You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion
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Watcha Doin' - 2019
I feel your pain, Sarah. Let's hope for the best.
Sorry all, I realised I disappeared on hols and didn't say anything. Back today, been down the far South Coast away from fires but still smothered in smoke. But nothing like some of the country (AQI this week in Sydney of 2500+!!!).The photo was taken in South Durras, Shirley, looking at North Durras. We skipped South Durras (particularly as the Princes Hwy was closed between Batemans Bay and Ulladulla so we couldn't get there, and then the Kings from Canberra to Batemans Bay closed from another fire and only reopened today) and went down to Merimbula.
Sorry to hear about the foot, Renee! Sounds very painful. Heal up!
I know, Sarah. It's appalling from our perspective. My brother and I were watching it all day yesterday. He couldn't believe the present our other people gave him for his birthday (the 12th). He wants the receipt so he can return it.
Friday the 13th got me! I thought I would test out routing my cell phone to my hearing aide so that maybe I could listen to my audiobook while shovelling the driveway. It was horrible. Nothing but garble. So I plugged in the headphones. As I was about to head out the door, my son phoned. It took a little bit to get connected to him and I couldn't figure out why.Driveway shovelled, and back inside warming up when I got another call. I answered but couldn't hear anything. Hung up. It rang again. Same thing. I put it on speaker phone and I could hear properly.
I ended up calling Apple Support because volume would not go to the earpiece on the phone. I either had to have the headphones on, or speaker. The options for my audiobook was the headphones or Apple TV in the living room. She determined after about 1-1/2 hours that the phone was stuck in headphone mode. Gave me a case number and sent me off to the authorized repair depot here.
Meanwhile, Costco (where I bought my hearing aide) returned my call. She said to bring it down and possibly she could figure it out. Nope.
Went to the authorized repair depot, and he couldn't figure it out. I ended up buying a new iPhone. That consumed my afternoon and evening. I started the process around 12:30 and finished setting up my new phone around 8:30 pm. That is not the way I expected to spend the day.
Sarah wrote: "I'm am lost for words today with the election result. I just don't understand it."Your pain is my pain Sarah :(
The only good news is that Arlene Foster no longer has a say and that Nigel Dodds lost his seat.
Wow, Janice. So annoying.
I was thinking about Lisa yesterday. She hasn't show up for a while.
Sandra wrote: "I was thinking about Lisa yesterday. She hasn't show up for a while."I hope everything is okay. She hasn't posting for a couple of weeks.
Me too. She came to my mind because I was reading the start of The Starless Sea and I realized she hadn't posted any updates.
Janice wrote: "Friday the 13th got me! I thought I would test out routing my cell phone to my hearing aide so that maybe I could listen to my audiobook while shovelling the driveway. It was horrible. Nothing but ..."I hope your Sunday 15th is much better! Enjoy the week ahead.
Margo wrote: "Sarah wrote: "I'm am lost for words today with the election result. I just don't understand it."Your pain is my pain Sarah :(
The only good news is that Arlene Foster no longer has a say and tha..."
Yes I thought that would make a difference over there.
Sandra wrote: "I was thinking about Lisa yesterday. She hasn't show up for a while."Oh yes. I don't remember her saying she was going to be away at all.
We had such fun last night. The theater 2 towns over still has an organ,. They sometimes host the silent movies and play it. Last night they were showing the movie Elf. It was a fund raiser for the children's hospital, Their organist played first. He was amazing, Then a churches children's choir sang, Then the movie.
Elf made me laugh. It did wonders for curing my bad week blues
That's great that you had a fun night, Renee. I went to a Christmas dinner at a community hall last night and it was great fun listening to the children sing to encourage Santa to come. :) I love watching the little ones.
That sounds like a nice night, Renee.
Sounds great, Renee. I'm glad for you.
I love children's choirs. They seem to be even more magical this time of year
I'm loving the pictures of snowy carols and kids singing!It's midnight here. The air quality is worse than New Delhi (305 AQI there, 558 here) so filled with smoke. Heatwave is starting tomorrow and I can't open the windows to cool down tonight. 38C (100F) tomorrow, reaching 43C (109.5F) on Saturday. All smoke filled. And there has been no rain in months, so everything is ready to burn. Although so much of the country is already on fire.
Luckily we have real political leadership during this emergency where either NSW is on fire or unable to breathe. The PM has buggered off to Hawaii for Christmas with his family. I hear the AQI is heaps better there.
Comparison, AQI of 300 or so is equiv to about a pack of cigarettes per day. Imagine what that was like in Sydney the other day when they had an AQI of 2550 (not a typo).
P.S. Sorry. I am so so so so incredibly angry about this. And we didn't sleep last night for the same reasons, not able to cool the house down due to smoke.
But we should all relax and watch the cricket. That will make me feel better. And those people who have lost their houses apparently. Gives them something to cheer for.
W.T.F?
That's horrendous, Rusalka! I hope you get some relief soon.
Thanks Janice. I'm going to try and sleep now at 1.30am for work in the morning.Sorry for the grumpiness. You just feel so impotent when these things happen, and the people in power who *could* do something ignore it, bugger off, and then block major international meetings dealing with the same issues this week.
I've turned into the Old Man Yells at Cloud. Yet this is Middle Aged Woman Yells at Smoke.
Sorry to hear that Rusalka. I know the feeling. The air quality can be quite bad here in Asia too. You can buy a face mask at the pharmacy or hardware store that might help but they can be hot to wear all the time. I have an air purifier, which filters the air. Worth investing in one if it’s a constant thing. They are expensive but definitely worth it, if things persist or one of you has particular sensitivities. Also, juice and drinks with electrolytes will filter the excess from your bodies. I drink coconut water. Korean and Chinese herbal remedies can help too, they are particularly good at that if there is one nearby.
Rusalka , your reason for anger is justified. Anger when never needs apology. I hope that the fires stop soon.
I'm so sorry, Rusalka. You have reasons to be mad, though.
This is an incredible situation our country is facing now, with widespread bushfires, and heatwave conditions. Tragic news of firefighters losing their lives too. So sad. We’ve been in Tassie for the past few weeks, enjoying some relief from the heat, and due to fly back to Brissie today. (And luckily missing the Jetstar strike.) Rusalka, I hope you’ve been able to get some relief from heat and smoke. Glad our PM is enjoying clean air on holidays. Is it true he’s gone O/S?
Tassie seems to be the only place to be in the country at the moment, Shirley. I hope you had a wonderful trip, and made sure you ate and drank your way around the place ;)And great news you're missing the strike!
42C here today. AQI is hovering just under 1000 today. But nothing like Sydney, and it's so horrible to hear about the two firies. They are the same age as my colleague here who is in the Rural Fire Service (the volunteers who fight bushfires here for the o/s readers), and they both have small children the same age as his. I saw him yesterday and he got called back to the fires while we were chatting in my office.
Yes, the PM went to Hawaii. His office said he didn't to the media, but wouldn't say where he went. He was busted last night (although we all knew) as he couldn't resist a selfie with someone in Hawaii and they put it up on Instagram. This morning he's announced he's coming home. He's spinning it as because of the two deaths overnight, but someone in his office has leaked it's coz the BBC eviscerated him overnight.
Doesn't care what Aussie think, but get told off by a big news channel in the UK, straight back home. Gutless coward.
But in good news, it's my last day at work for the year. YAY!!
Australia has been hitting the news here too. Horrendous fires, and now two deaths. I take it firies are fire fighters? So sad.That's terrible that your PM had to be shamed into doing the right thing.
Yes sorry, fire fighters. And they were volunteers, like the majority of them :( So incredibly sad.Is it time to go home yet?!?
Sure it’s time to go home and put your feet up, Rusalka! Enjoy your break.Loved our holiday in Tasmania. Scenery, history, hospitality, food food food, and wine. Every day! I’ll ignore the scales for a few weeks.
So glad the PM is coming back. Why would he ever think a holiday to Hawaii would be a good idea in the midst of a crisis? Maybe his travel insurance wouldn’t cover a cancellation. Lol.
Rusalka wrote: "Yes sorry, fire fighters. And they were volunteers, like the majority of them :( So incredibly sad.Is it time to go home yet?!?"
There was an article in the news this morning that the PM apologized for vacationing while his country burned.
Rusalka I would be mad as well. PM should be there. It is his job to be there. These fires looks so bad. What was he thinking?
Yet, he's still in Hawaii. Photos of him hanging out by the pool came out last night. And his apology was he regretted if he had caused offence.
Weasel words to sound like an apology that isn't one.
But I am on holidays!! Two weeks baby, yay for Christmas time!I have a pork in the oven for friends coming over for dinner tonight (which is ridiculous in this heat, but welcome to Aussie Christmas, full of contridictions!).
We were supposed to get some baby chicks yesterday but the guy stopped returning my messages, so that's a bit sad.
Once the heat dies down a bit, and our air clears (we were at AQI 1503 this morning for those playing along at home) will have to work out what to do with myself. But at the moment sounds like the perfect weather for reading!
Yum! I love pork. But how can you use your oven when it's so hot? I can't bear to turn the oven on in the summer because it just adds to the heat. That's why they made barbeques. Keep the heat out of the house. And just so we're comparing apples to oranges, anything over 25C and I start complaining. I saw a news article the other day of an Aussie who roasted pork on the engine of his truck to demonstrate how hot it was.
I saw that too, Janice. Insane!
He cooked it in his “Datsun oven”. Aussies will do anything to get attention. Lol. But we still have people leaving children and pets in a hot car with tragic results.
I just finished a Brandon Sanderson book and while googling for the sequel, I came across The State of the Sanderson 2019, which was published jsut 3 days ago. I know many of you like his books and are eagerly awaiting sequels: https://www.brandonsanderson.com/stat...Still a long wait for my series. I just finished The Rithmatist but it seems like it will still be a few years before the next one comes out. Also, book 4 of Mistborn, Era 2 will not be published until 2021. On the bright side, there will be a Mistborn Era 3, and the next book in the Stormlight Archive will be published by the end of 2020.
It's incredible how many books he's written and how many series he has on the go! How does he keep track of it all? I do sometimes think it would be nice for us readers if he would focus on just 2 or 3 and finish those first ;-)
Peggy wrote: "I just finished a Brandon Sanderson book and while googling for the sequel, I came across The State of the Sanderson 2019, which was published jsut 3 days ago. I know many of you like his books and..."I read something on his webpage that was similar. I was looking for the sequel to The Rithmatist and was disappointed to see that it's not high on his priority list.
I forget details from books after a period of time and I don't know how they can leave sequels for years and pick up where they left off. They must have extensive notes.
I think some authors also pre-plan the whole series in some detail. Still, I suppose they reread their own stuff. Or have very extensive notes indeed. I'm the same with forgetting, but I can't always be bothered to do a reread. Nowadays I prefer to not start a series until (almost) all of the books are finished, especially when it's a more complicated fantasy series, but it doesn't always work out like that.
I will sometimes search the books I've read on google to see if I can find a synopsis that will fill in enough of the details that will save me from having to reread the book. I'll have to do that with The Gentleman Bastard series for when the next book comes out in 2021.
Well, retirement (at least from my full time job) is within sight. My last day is 12/31/19. They finally got a couple of people for me to train to do my job (one is okay, the other has issues and doesn't want to work in my location). It takes a year to see all parts of the job and I got them in October. So, I'm coming back part time (2 days a week). Deals were made, my conditions were met, they had no choice. Think of the extra time I'll have to read!! In the meantime, my son bought me a Nintendo console with a cartridge that has about 140 of the older games (Mario Brothers, Mega Man, Zelda, Donkey Kong and more). Games my boys (and I) played when they were younger. Call me crazy but I was excited.
That, reading, working on my Family Trees, clearing out the house, travelling, knitting (and other crafts), and any new interests I pick up along the way...looking forward to retirement.
Now my husband is talking about moving to Texas to be closer to our grandson. Probably in a year after I finish working p/t. Isn't retirement supposed to that time when you slow down, not speed up?
I'm sorry to hear about all the fires and the air quality where you are Rusalka. I would not br able to cope with my asthma there. Have there been problems for those who are asthmatic? Increased hospital admissions? I'm pleased the PM has been found out. What a dick!I too have finished work for Christmas. Very much looking forward to two weeks off. Went down to Bournemouth on Friday to see star wars, go for dinner and to a gig with friends. Had a great time. A perfect start to the holidays .
Thanks for the link Peggy. I do love Sanderson. I am lucky to have a few books I've not read yet so they'll tide me over for a bit.
Congrats on the semi-retirement, Roz. I've started gearing down and letting clients go, but it will be another year before I see the decrease in hours. I often hear people say that they are busier after retirement than they were before.
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You'll love this one...!! A book club & more
Books mentioned in this topic
The Rithmatist (other topics)The Starless Sea (other topics)
The Arsonist: A Mind on Fire (other topics)
The Doll Factory (other topics)
The Binding (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Jamie Ford (other topics)Madeline Miller (other topics)
Jamie Ford (other topics)
Madeline Miller (other topics)
Ruta Sepetys (other topics)
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We had the first snow today ❄️