Zola
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Posts posted by Zola
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On 31/01/2018 at 9:33 AM, Zola said:
Just digging out this old post of mine from a few months back now that 2018 has finally arrived and we need to decide what places to visit for our five week trip to the States.
Late September/early October, is what we have agreed on; as well as focusing in the west coast (specifically Utah, Arizona and perhaps California, in that order of preference). We've also provisionally pencilled in New Mexico and South Dakota, which are more central based, and only if time permits.
Another definite is Washington DC on the East Coast, and I am hoping we can drop by into Baltimore purely because I am a big fan of the TV drama "The Wire", and would love to take a closer look at that city.
So the itinerary looks like this:-
DEFINITES (agreed by all 4 of us)
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
Monument Valley, Arizona
Red Rock, Utah
Washington DC
BaltimoreMAYBES (we're not all agreed, and worry about time constraints. But not dismissed completely)
*Yosemite National Park,California
*Redwood National Parks, California
*Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico
*Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota
What we can't get around to seeing this year we hope to add to next year, when we plan to venture out to the East Coast of your beautiful country.
I think come April we will have a definite plan of action laid out once the final destinations have been agreed; we will then have to figure out transport and motels/hotels/money/spending costs etc (trains, planes and automobiles. I have never driven in a car with the wheel on the left, and neither have I driven on the right. But one of my colleagues has, so it will be on her to do all the driving)
I will no doubt nag you all for more advice as the months count down to September/October. I have quite a few questions, so please bear with me. :)
Just a quick update: my friends and I have finally agreed on where to visit when we fly out to the States in October. We're sticking with our original "Definites" over that 5 week period, and nothing additional to that (the "maybes" can wait till next year). So we're now preparing all the logistics, requirements and "dos and dont's" for those particular areas, along with good places to stay. Our spending budget between the 5 of us will be around $10-15,000 (which includes motels, hotels and transportation etc.) Not sure if that will be enough for 5 people over 5 weeks, but we do have our credit cards as a Plan B.
Fortunately, I won't be driving during the trip, primarily because my small brain can't cope with driving on the right side of the road, with the car steering wheel on the left. Just as well we have 2 peeps in our party that don't mind doing the driving.
Getting excited now!
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To my friends here on PTV. It's nice to have you around :)
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That's why I love this forum compared to the likes of FB and Twitter - the advice I get here is far more useful, logical and caring compared to the some of the fuckwit comments I often see on Twitter et al. So thank you for taking the time out with your measured and incredibly measured responses :)
And yes, you're right - just because a couple have been around for years, doesn't necessarily mean its a contented marriage. If I am being honest I enjoy the single life, and having the occasional fling from time to time. I love the new company, the new conversation, the new ideas, along with some great sex etc. And then after awhile I want something different and move on. The idea of being with someone for 20+ years, fills me with dread at the moment: I would feel suffocated and confined into "behaving" to a predefined conformity of standards. And adding a child to the equation just complicates matters - which I know sounds incredibly selfish of me.
A friend of mine recently said to me that lesbians must have an easier time striking up good relationships because women are on the same wavelength compared to straight couples. Well, I can't comment about straight couples, but I will say, and did say, that lesbian couples still go through the same ups and downs as anyone else. And just because I'm dating another woman doesn't necessarily mean we share the same feminine values.
Anyway, I'm probably talking out of my arse (or "ass" as you guys call it, lol). It's 3:30 in the afternoon here and I've had a couple of glasses of wine, so my mind is a little woozy (And since starting this post I notice @DeLurker, has added a new post here, so will get to you when I can)
Damn it! For a second there I thought today was Friday!
Thank you again for your kind and constructive thoughts. I do appreciate it, even if I am a little light-headed at the moment, ha!
Come on you adorable Yanks, get your arses out of bed, its gotta be at least 10:30am over there. ha!
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On 28/05/2018 at 1:30 AM, Bastet said:
I don't think there's anything wrong with that. If the time comes that you want a long-term relationship with the potential to turn into a permanent one, and you're repeatedly unable to make that work and it's bringing you down, then, yeah, you need to take a good hard look at yourself. But if the situation is simply that you don't want that kind of relationship right now (or ever), that a series of short-term couplings that are good while they last and then amicably let go of once they've run their course is what makes you happy, that is totally healthy. Especially at your young age, but any time; so long as you're honest with yourself and your partners, do what works for you.
I think you're right with your assessment. Sometimes I feel "pressured" by my parents and other family members regarding "settling down" or "will you ever find the right woman?" tropes. I think I am far too young - relatively speaking - to want to consider a mid-to-long term plan. But there are rare occasions when I get involved with a woman and suddenly things start to click over a period of time, and all of a sudden those thoughts of "She's the One!" flood my mind, and am thinking that perhaps a LTR may happen after all! But of course for whatever reason it never works out that way because I then feel trapped/bored/missing out on something better (as mentioned in my previous post)
Perhaps I will review the situation in a couple more years. But the trouble is because I have a slightly older sister (who is straight, married and with a couple of kids), comparisons are always been made. In fact not so long ago, my mother asked me "can lesbians have babies?" - a subtle nudge at trying to make her a grandmother again, ha!
Thanks again :)
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I would love to know the secret of a long-term relationship!
Perhaps its me and my foibles and mannerisms; or perhaps its those of my partners. Or perhaps I just have great difficult find that right person that ticks all the right boxes!
I have this inherent inability to stick with someone for more than a few months before either they or I get bored and move on. So I am really amazed at how people like my parents and many many other couples can stay together through thick and thin for years, if not decades!
Perhaps its my impatient "youth" (am only 25); and the necessity to want to try something different, or that I really don't want to "settle down" because I know there might something better out there (similar to buying a smartphone - you use it for 12 months, become familiar, and then see a new version come out and you just want to have it!)
Perhaps I should just carry on as normal and worry about the "long term" thing when I touch 30 or 35.....
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1 hour ago, Mindthinkr said:
Gee, I’m glad that you know how to get around it. Trouble is that the people it should be protecting from *whatever* won’t be protected because they also probably know how to circumvent the system. Not that I really understand any of it. I’m just glad you are here because you add some good introspection and comments.
That's true, but it all revolves around how your personal data is used (and sometimes abused) by website companies and how your personal data is sold to other companies without your explicit consent. The good thing about GDPR is that all that abuse should come to an end and we (European citizens) have more rights over how our data is used.
This site (PTV) is not technically compliant. If you check their privacy page (http://previously.tv/privacy-policy/) it makes no reference to GDPR; whereas other US hosted sites like Facebook & Instagram do
But anyway, GDPR is incredibly dull, so I won't bore you all with it any further :)
33 minutes ago, Moose135 said:I've gotten e-mails from about twenty different sites this week (some I don't even remember registering at) updating their terms and conditions to conform to GDPR.
You've got off lightly; I have a special folder in my email inbox especially for GDPR privacy notices; and to date I have a total of 348; the majority of which I don't recognize, or as far as I know ever subscribed too!
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So.... GDPR has kicked in today (25th), and already I am getting messages from North American websites telling me I am being "blocked" from further access due to problems with them being GDPR compliant. For example, when I tried to visit this site via a post from another thread on this forum, I get the following .....
QuoteWelcome to our website.
We are a local media company based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. We have detected that you are in one of the member countries of the European Union, which is now subject to the General Data Protection Regulation.
We are currently assessing methods for complying with the detailed requirements of GDPR. Currently, only about 2 percent of our website traffic originates from EU countries.
Until we are able to ensure our full compliance with the rigorous GDPR requirements, we are blocking access from EU countries to our websites, which include wral.com, wralsportsfan.com, highschoolot.com and wraltechwire.com. We take the GDPR seriously. Penalties for GDPR violations are as high as 4 percent of a publisher's annual revenue.
We hope to restore access soon as we work through the administrative, legal and technical requirements involved with GDPR compliance. We apologize for the temporary inconvenience.
If you believe you have received this message in error, please send your IP address to support@wral.com. You can retrieve your IP address by going to whatismyipaddress.com.
wral.com
.... am really quite surprised by this given that web hosts have had 2 years to become compliant.
However, I can access this site via my own proxy server and VPN, so its not a huge big deal. But I know tech forums here in the UK, and in Germany and France, have been buzzing with similar issues accessing some US sites. Hope this gets resolved soon.
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Yesterday (13th May) I posted in the "Chit Chat" thread that I was happily sunbathing in my back garden while the sun was out, and that I was doing so in my underwear because I couldn't be arsed to get my bikini out!
Anyway, about 30 minutes after posting that, my next door neighbour opens her bedroom window and shouts down at me, telling me to "cover up". I tell her this is my underwear and not at all revealing. But she says her kids might see me. And I say "so what? This is my garden, my private space. There's a big fence between my garden and yours". But she says "But my kids might see you in their bedroom window!"
I reply, "well so what? I haven't exactly got my tits hanging out!"
She then slammed her window.
She really is a nosy PITA! I think next time the sun is out I will sunbathe smokeless! I think you're allowed to do that in the privacy of your own home/land. I really want to stick it to her, and her friggin' kids!
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I had the pleasure of watching "Carol" last night. A beautiful romantic drama starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara.
I read the critiques beforehand, and they were all highly favourable. But my only concern was trying to envisage Blanchette playing the "bored housewife having a lesbian fling with a younger woman" trope. And yet on watching the film, I was completely absorbed, not only by the film itself but also Cate's brilliant and genuinely moving role.
Certainly one of my favourite gay films since "Desert Hearts" and "Blue is the Warmest Colour"
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Tonight I shall be making steak and vegetable casserole in a red wine sauce.
This is my first time with this recipe - just hope I don't add too much wine and get all my guests drunk!
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"The Haunting of Hill House" - Shirley Jackson
First published in 1959, and later turned into a classic horror film "The Haunting" in 1963, I was very keen to buy this book while browsing my local second-hand book shop.
Some say the book is far superior than the film in terms of narrative; whilst other share the opposite view. But both book and film bring out the best in taut psychological writing without the necessity to add true visceral horror to proceedings.
Plus, reading the book adds far more backstory to some of the key players that the film omits, purely for timing reasons.
This is not the sort of book to read at bedtime!
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1 hour ago, PRgal said:
I'm bothered by people being OTT politically correct/super sensitive these days - to the point that it's actually offensive (i.e. they're being the OPPOSITE of what they're trying to do). This goes from wearing cultural clothing (there's a line - it's okay if you're NOT mocking the culture (i.e. wearing things as is, without making it too costume-y/wearing, say, blackface, etc...)) or even being careful NOT to celebrate certain milestones common in "mainstream" North American culture because it's not "traditionally" done in the other person's heritage (e.g. bridal or baby showers, Halloween, etc...). I don't want people to be "too careful" around me nor do I want people to be SHOCKED AND SURPRISED that I'm not "traditional." :(
There's a new name in town that I think describes what you're saying to tee - "Cultural Appropriation".
It is becoming incredibly annoying that the usual virtue-signallers from Twitter, will shout in faux outrage about anyone (but in particular Westerners) wearing or using anything that belongs to a different culture (a white woman got heavily criticised for having dreadlock hair; a guy received a torrent of abuse just because he painted his face and did the Hakka in his back garden on You Tube. to name but two)
I've got say we're approaching an era of digital fascism & over-zealous scrutiny - do anything, say anything, wear anything, eat anything - be on your guard because someone out there will be outraged and mortally offended by your actions, ffs!
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20 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:
I have probably mentioned this here before, and probably more than once, but once again I want to just say I'm grateful for old friends and the effort we all put in to get together at least once a year. Which is what I did this past weekend.
We have now known each other for 32 years. The second I step through the door, it is as though no time has passed. (Emotionally, obviously not physically. There's a lot of holding phones at arm's length these days.) We share stories of our current lives, opinions on everything form movies to politics. A few of the stories from when we were in school ended with "We could have died!" Heh. And now that some of us are sending children off to college, we wonder if we want them to have some of the same experiences...
I have to agree with you, wholeheartedly!
Having good trusted friends is one of life's great wonders. They're always there looking out for you during the good times and bad, and it's just nice to be part of that reassuring "collective".
Sometimes I will be invited to some High School or University reunions with old friends, and it is such a delight meeting up with them again, wining & dining, talking about old times and new times, and generally just having a ball! (And meeting up with these guys is even more special since I don't bother with social media; and therefore when I meet up with them face2face, we have soooo much to talk about, that it makes the evening or weekend really, really special!
Absolutely gobsmacked you have friends going back 30 odd years. I wasn't even around back then!
Here's to good friends!
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Finally got round to watching the first 6 episodes more or less back2back throughout today, and I have to say to being rather disappointed with the whole affair thus far. Every episode is more or less the same, and if it wasn't for Bruce Campbell's charisma I would have tuned out much earlier. But the blood and gore is repetitive to the point of being boring: so much so that I FF those bits while trying hard to follow the random plots and subplots.
The only true surprise was the "death" of Kelly, but other than that it's more or less painting-by-numbers again.
So pleased this has been cancelled - Season 1, was truly awesome in every conceivable way; but S3 has become a seen-it-all-before bore-fest.
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1 hour ago, Mindthinkr said:
@Zola It looks like less clubbing time for you as you now seem to have a double workload so you can be in compliance. Eat well and take care of yourself.
This is very true! No clubbing or raving for me for a good few weeks as I plough on producing Word documents, Excel spreadsheet, PowerPoint docs and various process flowcharts for this utter bollocks! As if I haven't got enough to do trying to run my own business ffs!
Anyway, gripe over: it's 3:15pm here and I need to go out for a run and clear my head
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A very small peeve, and a peeve that probably only affects me, being an EU citizen. And the peeve in question is the "General Data Protection Regulation" or "GDPR" for short.
It's a new law that comes into effect 25th May for all EU businesses in that we have to conform to new regulations regarding the handling of personal information. I can see the benefits because it gives more power to the individual with regards how their PI is managed and processed; but the downside is that all businesses large or small, have to comply to these new laws by the 25th May or face steep and aggressive fines.
Since I am a self-employed consultant living in the UK, which is still part of the EU despite Brexit, I have to comply with these new regulations in just the same way as huge organisations employing thousands do. But the thing is those big organisations have sufficient resources to create their own GDPR team to focus on all this bureaucratic bullshit, while still being able to continue with business-as-usual. Whereas I have to do everything myself, and keep on top of my work - and I have to say the amount of documentation I have to prepare is beyond a joke, and something I just don't have time for. Moreover, if I wanted to hire a company to do all this for me, would cost a small fortune.
But alas it's not something I can simply just ignore and hope will go away; I have to be in compliance by the 25th May otherwise I could be fined £000s!
It's kind of interesting that decades ago, when personal computers first arrived everyone said we would live in a "paperless society". Which is true in some circumstances; but that argument has been well and truly turned on its ass by the digital equivalent, whereby we have to produce electronic documents to make up for the old-fashioned paper ones. Which is great for the environment, but a real pain in the arse to adhere too.
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4 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:
Some of those are 2016 releases, but that was a very good year for film. My personal favourite of 2016 was Arrival, with Fences as a close second.
Living in the UK some of those films I mentioned didn't land here until 2017. But then again I rarely bother going the cinema these days, and neither do I watch many new releases when they become available on Netflix. I much prefer older classics or small indie films.
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Totally and utterly stunning!!!
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The Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a healthy baby boy earlier this afternoon. As yet no name has been announced, but he will be 5th in line to the crown.
Now personally I don't have much time for our Royal Family other than for the Queen and some of the younger generation like Kate and William. But I am very pleased with their news of the royal birth.
But surfing some of the UK national media sites such as the Daily Mail, The Sun and The Guardian etc. I have to say how appalled and disgusted I am at some of the comments people have posted about the new baby! "Scrounger", "Parasite", "Sponger" .... including one horrid comment suggesting the baby should have been aborted and thrown to the dogs!
And all because those particular individuals despise royalty purely because of who they are, and that as far as they're concerned the monarchy should be abolished and the royal family thrown into prison for the rest of their lives.
Now as I say, I am not a huge fan of the RF, but they do an awful lot for this country in terms of tourism to name but one benefit. But regardless of whether its the Royal Family or not, to hurl abuse at an innocent baby born less than 3 hours ago is sickening outrageous and quite upsetting.
People here still have freedom of speech (even though we don't have a Constitution), but to vilify a baby is just grossly offensive, and symptomatic of a small minority of people who really lack any compassion & feelings to those that cannot defend themselves.
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- Moonlight
- Manchester by the Sea
- Get Out
- Certain Women
- A Ghost Story
These are my standout films for last year.
Didn't think much or Wonder Woman, or Blade Runner '49
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Home made chicken korma curry and basmati rice.
A very simple meal, not particularly spicy but very filling
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52 minutes ago, WritinMan said:
Well, the show has been cancelled: https://screenrant.com/ash-vs-evil-dead-canceled-starz-season-3/
Hopefully the last episode wraps things up. I have to admit that I have stopped watched weekly and I was just going to binge-watch the remaining episodes at the end of the season.
That's my plan too!
The first two seasons I watched each episode as they came, but by the end of S2 I was becoming a little less invested and decided to wait until all of S3 had been broadcast and then have a back2back feast over a weekend via DVR.
It's a pity the show has been cancelled, but I think it was the right time to do it.
Bruce Campbell will forever be my Ash, and no one could ever replace him.
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No big surprise, because I felt it was beginning to run out of ideas by the end of S2. I haven't got round to watching any of S3 until it wraps in April, but it was one hell of a ride for all that. And especially the first season, which truly rocked!
GROOVY!!
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It's not just the roads that are proving difficult & stressful to negotiate. Pavements and sidewalks are cluttered with people too busy looking at their phones and tablets as they walk aimlessly, not bothering to check who is in front of them, or failing to stop at a street corner to check for traffic before crossing the road. They just expect everyone to sweep aside to let them through undisturbed as they focus on whatever hugely important item they have on their phones!
I sometimes feels the term "smart" phone is more of a misnomer for some owners - The phones might be smart, but the users are dumb/ignorant beyond belief.
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Vacations: Where To Go, What To See, Where To Eat
in Everything Else
I hope so! But I think I speak for all of us and say our trip is more to learn and discover your country's natural history more than anything else - hence our unusual choices.
Of course, I do sometimes worry about a worst-case-scenario of having five women in their 20s stuck in a the middle of nowhere because our RV has broken down! Perhaps I've been watching too many horror films - Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and the like, lol.
I also hope people we meet over there will be able to understand our broad and eclectic accents? More so with some of the words we come out with, which is standard fare over here, but might cause a lot of confusion over there - not least the word "pissed" (which over here means being drunk or annoyed); "fag" (over hear means cigarette), "bonnet" (to your car hood), "tights" (to your panty hose), "knackered" or "shagged" (your tired).. and a shedload more!
Just don't ask us about "fanny packs" ha!