Judi Sutherland
@judisutherland.bsky.social
Dual British/Irish citizen in Ireland. #FBPE Rejoiner. Cat lady. Lymphoma survivor. PhD Biochemist. Watercolour artist. Former pharma manager. Querying not one but two novels! www.judisutherland.com for more stuff. Occasionally writes for NE Bylines.
There used to be a thing called mushroom ketchup’. That’s why people specify tomato.
December 4, 2025 at 12:52 PM
There used to be a thing called mushroom ketchup’. That’s why people specify tomato.
They treat you like criminals. The Irish system is much better. It’s all ‘Goodness, let’s see if we can straighten that out for ye’ and ‘Sure, just get those forms back to me whenever you can’.
December 4, 2025 at 12:45 PM
They treat you like criminals. The Irish system is much better. It’s all ‘Goodness, let’s see if we can straighten that out for ye’ and ‘Sure, just get those forms back to me whenever you can’.
I’d like it even less with bits in it. I do remember the congealed bits that used to form around the neck of the bottle. 🤢
December 4, 2025 at 12:42 PM
I’d like it even less with bits in it. I do remember the congealed bits that used to form around the neck of the bottle. 🤢
Sometimes you get the impression that HMRC’s entire system is held together by chewing gum, string, and the abject misery of the people who work there.
December 4, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Sometimes you get the impression that HMRC’s entire system is held together by chewing gum, string, and the abject misery of the people who work there.
I remember salad cream but it never had bits in it! What’s going on?
December 4, 2025 at 12:37 PM
I remember salad cream but it never had bits in it! What’s going on?
Also it’s not going to remind you to buy baked beans or washing up liquid or any of the myriad other things we don’t keep in the fridge. Sorry, guys, it’s not your wife.
December 4, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Also it’s not going to remind you to buy baked beans or washing up liquid or any of the myriad other things we don’t keep in the fridge. Sorry, guys, it’s not your wife.
My suggestion for a campaign slogan:
‘WE’RE BETTER THAN THIS’.
‘WE’RE BETTER THAN THIS’.
December 4, 2025 at 11:16 AM
My suggestion for a campaign slogan:
‘WE’RE BETTER THAN THIS’.
‘WE’RE BETTER THAN THIS’.
Googling it demonstrates that it can take photos of the inside of your fridge so when you are out shopping you can see what food you have already got. Perhaps we could open the fridge before we go out and take a look, IDK.
December 4, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Googling it demonstrates that it can take photos of the inside of your fridge so when you are out shopping you can see what food you have already got. Perhaps we could open the fridge before we go out and take a look, IDK.
I dunno. I just know I wouldn’t use Clarkson as a useful example of anything!
December 4, 2025 at 11:10 AM
I dunno. I just know I wouldn’t use Clarkson as a useful example of anything!
Apparently he is American. So who is this ‘we’ he refers to?
December 4, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Apparently he is American. So who is this ‘we’ he refers to?
Well quite. Even if it made up a shopping list, popped out to Tesco to buy everything, and unpacked it all and stored it, that wouldn’t outweigh the disadvantages of having this screen. How do they sell this feature? What is it supposed to do?
December 4, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Well quite. Even if it made up a shopping list, popped out to Tesco to buy everything, and unpacked it all and stored it, that wouldn’t outweigh the disadvantages of having this screen. How do they sell this feature? What is it supposed to do?
If you are butcher maybe there are ways you could improve your offer to customers and grow your business. I think farmers are so badly treated by their customers (supermarkets) that they can’t. But I don’t know. I don’t make the rules on this.
December 4, 2025 at 9:46 AM
If you are butcher maybe there are ways you could improve your offer to customers and grow your business. I think farmers are so badly treated by their customers (supermarkets) that they can’t. But I don’t know. I don’t make the rules on this.
I didn’t say it was mysterious, although maybe it is to you. I said it was more complex than most people have been taught.
December 4, 2025 at 9:43 AM
I didn’t say it was mysterious, although maybe it is to you. I said it was more complex than most people have been taught.
I’ve got important bits of paper stuck on my fridge with magnets. That’s smart enough.
December 4, 2025 at 9:35 AM
I’ve got important bits of paper stuck on my fridge with magnets. That’s smart enough.
Why does any household appliance have to be ‘smart’? Does it add anything useful to its functionality?
December 4, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Why does any household appliance have to be ‘smart’? Does it add anything useful to its functionality?
I’m aware. But maybe the land is different. If you have to sell some of it off, you will most likely never be able to buy it back, and you can’t just buy another piece 50 miles away and move it across. Once the critical mass is gone, it’s gone. And there’s a big feeling of stewardship as well.
December 4, 2025 at 9:29 AM
I’m aware. But maybe the land is different. If you have to sell some of it off, you will most likely never be able to buy it back, and you can’t just buy another piece 50 miles away and move it across. Once the critical mass is gone, it’s gone. And there’s a big feeling of stewardship as well.
Maybe the family farmers want to leave their businesses to their kids, but the farms are getting more and more marginal due to the depredations of the supermarkets, the loss of EU subsidies and the effects of climate change. They fear inheritance tax will leave their kids with unviable businesses.
December 4, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Maybe the family farmers want to leave their businesses to their kids, but the farms are getting more and more marginal due to the depredations of the supermarkets, the loss of EU subsidies and the effects of climate change. They fear inheritance tax will leave their kids with unviable businesses.
Well we could decide these things based on science, but I’m more pragmatic than that. Why shouldn’t people be able to do what makes their lives bearable? And unless they have committed a crime, why should they be excluded from parts of society? How is it any of our business?
December 4, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Well we could decide these things based on science, but I’m more pragmatic than that. Why shouldn’t people be able to do what makes their lives bearable? And unless they have committed a crime, why should they be excluded from parts of society? How is it any of our business?
Says you. The problem is that trans people are evidence that there is some aspect of gender that is innate and immutable and not purely a social construct.
And biological sex is not as straightforward as you seem to believe.
And biological sex is not as straightforward as you seem to believe.
December 4, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Says you. The problem is that trans people are evidence that there is some aspect of gender that is innate and immutable and not purely a social construct.
And biological sex is not as straightforward as you seem to believe.
And biological sex is not as straightforward as you seem to believe.
Well your last sentence there demonstrates that you don’t know the difference between sex and gender, so you would need to sort that out before we can discuss this any further.
December 4, 2025 at 6:57 AM
Well your last sentence there demonstrates that you don’t know the difference between sex and gender, so you would need to sort that out before we can discuss this any further.
Maybe it’s because they did something rather than just talked about it, IDK.
December 4, 2025 at 6:55 AM
Maybe it’s because they did something rather than just talked about it, IDK.
Much sympathy. All my tops have an affinity for pasta sauce. It’s a syndrome. I hope some hotel shampoo will do the trick.
December 3, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Much sympathy. All my tops have an affinity for pasta sauce. It’s a syndrome. I hope some hotel shampoo will do the trick.
None of these trans women have done anything wrong or hurt anyone. It’s just pure discrimination.
December 3, 2025 at 10:14 PM
None of these trans women have done anything wrong or hurt anyone. It’s just pure discrimination.
You have to ask?
December 3, 2025 at 10:06 PM
You have to ask?
The Equality Act needs to be updated. If people can be excluded because of their gender presentation, then they aren’t being excluded on the basis of biological sex, which the law requires.Therefore the law as it stands is unworkable.
December 3, 2025 at 10:05 PM
The Equality Act needs to be updated. If people can be excluded because of their gender presentation, then they aren’t being excluded on the basis of biological sex, which the law requires.Therefore the law as it stands is unworkable.