second choices for the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) of South Wales. Police Commissioner was a role I'd only come across before in Batman but apparently we have them in the UK too now! They were introduced in 2012 (when I lived in the US) so this is the first time I've been around to vote for them.
...something many of us strive for – that the work we spend large portions of our daily lives sweating over has some intrinsic meaning and satisfaction beyond being a mechanism to pay our bills and put food on the table. That it is part of thriving not just surviving. I've been thinking about this on and off recently as my current job comes to an inflection point, and I've settled on a number of lenses through which to view this:
It's that time of year again. The beech tree outside the window has young leaves on it and the birds of lockdown are returning to it. So far I've seen a Pica pica (magpie), a blue tit, and three collared doves (perhaps last year's hatchling alongside the previous pair?).
Yesterday, at the request of a nearly six year old girl, we brought together seven households from Cardiff, Didcot, London, Reading, Sheffield and Winchester for a ten hour long virtual beer festival. The girl in question was missing the fun and excitement of the Reading Beer Festival and who could blame her – all the adults were too!
Over the last month my weight loss and running have both plateaued... but that's OK! If you had told me at the start of the year I'd loose 14 ± 2 lbs in 3-4 months and be able to run 5k again I'd have been a little doubtful but very happy! I feel more like myself again on the physical side for the first time in years and that has a positive knock-on for the mental/emotional wellbeing side too.