Kathryn
@shermarama.bsky.social
Design engineer, drummer, general maker of stuff. Keen on finding good solutions to complex problems. She/her. Hamiltron 🇳🇿innit.
Oh, I'm just ramping up the job search now. Anyone need an R&D manager? Handy with cross-discipline projects in agriculture, innovation methodology, and avoiding the solution-focus trap?
November 26, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Oh, I'm just ramping up the job search now. Anyone need an R&D manager? Handy with cross-discipline projects in agriculture, innovation methodology, and avoiding the solution-focus trap?
'Do you feel you have good organisation skills?' I did a PhD where I built automated systems for combinatorial chemistry. What do you think the answer to that is?
November 26, 2025 at 2:25 AM
'Do you feel you have good organisation skills?' I did a PhD where I built automated systems for combinatorial chemistry. What do you think the answer to that is?
"I'M JUST TRYING TO HELP YOU" SAYS SOMEONE WHO LITERALLY CANNOT TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SCRIBBLING ON A WHITEBOARD AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT.
November 26, 2025 at 12:04 AM
"I'M JUST TRYING TO HELP YOU" SAYS SOMEONE WHO LITERALLY CANNOT TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SCRIBBLING ON A WHITEBOARD AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT.
"I'M TRYING TO HELP YOU" SAYS A MAN WHO WON'T LOOK AT A DOCUMENT UNLESS IT'S BEEN PRINTED OUT. I'm just fucking fed up of it being assumed I'm a rookie that needs training up, when the problem is I keep having to revise *down* my expectations of the systems here.
November 25, 2025 at 11:48 PM
"I'M TRYING TO HELP YOU" SAYS A MAN WHO WON'T LOOK AT A DOCUMENT UNLESS IT'S BEEN PRINTED OUT. I'm just fucking fed up of it being assumed I'm a rookie that needs training up, when the problem is I keep having to revise *down* my expectations of the systems here.
What's the next stage beyond micro-management - neuro-management, where I'm only allowed to *think* a certain way?
November 25, 2025 at 10:15 PM
What's the next stage beyond micro-management - neuro-management, where I'm only allowed to *think* a certain way?
I can deal with navigating loosey-goosey, keep-it-all-in-your-head, just-talk-to-people prioritising. I absolutely cannot handle being lectured about... I don't even know. What the inside of my head should look like?
November 25, 2025 at 10:14 PM
I can deal with navigating loosey-goosey, keep-it-all-in-your-head, just-talk-to-people prioritising. I absolutely cannot handle being lectured about... I don't even know. What the inside of my head should look like?
Yup - I've done a lot of study and personal projects on trains over the years. I find 'third place where you spend a predictable time-window in one seat' pretty useful for focus.
November 25, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Yup - I've done a lot of study and personal projects on trains over the years. I find 'third place where you spend a predictable time-window in one seat' pretty useful for focus.
Coming from Europe, it took me ages to understand the snob aspect of resistance to trains. I'm used to the perception of 'commuting by train = nice middle-class predictable office-based job.' (The snobbery is still there about people on buses, though.)
November 25, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Coming from Europe, it took me ages to understand the snob aspect of resistance to trains. I'm used to the perception of 'commuting by train = nice middle-class predictable office-based job.' (The snobbery is still there about people on buses, though.)
The disconnect! They didn't pay for transport at all this week! They did pay for a tank of gas but that's just, you know, an unavoidable part of the cost of living, right?
November 24, 2025 at 4:56 AM
The disconnect! They didn't pay for transport at all this week! They did pay for a tank of gas but that's just, you know, an unavoidable part of the cost of living, right?
You know how, when you look at a car from one end, it isn't completely the same width at all heights? So that depending on the bike, the handlebars may go over some bits, letting the pedals get closer? Especially if it's being pushed rather than ridden, through a narrow gap?
November 21, 2025 at 7:13 PM
You know how, when you look at a car from one end, it isn't completely the same width at all heights? So that depending on the bike, the handlebars may go over some bits, letting the pedals get closer? Especially if it's being pushed rather than ridden, through a narrow gap?
Is there a way to watch this in NZ?
November 21, 2025 at 4:31 AM
Is there a way to watch this in NZ?
I once nearly had the police called on me for 'going into the ladies while tall'. Fortunately the person I was there with interrupted the bar staff before they followed through, and he was a bloke so obviously knew more about my gender than me.
November 20, 2025 at 10:14 AM
I once nearly had the police called on me for 'going into the ladies while tall'. Fortunately the person I was there with interrupted the bar staff before they followed through, and he was a bloke so obviously knew more about my gender than me.
Such a key point about the routes being built for those who currently don't cycle. Here in Hamilton it's like we're supposed to be grateful for anything called a cycle path, even if it's so badly designed that it's giving people a false impression of what cycling is.
November 20, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Such a key point about the routes being built for those who currently don't cycle. Here in Hamilton it's like we're supposed to be grateful for anything called a cycle path, even if it's so badly designed that it's giving people a false impression of what cycling is.
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers names its widely-used standards documents for pressure vessels this way. Because *of course*.
November 20, 2025 at 9:35 AM
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers names its widely-used standards documents for pressure vessels this way. Because *of course*.
I don't know if you've ever tried to use a typical alphanumeric sort on a list of files that have been sequentially named with Roman numerals, but it's such a comprehensive fail that it's kind of beautiful.
November 20, 2025 at 9:28 AM
I don't know if you've ever tried to use a typical alphanumeric sort on a list of files that have been sequentially named with Roman numerals, but it's such a comprehensive fail that it's kind of beautiful.
I don't think I've seen a pub here that has bike stands, but I also don't cycle after drinking here, for my own safety. (And yet it was normal to do that in NL, plus it offered extra passive security for anyone walking. Dark park at 1am? There'll be two chatting women riding past soon.)
November 20, 2025 at 9:10 AM
I don't think I've seen a pub here that has bike stands, but I also don't cycle after drinking here, for my own safety. (And yet it was normal to do that in NL, plus it offered extra passive security for anyone walking. Dark park at 1am? There'll be two chatting women riding past soon.)
Oh, I'm long-haul weird, plus extra round here as an immigrant, but it's frustrating how that means I go in the exception bucket. People tell me they don't know anyone who uses a bike or a train for transport! Because people like me aren't people, for these purposes!
November 20, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Oh, I'm long-haul weird, plus extra round here as an immigrant, but it's frustrating how that means I go in the exception bucket. People tell me they don't know anyone who uses a bike or a train for transport! Because people like me aren't people, for these purposes!
I have an ongoing background project-ette to try and ID and review bike parking in my city in NZ. I have come to consider '5 Sheffield stands with 3 bikes at them' as good-quality, well-used bike parking round here.
November 19, 2025 at 10:18 PM
I have an ongoing background project-ette to try and ID and review bike parking in my city in NZ. I have come to consider '5 Sheffield stands with 3 bikes at them' as good-quality, well-used bike parking round here.
This whole thread has the terrible attraction of being able to pity myself... Like *yes* there's lots of things I like about New Zealand, but being considered an actual weirdo for using a bicycle as transport sometimes is really not one of them.
November 19, 2025 at 10:14 PM
This whole thread has the terrible attraction of being able to pity myself... Like *yes* there's lots of things I like about New Zealand, but being considered an actual weirdo for using a bicycle as transport sometimes is really not one of them.
Ehh, I'm not a fan of beans on toast, but I can get right behind a bhaji buttie.
November 18, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Ehh, I'm not a fan of beans on toast, but I can get right behind a bhaji buttie.