Kathryn
@shermarama.bsky.social
Design engineer, drummer, general maker of stuff. Keen on finding good solutions to complex problems. She/her. Hamiltron 🇳🇿innit.
Oh, I'm long-haul weird, plus extra round here as an immigrant, but it's frustrating how that means I go in the exception bucket. People tell me they don't know anyone who uses a bike or a train for transport! Because people like me aren't people, for these purposes!
November 20, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Oh, I'm long-haul weird, plus extra round here as an immigrant, but it's frustrating how that means I go in the exception bucket. People tell me they don't know anyone who uses a bike or a train for transport! Because people like me aren't people, for these purposes!
I have an ongoing background project-ette to try and ID and review bike parking in my city in NZ. I have come to consider '5 Sheffield stands with 3 bikes at them' as good-quality, well-used bike parking round here.
November 19, 2025 at 10:18 PM
I have an ongoing background project-ette to try and ID and review bike parking in my city in NZ. I have come to consider '5 Sheffield stands with 3 bikes at them' as good-quality, well-used bike parking round here.
This whole thread has the terrible attraction of being able to pity myself... Like *yes* there's lots of things I like about New Zealand, but being considered an actual weirdo for using a bicycle as transport sometimes is really not one of them.
November 19, 2025 at 10:14 PM
This whole thread has the terrible attraction of being able to pity myself... Like *yes* there's lots of things I like about New Zealand, but being considered an actual weirdo for using a bicycle as transport sometimes is really not one of them.
Ehh, I'm not a fan of beans on toast, but I can get right behind a bhaji buttie.
November 18, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Ehh, I'm not a fan of beans on toast, but I can get right behind a bhaji buttie.
*waves from the fourth-largest city in New Zealand* (Although yes we do end up going from Auckland half the time.)
November 17, 2025 at 11:25 PM
*waves from the fourth-largest city in New Zealand* (Although yes we do end up going from Auckland half the time.)
There are lots of people working at universities where tenure isn't even a concept, and staff who aren't eligible at the ones where it is, who also care about this stuff and would like to make things like this known.
November 14, 2025 at 8:42 PM
There are lots of people working at universities where tenure isn't even a concept, and staff who aren't eligible at the ones where it is, who also care about this stuff and would like to make things like this known.
Current human-powered vehicle record is 144 kph. I'm told the winner gets a ceremonial speeding ticket from the local police. www.ihpva.org/whpsc/
IHPVA - International Human Powered Vehicle Association - WHPSC
IHPVA WEB Pages - recumbent bicycles, human powered aircraft, human powered vehicles, human powered boats
www.ihpva.org
November 14, 2025 at 6:49 AM
Current human-powered vehicle record is 144 kph. I'm told the winner gets a ceremonial speeding ticket from the local police. www.ihpva.org/whpsc/
Yeah, I remember staying with a family member and having to have all sorts of security setup and apps added to my phone to be able to use the lights in the room I was staying in. I didn't say out loud to them that it was ridiculous, but I didn't have to.
November 13, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Yeah, I remember staying with a family member and having to have all sorts of security setup and apps added to my phone to be able to use the lights in the room I was staying in. I didn't say out loud to them that it was ridiculous, but I didn't have to.
I couldn't get beyond Pizza.
November 13, 2025 at 7:46 PM
I couldn't get beyond Pizza.
And 'pulling a geographic' is straight out of the addiction-in-denial playbook. Because wherever you go, it turns out you've still taken yourself...
November 11, 2025 at 10:44 AM
And 'pulling a geographic' is straight out of the addiction-in-denial playbook. Because wherever you go, it turns out you've still taken yourself...
Charter flights for cheap package holidays seem to go for really tight seat pitches. I went on one while over 6', and actually had to sit sideways for the whole flight.
November 11, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Charter flights for cheap package holidays seem to go for really tight seat pitches. I went on one while over 6', and actually had to sit sideways for the whole flight.
And with respect for your experience, perhaps you haven't seen much of others', particularly older riders in places with decent bike lane systems? It's gentle exercise with its own built-in chair, where you can get to the cafe at whatever speed you like. Some find this easier than car traffic...
November 10, 2025 at 11:44 AM
And with respect for your experience, perhaps you haven't seen much of others', particularly older riders in places with decent bike lane systems? It's gentle exercise with its own built-in chair, where you can get to the cafe at whatever speed you like. Some find this easier than car traffic...
Personally I've had serious back issues and for a while, could ride a bike for a bunch longer than I could sit in a car seat. And New England's problem sounds like car-centric infrastructure, not weather; look at cycling in Norway or Denmark- bike lanes can be plowed if anyone cares to.
November 10, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Personally I've had serious back issues and for a while, could ride a bike for a bunch longer than I could sit in a car seat. And New England's problem sounds like car-centric infrastructure, not weather; look at cycling in Norway or Denmark- bike lanes can be plowed if anyone cares to.
Consider 'non-licensed wheeled vehicles for personal travel' as a spectrum - bike, e-bike, e-trike, recumbent trike, hand-bike, mobility scooter, powered wheelchair... Plenty of people who can't get a driving licence can use some / all of these. Bike infrastructure makes that even easier.
November 9, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Consider 'non-licensed wheeled vehicles for personal travel' as a spectrum - bike, e-bike, e-trike, recumbent trike, hand-bike, mobility scooter, powered wheelchair... Plenty of people who can't get a driving licence can use some / all of these. Bike infrastructure makes that even easier.
The forecast for Trontown today was raining on and off all day, and then it's actually been sunny since about 8am. I think we got your weather?
November 9, 2025 at 3:42 AM
The forecast for Trontown today was raining on and off all day, and then it's actually been sunny since about 8am. I think we got your weather?
It's been like that for years, though - long enough that I've been trained to word-spam instead, and semi-forgot there used to be options - so this doesn't seem to have been a line that couldn't be crossed.
November 8, 2025 at 3:52 AM
It's been like that for years, though - long enough that I've been trained to word-spam instead, and semi-forgot there used to be options - so this doesn't seem to have been a line that couldn't be crossed.
I've long wanted a 'work mode' for search, which would expect that I *do* know how to deploy accuracy, including Booleans, and that I *don't* want recipe blog results and home shopping options for, like, any of these searches, at all.
November 7, 2025 at 8:08 PM
I've long wanted a 'work mode' for search, which would expect that I *do* know how to deploy accuracy, including Booleans, and that I *don't* want recipe blog results and home shopping options for, like, any of these searches, at all.
It does help a bit with this problem, though - leaving out the 'perhaps you want a video about the wrong concept' and 'perhaps you want to buy this unrelated thing' and 'perhaps you want some freeform text generation on, uh, I dunno' makes Google feel less comprehensively stupid.
November 7, 2025 at 7:54 PM
It does help a bit with this problem, though - leaving out the 'perhaps you want a video about the wrong concept' and 'perhaps you want to buy this unrelated thing' and 'perhaps you want some freeform text generation on, uh, I dunno' makes Google feel less comprehensively stupid.
I've been struggling with this for some time, and have not found any of the search alternatives to be better. I usually go with adding more keywords for context, like a specific standard - ASTM 304 plate, so I get steel not crockery.
November 7, 2025 at 7:37 PM
I've been struggling with this for some time, and have not found any of the search alternatives to be better. I usually go with adding more keywords for context, like a specific standard - ASTM 304 plate, so I get steel not crockery.
Yeah, I only saw the last half-innings and nearly gave up and turned off, but Santner delivered a stunning phoenix-of-hope job.
November 5, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Yeah, I only saw the last half-innings and nearly gave up and turned off, but Santner delivered a stunning phoenix-of-hope job.
That last couple of overs, though!
November 5, 2025 at 10:02 AM
That last couple of overs, though!
People joke about tutting, but honestly, that's part of it - reminding people what's acceptable in very mundane, low-stakes ways. I feel like violence in the UK comes where there's isolation from the standing field of 'hey, maybe have a cuppa and a whinge about it, all right?'
November 4, 2025 at 3:05 AM
People joke about tutting, but honestly, that's part of it - reminding people what's acceptable in very mundane, low-stakes ways. I feel like violence in the UK comes where there's isolation from the standing field of 'hey, maybe have a cuppa and a whinge about it, all right?'
Do you know what a budget smartphone looks like, though? The bottom end of the Samsung A series is around $100 *new*, and honestly looks like any other 6" phone at a glance. Cheap phones aren't an old shape, they just have lower res and processing power.
November 2, 2025 at 5:00 AM
Do you know what a budget smartphone looks like, though? The bottom end of the Samsung A series is around $100 *new*, and honestly looks like any other 6" phone at a glance. Cheap phones aren't an old shape, they just have lower res and processing power.