Nice people thread part 3- Nice as pie

John_Pierpoint

dopester wrote: »

OK chestnuts not so expensive.. just thinking 'expensive' compared to if you were right next to a natural source of your own, to freely pick up - like you used to do as mentioned in a previous post.

As this is part of the "economics" section of the forum; think along these lines:
Date line 1300 +
Hullo black death
Voila half the population density.
OMG what are we going to do with the poor land that is "going back", for lack of peasants to cultivate it.
Grow trees ?
Here in SW France Chestnuts grow big & plump.
Don't need to be ploughed, harrowed, planted, bird scared, weeded, harvested, stored, threshed, winnowed, milled, baked etc.
You just go and collect them and the ones you cannot find will be found by the pigs.
New industry established to make all things chestnut.

Date line 1500+
What do you do with this Inca thing then?
It is a "tuba", You just poke it in the ground and it grow and produces lots more.
5 months later you just dig up a huge crop.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato
(The writing is on the wall for the chestnut industry - there is a cheap alternative available - potatoes yield 9.2 million calories/acre.)

Date Line 1850+
The potato leaves are going all black and the tubas are going all slimy.
Woops it is time to halve the population and double the wages again.
http://irserver.ucd.ie/dspace/bitstream/10197/1743/1/wp93_31.pdf

Potato protection, prior to the 1940's, was
dependent primarily upon Bordeaux
mixture fungicide for the control
of potato blight. In 1945, the yield was
155 bushels per acre; 2,700,000 acres
were harvested. In that year, a pair
of new pesticides was introduced. By
1950-in five years-the yield had
risen by 100 bushels per acre to 253.
(a bushel is about 35 litres, or 8 gallons
a cubic meter is 1000 litres
1000 litres weighs a tonne if it is full of water.)

The potato fuels the workers required for industrial expansion.

Davesnave wrote: »

You don't need a mountain to be in that position, but yes, it's not the first thing that most people think about if they view in June.

We used to reject houses on the grounds that they didn't control their own sunshine, particularly late afternoon & evening sun. Some agents would be slightly 'off' about this as a reason, but most were smart enough to realise that if we understood the way other buildings, trees and the landscape might conspire against a property at a different season, or time of day, we weren't naive.

lemonjelly wrote: »

I think this is a significantly important factor to take into account with a house purchase.

Some of the things I've been considering have included things as daft as the rise & setting of the sun (where it hits the house, windows, garden etc) as well as if the ground is likely to drain away from or towards the property.

In conversations with people it has seemed that most don't take things like this into account.

It is increasingly important to get the sunshine of a building correct.
I'm perched on a terrace at the foot of a south facing hillside, with the major rooms and largest windows facing SE & SW. The thermal gain can mean I don't need to turn on the central heating for 3 weeks in the autumn and turn it off 3 weeks earlier in the spring.
See also the debates on the forum about PV electricity generation.

On the other side of the coin, my son bought a house backing on to a Sainsbury, You know the design a single story supermarket but with a huge tiles roof. At his time of year the sun shone into the back garden of half an hour between 10:00 & 10:30 only to disappear behind Saijnsbury, making that roof look like a total eclipse of the sun:D

LydiaJ

Sue

As a teacher I am furious about what you say about middle son and his difficulties with this teacher in a subject he is naturally strong at. I hope the senco and HoD can help you.

I don't think you should worry too much about the message that your boys will get from being allowed to miss the last day of term. What they are learning is that it's really important to attend proper days when there is work going on, and they have to learn to deal with some disruption in the last week or two of term, but sometimes it's acceptable for ASD people to be absent from the "fun" stuff if it isn't fun for them.

Maybe when they are grown up they will be able to go into work on all the work days, but send polite apologies and not go to the office Christmas party. That sounds a reasonable aim to me, but I'd love to hear what PN thinks.

On the subject of writing things down... at one of my jobs (the one that includes an admin role that isn't really my strong point) I have informed my boss that since late-nearly-ex's accident I find I don't remember things if I don't write down, and I cannot guarantee that I will remember anything she asks me unless she gives me time to write it down (or more likely type it into my laptop). She's one of those people who can hold masses of unrelated small items of information in her brain but can't be analytical, so the opposite of me, so she thinks it is very weird of me but is now actually waiting for me to write things. I think it may have contributed to her belief that I'm not really very good at the job, but that's better than constantly being in trouble for forgetting stuff.

ETA Actually I've said the same thing to my head of dept at my school. Only he regarded it as so obviously a good idea that I'd almost forgotten I ever said it to him. He's the sort of person that writes things down himself, so it was a complete non-issue.

lostinrates

LydiaJ wrote: »

Only he regarded it as so obviously a good idea that I'd almost forgotten I ever said it to him. He's the sort of person that writes things down himself, so it was a complete non-issue.

I'd love to be one of those people who doesn't write things down. I'm told I was before the head break, but I'm sure I've always been a writer of lists. It IS such an obviously good idea. I think finding how notes work for you is good too. I love lists and timetables. I love them. I don't necessarily adhere to them, but if I'm going to be spotanious its nice to know I'm going against the plan in the reporters notebook that should be on my desk but is usually on the trunk that serves as a cfoffee table in my sitting room.

I also love mind maps. Aha, I remember a way I used to write: all my uni notes were mind maps I adore them. In different colours. DH can't cope with mind maps, they just don't work how his brain does. His notes are never short hand either.

Malcolm.

Writing things down frees the mind, this allows it to focus better.

I'm a fan.

PasturesNew

LydiaJ wrote: »

Maybe when they are grown up they will be able to go into work on all the work days, but send polite apologies and not go to the office Christmas party. That sounds a reasonable aim to me, but I'd love to hear what PN thinks.

I don't go to the Xmas parties. Too loud, too dull, horrid food, have to wear clothes I am not comfy in. Worst is when it's at a hotel and people are allowed to bring their other half.

Avoid, avoid, avoid.

LydiaJ wrote: »

I think it may have contributed to her belief that I'm not really very good at the job, but that's better than constantly being in trouble for forgetting stuff.

That's the trouble when you're a genius, if you don't do ONE thing just like they do they think you're an idiot .... and then it's only a matter of time before they manage to 'prove' it and you stop speaking.

inspector_monkfish

thanks for all the kind words and wishes guys:)

you're right i have been a bit busy with things at the hospital with Daisy my youngest daughter, and trying to juggle work, my other daughter, my home and just generally split myself in more ways than is possible at times!

just an update.... Daisy has been back in royal london whitechapel hospital since early november, after managing about 3mths back home and doing really really well, until she picked up an infection and had to be readmitted.

the infection was a particular nasty one and pretty much wiped her out for a few weeks, it took several different antibiotics to get it under-control, but it has finally gone.

BUT, as a result of all this, her kidneys and liver aren't functioning properly now, and she has huge gallstones.

All her medicines, and intravenous feed we can do at home and all they are really doing in hospital is monitoring her, so the plan is to let her home sometime next week for christmas and new year, then go back in january and have the gallbladder removed (i'm told we dont even need them) and try to sort the kidneys and liver out.

Its basically the side-effects of being fed intravenously, but we were told it might happen in 4 or 5 years time, not 6mths after starting to be fed this way. Its not a good sign.

Its so tough for a little 7yr old to go through all this - she has now spent 8 out of 12mths of this year in hospital, but she is a real fighter and still has a beautiful smile for everyone

i'll try and keep you posted when possible

love & respect to you all
IM

Daisy's story (updated Aug 2010)
http://www.port-charity.org.uk/pages/Daisys%20Story.htm

morag1202

Thanks for taking the time to post. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year and that Daisy has a much healthier 2011.

SingleSue

Good to hear from you Inspector....here is hoping for an easier 2011 for you.

Give my love to Daisy and the rest of your family.

Davesnave

Here's another one hoping that, despite everything, little Miss Monkfish has a very happy Christmas at home with her folks.

lemonjelly

inspector_monkfish wrote: »

thanks for all the kind words and wishes guys:)

you're right i have been a bit busy with things at the hospital with Daisy my youngest daughter, and trying to juggle work, my other daughter, my home and just generally split myself in more ways than is possible at times!

just an update.... Daisy has been back in royal london whitechapel hospital since early november, after managing about 3mths back home and doing really really well, until she picked up an infection and had to be readmitted.

the infection was a particular nasty one and pretty much wiped her out for a few weeks, it took several different antibiotics to get it under-control, but it has finally gone.

BUT, as a result of all this, her kidneys and liver aren't functioning properly now, and she has huge gallstones.

All her medicines, and intravenous feed we can do at home and all they are really doing in hospital is monitoring her, so the plan is to let her home sometime next week for christmas and new year, then go back in january and have the gallbladder removed (i'm told we dont even need them) and try to sort the kidneys and liver out.

Its basically the side-effects of being fed intravenously, but we were told it might happen in 4 or 5 years time, not 6mths after starting to be fed this way. Its not a good sign.

Its so tough for a little 7yr old to go through all this - she has now spent 8 out of 12mths of this year in hospital, but she is a real fighter and still has a beautiful smile for everyone

i'll try and keep you posted when possible

love & respect to you all
IM

Daisy's story (updated Aug 2010)
http://www.port-charity.org.uk/pages/Daisys%20Story.htm

There are some positives here, & I'm sure we all hope you have a good family christmas Inspector!:)

I have 2 friends, both of whom have daughters who have had their gall bladders taken out. I think it is more common than we are generally aware.

Take care Inspector. Mice people wishes to Daisy from us all.:santa2: