David's blog

I volunteer at a food bank, and lately it feels like more of the visitors are dealing with substance abuse issues than any other group, at least from what I’ve seen. I was surprised to witness one of them robbing a local shop—he always seemed like a decent guy struggling with alcohol, but it turns out he’s a criminal too.  Another person caught stealing from the same shop is the son of criminals; they also use the food bank. He was taken into care but still ended up in trouble, which makes you wonder about the impact of upbringing versus genetics, though it doesn’t seem to be in the genes. Sometimes I wonder if the food bank is just feeding the local criminal population. You could bar these people from coming to the foodbank but all that will do is encourage them to steal even more I guess

  I am reading this book, it is quite interesting Here’s the heart of Dopamine Nation — the main message , the core argument , and the key takeaways — distilled clearly and without quoting the book’s copyrighted text. ⭐ The central idea of Dopamine Nation The book argues that we live in a world of unprecedented access to pleasure , and this constant stimulation is creating a society struggling with addiction, compulsive behaviour, and emotional imbalance . The solution, Lembke says, is learning to balance pleasure and pain by intentionally creating space for discomfort, discipline, and meaningful connection. 🧠 Main points (the “big picture”) 1. We live in a dopamine‑rich world Modern life delivers endless micro‑hits: phones social media food porn shopping drugs gambling notifications streaming even productivity apps Our brains aren’t built for this level of stimulation. 2. Pleasure and pain work like a seesaw Every time you get a dopamine spike, your brain pushes back with a di...

I’ve been to many places in Wales—north, south, and east—and a few in the west, but I’d never been to Pembrokeshire. For a while, it seemed like I never would, unless I braved the nightmare of public transport. In Wales, the bus takes about 7 or 8 hours, while the train can take up to 12, so spending all day getting there, staying overnight, and then spending all day coming back just wasn’t worth the hassle.   This year, the Eisteddfod was in Pembrokeshire. I’d gone last year, enjoyed it, and wanted to go again, so I looked into coaches. A friend mentioned one for £55, but I had no idea how long it would take. I assumed it would be similar to public transport and didn’t fancy paying that much for such a long trip. Then I heard about a cheaper coach, which sounded more appealing, but it ended up being canceled due to lack of interest—strange, but not unheard of.   I went back and forth for ages, but the chance to visit Pembrokeshire for the first time and attend the E...

 Every Sunday, at certain times of the day, the church bell use to ring in the village probably to signify a service or something like that, but I remember the sound anyway.  Years went by and I forgot all about it and I came back to live in the village the was not being rang at all for whatever reason.  The church eventually closed and is being done up as building for the community, in this renevation the bell is being fixed and it has just been taken down, and is being a fixed in a foundry in Loughborough which is the biggest bell foundry in the world, which conincidentally I lived next to for a few year.  I am not sure how long the bell will be away getting sorted but it is having a few things done to as can be explained in the link Llan Ffestiniog, Gwynedd. The Former Church of St Michael. | John Taylor & Company It seems to me there will be an electronic chime on and a way to swing chime with the aid of a bellringer.  It is something to do with a magnet...

I just discussed my situation with Google Gemini about the benefit I receive, which is PIP, how it came about, the stress involved, and the change from DLA. I received empathy from Gemini, which felt strange—getting empathy from an AI chatbot—but it seemed to grasp the nuances of the situation very well. Another chatbot, however, wasn’t as good. I wonder what others make of these chatbots

I went to a rally for the Welsh language today, just a short bus ride away. On the way, I stopped at a chippy expecting the usual small portion, but not today—and ironically, I wasn’t even that hungry. Entry to the rally was free, and they handed me some things at the gate. I didn’t want to carry it all afternoon, so I stuffed what I could into my pocket and took the rest back.  I’m not sure why I’m writing this in English instead of Welsh, given I’d just been to a Welsh language rally where they spoke about how precarious the situation is for the language. I had my education, sadly, through the medium of English, and I suppose I struggle with some Welsh words. Sometimes even locals don’t understand the ones I use—like the word for “polite,” which I thought was “fanesol.” When I used it last night, a local didn’t understand me. I’m not sure what word they’d use, but I guess I should ask. I’ve since found another word, “cwrtais,” which apparently means polite. Words in Welsh and Eng...