(I'm probably the only one here who actually likes the winter evenings and doesn't look forward to the long summer hours of daylight, but there's always one.)
Someone has to, and I won't hold it against you. TBH, if I got a bit more sunlight in the day, I'd probably not be too unhappy with the long nights.
Ponders buying a lightbox... although the NHS advice on these makes me wonder how I'd get time to get best results.
Daylight bulb to replace the standard one in the evening? Or is that going to be too blue?
Personally the dark evenings don't bother me but I could totally live without getting up in the dark. That feels wrong.
I'm in the fortunate position of not having to get up until it's fully light (or even later - what is this thing called morning of which you speak?), but I know this doesn't apply to everyone...
I tend to wake early and go to the supermarket. There's no point arriving before 7.15am if you want a newspaper. I go on foot, mainly on footpaths through our estate. They are mostly lit, though there are Dark Bits and Awkward Steps where I need the help of a tiny torch. I return by bus as they're frequent, it's mostly uphill, and I'm lazy.
I would go to the shops earlier than 1pm (my usual hour!) were it not for (a) the Traffic, and (b) the Darkness...if I go out in the Dark, I'm sure I'll turn into a Pumpkin, or something worse...
I don't mind getting up in the dark and seeing dawn break as I carry on working. As it now gets dark around 4pm, I feel like I've done a full day's work by the time I finish and I get that glow of virtue. Whether deserved or not.
I can understand the aversion to getting up in the dark; whenever I open the blind at this time of year and there's no perceptible difference in luminescence in my bedroom, I do sort of think "bugger" (or something similar).
I think part of my acceptance is that now I'm not doing the Commute From Hell™, I don't need to leave the house until about 8:45*, by which time there is at least a modicum of light to guide me down the street. Darkness in the evening is less depressing: I've done my day's work and am heading home.
I hate getting up at the best of times. I don’t function above basic stimulus/response until the second coffee of the day or 9am, whichever comes later.
It still being dark when the humanoid larks who apparently run our society deem I should get up just rubs salt into the festering necrotic open wound of early starts.
When I lived in New Hampshire I had mild SAD every winter. Then someone advised me to be outdoors for at least 45 minutes in the middle of the day. The sun doesn't have to be shining; enough light comes through the clouds to ease mild SAD. I realize that many people with jobs can't manage this.
I work flexibly from home and always go for a 45 min walk before starting work (middle of the day is more tricky). It’s a habit that is good for my mental health generally.
Charity advertising must be banned. There is no logical basis for making a selection of which charity to support, so whichever charity is best at emotional manipulation wins the crap shoot. And anyone with any kind of heart or conscience feels like shit. The only logical thing to do is to merge the lottery fund with the Charities Aid Foundation. All donations go to this combined supertrust, and organisations in search of funding bid for that, with some kind of stratification to ensure that it doesn't all go to the megaliths. This would also ban marketing from being a charitable purpose, which is useful.
Anything has to be better than the grotesque competition of suffering which is currently paraded before us.
A supertrust might well mean a drop in donations with people saying they didn't want to donate because some of their money would go to that, that or the other charity they didn't support.
But I do agree about the emotional manipulation. However, it's what works.
Frankly, I've got to the point of not giving a shit. I am so completely exhausted by the emotional manipulation.
The absolute last straw is the fact that Guide Dogs for the Blind and CentrePoint - and Crisis at Christmas - all use the same tactics with this "updates". People are not dogs, and claiming to respect anyone while using this manipulative shit is simply dishonest. It disrespects both donors and clients.
ETA: financial services firms are now banned from using behavioural bias to sell their products. The equivalent should apply to charities, with the penalty being loss of charitable status.
Donkey probably thinking: Could do with a rest after carrying well preggie woman for miles. Could just do with a munch of hay - what do you mean, no manger?
Well, yes. Everyone knows that the donkey is the most important character in the Xmas story (even more so than that bloody drummer boy...), and, don't forget, he also plays a major role on the lead-up to Eostre.
37-40 years life expectancy in the wild, apparently. So not impossible. Of course there’s no evidence that Mary rode a donkey. She might just have walked.
I think it is unlikely that Mary would have rode on a donkey as she had low status as a woman. If they did have a donkey it was more likely being used as a packhorse.
Paypal ( other organisations are also eligible). A refund is due to my late husband’s account, which was of course closed some months ago. Having already spent ages online and on the phone trying to sort it, sent back the ID and other docs requested, nothing happened.
I tried to follow this up yesterday and having eventually managed to speak to a human being, was told that the reference number I had been given belonged to a closed account. Er, yes.
I was then forced to wait a further 15 minutes whilst he spoke to someone else, then he eventually transferred me to the bereavement team. This person was even worse. She assured me the account was closed and no refunds could be made. I told her to read the correspondence in their Message Centre. She eventually, after much yelling on my part, mea culpa, conceded that it had been agreed, was highly irregular, couldn’t possibly happen etc etc, but the money would be “wired across within 72 hours”. I am counting down. Never was £64.98 so hard to extract.
Convincing scammers. I've just had a call allegedly from my bank saying my card had been cloned. Absolutely convincing - didn't ask me for any details, other than the last legitimate transaction on the card. He said that as we have a joint account he'd have to phone back later to speak to my husband.
After the call I immediately phoned my bank to confirm they'd phoned me - and they hadn't. Apparently, it's a two part scam - the attempt to scam comes with the second call. The first call is just to soften up, so that when they make the second call, the victim is expecting it and thinks it's real.
I think it is unlikely that Mary would have rode on a donkey as she had low status as a woman. If they did have a donkey it was more likely being used as a packhorse.
I would expect that in any culture, status issues would take a back seat to practicality. Having to travel 70 to 90 miles at nine months along— well, if the donkey existed, I think it unlikely that Joseph would prefer to have his goods rather than his wife and child arrive safely.
Luke doesn’t say she was 9 months gone when they travelled , does he? I thought he just said they were already in Bethlehem when her time came to give birth. They could have been there for weeks or months. And they would need the donkey, if they had one, to carry tents, bedding etc, or they would not have shelter on the way.
So much of what we see in nativity plays etc. is romanticised conjecture!
All we can say, with some certainty, is that Jesus was born, possibly in the backyard of a sort of inn in Bethlehem, because the Romans had nothing better to do than to count heads in a remote province.
Ah, the KJV and NIV differ on that. I am no scholar so cannot confirm which is nearer. But that would explain the story.
(Next up on my sociocultural nativity questions, why are there so many men near an unclean woman but no women helping with the birth. My ideal nativity set would definitely have a midwife)
(Next up on my sociocultural nativity questions, why are there so many men near an unclean woman but no women helping with the birth. My ideal nativity set would definitely have a midwife)
(Next up on my sociocultural nativity questions, why are there so many men near an unclean woman but no women helping with the birth. My ideal nativity set would definitely have a midwife)
Luke doesn’t say she was 9 months gone when they travelled, does he? I thought he just said they were already in Bethlehem when her time came to give birth. They could have been there for weeks or months. And they would need the donkey, if they had one, to carry tents, bedding etc, or they would not have shelter on the way.
The "nine months" is a reasonable assumption given all the back and forthing that had gone on during her pregnancy (travel, drama and wedding take up a fair amount of time) and also the most obvious fact, that Jesus was born then. I suppose you could argue he came prematurely, but that seems unlikely for a first child not noted to be early or in poor health. First babies are more likely to be late, on average.
Then, too, if they had been in Bethlehem for any length of time (say, a week), surely they could have scared up a better place to give birth. Some charitable soul would have offered them room, even if only for the birth itself. It's a decent sized village, I understand. For them to wind up in the circumstances they did, I suspect they were pressed for time. The traditional picture, which has Joseph frantically trying to find a place for his wife in labor, is probably not far off what happened.
As for the donkey (if there was one), I expect it carried both Mary AND whatever else the two of them judged the animal could bear in addition. Joseph doubtless had a pack of his own. And if they traveled with others bound for more or less the same part of the country (likely), they might have had extra help--a bit of room on a wagon, something like that. But this is all speculation, though based on reasonable extrapolations from the evidence.
There's no reason to think Mary DIDN'T have a midwife. After all, Bethlehem undoubtedly had at least one, like any decent-sized village---possibly several. And labor for a first baby can go on for many hours. I was 24 hours before delivery as a firstborn, and my son made it 10 hours before the doctors gave up on him coming out normally and did a C-section. And God knows, women in unmedicated labor are rarely quiet. I expect the nearby houses were well aware that there was a woman in need of a midwife close by, whether Joseph had the faintest idea where to start looking or not.
A second class stamp for a normal letter is 75p. A second class stamp for a large letter is £1.55. We have just had to pay £1.50 to get a letter which had been understamped by 5p (the sender put on two 75p stamps instead of one £1.55 stamp. The letter was posted on 7 Dec.
Instead of just delivering it, the PO withheld it for a week, then someone wrote out a post card with the details of our letter on 14 Dec, which the postman put through our door on the 18 Dec, telling us how to pay the £1.50 online. The site was having "technical difficulties" when I tried to pay. I managed to pay on the 19th and the letter was delivered to us today.
Is it really worth the Royal Mail's time to go to all that effort over a 5p shortfall in postage?
A second class stamp for a normal letter is 75p. A second class stamp for a large letter is £1.55. We have just had to pay £1.50 to get a letter which had been understamped by 5p (the sender put on two 75p stamps instead of one £1.55 stamp. The letter was posted on 7 Dec.
Instead of just delivering it, the PO withheld it for a week, then someone wrote out a post card with the details of our letter on 14 Dec, which the postman put through our door on the 18 Dec, telling us how to pay the £1.50 online. The site was having "technical difficulties" when I tried to pay. I managed to pay on the 19th and the letter was delivered to us today.
Is it really worth the Royal Mail's time to go to all that effort over a 5p shortfall in postage?
No, that's why they charge you the £1.50 for the privilege.
More pertinently, I think it's about discouraging people from saving a few pennies here and there from under stamping.
While looking for my box of Xmas cards a book of postage stamps came to light, not one of which I can use because they don't have the stupid barcode. That's almost an entire book wasted. Ho hum.
Our city High Street PO closed recently (it was at the back of a pharmacy), but a new one has just opened in a most inconvenient *convenience* store - it's right at the end of the High Street, by traffic lights, and so there is nowhere even for a disabled-badge holder to park. The previous PO was at least just across the road from the main city centre car park...
Still, in all fairness, full marks to the public-spirited people at the new location for taking it on.
Our Post Office has dwindled from a main GPO with a range of counters to 2 relegated to the back of a shop. There are 2 self service machines which don't always work and have the volume fixed to 96db and nowhere at all to fill in any postal forms.
I hate this franchise stuff where you now have to go into a newsagent or a sweet shop to use postal services.
I was doing the opposite of "consigning to hell" yesterday when I managed to get stamps at the cigarette/lottery kiosk at Tesco's. The stamps cost more than the cards to which they were attached (that's presumably how they finance all the to-ing and fro-ing as described by NEQ), but no matter ...
I hate this franchise stuff where you now have to go into a newsagent or a sweet shop to use postal services.
Agreed, although I remember the PO of my childhood where there were always long queues - and separate ones for different items such as stamps, parcels, savings or postal orders. It was good when stamps started to be available more widely.
I hate this franchise stuff where you now have to go into a newsagent or a sweet shop to use postal services.
Sixty years ago our local sub post-office was at the back of the newsagents. I don't think it's a new thing. The main post office in the centre of the suburb has moved from a Crown building to shop premises, but the PO is the only business in the shop and does an excellent job.
As my sainted mother would say when upset, "Oh Poop Rose," It feels like I have another blood clot. On my way to the emergency room. Happy Holiday ugg.
Comments
Daylight bulb to replace the standard one in the evening? Or is that going to be too blue?
Personally the dark evenings don't bother me but I could totally live without getting up in the dark. That feels wrong.
I think part of my acceptance is that now I'm not doing the Commute From Hell™, I don't need to leave the house until about 8:45*, by which time there is at least a modicum of light to guide me down the street. Darkness in the evening is less depressing: I've done my day's work and am heading home.
* as opposed to 6:30
It still being dark when the humanoid larks who apparently run our society deem I should get up just rubs salt into the festering necrotic open wound of early starts.
Anything has to be better than the grotesque competition of suffering which is currently paraded before us.
But I do agree about the emotional manipulation. However, it's what works.
The absolute last straw is the fact that Guide Dogs for the Blind and CentrePoint - and Crisis at Christmas - all use the same tactics with this "updates". People are not dogs, and claiming to respect anyone while using this manipulative shit is simply dishonest. It disrespects both donors and clients.
ETA: financial services firms are now banned from using behavioural bias to sell their products. The equivalent should apply to charities, with the penalty being loss of charitable status.
I'm in bits thinking of those poor donkeys having to spend Christmas alone.
It might have been a different story if they'd had a decent satnav.
certainly wouldn't still be called a colt or foal
I tried to follow this up yesterday and having eventually managed to speak to a human being, was told that the reference number I had been given belonged to a closed account. Er, yes.
I was then forced to wait a further 15 minutes whilst he spoke to someone else, then he eventually transferred me to the bereavement team. This person was even worse. She assured me the account was closed and no refunds could be made. I told her to read the correspondence in their Message Centre. She eventually, after much yelling on my part, mea culpa, conceded that it had been agreed, was highly irregular, couldn’t possibly happen etc etc, but the money would be “wired across within 72 hours”. I am counting down. Never was £64.98 so hard to extract.
After the call I immediately phoned my bank to confirm they'd phoned me - and they hadn't. Apparently, it's a two part scam - the attempt to scam comes with the second call. The first call is just to soften up, so that when they make the second call, the victim is expecting it and thinks it's real.
I would expect that in any culture, status issues would take a back seat to practicality. Having to travel 70 to 90 miles at nine months along— well, if the donkey existed, I think it unlikely that Joseph would prefer to have his goods rather than his wife and child arrive safely.
All we can say, with some certainty, is that Jesus was born, possibly in the backyard of a sort of inn in Bethlehem, because the Romans had nothing better to do than to count heads in a remote province.
(Next up on my sociocultural nativity questions, why are there so many men near an unclean woman but no women helping with the birth. My ideal nativity set would definitely have a midwife)
St Brigit / Bride time travelled back in time to be midwife. This lovely https://nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/17484 painting shows her being carried by time-travelling angels.
Standard Orthodox icons of the Nativity always show the midwives at work, usually in the bottom right corner. See https://iconreader.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/icone-noel.jpg
No men are shown near the unclean woman.
The "nine months" is a reasonable assumption given all the back and forthing that had gone on during her pregnancy (travel, drama and wedding take up a fair amount of time) and also the most obvious fact, that Jesus was born then. I suppose you could argue he came prematurely, but that seems unlikely for a first child not noted to be early or in poor health. First babies are more likely to be late, on average.
Then, too, if they had been in Bethlehem for any length of time (say, a week), surely they could have scared up a better place to give birth. Some charitable soul would have offered them room, even if only for the birth itself. It's a decent sized village, I understand. For them to wind up in the circumstances they did, I suspect they were pressed for time. The traditional picture, which has Joseph frantically trying to find a place for his wife in labor, is probably not far off what happened.
As for the donkey (if there was one), I expect it carried both Mary AND whatever else the two of them judged the animal could bear in addition. Joseph doubtless had a pack of his own. And if they traveled with others bound for more or less the same part of the country (likely), they might have had extra help--a bit of room on a wagon, something like that. But this is all speculation, though based on reasonable extrapolations from the evidence.
There's no reason to think Mary DIDN'T have a midwife. After all, Bethlehem undoubtedly had at least one, like any decent-sized village---possibly several. And labor for a first baby can go on for many hours. I was 24 hours before delivery as a firstborn, and my son made it 10 hours before the doctors gave up on him coming out normally and did a C-section. And God knows, women in unmedicated labor are rarely quiet. I expect the nearby houses were well aware that there was a woman in need of a midwife close by, whether Joseph had the faintest idea where to start looking or not.
Instead of just delivering it, the PO withheld it for a week, then someone wrote out a post card with the details of our letter on 14 Dec, which the postman put through our door on the 18 Dec, telling us how to pay the £1.50 online. The site was having "technical difficulties" when I tried to pay. I managed to pay on the 19th and the letter was delivered to us today.
Is it really worth the Royal Mail's time to go to all that effort over a 5p shortfall in postage?
No, that's why they charge you the £1.50 for the privilege.
More pertinently, I think it's about discouraging people from saving a few pennies here and there from under stamping.
Still, in all fairness, full marks to the public-spirited people at the new location for taking it on.
I hate this franchise stuff where you now have to go into a newsagent or a sweet shop to use postal services.
Sixty years ago our local sub post-office was at the back of the newsagents. I don't think it's a new thing. The main post office in the centre of the suburb has moved from a Crown building to shop premises, but the PO is the only business in the shop and does an excellent job.