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I suppose it is a ground-breaking library really. Most Library Services will probably take bits and pieces to include in their systems. Already public libraries have changed beyond recognition from the places they were not so many years ago.Yes, Betty, I too thought there was a "Do you Use Your Local Library?" thread. I remember writing a piece about the tactics used at the moment for our tiny local library, which (tactics) I consider to be a deliberate attempt to pushing a thriving branch towards obsolescence.
Has this thread been deleted, Elizabeth?
Jean wrote: "I suppose it is a ground-breaking library really. Most Library Services will probably take bits and pieces to include in their systems. Already public libraries have changed beyond recognition from..."No, the thread is still there. It's just dropped down the list a bit because no-one's posted on it for a while. Will haul it back up the list and attach a link here in a couple of mins. Bear with me!
That's it! Thanks Elizabeth. I've only just spotted that there are more threads if you click on the tiny link at the bottom of the list. Oh dear. Must control myself and not spend yet more time browsing all the discussions! lolBetty - maybe your link would be interesting for people to read on that thread?
Betty wrote: "I thought there was a library thread out there somewhere, but couldn't find it. Anyway, thought this might interest some of you:http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2......"
Michael Rosen is doing a series on BBC radio 4 about libraries and the one you link to here was featured. At least they do still lend books (and ereaders), whereas the library service in Britain seems to be becoming subsumed into social services.
Elizabeth wrote: "Mere is such a tiny place. Do you know whereabouts? If you had an address it would be interesting to see if it was still there. Some ancestors on my dad's side came from Gillingham, so we've gone..."
I will get my file out and see if I can find any addresses for you. There were also ancestors from Gillingham.
@Elizabeth - Will shift over to the Family History thread.
Hi everyone! I've not been online for a few weeks, been quite busy! I got married and had a honeymoon..back to reality today though!! I managed to read a lot whilst away, including the September group read (The Night Circus) so will post my thoughts on that shortly.
Congratulations, Gemma. You managed to read books on your honeymoon?!!!
Lol. Yes, we did nothing in the days at all, Lay by the pool and completely relaxed!! It was lovely :)
.......don't mention the nights!!!
Congratulations Gemma and new husband.
Congrats Gemma.I had a pleasant surprise this morning walking up my road on the way to work as a Stoat ran out from a garden, paused when crossing the road and then jumped onto a low wall and then into another garden. Cool to see one here!
My most recent sighting of a stoat was hilarious. It was at a wildlife park, in an enclosure with various water birds - little egrets I remember. Anyway, there was a large metal container of grain there, and a stoat kept darting into the enclosure, grabbing some food and running away again back to wherever it lived. We watched this for several minutes and I was more pleased with the photos of that than anything else! So cheeky - what an opportunist.
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Congratulations Gemma!
Paul wrote: "Congrats Gemma.I had a pleasant surprise this morning walking up my road on the way to work as a Stoat ran out from a garden, paused when crossing the road and then jumped onto a low wall and the..."
Are stoats similar to weasels?
Very similar Leslie, they're in the same family (mustelids) but stoats are larger, more the size of ferrets compared to weasels, which are tiny, the same width as a vole!
Ah yes, sorry - it was a weasel then. Plucky little thing though :)
I actually didn't become a big reader until I was a teenager.I only read Animal Ark and Jacqueline Wilson before that.
Haha, yes Jean, and it would've been the highlight of my day (possibly week)!!
Me too! I still relish that quiet time to get my book out and read.I seem to be getting somewhere with my daughter's reluctance to read.
Her teacher is making her do more quiet reading in class. She actually finished her reading book at school and changed it. I am pretending I haven't noticed it's a Rainbow Magic book :D
That's good to hear. Maybe just a hiccup.
My daughter read the books in her school so fast that the teacher didn't, at first, believe that she'd read them. After many questions about the storylines, however, she became a believer. In the middle class of the infant school (age 5-6) they were sending to the Junior school section for books for her as she'd completely worn out the infant school stocks. She's 42 now and an English teacher herself.
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I seem to be getting somewhere with my daughter's reluctance to read.
Her teacher is making her do more quiet reading in clas..."
My daughters read alike the Rainbow magic books. They are formulaic and not challenging, but it got them into reading, and they were not scared of books after reading them.
My theory is get them to read, then steer them in better directions
I think it's a good approach Paul :) And you might want to comment more on your "better directions" in the Sexism in Literature thread.
Jean wrote: "Ah yes, sorry - it was a weasel then. Plucky little thing though :)"Should I post the link to my Dorset weasel video? ;-)
No need to be disappointed Jean, Weasels are great, I think they're fantastic creatures and prefer them to Stoats, though those are also very cool.
Not much going on here other than work, though having been paid yesterday I'm toying with the idea of buying a new laptop to replace my very exhausted Macbook, which is approaching its seventh birthday. I rather like the look of the slimline new ones (especially given the battery life and illuminated keyboard) but going into the 'cool' shop with all the trendy types in there is a big turn-off for me (if it was an official apple shop I'd definitely not go in, I've no intention of stepping foot in one of those as they are way too into themselves... I just want a nice computer not the cult experience). :-( I'd rather buy from a local shop though, and not from Argos and certainly not Currys (who I've had too many awful experiences with). More support from the reseller too, I just have to get through the fug of cool.
Guess I'm rather weird though as most people seem to like that aspect of those places given their popularity. Just makes me feel deeply uncomfortable - I've been past there at least five times recently meaning to go in but always walked past after seeing all the trendy sales people hovering about in there.
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Trying Doctora Judy Moody which having had a boy first, is new on me, but at least it looks like a proper book!!!! And she needs to write a short review/recommendation (or not) when she has read it so needs to pay attention!
I've been awake since 5am as my husband has gone off to do some bike ride from Oxford to Cambridge and seeing as we live two hours drive from Oxford (thankfully quite close to Cambridge) it was an early start.
I am already glad that this is a Saturday night when we aren't going out as I want to be tucked up by about 10pm and the day hasn't even started yet.
I know how you feel. I'm intimidated by anything too trendy. And would they really know what they were talking about? We're lucky that we have small independent computer shop run by a husband and wife team. They are lovely, and know everything there is to know about computers. Nothing trendy at all :)
It's been a busy tiring week for us. My father, who broke his shoulder in August, had his operation on Monday to replace the joint. I spent most of Monday with him in hospital, waiting. He came home on Wednesday. He's needed lots of help.
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I took him round a huge pile of paperbacks to help with the boredom of just sitting around! He's always been a keen reader, and steamed through the paperback he took into hospital in one day. I've given him the Stieg Larsson Millennium Trilogy which should keep him occupied for a while :D
Paul - I love the expression "fug of cool". Can I use it? lolTwo Pauls is getting a bit tricky...
I try to look at the little picture icons so I know who everyone is before I post, but it gets confusing when I'm on the app because they don't match the names on there. Has anyone else noticed that, or maybe it's just my phone that does it.
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The pictures on the apps are always mixed up. At school we had four Paul's in my class, all on the same table.
Elizabeth wrote: "I know how you feel. I'm intimidated by anything too trendy. And would they really know what they were talking about? We're lucky that we have small independent computer shop run by a husband and..."
I really don't know what they know but they do at least seem to use the stuff they sell, unlike some other retailers I could mention!
I had a look and braved the styled and primped staff... they didn't have the laptop I was looking at so left without buying anything. May end up changing my mind again and do without - I've some thinking to do.
The little pics help but there are a few favourites downloaded by several people I know and that's REALLY confusing then!It's not too bad in a school/workplace as then you've got a lot more clues!
Jean wrote: "Paul - I love the expression "fug of cool". Can I use it? lolTwo Pauls is getting a bit tricky..."
:-D go ahead Jean, no copyright applied. :-)
I vote for 'fug of cool' to become the catchphrase of the year! (Autocorrect wanted it to be fig if cool, but I think the original is better!)
That sounds more like an instruction....Hope your Dad's OK Elizabeth. That sounds pretty major.
He's a lot better than he was before the op he says. He tripped over the dog's lead and fell awkwardly, completely smashing his shoulder joint. It had to be replaced as there was nothing left of it.
Ow ow owOn the other hand, I expect if a joint is replaced you hopefully get less pain than in the original one. That seems to happen with hip replacements sometimes.
Ouch indeed! Hope he gets well soon Elizabeth.I have bought my laptop, I braved the fug of cool and got the last one they had in stock. A somewhat expensive purchase but it's very nice and the battery life is amazing - currently 76% charged and quoting nearly ten hours remaining, which is supposedly fairly accurate too! Hopefully it'll last a long time (my old mac laptop has nearly reached seven years) so will repay the expense compared to a Windows one.
Just been out in the garden and had a visit from my resident Robin, who comes to feed from my hand. Along with a nice bowl of porridge I've just eaten that's a good start to the day! :-)
Thanks, Paul. He's so much better now and not in pain any more. We had robins nesting in our garden this year, for the second time. This year they were successful, but the previous time a cat got at the nest and killed the little ones.
That's just reminded me that we need to clean our nesting boxes out. My husband bought a webcam nesting box earlier this year, but no-one's used it yet. We weren't expecting anything to, as they seem to want at least a year to investigate and make sure it's quite safe! We have seen some birds go in and out of it, but nothing settled.
A webcam nesting box sounds exciting! I love feeding birds, unfortunately had to stop putting bread out for ground feeders cause my dog would just eat it all as soon ad he saw it...:-\ so no more blackbirds in my garden...
As of today, I am officially a student! I am beyond excited, and also a bit scared - haven't done any studying in about eight years... Looking forward to using my student discount card too ;-)
That's good to hear Elizabeth!The robins nested in my ivy this year but I didn't see the young as I've not been able to spend much time in the garden this year. We had lots and lots of baby Sparrows, Starlings and Collared Doves though. Last year we had young Dunnocks and Song Thrushes in the garden and the young Blackbirds were being fed by their parents right at my feet, which was really lovely - I took this video of one of them last year:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjzUcB...
and this one of some young house sparrows:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWOCWN...
Two lovely videos - thanks for sharing Paul.
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http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2......"
That's very interesting, Betty. I like the idea, but thinking about the kind of people who use our local library I'd say the majority are aged over 60 and can barely use the self-service computer to check out and return their books!
I wonder whether it will ultimately lead to a falling away of library usage amongst the elderly, and an increase in usage by the younger generations?
I like using my library's online ebook and audio book borrowing facility, and find it very convenient. However, it would be much better if every physical library book had its equivalent ebook/audio book available, but sadly that's never going to be possible.