Wiggins

Without commenting on anyone's actual blog, I often wonder whether the difference between how people seem on a blog/forum and then in real life is in some way to do with how little we write these days? No longer living in a world of constant letter writing to other real people who will respond or come & talk to you if the letter is not nice, we are not used to expressing personal ideas or feelings in writing to others. When I write comments, I am often worried afterwards that what I wrote was not as clear as it should have been & that being read by strangers who dont know me & the way I think or express myself may consider it rude or snobbish or something... While most people say they write their blogs for themselves, they still make it online & public, so other people may read it (yes, at their own risk). But people get het up & hurt by all sorts of things that others cannot see or understand, and reading someone's writing, especially if that person treats it as for themselves, if not precisely personal, can be less clear than if you talked to them. I'll go away & worry about this now.

Speaking as someone who attends a cancer unit for non smoking based cancer, I find the stink outside from the smokers makes a horrible visit worse. I also get furious at people who could do something to help their health (if they are not terminal) & who fail to do, when I can't.

Thank you for the funny! I always find the term hosepipe ban one of those funny foreign terms - we go for water restrictions, and should have more...

My experience is that besides some academic types fostering unpractical type behaviour bc they think it adorable or summat (the number Ive come across at times who claim not to be able to cook or the like), is that they seem to get away with it: when he was doing his doctorate, Dr Wiggins would call me saying he'd once again forgotten his keys or lunch or the like, and my boss would say O how cute & academic & I would say how stupid & useless (t be fair, Dr Wiggins agreed with me) - it's part of the role, so people let them get away with it, whereas a plumber who got so engrossed in what she was reading during lunch break that the toilet was assembled wrong would just loose too much money...

Is there a way one could substitute a fish tank for the cistern? - some people may find them more aesthetically acceptable.

When living away from Australia, what I missed most was the light - it is interesting what you find is the special thing for you...

You missed Midsummer in Australia? It's repeated forever and a day here now...

While not on a boat, we have cardboard flat-packable speakers that dont need power & plug straight into the ipods - from Muji, although not sure if they make them anymore. The sound is far better than you'd think, and they're useful for hospital stays & the like...

I had read somewhere about using clove oil on mould & as an inhibitor - we used it once & it seemed to work a bit, but the main benefit, according to Dr Wiggins (who got to do the work as it was too high for me) was that the bathroom smelt of burbon (sp?) for some time...

Or teach them to fix the engine for you...

The main benefit of having a cat is to your ego - you get to know your place very quickly & dont go around thinking highly of yourself for anything other than tin opening abilities. Our cat Widmerpool is too clean to sit in his litter - he balances on the edge of the container, which means we have a paver in it to stop it tipping everywhere...he found a rat outside yesterday, but gave up when it was time to come in for lunch.

To return to some of the suggestions here about making meat-eaters kill their own meat - this is a topic that is causing some concern among Australian animal rights activists & the RSPCA - our live exports of sheep to the middle east: the cruise isnt first class, and then the sheep are (eventually) often bought by individuals, taken home (in a car), and kept on a balcony or in a court yard until being butchered by whoever (not going into religious forms) - they dont necessarily know what to do, and the animals suffer horribly. We make the choice to eat a little, organic, cared for meat - but it's a compromise we can afford, and not everyone can. People who harm those weaker & reliant upon them are not proper people...

That's cute - a feral pest here, but a cute feral pest. We keep our cat in at night to protect him from the local wildlife...

dont know what the comment was, and am not saying anything about anyone, but do wonder why changing the term good manners to political correctness means that people shouldnt be polite anymore...

I read that blog entry via a link somewhere - they seem, like some others here, to have believed the advertising. And not to have seen the adverse comments. A couple of people have made comments to the entry to which they have responded. I do not see what their religion has to do with this.

I am mid 30s & frail for boring medical reasons - I have only just stopped wearing a neck brace all the time. I noticed, when at the shops, it was more likely to be teenagers (including the dreaded young males) who avoided running into me with bikes, supermarket trolleys, or generally crowding an obviously unstable person, whereas several times I was all but knocked over by women my mother's age, who also seem to feel that they are entitled to stare in a way that teenagers dont... This is of course a generalisation, but have noticed at other times - such as when having chemo & looking funny - that the same happens. When out with me, family found that the ones who were gaping at the freak (me) were considerably older & (vast assumption) probably the sort who condemned youths for their bad behaviour...

you could put in lego arches & the like, and include little scenes of people in your shoes - they would be excellent to wear for medical appointments, giving you something to play with in the waiting room...

It is lovely seeing how everyone offers advice, help, cups of tea... SC is very lucky in many ways.

seven pounds seventy four - poor Widmerpool, he'd be mortified...

It's lovely that you are so concerned for your cat. Sorry about the other one. Cats are wonderful.

All cats are eccentric, but a bathing cat is rather odd - goodness me. Ours just likes the shower after use...