The recession, benefits, the safety net, and the learning curve

lostinrates

mewbie wrote: »

It's not really much fun for anyone else, more of a personal thing. Mainly puckering to be frank, but there.. I've gone and said too much.

It may be conch, but tbh Conk is perfect and will be my word for it from now on. Lord of the Flies and passing round the Conk shell - I love it.

If its conch here, I was brought up saying conK. I tend to say ''big shell'' now to avoid the K v ch ending dilemma.

I also get confused about shrimp and prawns, I just call them all prawns here.

lostinrates

ShelleyC wrote: »

Didn't have you down as a dominatrix :eek:

I train horses. All that money on equipment...whips in different lengths, spurs: might as well get my value for money. MSE doncha know.

Anyway, on that note DH is waking up again.

No rest for the wicked, night all!

mardatha

Wandering well OT, there's miles and miles and MILES of empty land in northern Scotland...you can drive for hours and see a handful of houses. So we can't be overpopulated up here !

Max_Headroom_3

dopester wrote: »

Only the other night I had a dream (no.. absolute nothing ghey)... anyway by chance was speaking to someone in passing and amazingly came to realise who we were on forums - him being Max. Managed to convinced him to STR and someone overheard, asked whereabouts, and said they had cash and wanted to buy - so long as he could move near immediately. Then his mobile rang offering him a job 80 miles away which he was eager to take. Just as I was thinking of how great it was going to be to let the forum know this incredible turn of events... woke up.

Ok, now I'm scared... :eek:

Max_Headroom_3

Originally Posted by bluey890
If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

lostinrates wrote: »

I really hate that one. By no one I presume it means people. Some other living things can hear.

I never used to understand this one but I think I now have it figured out.

The point of it is this.

When a tree crashes to the ground, our ears (or those of animals) pick up the pressure waves and vibrations and our brain interprets (or presents to us) that as noise.

So is it really noise, or, if there's no one (or no animal) there to "interpret" those vibrations, is it in fact completely silent?

You could argue of course that if you recorded the tree crashing down with no one there, you'd play it back and the speakers would give the noise, so it must still make the noise. But again, it's our ears and brain interpreting that noise formed by vibrations, so in fact the same applies.

It's one of those weird conundrums. We know how our brain interprets the "noise" of a tree falling, but is it really actual noise, or is it just our brains way of decoding soundless vibration?

Interesting one...

And with that I'm off to bed, but hopefully not to dream of Dopester screaming "Sell, sell, sell at any cost, this time next year Rodney, we'll be millyonaires!!!"

Max_Headroom_3

dopester wrote: »

Only the other night I had a dream (no.. absolute nothing ghey)... anyway by chance was speaking to someone in passing and amazingly came to realise who we were on forums - him being Max. .

By the way Dopester, what did I look like in your dream...?

This could be interesting...!

harryhound

mardatha wrote: »

Wandering well OT, there's miles and miles and MILES of empty land in northern Scotland...you can drive for hours and see a handful of houses. So we can't be overpopulated up here !

What do those miles and miles of degraded landscape produce to support a population?
A few deer and grouse for rich men to shoot?

(Originally it would have been Scots Pine forest in Caledonia, but man has done his worst, the fragile soils have gone and the over population of deer have stopped the trees regrowing, now that we have no wolves to eat then.)

The near starving over populated wild clansmen were "cleared" to eek out a living on the beach, in the slums of Glasgow or emigrate and dispossess a few natives in N.America or later in such places as Tasmania.
Potato blight achieved the same result in the other part of the Celtic fringes.
In modern Britain it is generally accepted that it is difficult to scratch a decent family living from less than 250 acres of traditional farmland; though a massive input of capital can achieve a living on a smaller area.

This is about 50 acres
http://www.hortweek.com/news/887843/First-vegetables-Thanet-Earth-go-sale/

The reality is that peasant farmers cannot compete with mechanised production of food. Fortunately here in Britain we got rid of most of our peasants over 100 years ago by bankrupting them with cheap imports from the new expropriated lands of the Empire.

mewbie_2

harryhound wrote: »

The near starving over populated wild clansmen were "cleared" to eek out a living on the beach

Fine post Harry and I'm not picking on a typo. Honest - I just want to enjoy and celebrate it.

I think that we are all just eeking out a living. Another excellent word from MSE.

ceridwen

Max_Headroom wrote: »

By the way Dopester, what did I look like in your dream...?

This could be interesting...!

....and I'm just thinking that it could prove an "interesting" evening sitting in on a drinking session of Max and Dopester.....:rotfl:

ceridwen

mardatha wrote: »

Wandering well OT, there's miles and miles and MILES of empty land in northern Scotland...you can drive for hours and see a handful of houses. So we can't be overpopulated up here !

Careful what you wish for Mardatha - otherwise before you can say "lettuce" you'll land up with that foodgrowing factory for lettuce mentioned in yesterdays papers as coming to a part of Britain near you (bring on the theme tune from "Jaws") being built up the road from you.....and then some housing for the workers.....and then the rest of the facilities people require....

....and before you know it you'll be thinking "I know what ceridwen is complaining about when she emits a scream at intervals about the sheer pressure of the number of people living in her area...." Do you want to know JUST how hard it is to find somewhere/anywhere to be alone hereabouts? Try for "impossible" - my home is the only place I can possibly manage it (assuming no noise through the walls from the neighbours). Or - try for JUST how long it takes sitting on a bus travelling from A-Z for a large portion of the day because of the constant stream of car after car after car after car ad infinitum cluttering up the roads....:eek:

I'm busy working out a series of strategies to cope with the high volume of people in my area....when to head out for a day in the country/when to go to the shops/etc to have only the number of people around me that I was used to having in the same area a few decades ago (yep...I'm still in my home area- hence why I'm so aware of the number of people around steadily shooting up over the years to an extent where it is very "uncomfortable"......:eek:)