Thread 10 - TalkLair: “The candle flame gutters. Its little pool of light trembles.”

[Kucinghitam]

Continuation of previous threads (thread 9).

Although the nights are gradually drawing in, the new lair of JTT escapees is all cosy and homey inside. The hearth is glowing, the walls covered in dubious artwork, books by non-approved authors line the shelves, rugs are down on the floors (and assorted pets curled up on them).

We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

I found Trans a much easier read than Material Girls which I'm still to finish. I have a few other terfy books to read but I'm currently in a light reading phase.

sapiens and the sequel, the name of which escapes me were so good. Serious stuff written so lightly and both left me feeling optimistic about life and the possibility of humans doing better. Harari is close to genius and I love his brain and ability to write in a way that makes the reader feel more intelligent than they probably are. Not me of course. I have a Brian the size of a Mekon. For serious.🤓

I’m reading Material Girls at the moment too. It’s not a bedtime book!

A small amount of redecorating might be needed here and there (although I applaud their bold use of colour), but otherwise this is rather nice, in a Normal Ordinary House way.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/140457065?

The random brick in the loft room is.. interesting.

That's quite nice. I like the way the hall is organised. Some of the colours are a bit strong, but the dark blue is attractive. Shame we couldn't use that here, but our place is already very gloomy.

Agree about the random brickwork in the loft. I suppose, if you were inclined, you could strike matches on it.

I loved Trans and MG both, for different reasons. HJ has a dandy turn of phrase, and KS has detail, focus, definition. Either one makes Butler look like a pretentious idiot indulging herself in nonsense.

But the KS chapter in the Sex and Gender Reader was ahrd going for a non-philospher, I thought.

I'd never heard of Bluetooth bathroom scales (WTAF?), but the cleaner using my scales thread in chat seems the ultimate in First World Problems!

I saw that thread earlier and thought it was an odd thing to be fretting over. Seems like others think similar.

We don't have scales. I just look in the mirror, it tells me all I need to know.

In brighter news, some rare rugby league live on council telly this afternoon! 😀Exciting stuff as Saints butcher a great chance.

I like that house, Kuc, although some of the colours don’t work for me.

And Mouse, I love that animation!

I love the animation too, and I've watched a couple more, also very good. I like the Headingly house a lot. I think they've done some sensible things with it, and it's Not Grey.

I really disliked Lessons in Chemistry, as did someone else in my book group - we found it twee, and the dog really annoying. Though there were some funny bits. Everyone else was a bit 'meh' about it, but I know lots of people love it.

Well, here's a conundrum. I think I'd have to fall overboard and do it in the water.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4909245-im-stuck-on-a-boat-and-i-need-a-poo

I love this one ‘I once got diarrhoea halfway up a mountain’.

My friend was in a similar situation on the M4 recently after her dad drove into the back of someone.

That's a lovely house. Not a fan of red carpet but all of that could be changed and it has my favourite thing in a house. A wood burner!

I'm glad the animation was enjoyed. Imagine doing a fart that brought the men in hazmat suits out! I might put that on my bucket list.

I'm on the Fortnum and Mason website and I've put their beauty advent calendar in "my basket". I won't be buying it because I can't afford it but I'm feeling quite meh and it cheers me up to think that maybe I'm buying something lush even though I know that I'm not.

The carpet was blue and not red. I think I was confused by the red furniture. Anyway, it doesn't go together and I'm not keen on that shade of blue carpet either, but as I said previously, it can all be changed!

Apart from the general weirdness of that room, which could be sorted out by a lick of paint and a new carpet (and, obviously, the burning of the furniture), and the curious brickwork in the attic room (some of which looked to me more like bits of wallpaper propped up against on wall), that's a lovely house.

A patient’s fart saved his life, or rather I and my experienced nose did. He was admitted to ITU in some kind of shock, very ill, nobody could work out why. Then he farted the unmistakeable (to me) stench of malaena, or bloody stool, was rushed into theatre next door and he had a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. Without that fart he’d have bled out and died!

Apart from malaena farts which are truly stomach-turningly noxious, the second-worst in my experience are garlic farts.

Finally on the subject, I was in Mole Avon buying pet food one day, and a very good-looking young woman announced to her very good-looking young man “My shit this morning smelled so bad that even the flies flew out the window”. I don’t know why I found it so remarkable it was the woman saying it, or that they were both so attractive. No-one in Friends ever spoke like that and they were similar levels of good-lookingness.

Ooh. I now want to know what malaena smells like.

Kind of sweet and very sickening. Smells like your insides are rotting.

Tut, @MavisMcMinty. Now we'll all be sniffing our own farts (instead of blaming them on the dog/partner) and bothering the doctor.

It’s a smell unlike any other. It would concern anyone who did it, specially trained nose or not.

Did you know that nurses used to taste patients’ urine to detect diabetes? Before my time, thankfully.

Smell used to be a significant diagnostic tool. Obviously things like gangrene have an unmistakable stench, but a lot of other illnesses - particularly infections - have particular smells. IIRC, scarlet fever smells of apples.

You could always tell it was urology day as you walked past theatres, due to the smell of fried (lasered) prostate gland.

Doing wonders for nurse recruitment there, Mavis! 😁