Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.
Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
Not that I wouldn't take the morphine myself for the pain, it can often make a patient more emotionally vulnerable than they would normally be, which can be difficult for the unprepared caregivers.
I don't think anyone (well apart from those with sadistic tendencies) would like seeing a loved one suffer physical pain or for that matter any sentient being suffering pain...hence why many would want to use any means possible to alleviate their loved ones suffering/pain...
This I guess will also depend on whether or not the loved one has specifically requested no pain killer medication...
Well it's my birthday today and one of the nice jurors bought me a birthday present, plus a packet of Macaron biscuits in place of a birthday cake. Very sweet of her to do this ❤️
The last time I was selected for jury duty , my birthday was also during the trial...
Thanks folks.....
Jury service is like working 9 to 5 Monday to Friday ....my ferry ride over this morning...
If the weather is fine the ferry ride is quite pleasant, it's been good all week, but started to rain today when the ferry arrived in Auckland....but cleared up again later...
Finished for the weekend...Two cruise ships here for the weekend, this means lots of visitors heading to the island...
Yesterday, pleased to visit Tooting Commons. Red eared terrapins the size of dinner plates sunbathing. A friendly Dunnock wading, (see enclosed pic). An out of control poodle trying to haplessly catch an Egyptian Goose. Stick to sticks Benton type hunter dogee. Furious owner shouting, “Piddle, Piddle”. Yep Piddle the poodle.
Was not as muddy as expected. Fish were jumping. The traumatised geese were seen later being hand fed after their not so narrow escape. I think they were playing up to get a free meal and some sympathy … Cynical moi?
Anyways …
I needed a walk after the first stage of setting up my new Ryzen3 desktop. You will be happy as I was, to know, the computer from Ebuyer was delivered in a 100% electric van from DPD.
Soon all deliveries will have to be like this in London. Yeah bebe, smell the Spring air! Our much maligned Mayor is forcing clean air on the monoxide poisoners. Green Urbanites are our future IMHO …
I managed to get into the bias … eh BIOS but my SD Manjaro Linux boot install card is only getting as far as “grub rescue »”. Do I have the neurones and #perseverance to set it up again. I hope so dear readers. Been using Gparted to create two partitions. I hate using the command line but hey ho, may have to [lobster weeps self pitying croc tears] Oh dear speaking computer nerdish ... sorry
Remember to smile like the joker. Pray like an atheist and be kind like there is no dystopia worth Greater Thunburging over ...
I have set up a simple Ethernet connected Linux computer from which to manage my hosted instance of Mastodon, Open Source Buddhism, wonderment and alternatives to mainstream bleating.
Took me two days to set up the Linux powered computer to my liking.
Next I will probably use https://www.gandi.net/en-GB to help server hosting, as it is recommended by the Team behind the excellent Thunderbird and Firefox FOSS. I am trying to use Free and Open Source Software, as every Sangha supporter might like to ...
There are good people, who wish to make a freer, more supportive, inclusive, peaceful world. I will help to the best of my limitations, Onward and upward, sideways and inward ...
2
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
@Jeroen said:
It seems my stepfather is entering his final days… the doctor was here this morning, she said he has just a few days left, they will bring in a morphine pump setup and a nurse to manage the pain.
I thought I would post an update. My stepfather is still clinging to life while his organs are slowly failing. His bowel function has ceased, and he is no longer conscious. But his heart function is strong and he might wel last until Tuesday.
Life is tenacious. My father died in a Catholic hospice. He refused his morphine and died the next day. I hope everyone around your stepfather is supported. My mother died a year and half ago. Once they are gone, hopefully we remember the sacrifices and efforts they made to raise us ...
3
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
@Jeroen said:
I thought I would post an update. My stepfather is still clinging to life while his organs are slowly failing. His bowel function has ceased, and he is no longer conscious. But his heart function is strong and he might wel last until Tuesday.
My stepfather passed away early this morning. My mother and I came downstairs around 6 to find he was no longer breathing, but the body was still warm. It has now cooled. It was very quiet, there was a hush, very meditative.
”Transient alas; are all component things,
Subject are they to birth and then decay
Having gained birth to death the life flux swings
Bliss truly dawns when unrest dies away !”
Rangitoto (volcanic) island...If it decides to blow its top, it would take out most of Auckland and many of the surrounding islands including the one I live on ...
The Devonport Naval base (home of the NZ Royal Navy)
Yesterday I met a young German woman on my way up from the beach after having a dip and sun soak. She was at the half way look out point, taking photos. I offered to take a photo of her whilst she sat on the bench which overlooked the ocean...
Walking back up the track, we got chatting. She spoke almost perfect English (even had a bit of an English accent) and when I commented on how good her English was, she said she can even switch to an American accent if she is speaking with Americans...(I'm in awe of people who can speak different languages fluently )
When she first told me that she was from Hamburg Germany, I spoke some German with her,(I know just enough German to buy things and for travelling around, but not for real conversation) I told her that I had lived in Germany for a while back in the early 70s, in Lubeck, not far from Hamburg and worked at the local youth hostel there( that's where I learnt a bit of German)..She said she was impressed with my German... (maybe she was just being polite )
Anyhow her name was Däta which I found quite interesting, I have never heard of a person being called Däta before...it was spelt the same as Data but with an umlaut over the first "ä"...
Well the trial is finally over, it has taken two and half weeks, two and half days of deliberation....So after thirteen days travelling back and forth on the ferry I finally caught a glimpse of a dolphin on this morning's trip over...
On my phone, the video is quite clear, but for some reason when I downloaded it to YouTube the quality is not the best, but you should be able to just see it breaking the water surface to the right of the centre of video...at the two second mark...
What busy little bees wasps (Asian paper wasps ...quite a large well established nest)
Every year foundresses build a nest or two on the rungs on my neighbour's roof....
@Kotishka said:
Looks so wild and untouched. You must have strict building / construction laws there
We do. but if one has money, one can build whatever one wants, because money talks, and sadly, with this new right wing government it will soon be wherever one wants too...
A few years back a multi millionaire, decided to build a large house overlooking the ocean and at the time there were restrictions in place to stop people building dwellings which block the views of neighbouring properties..
The building in question was meant to have a flat roof so it would not block the view...Then one day we could see the builder building a gable roof blocking out much of the neighbours ocean view... Money talks...
It's vacant for most of the year, one very rarely sees signs of life in there..
Yes that's true, there are corrupt politicians in all political parties....but from my personal observation of political parties in Aotearoa, at least left wing governments do make an effort to improve the quality of life for the less fortunate...
This morning as I was approaching the end of the beach I could hear sounds coming from holes in the embankment.
Native Sacred Kingfisher ( Kōtare in the Maori language) nests ...You can just make out the sounds of the young ones in the nest...
Beautiful morning with a cool Autumn nip in the air...
After the jolk, I took the ferry over to Auckland to attend another Palestinian Solidarity rally, however the rally had moved to a different location due to it being St Patrick's Day...St Patrick's day celebrations were being held in the square and they were also having a parade along Queen street...
After the rally I walked up Queen street to watch the SPD parade ..
Quite fitting really, Ireland being in solidarity with the Palestinians...
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
High Flight
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air . . .
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
Met up with the new manager of the place I've been volunteering at for "WOW" 17 years, I had lost track of when I started to volunteer there ( time flies when you're having fun)
Anyhow we had a cuppa in one of the local cafes and a chat about the kind of work we do for the community....She's from Lewisham, South East London, just a couple of suburbs away from where I grew up, many many moons ago...Her and her partner only moved to the island in December, but has been in living Aotearoa since 2011...
After our catch up chat...I did a bit of op shopping, found myself a nice pair of Niki trainers good as new for $5, somebody had just donated them to the shop that morning ( I was in the right place at the right time...one person's junk is another's treasure). Then I started to walk home...
On the way I stopped to admire the view, from the village lookout point , and the seagull was also admiring its own view ...of people eating in the cafe, then it decided to pose for the camera....
It's a beautiful Autumn's day ( today is the first day of Autumn)..
Walked into the village earlier, on the way back I stopped to admire the ocean colours..
1
Fosdickin its eye are mirrored far off mountainsAlaska, USAVeteran
I always wonder, seeing your pictures, how the air feels, how it smells, in your part of the world - and all the things that the dimension of photography cannot capture.
@Fosdick said:
I always wonder, seeing your pictures, how the air feels, how it smells, in your part of the world - and all the things that the dimension of photography cannot capture.
The Six Sense Bases (indriya or āyatana)
The eye & seeing (cakkhu)
The ear & hearing (sota)
The nose & smelling (ghāna)
The tongue & tasting (jivhā)
The body & sensing (kāya)
The heart/mind & cognizing (mana)
Yes, it seems that only four of our senses/consciousnesses actually comes into play when watching something on our screens...in a sense (pun intended) the other two do through imagination...but I guess it's all kind of imagination
Imagination is the production of sensations, feelings and thoughts informing oneself. These experiences can be re-creations of past experiences, such as vivid memories with imagined changes, or completely invented and possibly fantastic scenes.
What one sees, what one hears how it makes one feel (sensations) , what is seen and heard forms the stories of what it must feel like, what it must smell like, as one's mind flicks through the memory bank to find/imagine similar sense experiences one may have had ...The salty smell of the ocean, the warm sun's rays, the cool ocean breeze and so on...
Yesterday I found a German wasp in the kitchen on a curtain by the window,
I caught it in my empty honey jar I use as an insect catcher.. I released it outside...
This afternoon I caught a honeybee on a window in the lounge, using the same catcher..
At first I thought it was a hoverfly (some hoverflies look like honeybees) but on closer inspection, it was a honeybee...
Not long after I released the honeybee, a little fantail came fluttering up onto the deck and perched on the clothes horse..
It wanted to come inside, but once inside they tend to make themselves at home and it's hard to get them to leave...So I stood in the doorway blocking its entrance...
This Asian paper wasp came inside around four days ago when there was a cold snap and was resting up just above the window in the lounge close to where I caught the German wasp (it was actually resting there when I caught the German wasp)...The temperature has picked up warmth again and so this wasp become active again...
The squawking in the background (25 seconds in) was coming from a flock of Eastern Rosella parrots, something must have disturbed up in the trees...
The Asian paper wasp most probably came from the nest on my neighbour's roof,
(this video is from the 1st of March)
... which more or less has died out/been deserted now...
Comments
Not that I wouldn't take the morphine myself for the pain, it can often make a patient more emotionally vulnerable than they would normally be, which can be difficult for the unprepared caregivers.
I don't think anyone (well apart from those with sadistic tendencies) would like seeing a loved one suffer physical pain or for that matter any sentient being suffering pain...hence why many would want to use any means possible to alleviate their loved ones suffering/pain...
This I guess will also depend on whether or not the loved one has specifically requested no pain killer medication...
Well it's my birthday today and one of the nice jurors bought me a birthday present, plus a packet of Macaron biscuits in place of a birthday cake. Very sweet of her to do this ❤️
The last time I was selected for jury duty , my birthday was also during the trial...
Happy Birthday @Shoshin1
Happy Birthday indeed! Good luck with the jury duty.
Happy Birthday @Shoshin1 🥳🥳🎈🎈
Thanks folks.....
Jury service is like working 9 to 5 Monday to Friday ....my ferry ride over this morning...
If the weather is fine the ferry ride is quite pleasant, it's been good all week, but started to rain today when the ferry arrived in Auckland....but cleared up again later...
Finished for the weekend...Two cruise ships here for the weekend, this means lots of visitors heading to the island...
Morning and happy delayed bday wishes from las Canarias
A well deserved break from time spent commuting over to the city all week....
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/dunnock
Hi everyone,
Yesterday, pleased to visit Tooting Commons. Red eared terrapins the size of dinner plates sunbathing. A friendly Dunnock wading, (see enclosed pic). An out of control poodle trying to haplessly catch an Egyptian Goose. Stick to sticks Benton type hunter dogee. Furious owner shouting, “Piddle, Piddle”. Yep Piddle the poodle.
Was not as muddy as expected. Fish were jumping. The traumatised geese were seen later being hand fed after their not so narrow escape. I think they were playing up to get a free meal and some sympathy … Cynical moi?
Anyways …
I needed a walk after the first stage of setting up my new Ryzen3 desktop. You will be happy as I was, to know, the computer from Ebuyer was delivered in a 100% electric van from DPD.
Soon all deliveries will have to be like this in London. Yeah bebe, smell the Spring air! Our much maligned Mayor is forcing clean air on the monoxide poisoners. Green Urbanites are our future IMHO …
I managed to get into the bias … eh BIOS but my SD Manjaro Linux boot install card is only getting as far as “grub rescue »”. Do I have the neurones and #perseverance to set it up again. I hope so dear readers. Been using Gparted to create two partitions. I hate using the command line but hey ho, may have to [lobster weeps self pitying croc tears] Oh dear speaking computer nerdish ... sorry
Remember to smile like the joker. Pray like an atheist and be kind like there is no dystopia worth Greater Thunburging over ...
Dear Friends of the Lobster computer nerd,
I dunz it!
I have set up a simple Ethernet connected Linux computer from which to manage my hosted instance of Mastodon, Open Source Buddhism, wonderment and alternatives to mainstream bleating.
Took me two days to set up the Linux powered computer to my liking.
Next I will probably use https://www.gandi.net/en-GB to help server hosting, as it is recommended by the Team behind the excellent Thunderbird and Firefox FOSS. I am trying to use Free and Open Source Software, as every Sangha supporter might like to ...
There are good people, who wish to make a freer, more supportive, inclusive, peaceful world. I will help to the best of my limitations, Onward and upward, sideways and inward ...
I thought I would post an update. My stepfather is still clinging to life while his organs are slowly failing. His bowel function has ceased, and he is no longer conscious. But his heart function is strong and he might wel last until Tuesday.
Life is tenacious. My father died in a Catholic hospice. He refused his morphine and died the next day. I hope everyone around your stepfather is supported. My mother died a year and half ago. Once they are gone, hopefully we remember the sacrifices and efforts they made to raise us ...
My stepfather passed away early this morning. My mother and I came downstairs around 6 to find he was no longer breathing, but the body was still warm. It has now cooled. It was very quiet, there was a hush, very meditative.
My condolences @Jeroen
”Transient alas; are all component things,
Subject are they to birth and then decay
Having gained birth to death the life flux swings
Bliss truly dawns when unrest dies away !”
Condolences to you and your family @Jeroen
Rangitoto (volcanic) island...If it decides to blow its top, it would take out most of Auckland and many of the surrounding islands including the one I live on ...
The Devonport Naval base (home of the NZ Royal Navy)
Things to do on the beach ...
https://mymodernmet.com/jon-foreman-beach-installations/
Condolences to both you and your family @Jeroen
Yesterday I met a young German woman on my way up from the beach after having a dip and sun soak. She was at the half way look out point, taking photos. I offered to take a photo of her whilst she sat on the bench which overlooked the ocean...
Walking back up the track, we got chatting. She spoke almost perfect English (even had a bit of an English accent) and when I commented on how good her English was, she said she can even switch to an American accent if she is speaking with Americans...(I'm in awe of people who can speak different languages fluently )
When she first told me that she was from Hamburg Germany, I spoke some German with her,(I know just enough German to buy things and for travelling around, but not for real conversation) I told her that I had lived in Germany for a while back in the early 70s, in Lubeck, not far from Hamburg and worked at the local youth hostel there( that's where I learnt a bit of German)..She said she was impressed with my German... (maybe she was just being polite
)
Anyhow her name was Däta which I found quite interesting, I have never heard of a person being called Däta before...it was spelt the same as Data but with an umlaut over the first "ä"...
Well how's that for a useless announcement....
Is she a bodhissatva? Trying to save lost souls from hell?
"Wow...that was shit !" 😄
Well the trial is finally over, it has taken two and half weeks, two and half days of deliberation....So after thirteen days travelling back and forth on the ferry I finally caught a glimpse of a dolphin on this morning's trip over...
On my phone, the video is quite clear, but for some reason when I downloaded it to YouTube the quality is not the best, but you should be able to just see it breaking the water surface to the right of the centre of video...at the two second mark...
Looks so wild and untouched. You must have strict building / construction laws there
There are a few small uninhabited islands in the Gulf, some of which are wildlife sanctuaries, some of them have rangers living on them...
Beautiful morning, beautiful puffy fluffy clouds...
What busy little bees wasps (Asian paper wasps ...quite a large well established nest)
Every year foundresses build a nest or two on the rungs on my neighbour's roof....
We do. but if one has money, one can build whatever one wants, because money talks, and sadly, with this new right wing government it will soon be wherever one wants too...
A few years back a multi millionaire, decided to build a large house overlooking the ocean and at the time there were restrictions in place to stop people building dwellings which block the views of neighbouring properties..
The building in question was meant to have a flat roof so it would not block the view...Then one day we could see the builder building a gable roof blocking out much of the neighbours ocean view... Money talks...
It's vacant for most of the year, one very rarely sees signs of life in there..
Pity...but left wing governments love money too!
They simply have a harder time admitting to it haha
Yes that's true, there are corrupt politicians in all political parties....but from my personal observation of political parties in Aotearoa, at least left wing governments do make an effort to improve the quality of life for the less fortunate...
This morning as I was approaching the end of the beach I could hear sounds coming from holes in the embankment.
Native Sacred Kingfisher ( Kōtare in the Maori language) nests ...You can just make out the sounds of the young ones in the nest...
On this morning's jolk
The sun poked a hole through the cloud
It's gonna rain!
What a way to start off in the office before heading to the hotel. Thanks!
Edit: Wow, back in the day when you would leave LETTERS to inform people.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CS0-d7acCP4
Yesterday afternoon I spotted Welcome Swallows having an aerial feast at the front of my place...
Seize the day...
Do it anyway...
Beautiful morning with a cool Autumn nip in the air...
After the jolk, I took the ferry over to Auckland to attend another Palestinian Solidarity rally, however the rally had moved to a different location due to it being St Patrick's Day...St Patrick's day celebrations were being held in the square and they were also having a parade along Queen street...
After the rally I walked up Queen street to watch the SPD parade ..
Quite fitting really, Ireland being in solidarity with the Palestinians...
Beautiful rainbow on this morning's jolk...
High Flight
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air . . .
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
— John Gillespie Magee
Met up with the new manager of the place I've been volunteering at for "WOW" 17 years, I had lost track of when I started to volunteer there ( time flies when you're having fun)
Anyhow we had a cuppa in one of the local cafes and a chat about the kind of work we do for the community....She's from Lewisham, South East London, just a couple of suburbs away from where I grew up, many many moons ago...Her and her partner only moved to the island in December, but has been in living Aotearoa since 2011...
After our catch up chat...I did a bit of op shopping, found myself a nice pair of Niki trainers good as new for $5, somebody had just donated them to the shop that morning ( I was in the right place at the right time...one person's junk is another's treasure). Then I started to walk home...
On the way I stopped to admire the view, from the village lookout point , and the seagull was also admiring its own view ...of people eating in the cafe, then it decided to pose for the camera....
It's a beautiful Autumn's day ( today is the first day of Autumn)..
This morning's cloud formation on my jolk...
This afternoon's cloud formation after work...
Today I had my Head in the Clouds
Walked into the village earlier, on the way back I stopped to admire the ocean colours..
I always wonder, seeing your pictures, how the air feels, how it smells, in your part of the world - and all the things that the dimension of photography cannot capture.
The Six Sense Bases (indriya or āyatana)
The eye & seeing (cakkhu)
The ear & hearing (sota)
The nose & smelling (ghāna)
The tongue & tasting (jivhā)
The body & sensing (kāya)
The heart/mind & cognizing (mana)
Yes, it seems that only four of our senses/consciousnesses actually comes into play when watching something on our screens...in a sense (pun intended) the other two do through imagination...but I guess it's all kind of imagination
What one sees, what one hears how it makes one feel (sensations) , what is seen and heard forms the stories of what it must feel like, what it must smell like, as one's mind flicks through the memory bank to find/imagine similar sense experiences one may have had ...The salty smell of the ocean, the warm sun's rays, the cool ocean breeze and so on...
It looks like rain is on its way...
...but you never can really tell with Autumn weather...
Yesterday I found a German wasp in the kitchen on a curtain by the window,
I caught it in my empty honey jar I use as an insect catcher.. I released it outside...
This afternoon I caught a honeybee on a window in the lounge, using the same catcher..
At first I thought it was a hoverfly (some hoverflies look like honeybees) but on closer inspection, it was a honeybee...
Not long after I released the honeybee, a little fantail came fluttering up onto the deck and perched on the clothes horse..
It wanted to come inside, but once inside they tend to make themselves at home and it's hard to get them to leave...So I stood in the doorway blocking its entrance...
Beautiful Autumn day...Bit of a nip in the air first thing...
This Asian paper wasp came inside around four days ago when there was a cold snap and was resting up just above the window in the lounge close to where I caught the German wasp (it was actually resting there when I caught the German wasp)...The temperature has picked up warmth again and so this wasp become active again...
The squawking in the background (25 seconds in) was coming from a flock of Eastern Rosella parrots, something must have disturbed up in the trees...
The Asian paper wasp most probably came from the nest on my neighbour's roof,
(this video is from the 1st of March)
... which more or less has died out/been deserted now...