At the time I created my profile, my daughter, granddaughter and I were living together.
I didn't want to get pregnant and give birth myself, it was hard enough co-parenting my granddaughter. My daughter and I were working opposite shifts and operating a revolving door in terms of childcare as families with two parents often do.
When it came to the checkbox "Wants kids", however tired I was, however much I wished for a decent night's sleep, or an evening off, I couldn't bring myself to check a box that I felt implied I didn't want the ones I had. Maybe it was guilt about secret fantasies of an uninterrupted granny nap.
I don't suppose the above scenario ever crossed your mind, peculiar as it is. Perhaps everybody has their own peculiar reasons for completing their profiles in their own peculiar way.
There is also the issue of minimising boundaries to connecting with people. If a profile is too specific in terms of a desired match it excludes all, but a few possibilities. Saying you want to meet someone aged 30 excludes more people than aged 25-35.
Stating age requirements between 18-99 doesn't necessarily mean a person is looking for someone aged 18, or 99, it just indicates they don't want to exclude possibility. Say they specify age 25-35 and someone delightful aged 37 excludes themselves based on the information presented?
Someone saying they're not sure if they want more kids is a way of being inclusive to all possibilities. It may say, "I'm not going to make a judgement without knowing the circumstances".
It's healthy and emotionally mature to not make judgements without knowing the circumstances.
Quite apart from people being entitled to their opinions even if they are different from yours, why delete comments rather than leave them for everyone to see, Cailin?
Luckily, in anticipation of living in the middle of nowhere, I stocked up on DIY materials and paint before I moved. Being thrifty with sand paper and belts doesn't make the job easy, but I don't want to run out before I'm done.
I've a long way to go before it gets satisfying. I hope I don't get painters block when the ground work is done, like yourself.
It's about people being off work sick, people being off work nursing the sick, hospitals being over-run, storing bodies, collecting waste to avoid disease, food production, a loss of 'normal' functioning...
I have no idea how complex this situation is and the impact it could have, but there's room in my imagination that there might be less suffering if we hunker down for 12 weeks, than if we try to bluff it out.
Maybe three months virtual halt is a better damage limitation strategy than a couple of years of crawling until vaccines are created and distributed effectively.
I don't know, but it seems pretty sensible to me to try and avoid infecting others at this stage.
If governments did too little, would we commend them for not doing too much?
If they do too much to a destructive level, should we commend them for not doing too little?
They sort of need to get it right, don't they?
Can we not explore and question without being criticised for doing so? If we can't, perhaps Viv has some grounds for her concerns about loss of human rights.
As for the plague, is it comparable? Or is bandying about questionable statistics inflammatory?
It's a new type of virus which appears to spread easily and appears to have extreme consequences for many people.
I don't think for one minute that the government focus is altruistic, but there are practical and financial consequences. The full-blown panic is likely to have it's roots in concerns for the economy, popularity and ultimately upon retaining power in all it's forms.
Perhaps governments are walking a thin line between allowing a good many expensive people to die and the impact upon the economy from having a temporarily idle consumer society. I imagine they're trying to find a happy medium.
Yes, it has potential for something far more insidious.
Retaining power in all it's forms is so inextricably linked with control in all it's forms.
My daughter works in a grocery store and has initiated a community project.
She has been concerned about panic buying and hoarding, leaving those who are vulnerable and on low weekly incomes without necessities.
She put forward the suggestion that the shop reserves certain items for vulnerable people on request and intended to deliver if necessary.
As of Monday, all vulnerable people are being advised to self-isolate, so her plan is timely. With the aid of technology, she's had a good response and other people have volunteered to collect and deliver. She's hoping to organise a team and a system.
One woman contacted her and asked if there was any provision for her grandmother who lives in the village I've recently moved to. I've been roped in which will help me become a part of the community and help get necessities to others.
I don't know how this will pan out if there are further restrictions of movement, but assisting others seems like a practical way of everyone getting through the isolation, even if we're yelling at each other from the end of garden paths.
Flamin' Nora, Malcolm is only 50/60lbs and it hurts when he digs his paw into my leg.
At least with an intelligent dog they learn quickly how to sneak into the best position for affection. Malcolm has yet to work out how to navigate an armchair.
I can remember stuff in context to the point where I remember conversations verbatim because of the colour clothes someone was wearing.
I think in colour and shape more than words.
I learn well experientially.
Names have little context, however. Learning the meaning of names helps to create context.
It's a bit autistic spectrum.
I have become a little more used to having to ask people their name. Sometimes I make excuses, like calling them by their friend's, or daughter's name and then saying, "Oh, that's not right!" by which time they've corrected me.
It implies I haven't forgotten all about them, just that I'm being a bit dippy.
jac_the_gripper Blog Comments (2,973)
RE: Saving the globe - the new kingdom ?
I'm not sure our climate is exotic enough for cabbage and Ireland is too far away for anyone to lob a few over out of pity.And I'm quite sure the Irish do indeed pity us.