Going away for the weekend killed getting this out earlier, working up the notes would kill getting it out at all. So, here’s the rough take:
DCAP
Tuesday – Dengie Hundred Bus Users Group committee meeting. No good news. Community 360 service apparently does not serve children or ‘young workers’ -whatever that means
Tuesday -Thermal Imaging of houses on my street with Flir cameras – thanks Maldon District Council and Community Energy South for camera loans and assistance
Wednesday – Put in an FOI request to Essex County Council seeking publication of the Maldon District Future Transport Strategy and the results of the consultation that closed in July 2023.
Wednesday – We’re a charity! The Charity Commission has confirmed that DCAP is now a registered charity.
Wednesday – Connecting Essex through Cycling and Walking consultation – I responded to the survey and commented on the interactive map. Limiting my response to the Dengie
Wednesday – Had a Teams call planning the forthcoming Community Led Energy Plan (CLEP) meeting in Maldon
Day Job
Back to work all very familiar. Closed off on my tasks for the March issue of the magazine.
Everyday Life
No snow, but temperatures hanging around freezing. Suzi cat is not amused.
Flickr – stung once again by the annual fee – must prioritise extracting all the content (and stick it in Photos/iCloud?) and close the account. I’m trying to minimise my burn rate, these annual hits are worse than the monthly ones – Patreon, substacks, paid subscriptions, and membership fees. After the household bills, insurance, loan repayment, pension contributions, paying off the credit card, mobile, and iCloud… there’s monthly dues to the Green Party, Essex Wildlife Trust, Essex Field Club, Permaculture Association, Ancestry and trying to put money aside for vet bills and dentists fees. I could probably do a fiver a month to an online creator whose work I enjoy, but I couldn’t do it for the 30+ creator’s work I enjoy – so I don’t know how this economy is supposed to operate.
‘On the one hand information wants to be expensive, because it’s so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes your life. On the other hand, information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all the time. So you have these two fighting against each other. The tension will not go away.’ – Stewart Brand in 1984
Wozniak’s reply to Brand, almost always overlooked: “Information should be free but your time should not.”
Need to complete ditching Chrome on laptop, and ditching Safari on phone
Eurostar change seating for return journey: annoying
Neighbour replacing fence – more foliage destroyed in the process
Parking stuff kicking off locally, I have thoughts that deserve their own post.
Cash has run out before payday and before Paris.
Friday Evening – Paris via Eurostar with family for my brother’s 50th birthday
Saturday – Following my brother’s whims: Marche Aux Puces De Saint-ouen, Sacre Coeur, vintage clothes store, retro toy shop
Sunday – Eiffel Tower, Eurostar back to UK, train back to Essex
Over the weekend: Bad news from home: With few candidates standing in the Burnham-on-Crouch elections on 6th February 2025 two Reform UK representatives have become town councillors uncontested in Burnham North Ward.
In Burnham South Ward, three people are standing for two seats including two more Reform UK representatives.
Didn’t want to have public political affiliations (because: DCAP) but Reform UK are proto-fascist and can’t remain silent. Local Left making an effort to resist but the general lack of enthusiasm for the Starmer project is stymying collaboration with Labour players in an anti-right coalition
Media
Books
Listened to Cory Doctorow read his novella Spill (on his podcast)
Online
BlueSky scratching the Twitter itch but souring currently with the onslaught of friend-seeking drug dealers, lifestyle gurus and OnlyFans sex workers or their AI imitators (saw them described as slut-bots – can you shame a bot?) dominating my notifications there – blocking accounts has become a chore/work task (on Twitter my notifications are no longer replies, like or mentions – just begging/baiting ‘look here’s what people you like are sharing’ why don’t you come back and remember the good times’. As reliably reported elsewhere it’s a hellscape though. It used to be handy for following breaking news, but leaving your ‘Following’ feed to look up anything else is like trying to cross a room full of shit-drunk nazi Hell’s Angels in Fight Week – a cute cat photo seems as likely as anything else to get responses like ’I’m gonna shoot you in the balls you woke faggot and rape your houseplants in front of you while you bleed out’
Future Thinking and Dreaming
Making it to payday without incurring any more debt
Dengie Bioregion 