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OT: nice things

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Started 6 years ago by unhurt
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unhurt
Member

CCErs, I am MISERABLE. I just moved house, my brain is broken (again) (not due to move, due to a persistent serotonin imbalance / unfortunate interactions between genetics & formative experiences). I have quarantined myself from the news (especially via Twitter) because the world is terrible and everything good is going to crumble into the void and everyone is going to die (so, yes, technically true if all the news was amazing, but moving on...). And now the cold that willnae quit has developed into face-bursting sinusitis. I'm off work and awash in Presbyterian flavoured guilt at the epically undone state of my various to-do lists, plus some extra guilt/shame mixer for daring to be miserable when in the global - even the ultra-regional - scale of things things are clearly NOT terriblebad for me - and yet: the brain persists. I can't find the coffee pot in the universe of boxes littering the flat. It's 15:15 and I'm still wearing pyjamas. I'm living on hot lemon squash and broth and pouring tepid salt water up my nose. The rats haven't even visited today.

So. Tell me nice things please! Something amazing you read/watched/heard, where you're planning to cycle next month/year, ~~reasons we might not be totally doomed as a species/nation~~, things you have constructed or modified yourself that you are pleased with, your recent great or minor triumphs, favourite places to go in order to feel better about the universe and your place in it. I will also accept recipes (especially for soup) and pictures of CCE dogs.

Basically, if I have cockles (uncertain) they would like to be warmed.

Posted 6 years ago #
Frenchy
Member

pictures of CCE dogs

Here's mine, mulling over whether it's worth going outside:

IMG_20170923_190225

Posted 6 years ago #
unhurt
Member

Oh, good ears!

Posted 6 years ago #
jdanielp
Member

Nice view!

Posted 6 years ago #
Stickman
Member

Sorry to hear about that, can empathise with the serotonin thing.

Here is one of my dog nieces who I frequently look after. How can you resist that smile?

Posted 6 years ago #
HankChief
Member

Got a nice email from CEC on Monday that some of my long term (think multiple years) campaigning issues are soon coming to a successful conclusion. (More info when available)

Posted 6 years ago #
Roibeard
Member

Sorry to hear of the broken brain, I'd normally prescribe a traffic free bike ride, but given the broken respiratory system...

As for the coffee pot, I'm sure CCE could rise to the delivery of take-away coffee, given that we can find torque wrenches, micrometer gauges and (possibly) air rifles! PM an address and I'll see what can be done, and I promise to avert my eyes on the doorstep re pyjamas!

Robert

Posted 6 years ago #
fimm
Member

Is the place to mention that Boyfriend of Fimm has finally been upgraded to Husband of Fimm (and shall hereafter be known as Mr Fimm for brevity)?

Or is that too nice and liable to make you want to slap me for being annoying?

If so, I shall replace it with a recipe for courgette soup.

Posted 6 years ago #
I were right about that saddle
Member

Here's the weird orange dog that insisted on living with us. Won't share his squirrels, doesn't seem to understand the concept behind commands. Or requests.

Posted 6 years ago #
steveo
Member

Ohh Soup. :)

Congrats Fimm.

Unhurt, grab a map and go plan an nice adventure for April.

Posted 6 years ago #
Frenchy
Member

Oh, good ears!

Greyhounds have the best ears. See: https://www.facebook.com/greyhoundtrustedinburgh/photos/a.144159595665631.37672.139224759492448/1223369724411274/?type=3&theater

Whole galleries of smiling dogs if you follow that link (I don't think you need a facebook account, but I could be wrong).

Is the place to mention that Boyfriend of Fimm has finally been upgraded to Husband of Fimm (and shall hereafter be known as Mr Fimm for brevity)?

Noticed the name change on Strava and was wondering if he'd become BOFFOFHOF. Congratulations!

Posted 6 years ago #
Arellcat
Moderator

@unhurt, I too have caught This Month's Lurgy, and have combatted it with a combination of my Mum's homemade elderberry rob and Sainsbury's maximum strength blackcurrant* Cold & Flu Relief sachets.

* flavoured**
** approximately

@fimm, congratulations!

Posted 6 years ago #
jdanielp
Member

I'm listening to one of Adam Buxton's podcasts. If you like that kind of thing then it will surely cheer you up to some extent. Even the adverts at the start are enjoyable.

Congratulations fimm and Mr Fimm. I believe that Girlfriend of jdanielp enjoyed the day.

Posted 6 years ago #
Morningsider
Member

I helped turn a pile of pallets/timber into a big workbench for the infant annex of my kids school (working with another parent). We started with only the vaguest plan, which was quickly jettisoned when it turned out that the pallets were essentially indestructible. We free-styled it from there, with much drilling, sawing, hammering and tea swilling.

Enormous fun, hugely satisfying when it all came good and all the kids now get to enjoy making their own creations. While we were doing this, another large group of parents helped transform a previously unusable outdoor area into an "outdoor classroom".

Just think - across the country, groups of people are working together on their own little projects, trying to make things that bit better.

When you are feeling like leaving the house, I always find a stroll through the Botanic Gardens helps lift the weight off my shoulders.

Posted 6 years ago #
unhurt
Member

@stickman dog nieces is a lovely way of putting it. (My mother has a grand-dog) - and she does have a great smile. Dogs on beaches: proper happiness.

@hankchief oh, that must be very satisfying!

@roibeard that is very kind of you - but since I live :mumblemumbleveryfew: metres from a coffee shop now I finally got dressed (in a dress, even) and went to get some. Possibly whinging about it helped motivation?

Posted 6 years ago #
unhurt
Member

@fimm oh, many upgrade congratulations!

@steveo when I find the box of maps...

@iwrats that insisted on living with us is the best way to acquire those weird untrainable dogs. (I had one in Orkney that showed up one winter and just moved on in when he realised I would provide food on the regular.) He looks like he might have some personality...

@frenchy Whole galleries of smiling dogs yes please and thank you.

@arellcat oh no, it's a bit of a horror. I have just thrown caution to the wind and made hot whisky w/lemon & honey. May not help, probably won't hurt?

Posted 6 years ago #
unhurt
Member

@jdanielp oh, that's one of the podcasts a friend keeps telling me to listen to I think? She also loves that Richard-Herring-playing-snooker-against-himself podcast though, so I'm never sure if I can quite trust her.

@morningsider - that is genuinely a good thing to think about. Plus it does sound like fun! Botanics were supposed to be a plan but self-sabotage won. Bah!

Posted 6 years ago #
Stickman
Member

Good things: that this forum exists and provides support for things other than technical gubbins.

Posted 6 years ago #
jdanielp
Member

@unhurt I hadn't heard about that podcast and am not really a particular Richard Herring fan, but it does sound oddly intriguing...

Posted 6 years ago #
unhurt
Member

Wikipedia accurately sums it up. - all up on soundcloud here.

Posted 6 years ago #
HankChief
Member

@unhurt - it is satisfying when dogged determination pays off :-)

Can I also recommended reading this book

"Breaking down human needs by category water, food, energy, healthcare, education, freedom Diamandis and Kotler introduce us to innovators and industry captains making tremendous strides in each area. Not only is Abundance a riveting page-turner but it's a book that gives us a future worth fighting for. And even more than that, it shows us our place in that fight"

Basically providing all of our (the global population's) basic needs will be solved by the exponential growth in computer processing power.

Posted 6 years ago #
chdot
Admin

“~~reasons we might not be totally doomed as a species/nation~~”

You were probably wise to strike it through...

But -

You could (especially now) work on the assumption that the doom will be delayed longer that it seems.

Or imagine/(hope) that more people will work together like in Morningsider’s examples (and many bigger ones too).

Posted 6 years ago #
chdot
Admin

I don’t do dogs (or pictures of them - actually that’s not true, see later), but this might soothe -

and you could plan to go somewhere you could see similar.

Posted 6 years ago #
chdot
Admin

You’re probably not well enough for this -

It’s people making nice things and working together.

Posted 6 years ago #
chdot
Admin

Posted 6 years ago #
I were right about that saddle
Member

@chdot

Loving that sea surface. Very Gerhard Richter.

Posted 6 years ago #
I were right about that saddle
Member

@unhurt

Sometimes, when I have strayed a little too far from the path, I go and look at this for an hour. Insanely funny and utterly profound.

It's usually in room A1 of the National Gallery of Scotland.

Posted 6 years ago #
chdot
Admin

“Loving that sea surface”

Ta.

Glad you recognised it, as recorded by camera and not ‘edited’.

Forth yesterday, marginally less than flat calm.

Posted 6 years ago #
LaidBack
Member

@unhurt - I could post a picture of our fluffy feline huffball Sparkle :-)

@chdot - you now have a scarily commanding view over the forum's main settlement! Must have been quiet today as whole of BiFab were in town on march to keep jobs. Lots of orange safety jackets with Unite banners.

Posted 6 years ago #
unhurt
Member

@hankchief I suspect about 90% of successful activism is just. keeping. on. at. it. Less glamorous, but more useful! (Book bookmarked.)

@chdot all gorgeous water surfaces and dogs gratefully received. When germs go, I will swim in (some of that) water and probably feel a lot better. (NB Round the Horn website makes Firefox panic a bit and refuse to connect, I'm afraid.)

Posted 6 years ago #