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Quick note on the US air dates for new/continuing series. Star Trek Discovery: 10th February 2022 Star Trek Picard: 3rd March 2022 Strange New Worlds: 5th May 2022 Star Trek Lower Decks: May 2022 (no specific date) Only once at least one of these shows (plus Prodigy) ends will they create a new show. The three ideas going forward are a Section 31 show starring Michelle Yeoh, a Starfleet Academy show and Ceti Alpha V, based on the life of Khan in exile.

All those years I was treated with contempt for not getting daily flu death figures and I never knew it.

Got approached by a headhunting firm looking for a professor in a university in England. Can't do it as my kids are settled in school and the wife in her job, but it is nice to be thought of in that way. If a similar opportunity came up in central Scotland, I'd jump at it.

Just a wee update. I contacted the website that had my exam questions (with answers) posted on it last week explaining that I wanted to see these answers to see if a student had cheated. I expected no response...but today they got in touch and said they had given me fifteen document "unlocks". So I unlocked the answers their tutors had given - and it turns out that these folk I submitted to the committee had not used this site. Theirs looks to be a case of straightforward collusion. I have however identified a different student who clearly had used this site (including all the mistakes in the site's answer). He has been put forward to the committee now and I cannot see a way back for him.

What is clear is that now Starmer has a chance to be "heard" by the electorate. Rolling out policies would be a good idea and allow him to seize the agenda. Johnson is planning to do a policy blitz soon - he gets it - and Starmer needs to get in first. "Green new deal" isn't enough. It was around when Corbyn was in charge but doesn't have the same impact with the public as crime/NHS/schools does. He needs something on one of these. Something substantial.

This, more than anything, will signal the end of the pandemic in the UK. Without the daily up/down/the same numbers to focus on, much of the life will be sucked out of it.

My wife is having similar discussions with her team. Her viewpoint is the opposite of yours in that for her welfare she wants more time in the office; others in her team want to keep WFH and the management's first suggestion was for everyone to be in 2 days per week. There was backlash on all fronts by people saying they wanted in more or less. In the end they backed off and have essentially allowed the team back in on their own terms. There is a rota in place and the team have been able to put in as much time in the office as they want (or do not want). Might very well be worth a discussion with your manager. I don't know the person or the culture of the place you work, but as has been said elsewhere you can make the case for continued WFH on a few fronts (work productivity, wellbeing, etc). My sense is that many managers are open to such discussions now.

One single post and 65 red dots. Is that a record?

8 for Wednesday

Fair enough - just thinking of a good footballer off the top of my head and chose a(nother) wrong 'un.

I am an absolute lightweight compared to most on here. So far I've not had any broken bones, kidney stones or other body parts snapping or bursting. The worst for me was probably the post-vasectomy pain I endured for about 4 years. I have talked about this on "The Snip" thread. Started about a year after my vasectomy, and my right testicle alternated between a permanent dull throb and a full-on "Someone is sticking an ice pick in my ball" stabbing pain. Various medications calmed the ache down but the bouts of stabbing pain kept coming. Especially when driving. Once it was so bad I was physically sick. It eventually died down and stopped of its own accord a couple of years ago. Not been on any medication for it for a few years now.

You do have to wonder at the cost/benefit analysis done ahead of this signing. Surely the RR board underestimated the "cost" which is (within a day or so) both reputational and financial. He'd have to play like Cristiano Ronaldo week in, week out for the benefit to come even close to the cost.

My guess is he'll "contract covid" to keep him away from the team for a week to two to try to let it blow over a bit before making a lower-key debut.

This kind of "banter" can go in the fucking bin.

I'm sure this has been said here in the last day or so, but a couple of weeks ago the Falkirk thread was rife with rumours that he was coming to us. I and many other fans vented our feelings about these rumours there and then (and elsewhere). It wasn't helped by our new board putting out a somewhat cryptic statement about having to make "unpopular decisions" which many read as a hint of a Goodwillie signing. Thankfully (for us) it never came to pass. But when it was being discussed I imagined the impact it would have on the club, the town, the community. I made reference to clubs the size of Falkirk being family clubs, and relying very much on the support and good will of the local community. If we had signed Goodwillie, I could see nothing but damage. I really do feel for Rovers fans, and the folk of Kirkcaldy being caught up in this utter shitstorm, not of their own making. The damage I imagined hitting us is hitting Raith Rovers now and I take no joy in it whatsoever. Yes, we dodged a bullet but it's not nice to then see said bullet hit someone else.

All this Diana talk should remind us - don't bother with TV, radio or newspapers in August. It'll be the "anniversary".

8 for Tuesday. Opera and fruit.

He never misled parliament, though.

One of my friends spewed all over the school bus on the way to the Glasgow Garden Festival in 1988. About 2 minutes after leaving the school. It was running up and down the aisle and was making us all feel ill. I know, I know. 1988 thread for this pish.

Take away the question mark...

As a report we had to wait ages on, there is very little indeed in this. The juicy stuff has been taken out. The most robust it gets is this:

12 in total, 4 considered non-criminal.

I remember watching TFI Friday. The album had been out for a couple of weeks and sales were high, but people were starting to say that it wasn't as good as the earlier albums. Chris Evans did a bit on the show pretending to be a doctor, using a stethoscope to examine the album and declaring it dead. After that, I think folk stopped buying it.

I started using the internet in ~1995. In 97 I got my first home PC - it weighed a bloody ton. I would sign up to whatever provider was offering a free month of internet access (compuserve, AOL and so on) then cancel with them and move to the next one, before Freeserve came on the scene and removed the need for hopping around. Maybe used it for an hour every second day. Bear in mind, it tied up the phone line for the house in those days. When I went to uni, they had computer labs that were open 24 hours so would surf the web from there rather than at home. Youngsters on this thread have no earthly idea how slow the internet was on a 14.4k modem. You would go to a website, off to make a cup of tea and a sandwich, and if you were lucky the page had loaded up by the time you got back.