Thread 18 - TalkLair: "That's no moon. It's a space station!"

[RasaSayangEh]

(Previous thread 17)

We've had our heatwave - is this it for the summer? All is lush and green in our LairGarden, flowers are blooming, berries are ripening...

In the TalkLair, all the windows are open, the Pimms is chilled, the MN massive salad is ready to serve. The denizens of the lair are a welcoming bunch, always eager for general chit-chat on all manner of topics. We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

Undergraduates, @Gonners

That's not so bad then. I was an "elderly" undergrad, having dropped out after a single term first time around (LSE, 1971 - can anyone blame me?), and not gone back until 1989-92. I was astonished at the faffing around that went on, the unwillingness to ask questions and the general lack of gumption. I suspect that things have got worse since then.

I was the year of 1987 and we were very active in many ways. We had some enjoyable protests and sit-ins and once occupied the poly telephone exchange for an afternoon to highlight whatever it was we were protesting about. Cuts to grants, I think. Sounds awful and it probably was but there you go, we were young and foolish. We also organised some great parties, hired rooms and DJs, sorted food. When it came to the year below to do the organising, they did sod all. They were weirdly lethargic, dull and very disappointing.

Just read the OP and am puzzled why she's asking if she's unreasonable for not wanting to spend Christmas with her husband's family. They sound truly awful.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5441389-for-not-wanting-to-spend-another-christmas-day-with-his-batshit-family

This would be a hard no from me. And I would have said the day we got back, "we are NEVER EVER doing Christmas at your parents again".

Then I would have made plans to go to a nice hotel for Christmas or to have a cosy Christmas together. I would definitely have been mentioning the cosy Christmas since the end of September.

So my OH would be under no illusions that we weren't going to his folks.

Mr Veg's family can be a tad rowdy at times but nothing remotely similar to what's described in that thread. For that reason, we're having a 'cosy Christmas' at home more often these days and are so glad we're staying put this year.

How are you now, @MyrtleLion ? I hope you're feeling stronger and are being well cared for.

Good grief! A lot of disbelieving replies on that thread, but I think I believe it. My mother's family are not entirely dissimilar and most of them don't even drink!

And good wishes to @MyrtleLion, I hope you're on the mend!

@RasaSayangEh if your mother's family can be similar, I'm wondering what winds them up, if not alcohol.

Not sure @Vegemiteandhoneyontoast. Congenital batshittery, I reckon they all inherited some undiagnosed neurodiversity from one of my grandparents and it manifests in a range of bizarre personality types and abnormal behaviours. Or possibly it was leaded petrol or something. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Some of them do drink, and that results in even greater madness.

So, @RasaSayangEh ... have you inherited any of the batshittery?

I am better than I have been but I'm not completely well. I am in pain with my foot and ankle and I'm tapering off the codeine over the next week because I need to drive to London for a specialist hospital appointment for a different condition in about 10 days time. DH can't drive me and I would have to do too much walking if I took a train/tube.

I am quite fed up with everything really, though my physio is impressed by my progress considering what Ive been through.

Oh that sounds shitty, Myrtle. Could you do train then Uber?

Unfortunately not because I arrive in one area of London and the hospital is on the other side of London. In terms of fares and time it's cheaper, quicker and easier to drive. I also have a blue badge which means I won't pay for parking or the congestion zone so I can drive through the centre.

It's going to be fine. I have podcasts and music and it's very comfortable.

Sorry to hear that @MyrtleLion. I hope your foot is better enough to cope by then.
I’ve been in hospital a couple of days now with viral pneumonia from flu. Other than stuff with my PCP (like your GP) this is my first prolonged exposure to the American medical system. I’m on Medicare (for over-65s) which covers 80% of everything, and luckily I have a supplemental Medigap policy that covers the rest, plus a drug policy. Medicare authorised my hospital admission (I came in through the ER late Friday evening because I couldn’t get my breath and I was panicking) so this won’t bankrupt me, though the policies cost me about $500 a month altogether.

I can see why people as lucky as me don’t want their health care messed with. My single room measures about 20 feet by 13 plus a bathroom with a toilet, sink and shower. My bed goes through any combo of angles I care to ask of it. There’s a comfy armchair and places to charge my phone and iPad. I have cable TV. The paint is fresh and the wood doors are nice. I have a view from the 5th floor over the city. There’s a decent food menu I choose from though the food is not great but not bad either and includes fresh fruit and veg if I want, plus a yummy hummus and tabbouleh dish I had for dinner. I had my blood oxygen levels monitored constantly today, plus oxygen through a nasal cannula, today, though not now, and the respiratory therapist has seen me four times today. I had a chest X Ray (nasty picture of fuzzy grey lungs with white streaks), blood tests and an EKG. It’s like a very nice hotel with health care and indifferent but not awful food.

Wishing you a speedy recovery, Brit. Have you had the pneumonia vaccination? MaBint found it made an enormous difference. She's not had pneumonia once since being jabbed, and used to be a very frequent sufferer.

And good luck with the drive, Myrtle - not what you need on top of the current leg palaver.

I'm heading back home today, after a family visit to scatter StepPaBint's ashes. We found a lovely holiday cottage to stay in at a ridiculously low price because off-season Norfolk is properly off season. We had very mild weather, but when the wind's from the north there's a bitter cold on that coast that is very effective at keeping visitors away.

Glad you're feeling better, Myrtle, but it sounds like it's been a long haul for you which must be exhausting.

Sorry to hear you've been going through the mill too, Brit, hope you're up and about soon.

That must make for some really weird family gatherings. I though mine and Mr Veg's family could be strange but I'm starting to think they're not too bad now.

Best wishes for @MyrtleLion and @Britinme I must say that Brit's hospital set-up sounds marvellous. Just goes to show the massive gulf in healthcare access in the US, I suppose!

@NoBinturongsHereMate Hah yes, the Siberian winds. BiL lives in Norfolk and we always made it a point to never visit in the winter

@Gonners I don't think I'm too batshit (but I would say that, wouldn't I?). The general consensus is that the in-laws who married into my mum's family have brought a stabilising sane influence to the next generation.

Re Siberian winds, I spent some years living in Sutton Coldfield and Wolverhampton. Both were relatively high up and the winds that swept through there from the east were really bitter. Someone told me once that the next highest place east from Sutton Coldfield is the Ural mountains and I could believe it.

The clue's in the name, surely!

Looking it up, the Coldfield part is thought by some to derive from the word 'col', relating burning charcoal.

I did it, I assassinated the student's video 🫣 I tried to be as nice about it as I could while delivering a "WTF is this shite" message.

DDs watched the video yesterday and pointed out the script looked mainly AI-generated, and the video platform used was also an AI-based one. Nothing wrong with using AI to assist, of course (see my own above), but using AI and yet taking so long and producing something so very crap?

How did she take it? And did you make the AI point? TheCells are harsh but fair!

Hope it wasn't too awkward, Rasa. The Cells sound like they're pretty good at spotting AI stuff, I doubt I'd know where to begin.