Jo Clark
@joclark1.bsky.social
UK based. Works in healthcare with an interest in politics. All views strictly personal.
I moved 35 miles from home to university, see my parents once a week and am definitely one of the progressive middle classes.
November 25, 2025 at 8:20 AM
I moved 35 miles from home to university, see my parents once a week and am definitely one of the progressive middle classes.
This was definitely a thing when I first lived on the Isle of Dogs about 20 years ago. Haven’t heard much of it recently (and I’ve moved to the other side of London). Still preferable to getting shot though.
November 15, 2025 at 9:40 PM
This was definitely a thing when I first lived on the Isle of Dogs about 20 years ago. Haven’t heard much of it recently (and I’ve moved to the other side of London). Still preferable to getting shot though.
Thank you! It’s just a bit random and the Latin is very unfamiliar (whereas I know the Creed so well in English, you can tell where you are in Latin).
October 15, 2025 at 5:10 AM
Thank you! It’s just a bit random and the Latin is very unfamiliar (whereas I know the Creed so well in English, you can tell where you are in Latin).
Tangent alert. As a regular church goer and a member of a choral society, the Magnificat is the piece I struggle with. I neither have the Latin nor the knowledge of the prayer in English to work out what’s going on.
October 14, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Tangent alert. As a regular church goer and a member of a choral society, the Magnificat is the piece I struggle with. I neither have the Latin nor the knowledge of the prayer in English to work out what’s going on.
It may be the strategy. The outcome is ‘make kids really good at using VPNs’.
October 10, 2025 at 7:59 AM
It may be the strategy. The outcome is ‘make kids really good at using VPNs’.
My Dad is still alive
October 7, 2025 at 11:00 PM
My Dad is still alive
My Dad knew a lady who was married to a soldier who fought in the battle of Waterloo.
October 7, 2025 at 10:59 PM
My Dad knew a lady who was married to a soldier who fought in the battle of Waterloo.
For me it was “fatwa”. Growing up in the UK in the 80s, a fatwa was a death sentence issued for Salman Rushdie. The word got reframed when I started reading fatwas about tax deductions on capital expenditure in Saudi Arabia.
October 4, 2025 at 11:29 AM
For me it was “fatwa”. Growing up in the UK in the 80s, a fatwa was a death sentence issued for Salman Rushdie. The word got reframed when I started reading fatwas about tax deductions on capital expenditure in Saudi Arabia.
There’s a relatively straightforward (but hard) way of not becoming them - you must not say, we tried that before and it didn’t work. Even if you saw it tried and failed in 2003, 2008, 2011, 2016 etc, etc.
September 27, 2025 at 6:15 PM
There’s a relatively straightforward (but hard) way of not becoming them - you must not say, we tried that before and it didn’t work. Even if you saw it tried and failed in 2003, 2008, 2011, 2016 etc, etc.
This is what’s missing from my social media feed - a heated debate about transubstantiation (or when’s the correct time to turn the church heating on - either will do).
September 19, 2025 at 7:59 AM
This is what’s missing from my social media feed - a heated debate about transubstantiation (or when’s the correct time to turn the church heating on - either will do).
Clapham Junction is now down the list partly, I assume, because there has been a deliberate policy of reducing the number of trains that stop there. You can no longer get a train direct from Clapham to Brighton, which used to be the case.
August 11, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Clapham Junction is now down the list partly, I assume, because there has been a deliberate policy of reducing the number of trains that stop there. You can no longer get a train direct from Clapham to Brighton, which used to be the case.
They’re vicious little sods though. Have you seen them mob the other birds?
July 30, 2025 at 5:54 AM
They’re vicious little sods though. Have you seen them mob the other birds?
I really value the Center Parcs experience. However, every year I ask the kids whether we think this is the last holiday there and every year they disappoint me by saying no.
June 26, 2025 at 7:46 PM
I really value the Center Parcs experience. However, every year I ask the kids whether we think this is the last holiday there and every year they disappoint me by saying no.
Never start a land war in Asia.
Sorry to be that person.
Sorry to be that person.
June 18, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Never start a land war in Asia.
Sorry to be that person.
Sorry to be that person.
The trains. It’s possible to get to most towns and cities by train with relative ease (although it can be slow and it’s not cheap). Compare with France where if it’s SNCF the trains may run every 2 hours or so.
June 16, 2025 at 9:00 PM
The trains. It’s possible to get to most towns and cities by train with relative ease (although it can be slow and it’s not cheap). Compare with France where if it’s SNCF the trains may run every 2 hours or so.
The general legal system in the UK is boring, predictable and doesn’t change very much. Which is a good thing.
June 16, 2025 at 8:50 PM
The general legal system in the UK is boring, predictable and doesn’t change very much. Which is a good thing.
Pentecost is 50 days after Easter (so 7 weeks) and therefore moves each year whereas Whitsun stays the same?
Went to mass yesterday and didn’t feel the need to say Happy Pentecost to anyone.
Went to mass yesterday and didn’t feel the need to say Happy Pentecost to anyone.
June 9, 2025 at 5:49 AM
Pentecost is 50 days after Easter (so 7 weeks) and therefore moves each year whereas Whitsun stays the same?
Went to mass yesterday and didn’t feel the need to say Happy Pentecost to anyone.
Went to mass yesterday and didn’t feel the need to say Happy Pentecost to anyone.
30 years ago, I worked as a medical secretary in an imaging department. The hospital could never find money for new dictation tapes but if the tape scrambled when you were typing up the reports from an ultrasound list the entire list of patients had to be recalled and rescanned.
June 7, 2025 at 7:40 AM
30 years ago, I worked as a medical secretary in an imaging department. The hospital could never find money for new dictation tapes but if the tape scrambled when you were typing up the reports from an ultrasound list the entire list of patients had to be recalled and rescanned.
I saw that film on TV in about 1987. Never knew the title but the film stayed with me for some reason. You’ve made my day!
May 31, 2025 at 1:15 PM
I saw that film on TV in about 1987. Never knew the title but the film stayed with me for some reason. You’ve made my day!
As a Putney resident, I can confirm your hypothesis about rowing crowds.
May 31, 2025 at 1:03 PM
As a Putney resident, I can confirm your hypothesis about rowing crowds.
Orange or Nimes. Amazing Roman remains and on the TGV direct from Gare de Lyon (and still the fast bit). More tricky without a car but I could go to the Pont du Gard every year.
May 19, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Orange or Nimes. Amazing Roman remains and on the TGV direct from Gare de Lyon (and still the fast bit). More tricky without a car but I could go to the Pont du Gard every year.
I’m not sure I know the Putney River Cafe? But Putney Pier Fish and Chips is proudly carrying an endorsement from Sally Abé and is orders of magnitude cheaper than the Hammersmith joint.
May 15, 2025 at 9:49 PM
I’m not sure I know the Putney River Cafe? But Putney Pier Fish and Chips is proudly carrying an endorsement from Sally Abé and is orders of magnitude cheaper than the Hammersmith joint.
If she thinks losing voters to Reform in Beaconsfield is her problem, she should try talking to her constituents more.
May 15, 2025 at 3:59 PM
If she thinks losing voters to Reform in Beaconsfield is her problem, she should try talking to her constituents more.
I remember one occasion waking up in a Marriott and not being able to remember which country I was in.
May 9, 2025 at 5:31 PM
I remember one occasion waking up in a Marriott and not being able to remember which country I was in.