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Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!

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  • ShoshinShoshin No one in particular Nowhere Special Veteran

    @Fosdick said:
    @Shoshin - I'm not really conversant with the game laws, but I know black bear hunting is regulated with seasons and bag limits, etc. Not protection exactly, but you can't just go out and shoot one because you feel bloodthirsty and mean that day.

    There's a bit of a problem here with people leaving their garbage out where the bears can get at it, and quite a lot of black bears roaming around looking for an easy meal. The dogs are greatly offended when they spot one -they seem to believe that the garbage all belongs to them. ;)

    It's sad really...We humans encroach on their habitat pushing them further and further out as we destroy their habitat/hunting ground, forcing them to forage into places unnatural, like back yards and eat junk food from our rubbish bins....

    I guess it's Dukkha & Karma at play again ...

    Here in Aotearoa (NZ) we don't have any large, dangerous, 'indigenous' animals to speak of (well apart from the sharks around the coast)...The so-called pests are all introduced, like boars, goats, rabbits, possums, stoats, weasels and rodents...

  • FosdickFosdick in its eye are mirrored far off mountains Alaska, USA Veteran

    Ah, but you have plenty of acaudal monkeys, I expect ! O.o

    Shoshin
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    I appreciate people have their own religious beliefs but I am just bewildered by people like this bloke!

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-11/israel-folau-set-to-be-sacked-by-rugby-australia/10993856

  • ShoshinShoshin No one in particular Nowhere Special Veteran

    "It's about what I believe in and never compromising that, because my faith is far more important to me than my career and always will be."

    Hmm his church pastor is not going to be too happy, the pastor's going to lose out big time ...10% tithes from a very high profile player...

    The love of money is the root of all evil

  • ShoshinShoshin No one in particular Nowhere Special Veteran
    edited April 2019

    On my walk this afternoon, I looked up and saw a bird of prey circling above a clearing surrounded by bush ...It gradually started to move away, continually circling higher and higher on the pockets of air current...

    Seeing this, it reminded me of one of my lucid dreams where I was a bird of prey flying over a hot sandy desert, I could see sandstone coloured buildings as I flew over head...It was an amazing experience... and when I woke, my mouth was dry, I was very thirsty....

  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    Awesome @Lee82 - well done young man ???

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    @Lee82 said:
    Some of you may remember that this time last year I climbed Snowden with colleagues to raise money for Ronald McDonald House in Manchester. Well this year we're going one better, the Yorkshire 3 Peaks.

    Tomorrow in taking part in a 24 mile, 5200ft total climb expedition with a target time of 12 hours! We're raising money for Parkinson's UK.

    Wish me luck!

    Selfless, Compassionate, altruistic and generous.
    You climb mountains, but put others less fortunate above yourself.

    This is what it's all about.

    Take note, @herbie....

    Lee82
  • Good Luck ????

  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    I had some lovely gentle dreams last night, which left me feeling refreshed and renewed this morning. It was quiet, sunny and felt beautiful.

  • Lee82Lee82 Veteran

    Didn't quite make the 3 peaks :-(

    Hurt my knee half way up the second but battled on and made it 2/3 up and down.

    I instigated the event and between us we raised £1k for two different charities.

    Can't walk now but job well done. 30km and 40,000 steps today, a new record for me!

    Kundo
  • Lee82Lee82 Veteran

    lobsterfedericaShoshinVastmind
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    Well done, and congratulations for raising that not so small amount! Hope knee heals well, and quickly, although it's the most complex joint in the body... rest it as much as possible....

    Lee82
  • ShoshinShoshin No one in particular Nowhere Special Veteran

    Last week I came across this dead Tasmanian paper wasp on my deck (possibly one from the nest outside my bedroom window)

    And this morning this....An Australian Northern Wattle moth
    (again dead on the deck)

    All creatures great & small...I love them all :)

  • Rowan1980Rowan1980 Keeper of the Zoo Asheville, NC Veteran

    Bonjour, hello, etc. :)

    Shoshin
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    @Rowan1980 said:
    Bonjour, hello, etc. :)

    Avé, @Rowan1980, how can we help you today? Is there a deep life question we can aid you in exploring?

  • Rowan1980Rowan1980 Keeper of the Zoo Asheville, NC Veteran

    @Kerome Nah, just making a brief “Hi, I am still alive, folks” post.

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    If this isn't an abject lesson in impermanence, then I don't know what is...
    The things we take for granted...

    Notre Dame, Paris, in flames. Now. Right now.

  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    For those people interested in our environment, the Great Green Wall project seems quite a good step... it’s only about 15% complete but they hope to make it the biggest living structure on the planet, 3x the size of the Great Barrier Reef and spanning Africa’s sub-Saharan lands.

    https://www.greatgreenwall.org/about-great-green-wall

    Rowan1980lobsterFosdick
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    AWE - SOME!!!

  • I was reading about biologist Dr Joanne Chory, developing new carbon fixing plants. Plan is happening. Terraforming for earth.
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/16/super-plants-climate-change-joanne-chory-carbon-dioxide

    Save the world
    https://www.yearofgreenaction.org/

    Rowan1980Shoshin
  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran

    A couple weeks back I was on vacation in Lake Havasu City in Arizona. Anyway, in the 1960s the London Bridge was no longer sound enough for modern demands and it was sold to an American who dismantled it and brought it over to Lake Havasu, where it now resides and connects to a once peninsula and now small island.

    I was just wondering if anyone here ever happened to go across it when it was still in London? The thought of some kind of connection having crossed the same bridge but in two different locations halfway around the world tickles some neuron in my brain. @federica perhaps?

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited April 2019

    We were, by the time of the sale, living in London, and it is entirely likely, if not possible, that yes, I did cross the Thames on this bridge... But I can only have been about 5 or 6 by that time, so I couldn't tell you anything about the experience... The story that it was purchased under the belief the buyer was getting TOWER Bridge, and not London Bridge, are both apocryphal and unfounded....

    The bridge in Lake Havasu City is not, very strictly speaking, London bridge itself; but the granite stones were all carefully numbered, catalogued, and transported to the USA, where they were used, in correct position and order (albeit slightly modified and shaped to fit), to CLAD a base structure.

    ETA: Sadly, I have not yet had the opportunity to visit the USA, but it would be a fun thing to do!

    personBunks
  • ShoshinShoshin No one in particular Nowhere Special Veteran

    @person said:
    A couple weeks back I was on vacation in Lake Havasu City in Arizona. Anyway, in the 1960s the London Bridge was no longer sound enough for modern demands and it was sold to an American who dismantled it and brought it over to Lake Havasu, where it now resides and connects to a once peninsula and now small island.

    I was just wondering if anyone here ever happened to go across it when it was still in London? The thought of some kind of connection having crossed the same bridge but in two different locations halfway around the world tickles some neuron in my brain. @federica perhaps?

    I did on a number of occasions....before it fell down

    person
  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran

    Living in a young country for me it was fun imagining the past generations of people from another part of the world that touched the same guard rails that I was touching. Plus the lights on the bridge are supposedly made from metal that was melted down from Napolean's cannons.

    Shoshin
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    Just denied an application to a potential new member from the Ukraine, telling me/us our phone is locked. LMAO. We do get 'em sometimes....!

    Bunks
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran
  • ShoshinShoshin No one in particular Nowhere Special Veteran
    edited April 2019

    They are fascinating creatures ...

    Fosdick
  • FosdickFosdick in its eye are mirrored far off mountains Alaska, USA Veteran

    Today I saw a Varied Thrush in the tree behind my studio - first one I've seen in years. Alas, no picture - my camera seems to be trying to die, but here's a stock photo. The bird I saw didn't look nearly this perky, sitting glumly in the wet snow.

    ShoshinlobsterRowan1980
  • ShoshinShoshin No one in particular Nowhere Special Veteran

    Walking back up from the beach this morning, ( making the most of 'impermanence' ,,,the warm Autumn weather) I was welcomed by hoards of Asian paper wasps flying up and down the wooden fence railing ...This time of year they tend to make their presence felt....They have no natural predators here in Aotearoa (NZ), so this phenomenon is going to get worse, before it gets better ie, Mother Nature steps in...

    It's starting to cloud over and is meant to rain this afternoon...Not much fun for the hoards of Easter holiday makers that flock to the island...Such is life on a small island...
    Europe (thus have I heard) has been having hot flushes...perhaps the sign of things to come...AKA summer.. :)

  • lobsterlobster Veteran
    edited April 2019

    There I was (this is a true story) in Lidl (a British cut price supermarket) trying to use their self check out machines. I think the auto tills are designed by Goofy. No matter how hard I try, how many accommodations of the machines I learn ... failure often ensues ...

    Slow bar code reading, items don't not go through whilst software is being updated. Does not like my ruck sack. Perfectly good money gets stuck or rejected etc.

    Ay caramba!

    I have used other systems at Waitrose and Sainsburies, which work adequately.

    Today the manager had to put the items through as I refused to split the shopping into two payments. It went through as one payment on the 'faulty machine'.

    The machine was semi-faulty. Badly designed software and hardware is the probable issue. Being a geek I like to use the machines but today I was told off for being aggressive ... >:)

    Basically I told them to open a cash till or to pass the items through the machine I had put half my shopping through. Staff have a key which uses a more trust metric scan. This was the solution used.

    Iz I bad Buddhist? What should my penance be? :3
    https://www.buzzfeed.com/scottybryan/20-reasons-why-self-service-checkouts-are-just-the-worst

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    I refuse to use them, unless it's absolutely necessary. One, they're designed to dispense with checkout assistants, thereby causing a drop in staff numbers and employment, and Two, yes, they're unreliable, open to abuse by less honest customers, and technologically entirely inadequate to cope with 'human' situations (such as weight of own bags, fruit removed from plastic packaging, that kind of thing) so i entirely support your position, @lobster!

    Kundo
  • lobsterlobster Veteran
    edited April 2019

    Bravo @federica

    Thank for the support. <3 I will have to start using Aldi. Especially as during this mornings fiasco I was charged for five choc bars, when only getting four. This should be a capital offence ... >:)

    I use Aldi because they have organic milk and we get though quite a lot ...
    Now I have to write to Aldi head office in Germany.

    Liebe Lidl Führer,
    [lobster pauses ...]
    ... actually they probably speak English ...
    :3

    federicaJeroenKundo
  • GardenerGardener ch4 4pp New

    Hello everyone, I am new here, but haven't figured out how to post on the newbie thread...so I'm announcing myself here. I live in UK.

    Somehow I have started on a journey. This includes taking inspiration from my daughter, who as usual goes first in many things...and this time she has decided to become vegetarian. So today, whilst listening to you tube vid on 'karma' I turned a corner somehow and am learning how to make brioche buns for butter bean burgers.

    all best everyone
    G.x

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited April 2019

    Welcome, @Gardener. I might presume that your forum name suggests you are green-fingered? We have a massive range of threads discussing all manner of things, including a Gardening thread. Feel free to jump in anywhere, read, comment and contribute!
    This thread will doubtless be immensely useful to you now, too!
    Nice to meet you!

  • Lee82Lee82 Veteran

    Evening all, I'm off to a classical music event tonight with my wife, child free! It's called Spectacular Classics and has lights, lasers and an indoor firework display! Should be a great night, enjoy your weekends!

    lobsterKundo
  • GardenerGardener ch4 4pp New

    thanks Federica hello, hello thanks for welcome yes will check out gardening thread...G x

  • update on my letter to the head of lidl:

    Their new CEO is head of schwarz (parent company) in Italy. Sadly the previous version was ousted by the usual power plays and resignations ...

    I am contacting the relevant EU contacts individually.
    My missing chocolate bar is unacceptable.

    Hail Hydra :3

    https://m.andnowuknow.com/quick-dish/reports-lidl-ceo-jesper-hojer-resigns-unexpectedly/robert-schaulis/62394

    https://europa.eu/european-union/contact/institutions-bodies_en

  • lobsterlobster Veteran
    edited April 2019

    Somehow I have started on a journey.

    <3

    me too

    ?

    Welcome.

    ... here is something not for you ?
    http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2008/02/tozan-ryokais-verses-on-five-ranks.html

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    We have something The USA don't have....?

    In the UK, we have an excellent product for cleaning domestic ovens and grills, called 'Oven Pride'. It's amazing.

    When I moved into my old apartment, the free-standing cooker had been left in a shocking state by the previous tenants - they'd been there 4 years and I swear that they hadn't cleaned the oven or grill section ever. It was utterly revolting, and I can't even begin to describe the filth without retching...
    Apparently, the Leasing Agency had retained part of their deposit, in reparation - but of course, they never remedied the matter, preferring to keep the money...

    We asked for the unit to be replaced, which they eventually did about 3 months after we moved in, (it had the top hob shield missing, the oven door was cracked and it had a foot missing, propped up by a couple of pieces of roof tile!) but in the meantime, I absolutely HAD to clean the thing, in order to be able to use it. (I subsequently discovered the oven had a light, but it was so obscured by the build up of burnt-on food and oil, that it was completely ineffective....!)

    I bought this Oven Pride oven cleaner, and one afternoon, spent about a half hour liberally painting it onto every exposed surface of the oven, grill, shelves - the lot.
    The following morning, suitably protected by safety goggles, gloves, an overall and a plastic sheet on the floor, I set about removing the resulting sludge. Within an hour, the whole thing looked as good as new. I needed 3 changes of hot water, and had to throw the used cloths away - but the oven, grill and all accessories were pristine. Shiny, perfect, gleaming and as if brand new. I kid you not.

    BUT here's another thing: (@lobster, you may find this useful!)

    For Christmas, my hubby bought me a beautiful, antique, one-of-a-kind moveable fireplace grate (it stands on 4 feet [not visible] and has a central top carrying handle [Just visible] with a wooden grip section).

    It's French, he bought it on etsy, and it was shipped over within a week of purchase. It's a wonderful conversation piece, dating from around the 1890's to around 1920...
    However, it's covered in a silver metallic paint, called Hammerite. It actually doesn't look all that nice, either, so I decided to strip it, take it back to the original cast iron, and then polish it with graphite metal stove and grate polish. Which would be more traditional, and in keeping with the item.
    Now, there's a problem. Paint stripper will not remove hammerite. Most paints are acrylic based, but hammerite is silicone based, so paint strippers are ineffective, to say the least. You might as well douse the thing with water and hope for the best.
    You know what works like an absolute charm to remove hammerite?

    That right.
    Oven Pride.
    I contains caustic soda and other elements which combined, deal with hammerite as if it was watercolour paint.
    So: if you have an oven with 4 years' worth of gunk all over it, or a stubborn hammerite finish you need to strip - buy Oven Pride!

    Bunkslobster
  • ShoshinShoshin No one in particular Nowhere Special Veteran

    Sunbeams sparkling on the water....

    Autumn's cooler weather has finally arrived, the ocean today was refreshingly cold...maybe the last skinny dip for the season...

    Change is inevitable...suffering is optional

    lobsterKundoVastmind
  • KundoKundo Sydney, Australia Veteran

    @Shoshin I'm impatiently waiting for autumn to start acting like autumn and cool down :anguished:

    ShoshinBunks
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    Went to see Avengers: Endgame....

    ...Meh....

    lobster
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    @federica said:
    Went to see Avengers: Endgame....

    ...Meh....

    I have much the same reaction. A lot of the things that used to interest me no longer hold my attention these days, superhero movies seem to have gotten a bit old hat...

    The film I enjoyed the most recently was The Sea of Trees, about a man who goes to commit suicide in a famed Japanese forest but meets another man wandering there and decides to try and help him.

    lobster
  • lobsterlobster Veteran
    edited May 2019

    ah ha @federica
    It was not just me. It is the biggest financial success ever. Too long. Did not find Thor or neo hulk funny.

    Best film review ever ... meh x 2 ;)

  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    I wanted to share this piece from Douglas Harding’s writings, which you might find entertaining since it is an interesting demonstration of what we are...

    https://o-meditation.com/category/douglas-harding/

  • lobsterlobster Veteran

    Congratulations @Vastmind ???

    Vastmind
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    @Vastmind said:
    Got a promotion at work! ??. And in true government style, less work for more money, hahaha. I’m really embracing the change overall though. I had been in the same unit for 13 years, and was burnt out from the work and the people and recognized that I was sitting in complacency and needed to go. The first job I applied for, I got selected!

    Yes, it seems to be a global trend... Damned if I know what our Council representatives do all day, but they've got a nice fat pension waiting for them once they retire from their 20-hours-a-week hard graft!! :lol:
    Really happy for you though @Vastmind . Know you've been through the mill and back, so it's nice to have some good news for you!

    VastmindBunks
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