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Post by mich64 on Aug 21, 2019 0:50:01 GMT
We had a visit today with our great nephews Haven and Teagen. Sons of our dear nephew Tyler who passed away about 10 years ago. We treasure their visits no matter how short. There were butterflies around all of us the whole time they were here. Brought tears to our eyes but smiles to our lips.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 21, 2019 2:09:30 GMT
Oh, that is lovely, Mich! An extra touch of magic for a special day.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 11, 2019 16:15:56 GMT
France eliminated the United States in the quarter finals of the basketball world cup today. This is unheard of. I can only imagine that the will of American teams has been broken by the politics of their country.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 11, 2019 16:42:31 GMT
Yep. Hard to jump and shoot when you are bowed with despair.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 11, 2019 16:59:06 GMT
Meanwhile, my doctor told me today that he is retiring at the end of the year and will give me my medical file during my next visit. Good. I never really liked him anyway but was always fascinated by his racist and xenophobic tirades, which I will miss if the next doctor is boring.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 20, 2019 16:27:48 GMT
Awwww! 💗
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Post by rikita on Sept 21, 2019 18:46:37 GMT
agnes went to buy bread rolls by herself today, for the first time (like, not only going into the shop while i wait outside, but actually leaving the apartment on her own - i watched from the balcony though, to see how she does with crossing the road). she was very excited and we had a fun breakfast afterwards ...
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Post by Kimby on Sept 21, 2019 19:14:56 GMT
How old is she now? They grow up so fast.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 21, 2019 19:49:45 GMT
It is great when children get more independence. And then, as we all know, it gets a bit scary.
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Post by rikita on Sept 21, 2019 23:53:04 GMT
she is six and a half ... might be late for going to the bakery for the first time, but then, we live in the middle of a big city ...
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Post by Kimby on Sept 22, 2019 1:44:48 GMT
Such a big girl! Time really flies, doesn’t it?
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Post by questa on Sept 22, 2019 2:50:46 GMT
Children under 7 have not fully developed their power of estimating speed of objects to cover certain distances. You can help by playing games on walks...' Do you think we can reach that tree before the (approaching) red car does?'etc. Agnes will be good at distances from her rock climbing experience.
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Post by rikita on Sept 22, 2019 18:05:50 GMT
ah, actually she doesn't like rock climbing these days, she prefers to just swing in the rope (if i even take her along, most times i go when she is at her dad's, as she never really feels like going to the climbing gym anyway). but we cycle a lot (on side walks so far, sometimes a short distance on a quiet road), so she learns a lot about traffic and prediction the movement of other people there ... might try out that game, too ... they also train crossing roads at school, as her before/after school care is a five minute walk from school, so they walk in a group, accompanied by a teacher (and in a few weeks they will start walking without teacher, but there is always someone at the street crossing to observe if they are doing alright).
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Post by lugg on Sept 22, 2019 19:27:33 GMT
Six and a half already !! as Kimby said time really does fly. I guess your heart was in your mouth as you watched her? But good on you for setting her gently on the road to independence.
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Post by rikita on Sept 23, 2019 20:59:55 GMT
yeah i always get a bit nervous ... though since her dad and i separated, i guess she also gets more independence, because there are times i just don't have time to follow her around (but going out on her own is still new - i'd like her to start going to school on her own at some point, but so far she wants me to bring her, so i don't want to make her ...)
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Post by lagatta on Oct 2, 2019 13:38:47 GMT
Do they have cycling lessons at her school?
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 13, 2019 16:56:16 GMT
Today they put strings of lights in the trees around my metro station. We have not had Christmas decorations in this area since 1999. (I remember the year because they were destroyed by the giant storm on 26 December 1999.) All of these years, the only twinkling outpost has been the McDonald's downstairs, so it was rather grim. No idea when they will turn on the lights.
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Post by rikita on Nov 14, 2019 21:08:05 GMT
Do they have cycling lessons at her school? you mean to learn to cycle, or to learn to deal with traffic while cycling? they might have a field trip to a place with those pretend streets to practice traffic rules with their bikes in some schools, but not sure hers does that. i think it is usually expeced kids learn it from their parents, mostly before they start school ...
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Post by lagatta on Nov 14, 2019 22:38:42 GMT
Both. I'm thinking of courses that exist in the Netherlands and Denmark, and thought they might also exist in parts of Germany (I know that Germany is Federal, so one can't generalise across the country). I'd think most "native" German parents would teach their children to cycle, but the Dutch and Danish lessons also targeted immigrant communities in which the parents might be less inclined to have learnt to cycle. Freiburg is outstanding, but isn't is mostly a university town? www.dw.com/en/freiburg-the-bicycle-capital-of-germany/a-2332714
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Post by onlyMark on Nov 15, 2019 6:45:39 GMT
Freiburg is one of them Lagatta, yes, like Heidelberg and many others. I went there, but just once, for a look round.
When I was a kid we had a national scheme called the "Cycling Proficiency Test" for all children to learn a basic standard of how to cycle safely. This has been superseded by "Bikeability" and both were run by the Government Department of Transport. I did live in Germany for several years and I can't think of something similar there, an organised formal scheme run by the authorities, which is strange because of its history oy bike use. I wonder if there is.
Whilst in Germany I cycled a lot but when on foot, often had run-ins with other cyclists because of their aggression. Hearing the dreaded bell tinkling behind you when you were walking along a shared footpath down by the River Main in Frankfurt, for example, shared between foot and cycle, telling you to give way to a cyclist made me stop dead, turn around and tell them to go around me, not through me. Mrs M was a lot more 'trained' and 'conditioned' in that she would move to the side - then shout at me for not doing so. God help you if you are walking with someone on a pavement with a cycle lane built into it and you accidentally stray into "their" lane.
Crossing a road is fraught with danger when it has cycle lanes - you have to cross the cycle lane on your side first, looking both ways because of two way cycle traffic often travelling at speed, especially going to/coming back from work times of day, cross two lanes of vehicle traffic, then again cross two lanes of cycle traffic. If you don't time it right you are stuck on the road waiting for the cycle traffic to clear so you can reach safety on your thin strip of pedestrian pavement.
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Post by bjd on Nov 15, 2019 7:18:19 GMT
The first time we went to Berlin we stayed in Kreuzberg and one day in the park there were little kids learning to cycle, stop at road signs, etc in a closed off area of the local park.
And once we strayed off the wide sidewalk into the cycle path, which was part of the sidewalk, and got blasted by a cyclist. We did pay more attention after that.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 15, 2019 7:25:47 GMT
I never had a bike and never had any lessons on how to ride one. Somehow I manage.
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Post by onlyMark on Nov 15, 2019 9:04:43 GMT
A little thing that does mean a lot, the potential consequences at least, is a vaccination against measles. The ever sensible Germans have now made compulsory for children to have one - that is what it sounds like but - in reality it isn't compulsory unless the child mixes with others in certain circumstances. Adults also will need to be vaccinated or they cannot work/be there. "The "Measles Protection Act" stipulates that as of March 2020 children and staff in kindergartens and schools, medical facilities, and community facilities must be vaccinated. These include residences for asylum seekers, refugee shelters and holiday camps." www.dw.com/en/germany-makes-measles-vaccination-compulsory/a-51243094
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Post by lagatta on Nov 15, 2019 11:21:57 GMT
This is becoming a serious problem in certain areas, and not only among fundamentalist religous groups. What can be done?
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Post by bjd on Nov 15, 2019 12:05:45 GMT
Good for the Germans. I saw just the other day that all the social media attacks on vaccines are basically funded by two groups. Unfortunately I didn't read the article at the time and now don't remember where I saw it.
But it is known that the anti-vaccine movement in the west has been spread over social media, so it should be simple enough for google, facebook or whoever to identify the sources, publicize them and see who is behind it all. Because I personally do not see what the advantage of not vaccinating is from a public health standpoint.
Just look at the countries where influential Muslim authorities have said that vaccines are designed to make Muslims infertile, etc. A renewal of cases of polio and other diseases, killing of health workers, etc.
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Post by lagatta on Nov 15, 2019 12:30:15 GMT
It is also a problem among ultra-fundamentalist Jewish communities, in Brooklyn, in a closed community upstate to NYC, and here in Outremont - Mile-End and a similar closed community north of Montréal, in Boisbriand. I suspect this opposition can also be found among fundamentalist Christian sects, though there hasn't been as much publicity. I also don't know whether Israel has addressed this problem among ultra-fundamentalist Jewish sects there. But there is also the "celebrity" nuttiness among wealthy entertainers and hanger-ons with no scientific or medical background.
I'm trying to find where I can get a flu jab; oddly there is little publicity.
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Post by lagatta on Nov 15, 2019 14:04:11 GMT
Just made my flu vaccine appointment. Are adults who've had measles supposed to get a booster later on? I had measles at 20, not as a child. Suppose I can ask the nurse. Having had it as a young adult, I can tell anyone it is important, as it can be more serious among adults. I had to be kept in a darkened room, and this was before talking books and a wide variety of aural content available over the net. I was bored half to death.
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Post by Kimby on Nov 15, 2019 14:10:25 GMT
I'm trying to find where I can get a flu jab; oddly there is little publicity. Come to the States. Every supermarket pharmacy and drugstore offers them. No appointment required, and no fee. Every insurance and Medicare policy covers them. Once you hit 65 you get a 4X strength “senior” flu shot, for our “weakened immune systems”. The people who give these shots/jabs are so good at it that you hardly feel it.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 15, 2019 14:56:46 GMT
Free for oldies starting at age 65 in France, too. I have not yet done it. Maybe next year or the year after. I am one of those stupid people who are practically never sick and then one day they get sick and die.
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Post by Kimby on Nov 15, 2019 15:26:25 GMT
That may be the best way to go, K2.
Our old family doctor called pneumonia “the old person’s friend”. A relatively easy way to die rather than being kept alive to suffer a really horrible death from other causes.
And yet now we all get shots to “protect us” from this easy death, once we turn 65.
(I am not confusing influenza with pneumonia, K2. Merely replying to your reluctance to mess with your immune system.)
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