Thread 14 - TalkLair: “What The Hell Are We Supposed To Use, Man? Harsh Language?”

[Kucinghitam]

(Previous thread 13).

Summer should be well under way, but the chilly wind, grey clouds and pouring rain beg to differ. Looks like 2024 continues to be a washout - on the bright side, the Tories got washed out too! In the TalkLair, we remain hunkered down keeping cosy and warm. 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…

Very informative, I didn't know that about chickweed though I see that it's very prolific. Tasty stuff too and should be made more use of.

Nicky Doll (no, me neither) is suing Laurence Fox. Can they both lose, please?

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/laurence-fox-nicky-doll-olympic-opening-ceremony-defamation-b2593275.html

Fox is an idiot. Talk about a fool and his money.

Well done you, Britinme

Will you still grace the boards, when you're rich and shameless?

Ha ha - I don't think anyone ever gets rich from poetry unless they're Billy Collins or Mary Oliver (and she's dead).

I thought I'd posted this last night but obviously I typed it out and then didn't post it. Anyway!

I was discharged from hospital on Thursday. I kept meaning to bring you all up to date but the thread was quiet and I couldn't find the energy to do a little bit of searching for it in "threads I am on" because I'm a lazy article. Also, to be fair, I have been tired but that's no excuse!

It's mostly good being home although as anyone who's been in hospital for any length of time knows you do feel a little vulnerable when you get home because there's no one to look after you. Well, that's if there is no one to look after you. Snoop has offered for me to stay at hers for a few days which was so nice of her but I wanted to get used to my own space again. I've been having beef consomme which I discover is like a slightly posh Bovril so I might buy myself some Bovril as well.

I did have a not great night last night, I woke up at about 2 or 3 and my heart was beating like a bastard. My heartrate has been mental since my first weekend in hospital. It's just faster than is should be but ECGs etc have shown that nothing is wrong. Last night was insane though and when I needed to get up to pee I was so breathless. Bit by bit today it's gone back to normal which is still faster than normal heartrate but I'm not feeling as though I'm about to have a big old cardiac situation.

Anyway! I'm home! Back for an endoscopy on 29th August and my fingers are crossed that we can then move on to Free Fluids - thicker soups, all juices, ice cream and, oh my I can't wait, custard. It shouldn't be too long after Free Fluids that we move on to Pureed food and then another little while to soft food and eventually, all of the foods! Free fluids is my dream target right now.

Oh I’m so glad you’re home @MouseMinge but it must also be quite scary, especially with the racing heart thing. Fingers firmly crossed for free fluids (which sound weird but include ice cream so they must be good) at the end of the month.

Good to hear you're home, Mouse! It's always nice to get back to your own bed, even if sleep is not the best.

And well done@Britinme , that's great work!

Oh hooray for home, Mouse. Fingers firmly crossed for advances on the fluid front.

Keeping everything crossed for custard!

That is such good news Mouse. You are brave in a good way to be in your own place. Fingers crossed for Free Fluids.

Good news, Mouse and I look forward to hearing of your first Sunday dinner.

Good to hear you're home, Mouse, roll on Custard Day!

This is quite good. I'm on Mr Hissy's side.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5141711-neighbours-freaking-out-about-my-under-house-python-mr-hissy?page=1

Mr Hissy and his brothers and sisters of the reptile and arachnid family - far less scared of the latter as a woman who has happily held and stroked a tarantula but some of theirs are very killy - are one of a few reasons Australia is not somewhere I'd ever want to visit, however, I stand with Mr Hissy. He kills rats, he leaves people alone and if you have a snake phobia then don't live in a very snakey part of Australia and throw "hissy" fits when a harmless snake appears nearby.

Some other Australians are now telling about the wildlife living in/under their houses and it's fascinating, like this one.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5141711-neighbours-freaking-out-about-my-under-house-python-mr-hissy?reply=137527771&utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share&utm_source=copylink

@MouseMinge ... one of a few reasons Australia is not somewhere I'd ever want to visit ...
No! I've been there several times, staying for a few days on stopovers to and from visiting my sis in New Zilnd. I thought Sydney was a bit of a shithole, unless you like that sort of thing, but Perth was one of the friendliest places I've ever visited. Oh yes, they say in Sydney, that's because they're so isolated that they'll talk to anyone!

I've got two friends who live over there, one in Melbourne and one Tasmania. Luckily for me they still visit the UK. One of the other reasons I wouldn't to to Australia is it's expensive and if I had the money I'd probably go to Costa Rico and help out with the sloths. I love what the Sydney people say about the Perth people

I may have said this before, but I'd give a big shout-out to Kleo on Netflix. Just finished S2 and it's loads of fun, sharply written, great characters.

@MouseMinge - One of my friends moved to Florida with her husband (for his work) and when they separated (not for the first time!) she took the kids off to live in Costa Rica for a couple of years. Dad was fine with it (it's only a short flight). They all spoke fluent Spanish already, lived in a remote coastal area and absolutely thrived there. She took them back when the kids reached secondary school age, but the lasting effect was that the boy chose to read Marine Biology at university.

At that point, they got divorced!

It was the marine biology what did it! I do think that it must be a lovely country, such an abundance of flora and fauna, no army, sloths. I think it's the only "this is a very hot country" that's on my list of countries I really want to visit.

@duc748 I'm going to be lazy and ask you to tell us what it's all about although it's only semi-laziness, I just like to hear from others about programmes they're really enjoying.

I've started rewatching Ugly Betty which I'm bloody loving, just went to check when it was originally on and it ran from 2006-2010. Crikey! Anyway, I'm loving it all over again.

I'm also excited that Emily in Paris is back on. It is pure and utter nonsense, the Guardian review of it today was that it was as exciting as watching paint dry if you really hate paint, "the show feels like it is about less than nothing; it has morphed into a black hole devoid of plot, charisma and intrigue."

In many ways I'm not going to argue and to be fair to the Guardian - snobby twats - I haven't started watching season four yet, but it's always been light on plot, about nothing much and very silly. Intrigue? For heaven's sake it's a light fluffy comedy/drama type thing, we're not spending multiple seasons trying to find out who H is in Line of Duty! I find it charming and awful, Emily herself often dresses stupidly but sometimes looks devine, through it all she is mostly a very annoying character ... and I love it! Whoever reviewed that is a bit of a twat who doesn't get that sometimes we all love to escape and watch nonsense and that the reason it's been going for four seasons is because it does what it does very well indeed.

I noticed Ugly Betty as a streaming option the other day while looking for something mindless to watch and reckon I could quite happily watch it again.

We've just finished Rookie Historian Goo Hae-Ryung. It's stylistically bizarre - a mix of serious political thriller and light romantic comedy, complete with torture, long speeches about moral decisions, and boinging noises for the comic reaction shots. Weird. But enjoyable if you can get over that, and very educational about early 19thC Korean society - where they valued history above everything else.

A historian follows each senior member of the court at all times, and writes down everything they say and do. If they're told not to write something down, they write it down with a note about being told not to, and they have immunity for everything they write. Nobody but a historian is allowed to see the daily records, and when a king dies they set up a committee to go through every single one and write an official history of the reign. They did it from the 14th to mid 19th centuries.

The actual plot is fiction, but the historian stuff is real. It's a splendidly mad system.

(Also, Eunuchs have wives. And if you're really serious about a wrong that needs righting - and not a scholar monk - you take an 'ultimate petiton' to the king, which is a written petition and an axe - he has to either act on the petition or chop your head off. If you are a scholar monk you have the alternative option of a wailing protest, in which all the scholar monks stand in the palace courtyard and wail in unison until the problem is sorted.)

@MouseMinge Something like Deutschland 1983, an East German hit-woman at the end of the Cold War. But funny. Not a comedy, but a comedy-drama done very effectively done for me.

We just started watching Fallout on Prime. Quite bizarre but I'm enjoying it, as I have a taste for post-apocalyptic fiction. DH rolls his eyes but enjoys it more than he admits.

We rather like Vienna Blood. I think there's a new series but we accidentally started watching Ep1 S1, so will probably watch it all again for background. It's gorgeous to look at, and well acted with touches of humour. Not too much gore either.