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Post by Bean on Oct 15, 2019 7:00:10 GMT
Oh I agree it's nice. It just doesn't seem to have taken off as much here. People can be a bit snobby about outdoor decorations, thinking they're tacky. And shows of patriotism can be seen negatively, as the people who put up England flags or the Union Jack have tended to be members of far right groups. It's different when there's a big football tournament on!
If you have a free ads listing, stick your unwanted cleaning products on there - I know a few people who have done it when they've gone green, and someone's come and taken it away to use themselves.
I sorted a couple more cupboards while I was making tea yesterday, so I think it's only the one under the sink left to do which has the cleaning stuff in. I've been using up most of the products to simplify with baking soda/ vinegar concoctions, so it shouldn't be too bad.
Having gone through the coat and shoe racks too, I've got a few trips worth for the charity shop (on foot - it'd be one in a car but I can take it a bit at a time over the course of the week!).
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Post by amber89 on Oct 15, 2019 9:10:38 GMT
Bean, you are motivating me to do some order in 2 drawers in the bedroom. There are those type of drawers where everything is thrown together: old phone cases, plane models, ear plugs....We even have the IKEA separators, for 5 years already, but never got the courage to dig in and clear up.
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 15, 2019 14:41:23 GMT
I have to take Peanut's winter boots to the charity shop. She wore the coat home, so daughter will have to deal with that. I'm going to go through my cleaning stuff today. Would never have thought to put it on Craigslist, which is about the only thing we have. Depending on the weather, we may put the box of stuff out at the edge of the road with a sign saying Free.
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Post by Bean on Oct 15, 2019 16:41:28 GMT
That'll be a nice and handy way to do it, I hope someone can use the stuff either way.
Good luck with your drawers, Amber! We had some drawers and cupboards like that (I've got it down to one small bag that I need to sort out) - you just have to make sure you don't start building up the debris again, as soon as you've cleared it!
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Post by amber89 on Oct 15, 2019 18:10:01 GMT
Ah, i wanted to ask, since i read in a thread the explanation regarding American football. What's the difference between american football and rugby? It always bugged me..
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 15, 2019 20:03:21 GMT
Different rules, uniforms, field markings, etc. Also a different type of ball used. Hard to explain in any more detail, as I don't know much about rugby.
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Post by Bean on Oct 16, 2019 7:08:46 GMT
And I don't know anything about either! The American football players certainly have more protective gear though - maybe they have fewer issues with concussions and injuries than we have in rugby?!
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 16, 2019 16:40:09 GMT
Yes, more protective gear, and since the concussions became such a big issue, with the lasting results being that some retired football players can't remember their own names, or have committed suicide, safety has become a big issue. It used to be that the team doctor filled the players full of pain killers, and sent them back out on the field. Not any more. Now they have to be seen by a team doctor for all injuries, and cleared by the team doctor before they can play again. Any head injuries require a concussion protocol that takes the player out for a good part of the game, or maybe for several games. There's a new helmet that is supposed to help prevent concussions, but any player struck in the head in any way still has to pass the concussion protocol, before returning the game.
That came about with NASCAR drivers, too, as they often get head injuries, not a hit to the head, but the vehicle hits a wall or another car with such force, the brain literally flops around in the skull. It killed one of NASCAR's most famous drivers, and as the concussion issue finally became big news, a lot of drivers talked about driving in races, when they were seeing double, or had vision loss, because there wasn't any protocol for them to be out of the car. Sort of, if they could walk, they could drive. One of the best drivers even left the sport saying he owed it to his wife and family not to have that happen to him, so it's become a really big issue.
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Post by Bean on Oct 17, 2019 7:59:04 GMT
They're taking head injuries more seriously here, but wearing head protection is still not mandatory in rugby. I know people know the risks going into sports, but I think when you're driven and competitive in any sport, you don't really appreciate the genuine risks - not just the immediate ones, but for later in life.
Boxing is another dodgy one for head injuries, but if really strong people want to repeatedly sock each other about the head, I'm not sure you can help them too much?!
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 17, 2019 19:46:37 GMT
I don't think the long term risk of head injuries was well understood until recently. Doctors knew it could cause problems, but tended to think, once it had healed, the brain was okay again. Doctors now know concussive head injuries have a cumulative effect on the brain, and the brain can only take so many concussions before it won't heal. We've had football players commit suicide, commit murders, or lose their memories because they were concussed too many times. How the permanently damaged brain reacts seems to differ by person. Football has changed the rules to forbid helmet to helmet contact, in an attempt to reduce concussions.
Soccer, your football, doesn't require any head gear at all. I don't know if that will come with even better understanding of concussions.
We lost electricity around 5 AM, due to the Nor'Easter. Internet is gone, too. Electricity but no internet returned sometime after 2 PM. I'm using my expensive minutes, so will check back later, hopefully with wifi.
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Post by Bean on Oct 18, 2019 7:02:58 GMT
Hope you don't have to wait too long to get your power back!
Is the issue of the US diplomat's wife, who was involved in a fatal road accident over here, making the news there? Her name's Anne Sacoolas, and the accident killed a teenage lad who was on a motorbike. She was interviewed after and told them she'd not leave the country while it was being investigated, but claimed diplomatic immunity and hotfooted it home. She's refusing to come back, and the US won't waive her diplomatic immunity. There's CCTV footage showing the car travelling on the wrong (right) side of the road just before the crash.
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 18, 2019 13:15:20 GMT
No! I haven't heard anything about that. I follow BBC World News, and haven't seen it on there, either. I'll look for it. Under our current administration I'm not at all surprised they won't hold her accountable. They don't hold themselves accountable for anything, either 😢
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Post by Bean on Oct 19, 2019 7:57:06 GMT
The boy's parents flew over to the US to meet with officials to try to find a way for her to be forced to face the proper process of the law. They ended up meeting Trump who said he wouldn't waive her diplomatic immunity, but was very sorry for their loss...
He also had the woman who was driving hidden away in a room at The White House and sprung it on them that she was there and wanted to meet them to apologise. Even more sensitively, there were a few press there waiting to capture the moment too?!
The parents were totally overwhelmed as they just want her to go back to the UK to help with the investigation, and to face the consequences if there are any - it wasn't about them wanting to meet the person who had run over their son. Having the idea of meeting her sprung upon them was very upsetting, especially knowing she had no intention to face up to things. So they passed on the offer.
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 19, 2019 16:04:50 GMT
Grrrrr! I could have told them he not only wouldn't capitulate, but would turn their visit into a circus event that benefited him. Now, he can claim he gave them the chance to get an apology, and they refused to even meet the person responsible. It's good in some ways, though. They need to follow everything he says and does about this. She won't be a diplomat forever, and once her diplomatic status ends, she's can be extradited to England to face the charges. If they have his Tweets saying she wanted to apologize to them, but they wouldn't meet with her, he's admitting he knows she's guilty. That will serve them well, once he's out of office, or whatever gave her diplomatic immunity ends. She can be made to pay, even if at a later date! Despite the Nor'Easter, we still have a lot of leaves on the trees. Unusual, as most years we get a big Fall storm that takes all the leaves. It's still worth driving around to enjoy the colors As of 6 p.m. last night, about 2K people were still without electricity in New Hamsphire. I think they are probably all back on by now, and might even have been by later last night. Massachusetts got a lot more damage than New Hampshire, so they may still have more people without power. I haven't checked today.
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Post by Bean on Oct 20, 2019 8:15:52 GMT
Glad you've still got some pretty leaves around - I've seen some great colours over here and it really brightens up this time of year. Hope the storm passes soon.
I think the apology (they may not have used that exact word) was more for the loss of their son, rather than admitting it was her fault the crash happened. I don't know how she'll be able to carry on with her life, knowing it's all hanging over her. If it was a genuine accident then she's certainly reducing the chances of it being viewed that way.
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 21, 2019 14:59:06 GMT
Apologies are for doing something wrong. Condolences are for the loss of their son. If an American is going to apologize, he/she has done something wrong, been caught at it, and is trying to get out of paying for it be appealing to the family. No, she's admitting she hit him, and basically saying the best they're going to get out of her is an apology Yes, still some color. It's amazing how much more colorful it is in the sunshine, than when it's cloudy. Same colors! It won't be long before they're all gone, though. Then we get skeletal trees, which is why we planted evergreens. At least the evergreens keep their look through the winter
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Post by Bean on Oct 22, 2019 6:52:47 GMT
I have quite a few shrubs that keep their leaves over winter. It's so much nicer having a bit of greenery around in winter, rather than just bare branches or soil.
There's a very fast growing variety of fir called leylandii, which was really popular over here a decade or so ago. People wanted hedging, and these things shot up almost as quickly as a fence could be put up (well, not quite, but they can have growth of 1m a year). The majority of people who chose them weren't the type to maintain or control them (and they get so brown in the middle if you don't, that trimming them makes them look awful). So there are a lot of gardens that are completely overshadowed by enormous fir trees. There have been a few neighbour disputes when people's view or light has been totally blocked.
There are so many lovely varieties of fir that aren't so dominating, like the ones you've got. I think the leylandi are less popular now anyway, due to the problems they've caused.
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 22, 2019 21:15:28 GMT
We spaced our arborvitae so they wouldn't form a solid wall of trees. We don't want that, just some breaks in the line of sight, and some privacy. Our neighbors to the left have their container garden on our side of their yard, so we didn't plant or install anything that would block sunlight to their container garden. Since they're selling their house, and the new people have a whole yard they can use, that our trees won't effect at all, we planted three along that boundary.
Once the trees are bigger, they will just block the line of sight from the neighbors back yard into our backyard, which are very close. I'd like to be able to hang out the laundry when I want to, and have some privacy for what we hang on the line. With it wide open, and our existing neighbor saying they never hung out anything but the bed sheets, we didn't feel we could really use the line that much. Once the house is sold, we'll be the existing neighbors, so we get to set a bit different standard. I still don't want to make it so they hang all of their private stuff out for us to see, either, but I'd like to be able to use it for the bigger stuff that's less private.
It's a bit gloomy this afternoon, as a storm front moves in. It was really sunny earlier. The difference in the effectiveness of the colored leaves is dramatic between sunny and gloomy weather. So bright and cheerful on the way down to daughters house, and so muted on the way back.
We won't be able to park both cars in our neighbors carport this winter, as they bought a small boat, and are keeping it in there. One car, maybe. That's okay. It was a nice break from having to clear the snow of both cars, but once they sell the house, the new neighbors will probably use it themselves over the winter. I was going to buy car covers, but thinking about the windshield covers we had, once we took them off, we didn't always get to put them back on before it snowed again, and the snow we didn't manage to shake off melted in the back of the car. I think we'll just go back to clearing the snow of the cars. Maybe 1/3 of the residents in this neighborhood have carports, so everyone else is clearing the snow off their cars, too.
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Post by bazookagoof on Oct 23, 2019 1:08:08 GMT
I've just been invited to a Halloween party this weekend! Only four more days!
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Post by Bean on Oct 23, 2019 8:53:06 GMT
Woohoo! Sounds great, hope you have a great time and don't forget the pictures!
Our washing line is in the back garden (which is only visible to one next door neighbour from the window in their spare room) anyway, but we have a rotary dryer, so you can always arrange your undercrackers in the middle and have other stuff covering it if you want to keep them private!
When we first got the keys to this house, and my parents came over to see it, I had to clip my dad round the ear, as he looked out at next door's washing line (which goes right down the garden) and exclaimed 'Oooh look at all those big pants!' in front of the kids (who were then 3 and 5)! I had visions of one of them repeating it in front of them, but luckily it never happened! (They did enjoy saying it for a while, just always out of earshot!)
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