Members' News

Well, that at least is a comforting thought... and it would also move me closer to Pterry too, I guess, although of course I doubt He would show up at a doormancon... (but then, you never know, eh... )

Then again, I haven't heard anything from the lady who contacted me, so let's not get excited...

Just a quick thing that after a great feal of stress with my parents selling the apartment that me and my boyfriend live in we have found a cool rental property. Its a bit further out of town, the rents nearly the same (for Canberra its all bloody expensive) and its bigger than here...

So after moving my boyfirend in January we pack everything up again and move in April. Total bugger but shit happens.

ah well, good luck with your move spiky...at least you have somewhere nice to go to...

i have learnt that moving is good for one thing...it forces you to clean out all your junk...or some of it at least.

My news...I am not moving to India. In fact, I'm not moving at all...why, I'm not entirely sure.

IB* forms are in and I've just set myself up for 2 years of lots and lots of work goody



*I was going to write out what the abbreviation stands for but I'm not even going to attempt to spell it...anyone who doen't know, it 's a pre-uni course...like a-levels, but not.

Oooh beautiful engineering. Is the housing in metal or bakelite?

Wowza ! :shock:

I love sturdy, functional design like that. Got one of those boxes at my stove from the war (which us so called neutral swedes never joined but nevertheless) when there was a limited supply of gas and you had to put a coin in the box to get gas for the stove, know what I mean, and that kind of retro design appeals to me. The box was bypassed by the time I moved in, but I haven't taken it down, I like it.

Also: old fire trucks have the same kind of nice design to them.

I'm not a failure! Woo hoo!

I had a meeting this morning with the guy in charge of getting the annual report printed, and he loved my designs! Since I've only been learning graphic design for six months, having someone tell me that my designs were at least as good as the professional ones they've used previously was a heady experience. 8)

~~Floats off to class...~~

Right on Ozzer!!! Job well done!
Hsing, neat camera! I would love to see some pictures from it.

Yay for Ozzer !!

I've just remembered, my mum (who has accidentally cracked a rib, poor thing, which has nothing to do with the rest of this) saw a documentary on Tolkien last weekend which I had recorded for my dad, and Pterry was interviewed on it. And she paused in her loud running commentary (which she does over everything on TV, especially figure skating) and said "Oh, so THAT's your Terry thingy... Oh, he looks like a nice chap !" She actually managed to sound surprised !

:roll:


Mothers !

Well done, Ozzer!

Hsing, what kind of film does the camera use? If it's dia or normal, you can have the pics scanned directly from the film and the scans are usually really good and high resolution. It's pricey, though, at least here.
The camera looks beautiful designwise, as many have stated beforehand!

I hope your mum's rib heals soon, Kat.

I have nothing new to report.. my life is stuck in a rute.. wake up, go to work, come home, eat, some internet, every second week I get to chat with my BF (yay for alternating shifts ), maybe go for a walk or a drink, then sleep so I can go back to my booooring work. And the weeks go by... I can't wait for spring and longer days so I can actually get some sunlight after work and have a bit more energy, this winter is bringing me down.

Me too, Kat. Here's some Big Hugs for you and some Gentle ones for your mom..er..mum.

I'm in that boat, sweetie. Ruts sure suck, dont they. Especially in winter. We have to cover all our windows in the house with foam to seal the heat in and it makes for a cave like feeling in my house all winter long. I cant wait til we can take those things down! Plus, everything looks dead, its cold outside and #1, as you mentioned, there is no sunlight after work. If your like me, then you drive to work in the dark and drive home in the dark. Its hard not to feel down.
Cures for this that work for me:
1. Reading anything that gets you sucked into the story. I do not recommend the first WoT book,though, only beacuse one of the main themes thru the whole thing is the long winter everyone is having. To me, it made me feel like OUR winter would never end. :roll:
2. My Pets are always good for some kind of entertainment, out doors or in. You are welcome to come borrow them if you like. (Especially the cat. In fact, you can keep the cat if you can sneak him out of the house with out the hubby noticing)
3. If you can afford it, sometimes a little retail therapy goes a long way. Even if its just something small or a new book, I always feel a little better after spending some hard earned cashola.
Anyways..Sorry this post is so long. Here are some Big Hugs for you too, hun.

thanks lipi, thery took a couple of days to make their minds up whether they were cracked or just bruised, but now she's all bandaged up, it's a lot better, although still painful, of course...

Gee, not seeing your boyfriend for that long sure is an abomination, I can hardly stand a day at work away from my dear husband...

I make no claim to be an adult, but I see the same thing she did. And yes, her way of forming past-tense is cute.

That is sweet, hsing. Aww

Now. DOES ANYONE KNOW how you get the A with the two dots over it in microsoft word? What are those two dots called anyway? Umlauts?

I need the double-dotted A, anyway, and can't figure out how to do it. I'm doing a presentation on Rochester's "The Imperfect Enjoyment" tomorrow, so I'm probably running a bit behind schedule by still working on it now. Blame Doors.

The presentation's going to be embarrassing enough without mispronunciation gone wild. (How would you pronouce "Thormahlen", with the dual spot A? It's a name.) Anyone who knows that particular poem can imagine how embarrassing it's going to be to have to dissect it in front of 20 students and a lecturer. Sigh.

Ä is Alt 142 on the number pad on the right side of a QWERTY keyboard. ä is Alt 132. Make sure you have the Num Lock on.

Thanks Hsing! Copied and pasted, in the most last minute edit of all time. Phew.

Hsing - just seeing that camera brings joy to my heart - I love seeing the old equipment in use - I am a third-generation photographer (temporarily inactive until I can afford to replace the digital camera stolen from me a year or so ago - third on my list of priorities when my brother finally gets the probate sorted out on our parents' wills - after new glasses and a laptop) - my grandfather was one of the really old school - wet glass plates which had to be made on the spot - think of that for outdoor photography - not just a darkroom but a darktent! What he would have thought about digital cameras I don't know - but I think he was forward-looking enough that he would have welcomed them - he was well into the pioneering stage of photography.

I don't think my father ever threw a photograph away in his life - we have massed boxes of them, which we need to decide what to do with - but it did mean that we were able to put in the order of service for his funeral* not only photographs of their wedding (in 1940 - just as he was sent off to North Africa for 5 years in the Army - I think the wedding happened on a three-day leave) but also a picture from 1936 of them in the band which brought them together (Mum on violin aged 16, Dad on accordian and saxophone aged 19).

This has started to ramble a bit, but the thing which triggered the response was your (Hsings's, in case people have lost track by now) mention of 19th century cameras - do not allow anyone to make the mistake we made - when my uncle died, he had all the old cameras and other equipment from my grandfather, but as soon as he died a relative living in the same house sold it as junk to a dealer who must have been laughing all the way to the bank! That sort of stuff is worth serious money - keep it for sentimental reasons, give or sell it to a museum, or put it into an auction - but don't just give it away as junk!


*In January this year - once he finally accepted that my mother had died, he just gave up, stopped eating, and died of an embolism

I've just returned from a seminar, which would not be of much interest: The location though... The National Motorcycle Museum! Absolutely fantastic. I think that if you have any interest at all in old (Mostly British) bikes it is well worth the £6-00 Admission. It's even better if you get in Free

I'm so sorry for your loss Pixel, I myself had a funeral to stop at just after work today, a co-workers husband who passed away very unexpectedly. It isn't easy ever to deal with death.

I can't stand riding motorcycles myself(possibly because I ran over a wheelbarrow the one and only time I tried to ride one by myself :shock: ) but I find myself watching those motorcycle building telvision shows, completely fascinated by them. There is something very intriguing about those machines.
edit for spelling

Musicians for parents? Lucky you - I'm only half musician.

I'm sure he left behind a beautiful legacy. All those photographs were only the tip of the iceberg.

This is the picture, if anyone is interested - this is scanned from the order of service rather than the original, so it has my brother's digital editing to highlight our parents (plus the fold down the middle!) - the silly thing is something that only occured to me during the funeral service was that we actually still have the violin and accordian that they are holding in the picture - we should have had them there in the chapel!

And yes, Hsing - 65 years married and at least another 4 years before that - their entire adult lives.

Last night my family got a call from my Great Uncle.
At 6.15 Pacific time yesterday, my Great Grandma Marie died.
She was 99, and a month away from reaching 100.

Everything is crazy at my house now, but it is good to know that after so many years of Dementia and health problems, Marie is finally at Peace.

Funeral is next week.

Thank you for your prayers all.

Hex - my thoughts are with you and your family - you are right - we don't want our loved ones to die, but sometimes that is what is best for them.

To Hex and Pixel: ::hug::.
Pixel, reading about your folks made me tear up.

Hsing, please tell your daughter that some crazy lady halfway across the world thinks that she's awesome

Hex: 3 of my grandparents died with in a few years of each other, the most recent in January. Only one grandma left and she just found out she has cancer. Very hectic indeed.

In happier news, I'm in Florida for spring break. In less happy news the airline lost our luggage and we were a day with out clean clothes and toothbrushes. Not to mention we are from Michigan so we wore jeans and sweatshirts on the plane so that was all we had to wear. The airline kept telling us it would be here by noon and then by 3:30 but it didn't get to our hotel until around 4pm. Our first flight to New Jersey was delayed by an hour so we almost missed the connecting flight. Our trip was off to a great start. Now we have our luggage, our TV works, 1 out of 2 dead light bulbs has been replaced in our room so hopefully nothing else goes wrong.

Saw my GP* this morning, and he confirmed I have a benign tumour (that sounds ever so dramatic, it's basically a big ball of gristle) growing on my shoulder, and pushing down on the nerve for my arm, and that's what has been causing my wrist and finger pains for the last couple of months. So I'll have to have it taken out. That means surgery. ouch. Next step is a sound-wave-thingy to check what it is, and then I'll see a surgeon next week...

* General Practician, as in doctor.

So it wasn't RSI from all that internet typing then?

Hex: sorry about your nana. Its always hard to say goodbye...

Again I have no news. One day something interesting will happen but until then... I still think the world is slightly crazy.

Thanks Ba, that was almost not-evil of you I don't mind injections, and I know it's a very small operation, no soreness could be as annoying as the pains in my wrist and hand for the last month, and I've had stitches before...

No, Spiky, it wasn't RSI, which is actually good news. The one good thing about it is that I can make it sound more or less catastrophic depending on who I'm telling it to. To my husband, it's just a little cut, some stitches and a lump less to be rubbed when it's aching. To my boss, of course, it's a tumour removal involving serious surgery which requires a lot of sympathy, time off, and so on...

In fact, I think what will hurt the most will be the cost of it, as it's considered as plastic surgery, and therefore may not be covered by my health package... we'll see...

I missed a lot over the weekend. Sorry I'm late posting these
Hex: HUGS I know I'm way out here in the boonies, but if you need anything, please dont hesitate to ask.
That goes for anyone on this forum. Unless your name is Zephyr
Katcal: Good luck with your surgery. I hope your insurance does pay for it. Not sure what fee's are like there, but here you can be put into the poor house real quick. I would think they would seems how its actually causing you physical discomfort and could potentially cause a decrease in motor skills and productivity. However, that seems entirely too logical for the medical field.
Pixel: HUGS for you too. That is such a neat picture of your parents. 65 + years. Amazing in this day and age.
Faerie: Well, once you hit bottom, you can only go up, right? Enjoy the rest of your vacation in Florida!

Seems like lots of people have been going through trying times recently. I only hope the weather and people's fortunes start to pick up soon! And Katcal, I'll be very annoyed for you if your insurance doesn't cover the surgery - it's not like you're doing this just to look good! Last time I read Vogue, it didn't mention anything about stitches being in this year... Anyway, I hope you don't find it too hard-going!

Hex, Pixel, as we say in Greece in such occasions, may you live long lives so that you remember of them.

Katcal, good luck with the surgery. It is not a pleasant thing to do, but a necessary one and may everything go smoothly.

Thanks all ! I think my insurance should cover at least most of it, but having had bad surprises before (although then I had a cheap student insurance, not a fully-fledged working girl one) I tend to be wary around specialist doctors in hospitals, especially private ones... But as somethingclever says, as it is actually causing physical pain and so on, it should be well covered... Fingers crossed... only not on my right hand, that hurts...

thank you.

Florida is good, nice weather and we went on an airboat in the Everglades today.

The creator of another board I post on died of pneumonia yesterday. I only knew her on the board, but the shape of the world changes when you hear of a death. By running the board, and by being so supportive and encouraging on it, she was so good for so many people.

Way to go, Mal, overcoming phobias is real tough sometimes... **congratulationary hug**

I get violent dizzy spells at a random pace, due to an incurable inner-ear problem, so basically I'm stuck with it for life, I can hardly ever tell when one's coming, and they can be really bad so I just basically curl up into a ball no matter what I'm doing, as a reflex reaction to the world suddenly spinning round like one of those fun-fair attractions at high speed. And because of that, I have not only never learned to drive, but I probably never will because I can't take it on me to risk my life and that of everyone else on the road by driving with that hanging over my head... The stupid thing is that it can dissapear for years and then come back, or I can have several in one day, it's totally random... And as I'm already pretty nervous in a car at the best of times, I can't really see myself getting over this...

I just got a packet in the mail from Northeastern University! They want me to come to their school!

That's two 'yes' responses from Universities! The hunt for Hex's home next August/September is underway!

Now to wait to hear from the other five. Then the scary part begins... deciding. :?

well done hex...great news. Good luck with the home-hunt.

my news...I'm on holiday! huzzah! 2 weeks of unceasing free time (except 'studying' for GCSEs)

I'm of to Jakarta now...bu bye

Yay for Hex !! It's good to have a choice, lucky you !!

I was gone for a while, but I'm back now. The mother of one of my best friends died of cancer today. My family was asked to take both children if their adult half brother is unable to raise them. It's horrible that she's dead, especially as they lost their father barely a year ago to the same disease, but I'm almost happy to be getting two new sisters. Once again, I'm a horrible person. I'm really confused right now, and I'm not completely sure what I should be feeling.

And sorry for reviving such an old topic.

I'm really sorry to hear about your friend Human. I don't think you are selfish or nasty or anything for wanting to look after and help those two poor girls.

You sound like a very special and caring person to want to help them out in their hour of need and i think you deserve a pat on the back.

I wish i had had someone like you willing to be there when my dad died.

I guess i'm trying to say don't put yourself down honey.

Take care

xx

You aren't being a horrible person, at least the kids'll be looked after.
You are looking on the bright side, instead of concentrating on the negative

My sympathies

To Hex: Wow! Isn't Northeastern fairly hard to get into? Go you!

To Fairyliquid: by the time you read this, you'll be either in Jakarta or back from it! Either way, hope you're having a good time.

To Human: Victim and Whiplash are absolutely right. You're not happy about your friends' tragedy, you're happy that they're being taken care of, and that you'll get to help with that! I hope that made sense - you're a total opposite of a horrible person

This is strange, one of my best friends went to see the doctor for this about two weeks ago, which would've been about the same time as you posted that. He said he had it as a child but haven't had it in ten years and now suddenly it's all back. Sometimes he gets so dizzy that he gets seasick and throws up. Sounds horrible. He got some pills that are supposed to dampen the dizzyness. I studied the pill box. "May cause dizzyness"

That sounds just typical ! On my side, I had a little driving lesson on an abandoned carpark on Sunday with my husband, and it was actually quite fun... Maybe one day I'll get of this and learn to drive... Oh well, hope springs eternal.

Human, the others are completely right, you are miles on the opposite side of being a horrible person, you're taking things with a positive view, and that's the best you can possibly do for them and for you. Now if you were resenting them for getting extra attention, or something like that, well, that would be pretty bad and even then it would still only be human. Having mixed feelings is absolutely normal, people everywhere have enough problems when dealing with the arrival of new "family members" whatever the circumstances (adoption, divorced parents meeting a new partner with kids, etc.) and in such a dramatic case I would be surprised if you weren't a bit surprised and shaken up.

Aw crap, Hsing, car accidents are always shaking, mentally if not physically, I hope you get better soon **hugs**

I am soooooo proud of myself, today, I have just had my favourite radio show podcast dedicated to ME !!! that is soooooo cool, I'm an international celebrity, and I made my favourite radio DJ laugh enough to pick my letter, wowza ! :cooler: