08: Remote, Concerts and Strikes

2022-11-21 – Monday

1. I am heading to London to watch a new classical music piece called The Alice sound.
2. The piece, about Lewis Carroll’s Alice through the looking glass, was created by Paul Rissmann and Queen Mary University London (Kiera Vaclavik) and performed by the London symphony orchestra.
3. UXC is building the companion website.
4. Traffic to Southampton Airport parkway was horrendous as unison were protesting outside the gates of Esso (an oil refinery not far from where I live), looking for an inflation meeting pay bonus deal.
5. I can’t tell from the press coverage if this is a new demand or if the employers (Altrad, Bilfinger, and Enerveo) are not offering inflation-linked bonuses as part of their yearly pay schemes
6. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-63695067
7. https://www.unitetheunion.org/news-events/news/2022/november/fawley-refinery-facing-disruption-as-workers-announce-payment-strikes/
8. I’m all for the people’s democratic right to protest, so I am not too frustrated.
9. (I discovered when I got home from London that there was massive disruption to the local schools. Teachers didn’t arrive on time. Judging by the mood on local social media the community are not with the strikers)
10. Strikes are usually the last resort and typically only affect the community for a short period.
11. The real frustration is that people have to strike to get their pay demands listened to.
12. When I arrived at the station, I was amazed to see an empty multi-story car park.
13. Before the pandemic, it was impossible to be parked there on a weekday after 08.00.
14. It’s a sign of success for remote/hybrid work, although I imagine Tuesday – Thursday is a lot busier (no one wants to go into the office on a Monday/Friday)
15. If (as I hope) remote work continues to prosper in these post-pandemic times, then we will all have to adjust our views on what services and communities are to become as people no longer travel en mass to metropolitan hubs.
16. Some established businesses will fail, and capacity planning models will have to change, but I hope there will be a growth of services in rural communities that will compensate for the shortfall.
17. You don’t need to be based in London, New York or Sydney to work for big companies anymore.
18. However, the impact will be keenly felt in multinational companies as wealth and opportunity are distributed across the country, and their geographic dominance is challenged.
19. What will local councils do to support these emerging businesses’ needs? What of the councils that manage planning laws in cities who are beholden to big property developers?
20. Will we see the emergence of strong local brands, or are the multinationals gearing up to homogenise our villages?
21. I guess that the supply chain will be a challenge for the bigger companies as they will need a more diverse distribution strategy, reaching more places.
22. This can indeed be resolved with the on-demand delivery services pioneered by Amazon. Central hub, local B2B deliveries.
23. Perhaps now’s the time to buy shares in Hermes (although their customer service is diabolical).
24. I’m reminded of an article from Don Norman (2012) called the rise of the small, which is worth reconnecting with.
25. Why is there still no reliable wifi / mobile phone signal on the London Underground?
26. I really enjoyed The Alice sound concert. It was a school showing, so there were hundreds of children there, enjoying and participating in the singing. It was fantastic.
27. Vic Craven did an excellent job with the animated storytelling that accompanied the music.
28. The piece was narrated by the composer Paul Rissmann, who was thoroughly engaging.
29. The concert ascetics have to permeate through the companion website. I’m only sorry it won’t be available until January!
30. Reading: Makers by Cory Doctorow
31. Wordle 520: 4/6