The Kebab & Calculator

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@blenkinsopthebrave

I’ll see you and raise you this:

 

[janetteB @janetteb]

@dentarthurdent I loved Blakes 7 when I was young. Our boys were introduced to it at a young age. We did a podcast on it last year. (I will put up links but the site is undergoing a transition at the moment and I have to check to see that the older posts are there.) Babylon 5 was inspired by Blakes 7 and Doctor Who among other things. The first series is not particulary gripping but it improves massively. The best is brilliant but there are some cringey moments.

I just recently re watched Sherlock. It is very “Moffat”. Have you watched the recent Moffat/Gattiss Dracula? IT seems to follow their usual pattern of starting out brilliantly but tapering off at the end.

@blenkinsopthebrave Fun clips and scarily apt.

Cheers

Janette

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@janetteb,

I was reading about “pizzagate” in South Australia. Anyway, I am glad that it has resulted in a little more freedom of movement for you. Nonetheless, still take care.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@janetteb

I was just prompted to order Seasons 2 and 3 of Sherlock.   Bit odd to note that on the cover (Watson) is Dentarthurdent from the movie.   Which I watched the other night and really, it is a bit weak even compared with the TV series.

My DVD of Survival just arrived, they certainly have put all the extras they could lay their hands on on these old Who reissues.   So I know what I’m watching tonight.

(Re B5:)    ‘The best is brilliant but there are some cringey moments.’     Exactly like Xena, then.   😉

 

[winston @winston]

Toronto is going into a lock down on Monday and the people were lining up to shop for food and Christmas presents and haircuts. Watching on the news the one thing they all had bought in large quantities was toilet paper. We make TP in Canada and are always assured that we will get enough but that doesn’t stop the panic buying. It is a self fulfilling prophesy , people worry that we will run out so they buy up huge amounts and then we do run out which causes more panic and even gouging.

My worry is that people will drive the few hours to our town ,which is not in lock down, to shop bringing with them the virus and emptying our stores like during the first wave. I watch the news and listen to the Doctors so I knew there would be a second wave and spent the summer slowly getting ready so I can hide at home for the winter. many can’t do that and I hope they all stay safe.

Ricky Gervais said he stocked up on wine and beer instead of T.P. and although I don’t drink I am seriously considering taking it up if this f#*king virus goes on much longer. so buy your favourite beverage and remember that in the old days they used newspaper and catalogues in the outhouse.

stay safe.

[winston @winston]

@dentarthurdent  I really like Sherlock and I can watch again and again just like Who. I hope you enjoy it.

[winston @winston]

@janette Speaking for at least one Canadian we would love to have you visit! I have always wanted to visit your beautiful country also. Maybe some day eh.

stay safe.

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@winston

In our house, Mrs Blenkinsop shops for food (brilliantly), and while I also shop for food (less brilliantly) I tend to be the one who remembers the fruit. But I am in charge of the wine. I like to think I do that brilliantly. In between the two of us we manage to find toilet paper as well.

[nerys @nerys]

@dentarthurdent Dad has had books, crossword puzzles and Sudoku to keep him busy. Oh, and the dreaded TV, too. But he told me that doing those things felt more like having to do them, rather than wanting to do them. That’s the toll isolation takes, I think.

However, I received very good news yesterday: Dad’s oxygen levels are up where they need to be, so he was transferred yesterday into a different Covid unit, with the plan of transferring him to a rehab hospital soon. So things are looking up!

@winston My small town in Nova Scotia has experienced something similar. Halifax is undergoing a similar tightening of restrictions starting on Monday. But even before that, people from “the city” were driving here, and elsewhere along the South Shore, because it’s “safer” to shop here. Of course, we worry that they will bring the virus with them, to a region that up until now has had only one assigned case of Covid (a university student who had arrived on campus, was tested and was in isolation with the positive result came back, so there was no community spread). Now hairdressers and other small business owners/operators are asking their clients if they have visited Halifax recently. I know people will be upset by that, but it has to be done.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@nerys    I’m so pleased to hear the news about your Dad.   And I’m pleased that he had stuff to keep him occupied if he needed it.   The reason I asked whether he had stuff to keep him occupied mentally is, if I had to go into isolation, I’d be climbing the walls after a couple of hours without something to keep me busy.   For example if we go visiting my wife’s rellies (they all go off chattering for hours) I just take a dreadful French sub-James-Bond novel (I’m learning French by reading it) to keep me busy.

However, I was forgetting that being sick not only reduces your ability to do things, it also mercifully reduces the urge to be ‘doing something’ (as your dad found).    When I had heart valve repairs a decade ago, I took a few books and a portable CD player with me (because I knew they had TV in the room but the average TV program drives me nuts), but all I actually needed was the CD’s.   It was quite pleasant just lying there comfortably doing nothing and – most significantly – without the guilty feeling that there were things I ought to be doing.

Re the ‘covid tourists’ I can sympathise with your concerns.    Here in NZ, when we had the ‘first wave’ of Covid, one of the first things they did was put strong travel restrictions in place for the whole country, even in areas that didn’t have cases – simply because all it takes is one person to travel to another region and start spreading it and bingo, you’ve got an outbreak before you even knew it.   (Though I suspect they may not have been enforced very strongly in remote covid-free areas).

When Auckland had its mini-‘second wave’ (with an epicentre a couple of miles from me) Auckland went to Level 3 (out of 4) while the rest of the country went to level 2.   And travel out of the Auckland area was actually restricted.   There were police roadblocks on all main roads out of Auckland (Auckland is geographically fairly easy to isolate) and people without a legitimate reason to travel (such as, genuinely essential business or they lived elsewhere and were returning home) were turned back.

This is, literally, what you have to do to control covid outbreaks.   In normal times there would be public outrage over restrictions like that but everyone’s seen the overseas news and we all know how lucky we are to be (almost) covid-free.    Waiting for the vaccine…

[Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip]

@nerys
Glad to hear the news that your Dad’s oxygen levels are now up to scratch and they’re thinking in terms of a move to rehab. That is good news. As @dentarthurdent says, not wanting to read etc is part of resting – and from what I’ve been told, a more serious dose of Covid is really energy-sapping.

My Mum lives back in North Wales and they’ve ended up having to put similar travel restrictions in place – to the extent of police checking people travelling over the border are doing so for essential purposes. I mean, seriously? The Welsh-English border hasn’t been a real border for centuries. We make jokes about it! There’s even border jokes in Doctor Who and Torchwood!

But now we have a real border again. Undoubtedly a temporary one, but who knows what the long term effects are going to be? The village shop was telling her they’ve never been busier – not because non-villagers are driving there to shop, but because the villagers want to go to the nearest large town as little as possible.

@winston
Toilet paper is definitely a self fulfilling prophecy. Having been unable to buy any, I’m now keeping a spare pack in my cupboard and bought a larger pack than usual. This is undoubtedly contributing to the shortage, but what else can you do if you can’t rely on any TP being available?

[winston @winston]

@bluesqueakpip  I agree, when you gotta go, you gotta go and when you go you need the T.P.

Stay safe

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@janetteb

Just reading about the heatwave in South Australia. I hope you are coping. Of course, in between the Murdoch Press and the Murdoch Press-approved government in Canberra, apparently there is no problem, because climate change is an “elitist” conspiracy.

But as I said, I hope you are coping.

[janetteB @janetteb]

@winston If I am ever fortunate enough to get to Canada then I will certainly visit and likewise if you ever get to Australia then would love to meet you.

Back in the early “noughties” I was active in a toy collector’s forum and when we went to the U.K there was a meet up which was one of the highlights of the trip. It was so nice to meet people in person after being part of an on line community.  Now our kids talk about overseas travel in the same way that our parents generation did, as something that will never be in their reach.

@blenkinsopthebrave Our one day heatwave is over thankfully and we have had rain but there was a bushfire up on the hill just out of town near to one of our favourite wineries, this afternoon. The waterbombers seem to have stopped flying over so guessing it is now controlled and this is supposed to be a cool summer… As for Murdoch’s mates in Canberra.. they clearly live in a very different “reality” to me and just about everybody else for that matter..

cheers

Janette

 

 

 

 

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@dentarthurdent

This one is for you

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/02/four-seasons-total-landscaping-philadelphia-tourism-selfies

 

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@blenkinsopthebrave

Thanks.  You know, it’s occurred to me that Donald Trump is certainly making sure he’ll be remembered – as the biggest and most spectacular loser ever.   Nobody loses like Trump!   Probably not what he’d like to be remembered for, but it’s entirely self-inflicted.   I have to admit I’d have been secretly disappointed if he’d picked up the phone and conceded the day after polls closed like normal Prez’s.

[Arbutus @arbutus]

Goodness. It’s so nice to see you in my inbox. I’ve been meaning to come on and reply and I apologize for not doing so sooner, things have been a bit random around here recently! Where is Arbutus? Holed up in central Vancouver, trying very hard to stay kind, calm, and safe. 🙂 (I’m strong on safe and reasonably good with calm. It’s the kind part that I have to work at, sometimes!) It’s been a long year. Some health issues in the house but not Covid-related, and largely dealt with now. We’re all being pretty cautious, but thankfully, conditions here allow us a lot of movement, although we’re sadly missing the ability to go to concerts and sit in restaurants and so on. Since we can’t go out for cocktails anymore I have taken my bartending to a whole new level. And this month I made a cocktail advent calendar with a seasonal drink recipe in each window. Each day, Mr. Arbutus and Arbutus Jr. take out the latest and I make it. Pomegranate gin fizz last night! 🙂

I have an impressive collection of masks now, in various colours and themes. I try to stay bright. A lot of them came from my sister, who says she has sent me a Ruth Bader Ginsberg one.

@thane16 Puro, I’m very, very sorry to hear about your mom. Love and hugs to you all. @nerys, I trust your dad is continuing his recovery. It’s awful the toll this thing is taking among our elderly, especially in the long-term care. In Canada, where we like to think highly of our health care, it’s been a rude awakening to see the gaping holes in some areas.

[janetteB @janetteb]

@arbutus lovely to hear from you. You have been missed. Glad that you are doing ok in Vancouver.Sorry to hear about the health problems, not a good year for that.. I like the sound of your Advent Calendar. That is a  great idea. Our Son’s Girlfriend just bought the Elder Scrolls cookbook which has some very tempting drinks in it.

We have been fortunate here apart from out little “blip” a couple of weeks ago, the weekend we had finally booked to go away but this is that kind of a year where is nothing is certain. In a way I am not sorry about the restrictions here which are still very light but mean no Christmas events to organise though I am hoping to be able to host our traditional “end of term/year Christmas Drinks with the neighbours. IT is a long established tradition and we would be no more than ten, but that does not include the kids who will be upstairs and never join in so I feel as though we would not be breaking any rules. (though fingers crossed the number permitted for private gatherings will increased before then.)

Cheers

Janette

 

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@arbutus, Yes! to echo @janetteb, great to see you back on the site.

@janetteb, you are very fortunate that the restrictions are as relaxed as they are for you. I cannot imagine a Christmas party on the scale you describe being allowed for either @arbutus in Vancouver or myself on the island.

This week we had a film crew making a movie down the street (we live in that part of town that film companies seem to like) and one of the things I noticed was that, unlike the previous company that shot a film at a house up the street a few weeks back who all wore masks, this company crew seems to be strangely free of masks, and all their cars parked on the street had Californian licence plates. Sigh…

 

 

 

 

 

[nerys @nerys]

Hello @arbutus and all! I’m sorry you have had health problems to deal with, but it sounds like that is mostly resolved.

Dad continues his slow progress. He was moved to a rehab hospital, then another ailment popped up, so he was briefly transferred back to the main hospital. Then, last week, he was moved back to the rehab hospital. He believes he will be there for 10 days, and then we’ll have to see where he is. He is discouraged by the fact that he can walk only a few steps before becoming winded. Both of his late sisters had chronic lung issues (emphysema and COPD), so I’m sure that is preying on his mind. He’s never had to deal with breathing issues before, other than asthma (which he more or less outgrew). We all hope that he will build up enough strength to go back home … but we will have to wait and see.

Nova Scotia continues to fare reasonably well, compared with the rest of Canada. The provincial government has been very good at cracking down immediately, as soon as an outbreak occurs. So areas that are experiencing community spread are immediately required to follow greater restrictions, while the rest of the province is still operating under the protocols set before the second wave began. Nova Scotia has 1,383 total confirmed cases (dating back to the spring), with 78 active cases currently.

As far as I am aware, my little corner of the province has had only one confirmed case from back in the fall: a university student at Université Sainte-Anne in Church Point, Nova Scotia. That’s about an hour-and-40-minute drive from here. The student was tested and already isolating, as university students here are required to do upon entering campus, so there was no community spread.

[winston @winston]

Hello  @arbutus  it is good to hear from you and I am glad that you and yours are doing good. I have been baking my way through all my cookbooks and my waist line shows it.  I was keeping busy in my garden but it is under snow now so I made a snowvid man who wears a mask and holds a bottle of sanitizer in one stick arm and a measuring tape for social distancing in the other.

@nerys  Good to see your Dad is slowly getting better. It must be so hard to lose your health and strength like that but hopefully it will return to him. I am glad that your area still has no cases of Covid and I am sure that comes from the fast response to all cases and as you say a crackdown on any outbreaks. Ontario has many remote areas that are ” safe” so far but it is out of control in some cities and slowly moving out from there. So scary sometimes. We do what we gotta do to stay safe.

@blenkinsopthebrave  Every day either on TV or when brave enough to go to town I have a sigh moment. I mean come on, it is just a mask. After the sigh moment I often have an angry moment and a sad moment. The other day a young women in a store in front of me asked a repair man to wear his mask properly and cover his nose. She apologized but said he wasn’t wearing it right. His answer …”Don’t worry about it!”  I almost screamed at him or just screamed in frustration but he put on his mask and the moment was over. Sigh….

Stay safe

[janetteB @janetteb]

@nerys Nova Scotia sounds so lovely. Your descriptions bring back memories of L.M.Mongomery books. Glad you father is recovering.

@blenkinsopthebrave and @winston I really wish that our government had made mask wearing compulsory, especially as I spent an afternoon making myself a mask and have barely had an opportunity to wear it. Instead they are rolling out a “check in” thing which is fine only does not work for older model phones like mine. I have already been turned away from one premises because I could not check in. (they were at fault as they are supposed to offer a paper alternative for details but were not doing so.)

We are fortunate here and I really appreciate that especially after Victoria suffered so badly. As long as our governments bungle the quarantine accommodation however we are at risk and I would feel safer if people were wearing masks. Covid is so so contagious and spreads so quickly that once you know it is “out” in the population it is already too late. We have  been debating whether or not to go to the city Christmas shopping and I am nervous about doing so not helped by the fact that our train service is currently not fully operational due to line upgrades and the bus we would have to catch was the one that was noted as being a source of contamination a few weeks back. (Is safe now one assumes but is still off putting) I really hate driving to the city but otherwise cannot go book shopping and I want to avoid Amazon so it is city, bookshop and market with masks..

I hope that others are able to connect with family over christmas. Was looking at  photos in the Guardian yesterday of socially distanced Santas. This is certainly going to be a Christmas like no other.

Regards

Janette

 

 

[winston @winston]

@janetteb    Hi there, good to hear that your area has little covid and I hope it stays that way. We have some provinces that held out against mandating mask wearing and other restrictions and their  numbers are pretty high so most have now put those restrictions in place. Surprise, surprise some people won’t listen to advice or recommendations no matter how sensible and life saving.

Masks have become quite artistic and colourful although I still use the surgical mask. I am hoping for a Doctor Who mask for Christmas from one of my boys but will wear it over my other mask just to be safe. What impresses me is seeing little kids with their cute little masks on and how well they have accepted them and keep them on. Amazing.

We will follow the advice of our Doctors here and spend Christmas by ourselves this year. One day we will go to our sons home and leave their gifts on the porch and have a visit outside but no inside parties or dinners. We are so close to coming out of this and I can wait until next year. Then we will have one hell of a party!

My husband just turned 65 and instead of the big party we had planned it was him and I and phone calls so that was sad for him. I asked him if he wanted a drive by birthday parade but he said he would throw tomatoes at them.lol His party will have to wait also.

Stay safe.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

Hi @janetteb

We’ve had a ‘check in’ app (in NZ) for about 6 months, but my $18 cellphone is not a smartphone. All it does is calls and texts, which is all I want a phone for. Oh, and it’s even got a camera, which takes pictures which are, surprisingly, not bad, if the light is good enough. I do also have a Samsung S2, but the Covid app won’t run on anything that old. So I take the trouble to manually ‘check in’ at most places, though it’s rarely enforced. But I think you should certainly complain about any place that enforces checking in and doesn’t have a manual option. We’re back down to Level 1 currently, though masks have just been introduced as a requirement on our local buses and trains (previously they were only required at Level 2 or 3). I’m not fond of wearing a mask – it makes my glasses fog up – but I carry one just in case I’m in company.

We’ve made the necessary Cook Strait ferry bookings for us to go down and stay with our daughter in Christchurch over summer. There’s a risk, if there’s a significant outbreak, that sailings could get cancelled, but better to take that risk than not go at all. In preparation for which I just did the clutch on Mrs D’s Mazda Tribute (aka Ford Escape), what a saga – it’s a 4-wheel-drive, which complicates everything. So I was putting it off but it finally reached the stage where it wouldn’t have got us up the first hill…

@winston I’m not surprised kids accept wearing masks (often more readily than adults). To them it’s just another form of ‘dressing up’, like the way they happily wear Batman or Lone Ranger masks (well, maybe not Lone Ranger these days, how about Darth Vader?) The good thing about masks is, you can improvise one yourself – have you ever thought of going for the Tom Baker / Osgood look with the scarf?

As it happens we’re just having a very small impromptu party – a cousin just phoned Mrs D to congratulate us on our xxxth wedding anniversary, which both of us had completely forgotten as usual. Takeaways and a cake grabbed from the supermarket, no expense spared 🙂

 

[winston @winston]

@dentarthurdent  We just got some masks from my daughters mother-in-law and they are very nice and lined and fit well. she is a quilter and the masks are well made but….the pattern is of pot leaves.I don’t know if she knows that or not or if she just liked the vibrant green colours but they are definitely pot leaves. Too funny. They should get some mentions and a few grins and winks.

I have been knitting a 4th Doctor scarf for a year now,picking it up now and then when I find wool in the right colour range and I have 9 or 10 feet now. Far too hard to wear for a clumsy person like me. I will wear it for the New Years episode along with my fez and Tardis slippers and shirt.

Congrats on your anniversary! Hope your fancy dinner was great.

Stay safe.

 

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@winston

Thanks for the good wishes.    Our celebration was low-key but satisfying.    (As it happens, Mrs D forgot our very first anniversary (and I remembered it), which set up a very stable scenario – it never mattered which of us forgot an anniversary subsequently.   Mrs D can’t say (accusingly) “You forgot it!” because she did it first.   And I know better than to try to make anything of it because, well, no male ever won that sort of argument.   🙂

Back to mask designs, yes those feathery leaves are rather elegant.   I can see masks becoming quite the fashion accessory.

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

We have had a number of festive seasons on this site, but this the first one where the most appropriate thing I can say to everyone, and particularly those in the UK, is:

Stay Safe.

(And hopefully there is still enough time to order in Jammy Dodgers)

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

I’d echo blenkinsopthebrave’s wishes, and particularly to my relatives, most of whom are in the UK.

Here in NZ, I’m now in Christchurch, we came down via the Cook Strait ferry, and nobody was wearing masks or thinking much of covid.   The beach yesterday was crowded.   Now this is probably okay since we’ve had no covid cases ‘in the wild’ for a few weeks, but the Government is understandably nervous, looking ‘across the ditch’ at Sydney that currently has 30+ new cases.   Having to lockdown right in the middle of summer, that would be tough.

janetteb, best wishes to you and hoping the Sydney outbreak doesn’t spread to SA.

[winston @winston]

@blenkinsopthebrave  The holiday season will be different at our place ,very quiet and maybe a little boring but I refuse to have a sad Christmas. I won’t see my kids but I can talk to them all day on the phone and send pics to them and they are SAFE. That is what matters most and that is what makes me happy. Besides , I am a gardener and my mantra is “There’s always next year”.

I also send out my hopes to all of you to stay safe.

[Cath Annabel @cathannabel]

Just checking in briefly to wish you all the best Christmas possible in these difficult circs! Stay safe and well. The Doctor will be here soon…

[winston @winston]

Merry Christmas to all my fellow Whovians, Canadians and humans. I wish you all a little calm and a little peace this season.

The Doctor will soon be here!

Stay safe.

[janetteB @janetteb]

Merry Christmas to all

cheers

Janette

[Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip]

Hope everyone had a good and safe Christmas and that you all managed to eat and drink too much even in these most difficult times.

Merry Christmas

Pip

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

Boxing Day dawns, and to echo the immortal words of (hungover) Uncle Willy in The Philadelphia Story (1940):

“This is one of those days that the pages of history teach us are best spent in bed.”

 

[nerys @nerys]

Hello, all! We enjoyed a good, quiet Christmas. We gathered with a small group of “bubble” friends for dinner on Christmas Eve, then took our annual Christmas Day beach walk. It was 15F/59C here, so our walk was quite pleasant.

Dad’s health continues to improve. Probably because of all his inactivity after being hospitalized for Covid, he then contracted pneumonia, but he has recovered from that. He is finally off all medical devices. No oxygen or IV! And he seems to be doing well with his physiotherapy exercises.

The bad news is that Dad is still in hospital. He was supposed to be transferred to a nursing facility this past Monday, but the day of the transfer, they tested him for Covid, and sadly he tested positive. No surprise, since he was diagnosed with Covid on Nov. 10. He has no symptoms, but could still be carrying the virus. So he could not be admitted to the nursing facility, and instead was transferred to yet another hospital. I think this is his third one in nearly two months. And, he is once again in isolation. So this was not the happiest of Christmases for him or my stepmom. Not to mention that today is their 31st wedding anniversary. First time they’ve been apart on their anniversary. But at least they are both healthy and can talk on the phone. That’s something!

I’m currently watching Last Christmas, my favourite of the Doctor Who Christmas specials. I often forget about The Gift of the Magi aspect of the two lies the Doctor and Clara told one another at the end of Death in Heaven. I forget, that is, until I am reminded of them again in this Christmas special.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

First, best wishes to everyone, I hope you’re all safe (so far as you can be) and not too badly affected by the various lockdowns.

Here, I’m in Christchurch, NZ South Island, and we just had two noticeably cold days in the middle of summer.   12 degrees C, I think (53 F), which is not all that cold admittedly but still, it should be double that (in Celsius) right now.   More like a nice day in midwinter.   The climate is truly screwed up.   The day we arrived (a week ago) it was beautiful and more people on New Brighton beach than I’ve ever seen before.   (We’re currently Covid-free, by the way).

@nerys    Best wishes for your Dad, at least he is now recovered? and will be out of isolation in a couple of weeks?   I think Last Christmas  is the best of the specials.   Sarcastic Santa and the elves are a hoot, and the best thing is, they draw attention to how logically impossible they are, and then at the end we find there’s a perfectly rational explanation for them.   I love that.    I can’t watch it myself (all my DVD’s are back home in Auckland) so I’ll just have to think it  🙂

[nerys @nerys]

Thank you, @dentarthurdent! Dad is recovered from Covid. He also happened to develop pneumonia after he’d recovered from Covid, probably due to his inactivity while being hospitalized for so long. So it looks like he has recovered from that, as well. His 14th day should be Sunday, Jan. 3. So hopefully he will test negative on Jan. 4, and then plans can proceed from there. Fingers crossed!

Congratulations on being Covid-free! That still appears to be the case in my neck of the woods, as well (southwestern Nova Scotia). We too are having a bit of topsy-turvy weather, though that has been my experience of winter weather since we moved here in 2011. We benefit from oceanic Gulf Stream currents that tend to moderate our temperatures year-round. So, while the U.S. eastern seaboard got dumped with snow during a nor’easter a couple of weeks ago, we received very little snowfall from that storm. If you look at a map, you’d wonder how it’s possible that we missed out. It’s because the Gulf Stream current that flows between Nova Scotia and the U.S. East Coast tends to keep those storm systems west of us. They will push up into New Brunswick, but more often than not we are spared. Not that I’m complaining!

The negative effect I have seen, in terms of climate change, is that our part of Nova Scotia is being hit with summertime droughts. Again, hard to believe, since we’re surrounded by ocean water, but it’s happening with increasing frequency. And part of what’s so difficult is that very few towns and rural households are on any kind of municipal water supply. Most people rely on their wells. Drilled and artesian wells seem to hold their own through these droughts, but many shallower dug wells run dry. It’s bad enough during normal times, but the last thing we need during a pandemic is people unable to wash their hands because they don’t have a potable water source at home.

My streaming service in Canada is Crave. Weirdly, in my cable lineup for Doctor Who, all I see are the Christmas specials, no other episodes. However, if I log in, I can view all of the episodes via the Crave website. That one’s a bit of a head-scratcher! But since I was already logged in, I watched the episode that way. Jenna Coleman’s elder makeup job doesn’t look as bad on my computer screen as it does in HD, LOL!

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@nerys   Congratulations on your Dad’s recovery! That’s really great news, although I’m sorry to hear about his continued hospitalization. Your parents share their anniversary with my mom and stepfather, who had their 44th this year. They sent me a photo of their steak dinner, complete with candles and flowers, for which they would normally have gone out. Being Albertans, a steakhouse has become traditional for their anniversary (I guess also as a break from turkey!).

When I last looked at CraveTV, you couldn’t get it without already having a cable subscription. Has this changed? If so, I should have a look at it. Canada’s slowness in regard to streaming has been painful. We cut the cable a number of years ago, and it was amazing to discover how far behind we were at that time. My son used to have to go through all kinds of illicit contortions to watch Premier League soccer, although he has recently found a streaming sports service where he can watch legally. I guess we reach the 21st century eventually! 🙂

[MissRori @missrori]

Hey you guys! 🙂

It’s been a long month-and-a-half in some ways.  For those who don’t know, I’m an essential worker.  Mid-November I slowly came down with what my family and I initially thought/hoped was a common cold or winter dryness allergies, which I’ve worked through before, but after 2 days off from work saw the symptoms get much worse instead of better I told the boss how things were going and he sent me off to be tested.  It was C-19 and I was off the next week-and-a-half, and my parents (whom I live with) tested positive too.  We all had mild cases, but Dad also had a pulmonary embolism in the aftermath, so I’m now taking personal time off until March to help take care of them (though I do feel bad for not being there for my co-workers).

This does mean I was able to spend Christmas at home for a change, but of course we couldn’t do a ton of stuff except greet my sister’s family (who lives nearby; we regularly take care of her kids) and my two brothers (whom I tried to wear a mask around as much as possible, socially distance, etc. even though I’ve got antibodies now).  It was still nice though, but more than ever I wish things would get back to some kind of new normal.  It’s been a lonely year without my boyfriend (lives upstate), conventions to visit after February, or local festivals, etc.  Shopping and work are about the only things getting me out of the house anymore, and the latter is off the table for a while.

[nerys @nerys]

@arbutus We get Crave with our cable subscription, so as far as I know, that’s still the same. We have a combo package that includes HBO, so that gets us most of the programs, films and specials we want to watch.

As for my dad’s recovery, we think this is his last day of isolation. But now my stepmother is faced with the task of finding him a spot in some sort of nursing facility, and hoping that this time she can make it work. I don’t know if the previous facility, with whom she’d already had everything arranged, will still be able to take him after this delay. My sense is that no, they can’t, since she told me she’s back to Square One.

@missrori Oh, gosh, you have been through the wringer! My heart goes out to you, your parents and your boyfriend, and all the deprivation you are enduring. I’m glad that your health has been restored, but I am sorry about your father’s health having suffered in the aftermath of Covid.

[winston @winston]

To all my friends and fellow Whovians,  Happy Who Year!!!  This past year has been challenging, to say the least, for everyone around the world. It is almost impossible to put any kind of happy spin on such a crappy year but we have to try and find something.We need to put in more months of fighting this virus and the many tragedies it brings and we need the strength that comes from hope.

So, I remember in 2020 ……..drive by birthday parades, rainbow pictures in windows, clapping for healthcare workers, kindness from strangers,helping neighbors, charity challenges, Captain Tom, binge watching Taskmaster ,pajama bottoms or track pants everyday and having this site to visit and chat with all of you.

Also a young women I know who is just 17 came home today after open heart surgery to replace and repair valves and she is doing great and her family is very relieved.

Doctor Who is going to be on new years day  and I have missed the Doctor and her blue box so much. What a fantastic way to start a new year!

Stay safe.

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@winston, And a happy new year to you (and everyone on the site) in return!

All your reflections resonated (but I am not going to confess to pyjamas, of course…)

Where I am, fireworks have been set off somewhere down the street, the cats have been totally freaked out in response to the fireworks, Mrs Blenkinsop and I have been remembering past New Years where we (well, actually, to confess) stayed inside and went to bed early…

Looking forward (with a bit of hesitation) to “The Revolution of the Daleks”!

[Mudlark @mudlark]

Happy New Year everybody, although I hesitate to utter those sentiments aloud for fear of tempting fate. Certainly the immediate future doesn’t look particularly rosy, but thank you, @winston, for listing some of the positives of 2020.  I’m not entirely sure that slopping around in pyjama bottoms counts entirely as one of those positives: at least I did my best to maintain civilised standards by wearing my best silk kimono over the sleep wear 😉 .*

Revolution of the Daleks this evening will come as welcome relief after the Who-less desert of the past twelve months, although like you, @blenkinsopthebrave , my expectations are somewhat modest. and I am hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

Now I’m off to refresh my memory by re-watching Resolution, since I gather that the two  are to some degree linked.

 

*One of my French nephews, who has kept in touch by email, was impressed, imagining me drifting around like a slightly decadent late 19th century Romantic.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

I’ll echo the Happy New Year from here in upside-down-land.    In fact we got to see it first and probably in rather better condition than when it reached you further-from-the-date-line people.   🙂    Since we’re currently not in any sort of lockdown – a circumstance which in normal times would be utterly unremarkable but is a rare good fortune right now – the crowd that watched the fireworks in Auckland may have been the biggest in the world, for the first and probably the only time ever.   When you’re approximately #100 on the list of countries-by-size, you grab these tiny distinctions whenever they come past.

Here in South Island, the stiff cold onshore breeze finally let up, for the first time in several days – it *is* supposed to be summer here ffs! – so I ventured in for a ‘swim’, which consists mostly of jumping at the four-foot waves in an effort not to be knocked over – it’s actually quite fun.  So there I was in four feet of water and a little sealion floated past, waving his flippers in the air (which I hope is a sign that he was playing in the waves).   First time I’ve seen one that close on New Brighton beach.   I just hope he was a good omen.

Revolution of the Daleks – I’ll make a wild prediction that it involves a massive retcon.   I expect I’ll find out in a year or two when I view it on DVD  (the thing about the Doctor’s adventures is, they’re timeless, so it doesn’t matter when you watch them).

[nerys @nerys]

@winston @blenkinsopthebrave @mudlark @dentarthurdent I echo your sentiments for a Happy New Year. Here’s hoping that 2021 will be an improvement on its predecessor.

One bit of wonderful news from our corner of the world: A friend of ours has polycystic kidney disease (which she inherited from her mother, who died from it). Her kidney function had declined to 10 or 11 percent, meaning that she would have to start dialysis. Another friend of ours came to the rescue and donated one of her kidneys. What an amazing gift! Donor and recipient are doing well. The recipient posted a photo of her empty plate of spaghetti with tomato sauce. It was the first time in a very long time that she’d been able to eat anything with tomatoes. She’s home now. I’m so happy for her and her family, and I’m in awe of our other friend who donated her kidney.

I must say, this news has been a much-needed ray of light for our little town. The fact that it happened at Christmastime makes it even better!

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@nerys That was a very uplifting story about selflessness. In its own way, very Doctor Who.

@dentarthurdent Love the story of the sea lion. Many years ago we used to live in Newcastle on the east coast of Australia. Crappy town, but we lived across from a beautiful beach. One morning we went walking and a whole bunch of dolphins went swimming past. You don’t forget images like that.

@mudlark You mean to say that you are not a slightly decadent late 19th century Romantic…?

 

[MissRori @missrori]

@nerys It could have been much worse for us.  I’m still struggling with a cough, and it will probably be a long time before I go on vacation or see my boyfriend again the way things are going, but at least I can afford to take personal time off work.  Things can change so quickly these days, but for now I have a comfortable home to live in, food and water, and ways to keep myself occupied.

[nerys @nerys]

@missrori I hope you are feeling completely well again soon! It’s good that you your essential needs are met. As you say, it can be so much worse. I am glad that you are comfortable, all things considered, and managing your way through this.

[janetteB @janetteb]

Happy New Year all. Fingers crossed 2021 will see a turning in the trend in world affairs, not just in terms of the pandemic but that we will also see the end of the march of right wing ideas and some attention given to our beleaguered environment at last. We are at a critical point now and, with a new administration in the U.S. I feel as thought there is a smidgen of hope for this dying planet after all.

@nerys Glad to hear your father is improving.

@missrori sorry to hear that you have been ill and hope you recover fully.

Cheers

Janette

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

Just read that Michael Apted, who made the 7 Up series (the most remarkable documentary series ever made (tracing a group of British children from the age of 7 (1964) at seven year intervals until the age of 63 (2019).

He also was a great film director, with a James Bond film under his belt, along with many other films.

The 7 Up series made a huge impact on me, and I had remained as committed to it as I have to Doctor Who (and over the same span of time).

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