The Fox Inn

[Anonymous @]

@missy

Son was actually kind enough to say “hey, maybe she hadn’t had time to read it.”

I hope you hadn’t fully read it -because it was the most right wing nasty nasty nasty stuff -Pauline Hanson would find it too ‘Right’ –and she’s a fascist.

🙂

I think it’s a heated thing isn’t it?

Shame that for a lot of people the issue wasn’t fully understood. Amongst the Leavers the most. The Remainers knew what they were up against -from what I can deduce, at least.

[1997whovian @1997whovian]

@missy Yeah Heaven Sent was my fave of that season along with the Zygon inversion. What did you like of season 8?

[IAmNotAFishIAmAFreeMan @pedant]

@puroandson

what does the UK export?

Trade data

Net importer of goods, net exporter of services.

You will note that the stats obsess over goods, despite services being massively more important. Old data habits die hard.

[Mudlark @mudlark]

Any optimists who believed that leaving the EU would free money to be spent on the NHS may be facing disillusionment

The full details can be found here

[Anonymous @]

@jimthefish @bluesqueakpip @pedant @mudlark so help me out here. I have tried, hard. But is it true that the EU has effected change in the NHS other than in good working conditions, pay, overtime, less than 48 hour consecutive ‘days’ or contracts?

Because I don’t think so!!

There is no evidence to support the EU has been up the y-fronts of the NHS excepting better working conditions?

<smacking my face against wall>

[Anonymous @]

@pedant

I noticed that! Cripes, I had Son reading the charts and pointing “look at that there”.

At his age, I couldn’t draw a pie graph (by god I could eat ’em though)

@mudlark thank you very much also.

Puro and Son

[Anonymous @]

@lisa I understand you’ve left the debate and I personally thank you for all your viewpoints and the hearty debate. However, perhaps click on the article provided by @mudlark where there’s clear exposition about how economists are in full agreement that leaving the EU will not benefit either the economy in general, but Health (the NHS) in particular.

So, above, I asked a question about how the EU specifically effects the NHS – it seems that the only way the NHS was affected was thru the positive entitlements people received and which was outlined on a previous page by @jimthefish. The article Lark provided also explains how the UK will be proportionally and negatively but decisively affected by ‘Leave.

Anyway, nuf of my rambling! 🙂 I just thought I’d suggest you might have a look at ‘Larks links if you have time. Maybe send them to your friend Debbie the Debater from Derby. *

These are good links -not backed by suspicious press -and as I always explain to Son, it’s “the Source that’ll kill you” (I know you’d recognise that most famous end-of-film phrase: “It’s the fall that’s gonna kill you”).

Kindest, Puro and Son

PS: to linguists (pedant @mudlark et. al and other journalists on site): here, in most instances, Derby would be pronounced ‘Darh-bee’. I know in some parts of the US it’s pronounced the way it’s spelled -‘Derr-bee’. In the UK, in general, is it generally pronounced ‘Darh-bee’?

[Anonymous @]

@missy @1997whovian
“Husbands of River Song,” was my favourite, but I thought, “Heaven Sent,” was very good too.

@1997whovian
“What did you like of season 8?”

My favourite the first time around was, “Mummy on the Orient Express.” I recently watched, “Deep Breath,” again and actually thought it much better this time around, though; so I might have to watch more of them again before deciding on a current favourite.

[Miapatrick @miapatrick]

Hi everyone, just had a little good news in this bleak time – I got another distinction, this time for the level three Creative Writing module for the OU. This actually makes it all distinctions save for one 30 credit module where I just missed it, and one module to go, so yeah, I’m happy, but but but!

I have a feeling I’m really boring because I’ve had this conversation on here before, but this time I only got 82% on the final assignment. On OU modules the final assignment, or the exam depending on the module, makes up 50% of the overall score, and I’m sure you’re supposed to get at least 85% to get a distinction. Like I said, I’ve been here before, but that was with a score of 84%. For the rest of the assignments, which make up the other half, I got an average of 91%, so I’m not entirely saying I don’t think I deserve a distinction, but yet again, I’m worried that the fact I have dyspraxia got me special treatment. I’m also a little sad because I took a gamble on doing a radio play for the final assignment because I was quite interested in writing radio plays. I should probably stick to short stories.

I should also probably just shut up and be happy with my distinction! And I was writing that final radio play whilst filling out the dreaded PIP form, then preparing for and undergoing a PIP assessment (for my boyfriend) which, if I had been able to tell them about as special circumstances, I would have. But a lot of people doing OU courses are struggling with all sorts of things, that’s kind of the nature of it.

Anyway, it’s good news. One module to go, and all distinctions so far except one 30 credit module where I just missed it. (I think in that case I got 82% in the exam, which is probably why this is worrying me a little.) Just feel a little flat about it. But happy, I suppose. Relieved, at least 🙂

[1997whovian @1997whovian]

@stitchintime  My fave season 8 episode was forest of the night

[Anonymous @]

@miapatrick

Well done! I wouldn’t beat myself up if I were you….you have a lot to contend with and frankly your marks seem very high.

Cripes, with one of my Masters I just passed-barely.

So I think you did – and are doing- very well indeed.

82 -84% – is very, very good.

Obviously you are doing a lot of study and believe me it’s hard work both doing the study and trying to ‘sell’ one’s opinions to others. I’m absolutely exhausted learning about and talking about the EU argument.

Still, it’s fantastic to have that lightbulb moment. And it sounds like you really enjoy what you’re doing. I remember doing this national curriculum thing in 2012 and we found that the majority of learners did well when they were given no marks but very comprehensive comments instead. They were the ones who showed enthusiasm, collective excitement and improved further. Some studies do show that our addiction to % marks can be harmful. It’s hard to invent another system, though, isn’t it?

So, good work and you deserve a wonderfully summery drink at the pub with umbrellas and fruit!

Kindest, Puro and Son

[Miapatrick @miapatrick]

@puroandson- Thank you and ooh, that sounds nice, and it is the weekend! (sort of).

The good thing with the OU is for the first half- the continuous assessment, we get very detailed comments, both as notes on the submitted assignment and in the summery the tutor sends (it’s to make up for less face to face) which is very useful. For the final part we don’t, just a general summery of all the assignments they’ve received.

I’ll admit I’m a little unhealthily obsessed with the % marks. I’m glad the way this has worked out really because I knew I could have got a higher mark if I had stuck to the short story form for the EMA and I’ve been beating myself up for taking the gamble- I worried that I wouldn’t get as much out of the creative writing module as I could because I’m aiming for a first for the degree. You could tell the difference between the people taking it as a stand alone, just to learn what they could and the people who were doing it as a part of a degree so needed the marks, and I found myself envying the former. So I took a risk and, phew, degree result unharmed.

As for the EU, my position on the whole thing is curled up on the floor with my arms covering my ears, rocking slightly. And frustration that the Remain campaign concentrated on the risks of leaving rather than the benefits of staying. The risks of leaving were and are the loss of the benefits of staying, but it seems that everything was done in the negative. My boyfriend’s sister was extremely happy that her husband (who voted leave) had to stay in London the weekend after. She was fuming with him because it turned out he voted out because he wanted to scrap the human rights stuff. That was the only reason. Then she pointed out to him that the convention on human rights came from us. Which apparently makes all the difference to him, and he would have voted in. There was not enough understanding of the issues. Never mind. This floor is very comfortable and I can hear my own heartbeat.

[Miapatrick @miapatrick]

Anyway, onwards and upwards. Got a load of concrete blocks to move from the wall and post in the front garden I knocked down the other weekend. Boyfriend asked me about moving it yesterday, and I looked at them and said it looked like a job for beer to me. So that’s my afternoon today 😉

[Anonymous @]

@miapatrick

“the floor…”

yes, I totally get how you must feel, but didn’t you know? The Brexiters are saying “you’re scared of change. You’re all so scared of it.”

I have words of great armour, of superlative brilliance, diamondesque sharpness when really all I want to say to these people is:

“Fuck”

And I don’t even “belong” to the UK. Being Australian and involved so much in exports, relatives (the two being somewhat similar) I feel (smugly) entitled to an opinion.

Still, I have a personal learning curve.

Yes, it’s easy for me to say “oh, people are too attached to % marks” when not so long ago I’d be the first one knocking on the Dean’s door to query a mark and then questioning him about every tick and grade. I couldn’t stand myself    🙂

Puro and Son:
onwards and upwards indeed

[Mersey @mersey]

@missy I think we are fully responsible for every word we are putting here. In other case everyone could copy and past some stuff from ISIS accounts on Twitter, or some hateful comments from Facebook or extracts from Mein Kamp and says I don’t know if it’s appropriate or I’m not sure about its accuracy but I’m only a messanger.

And this stuff you put here is inaccurate and biased. Cadbury did’t just move its factor to Poland. It bought in 1999 (Poland is the EU member from 2004) the rights to the brand of E.Wedel, the biggest polish producer of chocolate. In 2010 Cadbury Wedel was sold to Kraft Food but to avoid the monopolization of the choclate market in Poland the EU commision ordered to sold Wedel to another company. In 2010 Wedel was bought by the japanese concern LOTTE Group .

@puroandson Thanks for your comments. Both Czech and Slovakia are amazing tourist destinations and give great opportunities to the students. My friend went to Czech as an Erasmus student, she was really impressed and wanted to stay but she didn’t know the language. And I have two friends, one from Lithuania and one from Slovakia, also ex-Erasmus students who come to Poland and were so delighted with the school that they decided to stay and both have polish wives now and one of them has welcomed this year his first child. The choice where to study, work and live that gives us EU is one of the biggest achievement of the Union.

[Anonymous @]

@mersey Poland is  an incredible destination and Slovakia’s a kind of beautiful secret -not many know just how gorgeous it is -in both Winter and Summer.

Yes, the EU is a difficult thing but in the end I think it’s a very powerful tool when used properly. The arguments from the Leavers were deceitful, foolish and downright nasty. We had so many appalling ‘interviews’ with Leavers shown in Australia – so facile and cheap but the commercial television stations were happy to keep repeating them: gave them ad buys I suppose.

I agree Mersey (and @missy)  – – it may be easy to just cut and paste something but here, at least, it’s important to glance carefully at something to be sure it isn’t a) a piece of passive aggressive behaviour designed to hurt or b) part of an utterly deceptive statement which proclaims the UK is superior and shouldn’t let those ‘darn foreigners’ in -Jim had it dead right when he spoke of “jingoistic superiority” (that one was new to Son!)

PuroSolo

[Missy @missy]

1997whovian

Series 8, I liked most of them. Wasn’t keen on forest of the Night, or Kill the Moon.

Loved Time Heist, Listen, The Caretaker, Deep Breath, Robots of Sherwood and Flat line.

Missy

[Missy @missy]

mersey

Thanks for that, I’ll pass it on to my friend. (Not copy and paste your words, let’s make that clear.)

Missy

[Mudlark @mudlark]

@miapatrick

Congratulations on achieving yet another distinction!  Onward and upward 🙂

And I fully agree with you about the negative emphasis in the Remain campaign; it was a horrendous mistake.  I think I read somewhere that it was on the advice of an American campaign ‘advisor’, but I may be mistaken on that score.

@puroandson   Re the EU and the NHS.  There are, or were, concerns that TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), the proposed EU/US trade deal, might affect the NHS, either forcing wholesale privatisation, or at the very least making it very difficult if not impossible in future, to bring NHS services already contracted out to the private sector back ‘in house’.  These concerns are also discussed here.  Nobody knows for certain; the terms of the deal are still being negotiated, so nothing is definite, and since it will need the agreement of all members states of the EU it may not even go through.  In any case, if we are out of the EU the question is academic.

[Mudlark @mudlark]

@puroandson   I’ve just realised that I didn’t address your query about the pronunciation of Derby.  In the UK it is indeed pronounced Darby, with a long a.  A lot of place names here are not pronounced as they are spelt, probably because the origin of the names is generally Anglo-Saxon or Danish, or a combination of both, and while both spelling and pronunciation have evolved over time, the changes in spelling  have not kept pace with the changes in pronunciation.   To take just two examples from my home county of Norfolk,  Wymondham is pronounced Windum, and Happisburgh is pronounced Hazeboro, which thoroughly confuses people from outside the region – much to the amusement of locals.  In Domesday Book (1086) they are Wimundham and Hapesburc respectively.  Norwich, the city where I live, is pronounced Norrich, though anyone who has lived for any length of time in the UK would know that.  In Domesday Book it is Norwic.

[Mudlark @mudlark]

To forestall any indignant protests, I acknowledge an error in the above. I should have specified that the statement about Saxon and Danish place name derivations applies to England and, to some extent, lowland Scotland.  Wales and the Scottish highlands, not so much

[IAmNotAFishIAmAFreeMan @pedant]

@mudlark @puroandson

The Govt explicitly excluded the NHS from the scope of TTIP (for once, the opposition doing its job).

[IAmNotAFishIAmAFreeMan @pedant]

@mudlark @puroandson

PS

A friend of mine does a fair bit of estates consultancy for NHS Trusts. Nearly all the problems are caused by doctors not knowing one end of a lease or rental/ purchase agreement/ employment contract from another.

PS It turns out being a a shit hot oncologist doesn’t, in anyway, prepare you for the realities of management in the 5th largest employer in the world.

[Mudlark @mudlark]

@pedant

The Govt explicitly excluded the NHS from the scope of TTIP

Indeed they did, but whether they were justified in giving such assurance when the terms of the deal are still being negotiated is debatable.  According to some accounts I have read, there are legal experts who are not sure that this would be possible.  Anyway, I wouldn’t trust this government to know their arse from their elbow or to organise the proverbial.

I fully agree on the subject of doctors as managers, though; and if my relatives in the medical profession are anything to go by, the great majority would much rather devote themselves full time to the job of treating patients and saving lives. It makes nonsense of such policy aims as ‘practice based commissioning’.

[IAmNotAFishIAmAFreeMan @pedant]

@mudlark

True enough. Of course, inside the EU we have power of veto so can ensure no onerous terms are there. Outside the EU were are just a damp island waiting permission to board the train and paying hefty tariffs until we do.

[Anonymous @]

@pedant @mudlark

Thank you -thank you, thank you.

Ah, Jeepers. I’ve been out in the cold arguing pointlessly with someone about the EU, health, politics in the world and honestly: none of it made a difference. How do you stay so calm? I provided evidence. I provided information. I wrote in small sentences and would have used visual aids. People are real flippin territorial about this stuff. They stick to their ridiculous opinions even when their head’s about to be ripped off and eaten by a European bear.

Breathe.

Yes, doctors and multi party agreements. Nuts. Here in large hospitals pure administrators are employed to do…just that. Administrate. In the EU and therefore in the UK it’s a different matter.

Quite right Mr P -a damp island awaiting large bills (I know how you feel: cough cough:)

Puroupthespout

[Anonymous @]

Ok, so I’m feeling better now. I read the Poke I think a few Forum members might access The Poke, Time Well Wasted etc…?

There’s a collection of photos of 12 people having a worse day than me (or maybe you -unless you’re in the UK and wondering “fuck what’s going to happen next?” type of thing)

[Miapatrick @miapatrick]

So PIP- personal independence payments haven’t yet seen fit to inform us whether or not they’ve accepted our claim. But the council tax people have. Enhanced rate for both care and mobility.

It just feels good to be believed and taken seriously.

[Missy @missy]

Whatever will be will be in my opinion. More people voted to leave than to stay, and even if it were the wrong decision, it took guts to make it.

All we Anglophiles can do now is hope that it was the right decision. If not, they’ll have to make the best of it.

Missy

[ichabod @ichabod]

@miapatrick  I should also probably just shut up and be happy with my distinction!

Oh, don’t shut up — but yes, be happy!  Congratulations.

(from a later post, re Brexit and somebody’s boyfriend):   he voted out because he wanted to scrap the human rights stuff. That was the only reason. Then she pointed out to him that the convention on human rights came from us. Which apparently makes all the difference to him, and he would have voted in.

Really, that is *pathetic*.  The guy voted on the basis of “the human rights stuff”?  Jeez.  Your friend needs to *get a new boyfriend* — one with a heart *and* a brain!

@1997whovian  Wow — you must be one of the few who would choose “Forest of the Night” as your fave for S8.  Can you expand a little on what you loved about it, and any caveats as well?  I liked it too, myself, and Moffat has “predicted” that at some point it will be generally recognized as wonderful (literally and figuratively), but the most common reaction, at least among people who feel strongly enough to comment on DW boards, has been negative.

@puroandson   Love the photo!  That front bumper . . . I’m forever backing out of a parking space and tearing my front bumper half off on the curb (Toyota went streamline-crazy and dropped their front bumper to lower than most parking curbs, the idiots), so I look at that hanging crumple and feel a pang of fellow feeling in the bosom, as it were . . . (that’s a Groucho joke, I think, but really. . . so long ago . . . but *so* good!).

@missy   even if it were the wrong decision, it took guts to make it.

Well, looks to me as if it took guts IF the voter knew what he or she was actually voting about, rather being rather blindly driven by reactionary longing and/or propaganda that didn’t look thought-through or honest.  To this US liberal, what I heard and saw from the Leavers’ side resembled Tea Party kicking-and-screaming (against changes too overwhelming and comprehensive to accept) rhetoric to me.  That’s a personal generalization, strictly IMO of course.

[Missy @missy]

ichabod (sorry but my copy and paste aren’t wokring)

What you say is a point, but as no one can possibly say, or know, what every single voter thought or felt, it’s impossible to theorise.

 

Missy

[janetteB @janetteb]

@ichabod I actually suspect that the blame for both the Tea Party and Brexit rests with one single individual, that thrice damned ex Australian billionaire. (Phillip Pullman summed it up rather well in a recent Guardian article.)

Cheers

Janette

[Anonymous @]

but as no one can possibly say, or know, what every single voter thought or felt, it’s impossible to theorise.

Miss Missy and @ichabod @janetteb

I think it is possible to “theorise” Missy: it’s what forward looking individuals do. They use algorithms presented by economists and actuaries (paid, in Australia over $1000 per hour -considering it’s a 7+ year degree, I’m not surprised they charge appropriately).

The Leavers look to be sitting glumly in a corner thinking “oh hell, what did I just do?”

As for this “it took guts to make it” concept -it took guts for Hanson to say “stuff the immigrants” in this country and for Goebbels and others to create an unbelievable propaganda machine in the 1930s in Germany. It took guts for Hitler to write Mein Kampf and for those who hated him to attempt to murder the entire cabinet (for which more lives were lost unfortunately). I remember a young lad in Melbourne in the 1980s who was attracted to the National Front. After many meetings and realising these people had murderous intentions against non-white, passive people, he ratted them out and eventually wrote a book which shamed himself and helped Australians to see how detrimental such groups are to the stability and democratic rights of countries everywhere. So: guts can be over-rated sometimes and in other situations under-rated, I suppose. <-_->

I think I said a few weeks ago that referenda pose a real problem to democratic estates, imo

Kindest, PuroSolo

PS; JanetteB yes, indeed; the “ex Australian billionaire”

[Anonymous @]

@ichabod  I’m sorry that the photo brought back the events of your car and connections (cough cough) with other equally hard surfaces!

I think you might need a new car then? I hope not though! 🙂 And I sympathise. When we bought this house about 15 years ago, there used to be a large driveway which held the three block house and garden together. A developer came along, stripped the house away and built three smaller homes -one of which I bought. I had no idea about the house that existed before and it took years before the rest of the neighbourhood came to accept the three new owners. Even when I gave the big tree a tough prune I had suburbia knocking on my door and demanding we “grow it back!”

I tried to explain that “it was sick and needed to be heavily pruned and that in 6 months it would look better than before.”

And it did (mind you, I also spent a lot of time and money on the entire rockery -done on the cheap by the developer and which over 15 years I completely re-did to the liking of the entire street which now summarily takes photos of it for entry into garden competition! Something I never agreed with. But I digress!) Unfortunately the real problem was the driveway. Every car which has ever pulled up to the driveway that’s low slung (by the very margin of that description) stuffs its undercarriage.

Our own car, a 23 year old Ford was never driven into the garage so when it came time to finally purchase a new car (first new one I’d ever owned) it had to be an AWD vehicle -which, as it happened, was exactly what we were after anyway. But had we any mid 40’s crisis requiring a sports car for leverage it would have had to be garaged somewhere far away. 🙂

Every taxi, every friend and blue nurse who visits knows to never U-turn into our driveway for fear of getting completely stuck!

Developers: I hate ’em. 🙂

PuroS

[ichabod @ichabod]

@missy  Oh, I think there’s no problem theorizing.  Sometimes I think that’s all that politics is really for!  Well, that and exhibitionism and about a hundred other things, so . . . What we can’t do, at this point (or maybe ever, with real accuracy) is test a theory against hard data to “prove” it one way or the other, as is so often the case with issues of human will and behavior.  Believe me, we’re going to get theories up the wahzoo for damn near ever about how this really went down.  By the same token, I claim my theories as my own only — useless (in practical terms) ideas that could be interesting to consider.

@janetteb  Yes, to some extent most certainly.  But I really, really hate to attribute that much influence to one revolting example of humanity (there are so many on offer these days — ), so I’ll stand back on that one.  Funny, now that I think of it: I went through a phase in my early teens (I think?) of reading nearly every biography in the public library, and at that time I think I burned through my initial attachment to the “Great Man” (in both + and – senses) theory of history.  I’ve ended up much more on the side of the annalistes (or whatever they’re called these days); example (I think), The Armada, an old book looking into the recorded material offering all sorts of causes for the destruction of that great Spanish fleet.  Can’t remember the author’s name now, but it was a fascinating book and irresistibly seductive to me long before I read Fernand Braudelle (sp?).

@purandson  It’s also what SF writers do, compulsively and with or without degrees, which is why few pols (but many scientists-in-the-making and also made, thank gods) read, and we rarely get paid anywhere near such figures.   We also have our crypto-Nazis in our genre, who last year were dealt a resounding defeat in the “Sad Puppies” Hugo Award affair.  There are not many of them.  Maybe fewer than before, in light of what nasty morons they showed themselves to be during that fracas.

But we’ve reached the Nazi level now, so I think that means (in internet chat terms) the discussion is irretrievably done, at least for the present?

 

 

[ichabod @ichabod]

@puroandson  Developers: I hate ’em. 🙂

Me too, but *without* the smiley face.  Stop me if I’ve told you this before (I may well have, but it’s way too late to go hunting back for it): we’ve got some slimy creep from Arkansas who moved here to fix up (into “condos”) the handsome old High School buildings that the city was at loss about and would have eventually torn down.  He did it the way these utter bastards do everything: get other people and the city to invest in your “development” and get the city to okay your nice-looking plans, and then cut back and back on the quality of what is actually built or “developed” to the cheapest level you think you can get away with (NOBODY ever sues over prettified plans completely not matching shoddy realization, *ever*) and pocket the money you stole out of the public budget as your “profit”.  Capitalism at its disgusting finest, its way greased by a bribe here, a bribe there, etc.  It’s a way of life here in the southwest, where we have very little manufacturing and *lots* of land (which without water rights is pretty much useless, but there are “ways” around that, every single time).

So this schmuck did over the school, substituted a gulag barracks for the nice-looking “mediterranean style” condo promised on a major street crossing, and is now colluding big time with a Republican mayor who’s done literally nothing in office but now needs a showpiece he can use to run for governor.  Their big idea was to tear the heart out of the city — a 20 mile stretch of historic Route 66 — and installing some kind of fake trolley line down the middle of a street that literally has no room for it.  But by calling this moronic plan (which almost everyone except developers and real estate sharks hates — banners on business frontages, since there will be massive business failures along this corridor while the place is ripped to shreds for months on end) “environmentally forward looking”, these two creeps got a promise of funding from the federal government, on the basis of  how “progressive” it is.

Fortunately, this is so disastrous that a small consortium of people — business folks, environmental experts and lawyers — have brought law suits against these con men on the grounds that they never submitted an Environmental Impact Statement, and also lied outright in saying that there was no “significant” public opposition to their planned raid on quality of life in this city, so the federal funding will (we all hope like mad) be denied.  Without big fat tax money to play with, I doubt the schmucks will proceed.  We’re all holding our breaths.  Corruption is endemic down here (well, where isn’t it, really), but the good guys are well connected with people in the court system, so the ordinary citizens do have a chance.  The f**king mayor was warned several years ago not to try this scam, and told that it would blow up in his face.  If only that were *literally* true . . . one can fantasize.

Phew.  There.  That felt *good*.  Thanks all for your patience (and if you skip the rant, I completely understand).

 

 

 

[Anonymous @]

@ichabod @janetteb

Ah yes, not necessarily “irretrievably” but “done” probably. Once the “N” word starts to appear -whether “cypto”or “proto” one needs to reach for a drink….in the Fox Inn.

So, a gargle blaster? (Because now I’m thinking of a certain radio play…which spoke up about free will!) or perhaps a martini with pickled onions? I have a pickled onion ‘thing’ right now.

But seriously, your car? I hope you actually don’t have a rear bumper that’s mangled. Damn cars! We need ’em but boy are they the second most expensive thing to have. To be without a vehicle in Brisbane is darn near impossible but in Sydney it’s definitely viable. Of course, one can’t actually afford to live there (present PM not included of course) 🙂

[Anonymous @]

I meant the Hitchhiker’s Guide….

No, I didn’t skip the rant -but it got overlooked by a glitch in time -at first!

That sounds awful in every way possible, Ichi -I can imagine certain groups thinking “oh, a nice trolley, tram way” that will bring out the tourists and bring jobs. I always love the “bring jobs” line -it’s always used when ‘other’ jobs and dwellings are leveraged for something euphemistically better for society when it usually never is.

[ichabod @ichabod]

@puroandson  Oh, the subject will rise again no doubt (and should, really) as new developments occur.  And pickled onions would go very well right now . . . well, maybe not after lying down to sleep!  Me, I like a generous shot of Grande Marnier straight up, no ice, except that I don’t drink it any more because of the $#%^&*() calories.  It is but a fond memory now . . . I’ll have that wonderful monastery-brewed beer from Austria (Germany?  Doubt any of it makes it to export, in fact), if there’s some on hand.

Ah, the car . . . it’s a 2009 Toyota sedan, just fine for my needs in most ways (specifically a *good* air conditioning system, without which I would find life impossible here — supposed to be 100 F all week long and on til August, *if* we get our pretty pathetic “monsoon” season at all).  But I have had to replace the front bumper a couple of times, and it now is held on a bit better by something called a “bumper liner” that my pal at Duke City Body Shop got for me and installed.  How long it will work, by re-enforcing the bumper itself and maybe the attaching things as well, is anybody’s guess.  So far, so good.  The car only has about 75,000 on it and remains reliable, and also not a prime target for theft (busy profession around here), so I’ll stay with it as long as I can.

To tell the truth, I loathe and despise all the fancy electronic frou-frou that comes with all new models, having learned long ago that there’s nothing more crazy-making than a failure in a car’s electrical system, which may actually never be found (and if they have to tear out your dashboard to fix one that has, Big Bucks ensue).  I suspect that I have, in regard to practical matters at any rate, ridiculously simple tastes.  I still use the blender my younger sister gave me for a wedding present back in 1968.  It works; why not?  Though I guess I’m missing the “pulse” function.  Is okay, my own pulse is still bopping right along.

[ichabod @ichabod]

@puroandson  And thanks for your concern, by the way.  Cars are a big subject here as well as there, since we also have large distances to drive to get anywhere less empty than substantial portions of this state.  They’re also an enormous nuisance; but (if I may don my reincarnation cap for a moment) every lifetime in every time and place has these inescapable annoyances (like, getting around), and I try to view them as just part of the panoply of god nuisances/dangers that come with all lifetimes.  They never go away, because it’s part of the job of being here to *deal* with, one way or another, although you can never actually “solve” them (because everything changes all the time — the first rule, maybe, of life on the physical plane — so no “solution” works for very long, in the grand scheme of things).

It is interesting, though, to think about the s**t that happens this way: “I”, or some continually developing version of me, lived with heat stroke in Egypt, really crazy government in Rome during the Empire, endless cockamamie religious wars in northern Europe, various forms of slavery and prostitution always and everywhere, lots of rough lifetimes at sea, etc.  It’s *always* perilous and stressful on many levels even for the privileged few, but the world wobbles on.  The way I see it, perspective is my very good and helpful friend, when I remember how infinitely adjustable it is.

[Anonymous @]

@ichabod

Oh absolutely – my food processor whilst not as ‘old’ (which means reliable) as your blender I’ve had for 27 years and the mix master was in the family for 32 years. These things work -they may be lime green and a bit chipped but they’re ‘plug ‘n’ play’.

As for cars, yep, it’s part of progress, good or ill -but often good. The Bumper Liner sounds perfect -and A/C me too. In the car, and the house now. Even on winter days the A/C is k’thumping along whilst the blossoms wilt and cry in July ‘heat’ in Brissy.

Madness. But still, without the A/C I’d be mad. <-_->

[ichabod @ichabod]

@puroandson  Without A/C, there’d be hardly anybody living in the Arizona-New Mexico area, I think.  The old maps of early European exploration show huge areas labeled “Great American Desert”, and we are it — except for A/C.  Oh, and more likely avacado green in the US, though my blender is white.  Love it for mixing tasty drinks!  Things that lasted — this was before planned obsolescence took full hold on American industry, as must be the result of consumer based capitalism pushed toward its own sell-by date (in my book, anyway).  Also, not coincidentally, before the massive accumulating rubbish problem made itself known, as all those “obsolete” items began hitting the landfills big time.  But hey, if you can’t stop “progress”, maybe it’s still possible to survive its stupider current manifestations.

[Anonymous @]

@ichabod

I saw your article with @missy‘s on the Sofa? Yes, it doesn’t surprise me that, actually, a lot of the Doctor Who ‘notes’  were exactly like that. No doubt every series, and many books move thru a period of “shall we do this or shall we do that?” before settling upon some brilliant and now well known icon: a police box for instance as well as a man who is deeply attracted to science.

Great find Ichi  -I love it too! *from Son*

Kindest,

Puro and Son

[Miapatrick @miapatrick]

@Ichabod- thank you!

Re the boyfriend (actually husband, I somehow forgot that despite having attended the wedding) do you want to know the worst part? He’s army, working in London these days, in anti-terrorism. I can’t even… but yet why does it make a difference that the human rights stuff comes from here?

And with @puroandson- re cars- we have a smart car! The parking is amazing- a disabled space at the hospital no longer a parking space because a path cuts across the back half of it- no trouble, still fit. You can park head on at a pavement because there are plenty of cars as wide as it is long. And it’s only a two seater, a bonus a person can probably only really appreciate if one happens to live with my mother…

[1997whovian @1997whovian]

@ichabod   I liked In the forest of the night because i thought it was a very interesting story of how trees can save us and i thought it was quite humorous

[JimTheFish @jimthefish Time Lord]

@puroandson — sorry for the delay in getting back to you but … news (please someone make it stop)…

In reply to your question of frikkin’ ages ago, I am emphatically not a DC fanboy. It’s Marvel all the way for me. Although 2000AD trumps them both.

[Anonymous @]

@jimthefish

Boy, did I read that wrong!

I made a boo-boo.

🙂

Hell, it’s 1 am here. Time for sleepy..

 

[Arbutus @arbutus]

I see I’ve been missing lots of lively discussion in the pub, as always. Just back from a week in Chicago. I could rant on and on about what an absolutely wonderful city that is. They are struggling with some horrendous social challenges, but there is so much on offer there that a week was simply not long enough. People are just astoundingly friendly for such a big city, the public transit is excellent, and there is amazing art and architecture everywhere you look. We also saw a Black Lives Matter march (which made a big impression on our son) made up of multiple cultures and which was largely well-behaved, during which police showed impressive restraint and support.

We also pretty much ate our faces off. We had three restaurant meals a day for six days without getting bored, not easy for vegetarians. And we left just before Donald Trump showed up!  🙂

[Arbutus @arbutus]

Congratulations @miapatrick on your distinction!

@puroandson     They stick to their ridiculous opinions even when their head’s about to be ripped off and eaten by a European bear.      My husband has just started reading a book called Don’t Think of An Elephant, all about why people can be persuaded to hold views that are actually against their own interest. It says that most people, when presented with evidence that disputes their beliefs, will either disregard it, dispute it, or somehow tweak it so that it becomes less of a problem. What they won’t do, apparently, is change their minds. The book gives strategies on dealing with these people. I’ll let you know what he learns!

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@ichabod    It is interesting, though, to think about the s**t that happens this way: “I”, or some continually developing version of me, lived with heat stroke in Egypt, really crazy government in Rome during the Empire, endless cockamamie religious wars in northern Europe, various forms of slavery and prostitution always and everywhere, lots of rough lifetimes at sea, etc.  It’s *always* perilous and stressful on many levels even for the privileged few, but the world wobbles on.  The way I see it, perspective is my very good and helpful friend, when I remember how infinitely adjustable it is.

I love this. Such a great way to look at it!

@ichabod   @puroandson   Regarding the enjoyment of cocktails: In Chicago, we went to a Cuban restaurant where we ordered a whole pitcher of mojitos, a thing neither of us had ever done in our lives before! It felt remarkably exhilarating to this pair of middle-aged non party types. We’ve overindulged in our share of wine over the years, but we’ve tended to stay away from cocktails due to the high prices at the hipster places in our neighbourhood. But a nice rum drink is a treat!

Recently, we have been drinking what is possibly way too much beer since the microbreweries started opening up down the way from our place. We can fill up a growler for an astonishingly low price, with beer that was brewed within the last few days. I have never before understood what a difference freshness makes to beer! Last night we had one that was brewed from corn… who knew?

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