Georgette Heyer Fans discussion
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Royal Escape from the Topic - for off topic chit chat
It's raining in Los Angeles. Loving it (though it can be stressful to drive in it--people panic).
They're talking snow here in Ireland towards the end of the month. We'll have four flakes and the whole country will shut down!!!
Teresa wrote: "They're talking snow here in Ireland towards the end of the month. We'll have four flakes and the whole country will shut down!!!"I can't see! That flake landed on my windscreen! (Heeheehee)
Quick! Buy milk and bread! I don’t know why those two things, but that’s what happens in NC when the “s” word comes up in the forecast- bread pudding for everyone?
Good one Karlyne:-)Same here Susan. They'll show the shops on the news and there won't be a loaf left on the shelves.
Teresa wrote: "Good one Karlyne:-)Same here Susan. They'll show the shops on the news and there won't be a loaf left on the shelves."
I love bread as much as the next person, but I wouldn’t want to live on it...
That's so funny! I can see people worrying about water if the power goes off, but are store bought bread and milk really necessities? I mean, not like coffee and cream, which are essentials. (And I always keep them on hand, regardless of the weather!)
Karlyne wrote: "That's so funny! I can see people worrying about water if the power goes off, but are store bought bread and milk really necessities? I mean, not like coffee and cream, which are essentials. (And I..."You and me both, sister!
Karlyne wrote: "We have our priorities straight!"👍🏻☕️
Monday report--gorgeous! Bright blue sky, lots of sun, temps enough above freezing that the great melting has begun. Everything looked so pretty this morning. Not too bad for our first snow of January.
Well I can live without both. I don't use milk anymore and don't eat a lot of bread either. More important to have the bottle of wine in:-):-)
Teresa wrote: "Well I can live without both. I don't use milk anymore and don't eat a lot of bread either. More important to have the bottle of wine in:-):-)"I like your priorities, Teresa!
There is oddly no snow in southern New England, however, it is too cold to go outside. My mom and I went to see On the Basis of Sex the new Ruth Bader Ginsberg biopic. It was really interesting, at least for someone of my generation who has never experienced sex based discrimination. It's worth seeing for the history. Marty Ginsberg was a real life fairy tale prince! He was the type of man Hollywood critics say was too good to be true but RBG is adamant her beloved Marty was actually as he appears.
Barb in Maryland wrote: "Teresa wrote: "Well I can live without both. I don't use milk anymore and don't eat a lot of bread either. More important to have the bottle of wine in:-):-)"I like your priorities, Teresa!"
Me, too! And wine is so easy to store, even when the power goes out!
Karlyne wrote: "Barb in Maryland wrote: "Teresa wrote: "Well I can live without both. I don't use milk anymore and don't eat a lot of bread either. More important to have the bottle of wine in:-):-)"I like your ..."
Totally agree - ok, new list of priorities (descending order) in case of bad weather: wine, coffee and cream, bread, milk!
QNPoohBear wrote: "There is oddly no snow in southern New England, however, it is too cold to go outside. My mom and I went to see On the Basis of Sex the new Ruth Bader Ginsberg biopic. It was really interesting, ..."
I've been musing on the difference between her generation and mine (she's about the same age as my mother). Looking at that generation, what I've noticed most among my mom's contemporaries is a certain fatalism, a certain "what choice do I have?" attitude that I've always, even as a kid, not quite understood. From career choices to health care to where they lived, it all seemed as though they felt compelled by outside forces to bow down to the "experts". Obviously, RBG didn't feel that compulsion!
QNPoohBear wrote: "My mom and I went to see On the Basis of Sex the new Ruth Bader Ginsberg biopic. It was really interesting, ..."Some of us women lawyers at my firm are getting together to see the movie tomorrow night. The worst of the sexual discrimination in the US legal field was pretty much over by the time I went to law school in the 80's, but there were stories even from the 70s about women in law school who were mostly getting offers to work as paralegals and legal secretaries, despite strong qualifications.
Will we ever see a real definite end to discrimination of women? I don't think I will in my life time.
Teresa I sure hope we will! My nieces generation will make sure of it. There are a lot of feisty girls who believe girls can do anything and willing to fight for it. My nieces are dying to be able to vote already! They have another 8 and 10 years to go.
Good for them. My eldest daughter is an out and out feminist. She's 36, and in a good job. She's climbing the ladder too. Just got another promotion. I'm 20 years older but it's like a vast generational gap. I'm a stay at home mother and it changes how you look at the world. I do hope it will be better for my girls. Don't think I could cope with the high powered stuff but they certainly will.
Teresa wrote: "Good for them. My eldest daughter is an out and out feminist. She's 36, and in a good job. She's climbing the ladder too. Just got another promotion. I'm 20 years older but it's like a vast generat..."Good for her! That's great to hear that a Millennial has a job and is so successful!
I was going to say, is it unusual for a Millennial to have a job, but then realised my son went back to college last year because he couldn't get a job and he's 28. We're in a bit of a black spot employment wise and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. Used to worry a lot but now I think, what will be, will be.I think my daughter was always going to be successful. She's a real career woman and I'm very proud of her.
Teresa wrote: "I was going to say, is it unusual for a Millennial to have a job, but then realised my son went back to college last year because he couldn't get a job and he's 28. We're in a bit of a black spot e..."That’s wonderful, and encouraging! Our son just graduated college last spring, hadn’t gotten a job yet, then blew out his knee - surgery last Thursday, all repaired, but facing a loooong recovery until he’s good as new. I think he considers this a bit of a reprieve, time to figure out what he wants to do - but it’s going to be tough. You’ve got a great attitude, Teresa, I will try and go with the flow and stop worrying- not doing any good, anyway! Gave myself shingles from the stress - that’s no help...
Snow, 5 inches, not enough to close the library though... We had our fiber night tonight, and I boxed up 99 knit and crochet squares for the Knit a Square charity in South Africa!! Sending by slow boat tomorrow. :)
Spoiler alert, all our regulars didn't show because they live on mountains. Thanks, snow...
Critterbee❇ wrote: "Snow, 5 inches, not enough to close the library though... We had our fiber night tonight, and I boxed up 99 knit and crochet squares for the Knit a Square charity in South Africa!! Sending by slo..."
Bummer - but what a cool charity knitting idea! I’d love to do something like that, good for you! 99 is nothing to sneeze at, you should be proud!
Susan in NC wrote: "Critterbee❇ wrote: "Snow, 5 inches, not enough to close the library though... We had our fiber night tonight, and I boxed up 99 knit and crochet squares for the Knit a Square charity in South Africa!! Sending by slo..."
Bummer - but what a cool charity knitting idea! I’d love to do something like that, good for you! 99 is nothing to sneeze at, you should be proud!"
I only made about 7 myself. Next up is chemo caps. I really enjoy making caps.
They are fun - what a lovely project!
How come every time I go to bed, I find that when I wake up I have missed a great discussion? These time differences are a real nuisance. I am unfamiliar with the situation in the US and in Australasia but I don’t think women face anywhere near as many problems here as they did in the past. We have made huge progress. When I remember my experiences at University in the 60s and when I started teaching in the 1970s - I can’t help but be pleased and amazed at how far women have come in the intervening 50 years. I am not disputing that there may still be battles to win - but those of us who experienced sexism back in the day, we can only look on in wonder at women today. I lost out on a promotion to a man who had been in the job for only 2 months and my boss was able to tell me, quite openly that it was because he would be getting married and needing the extra money whereas as a woman - I didn’t! That was the year before Equal Opportunities legislation was passed so he was doing nothing illegal. The one thing which seems to have gotten worse from what I read is the sexual abuse of women. I experienced lots of sexual discrimination but no sexual harassment or abuse and neither did my friends. As for the weather it has been freezing here since Christmas but no snow where we are- so no need to stockpile supplies. They keep saying snow is coming but it hasn’t arrived here yet.
I was going to comment I think that sexual abuse hasn't gotten worse, it's just more out in the open but it occurs to me the real gains by women mean retaliation could be on the rise. It sure makes me angry we haven't come further! same with Racism, I guess.
Argh, I was so tired last night, I missed a great deal of these posts, and a lot of discussion! I have Thoughts and Strong Feelings about the topic of sexual discrimination and RBG.Her biography is pretty amazing, how often she refused to give up, and that she was supported by her husband. Men like Mr Ruth Bader Ginsburg do exist, I have met a few. I think they the few who are not cowed by the over-loud, destructive vibe of 'real men' and the dinosaurish patriarchal status quo that they desperately try to keep in existence at any cost.
Regarding libraries in the US, per the ALA in 2011:80-85% of librarians are female, 15-20% are male
84% of librarians are white
Even though men represent 15-20% of librarians, 40% of library directors are men.
Based on median librarian earnings, female librarians earn 91% of what male librarians earn. This is much better than most other professions, but still, come on already with the equal pay. Also, a librarian's salary is not very high in the first place - you are a librarian for love, not for money.
Regarding sexual harassment in the library, the main offenders are patrons. We are public facing employees, who should avoid passing judgement on research projects or readers advisory, and offer assistance. We are often by ourselves on the desk, and our main focus is helping the patron. Apparently, when we are so friendly and helpful, it can be misinterpreted as romantic interest. People offer inappropriate comments, questions and propositions.
This topic has gotten more attention from the ALA in the last few years. I have requested and received some training specifically on dealing with this issue. There is a definite line which some men apparently do not see when they are traipsing all over it, but the moment we attempt to guide them back behind it, they feel like we are attacking them.
This represents my personal experience. My go-to now is to calmly state "I'm not able to help you when you're asking/saying that. Is there anything else I can help you with?" until they desist.
Of course, most patrons are a joy to talk to and to help, and who don't require reminding.
Very interesting, thoughtful comments, Critterbee! Your remarks about the misinterpretation (or self-serving interpretation) of ordinary courtesy really resonates with me. I like to make little jokes with strangers in public places such as subways and elevators, just riffing on the world around us, and once a young man said earnestly to me, "I'm sorry, you seem very nice, but I'm not into cougars"!! I couldn't stop laughing long enough to retort, "I'm sorry, but I'm not into idiot children who think everything's all about them."There certainly was a lot of blatant sexism when I was in college and in my early twenties. It didn't help that I attended a college that had admitted women for the first time only three years previously. Some professors still wouldn't allow women into their classes! And the members of the rugby team would pee out the windows of their dorm rooms onto the heads of any woman unwary enough to walk beneath. When I tried to get a job delivering newspapers I was told (by a tiny old guy with a huge paunch) that I (a strapping six-foot athlete) would not be strong enough to throw them. And so on.
As for librarians' low salaries, I imagine it has a lot to do with their being in a traditionally female profession, like teaching and editing. I was often told my pay could be low was because my income was only a supplement to that of my father or husband. I would say acidly, "Well, since my father left when I was three and nobody has ever asked me to marry him, I guess I'll just go starve politely to death in a garret, shall I?" Which generally earned me a "F$*%! feminist!"
Because I worked in the Public sector - as a school teacher, lecturer, head of staff development- my pay was always equal with a man’s - and they were both lower than jobs in the private sector! The career structure - not so equal - but that proved more difficult to change. Different for those of my friends who went from University to the Private sector. It took many years before parity of pay emerged there but by and large - we have equal pay now. One of the benefits of government regulation I guess.
Susan in NC wrote: "Teresa wrote: "I was going to say, is it unusual for a Millennial to have a job, but then realised my son went back to college last year because he couldn't get a job and he's 28. We're in a bit of..."I gave myself two stomach ulcers Susan so I thought, right, time to straighten yourself out girl!!
Teresa wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "Teresa wrote: "I was going to say, is it unusual for a Millennial to have a job, but then realised my son went back to college last year because he couldn't get a job and he's 2..."Yikes, you’re right - tying ourselves in knots doesn’t help, does it?!
Interesting - found this https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/the-wi...When I worked as a library clerk in Auckland in the 70s all lower level librarians & the clerks were female. In management it would have been 80/20 female/male. This shows it wasn't an attractive career for men even though getting to the top was a dead cert. There has never been a male librarian in our little town.
Add nurses to the poorly paid jobs. & over here a lot of the trainee nurses are older which means they are going to retire at the same time as nurses who have worked in the field for 20 years longer.
& I have some fairly positive news.I live in a small, historic town. I have 2 immediate neighbours, but a lot of the land around us is government land. It has just been sold. At this stage the buyer is only intending to build one large house (Has to be low level) & a garage for his machinery. He doesn't rule out subdividing in the future. Best possible outcome for us I think. We know we have been lucky to live like we were in a rural area for 35 years.
Carol That's good news! we lived next to an empty lot for 30 years before the owner decided to built a house on "spec." Our house was ranch the new one was 2 stories. It was a little too close to our bathroom but the owner was nice enough not to put windows on that side of the house. It's been two years and he hasn't sold it. We moved but I am sure the neighbors are not too happy with the house squeezed in. I hope your buyer doesn't change their mind.
Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "& I have some fairly positive news.I live in a small, historic town. I have 2 immediate neighbours, but a lot of the land around us is government land. It has just been sold. At this stage the bu..."
Same here, we live in an area surrounded by Guilford College, a beautiful small college founded by the Quakers back in the 1830s, and what was a corporate-owned employees club, which was left to our city when the owner died.
Luckily, they built a beautiful library branch overlooking a lake, put in trails through the woods and a butterfly meadow, and the rest of the land was given for an elementary school- much needed as this area of Greensboro has grown over the last 20 years or so!
Overall, we’ve been pleased with the way development has been managed- citizens have a lot of input and development and green space are balanced. Luckily, the College has a stop on the Underground Railroad and a Revolutionary War battle was fought nearby, so I think these historical aspects play a role in managing development, also.
Susan in NC wrote: "Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "& I have some fairly positive news.I live in a small, historic town. I have 2 immediate neighbours, but a lot of the land around us is government land. It has just ..."
How beautiful!
Sounds like a great place to live, Susan! Is the college still Quaker?
Well, I’m not sure if it is officially - I know there is a Quaker Studies course offering, and I know their mission statement is to be “guided by Quaker testimonies of community, equality, integrity, peace and simplicity”, and the sports teams are called the Quakers! They own the woods around our neighborhood the city doesn’t own, and maintain it beautifully- there’s even a big farm in Guilford Meadows where they have have a Sustainability degree and grow veggies for some of our best local restaurants! There is also a free disc golf course among the trails - our son was really enjoying that before he hurt his knee.
Karlyne wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "& I have some fairly positive news.I live in a small, historic town. I have 2 immediate neighbours, but a lot of the land around us is governmen..."
Thanks, it really is lovely and quiet!
Your description makes me wish I’d attended that college instead of the one I did . . .
I didn’t attend there, and though our son made a perfunctory visit, I think he felt it was just too close, literally a couple blocks away from home - but I am proud of them as neighbors! They host the Eastern Music Festival every summer, and that was a yearly tradition for Mom and I for several years to enjoy a couple of concerts, such a treasure!
Sounds like you live in a beautiful place Susan!
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Georgette Heyer Fans
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We are going for a walk, then to the beach."
If we had a beach, it would be frozen...