Silliness So what are you doing RIGHT NOW? - Page 2780

Rumpelteazer · 07-21-2018, 02:22 PM

Feeling sad. I'm about to start reading Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, by Jung Chan.

I can vividly remember what would become my favourite teacher telling us about this book in the first English class of my second year in high school/secondary school. He told us it was one of the best books every written. That was almost 25 years ago, and I still remember it. He was the one who let gave me English books to read that were at a higher level than my classmates. He was the one who encouraged me to read books for my exams that weren't on the school's reading list. He wasn't a teacher that acted popular and knew all the cultural references that were important (or we thought were important), he encouraged us to read, to think about what we've read, develop our own opinion and pushed us to get better.

He also taught my sister. The first year he taught her he only taught a couple of classes. He had bought a horse, without having prior horse riding experience. He fell off and broke several bones and was out for the rest of the school year.

I would occasionally look at the website of the school and see he was still listed as one of the English teachers. I just checked again, thinking it would be fun to contact him after finishing the book. But I couldn't find him. After some digging I found out he died almost two years ago.

Now I'm almost afraid of starting the book; what if I don't like it. Not that he would have minded, he would love to have a good discussion about it.

poohbear_nc · 07-21-2018, 07:17 PM

Just finished watering the lawn (and myself)

timebug · 07-22-2018, 03:40 AM

About to step out for a long walk. It has been too hot here recently to enjoy a decent walk, trying to keep to the shade all the time; but today is a bit fresher,so here goes a decent five mile stroll!

Rumpelteazer · 07-22-2018, 01:08 PM

I'm sweating. I've just packed the last things for house sitting. Just a couple of things left, which I can pack tomorrow morning.

Today we've also made a list of items we need to buy before we get a kitten. Now I'm going to look at what kind of cat toys are available at the moment.

Hitch · 07-22-2018, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

I'm sweating. I've just packed the last things for house sitting. Just a couple of things left, which I can pack tomorrow morning.

Today we've also made a list of items we need to buy before we get a kitten. Now I'm going to look at what kind of cat toys are available at the moment.

Strings and empty boxes are always winners here--over many, many cat toys purchased over the years! :-)

Hitch

Rumpelteazer · 07-22-2018, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hitch

Strings and empty boxes are always winners here--over many, many cat toys purchased over the years! :-)

Hitch

True, and we have boxes in all shapes and sizes in the store. And I have a drawer full of rolls of string and ribbons. Cable ties are also a cat favourite, though you have to get a long one. And, of course, a laser pointer.

When Nikita was a kitten this was her favourite toy. We had it tied to a long length of elastic and tied it to a hook in the ceiling. She would love to run at it from the other side of the room, jump on it and get launched into the air (when she got too heavy to get launched she lost interest).

Today we've been remembering all the cats and their quirks we've had.

Rumpelteazer · 07-24-2018, 02:29 AM

It's going to be a hot week. On Friday temperatures are set to rise to 34C to 36C (96F to 97F). If my father agrees I'm going to take the day off: by then I will have dealt with the shipments that will come in today, it won't be a busy day in the store (I expect the city center to be pretty much deserted), and the chores I normally do on Friday morning can be done on Saturday (when temperatures will be a lot better).

Hitch · 07-24-2018, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

It's going to be a hot week. On Friday temperatures are set to rise to 34C to 36C (96F to 97F). If my father agrees I'm going to take the day off: by then I will have dealt with the shipments that will come in today, it won't be a busy day in the store (I expect the city center to be pretty much deserted), and the chores I normally do on Friday morning can be done on Saturday (when temperatures will be a lot better).

ahem.

It was 116F here yesterday. Google tells me that this is 46.6667C. Gonna be this all week, apparently.

Hitch

Greg Anos · 07-24-2018, 10:27 AM

Yes, Hitch. We are backing down from 110 F (43 C) here, to a more seasonable 100 F (38 C). Did some irrigation pipe work at dawn, now doing a system migration for my work machine. (It's been an UGLY migration so far. . . . )

Hitch · 07-24-2018, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Yes, Hitch. We are backing down from 110 F (43 C) here, to a more seasonable 100 F (38 C). Did some irrigation pipe work at dawn, now doing a system migration for my work machine. (It's been an UGLY migration so far. . . . )

Well, here in Phoenix, 110F is our more-seasonable temp, unfortunately. Now it's going to be like this for the next six weeks...sigh. Every year, I start my countdown to the 3rd week of October. 12 weeks left. God....

Hitch

Bilbo1967 · 07-24-2018, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hitch

Well, here in Phoenix, 110F is our more-seasonable temp, unfortunately. Now it's going to be like this for the next six weeks...sigh. Every year, I start my countdown to the 3rd week of October. 12 weeks left. God....

Hitch

. Here in the UK it's national news that the temperature has been in the 80s for a while and may (!) get into the 90s in areas later this week

Of course, we're not used to it and don't have the infrastructure to help us cope. Friends who live in Doha, Qatar (average daytime temperature this time of year around 40-45°C) stayed with us last week and complained about the heat. Everywhere there is air conditioned -very few houses here are.

Hitch · 07-24-2018, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bilbo1967

. Here in the UK it's national news that the temperature has been in the 80s for a while and may (!) get into the 90s in areas later this week

Of course, we're not used to it and don't have the infrastructure to help us cope. Friends who live in Doha, Qatar (average daytime temperature this time of year around 40-45°C) stayed with us last week and complained about the heat. Everywhere there is air conditioned -very few houses here are.

I'd have thought that any Qatarian wouldn't think that 80-90 is bad...but if you don't have A/C, yeah, 90 sucks.

Hitch

Bilbo1967 · 07-24-2018, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hitch

I'd have thought that any Qatarian wouldn't think that 80-90 is bad...but if you don't have A/C, yeah, 90 sucks.

Hitch

Oh yes. 80-90 is their overnight temperature. It's the lack of air conditioning here that gets them.

Rumpelteazer · 07-24-2018, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hitch

Well, here in Phoenix, 110F is our more-seasonable temp, unfortunately. Now it's going to be like this for the next six weeks...sigh. Every year, I start my countdown to the 3rd week of October. 12 weeks left. God....

Hitch

It's really what you're used to. The average temperature for July in my city is 22C (71.6F), which is a nice temperature IMHO. So 35C (95F) is very warm. The weekend will be slightly better at 26-27C (80F), with rain on Saturday. I've got my cleaning chores planned for Sunday because on Monday temperatures are heading towards the 30C (86F). I'm good up to 25C (77F), any higher and it starts to affect me. One good thing is that it's really dry, which keeps the humidity down and makes it a bit more bearable, but it's not good for nature.

This afternoon I spend sitting on the couch, in front of my little fan, with a damp cloth to wipe my neck and arms down regularly. It was doable. Around 6pm I checked the thermometer outside and it was 35C (95F), officially it was around 31C (87.8F), so if the official temperature will rise to 35C it'll more likely be 40C (104F) where I am. And like others air conditioning isn't something many people have in their home (one of the biggest online store has sold out all their airco's)

Tomorrow I'll bring my washing up tub, which I use for foot baths, from home. See if cold foot baths help me cope (plus when I'm done I'll use the water to water the plants in the yard).

Greg Anos · 07-24-2018, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

It's really what you're used to. The average temperature for July in my city is 22C (71.6F), which is a nice temperature IMHO. So 35C (95F) is very warm. The weekend will be slightly better at 26-27C (80F), with rain on Saturday. I've got my cleaning chores planned for Sunday because on Monday temperatures are heading towards the 30C (86F). I'm good up to 25C (77F), any higher and it starts to affect me. One good thing is that it's really dry, which keeps the humidity down and makes it a bit more bearable, but it's not good for nature.

This afternoon I spend sitting on the couch, in front of my little fan, with a damp cloth to wipe my neck and arms down regularly. It was doable. Around 6pm I checked the thermometer outside and it was 35C (95F), officially it was around 31C (87.8F), so if the official temperature will rise to 35C it'll more likely be 40C (104F) where I am. And like others air conditioning isn't something many people have in their home (one of the biggest online store has sold out all their airco's)

Tomorrow I'll bring my washing up tub, which I use for foot baths, from home. See if cold foot baths help me cope (plus when I'm done I'll use the water to water the plants in the yard).

What you need is a mister behind the fan flow. Evaporative cooling. Works well if the humidity is really low.

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07-21-2018, 02:22 PM	#41686
Rumpelteazer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,099 Karma: 24047426 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Utrecht, the Netherlands Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition	Feeling sad. I'm about to start reading Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, by Jung Chan. I can vividly remember what would become my favourite teacher telling us about this book in the first English class of my second year in high school/secondary school. He told us it was one of the best books every written. That was almost 25 years ago, and I still remember it. He was the one who let gave me English books to read that were at a higher level than my classmates. He was the one who encouraged me to read books for my exams that weren't on the school's reading list. He wasn't a teacher that acted popular and knew all the cultural references that were important (or we thought were important), he encouraged us to read, to think about what we've read, develop our own opinion and pushed us to get better. He also taught my sister. The first year he taught her he only taught a couple of classes. He had bought a horse, without having prior horse riding experience. He fell off and broke several bones and was out for the rest of the school year. I would occasionally look at the website of the school and see he was still listed as one of the English teachers. I just checked again, thinking it would be fun to contact him after finishing the book. But I couldn't find him. After some digging I found out he died almost two years ago. Now I'm almost afraid of starting the book; what if I don't like it. Not that he would have minded, he would love to have a good discussion about it.

07-21-2018, 07:17 PM	#41687
poohbear_nc Now what? Posts: 58,795 Karma: 135181808 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Durham, NC Device: Every Kindle Ever Made & To Be Made!	Just finished watering the lawn (and myself)

07-22-2018, 03:40 AM	#41688
timebug Ancient Sage Posts: 14,585 Karma: 15493448 Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Derby U.K. Device: Kobo Reader	About to step out for a long walk. It has been too hot here recently to enjoy a decent walk, trying to keep to the shade all the time; but today is a bit fresher,so here goes a decent five mile stroll!

07-22-2018, 01:08 PM	#41689
Rumpelteazer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,099 Karma: 24047426 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Utrecht, the Netherlands Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition	I'm sweating. I've just packed the last things for house sitting. Just a couple of things left, which I can pack tomorrow morning. Today we've also made a list of items we need to buy before we get a kitten. Now I'm going to look at what kind of cat toys are available at the moment.

07-24-2018, 02:29 AM	#41692
Rumpelteazer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,099 Karma: 24047426 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Utrecht, the Netherlands Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition	It's going to be a hot week. On Friday temperatures are set to rise to 34C to 36C (96F to 97F). If my father agrees I'm going to take the day off: by then I will have dealt with the shipments that will come in today, it won't be a busy day in the store (I expect the city center to be pretty much deserted), and the chores I normally do on Friday morning can be done on Saturday (when temperatures will be a lot better).

07-24-2018, 10:27 AM	#41694
Greg Anos Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,247 Karma: 35000000 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Pocketbook	Yes, Hitch. We are backing down from 110 F (43 C) here, to a more seasonable 100 F (38 C). Did some irrigation pipe work at dawn, now doing a system migration for my work machine. (It's been an UGLY migration so far. . . . )