Watcha Doin' - 2017.1 edition Showing 4,501-4,550 of 5,020

[Margo]

Good to hear Janice. Hope you enjoyed the christening ;-)

[Travis]

The dog is doing good. Taking him to vet to get checked out Tuesday. Had a rough week though figuring out that darn wireless fence. Seems to get it now. When it beeps go the other way don't just run in circles yipping and getting shocked.

[Janice, Moderator]

Travis sivarT wrote: "What? No Brandy balls?!?!"

We drank all the booze for rum balls.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Janice wrote: "Travis sivarT wrote: "What? No Brandy balls?!?!"

We drank all the booze for rum balls."

It's a hazard. I find that happens all the time here too.

[Sandra, Moderator]

Sounds like fun, Janice. I wish we would see some pics of the decorated cookies. :)

[Janice, Moderator]

I just finished packing them into the freezer. Wasn't thinking of getting pictures!

[Sandra, Moderator]

Oh, well. Next time. :)

[Travis]

Maybe she already put the cookies away. Or. Maybe the ladies got tipsy and one of them said let's use the penis shaped cookie cutters instead of the Christmas ones. And now she can't post the x rated cookies. ;)

[Janice, Moderator]

Good theory, Travis. We ate the penis shaped cookies.

[Sarah]

We moored up yesterday and there was a boat opposite us. Last night there were two guys with a bonfire outside the boat and they were pulling stuff out of the boat, pouring petrol on it and throwing it on to the fire. Also they kept throwing things in which kept exploding. I have no idea if they lived on the boat and were just getting rid of stuff they didn't want it a rather t*$tish way or whether they had broken in to the boat. Either way it was a little worrying. So this morning we got up early and moved. It is great that we can move at the drop of a hat if our neighbours are crap.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

That would have been nice to do when the neighbours threw petrol on the front lawn and set it on fire at Easter time... jealous.

[Sandra, Moderator]

Janice wrote: "Good theory, Travis. We ate the penis shaped cookies."

lol

[Sandra, Moderator]

Sound scary, Sarah. Good you can move to a different place. Probably it is still annoying, since you were already planning your life there for the next 2 wees or so.

[Margo]

That must have scary Sarah. Are bonfires legal in uk? They're not over hear - not that that would have worried your neighbours by the sound of things!

[Travis]

Well at least the bonfire wasn't on the boat! I like that concept. I hate these new neighbors. Pull the anchor hun it's time to drift on to find some that we do like

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Travis sivarT wrote: "Well at least the bonfire wasn't on the boat! I like that concept. I hate these new neighbors. Pull the anchor hun it's time to drift on to find some that we do like"

That was my first thought when I read Sarah's post. "No bonfires on boats!!"

[Sarah]

Yes it was a bit scary. Yes, it's good the fire wasn't on the boat but I was concerned that the way they were splashing the petrol about it could have resulted in that. There have been a lot of bike thefts and anti social behaviour around that way recently so it doesn't feel safe there. It was never the best area anyway as it backs on to an industrial estate but we've never had a problem there before and it has good access to things. Definitely great that we don't have to put up with it and can move on easily. We were only effected by it for 12 hrs and now we can forget about it.

[Sarah]

As for the legality of bonfires, pretty sure you can have them on private land but that's it. Small campfires I'm guessing are different. As are bbq. But I've no idea o be honest.

[Lisa]

Sarah wrote: "We moored up yesterday and there was a boat opposite us. Last night there were two guys with a bonfire outside the boat and they were pulling stuff out of the boat, pouring petrol on it and throwin..."

That's pretty scary, Sarah! At least you were able to move. I wish we could move away from the neighbours we have got next door at the moment! Inconsiderate and rude are two words that spring to mind!

[Sarah]

I got caught up in a massive train disruption last night. There were major signal failures so all trains in both directions were cancelled. I was stranded in Bristol after work with no idea when the trains would start up again. Someone shouted on the platform "anyone want to get a taxi to bradford on avon?" and i shouted "yes, please". We found two other people and we all got a taxi. It was an hour's drive but I'm pleased I decided to do it as the trains were running until late last night. And I was late home as it is. The same fault has occurred today but luckily I found out before going to work. I only had one client booked in so I've rearranged them. Nightmare.

[Janice, Moderator]

I can't imagine the disruption that would have caused. What a great idea about the taxi.

[Sarah]

The taxi felt quite exciting. One of the guys ordered us an uber taxi. I've never used them before. The taxi driver was lovely and the other three people were too. We all had a good ole chinwag all the way home. All of us total strangers.

[Anne (Booklady)]

Sorry to hear about your troubles, Sarah.

[Janice, Moderator]

I wondered about your taxi ride and thought it would be a great opportunity to meet new people. Glad it turned out to be a positive experience.

[Sarah]

Janice wrote: "I wondered about your taxi ride and thought it would be a great opportunity to meet new people. Glad it turned out to be a positive experience."

Yes it was nice to chat to some new people. Of course both living on a boat and being a hypnotherapist interested them greatly. I got to give out some business cards. Lol. But the others led interesting lives too - one lived in the Alps and had travelled all over the world, they all had interesting sounding jobs and one had done the couch to 5k running program that I'm about to start. A very positive experience. But it could have equally have been bad. I got lucky.

[Peggy]

I've had my share of those kinds of train experiences. Glad you were able to take a cab. It's nice how something like this brings people together.

[Travis]

Uber is pretty great.

[Cody]

Sarah wrote: "Janice wrote: "I wondered about your taxi ride and thought it would be a great opportunity to meet new people. Glad it turned out to be a positive experience."

Yes it was nice to chat to some new ..."

Glad you got back home safely and had what sounds like a good time! i am fairly lucky in that if anything like that happened to me, i could more than likely walk home in just under an hour

[Margo]

It is great to see how strangers bond in the face of adversity! City people normally wouldn't dream of talking to strangers and them, all of a sudden, you're all the same boat! It gives the experience a bright side ;-)

[Cherie]

Cool, Sarah! Not about the train nightmare, but the Uber/Taxi experience. It IS nice to meet and talk to new people like that. It is like eating in the Dining car on the train. If you are alone, you get seated with other people. You never know who you are going to meat and talk to.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Travis sivarT wrote: "Uber is pretty great."

Agree entirely. Uber completely revolutionised cabs here. $30 for an uber home from the city, or $50-60 for a taxi. And the uber drivers are nicer, and better drivers. I am really happy getting a uber home by myself here. I can send Lexx my trip details including my driver's name, photo, number plate, make and model of car with a press of a button. Can't do that with a cab.

We used uber in Germany and Prague as well when we were away this last time. We could see their ratings as a driver, and they us, and use google maps for destinations which was great those few times when we couldn't communicate well.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Australia legalised marriage equality this evening. I stayed at work until I saw it pass in Parliament. Vote was supposed to be at 4.30, but happened at 6pm instead after all the amendments were shot down, so I am glad I stayed.

I am not a teary person, but seeing the public gallery burst into song, with the pollies joining in, and knowing a few friends who were in the gallery after leading national campaigns over the past few years on this, there were a few tears in my office. Been a long time coming, and I know it means a lot to many family members and friends. Weddings can start in a month... here's to more parties!

[Margo]

Wonderful news Rus :-D I can imagine how you're feeling and the celabrations that will be happening! I remember the emotion here when gay marriage was voted in by our government. It was amazing!!! And that marriage proposal in your parliment a few weeks back - beautiful B-)

[Sarah]

re: Uber - I know there has been some issue here because the drivers are self employed but act as if employed as set out by the conditions uber sets. They were taken to court and they lost. I don't know much about it. The driver I had loved working for them though so I guess you can't please everyone. Anyway, I will be downloading the app.

Excellent to hear that same sex marriage has become legal in Australia. As you say, it's been a long time coming.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Margo wrote: "Wonderful news Rus :-D I can imagine how you're feeling and the celabrations that will be happening! I remember the emotion here when gay marriage was voted in by our government. It was amazing!!! ..."

I am being completely truthful here, every single day in Ireland this year, we had at least one person proudly tell us that you had voted for marriage equality there. Everyone was so proud, from Dublin to the tiny pub in Schull.

The marriage proposal was very sweet. It made me forget the pollie who proposed is a bit of a knob every other day. But he should be able to marry who he loves, even if he is a knob. First ever marriage proposal ever in Aus Parliament too.

[Peggy]

Great news Rus!

[Travis]

Through the years it's seemed to me like gay marriage was a blanket for law makers to hide under. Oh we need to make an important decision on something quick let's argue about gay marriage. I've never really seen how gay marriage was really up to politicians to be honest. There is supposed to be separation of church and state yet consistently the gay marriage debate has been dictated by it's not natural and it's not the way God intended. There has never been a gay marriage that has directly impacted me and other than for a bunch if people who need to mind their own business it shouldn't have had an affect on them either. So when I was sitting in a hotel once across from us was apparently an apartment building. Well you know how at night if your dark and someone else has lights on with open curtains you can see. Well I didn't mean to be a peeping tom I just looked out window and movement caught my eye. There were 2 gay men, ok assuming they we're gay I didn't go over there and ask, and they were making dinner together. You wish you and your significant other worked as coherently as these 2 dudes. I was kind of mesmorized by the efficiency and watched for like 20 minutes. Then they sat down with a glass of wine or something and I let them be. Seemed ok to watch the actual cooking as it was so impressive the way the two moved as one. Once they left that definitely was more of an invasion of privacy so I gave them their privacy. Still I remember telling wife come watch these two gay men prepare supper it's amazing. She sat down with me to watch as well. I don't think there was necessarily a point to my story I guess other than saying if being gay is so unnatural why did I watch these two work together as a team better than pretty much any heterosexual couple I've ever seen

Actually to combine our topics here one of the last Uber drivers we used I heard talking in the front to my sister in law and I was like damn the wife says I need to stop judging people but I swear this Uber driver must be gay and is totally hitting on my SIL right now. When we got back home I said I was pretty interested in the Uber drivers story but didn't dare ask questions because she seemed like she was kind of hitting on you SIL. Then I kind of cowarded back because she is very big on equality on all fronts but instead of being yelled at she says oh she was totally hitting on me. It's why I didn't really get super engaged into the conversation like I do with a lot of drivers just because I didn't want to lead her on. Of course my wife who doesn't judge anyone for anything was completely oblivious to the entire event and never picked up on the driver hitting on her sister. Which I mean good for my wife but a deaf, blind man in the back seat could have picked up the vibes in the front seat lol

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Completely agree Travis. Here, it's been a bit different, with the religious right holding PMs hostage for the past 20 years over this issue. Everytime we have moved on it, no matter what party is in power, it's been threatened that the PM will lose their position if they allow it.

What has happened now, as great as it has been as an outcome, has been all about politics, not looking after the mental wellbeing of LGBTQI people in Aus. The last PM was a very very conservative guy, saw the tables were turning on this issue, and said he would only support it if all Australians voted on the issue. This was adopted as party policy. He lost his job anyway, but the incoming more progressive and pro-same sex marriage guy was hamstrung by this promise. If he reneged on this, the religious right was going to hang him out to dry.

Two issues. The marriage act was changed in 1996 to add the words "a man and a woman", as another really really conservative PM saw the winds were a changing, and panicked. And changed it with an act of parliament. Bang. Done. Bad, but done.
Second - This new (and old) guy wanted us to vote on it, but as '96 showed, it can be changed by parliament. We only vote on changes to the constitution, which this was not. So they panicked and said we would have a postal vote. Except we haven't done that before, and then the Electoral Commission realised that wasn't something they were allowed to do. SO they settled on the Census people to run it, but that meant it was not compulsory unlike every other type of voting we do. Which confused everyone, including the Parliament.

We did it, but they publically funded both sides to run campaigns. Fine. But unlike an election, which this was not, or a vote on the constitution, which this was not, there was no legal binding for people to tell the truth in publically funded advertising. Also, no one has ever voted on the fact that Lexx and I could marry, so there was that problem for LGBTQI people, their relationships were under public scrutiny for months.

We had an 80% turn out for the non-compulsory vote. 62% voted Yes. 74% in my city. It has been up for over 200 hours of debate in Parliament the past weeks. I watched an MP tell all gay people today that they should be ashamed of themselves for stealing the word Gay from the English language. Another, telling Parliament, that by not putting in laws to allow people to discriminate against LGBTQI people, was like letting his daughter sing and play guitar in their lounge room, and she sucks (I feel sorry for the daughter, that is going to be poured over by Australian PhD students for centuries). But the PM said today was like a "big hug" to them.

All to save his job.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Oh jeez. That was a rant, sorry.

Love that you were tuned into the vibes, Travis.

[Cody]

Rusalka wrote: "Completely agree Travis. Here, it's been a bit different, with the religious right holding PMs hostage for the past 20 years over this issue. Everytime we have moved on it, no matter what party is ..."

Thanks for the explanation Rus, I knew there was a large debate and people were angry about it but was not sure why. That really cleared it up for me.

I have never understood the issue with letting gay people be together and have the same freedoms as everyone else. I always think that there is enough hatred in the world why stop people showing their love?

I also have never understood religions opposition to it but that probably isn't a debate for this or any thread.

Congratulations, I am really happy for you :)

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Thanks Cody.

Glad my rant was useful! I had thought a while ago this must all look rather strange from the outside, without the past 20 years worth of knowledge of Aussie politics.

We are an odd bunch.

[Cody]

can I ask what the qi in LGBTQI stands for?

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Queer and Intersex. While there are other versions of the acronym, this is the most polite/inclusive in Aussie society to use.

I believe that the use of Queer is a bit contentious in the UK from convos with my cousins. In Australia, it is used to cover all those within the community not otherwise defined by the LGBTI. In fact, shorthand for the whole community here is sometime referred to (usually by those within it) as the Queer Community.

[Cody]

Rusalka wrote: "Queer and Intersex. While there are other versions of the acronym, this is the most polite/inclusive in Aussie society to use.

I believe that the use of Queer is a bit contentious in the UK from ..."

I think the word queer is a bit frowned upon over here but I do find things like that amusing to be honest as I feel it is the intention that is more important than the word, unless the word is intentionally designed to be offensive.

I hope I can be honest and say I think you need a new acronym :) or perhaps not an acronym, an encompassing name like you suggested ?

[Kristie, Moderator]

Q is questioning. For people that aren’t sure of their sexuality.

[Travis]

Yeah I was gonna say somewhere in there was a letter for transgender

[Janice, Moderator]

I've always been proud of Canada's position on same-sex marriages. We were the 4th country in the world to legislate it.

I recall receiving a phone call from a pollster way back before Alberta complied with the legislation which it did in 2005. It was obvious what opinion this man had just from his tone. "Do you think that same-sex marriages should be allowed in Alberta?" (or something to that effect) I replied with an emphatic, "Absolutely!" There was a stunned silence on the other end before he acknowledged my response and hung up. Took the wind right out of his sails.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Good for you, Janice! He shouldn’t be implying his position when doing a poll anyway. It makes it skewed.

Travis - The T is for transgender.

[Cody]

Janice wrote: "I've always been proud of Canada's position on same-sex marriages. We were the 4th country in the world to legislate it.

I recall receiving a phone call from a pollster way back before Alberta co..."

Ha, I agree with Kristie about the pollster expressing his opinions, even if his opinion was the same as Janice' he should have kept it to himself.

@Kristie, what does the I mean?

[Janice, Moderator]

Kristie wrote: "Good for you, Janice! He shouldn’t be implying his position when doing a poll anyway. It makes it skewed.

Travis - The T is for transgender."

I suspect it was a lobby group trying to keep the government from legislating it. I wasn't paying too much attention to what organization he represented.