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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2017 19:15:59 GMT
I just know February as the month with the fewest days to try and earn my rent.
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Post by chexbres on Feb 12, 2017 21:11:32 GMT
Though I live in a nice building, the rest of the neighborhood is filled with modern "residences", which rise up from the sidewalk like ocean liners. They sometimes have nice gardens, with trees and flowers, though - but most of them are in the rear. I like walking the dog and hearing the invisible birds sing at odd hours with nobody else on earth around.
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Post by htmb on Feb 12, 2017 22:28:17 GMT
Song birds in Paris? Oh, Chexbres, I can't wait to revisit your neighborhood. I get so sick of seeing pigeons and seagulls.
I hope you are feeling much better.
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Post by chexbres on Feb 13, 2017 8:27:50 GMT
Thanks, htmb - I'm almost back to normal There are only a couple of huge crows - look like ravens or black turkeys - which scream only a couple of minutes if they find food - but all the rest are those hidden songbirds!
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Post by mossie on Feb 13, 2017 16:52:35 GMT
Song birds in Paris? Oh, Chexbres, I get so sick of seeing pigeons and seagulls. How dare you show us wonderful pelicans etc just now
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 15, 2017 4:32:09 GMT
Got my broken kitchen clock fixed for two bucks. Happy!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2017 12:13:24 GMT
I got my camera back from the camera hospital today (after 21 days). While apparently there was only some sort of fuse to change, which was what was preventing me from turning on the camera, I take such bad care of my possessions that they changed the entire case and the lens as well. It looks like a new camera that has never been used. And the guarantee has of course been extended 21 days.
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Post by mossie on Feb 15, 2017 20:15:03 GMT
Not sure if this is the right place, but.
Sitting in a cafe this morning I noticed a figure in a sleeping bag laying in an empty shop doorway and realised after a while there was no movement. Looking closer I couldn't see signs of breathing and started to worry. However I was some way off across the street and back some way inside the cafe. decided that if no movement when it was time to go I would alert people in the shop beside him to see if someone checked on him. However a street patrol came along, woke him up and I suppose told him to move along. So he sorted pout his bits and pieces and wandered off. We have quite a lot of rough sleepers nowadays, some are simple beggars who have homes to go to but make some sort of living that way. Some are out and out drunks and/or druggies but some are genuine homeless down on their luck. I will occasionally give a bit of cash but try not to feed a habit. A very bad sign of the times and it is so galling to read of people in fancy public sector, or banking/city jobs, being paid exorbitant salaries.
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Post by chexbres on Feb 16, 2017 9:06:19 GMT
That was good of you to notice, mossie. I doubt that most people would have paid any attention to someone's breathing.
It is difficult to pass the boulangeries and ATMs when people are sitting there, just hoping for something. I've offered hot sandwiches or soup, but most people don't want them, just money. It's hard to know what to do.
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Post by rikita on Feb 17, 2017 0:05:29 GMT
that is sweet, whatagain.
a. told me that she wants to keep living with me when she is grown up, and since she wants to become "a police" i will have to become one, too, so we can do that together. i thought that is kind of cute ...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2017 2:06:26 GMT
That is precious Rikita.
This past Tuesday, Valentines Day, I was sitting with my friend whom I meet most mornings for coffee and then we take our dogs together for a walk.
There is a man who lives in a residential group home in our immediate neighborhood and he strolls about pretty much all day and to some, he appears to be menacing but he is not. People just are wary because he has a very rigid gait, walks very slowly and at times looks zombie-like.
Over the past couple of years I have come to know him better and he does indeed have some psychological problems, at times out and out delusional. Occasionally he will ask me for a couple of dollars and I have obliged him. He always remembers and makes a point of paying me back.
Anyway, on Tuesday he wandered over to our outdoor table and handed me a postcard size photograph of Elvis Presley that had the words "Love Me Tender" on it. He said, this is for you, and let me know that he had asked my husband if it was okay to give it to me but he wanted for it to be a surprise. It didn't feel creepy at all nor were there any romantic insinuations. It was more of an acknowledgement that we had a connection of sorts and this was his way of conveying it. It was very heartwarming and thoughtful.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 17, 2017 2:53:40 GMT
That is lovely, Casimira. And you are lovely for being open to seeing the real person underneath the "different" facade.
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Post by Kimby on Feb 17, 2017 4:39:22 GMT
I agree. A lovely story.
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Post by whatagain on Feb 18, 2017 16:19:31 GMT
Yes. All is not lost in this world.
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Post by chexbres on Feb 20, 2017 19:37:09 GMT
The plumber came today, as scheduled, installed one kitchen faucet, one bathroom faucet, changed out the guts of the toilet, installed a new toilet seat and regulated the hot water heater, which was broiling all day long. All for the sum of 600.10 EU, parts and labor included, everything cleaned up and boxes taken to the trash. My last plumber would never deign to come out unless something cost 1,500 EU - even if the parts did not cost that much.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2017 19:43:27 GMT
A good and reasonably priced plumber is one of the treasures of life.
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Post by mich64 on Feb 21, 2017 1:44:41 GMT
Absolutely agree with Kerouac. Chexbres make sure you do not lose that number!
The only problem with our plumber is that he takes so long to send us our invoice, the first time we needed him, it was probably 8 months before it finally came! And that was after us going to the office and reminding them and them telling us "no problem, it will get done eventually".
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2017 18:30:29 GMT
Today I felt much pleasure to see some members here show some spirit and emotion instead of the bland and consensual personae often displayed to try to please everybody all the time.
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Post by Kimby on Mar 4, 2017 18:56:21 GMT
You're referring to the reactions to your snarky and smug-sounding post in the Pet Peeves thread, I presume?
Glad you liked it, cuz you deserved it. Bad mood yesterday?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2017 19:36:28 GMT
Deserved it? It was a hard earned effort. If you only knew how hard it is to get people to post here other than just out of boredom!
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Post by lagatta on Mar 4, 2017 21:08:37 GMT
Little thing: Livia, who is a little thing, dozing in the sun, such a sheen on her black coat.
Deliberate nastiness to stir the pot is not a little thing, but it doesn't mean a lot either...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2017 21:13:42 GMT
I don't post things out of boredom, but interest.
lagatta, I can see her now
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2017 21:54:45 GMT
I was trained as SkyP's bitch boy to stir the pot at TTR and received such things as a 95% warning level, and also a banishment to her invention of the "swamp" so that I could watch over the people she threw into that pit, such as Grecian. Frankly it was not fun. So I have never engaged in deliberate nastiness because it doesn't suit me, but I have never recoiled from challenging certain opinions, and my main item remains people who define themselves by negation (something I have already mentioned). "I don't have" "I don't like" "I have never" -- all such statements are a way of marking one's moral superiority over others. Just as an example, claiming that one cannot afford to have a television when the cheapest ones cost less than $100 is totally ridiculous. Please find another argument about this!
I know that Anyport is just an idle recreation and that people can flounce at any time, but I sincerely try to keep things moving along especially when they are sluggish. I would very much like for people here to examine their motivations and intentions and to not think that they have been insulted when they are challenged. All of us have completely valid reasons for our ideas and it would behoove all of us to express ourselves completely rather than just get huffy.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2017 22:13:09 GMT
Kerouac, I can't afford the $100+ monthly cost to have cable. I never said I couldn't afford a television. Jeez! Keep up!
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Post by lagatta on Mar 4, 2017 22:48:27 GMT
And im my case, it is a matter of priorities. There are many other things (some less, some far more expensive) that I need or want more. $100? New warm boots or a good coat, both deeply marked down now. And as for lizzyfaire, TV cable would increase the cost of my communications bundle, and I'm trying to reduce such fixed costs to a minimum.
What you said was very nasty indeed, because you were assuming things about me. Never a good idea. But since you were only doing it for sport, my first thought would have been that it was about time for you to grow up a bit, since we are of similar vintage. Although I know that in other more important situations: your work, your care for your frail mum and for friends with various problems, you are very mature indeed. So I don't understand why you would get your jollies needling people as a 12-year-old would do.
Kerouac's 5 minutes of infamy over, yes, lizzyfaire, she has bright green eyes and ears with little tufts. And that means a lot!
Another thing; it is almost 6 p.m. here, and the sky in the west is still glowing red!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2017 23:39:28 GMT
Yes, no doubt K2's forum credentials are impeccable, which is entirely beside the point. I never thought I would be poverty-shamed here, though. Hurrumph! Flounce...flounce...flounce...flounce
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Post by lagatta on Mar 5, 2017 0:26:14 GMT
I guess I'm used to be poverty-shamed, because I certainly made twice as much at 30 than at 60. The Harper cuts to funding to the arts, to international solidarity and cooperation, to local social services, sciences and what have you, were a very dire period. It is very sad when that happens. Usually my computer and phone provider, a co-op, is very understanding, but there was a jerky young man taking over for their regular treasurer, who started to shame me - don't you know that you are supposed to pay your outstanding account in full? although I've been with them for almost 2 decades... and always settled when I could.
It is odd on a forum that is supposed to be congenial, despite our differences.
I do confess that I try not to have too much "stuff". Important for quality of life in a smallish but otherwise very pleasant flat. Not always easy with our wildly varying seasons. Two pairs of boots basically gave up the ghost this winter: some nice leather booties lined with lambswool, and a waterproof Neoprene pair. The zipper failed on the leather booties, which I've had for at least five years and which are probably not worth repairing (repairing zippers is expensive) and the Neoprene boots - clones of Bogs - have a tiny crack, and leak. No, they can't be repaired.
Another priority over a TV would be some kind of bed to accommodate guests. Younger, an inflatable or foam mattress would have been more than adequate, but most of my friends are over 50 now (don't worry: I do have younger friends, I won't be alone if I'm the last of my cohort standing) and I think I must have something that can be raised from the floor - and I'm not going to give up my own little bed any more.
And we won't even get into dental work...
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Post by Kimby on Mar 5, 2017 0:55:37 GMT
Lagatta, Walmart sells an inflatable guest bed that is bed height and has an automatic inflator. I have not slept on it but my sister reports that it sleeps well and holds air. As I recall it was less than $100.
Dental work I can't help with!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2017 0:59:46 GMT
I swore to myself this morning that I was not going to engage in this whatever it is, riff, offense, stature or level of WTF.
After this past year and the very fine line, the emotional fragility that I teeter tottered on, no computer, KAPUT. Yearning to be able to come onto this forum and emote, express all that was going on with my husband's health and my need of support as I did when my mother passed away and I went to the local library to post in the HOARDING thread about the events of my excavaction as it were and was so grateful to have a"place to go" as opposed to staying in that house and getting smashed alone with the remnants of the day still in embers in the fireplace.
So, as the flouncing Queen incarnate, and one of the unbeknownst to me at that time original members of this forum, I say we should try and move along away from the fray of discontent.
(TTR was a really nasty first exposure to what a forum was for me and it really took a lot for me to take the plunge into APIAS)
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Post by Kimby on Mar 5, 2017 1:19:48 GMT
Well said, Casi. I look at this place as a refuge, and a group of friends amongst whom one can expect to find some encouragement when it's needed. And maybe even learn about life in other parts of the world too. As a group of current, former and aspiring travelers, we have something in common.
I try to avoid getting my hackles up and usually it's no problem. Sorry if my/our posts are "boring" to others. No one makes anyone read them. I am very appreciative of the moderators and the regular posters who keep this place interesting. To me, anyway.
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