The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

PasturesNew

On the subject of trees, I was out yesterday and spotted a random war memorial and there, at the front face, was somebody with the same surname as me and I thought "I'll look up that geezer".

So I did - and discovered that, for whatever reason, his story's not online. Some areas are heavily researched/detailed and posted online, but it can be patchy and I was used to having great details posted in my home county.

So I worked at it ... and he was a little hard to get started with as I'd assume two things: 1] I'd instantly find his information 2] he must have been in that village in the 1911Census.

It turned out he was the final/late child of quite old parents, with about 10 much older siblings before him (10-23 years older than him). He was already in the navy in 1911 and he died when a destroyer hit rocks while it was searching for German mines.... only one survivor and no bodies ever recovered, they let the ship sink/stay there, then break/up and disappear.

I'd found his parents, his mother had been born in the village and lived there all her life. His father was a railway worker and so I bet they met when he was working on the local railway (I've still to check the dates for when railways were rolled out round that way)....

So then I found he'd died in Jan/1918 and his mum had died later that year aged 78.... and his dad went on for another 20 years or so, dying at an old age.

So I thought I was done..... as it was a random discovery trail.... but then I thought "I wonder if he married" - now, obviously trying to find the marriage of a sailor during the war could be impossible.... but I was lucky. He did marry! At first I just found somebody with his name in an expected/local county in 1916, but with ANC's free weekend I could see his actual marriage and it WAS him.

And I then spotted that his wife had a child in 1918, after he'd died, but close enough for it to have probably been from the last time he was on leave.

The wife remarried in 1925 and possibly had a daughter.

All from wandering past a memorial and happening to spot somebody with the same surname as me.

I much prefer this to the comparative hobby of "reading books". This is a mystery novel with real people, real outcomes, unexpected finds .... and is therefore "a better use of time than reading made up people and words"



Actually, just looking for his son's birth/death, it looks like the baby was born in July 1918 (father had died in January) - and he died in 1994. But I'd need to check that and see if I can find more evidence that's what happened.

PasturesNew

Just fell backwards out of the bath, after shutting the window.
As I'm small, I have to stand in the bath to open/close the window ... so I did that and stepped back/out of the bath, but lost my balance.

I'll have to watch that. That's the trouble with short legs, stepping out of the bath onto the floor, which is lower, is a bit hard.

Pyxis

PasturesNew wrote: »

Just fell backwards out of the bath, after shutting the window.
As I'm small, I have to stand in the bath to open/close the window ... so I did that and stepped back/out of the bath, but lost my balance.

I'll have to watch that. That's the trouble with short legs, stepping out of the bath onto the floor, which is lower, is a bit hard.

I have to step in my bath to open windows, too!
I know what you mean about tripping as you get out.

I hardly ever open them, though!

I don't seem to make much steam, and there's an extractor which comes on with the light anyway.

It's only in very hot weather if I want to create a through draught that I'll open them.



I'm shattered. Have been incredibly busy this last week, and will be for another three days. Really tired.

ukmaggie45

PasturesNew wrote: »

Just fell backwards out of the bath, after shutting the window.
As I'm small, I have to stand in the bath to open/close the window ... so I did that and stepped back/out of the bath, but lost my balance.

I'll have to watch that. That's the trouble with short legs, stepping out of the bath onto the floor, which is lower, is a bit hard.

Ouch!

Hope you don't suffer sore after effects.

I'm short too (5ft2), so understand how difficult it can be doing stuff that taller folks can manage easily. Not fair!

Pyxis

ukmaggie45 wrote: »

Ouch!

Hope you don't suffer sore after effects.

I'm short too (5ft2), so understand how difficult it can be doing stuff that taller folks can manage easily. Not fair!

Hiya Maggie!

Long time no see!

How're ya diddlin'?

chris_m

PasturesNew wrote: »

Just fell backwards out of the bath, after shutting the window.
As I'm small, I have to stand in the bath to open/close the window ... so I did that and stepped back/out of the bath, but lost my balance.
I'll have to watch that. That's the trouble with short legs, stepping out of the bath onto the floor, which is lower, is a bit hard.

Pyxis wrote: »

I have to step in my bath to open windows, too! I know what you mean about tripping as you get out.

Would it not be easier if, having attended to the window, you turn ninety degrees and step sideways from the bath to the floor instead of backwards?

chris_m

ukmaggie45 wrote: »

I'm short too (5ft2), so understand how difficult it can be doing stuff that taller folks can manage easily. Not fair!

Do bear in mind, however, that we less vertically challenged have to bend down further to pick things up off the floor.

It works both ways

ukmaggie45

Pyxis wrote: »

Hiya Maggie!

Long time no see!

How're ya diddlin'?

We've been in Bwlchtocyn since end of Jan! It's blooming freezing here today, but we've had amazing skies and views of Snowdon. New caravan, very nice in many ways but lots of snagging still ongoing. Our old caravan is still sitting in middle of field - we got all our stuff out now, so waiting for it to go. Apparently it's going to Poland! It'll be better travelled than I will ever be! :rotfl:

Going home soon, though feeling bad at leaving the birds without their food in the midst of bad weather. We'll prob come back fairly soon to check on the snagging stuff as it's just taking so long.

New caravan by Maggie, on Flickr

PasturesNew

Pyxis wrote: »

I have to step in my bath to open windows, too!
I know what you mean about tripping as you get out.

I hardly ever open them, though!

I don't seem to make much steam, and there's an extractor which comes on with the light anyway.

It's only in very hot weather if I want to create a through draught that I'll open them.

Mine's complex I've been doing a lot of hand washing today, so had to pop things onto the airer in the bath ... so wanted the window to be "open a smidge" to let that additional moisture out.

Normally what I do is: open the window, have a bath, leave the bathroom, shut the bathroom door, leave the window open as long as possible (shut it if going out, shut it if it gets cold).

I do have an extractor linked to the light, but they petrify me ... so I turned it off at the switch ... and now, actually, I don't even have a lightbulb as the bulb blew some time ago and I really can't face getting the ladder out to get up the ceiling, to try to get the light fitting off, to see what sort of bulb is in there, then go out to try to get one, then get back up the ladder and try to juggle a lightbulb while not falling off the ladder

I only have a bath when it's daylight.

PasturesNew

chris_m wrote: »

Would it not be easier if, having attended to the window, you turn ninety degrees and step sideways from the bath to the floor instead of backwards?

The airer in the bath was in the way and it seemed "just as easy" to step backwards out - remembering of course that the loo's there. I got it wrong.

It's a tiny bathroom. Fat people can't even go to the loo in there as you open the door 90 degrees and step in, then huddle between the sink and the shower screen on the bath to close the door behind you - and the loo's behind the door. You can't open the door more than 90 degrees else it hits the loo seat.