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…

@Britinme - Do you remember the Big Freeze of 1962/63? I do, but mainly because we had come back from 3 years in Singapore and moved to Dorset in the September of 62. My mother doomed us by saying "At least it won't be cold in winter." At the beginning of the school term we still couldn't get out of the back door, but fortunately the front path had been cleared, as had the pavement, so she sent me off to get the bus as usual.

Three other parents were equally stupid, so four of us walked the 2 miles or so from the army camp to school in the nearest town. We had to walk in the tracks left by army trucks as the snow was shoulder-height. When we eventually got there - it took two or three hours - the caretaker said "Are you mad? Obviously the school's closed!" and sent us home. We got back in time for tea and my mother was enraged that he hadn't somehow rustled up lunch.

Character-building, eh?

@Gonners yes I do remember that! Luckily I lived only a couple of hundred yards from my school, and I don’t remember it being closed, but I do remember the icy cold. We had been in England (returning from India where I was born) for eight years by then so winter felt normal, but according to my mother when we first returned when I was almost 5 I begged to go out and play in the snow, which I had never seen before, but soon came in crying because it was so cold. It’s a lot colder over here in the winter than I was used to in England!

We had previously lived in Austria and Germany, though Singapore had wiped that from my mind. But people around here remember 1962-3 as the winter the sea froze for up to a mile off the East Kent coast!

This thread is already delivering some jaw-droppers
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5538527-whats-the-oddest-thing-youve-seen-listed-on-a-cv?

There are some odd people out there, that's for sure. Maybe they don't actually want the jobs?

There's probably a lot of people who have been made to apply for jobs to keep getting Jobseekers Allowance, but also plenty who are just odd!

I honestly don't know why anybody would want to stay on Jobseekers Allowance or UC - it's not as if it's enough to live on. When my son was on it, it barely covered his rent and council tax never mind anything silly like food or transport.

I once got an interview because the interview panel wanted to see the person who had done some of the unusual things listed. After I got the job, a couple of them told me about it.

That is a good thread.

Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) has passed away

That's sad news. He was a very entertaining actor and not a bad singer. There's a wonderful video somewhere of him performing Sweet Transvestite from the Rocky Horror Show. I hadn't realised he was Murray Head's brother!

I have just been having stern words with the Echinacea plants I shoved in the front garden a couple of weeks ago. I honestly thought those would grow anywhere, but of four - all planted in separate areas - only one is thriving and the others are being frankly pathetic. I know it's been hot and dry (though not that hot here) but they were pampered with multi-purpose compost and have been carefully watered in the evening with Southern Water's gift of 48 litres of "spring water" (the water never did go off here).

So, no more words of encouragement from me! I've praised the good one and told the rest to get a grip or they'll be replanted on the green, where the local dogs will piss on them. AIBU?

Quite right @Gonners - give them what for!

Hah @Gonners! I've had poor luck with echinaceas. Bomb-proof, super-hardy plants, they said. Bollocks, I say.

Some years ago I bought several echinaceas, envisaging a prairie-like drift across the front bed. The slugs loved the leaves, so they mostly failed to flower properly and then all but one of the buggers carked it after their first winter. The survivor carried on and gave the appearance of thriving for the next couple of years, then also succumbed one winter.

Now its bloody seedlings keep popping up between my paving slabs, miraculously untouched by the slugs, but also impossible to be pulled up and propagated because I just can't get them out from the gaps unharmed.

I can't get along with echinaceas either. None of my clients try to grow them which says a lot. Saying that, in my garden in Lincolnshire they grew well. It was very sandy so maybe they need free draining soil. We're on heavy clay and I wonder if they don't like wet feet.

A chap up the road has a low, stone front wall with just a narrow strip of soil along the top. They absolutely thrive there. Perhaps (like children) they need a little healthy neglect?

Thanks for the CVs! I've added a contribution, some if you may remember it from elsewhere!

Just got home from work, was about to settle down with a mug of tea, the doorbell rang.

Some fellas standing there, "We're here to put up the scaffolding for your chimney."

DH had got a quote for chimney/roofing repair some months ago and had emailed the company to say yes, but he hadn't mentioned hearing back from them with a start date.

So I messaged him to say, "There's some fellas here to put up the scaffolding for our chimney, when are the roofers starting?"

DH, "Who? The company never got back to me!"

Still, I'll pay whoever comes to repair our chimney/roof.

Weird that they never contacted you or DH first though. I hope it's the same company DH contacted and not some random outfit that happened to hear you had that job that needed doing!

Yeah that made my antennae twitch a bit.

Ha! Yes, maybe confirm the dates with the people who quoted. But a lot of roofers are a bit laid-back about that sort of thing, and <minor annoyance alert> the scaffolding will probably be up forever. I think scaffolders no longer have yards to store the stuff, but just move it from house to house when they need it!

Also check if you need to get the work approved afterwards by the council. We got a surprise letter after we had our roof replaced, and the roofer was astonished because they "never" do that. I reckon it was prompted by the man down the road, whose approved "loft-conversion" I reported after it turned into a full third storey. The council bloke (who I think was the same one who had made the neighbour demolish the work and take the roof back down to its previous height) just looked at our roof, said "Nice!", checked that the loft was insulated and signed it off.

There's a thread today about the OP wanting to spend winters abroad once her DC goes to uni - the written responses are mostly hugely negative and very emotional. There seem to be many posters who even think the DC's rooms should be preserved like shrines, etc, else terrible mental trauma will ensue.

It slightly mirrors what may be our situation next year. DH has applied for a job in A.N.Other city down south, he's going for interview very soon and they seem very serious about him. If he gets the job, we will have to move and will plan our timings around DDs going to uni next autumn - it's an expensive city and we would downsize to a flat or tiny house.

I'm not sure how I feel about the whole thing. Every time we've moved house/city, it's been so stressful to me that I've ended up on antidepressants. Also, I've finally got settled in a nice predictable full-time permanent desk job. OTOH I have never liked living here, only did it for the sake of DH's wider family, would love to move back down south and I particularly love A.N.Other city.

Just sort of "thinking out loud" on here because it's not something I can discuss with anybody IRL.

Moving is such a PITA, though! I never want to move again, but I'm fortunate that I don't have to. I'd have thought where you are now is a pretty nice place to live, you have city advantages, and beautiful countryside just a few miles away. But I've had enough of the South of England!

Good luck to your DH with the interviews!

Moving is a pain, but if you're moving to somewhere better then it's a lot easier to put up with. It might even be warmer too.

Re 'posters who even think the DC's rooms should be preserved like shrines' I find that quite strange and think it must be a relatively new idea. Smaller families maybe? When I was 16 my dad and step mother got together and we all moved into a larger house to accommodate the greatly expanded family - there were three of us, she already had two and then they had two more in quick succession, so seven kids in all. When I left home at 18 my bedroom was gone within two weeks because one of my siblings moved into it and that was the end of my bedroom in the parental home. At the time, I did briefly think 'hmm' and raised my eyebrows a bit but I was fine and the next few years involved shared houses and flats with my friends, which was a great time.

Moving is indeed a PITA but on the other hand if you’re moving from a place you’re meh about to one you actually know and like, maybe that would make it worth it. Changing jobs if you like where you are is also a PITA but again, is doable and you’re very well qualified Kuc, so there would be other jobs to apply for - plus maybe the opportunity to enjoy the facilities of A.N.Other City in the meantime. Good luck to DH with the interview, but try not to fret too much until there’s an actual offer.