Thread 19 - TalkLair: "The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long"

[Kucinghitam]

(Previous thread 18)

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat...

In the TalkLair, the fairy lights are festooned on the mantlepiece, the tree is twinkling with baubles, the mince pies are in the oven, the MN legendary chicken is ready to feed the hordes. 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…

Turns out the DVLA removed that contract from the Post Office last year and gave it to PayPoint.

This is what happens when you try to make everything a 'business' run at a profit. I blame Thatcher! Nobody wants to to actully provide a service these days; they want to subby it out, to someone who can do it a little bit cheaper and a little bit nastier, whilst creaming off a risk-free cut for themselves.

And breathe!

I always get in a complete rage when it's on the news that e.g. Royal Mail lost £x million in a year - NO IT DIDN'T. It's the cost of having a universal postal service, so that it costs exactly the same to send a letter to my next door neighbour in London as to Inverness.

Royal Mail actually made a small profit (£12m) in 2023/24 ... now that it's owned by a Czech billionaire. It was promptly fined £21m by Ofcom, for missing its delivery targets. 🙄

Sympathies on cars, folks. I'm feeling a bit ropey, with shingles. I've had the electric shocks on my thigh for about 3 weeks, but no sign, so I thought it was a strain. It normally reputed in 2 - 3 days.

First time for 5 years... since I paid £140 for the bloody vaccine.

Oh no @SinnerBoy! Shingles is horrible, poor you. I hope you're resting up with somebody to pamper you?

Oh, that is shit @SinnerBoy ... weirdly, I only know one person who has had it. Well, to be more realistic I only know one person who has told me. Take care of yourself and if no pampering is offered, demand it!

Can I join? I’m only 18 threads late, but I saw your ChatGPT image of the OP and it’s just so adorable. I fucking LOVE the pile of bones, ha.

I’m so sorry about the loss of your GM, @Kucinghitam . I couldn’t go home for my grandparents’ funerals, but I know they knew how much I loved them. Thank you for sharing your culture with us; it’s so interesting and lovely.

And it is an absolute high crime that you weren’t first onto the bus!!!

<waves at @FFSToEverythingSince2020 then turns back to gnawing bones of Someone Who Annoyed Me>

< waves at @SqueakyDinosaur and knows the annoying ones often crunch the best >

Welcome @FFSToEverythingSince2020 and thank you!

Hello @FFSToEverythingSince2020 - good name.

Much sympathy on the shingles, Sinner. I hope it's a mild case.

Thank this so much @Kucinghitam and @ProfessorBinturong (binturongs are so cool; their little expressive faces always remind me of red pandas, even though I know they’re not related).

And @SinnerBoy , saw you have shingles! So sorry to hear it, as those “electric shocks” are no joke. I hope it heals quickly and well!

Shingles is vile, my sympathies, @SinnerBoy .

How's everyone's Christmas preparations going, BTW?

Based on general conversations with various friend groups and even on MN, everything seems slightly subdued this year, e.g. I don't think I've seen a "show us your Christmas tree" thread?

We have 9 for Christmas Day, biggest Christmas hosting we've done for many years. DH will take charge of most the cooking as he's the Roastmeister Also he has to be in charge of the booze because I don't drink. I've said my main contribution on the day will be to dish up the M&S prawn cocktails for the starters.

@FFSToEverythingSince2020 I don't know if it's just me, but seems like every time @ProfessorBinturong posts on this thread, my Instagram feed shows me a little burst of binturong-related content. This has convinced me that Meta is spying on me!

Like a bat signal, but with more whiskers.

We were very early in most of our Xmas prep, and then became complacent. So we're now in the traditional mad scramble to get presents posted. And I still have no idea what to get StepSis2 and husband.

No decs up, and the dining table is covered in the final stage of glassware sorting (liqueur, spirit and other miscellaneous glasses).

The Roastmeister! I’m laughing at that, but that’s brilliant that your DH helps (edited since I accidentally wrote son). Too many relatives expecting to be waited on, if the threads I’ve read are any indication!

My DH is starting to get a bit stressed about Christmas because his parents really want to see him, I’d really like to see them (they’re lovely), but I don’t know if I’ll be well enough to travel. And he already missed last family Christmas because I was too ill and he wouldn’t leave me. So we’re very much up in the air at the moment.

So far, I’ve been to the doctor this morning and DH is up and giving our tiny tortoise a bath. She’s all the way up to a hefty 79 grams, so we’re cheering her on to reach 80!

And I know what you mean! I love the Christmas tree thread every year. I’d start it but I don’t have a tree 😂

And I wish binturong content would appear on my Instagram! But yes, we constantly seem to get ads at our house for things we’ve verbally discussed but haven’t Googled or anything. I just got a class action settlement (12 whole US dollars!) from a multi-million pound lawsuit that iPhones were listening when they shouldn’t.

I'm being a total grinch this year and we're staying at home. Mr Veg is perfectly happy to stay at home too, by the way. It's my dad's funeral tomorrow and I have absolutely zero festive spirit. Typical it's forecast to pour with rain and it's a burial so we'll all be standing outside.

We usually go to his family but the gatherings tend to be a bit boozy and we're not party animals. We've decided to make pizzas on Christmas day. I'll make the dough early and then we'll stand side by side at the work top building our pizzas and gently mocking each other's methods, as we always do. It will cosy and quiet and very nice indeed.

No tree or decs here, but I am happy to repeat my offer of last year of a bottle of my legendary parsnip stout to any posters who would like. I can probably find suitable boxes for three or so.

I often make pizza for Xmas, Bear. A fine idea. I have no idea what I'll do this year yet.

((( @BetjemansBear ))) I hope the rain relents and all goes as well as it can for your dad's funeral

@FFSToEverythingSince2020 Good wishes (and a non-alcoholic toast) for your health this Christmas!

BTW I love tortoises, they've got so much personality for what seem to be animated reptilian rocks Recently there was a Curious Cases podcast episode about tortoises, for anybody who is interested!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002n7mf

Maybe you could make pizza too, moto.

We're also going to have pineapple on them because we like it and to hell with the purists. Pineapple goes perfectly with spicy pepperoni and onions.

Thanks, @Kucinghitam - fortunately I have a lot of siblings and we all get on pretty well so there will be plenty of hugs and good company. As a family we tend towards being rather reserved and stoic so hopefully there won't be any drama.

@Kucinghitam Thank you for that podcast! My DH is just thrilled; I like tortoises but they’re a hugely exciting thing to him. And yes! Ours has just barely gotten old enough and big enough that she now likes to do a wiggle if you scratch her on the shell/bum with a toothbrush (I didn’t just come up with this idea 😂 We got it from other people whose tortoises like it). We watch a really lovely YouTube channel called Garden State Tortoise; if you want to see different breeds and personalities, I can’t recommend the channel enough.

https://m.youtube.com/gardenstatetortoise

@BetjemansBear I LOVE a pineapple/pepperoni pizza. Due to health issues, I make my own and it’s delicious. But that pepperoni will make me hate life for a few days, so sadly, it’s sometimes pineapple alone. My DH calls that the pizza of sadness 😂

Reminds me of the thread on here where someone called instant hot chocolate “brown sadness water.” Hilarious, but true.

I've only met one tortoise and it was many years ago, but I remember feeding it buttercups and watching the flowers disappear into its mouth.

@FFSToEverythingSince2020 pineapple alone? Can you not have passata or cheese?