What are You Doing and Where are You Going?
The title for this post is a quote from The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. I’ve used it as a verbal cue to try and give readers an overview of the point I’m striving to convey. Because I want to talk about modern life in western civilization, specifically its complexity and increasing uncertainty. If you’re extremely wealthy you can mitigate these two points but I’m working on the premise that most of the people who read Contains Moderate Peril are not. The blogging community, of which I am a participant, is a diverse group but from what I’ve observed it’s not populated by millionaires. In fact most of the people I know, both online and in person, are just holding down a job, trying to keep a roof over their head and pay the bills. Often they’re doing the job they do in default of anything else and they’re at the very least ambivalent towards it. The pandemic has also brought home how fragile so-called “normality” is. Modern politics are also volatile and life in general just doesn’t seem as certain as it was twenty years ago.
Video Game Monopolies
Less than two weeks after we learned that Microsoft would be purchasing Activision Blizzard for $70 billion, today it was announced that PlayStation Studios (AKA Sony) is to buy Bungie for $3.6 billion. Both Microsoft and Sony have extolled the virtues of their respective acquisitions and claim that gamers will benefit. Game passes will become better value for money with new titles added to them. Accessibility and crossplay may well increase due to each company’s technological innovations. Console prices could even be reduced. And at a company level, restructuring and streamlining presents a potential opportunity to purge some developers of many of the toxicity issues that blight them. If you believe the press releases from both Sony and Microsoft, then the future of gaming is in safe hands and looking good. And so far there hasn’t been one mention of NFTs.
DIY
During the seventies there was a boom in DIY (do it yourself) in the UK and a surge in interest in interior design. It was a decade of home extensions, loft conversions and open plan living. Social attitudes were changing and the formal layout of the family home that had prevailed since Edwardian times was giving way to ideas of a far more informal living space. I experienced this cultural change first hand between 1975 and 1985, as my Father spent a decade renovating the family home, room by room. The time and pace of this decade of DIY were dictated purely by the costs. My Father was working as a teacher and so the school holidays afforded him the time and opportunity. The practical benefits of DIY made the cost far more affordable. Plus, my Father was a mechanical engineer by trade and therefore could competently undertake woodwork, building and basic plumbing.
"The World Doesn't Actually Need 10,000 New Indie Games a Year"
One of the reasons I’m not that engaged with politics at the moment is because so many people’s opinions are based upon spurious data, misconceptions and logical fallacies. There are too many hot takes that are based on bluster, faux outrage and a fundamental dislike or fear of change. Sadly, speaking before thinking seems to have become commonplace and has filtered down from political discourse into pretty much every other aspect of public discourse. The furiously hard-of-thinking dominate most public spaces and seem ready to pounce on any subject being debated with an angry, knee-jerk opinion. It is all very wearing. It would seem that being angry about someone or something is as addictive as heroin and a lot cheaper. However, it is equally just as damaging to society.
Caring for the Elderly Part 15
In this latest post I wish to discuss hospital admissions and how they can become a regular occurrence when caring for the elderly. Being immobile, losing agency with respect to one’s personal hygiene and being dependent on medical equipment can lead to health related problems, irrespective of good home care. For example, my late Father had limited mobility and spent most of his day sitting. Hence, he used a memory foam cushion to protest against pressure sores. He also slept in a hospital bed equipped with an air mattress for similar reasons. Despite having attentive carers twice a day, he was subject to regular skin complaints due to his diet (he was fed via a PEG tube) and lack of sunlight. Perhaps the biggest source of problems came from being catheterised. Despite scrupulous cleanliness he would still regularly contract urinary tract infections. As a result hospital admissions were frequent.
Stuff to do in 2022
Regular readers will already know my position on New Year’s Resolutions. I think unrealistic, kneejerk commitments to hare-brained schemes that you know damn well won’t ever get done, are crass and tiresome. So let’s not waste each other’s time going down that route. I like sensible, realistic, attainable goals and that is exactly what I am setting myself for 2022. I want to increase my writing output this year because my drafts folder is filled with posts and ideas that haven’t quite been completed. Essentially this comes down to making the time to finish these articles and possibly embracing a somewhat briefer writing style. I’m also going to try and see if I can grow the existing audience for Contains Moderate Peril. I have some ideas as to how to do this and none of them really require any additional resources. It simply comes down to doing the required work and staying motivated. I believe that I meet both of those requirements.
Goodbye 2021
When I wrote Goodbye 2020 a year ago, I endeavoured to be philosophical and sanguine in my approach. It was a challenging year for all of us and for me it was further compounded by a bereavement. However, I strove to keep matters in perspective and tried to look at things in a broader context. I cannot be as even handed this time. 2021 has been a very difficult year for myself and my family and I will be glad to see the back of it. Nationally speaking, things haven’t been much better. I feel that we’ve squandered the initial progress that the COVID-19 vaccines offered. Obviously, I cannot do anything about the problems that the UK faces in 2022. However, I certainly intend to address some of the issues that I and my immediate family are facing. I am going to tackle some specific problems that need to be laid to rest and set myself some tangible goals to achieve. 2022 isn’t going to be something that just happens and I passively sit back and watch.
Caring for the Elderly Part 14
It has been over a year since I’ve written about this subject. The last post was about my late Father’s funeral. Since then life has gone on and my Mother’s ongoing care has become a fixed and somewhat uneventful regime. There are benefits to be gained from such a routine as it offers stability and certainty for both the carer and person being cared for. However, recently there has been a significant change in the status quo that warrants writing about. As always, my desire is to share some points and present my personal experiences in the hope that they may prove useful and informative to those in a similar situation or who may be just embarking upon their caring journey. The main subject of this post is a difficult one and something that is very hard to come to terms with. It is dementia. A medical condition that affects 1 in 6 people over the age of 80 in the UK.
Old Bexley and Sidcup By-election Part 3
The Conservative Party successfully held onto their “safe seat” of Old Bexley and Sidcup in yesterday’s closely watched by-election. However their overall majority was reduced by more than half amid a very low voter turnout. Conservative councillor Louie French becomes the country’s newest MP after winning 11,189 votes, more than 50 per cent of those cast, in the seat previously held by the former cabinet minister James Brokenshire. Mr Brokenshire died in October from lung cancer aged 53. The closest challenger was Labour’s Daniel Francis, who secured 6,711 as the Tory majority fell from nearly 19,000 to 4,478, the equivalent of a vote share swing of 10 per cent to Labour. Turnout in the constituency was just 34%, down from the almost 70% who voted in the 2019 general election.
You Can’t Sit on the Fence Forever
I was recently reading a post published on Massively Overpowered about Activision Blizzard CEO, Bobby Kotick. The majority of comments were not well disposed towards the man, especially in light of the fact that previous allegations made against him regarding harassment and intimidation have been settled out of court. However, there were one or two comments that flew in the face of the overall opprobrium. That’s not to say that they were supportive of Mr Kotick. They were from people who wanted to “just play games” and effectively not have to be exposed to any discussion or judgement upon the iniquities of the video games industry. It’s a common refrain from some gamers. They wish to keep the realities of the world out of the games that they play. To treat an MMO, FPS shooter or strategy games as a form of leisure devoid of any socio-political implications. Something they can immerse themselves in for a while to “escape the stress of real life”. It’s a concept that seems fair enough in principle but when considered in practical terms is abstract and unworkable.
Old Bexley and Sidcup By-election Part 2
Political events in the constituency of Old Bexley and Sidcup have moved forward in the last few weeks, following on from the death of incumbent MP James Brokenshire on 8th of October. Although no formal announcement has yet been made regarding the date of the forthcoming by-election, the major political parties have started announcing the names of their respective candidates. There were initial concerns among some constituents that this safe Conservative Party seat may have been used as a means of parachuting in a candidate favoured by central office, rather than one determined by the local Conservative Association. Fortunately, that has not been the case. The UK Government currently enjoys a parliamentary majority of 79 seats and is therefore not in any urgent need of fast pathing further political allies.
Old Bexley and Sidcup By-election Part 1
Last week James Brokenshire, MP for the constituency of Old Bexley and Sidcup, died of lung cancer at the age of 53. He had held this parliamentary seat since 2010 and maintained a strong majority throughout the 2015, 2017 and 2019 general elections. Hence the constituency of Old Bexley and Sidcup is considered a “safe seat” for the Conservative Party. In fact it has only ever returned MPs from that party since its creation in 1983. As a result of Mr Brokenshire’s death, there will now be a by-election held in the constituency of Old Bexley and Sidcup to return a new MP to parliament. What makes this local election a little more interesting than usual, is that it will not be taking place against a wider ongoing national election. Therefore, there is scope that local issues may well play a greater part in the electioneering of all participating parties.
Up and Down Voting User Comments
I was reading an article on Eurogamer this morning when I noticed that like so many other websites, it allows readers to vote user comments either up or down. It is a functionality that has become increasingly more commonplace in recent years. I would hazard a guess that Reddit set the trend for this so-called “social tool” and is the source of its ubiquity. If, like me, you are someone who finds the rectitude of this system “questionable”, you can set the filtering options in such a fashion so you can effectively disable the results of up or down voting. But that means taking a few minutes of your time to alter the comment settings, which means that a lot of people simply won’t bother to do it. Thus a lot of readers will miss out on content that their peers have deemed to be of little or no value, irrespective of whether or not that is actually the case. I find this a very disturbing concept and the ongoing use of up or down voting a worrying trend.
Do We “Share” Too Much?
During my lifetime there have been many major cultural changes in the UK. These range from the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967, to the decline of the Church of England. Then at the other end of the spectrum you have the waning of social conventions and etiquette. People no longer wear hats and Sunday has ceased to be a more sedate day of the week. Such is the nature of change. Society does not remain static. One aspect of life that has radically altered is the concept of privacy. By this I mean what personal details and information we share with friends, neighbours, work colleagues and the state. Because nowadays, such information seems to be much more freely given. A lot more people seem to wear their hearts on their sleeves. Certainly social media has contributed greatly to this behavioural change.
COVID-19 Pandemic 2021 Part 10
I last wrote about the pandemic in February. Six months on the lockdown and most major restrictions have now been rescinded and life is returning to normal. COVID-19 cases are still occurring with many still requiring hospitalisation. The question of whether they’ll be another wave in Winter still remains, although the government has announced a programme of booster vaccinations. At the time of writing the United Kingdom has currently administered 91.2 million doses of the various vaccines. 43 million people are now fully vaccinated which is 64.6% of the population. The current focus is upon the 16 to 24 age group and there are currently plans and ongoing consultation to extend the vaccinations to school age children. All of which is happening against a background where the pandemic is slowly being pushed out of the news agenda. The UK government is certainly keen to move on and a substantial percentage of the public no longer wish to be constrained by COVID-19 protocols.
Shortages
In early June I was visiting Sainsbury’s supermarket in Crayford, apparently their biggest site in the UK, when I noticed that several shelves had the following sign. “Please bear with us. We’re experiencing high demand”. At the time I thought nothing of it but then I started seeing similar notices in other stores. I then began seeing stories on some news websites about supply chain problems. This point was then reiterated on the news radio station LBC. Two month on and this issue is now finding its way into the mainstream press. McDonald’s currently cannot supply milkshakes or bottle drinks and Nando has had to close 45 branches around the UK as it has no chicken wings to serve. It is now becoming very clear that there is a big problem on the horizon, due to several complex factors. If it is not addressed this matter will only get worse with shortages directly impacting upon Christmas sales.
The Problem with “Adaptable” Recipes
It’s curious how some things that you think are simple and mundane, can turn into complex and time consuming problems. They go on to haunt you for years to come. In many ways such a scenario is a variation of the old idiom that “no good deed goes unpunished. So let me begin this story back in 2001 around Easter. A chance conversation arose about how people tend to buy cakes from the supermarket as opposed to making their own. This was just before baking shows became popular on TV. I subsequently referenced how my Mother used to make bread pudding back in the seventies. Needless to say, no sooner had I uttered those words, then I immediately desired the aforementioned dessert and it has been an albatross around my neck ever since. The problem isn’t that bread pudding is as rare as Tanzanite or rocking horse droppings. There are plenty of recipes available. Therein lies the rub. There are numerous regional and international variations. Too many in fact.
Sleep
A cursory Google search on the subject of sleep will instantly regale you with a wealth of trivia on the subject. 12% of people dream entirely in black and white. Two thirds of a cat's life is spent asleep. A giraffe only needs 1.9 hours of sleep a day, whereas a brown bat needs 19.9 hours a day. Humans spend 1/3 of their life sleeping. The record for the longest period without sleep is 11 days. Trivia aside, sleep is an important function for both the mind and body. It has multiple restorative benefits and is essential to a person’s wellbeing. Furthermore, most people’s relationship with sleep changes over the course of their life. Often as children, we resent sleep. I still do to a degree. It does seem a waste of valuable time. Conversely, as we get older the virtue of a good night’s sleep becomes something to embrace and even enjoy. And by the time we reach our dotage sleep often becomes a leading factor in life, bordering on a default position. However, whatever your thoughts on sleep, the moment you have difficulties with it, you have a serious problem.
Job Hierarchies and Thoughts on Employment
I appreciate that this is a somewhat ponderous blog title but I’m trying to consolidate several ideas and streams of thoughts into one post. So to begin with it is the third week of the Blaugust 2021 Festival of Blogging event. Specifically it’s “Developer Appreciation Week”. At first glance a laudable undertaking. An opportunity to praise the developers of a game that’s close to your heart. However, given the current debacle with Blizzard Entertainment, I think there’s a conversation to be had about how fans virtual deification of specific developers of World of Warcraft and how treating them like rock stars, may well have had some bearing on their subsequent misdemeanours. I would in fact go further and say that the video game industry is another sector of work, like film, TV, music and sport that is perceived to be glamorous, aspirational and generally put on a pedestal. Fans lose sight of the fact that these companies have a lot of staff who don’t get any kudos and endure tough working conditions. Just like more conventional jobs.
Gamergate: Seven Years On
Not so long ago, Gamergate was referenced in a chat channel on one of the Discord servers that I frequent. Contrary to what I was expecting, this passing remark sparked very little response. Due to the age of some of the people present, they had to Google Gamergate to determine what it was all about. Those who were more au fait with the entire debacle broadly expressed the following sentiments. Firstly, was it seven years ago already? Secondly, in light of the ongoing Blizzard Entertainment controversy, it doesn’t seem that much has changed either within the gaming industry or the wider gaming community. The angry backlash against progressivism in video games now just seems to be focused elsewhere in society. Overall Gamergate was just one facet of the ongoing culture wars. At present that battle is being fought over some other issues and in a different field. But it’s still out there.