Emma Bates
@emmabates.bsky.social
Fundraiser, cat owner. She/her.
My friend went to art school where everyone smoked but her. She didn't want to feel left out so when they went out for a cigarette break, she joined them and very slowly nibbled her way through a Freddo.
November 24, 2025 at 6:36 PM
My friend went to art school where everyone smoked but her. She didn't want to feel left out so when they went out for a cigarette break, she joined them and very slowly nibbled her way through a Freddo.
Jim Butcher's Codex Alera has this as an explicit part of its worldbuilding: magic appears and scientific progress stops.
November 23, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Jim Butcher's Codex Alera has this as an explicit part of its worldbuilding: magic appears and scientific progress stops.
Barbados is just a shade over 9 hours and should have gorgeous weather in February.
November 22, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Barbados is just a shade over 9 hours and should have gorgeous weather in February.
I find this particularly interesting in Dracula where Catholic and Orthodox faith repels vampires, but Protestantism *doesn't*. Fascinating choice there from Bram Stoker, a Protestant.
November 18, 2025 at 1:16 PM
I find this particularly interesting in Dracula where Catholic and Orthodox faith repels vampires, but Protestantism *doesn't*. Fascinating choice there from Bram Stoker, a Protestant.
It's really struck me how takeaway adverts used to be "order pizza with all of your friends!" and now they're "order takeaway to eat at home alone."
November 16, 2025 at 11:24 AM
It's really struck me how takeaway adverts used to be "order pizza with all of your friends!" and now they're "order takeaway to eat at home alone."
And wherever it isn't a practical necessity, we should try to undo it! E.g. no one gives a hoot that Commonwealth citizens can vote in the UK. There must be other resident groups we could extent that to for very little political pain.
November 15, 2025 at 12:45 PM
And wherever it isn't a practical necessity, we should try to undo it! E.g. no one gives a hoot that Commonwealth citizens can vote in the UK. There must be other resident groups we could extent that to for very little political pain.
I wonder how much of this is "I must have my own garden" as a hangover from the pandemic. Or is it not *that* recent?
November 12, 2025 at 11:51 AM
I wonder how much of this is "I must have my own garden" as a hangover from the pandemic. Or is it not *that* recent?
Ok, we have a winner, that is genuinely worse.
November 12, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Ok, we have a winner, that is genuinely worse.
Or ferry from Dublin to Cherbourg, then the train to Paris, which would take ~24 hours. But it'd be environmentally friendly and would probably feel like quite a stylish way to travel.
November 11, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Or ferry from Dublin to Cherbourg, then the train to Paris, which would take ~24 hours. But it'd be environmentally friendly and would probably feel like quite a stylish way to travel.
I'm honestly struggling to think of a *worse* way to get from Dublin to Paris while still travelling in broadly the correct direction.
November 11, 2025 at 1:39 PM
I'm honestly struggling to think of a *worse* way to get from Dublin to Paris while still travelling in broadly the correct direction.
This feels vital and so often ignored by highly literate people. There's so much sneering about the idea that some people genuinely find it difficult to write an email.
November 9, 2025 at 6:52 PM
This feels vital and so often ignored by highly literate people. There's so much sneering about the idea that some people genuinely find it difficult to write an email.
I think it depends if they have a good team keeping on top of casework? (I have no idea if Farage does or not).
October 28, 2025 at 7:45 PM
I think it depends if they have a good team keeping on top of casework? (I have no idea if Farage does or not).
Not so much the case in Beijing, I think. My friend lived there and had maybe B2 Mandarin, and got the ????? reaction quite a lot.
October 27, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Not so much the case in Beijing, I think. My friend lived there and had maybe B2 Mandarin, and got the ????? reaction quite a lot.
Something that really surprised me when I was there was how little people were able to communicate across a language barrier at all. All the usual tourist workarounds (e.g. pointing at a photo on a menu to order that thing) just weren't understood.
October 27, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Something that really surprised me when I was there was how little people were able to communicate across a language barrier at all. All the usual tourist workarounds (e.g. pointing at a photo on a menu to order that thing) just weren't understood.
I strongly suspect for Greens and Lib Dems that these are mostly atheists going "Hell, lol" rather than people who actually believe it.
October 23, 2025 at 10:59 AM
I strongly suspect for Greens and Lib Dems that these are mostly atheists going "Hell, lol" rather than people who actually believe it.
This really struck me in coverage of the Presidents Club scandal too. They had paid sex workers there, but it was important to these people to *also* be able to harass unsuspecting waitresses, which I think is a version of the same illusion.
October 21, 2025 at 8:32 AM
This really struck me in coverage of the Presidents Club scandal too. They had paid sex workers there, but it was important to these people to *also* be able to harass unsuspecting waitresses, which I think is a version of the same illusion.
I once - once! - had the pleasure of calling a company where you could select your preferred choice of hold music, with one of the options being silence. It was wonderful, and I don't know why more companies don't offer it.
October 14, 2025 at 1:43 PM
I once - once! - had the pleasure of calling a company where you could select your preferred choice of hold music, with one of the options being silence. It was wonderful, and I don't know why more companies don't offer it.
A friend of mine used to say "he's not the sharpest knife in the brain department" which really had something, I think.
October 14, 2025 at 1:40 PM
A friend of mine used to say "he's not the sharpest knife in the brain department" which really had something, I think.
Congratulations on being the first person I've seen to respond to this with an opinion that's actually unhinged.
October 14, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Congratulations on being the first person I've seen to respond to this with an opinion that's actually unhinged.
The hourly pay calculation also rests on the improbable premise that Cratchet is working a 40-hour week.
October 8, 2025 at 3:51 PM
The hourly pay calculation also rests on the improbable premise that Cratchet is working a 40-hour week.