Watcha' Doing - 2020 Showing 1,251-1,300 of 2,651

[Sandra, Moderator]

Our is still closed "until further notice"...

[Sarah]

Re books in quarantine . The research says that the virus can live on cardboard/paper for 24 hours, hence quarantining then.

[Jenn]

Shirley wrote: "Yes I really missed ours because I don't particularly like ebooks or audio. At our Library we are not allowed to browse or sit and read. It's strictly drop off and pick up the reserved books from t..."

OH, I hadn't thought of that either, only opening the front desk and using the library as a warehouse - good idea. I am sure that ours is being missed for more than the books though, on the main floor it has a large Childrens space with attached activity room, a large bank of community computers with printers, and upstairs is a block of study computers, and a large teen room. Considering our population it was an incredibly under used resource, but funny enough the number of members skyrocketed AFTER they closed lol

[Renee]

Those children's spaces and teen rooms may be gone once the library reopens. Their will be a new reality. Its sad but until they can control this we need to learn not to huddle.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Sarah wrote: "Re books in quarantine . The research says that the virus can live on cardboard/paper for 24 hours, hence quarantining then."

Indeed. The ABC was recommending getting the post, and putting it aside (and washing your hands) for at least 24 hours here because of this.

[Saar The Book owl]

Hooray, our main library opened last Monday! I was so happy and didn't mind the waiting line! It's a bit weird and you can't use all the services, but I don't mind.
I still hasn't rained for 8 weeks or so. Not including the 3 days that it rained and it's getting a bit worrying. Will this be the next crisis? I don't want to panic, but it hasn't been so dry since the last 119 years and now it's 4 years in a row.
The rainwater we use for our rented vegetable garden went dry, so I have a bit of rain water at home I can use for it. But where my horse is stabled, the pastures are just brown and yellow and that so early in the year.
I haven't been on GR for a couple of days due to a big reading slump (getting out of it now), a bit of a mental dip (my husband called it a ' start of a depression', but I won't to see it like that) and some family issues. I find it hard that I have no friends to talk about it, but a while ago (2 years) I posted that my younger sister had lung cancer. She got threated and she was in remission. The cancer shrinked, but it couldn't dissapear. Since a couple of weeks, she started to get head aches, was a bit dizzy....and she got a scan of her head. The result is that she has a tumor in her head, due to the lung cancer. She's now having radiations instead of chemo and lost her hair in 2 days. The doctor gave her 4 months, a year if she's lucky. I'm going to visit her at her home (with mask and alcogel) and I hope I can keep myself together. We've got a very difficult relation and I don't know how to feel about all of this.
Sorry for the long post, but I just wanted to share this with someone.

[Peggy]

I'm so sorry to hear about your sister Saar. Big hug! Know that you can post here always if you need to share something. Take care of yourself too.

[Sandra, Moderator]

I'm very sorry about your sister, Saar. Stay strong. Huge hug.

[[deleted user]]

Very sorry to hear about your sister Saar. Thinking of you.

[Jenn]

I am so sorry to hear about your sister Saar 😞 Stay safe ❤️

[Jayme, Moderator]

I'm so sorry about your sister Saar. Do what you need to do to take care of you.

[Janice, Moderator]

Big hugs to you Saar! I'm really sorry to hear the news about your sister. I hope your visit goes a long way to healing the difficulties in your relationship.

I'm glad that you felt comfortable sharing your situation with us. Everyone needs to be able to express their feelings. We'll give you all the support we can.

[Kristie, Moderator]

So sorry to hear about your sister, Saar. I hope you have a nice visit with her. As the others said, I'm glad you shared this here. We are here for you as much as we can be. **Hugs**

[Saar The Book owl]

Thanks everyone for the support. It means a lot to me. I try not to think much about it as I don't know how to deal with all of this, but I can't keep blocking it. We're not a tight family and I feel that I stand alone to face this: the emotional stuff, the practical and financial things that needs to be done...It comes all on my shoulders and I don't think I'm strong enough to handle all this.

[Kristie, Moderator]

I think you're going to find that you are stronger than you think you are, Saar. You can get through this. Hopefully, you will take a moment when this is all behind you and wonder at how well you really did.

It's hard when you don't have family and friends around to support you at times like this. We are here for you. Remember to breath and take care of yourself as you go. One step at a time.

[Cherie]

I am sorry to hear about your sister, Saar. Thinking of you.

[Esther]

Saar The Book owl wrote: "Hooray, our main library opened last Monday! I was so happy and didn't mind the waiting line! It's a bit weird and you can't use all the services, but I don't mind.
I still hasn't rained for 8 week..."

So sorry about your sister. *sending a virtual hug*

[Shirley]

Saar The Book owl wrote: "Hooray, our main library opened last Monday! I was so happy and didn't mind the waiting line! It's a bit weird and you can't use all the services, but I don't mind.
I still hasn't rained for 8 week..."

So sad, Saar. It's so difficult to see a loved one so sick. And there's no rules on how to cope. Day by day I guess. All the best, Saar.

[Shirley]

For the past few years we have endured a neighbour who screams and swears at her child. It is happening more often now especially during the isolation period. We have discussed many different ways of dealing with it because it has been upsetting to listen to but were loathe to get involved. However, recently there have been a few reported incidents of severe child neglect in Brisbane, and Gary decided today that he couldn't live with himself if something happened to the child, and we hadn't done something, so he spoke to her over the fence today, asking her to stop screaming and swearing at her child (3 years old). She told Gary that she is an awful child that "I have to put up with every day", and if he doesn't like what he hears, then don't listen. As if we could NOT listen! It has been quiet since then, so we'll have to wait and see what happens. The funny thing is that when we see her (very) occasionally she is quite friendly, AND she now has a new baby!

[Peggy]

That's horrible Shirley, and a difficult situation. It's great Gary talked to her, hope it helps.

Do you have a way to report it or receive some advice on what to do? In the Netherlands there's a phone number to call when you suspect child abuse and they can give you advice, but also a number to report suspected child abuse.

[Jayme, Moderator]

Totally off the current topic, but has anyone else noticed that scam "likes" on your posts are increasing? I had several likes on posts this week - always curious to see who it is and what they read - and they have ended up being a false link to hook up sites.

Does anyone know if there is a place to report this?

[Peggy]

I haven't experienced that Jayme.

[Sandra, Moderator]

@Jayme, no. It hasn't happened to me so far.

@ Shirley, how sad. I understand your worries. Gary was very brave. It is such a difficult situation.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Jayme wrote: "Totally off the current topic, but has anyone else noticed that scam "likes" on your posts are increasing? I had several likes on posts this week - always curious to see who it is and what they rea..."

I've gotten a lot of friend requests from those types lately. I used to accept most requests, but recently a lot of the male requests end up sending me a PM that says something like hello, you have such a nice smile, profile pic, etc. I ignore them and they never contact me again, but I've started being much more careful about requests from men.

[Grainne]

Hi Jayme, take a look at your privacy settings on Goodreads. You can find them under edit profile and account settings.

There's a few options about who can follow or comment on your postings. Uncheck them if they are checked.

See if that helps.

[Jayme, Moderator]

Grainne wrote: "Hi Jayme, take a look at your privacy settings on Goodreads. You can find them under edit profile and account settings.

There's a few options about who can follow or comment on your postings. Unc..."

Just went in and checked my setting. I forgot I had opened it up more because of a challenge in another group where they had to look at my TBR list and hadn't gone back and switched it back. Thanks Granine for the reminder!!

[Jayme, Moderator]

Kristie wrote: "Jayme wrote: "Totally off the current topic, but has anyone else noticed that scam "likes" on your posts are increasing? I had several likes on posts this week - always curious to see who it is and..."

I was getting friend requests like that too from males. I now have a question that someone has to answer to be my friend.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Jayme wrote: "Kristie wrote: "Jayme wrote: "Totally off the current topic, but has anyone else noticed that scam "likes" on your posts are increasing? I had several likes on posts this week - always curious to s..."

I have a question too, but I'm surprised by how many people ignore it. For a while I stopped accepting requests from anyone that didn't answer the question. I think I may have to go back to that.

[Margo]

Saar The Book owl wrote: "Hooray, our main library opened last Monday! I was so happy and didn't mind the waiting line! It's a bit weird and you can't use all the services, but I don't mind.
I still hasn't rained for 8 week..."

Oh Saar, I can't imagine what you're going through, never mind your sister. I'm sending you all the good thoughts I can. You will have to be very strong and brave xxx

[Janice, Moderator]

You can flag them if they have a profile picture. Often they don't. The other option is to email support. There should be instructions in the help section on how to contact Goodreads staff.

While there were some problems with the Goodreads feedback group, it was a quick and easy way to get answers. The new help section isn't all that helpful.

[Jayme, Moderator]

Janice wrote: "You can flag them if they have a profile picture. Often they don't. The other option is to email support. There should be instructions in the help section on how to contact Goodreads staff.

While..."

Thanks, Janice. If it continues that will be my next step.

[Sandra, Moderator]

I've been more picky with the friends request I accept. I looking for interaction here in GR. I am not interested in befriend people who won't interact with me.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I'm Sorry to hear Saar. It's always sucks when a family member is ill, and even more confusing when your relationship isn't as good as you wish. Thinking of you, and hope you have good visit. Know you have a safe space you can talk about this though, including the weird sibling feelings we all feel.

[Saar The Book owl]

Thanks everyone. I'm a bit overwhelmed by all the kind reactions here. I'll visit my sister tomorrow. If only I could look into the future to see what's coming ahead...

[Renee]

I am sorry to hear Saar I hope your visit goes well.

[Saar The Book owl]

Shirley wrote: "For the past few years we have endured a neighbour who screams and swears at her child. It is happening more often now especially during the isolation period. We have discussed many different ways ..."

That sounds like my neighbours! They are Nepalese or Tibetan, I don't know, but the man speaks English and a bit of Dutch. The woman doesn't. They have 2 daughters who are around 4 and 6, I think and it's the mother who screams and yells in her language at them. The girls cry a lot and one time I heard her hitting one of them. There was one day that the oldest was locked up in a room and she kept on screaming and crying and hitting the door. I told my husband to go and have a look or otherwise I'll call the police. He rang the doorbell and it was the babysitter who told that 'everything was fine'. After that, it was silence. Don't hesitate if you think there's something horibly wrong. Call the police. Here, in Belgium, the calls of child abuse, violence...has raised dramatically due to the lockdown.

[Saar The Book owl]

I did have a couple of weird friend request and didn't accepted it. A couple of weeks ago my Instagram - account got hacked, twice, and now I'm more aware of strange things.
I came to something interesting this week: I know a lot of us are buying more books that keeps piling up and that we'll read when we 'have more time'. Well, there's a Japanese term for bookhoarders: 'tsundoku': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsundoku
It definately apllies to me as well.

I don't know if anyone has heard about the little Belgian/Peruvian kitten Lee? There's a lot of fuss about it the last weeks. There was this female student who adopted a straigh kitten in Peru and she smuggled the little cute furballs into Belgium while there were the corona rules. Also, Peru is known for rabies. She got a negative advice to bring Lee into the country, but he isn't infected, still it was illegal what she did. Now there's a trial about Lee's fate, because the health departement wants Lee euthanised, but the owner doesn't wants to and hides Lee. It got so big of a news that now the minister of Animal Welfare is saying that Lee needs to stay alive. Even our corona expert says that there's a possibilty to keep Lee in quaraintaine. The heelath departement keeps saying that Belgium doens't have the facility to keep cats and dogs quarainteed.
Well, I'm in with team Lee. He tested negative and doesn't show symptoms of rabies. The health departement even did a house search with the police to find the furball!
The trial about Lee's uncertain future will be next Friday.

[Peggy]

Definitely tsundoku here too. Interesting that the word was used at the end of the 19th century already!

Lee was in the news here too. I suppose they could fine the student who brought the cat into the country for not sticking to the rules, but the poor cat shouldn't be the victim.

[Saar The Book owl]

I think they fine her now for every hour she keeps Lee hidden. The fines are just over the top! Indeed, they can fine her, but the kitten should stay alive. I don't believe that there is no way to keep him quaraintained.

[Cherie]

Kristie wrote: "Jayme wrote: "Totally off the current topic, but has anyone else noticed that scam "likes" on your posts are increasing? I had several likes on posts this week - always curious to see who it is and..."

I have had the same thing happening, Kristie. I got another one yesterday.

I have had several men send messages. I have been ignoring them.

I have definitely been reviewing the friend requests I get too.

[Janice, Moderator]

I looked at the link and the picture showing for a book hoarder and went "pfttt". Those few books constitute a book hoarder. Hehehehe!

If the kitten has tested negative for both virus and rabies, she shouldn't be killed. It's ridiculous that time are resources are being spent on this when there are children being abused in greater numbers because of the shutdown.

[Shirley]

Peggy wrote: "That's horrible Shirley, and a difficult situation. It's great Gary talked to her, hope it helps.

Do you have a way to report it or receive some advice on what to do? In the Netherlands there's a ..."Yes, we do have a government agency that deals with family issues such as this. We will call them if it continues. It has been very quiet over the weekend though.

[Shirley]

Saar The Book owl wrote: "Shirley wrote: "For the past few years we have endured a neighbour who screams and swears at her child. It is happening more often now especially during the isolation period. We have discussed many..."
It sure is a worry.

[Shirley]

Peggy wrote: "Definitely tsundoku here too. Interesting that the word was used at the end of the 19th century already!

Lee was in the news here too. I suppose they could fine the student who brought the cat int..."Tsundoku - a new word for me!

[Sarah]

So sorry to hear about your sister Saar. My thoughts are with you. And like others have said, feel free to drop in here for a chat if you need to.

[Grainne]

I am sorry to hear it too Saar. I hope it gets better between you both for both of your sakes.

[Saar The Book owl]

Thank you, Sarah and Grainne. I was going to visit her last Saterday, but she got sick. I'll go this Friday. I try to keep a clear head, but it's not always possible.

@Shirley: good to hear that you'll cal!

[Peggy]

Rob and I went cycling today and Rob planned the trip. He wasn't sure how long it would be, and I asked, it's not like 30k or something, right? And he was all 'nooooo, nothing like that, not even close!'. It was 25k, lol! It's not all that far, but still quite something for someone who usually only cycles 1.8k to the train station and hasn't even done that for 2.5 months.

Tomorrow we'll pick up our new car. The old one didn't start two weeks ago and a day later it worked again like nothing happened. Then on Saturday we went to my nephew's birthday and guess what.. when we wanted to go home it didn't start, 80k from home.. we drove home with my parents and next day my brother in law tried and it still didn't work. He called roadside assistance and they managed to get it started. So Rob's dad drove us there on Sunday and we got the car home. If it will only just start one more time when we need to pick up the new one tomorrow..

[Janice, Moderator]

A new car is so exciting! Enjoy!

[Sandra, Moderator]

Great about the new car, Peggy! Enjoy!