MrsDoyle

North Korea has just built a beach resort. https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2025/jul/07/kim-jong-un-opens-beach-resort-north-korea-in-pictures

I blocked the moth person, I got sick of those posts.

I’ve discovered I can still load books on my aged Kindle Keyboard via email. When you register a Kindle you get an email address for that purpose. More fiddly that just dropping files in its Document folder, but it does work. (I’m so bloody annoyed at Amazon for that change to Kindles.)

That’s so nice! I gave away a microwave, and the couple who took it brought along a little pot plant as a thank you.

I had a big heavy electric bike I used for my work commute, and once I retired it gradually morphed into a coat rack. I put it on Gumtree, a UK Craigslist equivalent, priced at £50 more than I actually wanted for it, which was well under half the price I’d paid. A full 27 SECONDS after I listed it, I had a buyer, and less than half an hour after that he was at my door. As expected, he offered £50 less than the listed price, and was delighted when I accepted. Bargain!

I noticed he’d come in a car, and wondered out loud if it had room for a big heavy bike. “No problem, it can fit loads!” As he wheeled the bike out the door, he realised just how heavy this big heavy bike was. But he forged on, managed to heave it into the car, and drove off a happy man.

Questions he didn’t ask: How old is this bike? (Seven years or so.) What’s the projected lifespan of the battery? (About another year.) How well is it holding a charge? (Not well at all.) How much is a replacement battery? (£200.)

I fully expected to hear back from him complaining about the big heavy lemon he’d just bought, but no. I guess he’s enjoying his new coat rack.

Vanuatu 🇻🇺

It’s got a boar’s tusk on it.

“Normal”, hmmm. I remember being confused at school when we had to analyse literature and “motherly love” was given as an example of a universal theme. Really? Not in my experience. According to my own dear mama, my younger sister and I were both mistakes. She made it very clear always what a heinous burden we were.

In retrospect, she was a terrible person for saying such things. We were not awful kids, and grew up to be pretty good people. Yes, we’ve both struggled a bit with depression and self doubt, but on the whole, not bad.

So I would say your mother’s cruelty isn’t what’s generally considered “normal”, but it’s not that uncommon. Some people shouldn’t have children, in my view. There’s a lot of societal pressure to procreate in the first place, and then barriers to choosing not to. And it must be horrendous to find yourself not enjoying motherhood at all when it’s supposed to be your peak experience. Still no excuse for such meanness though.

Carry on living, young adult! It’s too easy to get dragged down by shit like this. Life is fleeting in the grand sweep of the universe, keep your heart open to possibilities and options and chances. And remind your mother that you’ll be choosing her care home one day.

I grew up in New Zealand in the 50s-60s. We got most info on current events from the radio. Later on there was TV, but it was mainly radio. Our radio had long-wave and if atmospheric conditions were right you could pick up foreign broadcasts.

Other knowledge came from school, obviously, and from libraries. I absolutely haunted my local library, and read voraciously. I still have a fund of info in my head from back then that comes in handy in pub quizzes. When I wasn’t reading I was out with my friends on our bicycles. We rode for miles at a time - I don’t remember ever telling an adult where we were going.

(About libraries - I don’t know if you’re aware, but the tycoon Andrew Carnegie funded libraries around the world, including the one in the city near my home town.) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_library

Having said all that and making it sound idyllic, it wasn’t. Society back then was repressive in major ways and people’s viewpoints were generally narrow. History books weren’t always telling the truth. It wasn’t terrible compared with say apartheid South Africa, but not great. There was a counter-culture bubbling away - beatniks and then hippies - so it was possible to get an alternative view, just about.

I love the technology that gives me access to not just information, but the lived experience of people round the world. I love reading posts here about mad trivial stuff like what you all are having for breakfast. I love taking a Street View tour of places I’ll likely never visit. I’m reading a novel set in Iceland at the moment, and can “drive” along the route a character is taking. I can video chat with my sister, who lives 10,000 miles away. It’s a miracle!

I have a little Bluetooth speaker that for some reason the phone thinks is headphones - and yes, turns the volume down mid-song. Grrrrrr.

I sleeped on it and I decided you’re wrong.

I made some once with pure maple syrup and yes it was kind of under-clumped, but the flavour was off the wall delicious.

https://youtu.be/0Wf5nFbA_YM

Neil Stephenson’s “In the Beginning… Was the Command Line” (1999) touches on this. He compares Microsoft to a station wagon vs Linux as a free tank. People keep buying the station wagon because no-one wants to learn how to drive a tank, even if it’s free. (Apple is a luxury car in his analogy.)

My first computer ran on MS-DOS, and I’ve seen Windows hiding DOS deeper and deeper behind the GUI. And now AI… ugh. I’ve been tinkering with Linux on old laptops so I’m ready for the move, it’s just finding the time.

It’s true. A friend asked for help on his new laptop and after a confusing conversation I realised he was upset because the web browser had “lost” his “bookmarks”. No, those aren’t bookmarks, those are shortcuts to your most recent web pages. Looks like you don’t have any bookmarks. Let me show you how to make a bookmark…

He’s not dumb or even inexperienced with tech, he just has a different mindset.

Yeah yeah, I will get round to it, stop bloody nagging me.

Bluey! It’s a kiddie cartoon about a dog family. If I’ve read or watched anything too heavy I’ll watch a couple of Bluey eps to chill before sleep.

https://youtu.be/kPFHL0R0oIU

You’re obviously not from round here… (Gesturing vaguely at shuffling hordes of very plain people in my town. Self included. I fit right in.)

Seriously though, comparing yourself with strangers is a terrible idea. That said, if you do want to smarten up a bit, I’d suggest going to a menswear store and asking an assistant to assist. Explain your dilemma, ask them to help you put together one outfit, “smart casual” would be a good start. Good luck!

A fair old chunk of the crowd were in bright red frocks and silly hats.

A scientist. It’s never going to happen because I’m 72. At school I was pushed into languages, history etc because I wasn’t good at maths. I was good at general science though, especially chemistry, and I enjoyed it.

After I retired I took up beekeeping and have lately rediscovered my love of science. I have two microscopes and am studying bee anatomy and pollen identification. There’s an exam later in the year for a certificate that will open further areas of study, but I doubt my skills are up to the challenge (eg dissecting a bee in front of the examiner). However, I am really enjoying the whole process of making slides and examining them. I would have loved doing this as a job.

Extra info you didn’t ask for but might help: the doctor gave me a sheet to record my BP for a week. Two readings in the morning, a few minutes apart, two readings in the afternoon, a few minutes apart. Once I’d done that he added and divided the results to get the average. Too high, so now I’m on meds.

I was a bit blasé about it at first - pfft, I feel fine! But he explained that high BP can cause a stroke. You can recover just fine from a heart attack, but a stroke can be devastating, if you even survive it. You will feel absolutely fine until suddenly you’re on the floor, unable to move one side of your body or speak coherently. Scared me into taking it seriously!