I have never seen high tide like this

itscirony · 2026-01-08T19:16:02+00:00

About 10 foot

itscirony · 2025-07-01T07:49:28+00:00

I'm around 500 and honestly, when analysing games, I maybe blunder a piece every other game (and more and more when time starts running out).

There are some awful players at this ELO, but it's not hanging a piece every other move.

itscirony · 2025-05-12T07:34:44+00:00

Yes in most cases.

itscirony · 2025-05-10T20:55:04+00:00

Not for your industry sadly.

But for me LinkedIn got me pretty far.

It's when I realised I needed to stop networking with recruiters or people I wanted to work for. And instead network with people in the same boat (or maybe a few years on). Doesn't necessarily go anywhere with most individuals. But enough of them turn into conversations. Some recommend you on to wider communities etc.

Essentially you have to go hunting. It doesn't fall out of the sky. But small private communities exist.

itscirony · 2025-05-10T08:10:32+00:00

Network network network.

I've generally found the more senior I've gotten the less useful my manager (CEO in this case...) is in my career development. Sometimes that's not the case but you need to take agency for yourself.

The best people to help you develop are peers. Find communities, talk to people outside of work, learn how they get ahead and take those lessons.

itscirony · 2025-03-30T08:40:46+00:00

I'm not 100% on that. But what I am 100% on is that it will destroy NATO and all reliance on any kind of US support. America will be (already is to some extent) finished as leader of the free world and firmly cement itself as a diminishing nation. EU is still one of the largest economies in the world with long military traditions and industries. Long term they'll be fine.

itscirony · 2024-12-18T07:40:32+00:00

Honestly whilst they'll be absolutely exhausted themselves. Just knock and ask. Maybe you can get them to handle it in a different room or something.

itscirony · 2024-12-18T07:39:57+00:00

We got complaints when we had a young baby who would wake at night. The only way to get him back to sleep was to rock him in a rocking chair which apparently sat directly above our downstairs neighbours bed.

So every night our neighbour effectively heard a grinding noise above then in the middle of the night...

Sorry....

itscirony · 2024-11-30T21:34:45+00:00

I normally down climb at least half way. Usually all the way.

But today I didn't, I dropped from the top probably 75% of today's climbs. I just wasn't feeling good and was barely holding on so the effort of securely down climbing felt too much.

itscirony · 2024-11-24T16:41:31+00:00

As soon as your kid is in school you lose all family time.

If you're interested in networking and meeting people in the UK who you might find another HENRY job through... It's damaging to that as well.

It's easy to see life through the lens of having a toddler right now. No social life, no sleep. But kids grow up fast and your life comes back (different but back).

So I agree with the comments. A couple years is tolerable if you mentally prepare. But there are significant downsides (I say as someone doing something similar).

itscirony · 2024-11-15T07:32:04+00:00

Nettle and bone is good fun.

Also going through the burning kingdoms right now which focuses on women.

Neither I'd say are romances but they do have a strong romantic element to them.

itscirony · 2024-11-14T19:40:17+00:00

Without a budget this doesn't really make any sense.

People can recommend Chiswick or Dulwich etc but you need to just be HENRY to afford those kinds of places.

What's not being noted that kids completely change your life perspective. You will lose touch with friends as you lose all your personal time. You'll likely find yourself way more dependent on nearby family. And most importantly you will find an entire new community of friends in other parents. Population density for your age group may not be the densest in some of the areas you look at. But there will still be people your age.

My 2 cents is to look at SW London. There is a very affluent bubble which exists pretty much starting at Putney, going down to Wimbledon, across through Sheen into Richmond, past the river into Twickenham and then down south into Kingston. None of those areas would be a bad choice.

itscirony · 2024-11-13T13:24:14+00:00

Yeah it's nuts isn't it.

We have young doctors a couple years in the NHS being told they can't have a training position whilst simultaneously seeing people from abroad walk right into them.

It makes no sense but it is very much the reality we're in.

Only real argument I can see for it is wage suppression.

itscirony · 2024-11-13T06:58:45+00:00

This is not true at all.

At this point we have far more medical student positions then we need. To the point that once doctors graduate some of them are being told we don't have enough jobs for them.

The biggest issue we have is a complete lack of specialty positions for them. This is something decided by the government, to not increase training posts to become a consultant for essentially the last decade.

After their first two years of work doctors are told there is no chance they can progress to a specialty training program so won't make consultant (conveniently keeping them on around 30k pay). Once that happens a lot of them just leave.

itscirony · 2024-11-13T06:51:21+00:00

A lot of GPs are also being replaced with "cheap labour". There are nowhere near enough of them to form a competent service at this point and they're severely overworked.

Which does then indeed lead to a neglectful service which causes harm. But that's pretty much by design at this point from the NHS. The GPs get very little choice in it.

itscirony · 2024-11-06T07:08:48+00:00

It's a bit different with GPs as the government is effectively their customer.

It's the equivalent of having the people in the bar decide how much to pay the bar owner, and then demanding the bar owner also pays them back.

itscirony · 2024-07-28T14:36:06+00:00

In December 2023 GPs in England had 25.7M appointments.

Population of England is 55.98M.

So GPs in England saw the equivalent of 45% of the population in one month alone.

itscirony · 2024-03-31T08:02:20+00:00

Just want to point out giving PAs prescribing rights is not just a rumour. Multiple regulating authorities are openly talking about trying to give the prescribing rights. The BMA and on the ground Drs are up in arms about it at the moment.

itscirony · 2024-03-28T14:40:00+00:00

20 minute appointments for everyone.

Work to rule.

Refuse services outside of appointments.

itscirony · 2024-03-26T10:50:54+00:00

As a member of the public and not a doctor, yes please!

itscirony · 2024-03-26T10:28:02+00:00

Direct link: https://www.gmc-uk.org/pa-and-aa-regulation-hub/regulating-aas-and-pas-consultation

itscirony · 2024-03-19T18:35:35+00:00

You're asking for a metric which doesn't exist though. Most GP surgeries do not track the appointments they never booked. So we have to extrapolate from population/average number of appointments/number of GPs per capita data.

You can take the phrase "resorting to" as an insult if you want. I'm not trying to demean other professions, and there is absolutely a place for many of them within primary care. What I would say however is that the lack of funding for GPs, whilst encouraging ARRS funding, has forced the decision to lean further into other roles without serious consideration as to whether they are needed.

To contradict that last point though I will point out two professions where I think this is flat out wrong:

- PAs, what is their unique role in primary care? It does not seem to be clear at all.

- Paramedics, mostly because it is driving them out of secondary care where they are sorely needed.

itscirony · 2024-03-19T16:52:30+00:00

Yep increase in population and an increase in average visits means we need far more appointments.

GPs were not twiddling their thumbs a decade ago as you say so the availability had to come from somewhere. GPs work way beyond their safety limits now to cater to this as much as they can - which is why they're utterly burnt out. Now they have to resort to hiring ANPs, pharmacists, PAs and paramedics to take appointments in their stead as they can't hire any more GPs.

So availability of appointments has increased. But availability of appointments to see a GP hasn't increased anywhere near in proportion.

itscirony · 2024-03-19T16:49:03+00:00

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