Rachael McKelvey

• Four-day working week results are in
• Old Neighbours is back
• Latest ONS data drop
• The weird people who want actual food before pancakes
• New hairdresser, who dis?

Four-day working week results are in
A whopping 92% of UK firms who took place in the 6 month trial say they will keep it, that’s 56 of the 61 firms who took part in the study. The study shows that results were fairly consistent over all workplaces regardless of size, the trial included big business and charity, from banking to retail to recruitment and despite 9 organisations pulling out from the study covered over 3000 employees.

The top line of the data is fascinating, a reduction in sick days, improved staff retention, average revenue increase, burn out down and massive improvements in employee well being but the real interesting stuff is in the actual report because the devil always is in the detail.

I really liked the Perspectives from the Shopfloor’ section towards the end of the report, where social researchers gleaned testimonials about the day to day impact the study has had on staff, the impact of the changes in the ways of working and the real insight that gave senior leadership is wonderful, and while it can be argued that studies like this are self selecting and made of future thinking, staff orientated senior leaders, just let us dream for a moment will you.

Old Neighbours is back!
This is the best thing that has happened to me in quite some time and this is not me being dramatic. While new Neighbours is not back until later in the new year, Amazon Freevee has acquired some of the old school episodes and they dropped this week. Hello 2012.

They will now be launching episodes for different era’s every month until new Neighbours launches at the end of the year.

I absolutely cannot. It’s been an emotional week in the RaeMcK household and there is a small hole in my heart and that requires good neighbours who become good friends. 2012 was a classic year, all the good characters with all the good house shares. My heart is full(er).

Latest ONS data drop
This weeks 2021 census data drop was marriage and civil partnership status in England and Wales and it’s a doozy, marriage rates are at the lowest level on record and the median age of those getting married is steadily increasing.

The data is starting to show that women are marrying later with more than half of women aged 34 or less are now not married, which is a 10% increase over the decade, which I hope reflects women’s choice in marriage and the ability for it not to be your leg up in life. It’s nice when data reflects social and cultural changes.

My most unpopular opinion is that there isn’t anything in marriage for women, but I can afford to have this unpopular opinion, while I think if children are in your future than marriage potentially offers something for women and children, but until needs must (when our health declines or we are old) then it’s a definite no from me, even if his surname is marginally cooler and easier to spell than mine.

The weird people who want actual food before pancakes
They walk amongst us, but they are wrong. Pancakes are a whole food. Despite last Tuesday being Valentines Day, the best bit about it was the fact that this Tuesday was pancake day.

For someone who does not understand Yorkshire puddings I do go hard on pancake day, I’ve not been “well” in recent years, functioning but not well and last year we did not pancake one bit, because “wellness” but this year I went hard, with zero preparation just whipped up some batter in the morning and I had 6 for tea as a complete meal.

The weirdo in my life had tuna, cheese mayo in his two…I went in all sweet. Every single one. Will I regret this? Absolutely. Was it worth it? Absolutely.

Dear reader, within 3 short hours it was not worth it. Please remind me of this next year.

New hairdresser, who dis?
I hate the act of having my hair cut…always have, I have a lot of incredibly thick curly hair and some trauma from childhood from relentless well meaning grown ups under the illusion that neat hair involves hairbrushes. This week I tried a hairdresser who specifically cuts curly hair, trained in the ways of cutting volume hair.

It was the most enjoyable haircut I’ve ever had, pain free, quick (2 hours as it was a first cut, will be 90 minutes next time) and informative…tailored very much to my hair type and curl pattern.

I am sat here on day 3, still mildly in love with hair (curly hair love is a journey and it will be at least 6 months before it’s THE CUT) after 2 sleeps and a whole day of sweaty yoga. I don’t know why I haven’t done this sooner.

Current watch:  Last Week Tonight With John Oliver – It’s back after 3 long months… I absolutely love John Oliver, back when he was in the UK, when he was on The Bugle with Andy Zaltzman. Every week John Oliver takes on the weeks news in the States and delivers it with laughs…I don’t know if you have seen the news at all in recent years, but this is not an easy gig. Each week, Oliver covers a little new around the world and the States and has a feature piece on something that fundamentally doesn’t work in the system and while its focus is the US, it’s lesson and moral are universal. Oliver and the team are not scared to take on some big names and call things out for what they are but despite covering some of the most heart breaking topics, it is done well and somehow leaves you feeling hopeful. If you get a chance to see some clips on YouTube, do!

Current read: Stuffocation living more with less by James Wallman – Trend Forecaster (cool job) James Wallman shares real life experiences of those giving up on consumption alongside some useful social narrative on how the minimalist movement started and how stuff is essentially taking years off our lives. Do you own stuff, or does stuff own you? I was sceptical when I first started this book, but I really enjoyed it and it definitely gave food for thought. I have unwittingly become an experientialist in recent years and am in the processing of downsizing my stuff & had probably come to a halt on that, but this book reignited a fire, with some insightful questions to help do the work, with some interesting research and hypothesis to really get you thinking.

Most Impactful Listen: 99pi – Orange Alternatives – It’s been a year since the invasion of Ukraine and while there has been a lot of news, this gorgeous podcast episode was the perfect way to make time to be present to this fact. The episode focuses on anti-war graffiti and protest art, the history behind it and how it has evolved in Russia during this conflict in a country where protest is hard. Protest art has a huge legacy in the Soviet Union, they talk to Waldemar “Major” Fydrych who help found a political art movement across Poland during the 80’s. This podcast is well worth your time.

• How do you listen to audiobooks?
• Goodbye Lilt, Hello Fanta Pineapple & Grapefruit
• The Bank of Mum & Dad
• Farewell Nicola Sturgeon
• Thorvald, the worlds oldest hedgehog

How do you listen to audiobooks?
I hope my other half never finds this, he has bought me many an audiobook that I’ve requested and to date I have listened to absolutely none of them. I’m just not sure I’m an audiobook person, and it turns out I might have been correct.

I used the Borrow Box app which is free with my library membership and gives access to hundreds of audiobooks for FREE. I almost couldn’t decide which one to borrow.

I have a lot of opportunity to listen to things, while driving, while walking, while at the gym and while I currently listen to podcasts, I swapped out for an audiobook this week.

Now, I don’t know if it’s that its nonfiction, or the reader (and the voices) or that I actually just don’t listen particularly well, but I am a few hours in and I remember astounding little…I might see if I can get a sample of the book to read the chapter and see if I feel the same.

I was a little distracted while listening, I wouldn’t have been able to read in those situations, but I would normally listen to a podcast of a similar genre, so what I am I missing? What am I doing wrong?

Goodbye Lilt, Hello Fanta Pineapple & Grapefruit
After 50 long years, Coca-Cola have taken the decision to axe the Lilt brand, goodbye to the Lilt man and the Lilt Ladies of the 80’s and 90’s, we thank you for your service and the totally tropical taste, and on Valentine’s day, of all the days!

Happy 50^th Birthday Lilt, we will now call you Fanta Pineapple & Grapefruit now available in 330ml cans and 500ml bottles…from a brand perspective I think it’s a logical move, since the recipe change from 2008 and 2014 to reduce the calories and the sugars and sweeteners it really hasn’t been the same and I think the sales reflect that, the Fanta brand is strong and well stocked and it makes sense to introduce the flavour to the family.

Twitter was its usual hilarious self at this news, made only more poignant by the fact it was Valentine’s day but it was nice to see that other people have fond memories of Lilt, it was the drink we only ever had at my paternal grandparents house when we typically spent a few days with them in warmer months, it was the go to special drink and just tasted like summer and happy memories. They all disappeared when they changed the recipe, the magic was in the sugar all along!

The Bank of Mum & Dad
The Institute for Fiscal Studies this week announced that £17 BILLION is gifted or loaned informally each year in Britain, with the largest chunk of that being from parents to their adult children.

The stats are astounding and well worth a read, 83% of all gifts received come from parents with 56% of the wealth transferred coming from the wealthiest fifth of adults.

Over half the gifts received go towards property purchase or improvement and a staggering 1 in 10 white young adults getting a gift over a 2 year period compared to 1 in 25 black African or black Caribbean young adults and less than 1 in 30 Pakistani or Bangladeshi young adults.

With UK household wealth doubling compared to incomes in recent decades, a lot of the wealth is sitting with the older generations while younger adults have seen stagnant income growth and rising prices.

I have benefited from generational wealth in my family and often debate with friends about the position of generational wealth, the hard line being that you shouldn’t die on a stack of cash, if you do it should go to the state to provide better provision, this should incentivise people to spend in life that would boost the economy.

But I must acknowledge that I am saving for that rainy day and will likely die with cash and no dependants, in which case anything left will go to charities.

Farewell Nicola Sturgeon
I don’t understand why so many people don’t like Nicola Sturgeon, and its quite vitriolic dislike. I think its fair if your dislike her politics, but I don’t find that to be peoples answer when you ask them about the specifics. A lot of people’s arguments just fall apart slowly and reveal what they were really trying hard not to say is they just don’t like women in power, even women.

Sturgeons’ resignation had echoes of Ardens resignation, the weight weighs heavy, even more so for women. If you asked me to name the best political leader of my life time it would be her.  While that they bar is unfortunately incredibly low, she acts like a grown up, she treats the electorate like grownups but also speaks in a compassionate way with the alarmingly unique skill in politics to explain complicated things in a way people understand, she has integrity and act’s thoughtfully and consistently even in the hardest and darkest times. She speaks incredibly well in a crisis, she works really hard and she reads and maybe I am biased but I think that’s important in a leader. She also has a sense of humour and isn’t afraid to laugh at herself. I enjoy her on Twitter immensely.

If she goes on to write a book or hits the podcast scene, I will definitely be keen to see what she really has to say without the weight of Holyrood on her shoulders and a little more freedom.

Thorvald, the worlds oldest hedgehog
I know and have created a surprising number of hedgehog fans over the years, I’ve been fortunate to always have one in residence at my house, under the decking by my patio doors and have been a great proponent for if you build them something useful they will come, the evidence being two unlikely hedgehog stops have become so by the simple addition of a feeding (always spikes) and water station. It’s much more enjoyable with a wireless camera to catch the noises and the sights.

This week science has confirmed the existence of the oldest European Hedgehog was in fact a gorgeous boy named Thorvald who lives for 16 years in Denmark and was found by a citizen science project where Danish citizens were asked to collect dead hedgehogs to get a better understanding of how they lived as hedgehogs are in massive decline in both urban and rural locations.

So how do you age a hedgehog? They have growth lines on the jawbones that are exactly like counting the rings on a tree.

Current watch:  Motherland – I finally found time to watch the Christmas special and it did not disappoint. Motherland is a must watch, a stella cast explore the trials and tribulations of middle-class mother(parent)hood. Julia, Liz and Kevin have the most functional dysfunctional relationships, they pull no punches, it is honest and hilarious and has still held up over three series.

Current read: Kleptopia: How Dirty Money is Conquering the World by Tom Burgis – Not an easy read but and important one, an astonishing piece of journalism written like fiction that just keeps you turning the page, but is a real insight into how corruption runs the world, dirty money is everywhere, in everything and seemingly truly the only thing that makes the world go round.

Most Impactful Listen: Cautionary Tales – The Hero Who Rode His Segway Off A Cliff – Cautionary Tales are fairytales for grown ups but they are all true, Harford shares stories of human error, catastrophe and happy accidents, this well timed episode on what makes an invention successful and useful. Why was the Segway a flop but the Concertainer an amazing versatile and much needed success?

• The Paperchase scandal continues…
• Netflix has absolutely no chill
• The 28 days of February
• The best fruit tea is hot squash
• International Snow Sculpture Championships

The Paperchase Saga Continues…
In out, in out, has Paperchase in Administration again? The news almost isn’t news anymore. It’s been a week for Paperchase, whose last decade has not been without scandal from plagiarism, advertising in the Daily Fail and the wake of creditors it’s left in the last 3 years.

Since the early 2000’s Paperchase has been on a wild ride, the buyout from Borders, the subsequent administration and closure of Borders in 2009. It’s new retail partners of the 2010’s and subsequent management buyout that did see new stores and growth but significant loses accruing in the background.

2021 and administration knocked on the door for the first time and less than six months after the previous buyout we are here again. PwC just need to dust off the working papers and they’re good to go again.

Paperchase has failed to secure any viable offers as part of the sale process to buy the business as a going concern (all of it, buildings, staff, name the lot) so now it can be stripped for parts. Tesco has entered the chat. Tesco has bought the Paperchase brand and its intellectual property and hopes to roll out products under the name as part of existing plans to build out their home and clothing department.

Netflix has absolutely not chill
It’s the announcement that Netflix has been warning users over for months and now is finally year, once every 31 days your device must log in on your home Wi-Fi network or you account will be blocked.

The start to 2022 wasn’t exactly Netflix finest year even by its own subscription count standards, but in the final quarter of the year it grew by 7.7m subscribers, reporting a lofty 8.9m growth for 2022 but now where near the height of the pandemic.

The launch of the Anti-Password sharing measures are in the hopes of boosting revenues to hopefully attract some of the estimated 100 million share log in users to become subscribers…sometimes when you are so popular there aren’t that many other things you can do to increase your revenue.

I’ve just renewed my existing budget for next year – how much on subscription services! So we don’t have multiple Netflix account monies for the few days a week I don’t live with our current account holder, good luck with the other 999,999 users!

The 28 days of February
February is an underrated month simply by its proximity to January and all the motivational dirge that January brings, chances are you’re not as resolved in February as you were in January, you’ve likely had a statement of some kind that quantified how much Christmas cost and it’s dark all the time.

But February is the kindest gift when you really think about it, 28 days short in a standard year and the return on investment for just making it through February is astonishing. It starts off standing way too close to January but by the end you have all the pre-emptive Easter goodies in the shops, you hear the birds sing, you might even start to see some snowdrops and other bulbs appear and sunset is closer to 6pm!

Hang in there, we are so close.

The best fruit tea is hot squash
There has been a lot of fruit tea chat going on this week, in real life, online, everywhere and my unpopular opinion is if you want a hot drink that’s not tea or coffee then you can’t go wrong with a hot squash, some form of blackcurrant based beverage to be exact.

I don’t know where you’ve been the last few months but we have had some cold snaps and with the price of heating (and eating) I think we’ve all be like I’ll just have another hot drink & put on another jumper…but you can’t drink endless tea and coffee, so what else is there? Herbal teas…again you can’t drink lots of those, hot water…which if you’re not a fan of water cold it doesn’t get better just because you boil it, so that leaves the humble fruit tea.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some nice fruit teas that exist but the best fruit tea is hot squash. Fruit teas tend to be over marketed and therefore over priced, smell great but taste at best like different coloured water and at worst a little like jazzy coloured pond water (I’ve drunk a fair bit of pond water in my time, I am qualified to say this)

Last week I lamented the abandoned Sports Direct mugs in office cupboards up and down the land, because when I want a hot squash I want a pint, not a cup. I said what I said.

The International Snow Sculpture Championships
Please can we talk about International Snow Sculpture Championships, this house love hates the cold, we are both allergic in our own ways to the cold (Raynauds) but he loves to ski and I like swimming in cold water.

The winners of the 32^nd annual International Snow Sculpture Championships held in Colorado were announced last week and they are SO good. 12 teams from eight countries battled it out for just short of 100 hours, starting on the Monday and finishing on the Friday, 24 hours a day, in freezing temperatures to turn 12ft 25 ton blocks to snow into art ready for judging and display.

Team Germany-Bavaria won with “Sub-Zero-Gravity”. All the pieces are absolutely breathtaking but I think my favourite was Lithuanias entry “Warn(m)ing Clouds Intersect, it won Bronze Place and Artists Choice Award, it can be seen in this nice news article.

Current watch: Searching for Sheela – I first heard about Rajneeshpuram on 99% Invisible when the episode aired in 2015 about a utopian city built from the ground up on ranch land in Oregon by Indian philosopher Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and Ma Anand Sheela, his secretary. With devoted imported citizens the dream became a reality until it all started to fall apart one allegation at a time from murder, sterilization, the worst domestic bioterror attack in history and a firebombing all linked back to Rajneeshpyram. Netflix in 2018 released a documentary Wild Wild Country that bought what I already knew about the scandal inside Rajneeshpyram and the part that Sheela played.

Sheela fled to West Germany but was extradited back to the US and was convicted of attempted murder and fraud along side some other charges, she served 39 months of her 20 year sentence and on release moved to Switzerland and bought two care homes supporting disabled senior citizens. This hour-long documentary follows Sheela on her first trip back for India for many years to promote her autobiography, she visits her old home and goes to events to talk about how people need to move on her past.

Current read: Say it with Charts – Gene Zelazny – Learning that doesn’t feel like learning, or a fun refresher. Written as workbook this is your one stop guide to visual communication. I had reason to pick it up this week just to reaffirm the basic concept of how to put my message in visual form and create a persuasive powerful chart and I forgot how useful and fun I find this book, with work projects and solutions to test your knowledge and just written like you’re in this together problem solving. It’s on its 4^th edition (2001), with a lovely little splash on the front that says “Covers New Technologies and the Internet” but despite being 20 years old, it still holds up today.

Most Impactful Listen: The Diary Of a CEO – Davina McCall: How To Overcome ANY Trauma & Live The Life You Deserve – My memories of Davina are Streetmate in the late 90’s and Big Brother from the 2000’s and then I feel that Davina went full on diet culture and then there was the ill-timed tweet on the disappearance of Sarah Everard that just meant I had mixed feelings and I just wanted to find out a little more about her. I don’t think there was anywhere left to hide, this interview is so vulnerable and insightful. Davina talks about her childhood, her battle with addiction, what made her get into TV and where her positivity comes from. In the last guest question section, she addresses the mistiming of her tweet and while we will never be the kind of friends we could have been during her Streetmate days, I feel like I understand a bit better where she’s at and I’m happy for her.

• Burgernomics: The Big Mac Index
• Are podcasts a convenient excuse to read less?
• Women in the workplace
• They joy of homework
• Professional standing

Burgernomics: The Big Mac Index
The Economist bi-annual update to the Big Mac Index has dropped this week which is one of the best pieces of data analysis in the world, bar none. The Big Max Index is a price index established in 1986 as tongue in cheek way of explaining the purchasing power parity of two currencies. The Index tests the theory to what extent market exchange rates results in the same goods costing the same in different countries.

The McDonalds Big Mac is available in most parts of the world and is priced based on local economic factors, wages, ingredient costs, advertising spend so it really does exemplify purchasing power.

It was never intended as a legitimate tool for exchange rate evaluation, but the world loves it, because its easy recognisable and accessible and it sort of works. It not only works to calculate an implied exchange rate between two countries, it can also be used to analyse whether a currency is under or overvalued.

This year’s results imply that the British Pound is currently undervalued by 12.9%, with a Big Mac in Britain costing £3.79 and US$5.36. The most overvalued currency by 35.4% is the Swiss Franc and consistently the most undervalued currency by a whopping 65.6% is the Egyptian Pound, with a Big Mac costing less than US$2. I have no idea what flights cost but let’s go!

Are podcasts a convenient excuse to read less?
I caught this article in last weeks FT about whether podcasts have become a “face-saving” mechanism for non-readers under the pretence that podcasts are educational.

I used to think audiobooks were cheating, but I’m a grown up now with responsibilities in a chaotic world that expects me to show up perfectly absolutely everywhere and while I consider the physical act of reading print important enough to find time to do it, others simply don’t have that luxury or are even able to so if a podcast is an easier way to accessing inaccessible material then you know what, fill your boots.

Podcast covers every genre, in every conceivable way, history but make it funny, You’re Dead to Me, education that’s also equally as stupid, No such thing as a fish, advice on modern life that is both funny and refined Help I Sexted My Boss, want to know if that self help book can really help By The Book , and every other podcast I could mention but won’t.

The medium isn’t for everyone and that’s okay, you don’t have to be smug about it. “But people are starting to conflate it with the hard grind of learning” …and that’s okay.

Women in the Workplace
I’ve had a lot of conversations recently about women in the workplace and you think the world might get somewhere in your life time and then Government Ministers think the best way to support mothers back into the workplace is a letter writing campaign, I can only assume there will also be an update to legal tender laws where these letters can be used in exchange for childcare and presented to an employer for guaranteed non prejudiced flexible working?

While this government continue to trip over their own feet, I find it absolutely astounding how little evolution there seems to be in making room for women in the workplace, admittedly we have not been there as long as men to work it out vs a lifetime for our male colleagues. The 2022 Women in the Workplace study from LeanIn.Org and McKinsey the largest comprehensive study of the state of women in corporate America, highlights that women are drastically underrepresented in leadership and leaving in droves, there is a “broken rung” that’s holding women back from being promoted to managers and if they are promoted face a series of assumptions they are still the least qualified in the room. Can’t imagine why a mother would swap precious time with their child in their early years for that.

The joy of homework
This week my current foster dog & I got to spend some time with a Dog Behaviourist and now have a protocol designed to help my current four legged pal cope a little better in the big outdoors and I am excited!

It’s so hard to see him not be able to enjoy everything the world has to offer because he just doesn’t know what to do with himself in certain situations through no fault of his own.

After agonising for hours on the website about what toys he might like to assist his training, they finally arrived and before the parcel was even fully opened, he had picked his favourite, the first…so I am super pleased I agonised over the rest of the contents – it’s a good job he’s cute.

We now start some very specific and dedicated, 100% fun play indoors everyday with this toy before we graduate to the next phase…I do not need asking twice to play to the exclusion of all other things with this little man, in fact it’s a highlight of the day!

Professional Standing
In a week that has seen the Minister for the cabinet office subject to an independent investigation for his tax affairs, alongside the the current Deputy Prime Minister; and the former Prime Minister now all subject to independent investigations into their behaviour I’m sitting here a little confused how these things aren’t actively routinely checked.

To be anywhere near financial services I’ve been DBS checked regularly, I must disclose my financial holdings and interests regularly and those of my partners regularly even though we are in no way legally or financially connected to each other, but we do live/work in the same house more often than not.

I am not saving lives, I am not setting standards for the nation to live by and I am not protecting vulnerable individuals in any way, so why are we all held to different standards of account? I’d have lost my job and my career at even a hint of some of the allegations against those in the roles above and I am not the only one, I look across my close friend group and I’ve no doubt they’ve had to meet a standard regularly to continue in their positions.

So yes, to those asking if anyone really care about the individual affairs of certain individuals in positions of power, we do. It should be part and parcel of the ability to hold those roles.

Current watch: Panorama: Dogs, Dealers and Organised Crime – My gosh this was an excruciating watch, Sam Polling went undercover to examine the relationship between organised crime and breeding dogs, specifically bulldog breeds. The episode shows the cruelty and negligence the designer dog trade results in and while it’s a truly hideous watch, its important to see what goes on behind that cute dog picture you might see on social media and how you like really does perpetuate the perceived desire.

Current read: Quiet Girls Can Run the World: The beta woman’s handbook to the modern workplace by Rebecca Holman – My first book from the library! I am very much a Beta gal, probably more so than the author! Pragmatism, collaboration, quiet, that is my jam. This book is full of anecdotes, interviews and case studies exploring the role of women in the workplace today, we’ve only had 60 years to work out how to get the job done and be successful. I’ve found reading this book oddly comforting, a timely reminder to lead your way because you can’t be what you can’t see and maybe our generation of Beta leaders may never make it to the board room in a world that only acknowledges more masculine qualities in female leaders, but it won’t always be that way and we’re paving a way for those behind us to take that next step on.

Most impactful listen: The News Agents: Nicola Sturgeon on Gender, Starmer and Prince Harry – Lewis Goodall travelled to Holyrood to sit down for a long chat with Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, and Leader of the Scottish National Party. Despite your feelings on her politics it’s hard to deny her presence in British Politics, she joins us with being on her fifth Tory Prime Minister and I always listen in interest when she speaks in slightly longer form than we get to see her portrayed in the media. Lewis talks to the First Minister about her political career, the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, the next general election and the strengths and weaknesses of all those in the revolving doors at number 10. The quick fire round on this one made me laugh out loud. It took me back to Alastair Campbell Living Better in Lockdown interviews where Nicola was a guest and spoke with such humanity