You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion
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Watcha' Doing - 2020
message 51:
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Lilisa
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Jan 03, 2020 06:58AM
Oh Rusalka - so awful, sorry to hear you all are in pack mode - hopefully that’s all it will be - stay safe. Hoping for a good heavy downpour.
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I hope you'll be able to stay at your home Rus. Stay safe!
Be safe, Rusalka! I hope everything will be fine!
Sears is terrible, Cherie. I hope they get to your furnace and are able to fix it. I've been thinking of you, Rus. Stay safe! Hugs
Thanks guys. I think we will be okay after hearing all the briefings today. The past two days, it was not sounding good at all. I was extremely scared to be honest, but the info changes with these things every hour or two. But at the same time, I am still worried enough now to word you all up.
Preparing just in case, and I just want to let you guys know, particularly with the monthly challenge.
Don't worry about us or the challenge! We can step in to help with anything you need. You just take care of yourself.
Be safe, Rusalka. I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers. Huge hug.
Jannene wrote: "I just finished my mom’s Christmas gift (hers is at the bottom the wall art). We (hubby and I) were busy making wood gifts for the family. Here are some photos. The 5 ornaments on the paper towel w..."Wowee Jannelle! You are very talented. Do you make these for a living?
Oh Rusalka, my thought are with you. I hope it is an overreaction but better safe than sorry x
Hi all, Happy New Year!
Things have settled down a bit for me now, so I should be able to finally get back to reading and start participating in this group again. However, I have decided to sit out our yearly challenge this year and focus instead on buddy reads and some of the monthly challenges. My yearly challenge fell by the wayside the last two years and because I haven't been reading at all lately due to personal reasons, I think I want to have a year where I can dip in and out of things as and when I want to/am able to 🙂.
Sounds like a plan Lisa. It's easy to get bogged down and feel pressurised to get books read. I've been there too. I'm pleased things have improved for you and that you'll be around a bit more.
It's great to hear that things are looking up a bit for you Lisa. I keep telling myself to do what you're doing and stay away from the challenges but then I get caught up in the fun and......the rest is history LOL I'm glad you are back to us Lisa :-))
That is great, Lisa. You have to do what works better for you right now.
Hoping all goes well and you do not have to leave, Rusalka. My sister was in the same situation two years ago, and all packed and ready and waiting to be told to go. She said the waiting was so hard. The fire was in the hills above her house. The firemen stopped it and she never had to evacuate. I bought a couple of small electric heaters to tide us over until the guys can come and see what is up with my furnace. I bought a new thermostat too, just in case that is the issue. The weather is being very mild here at the moment. I am grateful for the cloud cover and rain. I wish I could send you some of our good 'ole Pacific Northwest rain, Rusalka.
My aunt has been in hospital since the week before Christmas and we're going to see her tomorrow. It's about 3 hour drive away so it's an all day trip. She was a baker and she has developed COPD as a result of inhaling flour all her life. She is on an almost content regeme of antibiotics and steroids and for the past year she has been reserve antibiotics. I think if she gets home she will be bringing an oxygen tank with her.
Anyway, I'm signing off until at least tomorrow night. Night folks.
My prayers are with you Rus.Margo, I hope your aunt is okay. I never heard of inhaling flour causing issues. You always hear about woodworking, paint fumes and asbestos but not something everyone uses everyday.
We want to sell our wood products but haven’t yet. We started doing wood a little over a year ago. Husband is making a website and getting a business soon so we can sell our products. I told him to quit his job since it’s so stressful and just make this stuff. I told him it would sell. We make pens, lamps (super beautiful), wine bottle stoppers, cutting boards, cheese boards, and this wall art. Last year he made his newborn nephew a toy chest all wood. It was huge and made out of walnut. It looked like some pirate treasure chest. Very cool. Anyway, he could make money at it (I think). I try to have him do it without my help because well...I have a hobby reading books!
Rusalka, I really hope you will be able to stay home. Let`s us know when you can.Margo, I hope your aunt is ok. Safe travel!
Lisa, I'm glad that things are improving for you and that you're back. Margo, have a safe trip. I hope things go well for your aunt.
Rusalka, it's a relief that the you aren't under as much threat from the fires as previously predicted.
Thanks all. Checking in. Besides someone lighting a fire on the Govenors General's doorstep last night (set alight the paddocks next door to the residence), no fires yet here. But of course the burnout competition at the stupid car festival is about to start on the edge of town, and who knows what could happen.5 fires just jumped to emergency levels though, one right next to Lexx's brother's place again. At it's a balmy 41C at 1pm so it's only going to get hotter.
Will check in a bit later on and let you know. Fingers and toes crossed it's all very anti-climatic.
I am glad you are safe Rusalka. Have been checking in with my Australian friends and have no adequate words about the devastation of those fires...You know those people that start every New Year with a plan then fail miserably after a few weeks. That’s my journey with reading. Well it’s January so here I go. This year I’m going to read “just because” and see if I can build a sustainable reading habit again.
I will tiptoe into challenges and group reads until I get my reading muscles built.
This is terrible Rusalka. I know how frightening it is (we were evacuated some years ago due to bushfires) so I know it is definitely not overreacting. The weather conditions are horrendous and those fire-generated thunderstorms are scary. Stay safe. (You and your chooks).
Just heard it is 42.9 degrees in Canberra today. That’s hot!
43.6C! New record! In ever!All is good today. The wind changed, and so we are full of smoke with air quality up in the worst in the world again. It stinks. Like not metaphorically, it smells.
But communities and towns I have spent a lot of time in are decimated. I'm breathing in the ash of those places I have memories of, which is poetic. Until you think it's 2am, and the fire just hit a rural town of a workmate of Lexx's. She spent two days a week living with us for a year because of travelling. We have no idea if she, her partner, and her two kids are okay.
There's been lots of patrolling and lots of packing here. I will leave some of this packed until April now. It's not worth unpacking, and a box full of medicine, and charger cables, and water purifiers, and pure wool blankets next to the door will remind me not to be complacent.
While we haven't been on fire ourselves, which is still a possibility, we've gone from Lexx's brother and family and Mum standing on a beach, to Lexx's aunts What's Apping the cricket scores ALL DAY to each other as each of their power went out again and again and again up and down the coast. I dislike today.
So yes, all will be okay for me, thank you.. But for thousands of others today, it was not. Such is the outcome of god playing dice with the universe. Oh. And us humans are weighting the fricking dice.
Geez, Rus. It’s like you’re baking in an oven. Hope your electricity stays on and your A/C keeps going, both for the cooler air and the filtering.
Marnie wrote: "I am glad you are safe Rusalka. Have been checking in with my Australian friends and have no adequate words about the devastation of those fires...You know those people that start every New Year..."
We've got some great buddy reads lined up that might help with your reading slump. Check them out here.
You mention a very good point, Rusalka. We're all relieved to hear that you are okay because we know you and love you. But there are many people in Australia who are not okay. And they're saying the lost in wildlife is numbering around a billion. So heartbreaking!
Can’t imagine how awful it is for those people stranded on the beaches with ash and smoke blowing all around them. It’s heartbreaking to watch, everyone wearing face masks, especially the kids. Saw a reporter on the news last night wearing goggles to stop the ash blowing into her eyes.
Janice wrote: "We've got some great buddy reads lined up that might help with your reading slump. Check them out here."So many buddy reads this month!
Checking in again. It's cool today. It's wonderful. But I can't enjoy it outside as we have an air quality of 971 again. The sky has been orange all day. We went to our friends place to play DnD, and with the air con on in the car, my eyes were streaming by the end of the 10 min drive. We had to park across the road from their apartment, and our throats were raw from the 2 min walk and I got a splitting headache from both times (3 hours in between). We haven't bought masks, as there are none in the city and when there are, we want the elderly, people with medical problems, etc to have them first. But I could have done with the googles though, Shirley!I keep mentioning this but for context, this is what it's like in the city today, and what that AQI of 971 means:
That's not a filter.
It's been like this all day, and we are not on fire. Can you imagine what it's like in places that are?
Supposed to rain tomorrow, and be even cooler. But by rain they mean 2mm max, not much. My work is closed tomorrow, thank goodness. Lexx is debating calling in, as travelling in this is appalling. And it's supposed to be back to 40C by the end of the week.
But we have it better than others, we are not on fire.
It looks apocalyptic. I just saw pics of Auckland, which also looks very red. It again shows how massive these fires are, if even a country across the ocean is feeling the effects.
Rusalka wrote: "Checking in again. It's cool today. It's wonderful. But I can't enjoy it outside as we have an air quality of 971 again. The sky has been orange all day. We went to our friends place to play DnD, a..."Thanks for checking in Rusalka. I’ve been thinking about you a lot today. The air quality must be having a big impact on people with existing breathing problems.
Peggy wrote: "It looks apocalyptic. I just saw pics of Auckland, which also looks very red. It again shows how massive these fires are, if even a country across the ocean is feeling the effects."Auckland is amazing, It's approaching our level but need another day or two to build up. Poor things! I was so upset by the beautiful blue-white glaciers in NZ turned brown yesterday.
Found a couple of other photos of Canberra today:
This is the lake I mentioned the other day that defines us as Northside or Southside people -
And the other image was obviously (to me) on the outskirts of the city. This one is of the main road between Lexx and my first group house and the city centre (5 mins drive) outside the ABC headquarters here (BBC equiv) -
Shirley wrote: "Rusalka wrote: "Checking in again. It's cool today. It's wonderful. But I can't enjoy it outside as we have an air quality of 971 again. The sky has been orange all day. We went to our friends plac..."It's pretty terrible. All the asthmatics I know are pumping through Ventolin.
Thanks for thinking of me!
Peggy wrote: "It looks apocalyptic."It reminded me of Under the Dome.
Rus, I hope things improve soon. I do know how, but I hope it so badly. Hopefully it rains more than expected. That would be something.
I'm glad it's a bit cooler for you today. Goodness! Those pictures are devastating. I saw a bunch of pictures yesterday on Facebook. As I scrolled through them, they started to show animals like koala bears and kangaroos that were injured. I had to stop.
I’m so sorry Rusalka, and all of our Australian friends, be safe. Just a thought, beyond all of the real stress, the smoke/air quality can have some very real psychological impacts as well. I know it sounds simple/strange but I know people who have combated this with something as simple as a “daylight” bulb, and a vitamin D tablet.
Best wishes from Canada
Unbelievable images, Rusalka. Please stay safe.
I was there for one of the California fires. This looks so much worse. My heart breaks for all the living things there. Both human and animal. Please stay safe Rusallka.
Renee wrote: "I was there for one of the California fires. This looks so much worse. My heart breaks for all the living things there. Both human and animal. Please stay safe Rusallka."I just saw some statistics comparing the current fires in Australia to previous fires. To put a little perspective on this, as of the time the statistic was printed these fires had burned 12m acres. The 2018 California fires burned 2m acres.
Those photos are so surreal. Pleased to hear the fires have stayed away from you Rusalka. We appreciate your updates. My friend who just emigrated to Australia a month ago (to Sydney) has just joined the rural fire service as a volunteer firefighter. And I have nother friend there too who has been in the service for a few years. An amazing job they are doing, but so much more is needed still.
Hi guys. Life is returning to a bit more normality. Lexx went back to work today. They gave them masks. My work was closed and is closed tomorrow. Lexx is now investigating air purifiers.AQI is much more normal today, and it rained twice. Nothing what we need, but it was amazing. It cleared a lot of the smoke too, so this morning I opened the house up for the first time since the 28th...?
But the fires keep coming. The lightning with this rain started the first fire in the Territory. Dammit.
Rain's fallen on the firefronts but not nearly enough to help. Somethings have said it's worse as the ash now makes things slippery, but it a bit of column a, column b. But cool weather always helps.
Smoke and fire risk is supposed to get more intense by the end of the week. So who knows. But slowly getting back to normal. I love normal.
Sarah wrote: "Those photos are so surreal. Pleased to hear the fires have stayed away from you Rusalka. We appreciate your updates. My friend who just emigrated to Australia a month ago (to Sydney) has just join..."They are awesome. I am so grateful for what they do, but I don't think it's fair they are vollies. Some of course, but not all. They give up so much.
Also, on the most important point, the arts communities in Australia are awesome. Musicians are holding ninja gigs and pop ups to raise money for the fires, particularly as this impacted major music festivals for the year.But the Aussie Authors started #authorsforfireys . They are auctioning off things on twitter for money to the CFA (the Victorian volunteer firefighting unit. All our States have different volunteer units fighting fires, and they all have different names. It's confusing when Celeste Baker's fundraiser is only going to one (NSW) brigade out of 6 that are fighting fires all though it is AMAZING. I love the idea, but the nuances are lost on non-Aussies)...
Sorry, #authorsforfireys. People are putting up things, you bid on twitter (as in talk about it) and if you win you send the author evidence of your donation and you get your thing. You can search that hashtag without a twitter account but you can't bid until you make one. Bidding ends on the 11th Aussie time. I've seen Authors put up signed copies. signed copies and individual Skype Q&As. Lots of limited first editions, usually signed. To authors cooking people dinner and hanging out, or a historian including an original government document that supports their research/book from their archives.
Or if this impacts people, a lot of proofing of manuscripts, or proofing cover letters to publishers, or editing, or mentoring in the publishing industry. Someone was offering video editing people's book videos, and someone else was auctioning headshots for authors. It's amazing, you should check it out. Some of these you look at and they are a whole pack of books or mentoring for less than $100 (AUD) at the moment.
Check it out, and if you've seen an author comment on the fires, tell them to check out the hashtag. It's beginning to get more international now, and you don't have to be aussie to bid.
There was a woman who was offering nude pictures of herself to people who had donated $10.00, upon proof of donation. She's raised $300,000!Here's a paste & copy of a tweet:
Replying to
@arrington
$10 donation for a nude photo.
$300,000 raised already.
...
A possible 30,000 horny people helping put out fires in Australia!
#AustrailiaFires
Janice wrote: "There was a woman who was offering nude pictures of herself to people who had donated $10.00, upon proof of donation. She's raised $300,000!Here's a paste & copy of a tweet:
Replying to
@arring..."
Well, that's taking "help any way you can" to a whole new level!
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