You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion
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Watcha Doin' - 2017.1 edition
Sarah wrote: "Me too. But I just don't get how you can agree to jump in to bed with someone if you don't know what you're getting in to first. Metaphorically speaking of course. The more I read about the DUP, th..."I think we will have another election sooner or later. Depending on how Theresa May performs over the next few months, I can see the Tories forcing a vote of confidence in her leadership which she could easily lose. A new Tory leader would then have to be chosen and I imagine that would result in another trip to the polls. I guess we shall see. I think it would have been better to have had a Tory majority too and I'm no fan of theirs either. The previous coalition of Tories/Lib Dems was proof they don't really work. Unfortunately, Theresa May fought a really negative campaign and her party put forward some really divisive policies and thus isolated a lot of their core voters. Not quite sure what they were thinking really. Complacency springs to mind.
Politically speaking Unionist conservatism and tory conservatism have never mixed well. Don't underestimate the power of a party that is propping up a minority government. That's one thing we know about over here! I don't think you need to worry about her impact on gay rights in UK any more than we in republic do lolThe commentators here are hopeful that a weakened UK leader could mean UK more likely to stay in Customs Union (regulates cost of trading with other jurisdictions). But this also impacts on free movement of people between countries so it kinda defeats the purpose of the split.
Foster is a happy woman today. She has been under a lot of pressure at home over "cash for ash" scandal whereby government was inappropriately given out in government grants to business. Now I think that will all magically disappear ;-p
Tejas Janet wrote: "Our Cozumel trips have been memorable. We may go back again yet. We've been trying to visit more places tho and not just keep returning to same places. However, a mix of old and new is good : )No..."
I actually swam with the dolphins at Chankanaab on the cruise I took a few years ago with my friends. We didn't get to explore the entire park though. That is the biggest down side of cruises, limited time.
@Kristie, hurricane season in the atlantic is June through November so that is my biggest concern about going to the Caribbean. I have discovered in some of the research that I've done recently, Aruba is outside of the hurricane zone. Since we'll be going in September or October most likely, which is the height of hurricane season, Aruba seem like a good choice. Regardless of where we decide to go though, I'll be researching vacation insurance in case we have to cancel due to storms.
Romania sounds wonderful. And such a good cause!
Congrats on finishing your course, Sarah!
It will be strange being on your boat while it is on land. Good that you are able to stay in it while it is being painted though.
Coalitions work well elsewhere. I mean look at Europe, it functions quite well with coalitions and minority governments all over the place. It seems very Anglo to think they don't work. Australia is the same, we were all in a panic when we had one a few years ago. It doesn't work, it's a disaster, blah blah blah. In fact it was the second most productive government in terms of legislation passed EVER. Just meant that laws and legislation had to be discussed and thought about and negotiated instead of sledgehammered through.
What a novel idea.
However, these DUP guys aren't high on my list of who I would choose first. Ah well, may we live in interesting times.
Also, I'm loving some of the places that have been called for Labor. Call people names long enough for liking more socially focused policies, instead of big business, banks, and the super rich, and eventually people bite back.
We have coalitions. For me it's always a strange (and bit scary) idea that there are countries where one single party sort of gets to be the boss.It does take some time to form a proper coalition though. We had elections in March and 3 months later they're still negotiating..
Heh I was hoping you'd chime in Peggy. I love when normal is weird to others.So book related news before I shoot out the door to a gin degustation dinner.
I picked up a book for the toppler. A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder. Opened it. And inside is not that book, but The Singapore School of Villainy.
Not the best surprise for a toppler. Or ever.
That's interesting Peggy. Yes I think the right coalition could be good. Not sure this is the right one one.
Hm, bad surprise Rusalka!Sarah, I haven't followed the political news much but indeed, it seems it's basically still the conservatives being in charge, not very different from when they would have gotten the majority of seats.
With the elections here it ended up very fragmented. So the biggest party is involved in forming coalitions, but to get a majority they needed at least 3 other parties to join. One of those had a very big increase in votes so it made sense to include them, but on topics like migration and climate they're as far apart as you can get. After over 2 months negotiations between the 4 parties failed, but there are no feasible alternatives (as thankfully no one wants to form a coalition with nationalist PVV - even though they were the second biggest), so now they're trying again. It usually goes much faster if they need only 2 parties for a majority coalition.
I always find it interesting that every country has its own system.
We had a similar situation Peggy. Our minority government took about 2 months to sort themselves out. Now our 2 biggest partys have formed "voting pact". Not much legislation in getting through but what is done is more representative of what the people want. It is weird because the 2 partys are very bitter rivals - civil was politics has been at work for a century. And I complain that the north needs to move on lol
Our new prime minister elect is 36 and very dynamic. He really represents the changing face of ireland so I'm looking forward to seeing how he does. The biggest brexit issue for us is that we get keep the open boarder with the north - anything else puts us back to the bad old days
Peggy wrote: "Hm, bad surprise Rusalka!Sarah, I haven't followed the political news much but indeed, it seems it's basically still the conservatives being in charge, not very different from when they would hav..."
Yes, our government is basically the same as before, except there are 12 less Conservative MPs than before. I guess we will just have to see how this deal with the DUP works out. It may turn out alright, it may not. What makes me laugh is I have seen so many comments on Facebook about how Theresa May doesn't have a majority and therefore shouldn't have been allowed to form a government yet in the same breath, they say that Labour, who also had no majority and were over 60 seats short, should be allowed to form a government. How does that work? Whether you like the result or not, the Conservatives are still the biggest party and are therefore well within their rights to form a government.
You are right Lisa, nothing has changed significantly for mainland britain. I shudder to think what changes Foster might negotiate for NI though.
Rusalka wrote: "I picked up a book for the toppler. A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder...."That is bizarre. Was it a paperback, with the wrong cover slapped on?
Janice wrote: "Rusalka wrote: "I picked up a book for the toppler. A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder...."That is bizarre. Was it a paperback, with the wrong cover slapped on?"
Looks like it. It has the wrong number of pages (but matches the book it seems to be), different info on the bibliographical details page to the cover, different title page, and then I googled booksed it, and the quotes at the beginning of the book and the first pages are wrong. Very strange.
I'm procrastinating about vacuuming the rug. I have a lousy vacuum and it's a major job. But I keep hear Travis's 5 second thingy in my head, so I must go do it.
I did! It's done, and you can't really tell. :( The carpet in this apartment is so old, that there is no nap in it anymore. The vacuum cleaner doesn't have a power head, and doesn't have strong suction. When I buy my house, I'll be looking for no carpet. Or a new vacuum cleaner. LOL!
The problem with no carpet is you can see the dust bunnies forming. At least you can live in bliss a bit longer with carpet. I hate vacuuming with a firey passion.
That said, I do love my Tassie Oak floors.
Dust bunnies on a laminate floor are easier to clean than buried in a carpet. I'm glad I'm not the only one who hates vacuuming.
There was a hole in the wall in my old house that I grew up in from me getting the shits at the vacuum cleaner and throwing it against the wall. There is also a reason we got a robot vacuum cleaner. But unfortunately Acathla (points if you get the reference) died a couple months ago, and we now need a new one.
Wasn't Acathla a demon with a powerful ability to suck?
I am tired after too much scraping and sanding of our boat this weekend. I think I'll ache tomorrow. I think would love a hoover. We only have a dustpan and brush. A hoover has to be our next purchase I think. It gets dusty quickly in the boat for some reason and it always seems to be a red fluff when nothing is red in our boat or on us. I've chatted to other boaters and they have found the same. Very odd. A small cordless rechargeable hoover that can be wall mounted would be awesome.We have a cabinet reshuffle today but not everything is set in stone it was would seem. I just read that once the Queen gives her speech in a week, the government get to vote on the set up put in place. If they don't vote for it was which is possible as a lot of Tories aren't happy with the planned coalition, then the Queen will ask Labour to come up with a minority government. If government vote against that too then there will be another general election. There is still hope.
I had to google it. Acathla was a stone demon whose power was that he was able to create portals to suck entire worlds into his personal hell. You'd need a vacuum cleaner with a strong suction to justify that name.
Robot vacuum... Hmmm, I wonder if it would do the job.
I would love a robot vacuum. I hate sweeping and you certainly see the dust bunnies on the hardwood faster than on the carpet. We have 2 dogs and a cat, so it is fairly constant upkeep. I have to admit that our cat shedding is far worse than the two dogs combined. I was shocked at how much fur that little thing could leave behind.
I hate vacuuming too. And all other cleaning activities really. Or perhaps not hate them all, but I definitely do not enjoy them. Which is why I always do the bare neccessities only. Once I get a new job I'm going to find someone to clean the house for us. Just a few hours every week. I don't like working 40 hours per week and then having to spend part of my weekend doing groceries and cleaning.
I agree, Peggy. My issue is that I do not enjoy cleaning, but I love a super clean house. Also, I see all the dirt. So, if someone else cleans it, I notice what they miss. I've gotten good about letting go little and relaxing when someone else cleans because at least I don't have to do it.
I just hired someone to come in and do a good cleaning - all the little parts that often get ignored. They did such a good job. I was so happy having a clean house without needing to scrub myself. :) I'm planning to have them come back monthly (at least) so I don't need to spend all of my spare time on cleaning.
We have a cleaning service come 2x a month. My husband insisted when he'd see me struggling with the vacuum going up and down the stairs. Of course nobody cleans as well as we would ourselves. I was always a down on my knees scrubbing the floor kind of cleaner, but those days are long gone. I'm happy if they clean my kitchen, bathrooms and vacuum up all the dog hair. Multiple people come and they're done in a couple of hours,
That's great, Roz. That's the type of cleaner I am too. I'm thinking about twice a month because they do a nice deep clean - ceiling fans, baseboards, windows, in the oven, etc. Things only I think about doing, even though my husband is a great partner and has no problems cleaning. It is nice to have someone else take care of it.
I've never enjoyed housework, but I always got her done. But getting older sucks. Everything hurts which adds a whole new dimension to housework. Getting someone to come in a couple times a month might be worth the expense.
Oh my goodness. I have been reading and reading, trying to catch up on this thread! I am back from my road trip around the country with my sister. We had the greatest time and so much fun driving back and forth across the country and up and down mountains. I rented a Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and it was a fantastic car to drive. We averaged 56 mpg and drove over 5 thousand miles. It took us 6 days to get to Memphis, Tennessee, but we made it before midnight on my mother's 84th birthday. My middle sister had to come and get us and lead the way to her house in the dark. We drove up and down the highway but could not find the street to turn on to get to her house. It was hard to leave and start back home, but the drive to and around the Grand Canyon was totally worth it! We drove through the Petrified Forrest and the Painted Dessert and up and over the Continental Divide three times. We arrived home a day earlier than we expected, so I got to attend my grandson's High School graduation last Friday. I missed my oldest daughter's birthday, but I brought her back 5 key chains from all of the National and State Parks we visited.
Cherie - it sounded so much fun. :) Glad you had a good time.Dad had another small TMI and doing okay. He's a tough old curmudgeon. I don't think I'll be away from YLTO and reading, but I promise if I have to spend time away I won't just disappear for a year like I did. I'm so glad that nothing major has happened in the past month and I can still catch up with y'all.
Good to see you again Cherie! Your trip sounds great :)
Your trip sounds awesome Cherie. Pleased you had a good time. Sorry to hear that Anne. Glad he is doing ok though.I would LOVE a cleaner! I am with you guys. I hate chores. I'm ok once I get started though but it's the getting started that's the problem.
Welcome back, Cherie! Really glad your enjoyed your trip.
Welcome back, Cherie! That sounds like a wonderful trip. I'd love to go to the Grand Canyon some day. So sorry to hear about your dad, Anne.
Sarah, I agree. Getting started is the hardest part.
Listening to the news there are reports of unionists singing in Stormont this morning. I'm worried for the Good Friday agreement which has held the peace in NI since 1998 :(
Me too Margo. There have been a lot of people involved in the peace process over the years expressing their concerns over the agreement and how the coalition with the DUP contravenes it, showing favour to one party over another. It really isn't good. We really don't want to go back to that. I read that some Irish MPs too have expressed their concerns over this in addition to the soft border when it comes to Brexit. Your post is the first I've heard about the singing - I'm not entirely sure what that means exactly but I'm guessing it's not good.
I haven't heard about the singing in Stormont either. The Conservative deal with the DUP is concerning but I think it's best not to get too worked up until things actually start to happen. It might be that our initial fears and concerns are justified, but there is also a chance that it might not be as bad as initially feared.Whilst on the subject of politics, there is a Panorama Special tonight on BBC1 called Election 2017: What Just Happened? I think a better title would be Election 2017: A Monumental Cockup by the Conservative Party.
You're right Lisa, maybe the singing was 'cos someone brought in cake ;-pThanks for the heads up - I will watch that documentary.
The TV picture has gone funny. All wavy - I can't get at the plug to unplug the sky box (rebooted at the switch to no avail). I'll have to wait "the man" comes home. That will make him feel good lol
Lisa wrote: "Whilst on the subject of politics, there is a Panorama Special tonight on BBC1 called Election 2017: What Just Happened? I think a better title would be Election 2017: A Monumental Cockup by the Conservative Party"*snort*
Please entirety of Ireland, hold it together so I can visit you in August!
I have read many an article about the need for an independent UK gov in the NI power sharing process, and how an agreement with the DUP will undermine the whole agreement. Somebody hasn't thought this all through.
Lovely to see you back, Cherie!!
Just for Rusalka, I'll try to hold on til August lol
Margo wrote: "You're right Lisa, maybe the singing was 'cos someone brought in cake ;-p"You never know. Could have been someone's birthday and they were singing a rousing version of "Happy Birthday" ;)
Maybe my blonde is showing, but what is a singing? Welcome back Cherie! Glad you had a safe and fun journey! What all state/national parks did you go to?
I figured it was people singing songs. It sounds a bit strange, but that's all the singing I know.
@Peggy, that is what it sounds like, but I don't get why that is a bad thing... My first thought is it sounds like a peaceful form of protest, but I really don't know. After the BLM protests we had in the states last year, a musical protest sounds pretty nice. Especially if they're songs everyone can sing along to. LOL
Good to have you back, Cherie. Welcome home. I love road trips and you went to one of my favorite sites--Grand Canyon.
Thanks for all of the "welcome back" messages. I am glad to be back on GoodReads and with all of you YLTOers.KimeyDiann, my sister and I visited Mount Rushmore, The Badlands Ntl. Park, drove through The Painted Dessert Ntl. Park, The Grand Canyon Ntl. Part at the south rim, and drove through The Petrified Forrest Ntl. Park. We visited two small silver mining state parks in Montanna. We missed a mine tour by 45 minutes at the last one. We were so disappointed. My sister, Carol, is a "rock hound". She is an active member of the Rock and Gem club in Grants Pass, Oregon and goes on rock/gem hunts with them. She has taken some silver working classes and made a beautiful silver ring with a gem stone she shaped. She has run a dredge for gold in central California and has panned for gold in Oregon and California for many years. She has a small vial of gold dust in her safety deposit box. I tease her about having rocks in her head, but she really enjoys hunting for "treasures".
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You'll love this one...!! A book club & more
Books mentioned in this topic
Proof: The Science of Booze (other topics)The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles (other topics)
The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles (other topics)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (other topics)
The Little Prince (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Michael J. Sullivan (other topics)Joe Hill (other topics)
Kazuo Ishiguro (other topics)
Kazuo Ishiguro (other topics)
Kazuo Ishiguro (other topics)
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Thanks Kristie. I will take a picture and post it here.