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Post by amanda on Jul 2, 2024 22:31:38 GMT
Following on from the QI thread, title is obvious.....
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Post by amanda on Jul 3, 2024 11:28:40 GMT
Despite the frosty start, it became a fine sunny day and I wandered up to the hardware/garden warehouse here for more potting mix and other things. Tackled the dead geranium in the large concrete pot, sawing the root/trunk into two parts and got said pot onto its side and out of the garden bed at last.
Went out the front to find a large lemon placed on my ramp (in lieu of a doorstep), saw two smaller lemons on the front unit's heater thing. The Lemon Bunny must have been....
And halfway through the year, and so far I've spent $435 on 89 books......I don't have a problem.....
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Post by amanda on Jul 4, 2024 6:11:06 GMT
Well, it seems that the Brother electric typewriter at the religious library may have had its last use. Was turned on, and nothing happened. It's been there for the decade I've been helping there, and would be of the 1980's era at least. Don't know if the religious place/library got it new or second hand back in the day.
After much discussion, I will have to start hand writing the borrowing cards. The librarian does this at his other Monastery library job.
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Post by jenny on Jul 5, 2024 22:14:13 GMT
My day has been spent taking my second granddaughter out clothes shopping for her birthday. That bit was fun. Later I got to listen to her little brother having a mega tantrum. That bit was not fun, though I have to say my son handled it impressively.
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Post by amanda on Jul 6, 2024 6:42:16 GMT
After taking advantage of my free public transport ticket today, to go to the city to return a book to a library, I then thought I'd get a tram to the inner suburb of Port Melbourne, originally for something else but ended up in an op shop (charity shop to the rest of you) where I found two books: one on the history of the early fruit/vegetable markets in Melbourne, one on the 'mudlarking' in the Thames.
While waiting at the register, the woman behind me offered to put her item through with mine so I get the 'points' where they build up and eventually I have enough to get a $3 book even when broke.
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Post by amanda on Jul 10, 2024 2:31:42 GMT
So far my day has consisted of chatting with a like minded woman about feeding the magpies, then I nearly left my bankcard (not that bank's card either so it's a whole lot of hassle to get a new card issued ) in an ATM. Luckily the manager ran after me in the mall to return said card.
When relating this story to the butcher, he said at his other suburban store awhile ago, a man had used an ATM, but there must have been a delay as it spat the money out after he'd gone. Butcher went and retrieved the cash, put it in an envelope, labelled, waited for the man to return and gave it to him.
And when doing a word search puzzle, 'Gregory' backwards looks like Roger G which is the name I was looking for in the word list but it wasn't there...
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Post by jenny on Jul 10, 2024 19:46:02 GMT
We have new tenants moving into an apartment next Monday, and Woodsman and I (more him than me) are scrambling to get it ready. The painter has been in and painted the walls. Woodsman is doing some fixups that were needed. The previous tenant left some curtains and other stuff behind - the new tenants want the curtains but they were very grubby so I brought them home today and washed them. The previous tenant also left a couple of boxes of kitchen goods which the new tenant does not want, so I have brought those home to donate to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. I have to go back tomorrow morning and mop the floors, and tomorrow afternoon I have a dentist appointment at which my two new implants will be fitted and a replacement crown fitted. My teeth have cost me a fortune this year, even with dental insurance.
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Post by bigmartin on Jul 11, 2024 17:41:19 GMT
Busier than usual Thursday volunteering. Seemed to be a lot of people in wheelchairs etc. as well today. In addition there was a National Trust photographer about the property. Apparently he was trying to get shots without people in them. I think he was struggling!
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Post by bigmartin on Jul 12, 2024 8:19:36 GMT
Taking Texan s-in-l to a meeting somewhere yesterday evening, the silencer fell off Little Brother's 4X4. Luckily, they'd only gone a couple of hundred yards down the road, so came back and swapped to s-in-l's car. The plan was for him to have left his car in the works' compound and borrow the company van for the weekend to move stuff around for a re-enactment over the weekend. S-in-l wants her car for her usual Friday craft club, and it would have meant their only driveable car being locked up in the compound all weekend, so he couldn't take that. Therefore, I was up nice and early to drive Little Brother most of the way into central Bristol at 7 am today.
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Post by amanda on Jul 13, 2024 9:14:38 GMT
Saturday was the scheduled day for the training sessions for the upcoming annual Open House weekend, in two weekends' time.
Being an eight year veteran now (if not for missing the two Covid years, I would be getting my ten year badge this year) I was somewhat resentful about having to attend training again, when they made it mandatory in 2022 for obvious reasons, but did it online as well. I think it was the same last year, in person and online options. As long as we attended one, it was ok.
I was wondering how my new laptop would manage the site used for the weekend called Deputy - a typical one for large workplaces etc but it was fine. Got the invite yesterday and logged in.
This year, no online option. Held at an inner suburban church that I knew the location of, but requires a tram to get there, not just a train ride into the city.
However, I know one of the committee people via a FB train group and he was at the door to sign people in.
They ran through the usual stuff (what to do if your building has a queue, others nearby may not) emergency procedures and more.
There was a man from the church who spoke about the building history and its time changing from the Methodist church to the Uniting church of Australia.
The weekend shifts go live tomorrow afternoon and from that I can choose where I want to be. Still a bit hard since buildings now have a code (B 123 etc allocated by Open House) and with so many in the city area, it's hard to know what I'm choosing. But had a great place last year so there's hope, even though I will have bus replacements again on the train line that starts on Monday.
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Bondee
KWC
Bearer of Ye olde Arcane Dobbynge Sticke.
Posts: 290
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Post by Bondee on Jul 13, 2024 11:07:22 GMT
Is it going to be one of those days again?...
<there was a pic here, but it seems to have disappeared and I can't remember what it was>
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Post by bigmartin on Jul 13, 2024 19:42:29 GMT
Little Brother, Texan s-in-l and the dog went off in the van to set up the re-enactment stuff mid-morning. Turns out it was at Wick Village Fete (c 30 mins drive away) and the weather was nice, so I decided to pop in for a bit. I ended up walking the dog round and round the stalls several times and staying to help pack up , so I spent 5+ hours there. Quite pleasant until the Elvis impersonator took to the stage. Luckily, we were packing up by then!
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Post by jenny on Jul 13, 2024 20:14:50 GMT
Today has been spent by me running the annual summer board meeting of the Maine Poets Society, where we plan the next year and go over other stuff that needs dealing with. Today involved rehashing the bylaws, which haven't been looked at, apparently, since 2006 and have never been voted on by the membership. I think most of them are unlikely to give a monkey's about this but it has to be done. We had the meeting at my house, with two people joining in on Zoom, by dint of having a laptop on the dining table around which the rest of us were sitting. It actually worked better than we thought it might and the day was productive, though I'm fairly knackered at the moment.
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Post by amanda on Jul 13, 2024 22:51:43 GMT
Today has been spent by me running the annual summer board meeting of the Maine Poets Society, where we plan the next year and go over other stuff that needs dealing with. This is what the Open House committee told us yesterday too, they take some time off after the big weekend but meet once a month until about April of the following year approaching the big weekend.
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Post by alexanderhoward on Jul 14, 2024 11:00:24 GMT
How do you handle the position when the notices announced in church include 'X sadly lost her brother yesterday; funeral arrangements to be announced. And today is X's 80th birthday." Do you then sing 'Happy Birthday to you, or at least as happy a birthday as may be possible in the mournful circumstances, for which you have our every sympathy'? We just had to do the conventional birthday greeting ignoring that it is essentially meaningless.
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Bondee
KWC
Bearer of Ye olde Arcane Dobbynge Sticke.
Posts: 290
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Post by Bondee on Jul 14, 2024 13:27:18 GMT
Different drive, different day.
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Post by crissdee on Jul 15, 2024 11:27:31 GMT
Not so much "How Was My Day" as how was my 11 days...
A week ago Thursday, I set off on a cowboy tour, as I believe I mentioned, but cba to search for the post. It got off to a fairly inauspicious start, when I hitched up the trailer containing all the scenery for the cowboy show, and then managed no more than 200 yards before one of the tires came off the rim. Of course, the wheel brace in my car did not fit the nuts on the trailer wheel, so I had to walk back to my workshop to collect the necessary tools to change the wheel! So, a little later than planned, we set off in convoy for the wilds of Swotsville. On arrival, I set up my tent, and eventually spent a reasonably comfortable night under metaphorical canvas. The next day we set up the town, then after dinner, a few of us went over to the bar (in costume) to drum up a bit of support (and neck a few drinks!). While we were there, it began to rain. And continued to do so till we got back. My tent was partially flooded by this time so I spent the night in my car. Note that I said "spent the night"......"sleeping" would be a wild exaggeration. When we woke up, the storm had passed, but it had done quite a lot of damage to the scenery, which we had to repair before the shows could go ahead. I rearranged the back of my car so I could put my camp bed (which had remained dry...ish) up in the back, and slept there for the remainder of our stay. On the Sunday, we took the town down and reloaded the trailer, then on the Monday we set off for a place just outside Leeds. My tent had dried out by this time, so I set it up in the field, in the shelter of a line of trees. What the campsite organisers neglected to point out, was that behind said trees....was a railway line, which ran until about 11 o'clock at night, and all the trains were required to sound their horns as they passed.... And it rained. With similar results to the first time.... Yesterday, we put on a couple of shows in a park a few miles from the campsite, but because we couldn't get early access (as it was a public park) we had to set up the town, do two different shows, then pack the town away again, all in one day, then return to the campsite. Today we drove home, and I drove the last 19 miles or so of the journey with my fuel warning light on, no money in my pocket or bank account, and the credit run out on my phone....
Apart from that, it was a great time!
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Post by Guy Barry on Jul 15, 2024 11:30:43 GMT
Not so much "How Was My Day" as how was my 11 days... 12 now presumably!
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Bondee
KWC
Bearer of Ye olde Arcane Dobbynge Sticke.
Posts: 290
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Post by Bondee on Jul 15, 2024 20:15:44 GMT
The flash drive I ordered last week and the envelope it was delivered in today...
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Post by jenny on Jul 15, 2024 20:44:57 GMT
Oh dear crissdee - that doesn't sound like half as much fun as you hoped it would be! I hope the shows went down well despite all that.
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Post by crissdee on Jul 15, 2024 22:24:03 GMT
Oh yes, apart from a few "bloopers" it all went down well. We have been invited back next year by both sets of organisers, who are both planning longer events/more shows. The ones we did in Kettering last month were also well received and return visits requested. We are big fish in a small pond, so we can hardly fail...
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Bondee
KWC
Bearer of Ye olde Arcane Dobbynge Sticke.
Posts: 290
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Post by Bondee on Jul 15, 2024 23:39:40 GMT
Heading oop norf tomorrow.
<notices the time>
Heading oop norf later today.
Feels different to all the other times I've made the same journey. I've got a strange, apprehensive feeling about it this time. I feel like it's not only my grandad's final journey up there, but mine too. I'll say my last goodbye to him, I'll say my last goodbye to the town. Once I leave on Friday, I'll never go back again.
I really hope not. It's the only place I've ever felt calm and at ease with the universe. I once went into a trance as I sat on a bench on the prom and listened to the waves at high tide. I want to feel like that again one day.
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Post by barbados on Jul 16, 2024 4:51:24 GMT
You will Bondee, you will.
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Post by amanda on Jul 16, 2024 8:28:22 GMT
My first time of the current bus replacement along half of the train line. I get to the station stop at 9.15 this morning, don't see a bus and then one didn't come until about 9.40. By which time more people had arrived, waiting and it was going to be stopping all stations for five stations, then express from there to the destination station. However they decided to make it mostly express, only stopping at the interim station.
Today was the monthly volunteer chat, theme was pets. I talked about my orange cat, others about their current or past dogs and cats, mostly. One lass had brought in her three rats and despite not liking the wild variety that may now be deceased under my floorboards, these ones were ok.
Then the other woman and I started moving the books along the shelves, as per that job that will be paid for from the grant money that also purchased said shelves.
My trip home was much the same, I was expecting to get home after dark so left a light on.
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Post by tetsabb on Jul 16, 2024 9:40:41 GMT
I have been feeling full of cold for two weeks, but improving Wendy for about a week. Over the weekend we used an old Covid test, which showed her positive, but me negative. I went into Tunbridge Wells, wearing a mask, and, among other things, bought new Covid test kits. She did one of these: you are supposed to leave it for 15-30 mins. Within about 3, the positive line was quite clear.
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Post by crissdee on Jul 16, 2024 13:09:20 GMT
Healing Cambrian waves on their way old chum.....
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Post by jenny on Jul 16, 2024 14:52:19 GMT
Good wishes to both of you, tets.
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Bondee
KWC
Bearer of Ye olde Arcane Dobbynge Sticke.
Posts: 290
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Post by Bondee on Jul 16, 2024 21:15:06 GMT
My oldest cousin was supposed to be joining us, along with his girlfriend, but they had to cancel at the last minute because she caught the blasted virus while she was away for work last week.
Youngest cousin couldn't join us because his future sister-in-law is getting married on Saturday and he's heavily involved in the preparations.
It's aunty, uncle, middle cousin, her partner and myself. I saw them all for an hour or so earlier but didn't hang around much longer because I really don't feel sociable. I left them with their dinner plans and went for a wander along the prom. I knew roughly where I wanted to scatter his ashes so I walked along that part of the beach in the hope that something would show me the right spot. I think I found it - my eyes were drawn to a single complete shell - but I'll see what my aunty and cousin think tomorrow.
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Post by amanda on Jul 16, 2024 22:38:05 GMT
This morning sometime after 6am but before dawn, I thought I heard a banging at my front door. Wondered about a possum running over the roof, but the cat reacted so I went to the door and it was the older vision-impaired neighbour who had somehow turned on the flight mode on her phone, couldn't turn it off as she uses a magnifier to see things, her hands also shake, so she presses things inadvertently and while flight mode was on, couldn't call her regular taxi for her dialysis treatment.
The pest control people are due in a bit but I suspect the deceased rodent is under the floor for which there is no access.
Edit: I was wrong: dead ratty in the roof cavity. The guy could see trails through the insulation and droppings, he laid some bait and put an enclosed bait station in the backyard too.
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Post by alexanderhoward on Jul 17, 2024 9:10:50 GMT
I was thinking about hedgehogs: we occasionally drive past a road called Hedgehog Way or something and I fell to thinking how inherently comical hedgehogs are, and how I used to see them in my parents' vast garden many years ago, but never since. I even started Googling them. Then a hedgehog ran across the lawn.
My immediate thought was that it is a fine compensation for the disappearance of the frogs from the garden - maybe they were put off because the surface of the pond is almost covered in waterlily leaves, and that thing about frogs sitting on lily pads is just in children's stories isn't it? At that moment in vast leaps a frog hopped across the garden, and was next seen sitting on a lily pad.
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