Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Examples: Monday, today, last week, Mar 26, 3/26/04
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!

1135136137139141

Comments

  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran
    edited May 21

    Anger leads to seriousness. Seriousness leads to ruthlessness. Ruthlessness leads to suffering. Suffering leads to hate. To paraphrase Yoda.

  • howhow Veteran Veteran

    @Shoshin1 said:
    I guess some of you Northern Hemisphere guys and gals will be coming out of hibernation around now....

    Every year as you start relaxing on a sunny beach, Northern dudes are pulling out their winter apparel. As your last tourist has finally left you with a quieter island, our tourists are disembarking from passing cruise liners.
    Your pictures of your day to day walks are a calendar reminder for us northerners of that constant cycle of change.

    Shoshin1lobster
  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    I see these huge dogs out with their human companian most mornings. There are two of them most probably siblings, enjoying the beach walk and the ocean...

    And on the way home from work this afternoon, the clouds caught my eye

  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    Winter has started to infiltrate Autumn


    Its take over will be complete by the end of next week.(1st June)

  • KotishkaKotishka Veteran

    Turning into a solarpunx

    Vastmind
  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    Microexpressions

    It's hard to read somebody who has had botox...no surprises there ;)

    lobster
  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran
    edited May 31

    The last day of Autumn's sunrise...

    It's been surprisingly warm today... high of 18 *C ...

    A high of 19 *C is forecast for tomorrow the 1st of June... the official start of Southern Hemisphere Winter.

    DagobahZen
  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    What's in store for Aotearoa over the next few days ...weather-wise...

    It could be worse...

  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    Ha Ha Ha Suckers

    lobsterDagobahZenVastmind
  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    Sub-tropical winds from New Caledonia coming down the northern parts of the North Island..

    Yep that's about right...it was quite warm this morning...

    DagobahZen
  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    I went to another rally this afternoon to show my support, most of today has been warm and sunny...On the way over on the ferry I checked the weather forecast ...Severe thunderstorm warning and areas about and near the Hauraki Gulf (I'm on one of the islands in the Hauraki Gulf) are most likely to experience the downpours which will bring heavy rain 25-40mm per hour. It's expected to start around 9pm this evening and continue on to 2am..

    Well for many locals who are low on water, this can be a good thing (most of the island's dwellings are on tank water)....

    The winds have started to pick up...here we go again...

    DagobahZenlobster
  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    Well there's been a drop I temperature this morning, but some bra souls are still swimming...
    I enjoyed observing the sun's rays through the cloud...

    As you can tell it was quite windy and the ocean choppy but still a beautiful morning...

    marcitkoFosdickDagobahZen
  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    In the local Island newspaper today, there was a letter in the 'letters to the editor' section about a Palestinian plastic surgeon who lives here in Aotearoa and works at the national burns unit in a hospital in South Auckland, she was on the island last Saturday with her family, visiting our local Saturday market.
    She stopped by the Palestinian solidarity stall, which is there every Saturday and is run by a couple of local islanders...(it was one of the locals running the stall who wrote the letter). Anyhow, the doctor had just recently return from doing volunteer work at the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza, (she volunteers for the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians MAP ) along with the letter there was also a photo of her working along side Dr al-Maqadmeh who sadly was shot and killed by the IOF along with his mother earlier this year. following the occupation of the complex by the IOF...
    She is going to speak at the solidarity rally this coming Sunday...

    DagobahZen
  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran
    edited June 23

    I managed to speak with the plastic surgeon (who visited the island last Saturday), after she spoke at the rally today, it turns out she is British born to Palestinian parents. Her speech was quite an emotional one, she had to stop for a while when she was talking about her work with a team of international doctor/surgeons in Gaza who were training up six local Palestinian doctors, four of the local doctors her team trained have now been killed...
    She fly back to the UK soon and in September she plans to go back to Gaza, she did say that it is very difficult to get into Gaza...

    DagobahZen
  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    This morning the weather DJ played misty for me

    DagobahZenmarcitko
  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    This morning's sun breaking through the clouds

    Some locals are still swimming everyday...

  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    Had a nice day off island today....Had to catch two ferries to West Harbour to pick up a couple of Keffiyehs I ordered online... A percentage of the money from the sale goes to feeding Palestinian children in Gaza...

    I haven't been out to West Harbour in over 20 odd years...The ferry from downtown to West Harbour was quite a small ferry compared to the one's I normal catch into the city from the island...And I hadn't been under the harbour bridge in many years...I think the last time I was on a boat going under the bridge was for a work do cruise around the harbour, it must be over 25 years ago...Anyhow it was a pleasant day all round,,,

  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran
    edited June 27

    Tonight marks the welcoming of Matariki celebrations (Maori new year)...It's also a public holiday tomorrow...
    Early tomorrow morning (around 5.15am) some island locals are going down to the beach to welcome Matariki (to star gaze)... If I'm awake I may pop down, before I go for a jolk...It's meant to be clear skies so we should get a clear view of Matariki star cluster..

    The story of Matariki

  • howhow Veteran Veteran
    edited June 27

    Who else is going to be watching the Trump/ Biden debate tonight?
    Will anyone's lack of sanity on stage be the thing that moves the ambivalent toward voting where they otherwise wouldn't?
    I guess I'm mostly curious (again) for what Mr "T" offers over Mr. "B" that could swing the undecided to vote his way. I find it so strange that so many can see one thing where it plainly appears so different to me.

    Are we watching History in the re-making where "T" channels Nero in Rome's burning fall, while the millions of a country's heedless non-voters serenade it in a self-centered obliviousness?
    or
    can Biden awaken enough of its citizens to the spreading fire awaiting all of them?

    marcitkoJeroen
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran
    edited June 27

    Honestly I don’t think Trump is entirely sane. He has a streak of low cunning and political street smarts but he is categorically insane.

    how
  • marcitkomarcitko Veteran

    Thanks for the heads-up @how. It's at 3 in the morning for me so I'll watch a recording tomorrow. I'm definitely team B and share your (grave) concerns.

    how
  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    I just feel sorry for the sane Americans who's only choice is between dumb and dumber...
    What a political circus with two clown puppets and in the UK they have a similar situation ...Send in the clowns ...

    Don't bother, they're here...

    Jeroenlobster
  • howhow Veteran Veteran
    edited June 28

    I sat down to watch, knowing that debating skills are not really a necessary skill set that a president needs to do his job.

    But...
    I was shocked at Biden's tottering on his way to the podium and it just went downhill from there. When he started speaking I hoped someone had recently checked him for a UTI.
    He was easily flustered, endlessly repeating the same phrases, losing the endings of his own sentences, and had me angry that he was the **one **who arranged a televised debate that was going to cost him an election that he might have otherwise won.
    I like and respect Biden but like a lot of other Democrats in positions of power, somewhere he severely overestimated his own age-related decline to the detriment of his party. A man who cared more for his policies than his own place within them would have groomed a younger replacement and stepped aside long before it got to this point.

    Jeroenmarcitkolobsterperson
  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    What can I say.......Where's Spitting Image when you need them..

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

    @how said:
    I was shocked at Biden's tottering on his way to the podium and it just went downhill from there.

    I would still prefer him over Trump.

  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    Better the devil you know???

    With an unchecked mind (a mind filled with ignorance), we are all capable of committing great evil when in a position of power, and both men have acted in ways that prove this to be true.

    Power Corrupts! And Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely!

    lobster
  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    ...And when it comes to UK politricks

    It looks like nothing's changed...

  • marcitkomarcitko Veteran

    Well, this sucks.

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

    @Shoshin1 said:
    With an unchecked mind (a mind filled with ignorance), we are all capable of committing great evil when in a position of power, and both men have acted in ways that prove this to be true.

    “It seems that the higher powers of consciousness are helpless against the lower and ugly powers of politicians. The higher is always fragile, like a roseflower; you can destroy it with a stone. That does not mean that the stone becomes higher than the roseflower; it simply means the stone is unconscious of what it is doing.
    The crowds are unconscious of what they are doing, and the politicians belong to the crowd. They are their representatives. And when blind people are leading other blind people, it is almost impossible to wake them up; because the question is not only that they are asleep -- they are blind too.”

  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    Thus have I heard
    "It is not the will of the people; but the will of the politicians prompted by groups of professional lobbyists, interest groups and activists that reign in a democracy"
    ~ Frank Karsten & Karel Beckman Beyond Democracy~

  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    Meanwhile, those of us 🏴‍☠️ flying a difference flag
    Are happy to look for alternatives to the devils/mara irrelevance.

    Am supporting what will make a difference:

    • The good quiet
    • The local people needing help
    • The people far and wide needing support

    In other words. Have not watched the farcical. Did get the whole shower of would be ruler pamphlets delivered yesterday. Had a brief laff.

    Now back to changing the inner world… 😌🫶🦞

  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran
    edited June 29

    Call me cynical, but this debacle debate might serve as a convenient escape for 'Genocide Joe,' (get out of jail free card), citing reasons of cognitive decline aka senility...

    When the truth about the American government's complicity in the genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza comes to light, and 'Genocide Joe' has already been forced to step down, they will claim he wasn't in his right mind when he issued orders to supply more weapons of mass destruction to Israel and veto all attempts for a long-term ceasefire. And the government officials, as loyal and patriotic employees, will conveniently say they were 'just following orders of their commander-in- chief...

    The biggest loser in this debate is the American people...

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

    There have to be better candidates than an ancient and senile Biden in the whole Democratic Party, they just have to step forward. It could still be a win.

  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    Got treated to a display of dolphins in the bay this morning

    marcitkoFosdickVastmind
  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran
    edited July 10

    Talk about snail mail... I just received a postcard this morning from Jordan, from one of my son's and his wife ...No big deal....However they were in Jordan back in February 2020, four and half years ago.....

    Aotearoa went into lockdown late February 2020, so it may have been lost somewhere in the NZ postal system...Better late than never :)

    lobsterVastmindDagobahZenperson
  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    Ah ha! That is what I call enlightened service. Much better than whatsapp and other instances B)

    Shoshin1DagobahZen
  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran
    edited July 13

    At first I thought it was a Hobbit's holiday home, then I found out that it was a mobile Sauna for hire ...Groups of people hire it, when they take a dip in the cold ocean water over winter. It can be found at different beaches around the island..

    DagobahZen
  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    Another beautiful misty morning...


    The island is clouded in mystery mistery...

    Jolking through the thick mist kinda reminds me of this

    "Great Faith and Great Doubt are two ends of a spiritual walking stick. We grip one end with the grasp given to us by our Great Determination. We poke into the underbrush in the dark on our spiritual journey. This act is real spiritual practice -- gripping the Faith end and poking ahead with the Doubt end of the stick. If we have no Faith, we have no Doubt. If we have no Determination, we never pick up the stick in the first place."
    ~Sensei Sevan Ross~

    lobsterDagobahZen
  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    The mist didn't lift until mid-afternoon...

    I remember growing up in London when the smog was so thick you could only see around a metre or two in front of you...

    DagobahZen
  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    A close up on the mobile sauna ..

    https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hKEd65g6YIE

    It's quite tiny...like a Hobbit's home...

  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    As well as Buddha people, Bodhi terrapins etc we were glad to see juvenile Robin Bodhisattva. What a poser! On our London Common.

    FosdickShoshin1
  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    Thus had I heard and now also find true...

    lobsterFosdick
  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    Attended another solidarity rally this afternoon and on the ferry on the way back , the ferry captain slowed the ferry down as a pod of Orca (I only saw the one but the captain said a pod )passed across the bow...

    https://www.youtube.com/shorts/itPb9LW-YAs

    JeroenVastmindmarcitko
  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    Today, been rescuing my Lenova laptop.
    It came with Windows! No thank you!
    Installed Linux OS Manjaro but today was pleased to get EasyOS Linux on it.
    Despite the name EasyOS is not that easy for those new to Linux. However, it is largely based on Puppy Linux, which I am very familiar with
    https://easyos.org/

    I am a geeky penguin.
    Namu Amitabha

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

    Did you know that in Flanders installing a rainwater catching and reuse system is mandatory with all new houses? That is a tank with filters and a pump, and the water gets used for toilets, washing machines, outside water in the gardens and so on. They save nearly 40% on drinking water that way, which leads to lower water bills. Nearly 1 million homes now have the system installed.

    marcitkoKotishka
  • marcitkomarcitko Veteran

    @Shoshin1 said:
    Attended another solidarity rally this afternoon and on the ferry on the way back , the ferry captain slowed the ferry down as a pod of Orca (I only saw the one but the captain said a pod )passed across the bow...

    https://www.youtube.com/shorts/itPb9LW-YAs

    Wow, now that's cool! <3

    Shoshin1
  • howhow Veteran Veteran

    @Jeroen said:
    Did you know that in Flanders installing a rainwater catching and reuse system is mandatory with all new houses? That is a tank with filters and a pump, and the water gets used for toilets, washing machines, outside water in the gardens and so on. They save nearly 40% on drinking water that way, which leads to lower water bills. Nearly 1 million homes now have the system installed.

    This is a good practice of respect for the water we use
    but
    so long as humans continue to thoughtlessly increase our numbers beyond what a fixed eco system can sustain, this is only a cosmetic covering to a lemmings migration story.

    Fosdicklobster
  • LionduckLionduck Veteran

    Last March, yielding to needs of family, I acquired a new Mitsubishi Outlander.
    Come June, a third party took it out. <1k miles, totalled.
    Positive: The driver was well protected (5 airbags, proactive seat belt)
    The car gave it's all to protect my dtr.
    Auto insurance no longer needed
    Auto payments vanished
    Negative: Expected tours cancelled
    Dtr, though nothing broken, still had to get care for ongoing recovery.

    A car feels no pain and can be replaced.
    A person can not be replaced
    Life is sacred

    Peace to all

    marcitkoShoshin1FosdickKotishka
Sign In or Register to comment.