Random Thoughts Showing 15,351-15,400 of 17,689

[Simona]

I am a fan of this series' books. I tried to watch a few of the first episodes but they could not complete with my imagination 😊

[Andy]

Its the other way for me, I think the series actually brings alive / helps visualise some of the characters / events, also the books were starting to stagnate

I''l admit though the tv series needs to be wrapped this coming series otherwise it'll be in danger of drawing it out too much. its jus about right for me

[Jane]

Mostly for our American members [and anyone else who wants to try]:

http://definition.org/civil-war-quiz/

I know I'd flunk English Civil War quiz. :)

[Adrian]

I got 40 out of 62. Not bad for an Australian but not good enough for my naturally competitive streak...

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Gee that volcano in Hawaii is quite a thing. I'm amazed people were allowed to build so close to an active volcano.

If people weren't losing their homes it would actually be a beautifully fierce display to marvel at.

[Marilyn]

This sounds cynical, I know, but all the good, safe land in Hawaii is gone now. People are allowed to build there because the county is allowed to tax the property. No volcano insurance can be bought there. If home owners are willing to risk it, the county is willing to collect the property taxes. We have the same problem here in California. If you want to build in an area that is prone to fire and/or mudslides, the county is more than willing to collect the property taxes. The real rub comes when such an area is declared a Disaster Area. That’s when everyone gets taxed to pay for someone else’s disaster.

[Adrian]

Why is that cynical?

Unless you mean the government...

[happy]

We have the same problem in Utah with people building on hill/mountain sides.

The developers get a geologist to say the site is safe for building and the cities/counties almost always give in to them. If they don't the developers sue. Then when the homes start sliding down the mountain, the developers are nowhere to be found and everyone wants to know why the city/county allowed building there in the first place!

It is happening a lot recently as homes have climbed up the mountain sides. In one community (Transverse Ridge between Utah and Salt Lake Counties) even the roads are coming apart because of land slippage. Nobody wants to take the blame or pay for the repairs.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

What a sham. If I was dumb enough to buy a house in a known landslip area or next to a volcano, you'd think the fact that insurance agencies won't give you house and contents cover would put up a red flag.

In my area where it floods, they have a zone called the 1 in 100 flood zone. Nobody is allowed to build within that zone now. It was brought in about 5 years ago. Before that, developers and home owners were building in areas that locals knew would flood in the big ones.
At least they've stopped it now.

[Marilyn]

What shame we cannot borrow your lawmakers.

[Adrian]

You want to borrow Queensland lawmakers?

Joh Bjelke Petersen would be shrieking with laughter.

[Marilyn]

Hmmm.....Something about that “shrieking with.laughter” does make me pause to reconsider.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Haha. Yeah Joh was a bit of a...I'm not sure of the word. Crooked bully? Two words, and probably too good for Joh.
But he was the 70's. Long gone. :)

[Marilyn]

Ahh...each country has his own.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Ain't that the truth. While you've got good ones you've got bad ones.

[Dawn]

happy wrote: "We have the same problem in Utah with people building on hill/mountain sides...."

Just to throw my two bits in to this one. It is possible to build on mountain sides with no ill effects. But you need really good professionals. I work in a community where the majority of the building area is in either a Geohazard (mountains either sliding away or falling on you) area or in a Flood plain. There are few spots that are actually unbuildable, but you have to be willing to pay for the protective works required. And it's really, really expensive.
Developers and customers like to bitch about what we make them do as a government agency, and the money we make them spend to build where they build, but it does work. If you don't hire a shyster, and there is only so much a government can do if someone is willing to risk that.

[Dawn]

Marilyn wrote: "This sounds cynical, I know, but all the good, safe land in Hawaii is gone now. People are allowed to build there because the county is allowed to tax the property. No volcano insurance can be boug..."

Keep in mind that Volcano insurance is probably a lot like Earthquake insurance, you know, the Act of God stuff that's not covered. And it is not possible to get Earthquake insurance where I live around Vancouver, but we're supposed to get hit one of these days. We'll be in the same situation.

Where you are allowed to build has nothing to do with if you can get insurance. You can build anywhere and not get insurance....that's a personal choice. Government can't make you....though a bank can...if you have a mortgage.

I'm not sure about other areas, but at least where I live, government is NOT allowed to sterilize a property. We cannot tell someone they aren't allowed to build there. We can make them spend lots of money to make it safe, but we can't stop you.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Different in some councils over here. They can tell you where you cannot build.
It wasxn't always that way. They never used to care and would approve everything, but now they are protecting people from their own stupidity a little more.
They just won't approve your building application if you want to build on historical land slip slopes. Nothing can hold you on those slopes. Red volcanic soil on clay.
Even if your footings are deep, if the slope goes and if the footings stay in place it still makes the structure unliveable.
We had a massive mountain slip on the family farm in my grandfathers time. Deep footings wouldn't have worked there. It slipped at too great a depth.

[Dawn]

Makes sense, that would be the same as building on an alluvial fan here. Nothing new can typically get approved, but what is already there the 'grandfathered'. There are some properties that no one can make safe. Like the plots of land that are under water.... :)

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Myself, I like to be on firm ground and take no risks. :) No floodplains/gullies or slippy slopes for me. Our house is nice and safe.

There are houses around here that were built before the land moved next to them or above or below them and they have to be regularly monitored for more movement.
How the hell do those people sleep at night!?!
These houses even sell from time to time, with new families buying them and moving in.
I think these people are mad. lol.

[happy]

The Transverse Ridge area that I was talking about is basically a sand bar from an ancient lake that covered most of western Utah and eastern Nevada, Lake Bonneville. It rises 7/800 feet above the valley floor and is very steep. Great views, which I guess is why they wanted to develop it :) When they started proposing developing it, people who lived in the area just shook their heads and took the money:) It's also world class hang gliding terrain. You can see dozens of them on a summer day.

There are laws on the books to prevent development on slopes over 30 degrees and in some of the canyons and they are actually being enforced. It seems the houses are getting high enough on the mountains that they have to be running into National Forest bounderies. They can't keep moving up the mountains for ever.

Another pet peeve is they have developed all along the eastern flood plain of the Great Salt Lake. 35 yrs ago it was under 10 ft of water and the shoreline was 2 or 3 miles inland from where it is now, but the powers that be have determined the Lake will never get that high again

I'll get off my soap box now :D

[May]

And we can always add a discussion of the Atlantic coast to this ... especially the Outer Banks and places like Scituate, MA

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Floodland, May? Or land slip country?

Happy, what are their reasons for not thinking that eastern flood plain will flood again? Sounds ridiculous that they would think that.

[May]

Eroding coast line... every Nor’easter and hurricane eat away at the shore line. Leaving homes falling into the ocean every season. Owners wanting FEMA & our tax dollars to bail them out, so they can build there again!!! Why?

[Adrian]

Our house is solidly built on an ironstone hill overlooking the beautiful Avoca Beach, but we get constantly smashed by salt winds and horizontal rains. Which means a lot of maintenance. I'd almost rather the house slide into the ocean than have to paint again!

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

May wrote: "Eroding coast line... every Nor’easter and hurricane eat away at the shore line. Leaving homes falling into the ocean every season. Owners wanting FEMA & our tax dollars to bail them out, so they c..."

*face palm* Exactly...why??!

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Adrian wrote: "Our house is solidly built on an ironstone hill overlooking the beautiful Avoca Beach, but we get constantly smashed by salt winds and horizontal rains. Which means a lot of maintenance. I'd almost..."

Oh man, that would be a pain.
Salt rusting or pitting everything.
We have a Queenslander (overseas folks: this is a timber house in an architectural style called Queenslander). It is open to the elements and to keep it fresh looking we need to paint every five years. It is also a pain.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Bad news for us Aussie book buyers who shop at overseas sites like Book Depository, we are now going to be taxed 10% Sales Tax on overseas purchases.
It used to be no Sales Tax under $1000. So we could buy books overseas without our Australian 10% GST tacked on.

Looks like I better stock up on all the 'need to own' books in my Book Depository Wishlist before July 1. :-( Not really an expense I needed right now as I am broke.

[Marilyn]

Politics never cease to find a way into our pockets.

[Allison]

That stinks, Terri! Ask Santa for (very) early Christmas presents! 🤣

[happy]

Terri wrote: "Floodland, May? Or land slip country?

Happy, what are their reasons for not thinking that eastern flood plain will flood again? Sounds ridiculous that they would think that."

Right now the lake is at the lowest point since the Pioneers got here in 1847. The powers that be are more worried of it turning into the Aral Sea than flooding again. For any interested here is an article on the future of the lake from today's paper. We are in a long term drought and a couple of dams have been built since the floods of the 80s

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/9...

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Allie wrote: "That stinks, Terri! Ask Santa for (very) early Christmas presents! 🤣"

I have a birthday in Oct. Thinking about fluttering the eyelashes and suggesting a book splurge for a super early prez. :-D

[Adrian]

There's a picture on this link that shows Avoca Beach from the sea and you can see how exposed it is (our house is in the middle distance).

Don't get me wrong, I love living there but we get absolutely smashed in winter.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avoca_B...

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

The sharks like Avoca.

[Adrian]

And I play football for the Avoca Sharks...erm...Over 45s.

The Gummysharks

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Haha! The Gummysharks. :-D Ya poor old boys. Do ypu have to have a sleep at halftime?

[Simona]

@Terri: for your birthday presents....I can suggest very good mascara....;-)

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Can you now. :-)

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I am noticing some of the high profile 2018 releases have covers in the colours that are in fashion right now in design.

I had never thought about it before, until I saw the cover for the new Uhtred book, War of the Wolf.

Teal green and bluey green colours are in this year. They appear in all the interior design shops.

It is the first time I have noticed this connection and I think it is obvious now. Why wouldn't cover design people be influenced by the current colour fashions.

Then today I saw the new CJ Sansom book's cover to be released this year..


Same colours.

And the 2018 release of the US version of Dunstan.



So there you go. I useless bit of information from me to you. :)

[Marilyn]

Anyone for watching the royal wedding? I will. Being American, I’ll just soak it up. Coverage here starts at 2am. I think I’ll just set the recorder and catch it later.

[Allison]

Marilyn wrote: "Anyone for watching the royal wedding? I will. Being American, I’ll just soak it up. Coverage here starts at 2am. I think I’ll just set the recorder and catch it later."

Not interested...

[May]

I will catch up with it later in the day. Certain that it will be replayed for the next days... excited for them, but not enough to get up early... 😏

[happy]

The agency I work for just offered a "early out" incentive of $40K. I think I will be retiring this summer. I was planning to retire next year anyway :)

[May]

Congratulations, Happy!!! Nice when the organization pays you extra $$$ to do what you wanted to do anyway!! Hope you plan something special to celebrate!!!

[Marilyn]

Yes, congratulations indeed. Enjoy!

[Lily]

Terri wrote: Then today I saw the new CJ Sansom book's cover to be released this year..
Tombland

oh another Shardlake book. I cannot wait. what a treat!

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

It is pretty exciting yo have a new Shardlake coming out, definitely. Means I need to catch up on book 6 first though.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Congrats on early retirement, happy! Although...not set in stone yet..congrats anyway. :)

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Being Aussies, hubby and I will be watching the wedding. I've watched them since I was little.
I have stayed away from the constant media circus in the lead up. US media has gone nuts over this wedding and it makes me feel uncomfortable as to me it is just our Prince getting married. Not a reality tv show.

[Marilyn]

I suppose it is a show for many Americans but, for me, the other side of coin is that in my genealogy we are English. Three brothers arrived in Connecticut in 1696 and as they say, the rest is history. Seven brothers fought against the king; only three came home. In WWII we were allies and I still feel the same way. So I will watch the show and hope that they will be very, very happy.