Isolated Blurt Thread Again

[RocketLauncher]

Was just posting elsewhere, and I'm not going to get into specifics because it's political, but this is basically the way it went.

Me: Whataboutism isn't a defense for (XXXX)'s action.

Them: It's funny how every time (XXXX) comes up here it's a form of whataboutism.

Holy inception Batman! But what about the whataboutism!

I got a good laugh out of that one.

I prefer the ascription and ad hominem arguments myself.

 

[trysail]

A French Library, part of Oxford University, wants them. There is currently a research project in progress on that newspaper.

They are going to a good home!

That's wonderful. You deserve credit for getting them to a proper home so that contemporary sources are properly preserved (and conserved).



ETA:
Does the U.K. have the equivalent of the U.S. "charitable deduction" which allows one to deduct the value of a gift to an eleemosynary organization from your taxable income?

In the U.S., one would obtain an appraisal of the donated material in order to document the value of the donation.


​

 

[Trinique_Fire]

old habits die hard.

 

[TxRad]

old habits die hard.

That's what the nun said.

 

[oggbashan]

Union Street, Plymouth

I have just been watching a programme about the policing of Plymouth in 2018.

Much of it was about troubles in Union Street on Friday and Saturday nights.

In the early 1960s I used to go to Union Street on Friday and Saturday nights and the violence was worse. But I never had any serious trouble. In retrospect I wondered why.

But it didn't take me long to work out the reasons. At the time I was over six feet tall, weighed 280 lb, mostly muscle, and was a specialist first time responder. I worked with the civil and military police and was known to them. I also worked alongside Royal Marine Commandos and was an officer in the Dockyard. I had a massive tolerance of alcohol and was never drunk.

The bouncers took one look, usually up at me, and left me alone. So did the aggressive drunks. If there was any trouble near me I was usually there helping the bouncers or police. Anyone trying to fight me usually got picked up and thrown aside. Even a very drunk man usually gave up after that.

I couldn't do that now. But then I was safe even in the most violent area of Plymouth.

 

[whowrotethisshit]

kindness is important

 

[Blind_Justice]

68,000 words written in less than a month. Looking back, 2019 might have been my most productive year ever. My wife hates me, my cats freak out when that big hairy thing crawls out of that room at the end of the hallway, but at least my Patrons are happy. All nine of them.

 

[oggbashan]

Yesterday my son-in-law crashed my spare Volvo estate on the approach to the Dartford bridge. He was about to be side-swiped by a heavy goods vehicle changing lane without looking or signaling, and while avoiding that he ran into the back of another HGV.

The front of the Volvo including the headlights is missing or smashed. It will probably cost more to repair than its value, and since he was driving it on his insurance, not mine, it was covered for third-party only.

He is more upset for wrecking my vehicle than I am. It is only a car. He is uninjured and that is much more important.

 

[whowrotethisshit]

*just screaming for eight straight minutes*

 

[Handley_Page]

Yesterday my son-in-law crashed my spare Volvo estate on the approach to the Dartford bridge. He was about to be side-swiped by a heavy goods vehicle changing lane without looking or signaling, and while avoiding that he ran into the back of another HGV.

The front of the Volvo including the headlights is missing or smashed. It will probably cost more to repair than its value, and since he was driving it on his insurance, not mine, it was covered for third-party only.

He is more upset for wrecking my vehicle than I am. It is only a car. He is uninjured and that is much more important.

It might be worth a claim on the other guy's Insurance, though.

 

[oggbashan]

It might be worth a claim on the other guy's Insurance, though.

The HGV that caused the crash didn't stop and did not touch the Volvo. Neither my son-in-law nor the other HGV driver saw the registration number of the lane changing vehicle.

 

[rutger5]

Feeding stray/feral cats may be nice, to a degree.
But if you don't spay /neuter them then all you are doing is multiplying and extending the problem and in reality allowing a lot more cats to needlessly suffer short, hungry lives.

 

[trysail]

Feeding stray/feral cats may be nice, to a degree.
But if you don't spay /neuter them then all you are doing is multiplying and extending the problem and in reality allowing a lot more cats to needlessly suffer short, hungry lives.

...and kill more songbirds.


​

 

[oggbashan]

That's wonderful. You deserve credit for getting them to a proper home so that contemporary sources are properly preserved (and conserved).



ETA:
Does the U.K. have the equivalent of the U.S. "charitable deduction" which allows one to deduct the value of a gift to an eleemosynary organization from your taxable income?

In the U.S., one would obtain an appraisal of the donated material in order to document the value of the donation.


​

Yes and No. If I give cash I can specify 'Gift Aid' which allows the recipient organisation to reclaim the tax I have paid. But for gifts of an object or collection the processes aren't worth the effort unless the value is over a thousand pounds - usually a reduction in inheritance tax as part of a deceased person's estate.

 

[oggbashan]

The story that was to be my ninth entry to the Winter Holidays contest has stalled but I have started a fifth Brigit story.

 

[RocketLauncher]

The story that was to be my ninth entry to the Winter Holidays contest has stalled but I have started a fifth Brigit story.

Your sig line is hilarious. Excellent wish, indeed.

 

[oggbashan]

Ordering on line...

I wanted to order a couple of presents for friends from an online retailer.

I had name, address, email and postcode but the order would not be accepted without their phone number and one is ex-directory.

I had to use another site. Grrr!

 

[Blind_Justice]

I just found out I made it into the SF/F toplists. At least those for the past 12 months and 30 days respectively. The cutoff for the "All Time" HOF is so staggeringly high, I'll never be able to crack that. Yay!

 

[oggbashan]

Today (Christmas Eve) is my eldest granddaughter's 13th birthday.

She is so embarrassed at being a teenager that it took her 25 seconds to blow out the candles on her birthday cake. Her brother, 9 a couple of weeks ago, blew out all his candles in one puff.

Tomorrow her cousin will also be 13, and my wife's birthday is also in December. We don't start Christmas until AFTER the birthdays.

 

[oggbashan]

Problems of assilimilation...

For a decade I have been hearing complaints from Hindu and Sikh families hat their young children want Christmas presents, a Christmas meal and to visit Santa in the local shopping mall.

Some even want to take part in an Easter Egg hunt and go trick or treating at Halloween.

This year the moans are from Muslim families with young children. The lead-up to Christmas is so long and raises expectations that young children find irresistible. As with the Hindus and Sikhs, it isn't the Christian Christmas. It's the commercial Christmas.

 

[oggbashan]

Family Photos

I have inherited a chocolate box full of family photos from my father. It was no use asking him who the people were. My mother, died nearly 25 years ago, was the only one who knew who everyone was. My father relied on her and his short-term memory loss in his last decade meant he had no idea.

I have been trying to identify photos from the 1940s and 1950s before I really knew who was whom. My surviving relations are too young to know.

My daughters have a much better idea about their distant relations, than I ever had at their age, because they follow each other on social media. All I knew was that I had dozens of cousins some of whom I might see at Christmas, but what they were doing, who married whom and what children they had? I had no idea. All I knew was I had at least a hundred relations but everywhere we went we seemed to uncover a few dozen more...

 

[Handley_Page]

So, after weeks of careful preparation, soldering cables, buying loads of bits ready form this morning's broadcast from SAQ, Sweden.
Ask me who fell asleep ?

 

[LoquiSordidaAdMe]

I was watching The Big Fat Quiz of 2019 tonight (because we Yanks have to wait for someone to post it on YouTube) and Jimmy asked what Ed Sheeran built on his property that upset his neighbors and Richard and Noel answered "Sex Dojo". I don't exactly know what a "sex dojo" is, but it seems like it ought to be the subject of a ChloeTzang story, that's all.

The correct answer was a swimming pool, but there are plenty of Lit stories about swimming pools I think I even wrote one, so while that might be the correct answer, it's not nearly as interesting.

Yes, I've been drinking tonight. Sorry.

 

[TxRad]

I've not done a sex Dojo story but I have done a sex in a Dojo story. I've even had sex in a Dojo but it was a long while back. I'll have see if I can find the link to it. Maybe its time for another story or more sex, one or the other.

 

[MagicaPractica]

Why do I bother?