Don’t expect too much from the latest tech. It mostly disappoints. After agreeing to donate a slightly older Mac Mini to a family member abroad, I decided to upgrade our daughter’s machine to one with the latest M3 chip, thinking it a future-proofed investment which would see her through sixth form and university. I was …
As I’m polishing off my rice at dinner, my wife laughs aloud. “You’re not with us, are you? You’re having an argument with your colleagues in your head.” “You may be right,” I sigh. “I knew it. I can see it in your eyes. And your red face.” She’s got me. I’ve drifted back to …
To my mind, I feel I’m being remarkably assertive at the moment. For those that have to deal with me, however, that’s not exactly how they’d describe me. They’d call that assertiveness of mine a short temper, my usual passivity attributed to impeccable politeness. So they don’t hear my, “I’m sorry I haven’t finished yet” …
At the halal shop, the shopkeeper addresses all his male Muslim customers “brother” and the females “sister”. However, I note he calls me, “sir”. No doubt I should be honoured that despite exchanging salams at the door — and in the mosque — I am treated as the honourable sahib enjoying some kind of superior …
A trustee of the main organisation supporting people with my condition presented on the topic to a group of senior healthcare professionals this week. They spoke about the lived experience of people with the condition. About common comorbidities, learning difficulties and infertility. Yet of the nearly fifty healthcare professionals in attendance, none reported having heard …
Walking with a friend in the Hertfordshire countryside this afternoon, we stopped beneath a tall tree to listen to the sweetest birdsong. Here, something I did learn in my youth: the names of different kinds of birds and trees. I recognised this as the song of a coal tit even before I caught sight of …
It is pure delusion to consider yourself a true believer, and all others misguided. Even more so if your doing so is nothing more than giving allegiance to a particular community, or a set of teachers, or a label you assign yourself. And hold firmly to the rope of God all together and do not …
Is there any hope of peace in the Middle East? I don’t know about that. What about at our local mosque? All peace, love and harmony? Hardly. Jummah prayer ended today with shouting, effing and blinding, pushing and shoving. “If you bring your kids to mosque again,” yells one of the men, “I’ll ducking smash …
How is it that experiences of school have cast such a long shadow over my sense of self? Why is it that I perpetually reflect on my perceived failure at school, and not on two decent degrees? As our eldest gets into the swing of their GCSE revision, I am reminded that study leave was …
Must we begin every single day with broadcasters and the press problematising a minority community? Here we go again, I wheezed to our lad this morning, as I thumped the off button in the car. Must get myself some new CDs for the interchanger. Sounds of the 90s or something.
It’s good to have a spouse who keeps you grounded. Whenever I’m going though my latest “I’m a failure” phase, mine shakes me, demanding, “What’s wrong with you?” Whenever I’m comparing myself to others, mine says, “I’m content with what my Lord decreed for us.” Whenever knocked off course, mine pulls me back and sets …
For someone so boring, timid and insignificant, it’s amazing the people I’ve brushed shoulders with through the years. As a friend pointed out this morning, “You’ve had associations with some rather unsavoury characters in your time.” He went on to name a few. So many claims to fame. Happy to say I seem to have …
Was watching this clip, when all of a sudden: “Ey-up, I used to sit next to that lad at college.” Could it really be true? That I recognise him just like that? Apparently so. A quick search reveals him to be exactly the chap I remember. We both studied British Government and Politics at AS …
Uh-oh, I should have lowered my gaze. The ASUS Zenbook Duo 2024 has me enthralled. A new object of desire to irrationally play on my mind until I can resist no more. Perhaps I’ll get myself one when I become a goat herder and digital nomad.
Those at the top want us to buy a shiny app they used at their last place. My response: if you’re going to suddenly throw money my way, I’ll use it to purchase training to upskill the team. I won’t let happen to my colleagues what happened to me. Let’s actually invest in the people …
