You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion
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Watcha Doing? Version 2015
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KimeyDiann
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May 06, 2015 02:03PM
I don't think I've ever even had a "conversation" on Facebook. I've never met anyone that is on GR, but I feel like I know some of you more than I do my facebook "friends" that, most of which, I know in real life. I do like looking at the pictures and updates of some old friends on FB, but in reality I don't know many of them either, not really, not anymore... I just know the lives they portray on FB. The majority of them, I haven't actually spoken to in years.
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I definitely prefer goodreads over fb!
I don't have a FB account. Never had. I never felt tempted, not sure why. I love GR though, specially YLTO. The chit chat here is interesting and funny.
I agree :) Facebook seems to be more about "look at me, look at me" at least that is what I see from "friends." If I talked with my sister (at all, we are not close) then I wouldn't even have Facebook. It is the only way I ever see pictures of my nephews :( I love our conversations here in YLTO :)
I don't have a Facebook account any more. I used to but I have deleted it now. I loved it when I first joined but once the novelty wore off, that was it. I wasn't a fan of the nastiness that seems to occur on there pretty frequently either. Hardly a week seems to go by without you hearing some story or the other about people being bullied and the like. I don't miss it at all. I couldn't be without Goodreads though, or YLTO. Everyone is really nice here, we respect each other and we have some really good conversations :)
Yhis group is great because of the easy going mods who let us get off topic but will jump in and slap us if needed. Whixh is mostly chatting upthe reporting threads. I'm in 2 other groups that often go off topic but they can go weeks without anyone popping in. The audiobook group is great buy I don't post because sometimes its a bit control freakish over there at times. Pretty sure a buddy listen thread got vetoed a while back which I didn't agree with so I don't post there too often. Not my group so I also didn't complain since I'm not doing the labor of mod. Then there is the history book group. Way too psycho. Mandatory posting a link for book title author and author picture. If you dont do those three thi gs and whatever else is mandatory posting rules you will hear about it. I posted twicr over there and decided it was too bossy. Many groups I belong to just to see the monthly reads to learn of new books. If I don't like a groups management I just stalk it
I am still on Facebook mainly to keep in touch with my husbands family in Minnesota and to share pics of the kids. We also post a lot of announcements and things for scouts in there. I agree that the drama is ridiculous and I find myself more annoyed than interested. I am a recent addition to this group, but I have been pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoy reading everyone's posts.
I would like to note that although I don't necessarily post all the time the audiobook group is my next most frequented group after ylto. And farmers don't like to be told what to do so I have some authority issues probably.
Amanda wrote: "I am still on Facebook mainly to keep in touch with my husbands family in Minnesota and to share pics of the kids. We also post a lot of announcements and things for scouts in there. I agree tha..."One of the reasons I stay on FB too. I belong to some local groups that post events on FB so I need to stay on to keep in the loop.
Travis, I think I know which history group you mean. I wasn't active over there but a friend at the time had some issues with the mod.
Found a dead fox in a bush about 3 ft off ground looked lije a ratty fur coat. Huge fox I think I ised to see it last fall. My assessment is it was hubting the brush line and fell through the snow and couldnt get out. Horrible way to die yet I can't help wobder if I ever heard its cries of distress and didn't realize it guesz I'll never know
I log onto Facebook every morning, scroll down the posts until I figure I've had enough. If someone is grating on my nerves, I either delete them or put them on ignore. Most of the stuff I see on my feed is positive and supportive. I have a great group of friends and family. I was on it a little more this last week posting pics of my trip and replying to my friend's pics of our trips. GRs is by far my preferred site between the two. I love YLTO. We have a great group of people. I love the teasing and comraderie we have here. There are lots of times you all have me laughing like a lunatic.
I don't know how I used to drive in the city with no problems. Today, I found Calgary to be a challenge and stressful. I was driving east on Bow Trail, turned to go to Crowchild, and the next thing I knew, I was going West on Bow Trail. I got turned around and onto Crowchild. Eventually I found my way to Stony Trail. But did I want East or West? I went East, began to doubt myself so pulled off to check my iPhone. I was on the right road. Still I white-knuckled it till I was well out of the city. If anyone suggests I'm getting out, I'll have a hissy fit before I admit that you're probably right.
Travis of NNY wrote: "Found a dead fox in a bush about 3 ft off ground looked lije a ratty fur coat. Huge fox I think I ised to see it last fall. My assessment is it was hubting the brush line and fell through the sn..."So sorry, Travis.
After being on tv as long as I've been on the planet I am so sad that David Letterman is retiring. I have been an every day viewer at times while going months in between shows at other times. Still if I have been awake between 11:30 and 12:30 he was probably on.It's almost like the end of the world.
Seems so much how I felt when the Beatles broke up back in 1970. I was almost 8 years old. Couldn't believe it was true.
Poor fox. I know the feeling of getting lost and going the wrong direction on a road Janice. There is a motorway here which circles London called the M25 - it's talked about that you go clockwise or anticlockwise on it. After I finished school, I was heading to London to go to a University open day which meant going on the M25. It was before sat navs so I had a print out of directions from the AA website (that's Automobile Association not Alcoholics Anonymous although I could have done with a drink by the end of the day). The instructions had the same clockwise/anticlockwise instructions on but when I got to the junction it said East/West - ahh! Which way was I facing and which was was I supposed to go? I went the wrong way. I've only ever been back on that motorway the once since then. We also got stuck coing around in circles a few weeks back and kept passing this ame field of woolly cows and I saw we must have got stuck in the cow vortex.
I think this "Watcha Doin" thread has been fantastic as we can all chat away about random stuff to our hearts content and it "probably" means less tangents in other threads ;-) I definitely feel like I know you guys more now since this thread was created.
It's the General Election here today. England might be going down the pan by the end of today. There's optimism for you.
Ha, I know the feeling of getting lost and directions. I love having GPS apps, I feel SO much better now when in a new or congested place. Even though sometimes they may take you a longer way at least they eventually get you there...although once it did take me through a seedy neighborhood...Sarah, your comment about AA made me laugh! lol
Travis, that poor fox. what a sad way to go.
About facebook, I do like keeping up with what friends and family are doing too, the vacations and pics. It's the ones that rant about stuff...and I admit, I'm to blame for this as well. I used to be 'one of those' until I realized how it looks when others do it. I stopped and find it's best just to pop on and check out what I need to see, scroll a bit like Janice does, and then get outta there.
This is a fun thread!
Naw I love chatting to you all too. And as I am the tangent queen, this thread is awesome! I don't get told off for distracting you all ;)I do use Facebook a lot still, but I monitor who I friend a lot. I'm going through now doing a purge of people who don't make me feel good or who I don't really get anything out of. The best way to do it I think. I have friends and family all over Aus and the world though, so it's the best way to keep up with people 800km or 8000km away.
Sorry to hear about you finding the fox Travis. I'm not a fan of foxes as we all know so not overly sorry for the fox itself. But don't like things dying slowly. Could it have died from cold though? That wouldn't be a bad way to go.
Yay voting day you Brits. Go do it! And I am so interested in what will be happening tomorrow. I will have my poll counter open all day. You can tell your country is the land of tabloids from the behaviour of the pollies in the campaign. Carving vague policies in stone! Watching the SNP with interest too... Fascinating!
One of things that interests me so much about this group is the international aspect. I love getting the different perspectives of people from different countries. In the US, we tend to be very isolated. I will admit that I do not watch the news much for multiple reasons. One I get annoyed by some of the policies of the general news media and don't enjoy feeding off of other peoples pain. The other reason is that my husband is a police officer and the overwhelming negativity towards law enforcement that is currently going on in this country is very upsetting. I am pretty good about putting my concern about him on the back burner and not focusing on it, but when you are bombarded by people rioting and calling the police evil and wanting to disarm them it is hard to tune it out. Most of the police I know are honorable and do this job out of a desire to help people. My husband is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. Oops, Rusalka guess I can't rant too. Hope the election turns out for the best.
Rant away Amanda! As we've all discussed, this is the place for it.I've been watching the situation in the States a fair bit too. It's interesting as an outsider. But I can understand how upsetting and frustrating it must be in the country. Particularly with friends and partners on the inside.
I have absolutely no idea how the election is going to pan out. It seems incredibly close between Labour, Lib Dem and the Greens in the opinion polls. I always wonder about the polls - I've never been asked pre-election on who I'll be voting for and nor does anyone I know. Call me cynical. I'm guessing we'll have another coalition. The tabloids are all over it and there is some serious scaremongering going on, not too dissimilar to when Scotland had their vote for independence (from both tabloids and the politicians). I hate all the spin, non-committal answers and loose policies. I found a great website which listed all the policies of the 5 main parties but didn't mention who the party was and you had to say whether you'd vote for that policy or not. Then once you've answered those questions, it tells you which party you agreed with the most - it's a non-biased way of doing it. I used it last general election too.
We had something like that too the last few times. You rated your importance of issues to you, about 80 questions. Then it ranked you on a x-y plot on economic and social liberalism and plotted the parties. Quite eye opening. I think everyone should do it.The poll they have been quoting over here is equal on 38% Tories and Labour, then SNP with 50 - all of Scotland. Ukip a contender (personally that's terrifying), Lib Dems to be obliterated and no mention of the Greens except the leader is an Aussie who can shear a sheep.
Amanda wrote: "One of things that interests me so much about this group is the international aspect. I love getting the different perspectives of people from different countries. In the US, we tend to be very i..."That is awesome that your hubby is a police officer :) definitely a hard and scary job! I have the utmost respect for our men and women in uniform, protecting us everyday! I wish more people respected them and I wish there wasn't so much hatred in the world..:(
I don't typically get into politics much. I pay attention to who is running for president and then vote, but that is about as far as my politicalness goes (I may have just made up that word ;) ).
We have it here for all elections too. 50 or so statements, and in the end you can check topics that you find most important, and you're given a list of all parties in order of how well they fit your answers, and then you can also look for each statement into more detail for each party. We have one political party here called 'Party for the animals' (LOL, that sounds like fun!) which started off very small many years ago and had animal rights very high on their agenda and was sort of restricted to that. Over the years they have developed and now have clear opinions on all topics, and in those voting-things this party always ends up at the top for me. Unfortunately, their name puts many people off and I think they miss out on a lot of votes because of it.
Sarah wrote: "I have absolutely no idea how the election is going to pan out. It seems incredibly close between Labour, Lib Dem and the Greens in the opinion polls. I always wonder about the polls - I've never b..."I used that website too Sarah. The party that it suggested I vote for was actually the one I was thinking of voting for anyway so it worked out pretty well.
I love walking Blake around our new place! It seems like a shorter walk in length but feels a lot more challenging since a lot of it is an incline :) a good workout for the both of us :)
I agree with Amanda, I love the international aspects of this group! It is so interesting to me how similar and different we all are. Having never really traveled out of the south-eastern United States (and a cruise to Mexico) I love getting to learn more about other parts of the world from real people. As far as facebook, I scroll through, read the posts that look interesting, skim or skip the ones that don't, look at cute pictures of friends' outings, then I get bored and I'm done. If someone posts a lot of negative or annoying things, I either unfollow them or unfriend them.
We had our provincial election the other day and it was a huge upset for the party that has been in power for decades. I'm not happy about the new government as they don't have a great track record in other provinces. But, I didn't vote. The election happened while I was on holiday and I didn't make it to the advanced poll. I had intended to, but I was so crazy busy that I didn't get there. I won't bandy my opinions for the next four years as penalty. LOL!
I completely agree with everyone it is so fascinating to learn things about other places, from people whose opinions you believe and respect.@ Amanda, it is very awful how much the media has vilified law-enforcement, I don't believe anyone can understand what a stressful job that is unless they have been in it, and as far as I can tell for the most part they are doing the job they are supposed to be doing. I wish the media would come up with solutions instead of creating bigger problems.
My dad just retired from 36 years in law enforcement because mandatory at 60 years old. Crazy bastard actually misses it
I'm completely with you, Amanda, on the whole not watching tv bc of the media, especially right now with the negativity and hostility towards our policemen and women. I won't rant here, as I've already ranted in other places, but I can't watch the news for that reason as well. Let your hubby know that there are many out here that still really appreciate all he and his fellow officers do for us on an daily basis! And for you as his wife. I have people in my life as well who were cops and they are wonderful people.
I was running out the door earlier so forgot to mention in my comment above that my husband was a MP in the Air Force and a local constable for years. :)
Travis of NNY wrote: "My dad just retired from 36 years in law enforcement because mandatory at 60 years old. Crazy bastard actually misses it"Aw, that's awesome travis!
My husband is a detective now and not on patrol anymore. The hours are nicer, the danger is less, but I think the stress is worse. There is only 4 of them that work all the cases. So whereas when he was on patrol he responded, wrote a report, and you were done. Now he has to compile all the reports, follow-up, and present the cases. He enjoys it for the most part, but the mental drain is significant. Travis, I think it is awesome that your dad stayed in it that long. The fact that he misses it just shows how much of a heart he had for the work.
Thanks to everyone for the encouraging words.
Peggy wrote: "We have it here for all elections too. 50 or so statements, and in the end you can check topics that you find most important, and you're given a list of all parties in order of how well they fit yo..."We have a party here called 'The Monster Raving Loony Party'. I think if a general election could be won on name alone they would walk it.
So many things going on here!I'll start saying that I was born naturally without compass... And I hate the feeling of not knowing if I'm going in the right direction, or perfectly in the opposite one!
Good luck with the elections! This Sunday is municipal election in Uruguay too, and I'm grateful I'm not there so I don't have to vote. All the options stink and the vote is mandatory there.
I rarely watch the news in the TV for the same reason. I prefer to read everything on line, that generally is milder, and allows me to skip easily what I don't want to read.
And regarding the police issue, I come from a country where police doesn't have the power nor the means to ACTUALLY do their job. Just an example, when in the academy they have to buy their own bullets to practice shooting... If they can't, then they don't practice.
So, believe me, you don't want to have a disarmed police...
Well I just voted. Now the waiting game starts...Sandra, are you not allowed to vote anyway in the Uruguan elections even though you don't live there at present? I have several friends from the UK who are living abroad but they are still allowed to vote in the election today.
In the UK, generally the Police aren't armed with guns (except specialised armed response units). Tasers have been trailed a bit recently but there has been a mixed reception from the public/police. If the Police had guns here, I don't think it would make me feel any safer and I don't think it would reduce crime either. I can't imagine them having guns here. I guess we all get used to what we have. That is crazy Sandra about the Uruguan Police force having to buy their own bullets to train with. Police forces (generally) across the world do a fantastic job but like all professions, there are people who are extremely good at their job and those who are extremely crap at their job and unfortunately this can on occasion mean everyone is tarred with the same brush. I wouldn't want to be a Police Officer and I admire those who can do that job, especially for as many years as your Dad did Travis.
Sarah wrote: "Well I just voted. Now the waiting game starts...Sandra, are you not allowed to vote anyway in the Uruguan elections even though you don't live there at present? I have several friends from the U..."
I think I have to agree that we just get used to what we have.... because it is weird to me that you can't imagine police having guns because I can't imagine police not having guns.
I remember I was shocked when reading a book that was set in Dublin and I discovered their police force is unarmed. How are officers expected to go into potentially dangerous situations with no way of defending themselves if needed?
Sarah wrote: "Poor fox. I know the feeling of getting lost and going the wrong direction on a road Janice. There is a motorway here which circles London called the M25 - it's talked about that you go clockwise..."
Sarah, I have a co-worker who absolutely hates driving on M25 when she has had to go over to England for work.
I love that we are all "real" people here and that we can post comments without any nasty combacks or cracks. I also love and appreciate the international feelings of the group and we can learn about each other. Yesterday, we got our ballots for an election, and I honestly do not even know what it is for. I have not watched the news except for the headlines for several weeks. I get so tired of all of the negativity toward everything. The highlight of my day is when I can get on GR and see what is going on with this group. I get on FB to catch up with my family and look for fun news bits, but hardly ever post. I cannot imagine why people are so compelled to post every little thing that goes on in their life and family.
Yay, for your Dad, Travis! 36 years was a long time to do what he did. He must be an amazing person and I guess I can really understand that he could miss it.
Amanda - I hope the stress and job requirements get better for your husband. It must be so hard to be one of the few detectives and have so much work.
It's looking like the Conservative Party are on course for a majority in the General Election. Labour have done really badly in Scotland and the LibDems have virtually been wiped off the map altogether. UKIP likely to only get 2 seats max but their overall percentage of the vote has surged. They are set to become the third biggest party in the UK in terms of their share of the votes cast. SNP won 56/59 seats in Scotland.
I didn't see that coming. There goes the NHS, police, fire, education etc. At least when they were in with coalition the lib dems could reign them in a bit. I guess we'll find out now how much control they did have now we face full brunt of the Tories. Shocked but not surprised at the rise in votes for UKIP. I guess it's better the devil you know for many.
I'm at a Japanese bar drinking cocktails before going to a nakey circus ie. cirque de soli - I love them and have seen them every time they are in town. tonight's show we are sitting on stage with wine and tapas and it's a burlesque x acrobatic show. will catch up on the UK election at home
Rusalka wrote: "I'm at a Japanese bar drinking cocktails before going to a nakey circus ie. cirque de soli - I love them and have seen them every time they are in town. tonight's show we are sitting on stage with ..."Enjoy Cirque du Soliel Rusalka! I have always wanted to see one of their shows.
Enjoy the show Rusalka. Sat on stage? Are you going to be joining in?
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You'll love this one...!! A book club & more
Books mentioned in this topic
Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors (other topics)Gateway (other topics)
The Casual Vacancy (other topics)
The Thirteenth Tale (other topics)
The Fellowship of the Ring (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Isabel Allende (other topics)Enid Blyton (other topics)
Karin Slaughter (other topics)
