Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 15 December 2019

Annette: I saw that gift or forgiveness segment. Not surprising about the gender difference. Good for you for manning phone banks. I can't do it; I'm just too introverted.

Another case of two countries being divided by a common language - please, what do Americans mean by phone banks? Sorry to be so ignorant …

We are coping with floods in this part of the world. Even our local bit of the M23 was closed for several hours yesterday. We are forecast more rain tonight and tomorrow. Help!

I went shopping for last minute things today. People were buying like food was going out of fashion, with trolleys piled high. And there are four more days to go, when I imagine many of them will go back for more. I have vowed not to go near a shop until next year.

Another case of two countries being divided by a common language - please, what do Americans mean by phone banks? Sorry to be so ignorant …

We are coping with floods in this part of the world. Even our local bit of the M23 was closed for several hours yesterday. We are forecast more rain tonight and tomorrow. Help!

I went shopping for last minute things today. People were buying like food was going out of fashion, with trolleys piled high. And there are four more days to go, when I imagine many of them will go back for more. I have vowed not to go near a shop until next year.

Pat O:  In the context of an election, a phone bank is when a political party asks for volunteers to gather in one place, grab a list of names and phone numbers and call voters, either locally or in other states, to confirm/encourage their support and  stress the importance of voting on election day.  I did it for President Obama in 2008 when he was first elected.  I'll do it for sure next year - anything to help get rid of Trump.  Hope the rain lets up!

Diane:  I don't love working on phone banks, but it's way preferable to walking neighborhoods and banging on doors to discuss the issues.

OG:  Well, at least it's not as far to fly raspberries from Morocco to Scotland as it is to fly them to the US from Chile, where those currently in our stores come from.  I hope yours taste as good as they look.

Lindybird: OH and I went to see Knives Out this afternoon.  It was a little slow in the beginning, but had all the classic ingredients for a good mystery caper:  Dead patriarch; huge old house; dysfunctional and greedy heirs. Daniel Craig played a Hercule Poirot type character (complete with an accent from the American South), Jamie Lee Curtis, who always does a good job and Christopher Plummer, who I'm always amazed is still alive!

Am going to help our recently widowed friend clean up her garden tomorrow morning before the rains arrive.

Take care all!  

Good Morning. Grey, dark and miserably damp here again. Sorry to see film of the flooded motorway near you, Pat. Where on earth does all that rain come from?

Annette - is Christopher Plummer still alive? Gosh, he must be old now. The film sounds good, I'll tell Sue about it.

Got our Christmassy mugs out - we have many as I tend to buy a new one every year. Left the various wrappings and tissue paper on the kitchen floor and Bonnie had fun playing with it!

Have a good weekend, Everyone.

LINDA – Are you drinking enough water? I get cramp when I’m too lazy to drink or it is very hot.

ANNETTE – You would not be popular in this house, phoning about elections! Although our voting is compulsory, we still get badgered by unsolicited calls and we always hang up. Actually only compulsory to have name marked off roll – no one knows what or if one marks ballot paper.

Horror day yesterday with 100 fires in SA. Big one in Adelaide Hills threatened towns Cudlee Creek, Lobethal, etc; still out of control. One dead, 1 badly injured, at least 15 homes lost, plus sheds, cars. Elsewhere dry lightning started a fire near Maitland, 2 fires on Kangaroo Island. Chap killed when car hit a tree & that started another bushfire near Lameroo. Today it was Victoria’s turn to suffer as the hot weather moved east. Of course the huge fires continue in NSW. People warned to rethink holiday plans as many NSW highways closed. This is only the beginning of summer; we don’t usually get big fires until Jan or Feb.

I’ve been busy today prep-ing for Dau, s-i-l & Trio coming tomorrow for lunch, a mini-X-mas.

Annette - Thank you for the explanation of phone banks. I think there is something similar in UK, but fortunately I haven't been personally targeted. I think my reaction, if I were, would be similar to AQ and the phone would go down immediately - a bit like cold calling, which gets the same treatment. We were littered with pamphlets before the election, most of which arrived at least three times. Don't these people have any respect for the forests needed to produce all that paper?????

A bit of a let-up in rain this morning, but more heavy rain forecast for later today, overnight and tomorrow. I actually saw a tiny patch of blue sky this morning - it lasted about ten minutes..

PAT - when I saw the news about the M23, I wondered if you would be affected. Hope today and overnight will prove not as bad as forecast.

A domestic morning here, then "Deck the Halls" (J's name for the decorating) this afternoon, with a preview of some "Christmas Nibbles"! Need to get out the awful Christmas CDs to make it wholly traditional. "Bah Humbug".

I'm a bit Bah Humbug these days, OG! My children aged 52 down to 40 can't understand why as we always used to have the Christmas music on while doing the decorations. It is nothing to do with OH dying at this time of year, at least, I don't think so -I seem to be all Christmased out !!
I'm all up to date with your news, EVERYONE.... Sorry no individual replies (yet!)

Feeling virtuous. All presents wrapped and labelled. All e-cards done (individual cards to about forty people - takes ages!). But also feeling frustrated. I have only one small gift for my three-year-old great-nephew - who should have the most!! So I will have to break my promise not to go near another shop until next year … he must have some more things to open.

It's now raining again … there's a surprise.