Small Talk : TARDIS Console Room

[Meredith Quill]

I am up for a re-watch of NuWho.  I think it's a brilliant idea to lead up to the 12th Doctors debut.

Yes count me in.

[Ms.Sherlock]

-AAAAAAuuuugggh! Less than an hour!!!!!

 

But this is going to be one of my new homes, and I feel like I should be bringing the last of the boxes and the furniture over from LINDA.

 

*is slightly dejected, but trying to make it only slightly*-Kaffyr

 

When DW is showing my Sunday morning routine is wake up and get straight onto the computer and watch the show with a cup of tea and then head into the forums to see what I missed and that other more alert viewers picked up.  This morning sitting on the computer reading the forums at TwoP was a grim and rather upsetting way to start the day.

Then I remembered that nothing dies without creating something new, even if it is just nice memories.

 

My previous moniker was megspenchant, I got in early here and finally got Sherlock in my username, which is not any reflection on my love for the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle books or the TV or movies adaptations. It's a R/L family name that I finally got to reclaim in a small way.

[BizBuzz]

Happy to have all the new ones (and any lurkers that have been here for a while), pull up a chair and stay awhile.  We promise we won't bite (unless you want us too, but that is probably a subject for another type of board, ha!).

 

Plenty of room at the PTV Corral!

[Meredith Quill]

Welcome Ms.Sherlock - we have enough jellybabies for all! I may even be able to scrounge up a few jammie dodgers if you're very lucky.

[arizonamyrie]

*waves*  This still has the new-forum smell to it  ;)  But, count me in to the group sitting there waiting for the "Forum is now archived" page at the old country.  Then we had storms all day today, but still just looked at the screen here and there.  Even though we're mostly the same people, it's still different.  Feels like we forgot to pack something from over there, but again, we didn't.  Now, where to put the toaster...

[kaffyr]

Ah, megs, it's good to see you here. By the way - I ended up archiving the entire Doctor Who General Gabbery sub-forum, and a couple of people have asked me to send them copies, if I can figure out how to put the collection into a zip file. If you'd like a copy, once I figure out how to email it, I'll send it to you.

 

Today was the first really warm day of the year, and I made the mistake of not putting the AC on in the car as I was out doing chores. I enjoyed the fresh air, and thought that the breeze was keeping me cool, but got home to find myself completely drained, with that kind of prickly, slightly uncomfortable sleepiness that the heat sometimes inflicts on me. Ah, well. Thank heaven for AC at home.

[Ms.Sherlock]

I may even be able to scrounge up a few jammie dodgers if you're very lucky.

 

Why thank you SilverStormm, that’s very kind of you.

Now, where to put the toaster...,

 

Pop it next to the kettle and the bickie bin arizonamyrie. That way everyone can help themselves to tea, toast and biscuits.

If you'd like a copy, once I figure out how to email it, I'll send it to you.

 

Thanks so much for the offer Kaffyr I would love to have a copy of it.

Today was the first really warm day of the year

 

Despite it being winter here I was still breaking a sweat when I was hanging the washing on the line today. I had a lovely day steadfastly denying that I need to find a job preferring instead to spend the day cooking and puttering around the house doing random acts of cleaning. I’ve been working full time since I was 14 y.o. and it’s just so refreshing to have a break from the daily grind and have the time to make my living environment clean and comfy. I love not working but economic reality is about to set in; I’ve got to start applying for jobs, that’s gonna be a world of hurt and rejection.

[kaffyr]

that’s gonna be a world of hurt and rejection.

 

All things are possible, but I believe you may get snapped up faster than you think. Even from across the Pacific I can tell that you'd be a corporate catch; you're smart, create, able to operate in crisis mode when necessary and good and caring about your teams. I'll be here rooting for your when you head out on the job hunt. But in the meantime, go, you, for having the time to do what you wanted to do around the house!

 

And I will add you to the list of people who get the zipfile, as soon as I see whether that works.

[Shanna Marie]

I can't believe I've forgotten to check in yet here, and it's so nice to see that it's already set up, with all the familiar faces and the electric teakettle.

[WyKnott]

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!

[Shanna Marie]

I've been surprised by how well I'm doing at transferring habits. I haven't once accidentally gone to TWOP. I think it's my old military brat upbringing. I dread change and spend a lot of time angsting over it, but once it happens, I move on to the next thing with hardly a look back. It's like I put up walls to block off the past. That was a survival skill when I was a kid. I knew too many other kids who were never happy where they were because they were so busy looking back at the last place they'd lived, which was wonderful and perfect. And then the next time they moved, that place they'd hated the whole time they were there was wonderful and perfect (I once actually quoted a friend's letters about how much she hated the place that she was rhapsodizing about to her. She wasn't amused).

 

This may also be why the current Doctor always seems to be my favorite. However, I still haven't taken to Clara and miss Rory (in spite of Arthur Darvill's brilliant take on "Let it Go"), so I'm not perfect.

[arizonamyrie]

Ooo, Shanna and WyKnott have arrived!  I hit TWoP by accident when coming here just now; I think WyKnott somewhere had linked to the archive as well.  I think I'm similar to Shanna there when it's time for change, or even when there's a decision to be made; it's hard at first, but once I make and accept it, it's easy to embrace and I admit I am impatient being held back to the "old" at that point as well.  

 

Megs, good luck on the job hunt - I have been a bit lax in mine, combination of still getting cross-contaminated with gluten, trying to lose more weight/get in better shape, and helping Med with his business as well.  That and, I know once I start I'll have a tendency to volunteer for overtime just to save up money.  And I agree with Kaffyr, you have the skills and creativity that you'll do well.  My main problem here for jobs is that one major employer for nursing has drastically downsized after reorganizing twice while the other has picked up the experienced talent that the other company dropped.  I've considered working on a health blog, but every time I sit down to work on it... let's just say that it's not as interesting as other things.  

 

Also, completely off topic aside from the ability to edit large chunks of text in a dialogue box:  I really need to get the courage to

and clean it finally; you don't realize how much you select en masse with it until it starts dropping mid-drag.

[Sharpie66]

Another former TWOPer here--hi, everyone!! I didn't post much in the DW forum, but I have to introduce myself here.

Long time DW fan! I am from Chicago, born in the mid '60s, and our PBS station had classic Who on at 11:00 on Sunday nights. They always showed the complete story, usually four episodes, edited together so it wouldn't finish until 12:30 on Monday morning. As the youngest child in our family, I was always jealous that my older sibs were able to stay up and watch this cool British show, but when I graduated from middle school, my mom let me stay up past 10 on a school night (she said if I wanted to be tired at school, that was up to me).

So, I started watching in June 1980, and Tom Baker was my first Doctor. Two years later, my sis and I went to a DW convention near Chicago, where we met him--I actually kissed him on the cheek! I continued watching through the last of the McCoy era (he ended up being my second favorite Classic Doctor; I loved his mysterious air and his relationship with Ace), and was sad when it was cancelled.

When I heard it was coming back, I was soooo happy! I have loved most of the new shows, and Ten is now my second favorite Doctor, behind Four--Eleven is a close third fave, though. Looking forward to Capaldi!

[WyKnott]

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.

 

 

Also, completely off topic aside from the ability to edit large chunks of text in a dialogue box:  I really need to get the courage to take apart my mouse and clean it finally; you don't realize how much you select en masse with it until it starts dropping mid-drag.

 

Ah yes, cleaning mouse balls. Fun. (and wouldn't that make for interesting looks from people coming in the middle of that conversation?)

[Shanna Marie]

Back when I had a computer with a mouse (I've been using a laptop with a trackpad for more than a decade now), and especially when I had a regular day job working for someone else, cleaning the ball of my mouse was one of my favorite time-wasting/procrastination activities. There was something so therapeutic about scraping away all that gunk. I actually felt like I'd accomplished something, which was more than I could say for most days at work when I was usually stuck in a feedback loop, waiting for someone else to respond before I could do anything else and then having them change their minds so I'd have to start over.

 

Today's therapeutic "Really! I've accomplished something!" task is my annual batch of strawberry jam.

[arizonamyrie]

Ooo, strawberry jam!  It's been ages since I've done anything like that in the kitchen, and my mother would when I was a kid.  It's just fallen to the wayside now that I'm an adult and the canning supplies are scattered everywhere.  Maybe this fall I'll have to do some smaller batches of produce (nothing is in season yet this far north).  As for actual productivity, Bryon has me helping with a project of his, which is being hosted on a cloud server along with the software to access and edit it.  Sadly, the server or part of it crashed last night and it has been rather laggy since.  So, today has been a zero-productivity day because of it.  I still haven't cleaned this mouse - and I miss the type that were easy to open so you could just wipe the ball down.  I think the mouse dropping along with the lag was half the problem.  I just don't want to accidentally break the really nice mouse when I take it apart to clean it, which is why I haven't done it yet but have needed to for a good month now.  As for a laptop, I have an old balled mouse in the bag with it.  

[Shanna Marie]

The jam is actually easier than I would have thought. I started doing this about six years ago as one of those "hmm, I've read about it, so maybe I could do it" things. I don't do an elaborate canning process. The original recipe just called for sterilized jars and paraffin. I sterilize the jars and lids in a hot water bath, the pour the boiling jam into the hot jars, and they vacuum seal (that loud "pop" when they seal is so satisfying). I've never had a sealed jar go bad. The one time I've had any mold was when I opened a jar and forgot about it. When you don't use a jar of jam within a month or so and it's not loaded with preservatives, it does tend to go bad. I just opened the last jar from last year's batch, and it was still fine, so I guess I'm doing something right. Now I'm spoiled and store-bought jam doesn't work for me anymore. Plus, I use real sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup and I know exactly what goes into it -- and I can pronounce all of it (strawberries, sugar, lemon juice). And I feel like some kind of empowered pioneer woman. It's one of those fun things to drop into conversations. "Why, yes, I make my own jam." I think I need to make some scones for the weekend to have with it.

[WyKnott]

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.

[Shanna Marie]

We lived on a farm when I was in high school, and my parents planted peach trees and blackberry vines. By the time I was in college, we had a decent harvest, and there was a lot of canning. My parents moved to town about 17 years ago because the farm was just too much effort, and although the new owners of the farm gave them cuttings from the blackberries, they haven't managed to get them to grow, and they haven't had much luck with any fruit other than figs. The figs may not have survived last winter's ice storms, though, or the random very late freezes after they'd started leaving out.

 

Fortunately, the new owners not only kept all the stuff my parents planted, but they've added onto it with a huge, amazing garden. They're a Vietnamese family, and they've planted a lot of Asian plants. It's neat to drive by and see what they've done. Oh, but I miss those blackberries, and they had the best peaches. They tasted like there was already cinnamon in them.

[BooksRule]

Hello!  Long time poster at TWoP, but I don't think I ever posted on the DW forums.  ...looks around... Is there a Shop?  I love a little Shop.

 

I got into DW back in the 1980s.  Tom Baker was my first one.  I came home one day from class and my part-time job, turned on PBS and there it was.  I watched it on and off for a few years after that, but lost track (I think none of my local channels were carrying it) after the Davison years.  I would catch one now and then when SyFy was showing them.  When they stopped, I missed all except the occasional Christmas special (when the family was together at my dad's house--he gets BCC America).  Now that my cable company has added BCCA, I've been catching up.  I'm up to the early Amy/Rory days.

 

BTW, it looks like most if not all, the DW threads were archived on the Wayback machine over on archive.org.  I checked a few, but didn't click on all of them.  I saved them a while back, but it's nice to know that they are there.

 

I look forward to lots of posting and reading here.  Now, it's back out into the yard to pull weeds, cut limbs and the like.

[arizonamyrie]

I don't do an elaborate canning process.

That definitely helps!  What you describe is what my mom did for canning too, but for some reason, her process always seemed to take two days or so - it was exhausting.  Course, since breaking my perfectionist habits, I've also learned that doing things with her around takes about ten times as long just for that reason.  My mother also was a straight A student in college who majored in home economics.  Go figure!  But you're right - the homemade jam is always the best.  Closest thing I can find here is Smuckers has a line called "Orchard's Best" which is in a small jar, and the ingredients for them seem to be fruit, sugar, fruit pectin, and citric acid.

 

...the people who now own that house took down all the fruit trees.

 

That is a shame, not just for the fruit, but for the shade, and that magic that the fruit trees invoke for kids.  We have cherry and apple trees on this lot, and have had raspberries and strawberries as well in a garden in the past; as a kid, there was just this mystical feeling about going out early morning and picking fruit off the plants.  You don't get that with vegetables, only with fruits.  A neighbor growing up also had a grove of trees that was shaped in a way that it formed a sort of fort - another mystical entity of a child's imagination.  Something about the sounds of the breeze going through them, the floral fragrence of greenery, laying on your back looking up at the sky and just wondering what is up there, having some ideas from books and movies and television, but not really knowing yet - that sense of wonder and awe we cling to as adults as our connections to those memories of our childhoods.

 

And hello Books!  Welcome!  There should be a comfy seat here somewhere, feel free to hop on.  Looks like Shanna made some jam, and I just made some tea, so please, have a cup on me!  *pours a cup of tea, passes a tray of biscuits and other goodies around*  A local friend of mine here who is also hooked on the show got started with 80's DW on PBS - and she now watches on BBCA as well, and is trying to hook her own kids on it.  My start was being a scifi fan in the 80s already (yay ST:TNG!) and hearing about what would have been Eight and the TV Movie.  My parents didn't let me watch  :(  Then later, I was on TWoP and hooked on the show House, when a couple people there kept talking about Doctor Who.  I wandered over to LINDA, read Jacob's recaps, and was hooked.  My first episode was "The Empty Child" and I was immediately hooked - not just as a show du jour, but as a show for life.  

Edited June 8, 2014 by arizonamyrie

[kaffyr]

MMMmmmm; jam. Az, I grew up with my Nana doing the two day thing, and she very definitely used the melted paraffin method. There was even an ancient metal teapot that she used, year after year, to pour the melted paraffin onto the tops of her goodies (usually apple jelly, apple butter, plum jam, many different types of pickles and such.) I finally got around to getting jars and paraffin a couple of years ago, and they're out on the back porch, gathering dust. Shanna, what you describe sounds like it might be easier. I still would have to figure out how to boil the bottles of jam without knocking the stock pot over and causing potentially scalding mayhem in the kitchen.

 

I think I'll settle in and have a cuppa with some of Shanna's jam to go on some of the brown bread I brought in. Home made; it didn't rise as well as I'd have liked it to, but it's quite lovely, otherwise. I assume there's some butter at the back of the fridge? *goes to look*

 

Sitting here is quite comfortable, and that's important, since I've been fighting off a back spasm all day. I've also been fighting off the results of an unexpected crazy-bad cluster headache triggered when I tried doing some exercises (to loosen the back, of course) and instead managed to set off a bad nerve in my neck. It went mad, caused a bunch of muscles in my neck and shoulders to cramp and - voila! - instant cluster headache. Luckily, the cluster attack only lasted about two minutes (although from the inside, it felt like a week and a half), but it drained me for the rest of the day. And of course, the original purpose of the exercises? Yeah, still have the back spasm.

 

Bah. The only good thing about growing old as a couch potato is that ... well, I'm growing old. The alternative would, at the very least, make it difficult for me to post here.

 

Hi, Sharpie, hi, Books; welcome! (Good to have someone else who hails from Chicago, too!) Hope all the yard cleaning and weeding went well.

 

Az:

I just don't want to accidentally break the really nice mouse when I take it apart to clean it, which is why I haven't done it yet but have needed to for a good month now.

I've been using a trackball that BB got me for the last year or more. He got it for me because my wrists were acting up with my RA, and he figured moving a single digit, my thumb, would be better than constantly moving the wrist. I had about 24 hours of not liking it, and then fell in love with it. One of the coolest things about it is that all you have to do to clean it, is pop the ball out, and you can actually just use your finger to wipe off the small working parts, then give it a good blow to get loose dust out, and it's good to go.

 

In other news, y First Born and his wonderful girlfriend have finally found a good apartment; they just got accepted today, and will move into it July 1. Hurrah! Finally, after a year's worth of baby sitting his two cats (along with our three), we'll be back to having just three cats!

 

Oh, and I finally got the Doctor Who General Gabbery subforum that I downloaded all wrapped up in a zip file, and uploaded the zip file to my Google drive. I'll be glad to share the link with anyone who gives me their email address, so that they can access it and download it to their own hard drive if they so desire.

 

Now I have to think about getting another cup of RL tea and taking something else for the frakkin' back.

 

 

 

WyKnott, I can't believe someone would knock down so many fruit trees! That's so uncouth! Unless ... maybe they all got diseased, and had to be removed?

[Joe]

So until someone comes up with a good name for the merchandise thread, I'll just put this here. I really like the middle one. Not enough to buy, mind you. But it's worth a look.

[kaffyr]

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope folks are seeing sunny weather where it's wanted, rain where it's needed, and warm temperatures that don't constitute a heat wave. (Or, for folks in the southern hemisphere, cooler temperatures and an escape from fire season.)

 

I actually got up early on a MOnday, which I figure is a cause for celebration, especially since I'm still dealing with back spasms. Grumble. 

[WyKnott]

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!

[Shanna Marie]

I'm having a really good year financially, after a stretch of lean years (the last two years were good, too, but this one is on track to be better), and I've realized that I've met all the wacky little criteria I set up about six years ago for letting myself take a real vacation. That all started when I was speaking at a conference where they put me up in a nice hotel, and I realized that the only times I seem to stay at nice hotels is when I'm doing something business-related, so I never get to spend time enjoying the room because I'm on a tight schedule. Then I realized that I never seem to take trips just for fun, only for work-related things, and when I do take vacations, I overdo it and come home more tired than when I left rather than refreshed and rejuvenated.

 

So I came up with this plan: I would go somewhere for at least three days/two nights, stay in a reasonably nice hotel of the sort that's comfortable to hang out in. Probably flying because long drives are tiring and there's not much within easy driving distance of me, while I can fly just about anywhere in the continental US in a few hours. Go to a place with some things to see and do, but not so much that I'd feel obligated to do way too much to fit it all in (or possibly go somewhere I've been before so there's less pressure). Preferably on some kind of water -- lake, river, ocean -- but not necessarily the beach. I like walking by the water and waterfront dining, don't care about swimming or sunbathing. I don't really want to rent a car, so someplace with decent transportation or a lot of stuff to do within walking distance once you arrive. It doesn't have to be a tourist mecca with lots of attractions, just a pleasant place to spend a few days. New York is probably out because it would turn into a business trip and I know I'd overdo it. I might try to do this at the end of August before my fall activities ramp up, in which case I'd prefer somewhere north that's cooler than Texas. Any suggestions?

[WyKnott]

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?

[Shanna Marie]

I like what I've seen of San Francisco from a business trip there, but it's ridiculously expensive. Just checking hotels, the rates for the same chain and the same dates are twice what they are for Washington, D.C. (which is likely to be muggy in late August, but still cooler than Texas).

 

When I first started thinking of this hypothetical relaxing vacation, one of my target destinations was San Antonio. It's a very short flight, so travel itself isn't bad. There's not much public transportation, but once you get downtown, you can walk everywhere. The hotels are mostly right on the river, so if I splurged for a river-view room, it would be lovely to sit and read on the balcony. There are a few things to see and do, but mostly it's a "be there" kind of place. But I spent a week there last summer for WorldCon, so I don't know about going back again so soon, and it's definitely not a great place to be in late August, so that would need to be more of a winter vacation. I do think that's one place where, if I went when I wasn't having meetings or attending a conference, I could return feeling refreshed instead of utterly exhausted. I guess New Orleans would also work in a similar way, but it's also not a good August destination. Though since I'll be traveling a lot this summer for conventions, I may not want to travel in August.

 

Denver might be a good idea. I've been there a lot but haven't really explored much because it's always been for business.

[ABay]

If you're flexible about the car and have a passport, how about Toronto or Niagara Falls? Toronto has a waterfront and things to do but is a really human-sized city with decent public transportation. With a car, you could go to the Niagara region, see the falls, visit the wineries on the river road, and stay in Niagara on the Lake which pretty and right where the Niagara flows into Lake Ontario. Buffalo is also not bad, especially if you like architecture--there are several Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, for example, and is on a lake and river. I can't speak to the public transportation but it is very easy to navigate by car and a low key sort of place to visit.

[tarotx]

You know you are obsessed when the first thing you think of when you read that Kelly Clarkson named her baby River Rose, is of Doctor who :P

[BooksRule]

tarotx, I immediately thought of Doctor Who when I heard the name!  (Great minds think alike?) 

[elle]

 

Kelly Clarkson named her baby River Rose, is of Doctor who :P

Does anyone know if she is fan?

 

Waiting in the doctor's office, music playing in the background and I realize the song that is playing is "Crazy Little Thing called Love".  Guess who I thought of first - Doctor Who or Queen?   Who would you think of first?

[arizonamyrie]

Real life hit, missed a few days here.  Going back... canning.  My mom had the lids that had the paraffin on them already, and that helped, but we had to get new lids every time I think?  Not entirely sure.  She has a nice canning guidebook that has the instructions in it. 

Mouses/mice.  Med uses a trackball as well and has had it for over a decade.  He loves it but I cannot get used to it.  I tried opening mine but the screws were locked in place so I just tried to clean it the best I could.  I did discover I have to sit higher as well at the chair and that helps.  I had it down all the way which is just lazy on my part.  When the chair is down my feet touch the floor better though. 

Joe, those are some cool shirts!  Course I think it dated wrong for me - what I saw just now were Jedi shirts, but still cool nonetheless *note to self, check here daily*

I remember seeing Niagra Falls as a kid - absolutely beautiful, but that was before you needed the passport or enhanced driver's license (we can use them supposedly in Wisconsin to get up into Canada).  Otherwise, I know Door county Wisconsin is rather nice, but most the time you still need a car and you'd have to fly up there into Green Bay and then drive it another hour to get to the more resort area. 

Tarot I thought that as well!  Med thought meanwhile of River from Firefly.  We even had a geek-argument over it, it was rather cute.  I still say it was River Song. 

Guess who I thought of first - Doctor Who or Queen?   Who would you think of first?

Better be Doctor Who  ;) Edited June 17, 2014 by arizonamyrie

[elle]

Better be Doctor Who  ;)

 

Truth be told, it was an instant image of Matt Smith dancing the Drunken Giraffe.  :0)

[belsum]

 

I can't believe I've forgotten to check in yet here, and it's so nice to see that it's already set up, with all the familiar faces and the electric teakettle.

I think I might have been in mourning but yeah, maybe I just forgot to check in.  At any rates Cheers LINDA!  SCHHHHH! 

 

I think River Rose is a lovely name.  I hadn't heard that previously.  I totally immediately thought of Professor Song.

[BizBuzz]

Just thought I would share ...

 

My daughter is going to an all girls party this weekend and she handcrafted gifts for everyone ... this one she made for her Doctor Who friend:

 

[tarotx]

Just thought I would share ...

 

My daughter is going to an all girls party this weekend and she handcrafted gifts for everyone ... this one she made for her Doctor Who friend:

 

Too cute <3

[MarquisDeCarabas]

I recognise this may be too much show talk for the thread but i thought it best to warn people the first 5 scripts for next season and have leaked online.  So please be careful out there if you don't want to be massively spoiled

[WyKnott]

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.

[Kalliste]

I wasn't following @WyKnott but that sounds sound really annoying. I hate when employers expect you to do additional duties just out of the goodness of your heart and then wonder why you stop doing it when they won't agree to pay you more.

 

I hope they come to their senses and maybe meet you half way.

[WyKnott]

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.

[peanutbunny]

WyKnott - I've had the same thing happen,  My team is constantly getting additional work and procedures.  When we take this up with our manager, we're told, "well, you're here to work anyway", which pisses me off.  I'm now doing the work of 3 departments, and you're not going to compensate me for that?  Well, I'm sure you can guess my response (in my head!).

 

So, I haven't been around much, and I was never a huge poster at TWoP, but some knew me there.  I just returned from a trip to Arizona, and have spent the past 2 days trying to get used to being home, and back to work.  Trying to keep the vacation high going through the weekend!

 

So, as I'm sitting here and catching up on you all, a Doctor Who trailer came on.  SQUEEEEE!!!!  I'll be avoiding those scripts/leaks like the plague - I don't want to be spoiled (unless it's about guest stars - those I don't mind).  I like watching the story unfold for the first time, not knowing what's coming.  

 

Glad to "see" you all!  At this moment, I don't have any munchies to offer, but I'll be making salsa later.  I'll be sure to save ya some!

[Ms.Sherlock]

I saw some stuff online today about the drought in California. We had a 10 year drought where I live and there were some very extreme measures put in place by the local authority when it came to water usage when our dams were down to 14% capacity.
Just wondering if any of you who live in California could comment about how are you managing in drought conditions, are there water restrictions, and how tough are they?

[BizBuzz]

Ok...so, I know the Small Talk DW thread is supposed to be talk about everything BUT anything DW, but can I just say that I am so SUPER DUPER excited for a premier that is supposed to happen this weekend that I cannot even contain myself?

 

That is all.

[Joe]

No, you can't. We need a mod in here. :)

[WyKnott]

 

Just wondering if any of you who live in California could comment about how are you managing in drought conditions, are there water restrictions, and how tough are they?

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!"*

[Ms.Sherlock]

Thanks for the reply @WyKnott, that’s very interesting. Here if you live in an apartment complex there is a metre for water, gas, electricity for each individual apartment and each owner pays what they use to the utility provider.  Owners also pay a generally small yearly fee to the Body Corporate fund which has to run in credit for capital works or repairs to the building.

There doesn’t seem to be any incentive for anyone to do the right thing and preserve water in your situation.

When our city was getting slightly low on water the local government made lawn watering restricted to one day a week, then as the water shortage got worse there was a complete ban on watering lawns and washing cars, grey water recycling was suddenly allowed and people were given monetary assistance for installing rain water collection tanks. Fines were strictly enforced and when things got really dire the local government sent each household a little three minute sand timer to put in the bathroom and requested that we all try and keep showering down to under three minutes.

Hope those of you in California get some rain soon.

[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.

Edited August 21, 2014 by WyKnott

[Ms.Sherlock]

I've just checked the ABC website and we get the simulcast with BBC at 4.50 am Sunday (tomorrow) morning Aussie time.  Looks like I'm in for an early morning and it's cold and raining at the moment so I will be in my p.j's, in bed drinking my morning cuppa tea and eating toast. I never eat in bed but I figure F* it, it's a special occasion.

 

So quick question. Where and when will you all be watching tomorrow?

[BizBuzz]

I will be watching Sunday via iTunes - I hate it that I can't watch it with the rest of you, I don't have BBCA :-(