Post-birthday haze, it's time to set out my resolutions for the upcoming year. Get better at empathy I have a theoretical understanding that other people are humans, with their own complex lives and decisions. I'm not always good at putting that into practice. Groups of people and abstract personae, I feel like I have a good handle on. Individuals, less so. I don't want to be this: But I…
Continue reading →
It's my birthday! As is customary, here's my year in review. See 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010. Sadly, I am a poor diarist, so if I've missed off something important to you - sorry! It has been a year of great change. A new house, new jobs for us both, new countries visited, and many books read. November 2018 Carol's blog about Hackference Brum In the funniest session…
Continue reading →books meta NaBloPoMo · 3 comments · 350 words · Viewed ~233 times
I set myself an unofficial New Year's Resolution - to read more books and write a review of each of them. I wanted to read about one new book per week. Well, I fell a little short of that target - what with getting a new job, moving house, road-tripping across Australia - but I'm pretty pleased with the total. 50 books read and reviewed! It has been a bit tough getting into the swing of…
Continue reading →meta NaBloPoMo · 400 words · Viewed ~1,868 times
Somewhere, stuffed in a cupboard or undeveloped on an old roll of film, is a photo of me laughing and joking with a murderer. It was one summer, while I was visiting home between university terms, and I was out with friends celebrating our youthful vigour. A group of us - very much in the Lads! Lads! Lads! phase of our life - were out drinking, catching up with each other, drinking, and trying…
Continue reading →dhsc meta nhsx WeekNotes work · 550 words · Viewed ~230 times
I loathe performance reviews. OKRs, KPIs, EYRs? Bleugh! There's a level of introspection which always makes me intrinsicly uncomfortable. Besides, I always feel like I've done nothing worthwhile other than arse about on a computer. In my new job, I decided to keep an achievement journal. Well, a Trello list of tasks I've done well. This has been most useful. I looked though my record of…
Continue reading →meta privilege work · 6 comments · 500 words · Viewed ~745 times
When I was at school, we had to wear a uniform. Black trousers, white shirt, brown blazer, brown tie. Coincidentally, it was more-or-less the same uniform as the local supermarket. On the last day of school, I ripped off my tie and vowed never to wear one again. And, aside from the occasional wedding and funeral, I've kept my promise. Which leads me to this 100% true story. Jessica…
Continue reading →meta · 16 comments · 550 words · Viewed ~1,052 times
I get confused when I hear statements on the news like "community leaders have called for calm" or "community leaders will be encouraged to host informative programs" or "assurances were provided by local community leaders" or "community leaders have launched a campaign"... I want to ask you a simple question. Who are your community leaders? Take a moment to think about that. Who are my…
Continue reading →dhsc meta nhsx work · 550 words · Viewed ~290 times
This is what I've been working on in my new job: Matt Hancock@MattHancockBig welcome to @NHSX - harnessing technology to deliver for patientsTransforming health and care@NHSXHello, World!gov.uk/government/new…❤️ 513💬 0🔁 24012:24 - Tue 19 February 2019❤️ 41💬 4🔁 014:50 - Tue 19 February 2019 BOOM! With a fancy announcement in the House of Commons and everything! It has been a lot of work - and I…
Continue reading →dhsc meta WeekNotes work · 1 comment · 550 words · Viewed ~415 times
Previously on "The Terence Eden Adventures!" I have a new job. I am a bit scared by my new job. This week - WTF? OMG? BBQ??? I've been working for DHSC (Department of Health and Social Care) for two weeks. I've made a list of every single new acronym that I've heard. Here it is: AAC - Accelerated Access Collaborative AHP - Allied Health Professional BMA - British Medical Association …
Continue reading →meta WeekNotes work · 450 words · Viewed ~506 times
What kind of utter muppet leaves their comfort zone? It's comfortable! That's the whole flipping point! If someone said "do you want to stay on the comfy sofa or would you rather change over to a really painful chair?" - how would you reply? The Department of Health and Social Care have stolen me away from my old job. I loved my role at GDS. I worked with brilliant people - and after two…
Continue reading →meta nhs open standards regeneration standards work · 1 comment · 450 words · Viewed ~1,295 times
A mysterious woman, with a non-London accent and blonde hair, reached out her hand. She asked me a simple, yet terrifying, question - "Do you want to come on an adventure?" Sadly, Hadley Beeman does not have a TARDIS (Well, as far as any of us can tell...). What she does have is an interesting new job for me. Take a deep breath, because it's a heck of a long title: Senior Technology Advisor…
Continue reading →health meta NaBloPoMo · 2 comments · 200 words · Viewed ~237 times
I've recently been suffering from a nasty bout of RSI. Thanks to the NHS, I know it isn't full Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, which is good. But I do need to take better care of myself. My usual kit is the MS 4000 ergonomic keyboard and an Evoluent Vertical Mouse. But recently I've been travelling a lot, and cramping over a MacBook's tiny keyboard. And that's taken a toll on me. The pain in my…
Continue reading →