All you need is someone in your corner. The best person to do that is you. You have totally got this. ๐
Quality & Software Testing Specialist | Thinking outside the box | Health, fitness, good food, nature, meditation
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All you need is someone in your corner. The best person to do that is you. You have totally got this. ๐
I worked really hard and got into university. My takeaway is to have self belief. Most things can be taught. Crap at essays? You can learn. Fail one time. Pick yourself up. I'm going to have my son's back. Tell him to dream big and be bold. He can do anything and don't settle.
He left notes about me on the desk saying that I was predicted to get a very poor grade. When he came back in he saw me reading it and said "you shouldn't have read that". I found those notes the biggest motivator. That teacher saw no potential in me whatsoever. I managed to turn everything around.
Struggling with a bad cold so up in the night. ๐ฉ My son is applying for colleges soon. One of my biggest learnings in life is to dream big, be bold, you've totally got this. I have a story that I've never shared with anyone. I walked into a biology teacher's room to have a conversation.
These candles came out very nice! I like the tins. Small and cute. #HomemadeCandles
Bought a candle making set! Starting with some plain candles to start :-) looking forward to surprising a few people with them.
How do others manage to not absolutely lose their mind with test automation?! ๐คช๐คฃ Glad it's not my sole responsibility.
Doing playwright test automation yesterday. Fixed a failed test - locator has changed and changed another locator to one that was more stable. But then running the whole suite pretty much every test failed. A problem to look into today.
In other random talk, i have my meal plan all set out for a few days. ๐ Yoghurt roasted oats and berries, tofu cheesy pesto bagel and a tempeh sweet pot veg stew ๐ฒ
Continuously making judgements of what work I need to do, how and when. I like the freedom and trust, although some days I need to dig deep to find that proactiveness.
Sunday reset mostly done. Time to watch my fav YouTube channels ๐
The fury by Alex michaelides. Brilliant book suggestion by book club. Read it in a couple of days. What's great about book club is that it makes you read things you usually wouldn't.
Book club went well. I've been invited to a quiz ๐ฅ so worth going for it and creating the life you want.
Going to meet some people for the first time at book club. I'm sure it will be fine!! Shake the initial nerves off ๐
I've sorted out the verification part. It only took a minute! Thanks for the nudge. Can accept DMS now.
A bit nervous about going on my own - I have been to conferences before but been in a crowd I know. This is a brand new area for me!
Oh sorry! I should have left it. My DMs don't actually work right now as I need to do some type of verification. Feel free to reply here if you want to retype it. As I mentioned in deleted post, decided to go for it and buy a ticket. Taking a Risk. Hope it's worth it!
๐ ๐ญ๐ all the emotions to here!
Pondering about going to the responsible AI summit in a few weeks... Looks like a good lineup (even some testing talks). Cost Vs value. Sleeping on it..
Thanks!
Set myself some personal development goals this month. To read some chapters of the alignment problem by Brian Christian, read the EU AI act and write a page or two on why AI governance matters. Hopefully can achieve those!
Celebration. Passed an AI introductory course I've been doing ๐๐๐ exercises were challenging, so feeling proud I got through it ๐ฅ
The house of silvermoor by Tracy Rees book club read. Again probably not something I would have picked out, but it was awesome. The ending made me feel like life is full of possibilities ๐
Figuring out a plan to test a chatbot was pretty awesome though. Simple things like thinking about response times, inputs like misspellings, how it handles greetings or does it fail gracefully. You can start to figure out the limitations and edges as you go further along with your thinking.
Through writing this book on quality engineering I've realised that I want to do something different. I feel stagnant and want to grow, learn and find it all exciting again.
Nice! ๐ Good to have a diversified strategy.
Dipping my toe into buying shares over global funds. Crispr therapeutics was a no brainer. I like to support the medicinal field advancements.
I like that idea of splitting it in two ๐ค
Any survival tips?
It is tough at the moment I'm switching between lower level detail/hands on work and then the high level strategy and approach. Context switching alot. Overall enjoying but tiring.
Overall every experiment brings in new learnings ๐๐๐
I much prefer conversation starter topics than informative ones with little engagement.
People are happy to talk about finance topics such as emergency funds or job hopping to increase your salary quicker. Also most of my networks are test/quality specialists so if I did want to be a career coach I'd have some work to do to break out the bubble.
Experiment of posting daily on linkedin has come to an end. Lots learnt - reluctant to post about an emergency fund but glad I posted it. There's a difference in what you can share re conversation starter or informative. That will change the engagement you get. Scheduling posts is great.
So glad I invested in a new laptop. It's going to be a game changer for me for so many reasons.
Oh wow, that is a story!
Wowee today was tough ๐ I noticed by lunch that I needed a good lunch and break. Managed to reset. Having that mid day check in and meditation always helps me ๐
Doing a little experiment with content creation at the moment. Behind most platforms is data, so can see what resonates and what doesn't. ๐
That Jurassic world rebirth film was brilliant! All enjoyed it ๐
Rockin' the boat and going to the cinema with my family on a weekday ๐คช latest Jurassic park movie it has to be!
I went on a friendship date today. I saw a post of someone looking for friends in the local area, so decided to respond. We met up for coffee and had a long chat. I was nervous beforehand but glad I did it โ
Content creation is hard work. Taken me more than an hour to curate one scheduled post together. A few more to do. Might be time for a cup of tea and get in my pjs first ๐คช
The hardest part for me is making homemade food like a burrito we did tonight and then tracking it. I guess it's just rough guesses?!
It is pretty mad that the quickest way to up your salary is to job hop. 3-5% loyalty to a company or 10-20% increase for job hopping (in my experience). People look for side hustles. Consider job hopping instead?
Tracking food is one of the most dullest things ever. Yet need to see where I'm at.
Bought myself a reconditioned laptop.โ About time really! My old one is ancient ๐คช๐
Sent this card to a friend to surprise them for no particular reason except to brighten up their day ๐
Love this.
I've seen lots of "retire early" stuff on socials. Then what's your purpose? Waking up with some purpose makes life worth living.
I am feeling very hopeful ๐ It has been a positive week. Life is good.
I have an acceptable use AI policy at work...Unsure how others are using AI in their day to day at work. Must re-read and check the caveats.
Okay going down an AI rabbit hole.. watching an interview with Sam altman on GPT 5..
Watching this video on AI risks...pretty scary really! New phishing attacks, corrupting elections, joblessness and countless more ๐ฎ
You tubing youtu.be/9fFeYP8MuXM?...
Buymeacoffee.com
I like this buy me a coffee thing (where you can send some money to someone). I've used it a few times lately when I've wanted to support someone's content creation.
Interesting article on job hugging. fortune.com/2025/08/18/w...
Camping was enjoyable this weekend. Cows and horses walk around the campsite. Feel grateful for convenience at home. (Not having to walk a long way for the loo or water).
Back to work tomorrow after two weeks off. I haven't checked any emails or messages (as it should be). Let's see what I walk into ๐ ๐
Enjoying all the butterflies, bees, dragonflies in the garden ๐ nature garden โ next is to get some more plants at the back of the garden.
m.youtube.com/@KaleighStre...
โ โ ๐ฅต done
Getting on and doing this third strength training session of the week. I have been doing Kaleigh Cohen strength workouts on YouTube for a number of months now. She is great!
Thank you for sharing this ๐ I am going to do this.
The free Masterclass that helped me stop overthinking. If youโve been sitting on an idea, waiting for the right time, this will give you a better way to start. https://productlaunchformula.com/go?p=a5562&w=launch_masterclass25 (affiliate link - I only share what Iโve used myself)
ok writing done on risk management and poor testability. Next one for tomorrow is anyone listening? โ๏ธ day by day!
Everything seems to push you to spend in this society. Taken a picnic out today instead of buying at the waterpark cafe.
Ouch! Hope it heals quickly
Writing done โ had a fab day overall - cycling, strength training and buying my son some paint for his room amongst other things. Life is good.
Back writing my book. ๐ Introduction, principles and standards sections rewritten. Goal is to write every evening โ
Back to inner peace ๐ซถ before I left on hols I was absolutely burnt out mentally. There has got to be a better way to live than this! Working on a plan to do my own thing. Scribbled on the back of a receipt. That's where the best ideas originate ๐คช
First strength workout of the week complete โ better late than never ๐คช
Poppy is staying with us for a few days ๐
New week. New vibes. New goals. Let's do this ๐ช ๐
๐โโฌ๐ค
Next book at the book club is the house of silvermoor by Tracy Rees. It's not a book I would normally choose, but will give it a good go.
It resonated with me a lot. Self acceptance is so important. ๐
I was in this situation where I wasn't someone's cup of tea. They tried to make my life difficult however I decided to let them do what they want to do and let me choose what I do next. When i realised i had so much power in the way I responded it changed everything for me. Thank you for your blog.
Forgot to share my latest blog post here: open.substack.com/pub/swannyby...
What is all this weekend warrior stuff about. Like the work week is not enough ๐คฃ๐คฃ okay to do nothing on the weekend!
Up since 5am and had a productive morning ๐คช gardening and sorting things out. Time for an iced coffee!
Survived lay offs. My team is reduced substantially and I have a new manager ๐ Decided life is what you make it, so will try look on things positively๐ life is what you make it..
Not the best week ๐คช but hey life's ups and downs. Only one more week until two weeks off ๐๐
The best thing you can do sometimes is to do absolutely nothing.
A very long day is over ๐ ready for lots of rest, food and chill time.
I met up with @agentaj.bsky.social in person this evening for the first time! It was wonderful - great conversation and dinner. ๐ฝ๏ธ Software testing friends are the absolute best! ๐
Signed up to the local tennis club and played for an hour today. ๐ Enjoying the weekend ๐๐
What an adventurous dress! Love it!! Have a wonderful day.
Long day today ๐ซ In need of a good sleep and then reset for tomorrow โ
Making some quick protein "overnight "oats for dinner ๐ I have no energy to make something else today. Boys are having a dinner though ๐
Monday. High five to each of you and back for a self high five. Let's do this week. ๐๐
Nearly completely gave the game away in that YouTube video saying I've had interviews lately ๐ ๐ Not 100% sure I want to move on yet, but why not always keep an eye on what's out there!
oh yey, done some youtubing. Done two videos - the one I want to share the most is the one on CV writing. Hope it helps someone: youtu.be/tA8XyNyK2lU
Oh wow that countdown does work! All done โ โ
Okay I'm going to try this countdown 5-4-3-2-1 and then get on and do whatever I am procrastinating/putting off. Let's start with a HUGE laundry pile to organise ๐๐ 5-4-3-2-1 GO
I was hooked to start with and then started to get a bit lost with all the characters they threw in along the way. The ending was sad but started to expect it. A theme of forgiveness. Overall not the most enjoyable book for me, although would recommend.
Hello. Hope you are having a good day ๐๐
"the let them theory" by Mel Robbins I'm looking forward to reading. I've been watching her videos on YouTube. She's brill!
Had a great solo shopping trip. With a house full of boys it's good to get out ๐คฃ some books, summer clothes and makeup bought. Feeling good ๐
โญ๏ธNewโญ๏ธ As we head into a ridiculously hot day here in Scotland, here's a new summer artwork in cool and white... theweeowlart.etsy.com/listing/4333... #Bees #Flowers #Insects #OriginalArt #Drawing #MixedMedia #Painting #Artwork #TraditionalArtist #ArtFromScotland #GiftIdeas #ArtShop #bsnm
