WyKnott

I think we're all in a state of denial about the drought so far. As for paying for water, electricity, gas, etc. Condo and apartment complexes differ, but for most, each owner pays gas, electric and water is paid by the property. So, yeah, no accountability. To top it off, we got thunderstorms today with heavy rain in some parts of the county. Not enough to matter, but there you go. Denial again. I think if I owned a house and had to pay my own water bill, it would hit closer to home. And for all I know, people who get water bills got something in the mail about conserving water.

Ms Sherlock, where I live there's lots of news reports on the drought, and talk about enforcing and fining, but it doesn't seem to be enforced much. I live in a complex that pays one water bill for the entire place, it's part of the homeowner's association fee I pay. Since the residents never see a bill and some have a washer and dryer in their condo while others use the laundryroom; some have a small backyard with lawn, others live upstairs, there doesn't seem to be any way to regulate how much water is being used. I normally use less than other units that have more than one person living there and I don't have my own washer and dryer. I do know that the association is trying to cut water usage by 20%, mostly be not running the sprinklers as much. I wouldn't know how they could go about making us use less water. Some of our neighbors wouldn't care if we're in the middle of a drought, they don't care enough to throw trash in the correct receptacle and have their kids inside after 10pm. *shakes cane "get off my lawn!"*

No she really didn't. To her she should be able to write a private letter to her father without it being read. After all she knew she wasn't a spy so what was the problem? They should be catching the real spies not reading her mail. That was a very real attitude of the time. People did not get that if you even mentioned that you had lunch with General Groves' wife, you might give something away to the enemy. Plus SHE wasn't working on the project, so why she should have to follow security regs? It was tough on the families to be under the same regs as the scientists. The show did a great job of showing how everyone had to be so careful with what they did or say and the effect of keeping the secret on their psyche. Her blowup wasn't just that her mail was read, it was everything coming out over that. As a navy brat growing up during the Vietnam War, I remember letters from my dad that had been censored. Maybe it's different if you come from academia, but growing up with a familiy member in the service, it was expected. I have no idea what it's like today in the serviced with email and skype., it would have been heaven to hear from and see my dad without a month wait for letters. I really liked the look of the show, they seemed to get it right.

Thanks, Kalliste. To be fair, they've only asked twice to post something after hours. The first when the whole county had a power outage and the second because there were several wildfires burning in the county. The monitoring after hours is something that should be done because sometimes a question gets asked that really can't wait until the next day, but oh well. If TPTB in their infinite wisdom feel it's not that important… There will be some discussion on the possibility of a company phone or maybe some conpensation on my wireless bill, because we also have an instagram account that I'm not keeping updated at the moment.

For those who were following along on TWoP's LINDA board, I didn't get the raise. It was determined that the extra social media duties were still within our job description and no appeal is allowed. I think most of my reaction and anger is because we were all so sure it was a slam dunk. Our bosses were saying so, we thought so. I guess no more posts from events from my personal phone. It will have to wait until afterwards when I get back to my desk and computer, also no more instagram photos unless they want to pay for part of my cellular bill or provide a company phone. No more monitoring after hours for questions and issues. Yeah, still sore.

You can find marmite, vegemite and Branston Pickles in some specialty stores in the US. I'm not sure a supermarket would carry it unless there was a large community of ex-pats in the area. Cost Plus World Markets and Fresh and Easy carry them. You can also find other stuff, like treacle, HP Sauce and Flakes there.

Changing the subject, I've been watching DT in The Escape Artist, and they mentioned that his character couldn't be in court when the bad guy was on trial. Is that really the way it is in the UK? Here in the US, the only time he wouldn't be allowed in court is if he's going to testify as a witness, after his testimony, he can be in the courtroom. Spoiler tagged for those who haven't watched it yet, It seems to me he has a vested interest in attending the trial. Yeah…forget all this. I saw the last episode and he did get to sit in court after testifying. So, the same as here.

For any going to Comic-Con or even just in the area since you don't need a Comic-Con ticket to attend, Starz is doing a premiere screening and giving away a limited number of tickets: http://www.starz.com/originals/outlander

Shanna, I was going to suggest Southern California until you stipulated decent transportation. We have crap public transportation, and it gets pretty hot here in August. The myth of constant mid-70s is just that. How about San Francisco?

Oh, Kaffyr and Az, they not only cut down all the fruit trees, but from the looks of the backyard, it also looks like they listen to the drought warnings and don't water their yard. At all. Out here because we don't get that much rain, if you don't water your yard, it's either dead and brown or it's dirt. Welcome Sharpie and Books!

When I was little, we had a ton of fruit trees - orange, guava, fig, apple, grapefruit, mulberry. My Mom would can a lot of fruit over the years, I regret not doing the same, especially with the price of jam. Now, using Google maps, I've noticed that the people who now own that house took down all the fruit trees. Such a shame.

Also looking forward to Capaldi. Was meh on Eleven, Ten was my doctor. I have a friend who is still so incensed about what happened in Children of Earth, she will not watch any new Who until Capaldi leaves, even though he plays someone else entirely. Ah yes, cleaning mouse balls. Fun. (and wouldn't that make for interesting looks from people coming in the middle of that conversation?)

I'm here, I'm here, I'm here! Sadness is automatically going to the TWoP forums first thing in the morning when I get to work and realizing they're not there any more. Even more sad is going there anyway hoping against hope even though I know it's futile. Hi, everyone!

I get paid once a month, but it's the first job I've had that paid that way. One plus is that I get paid a day before my actual payday. I don't know why and how, but I'm not saying anything. I can't remember the last check I wrote, it must be more than a year ago, I have automatic payments set up for almost all of my bills. My sister tells a story about how she wrote a check for a purchase and the very young salesman looked at it, looked at her, asked for her address for the sales form, she indicated the check implying it's all there. He looks again and asks where.

Chiming in because food. Here in So Cal, there's lamb in most grocery stores, certainly in specialty grocery stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joes, but it's expensive. It seems to be more for special occasions because of the price. As for duck or goose, it seems that lamb is more available here.