Dorien James
@dorienjames.bsky.social
Former early adopter, now loyal but shrinking core.
Hate to say this given some of the founder’s antics, but the long saga of follow-on problems caused by trusting my handyman’s son to replace a bathtub was only ended by calling Pimlico. YMMV.
February 9, 2026 at 9:20 PM
Hate to say this given some of the founder’s antics, but the long saga of follow-on problems caused by trusting my handyman’s son to replace a bathtub was only ended by calling Pimlico. YMMV.
Still mortified 20 years on by the important meeting where I foresaw a question coming up, Blackberried the colleague who knew, and was so busy reading the reply that I missed the moment when the Chief Risk Officer asked it.
February 9, 2026 at 7:13 PM
Still mortified 20 years on by the important meeting where I foresaw a question coming up, Blackberried the colleague who knew, and was so busy reading the reply that I missed the moment when the Chief Risk Officer asked it.
In my banking days, the daft American CIO was leading a drive to reduce outages. Days with lots of outages: red. Some: orange. None: green.
He had this line “I don’t know any of their songs, but Green Day are my favorite band”.
Used it at three successive all-hands calls. Nobody dared tell him.
He had this line “I don’t know any of their songs, but Green Day are my favorite band”.
Used it at three successive all-hands calls. Nobody dared tell him.
February 9, 2026 at 1:14 AM
In my banking days, the daft American CIO was leading a drive to reduce outages. Days with lots of outages: red. Some: orange. None: green.
He had this line “I don’t know any of their songs, but Green Day are my favorite band”.
Used it at three successive all-hands calls. Nobody dared tell him.
He had this line “I don’t know any of their songs, but Green Day are my favorite band”.
Used it at three successive all-hands calls. Nobody dared tell him.
Filing under “I might need a better source than Captain Obvious The Fungi669”
February 7, 2026 at 6:05 AM
Filing under “I might need a better source than Captain Obvious The Fungi669”
Django Reinhardt (and in his wake Tommy Iommi, although it’s Django that I try endlessly and fruitlessly to emulate).
February 7, 2026 at 2:14 AM
Django Reinhardt (and in his wake Tommy Iommi, although it’s Django that I try endlessly and fruitlessly to emulate).
The original quote did not include the term “narcissistic”, and is much the better for it.
February 6, 2026 at 4:56 AM
The original quote did not include the term “narcissistic”, and is much the better for it.
BBC reporting suggests that much of the cost was driven by taxi drivers and companies seeing a chance to fleece the system. Something that sounds plausible to anyone who’s ever listened to a cabbie brag about their tax affairs.
February 5, 2026 at 7:28 AM
BBC reporting suggests that much of the cost was driven by taxi drivers and companies seeing a chance to fleece the system. Something that sounds plausible to anyone who’s ever listened to a cabbie brag about their tax affairs.
Unique, ique. As in ique ique mice. Lots of them, all very much the same.
February 4, 2026 at 9:02 AM
Unique, ique. As in ique ique mice. Lots of them, all very much the same.
There are six legitimate combinations of a Russian’s first name, diminutive, patronym and surname. The first rule of Russian literature is that you must never use the same one twice on the same page.
February 2, 2026 at 11:15 PM
There are six legitimate combinations of a Russian’s first name, diminutive, patronym and surname. The first rule of Russian literature is that you must never use the same one twice on the same page.
Saw this when I was living in Germany. The phrase “ich hab mich verliebt in ein Schaf” has stuck with me for 46 years. It may be the last sentence of German that I retain into my dotage.
February 2, 2026 at 8:02 PM
Saw this when I was living in Germany. The phrase “ich hab mich verliebt in ein Schaf” has stuck with me for 46 years. It may be the last sentence of German that I retain into my dotage.
Just glad it’s not the Abba guy.
February 2, 2026 at 4:27 AM
Just glad it’s not the Abba guy.
So beautiful to look at, so difficult to photograph.
February 1, 2026 at 7:18 AM
So beautiful to look at, so difficult to photograph.
Snap! A classic pairing. Are yours brother and sister too?
Sadly can’t provide a picture because mine are convinced I am innately evil and scarper at my approach.
Sadly can’t provide a picture because mine are convinced I am innately evil and scarper at my approach.
February 1, 2026 at 6:56 AM
Snap! A classic pairing. Are yours brother and sister too?
Sadly can’t provide a picture because mine are convinced I am innately evil and scarper at my approach.
Sadly can’t provide a picture because mine are convinced I am innately evil and scarper at my approach.
Our CIO at Barclays made us all watch it as a lesson in leadership. I may still have the XXL white waistcoat that we were all given as souvenirs.
It was a bit odd, because the leadership style he modelled was “sack all your direct reports and replace them with guys from your last organisation”
It was a bit odd, because the leadership style he modelled was “sack all your direct reports and replace them with guys from your last organisation”
January 31, 2026 at 9:39 PM
Our CIO at Barclays made us all watch it as a lesson in leadership. I may still have the XXL white waistcoat that we were all given as souvenirs.
It was a bit odd, because the leadership style he modelled was “sack all your direct reports and replace them with guys from your last organisation”
It was a bit odd, because the leadership style he modelled was “sack all your direct reports and replace them with guys from your last organisation”
Another guy had first names Boris Alexander. Everyone knew his name was Alex, we just called him Boris as a joke because it was such a stupid name.
January 30, 2026 at 9:57 PM
Another guy had first names Boris Alexander. Everyone knew his name was Alex, we just called him Boris as a joke because it was such a stupid name.
Remarkable that Boris Johnson, backing the campaign to stop the ‘betrayal’, shares his rather unusual name with the guy who was in personal charge of said ‘betrayal’. What are the chances?
January 30, 2026 at 9:55 PM
Remarkable that Boris Johnson, backing the campaign to stop the ‘betrayal’, shares his rather unusual name with the guy who was in personal charge of said ‘betrayal’. What are the chances?
The one I knew at school worked as a spy in Kabul and has all sorts of OBEs and CMGs now.
January 30, 2026 at 9:09 PM
The one I knew at school worked as a spy in Kabul and has all sorts of OBEs and CMGs now.
My father needed a specialist urology nurse to spend 10 minutes changing his catheter. None could be had for six weeks, so he had to occupy an ambulance and its crew of three for seven hours. They were just pleased to be in a queue of 5 at Redditch A&E; the queue at Stoke was reportedly 30.
January 29, 2026 at 7:26 PM
My father needed a specialist urology nurse to spend 10 minutes changing his catheter. None could be had for six weeks, so he had to occupy an ambulance and its crew of three for seven hours. They were just pleased to be in a queue of 5 at Redditch A&E; the queue at Stoke was reportedly 30.
Seriously, if you can’t offer advice like this, what are you even for?
January 29, 2026 at 6:26 AM
Seriously, if you can’t offer advice like this, what are you even for?
City fan here, screaming at Benfica to park the bus and stop Real equalising, while instead they send their goalkeeper up to score in the 97th minute, thereby scraping into the playoffs, dumping out Marseille, and making sure of our barely-merited place in the top eight… yes the format works.
January 28, 2026 at 11:39 PM
City fan here, screaming at Benfica to park the bus and stop Real equalising, while instead they send their goalkeeper up to score in the 97th minute, thereby scraping into the playoffs, dumping out Marseille, and making sure of our barely-merited place in the top eight… yes the format works.
Same. Have it about once a year. It’s OK.
January 28, 2026 at 9:36 PM
Same. Have it about once a year. It’s OK.
otoh very happy with my one-year subscription to successor ITVDigital during the season that Keegan managed City to 99 points and 108 goals. iirc they showed pretty much every one of our games before collapsing 10 days after our final victory.
January 27, 2026 at 7:40 AM
otoh very happy with my one-year subscription to successor ITVDigital during the season that Keegan managed City to 99 points and 108 goals. iirc they showed pretty much every one of our games before collapsing 10 days after our final victory.