Am I the only one here who.....

[Mayner]

Looking back at my family history to the 1880s the two things that stand out is that each generation went through a phase of youthful rebellion, (made their own decisions sometimes in the face of opposition from those in authority (sometimes parents and religious) ) and each generation worked through life's up and downs to bring up the succeeding generation. One interesting pattern on both sides of our family is women from old Irish families marrying men of English and Scottish ancestry (widen the gene pool?), though I changed the trend and married a woman of Viking/Germanic ancestry who is equally strong minded.

As a kid I remember a priest working himself into a lather during a sermon the World was about to end. He could not tell the difference between the sexes with boys and girls wearing long hair and similar clothing.

Parental opposition to a cousin going-out with a girl they considered low class, the couple eloped and have stayed together for over 50 years and are now great grandparents, but are at heart still a 60s couple.

Another cousin considered a failure in a family of high achievers became a left wing political activist and surprised his surviving brother and sister with the turnout of political dignitaries (all sides of the political spectrum) at his funeral.

We cannot judge succeeding generations by our own standards or without looking in the mirror.

Edited March 16 by Mayner

[DJ Dangerous]

5 hours ago, Galteemore said:

That’s one thing we don’t lack. Values are everywhere - everyone has them. But it’s an economic term: values have no hard or fast standing and can change. And we all value things differently….

What we increasingly lack are virtues, I think.

 

I think that you've just hit the nail on the head, albeit slightly evasively.

Values don't need to be monetary or economic, but it may very well be that as people get richer, and quicker, they find it more and more difficult to value anything from a non-monetary perspective.

And the inability to value things goes hand in hand with diminishing virtues.

Then we spiral downward, vanishing virtues and values, into vices and vitriol.

 

1 hour ago, Mayner said:

We cannot judge succeeding generations by our own standards or without looking in the mirror.

 

Boom, love this! Absolutely perfect, for almost every challenge we come across, whether generational or interpersonal.

So easy to forget in the moment, yet so crucial!

[spudfan]

Don't do Facebook, or social media. I have an e-mail and I go on line to talk about toy trains...

[Mayner]

9 hours ago, spudfan said:

Don't do Facebook, or social media. I have an e-mail and I go on line to talk about toy trains...

A lot of the crap on Facebook/social media is relayed by the older generation, have a relative in their 80s form the States that only posts Trump/Republican Party propaganda and conspiracy theory stuff, while our 14 year old simply chats with their friends and shares selfies and artworks on social media. Populist politicians tend to appeal to the age group or people that feel "that they have been left out" by main stream politics leading to Brixit in the UK and quite reactionary governments in this part of the World. This in turn leads to increasing discontent among an upcoming generation who feel that they have been let down by their parents and grandparents generations, interesting ties in the next 15-20 years!

We use facebook to chat between family in gthe States and New Zealand but ignore most of the postings.

[LNERW1]

On 16/3/2024 at 11:08 AM, spudfan said:

Don't do Facebook, or social media. I have an e-mail and I go on line to talk about toy trains...

Exact same here, and happy about it- and I’m 13! There’s still hope, you see!

[Horsetan]

On 16/3/2024 at 5:15 AM, Galteemore said:

….What we increasingly lack are virtues, I think.

For everything else, there's virtue-signalling. 

[jhb171achill]

On 15/3/2024 at 9:49 PM, DJ Dangerous said:

Why is there so often a negative response to progress?

X, Y or Z is new or different, so it's bad.

Railcars, mobile phones, IKEA, AI, social networks, whatever.

Not saying that progress is always great - my bugbear is touch-screens vs. physical keyboards and predictive text vs. knowing how to spell. I much prefer a mobile with a physical keyboard and I don't like predictive text.

So, I'm not without my own bias, it's just that this forum has such a negative angle on things so often.

Also not a big fan of social media as it seems to be removing the ability to think critically from people...

I saw it on Tik Tok so it must be true.

Just, lighten up, guys, progress isn't always bad.

ICR's are awesome, mobile 'phones are awesome, cars are awesome, AI is awesome, and IKEA is frikkin' awesome!

I’m totally with you on predictive elephant algebra Napoleon Moscow noodle 

[minister_for_hardship]

I was the last of my peer group to use a "dumb" phone, I was still sending old timey texts when everyone else was messaging.

When the speaker got stuffed, I moved onto smartphone. I do appreciate the fact I've got a powerful mini computer in my pocket now which comes in very useful when I need to find out where the next train is, how to change a van lightbulb or find out if cats eat pancakes at 2am.

My current smartphone screen is cracked and the case is held together with gaffer tape. I don't see the value in chucking something for fashion's sake, so long as the thing works it'll do me.

[minister_for_hardship]

On 16/3/2024 at 8:38 PM, Mayner said:

A lot of the crap on Facebook/social media is relayed by the older generation, have a relative in their 80s form the States that only posts Trump/Republican Party propaganda and conspiracy theory stuff, while our 14 year old simply chats with their friends and shares selfies and artworks on social media. Populist politicians tend to appeal to the age group or people that feel "that they have been left out" by main stream politics leading to Brixit in the UK and quite reactionary governments in this part of the World. This in turn leads to increasing discontent among an upcoming generation who feel that they have been let down by their parents and grandparents generations, interesting ties in the next 15-20 years!

We use facebook to chat between family in gthe States and New Zealand but ignore most of the postings.

I have a distant cousin in the US who is a Trumpette, I've unfollowed her without unfriending and I've done so with anyone else on the activist/overly political spectrum.

I've noticed that I've confused the Book of Faces algorithm as it can't work out if I'm right, middle or left wing so I get random feeds from all.

[DJ Dangerous]

32 minutes ago, minister_for_hardship said:

I was the last of my peer group to use a "dumb" phone, I was still sending old timey texts when everyone else was messaging.

When the speaker got stuffed, I moved onto smartphone. I do appreciate the fact I've got a powerful mini computer in my pocket now which comes in very useful when I need to find out where the next train is, how to change a van lightbulb or find out if cats eat pancakes at 2am.

My current smartphone screen is cracked and the case is held together with gaffer tape. I don't see the value in chucking something for fashion's sake, so long as the thing works it'll do me.

 

I still use SMS as my main means of text-based communication.

Ordered a new screen for the 'phone yesterday ('phone is about seven years old, maybe eight) for €25. Happy days.

Cats don't eat pancakes, in general, at 2AM.

 

23 minutes ago, minister_for_hardship said:

I've noticed that I've confused the Book of Faces algorithm as it can't work out if I'm right, middle or left wing so I get random feeds from all.

 

LOL, same, I subscribed to random stuff on FB several years ago, so when I do log on, even if it's only a few times per year, my News Feed or Wall or whatever it's called is just random stuff.

[jhb171achill]

11 hours ago, DJ Dangerous said:

 

Cats don't eat pancakes, in general, at 2AM.

I have texted my daughter's cats on instagram to see if they agree.

[jhb171achill]

1 hour ago, jhb171achill said:

I have texted my daughter's cats on instagram to see if they agree.

Cat 1 says he eats his at 01:51; Cat 2 says she eats hers between 4 and 5 a.m., while Cat 3 says that she eats hers at 22:15.

However, Cat 2 once ate hers at 02:00. So it's a yes.

[Mayner]

Most senior cat gang boss Beeze (ex animal rescue) prefers to sleep and let less senior cats do the work

Second in command Grey (walk in stray) the brains commands operations on the dark-web.

 Most junior member of the gang Topaz (another stray)who  acts the young-punk occasionally challenges the others checks out the groceries.

We have another older guy Gramolkin  (yet another stray) quite camera shy who probably acts as a silent enforcer who only appears at breakfast and supper time.

The four guys seem to get on well together and share territory though Topaz being the youngest member of the gang occasionally challenges Beeze to a wrestling match before submitting. Mice and rats keep a very low profile in our neighborhood.

Edited May 18 by Mayner

[Ironroad]

odd socks, a kindred spirit

[LNERW1]

I'd probably be an odd socks person as I'm about as organised as a train crash, but it just bugs me so much I will inevitably try to find a sock to match at least one of the two.

[Broithe]

I have several pairs of identical socks, in an effort to just simplify the whole situation.

Once, when hanging out the washing, I noticed a single sock on the top of the pile - "Oh, well, I've lost one, but it'll turn up eventually".

When I got to the bottom of the pile, there was another matching solo sock there - "Imagine that - I have lost two identical socks on the same day!"

After a bit of thought, I realised that I could just put these two socks together, to form a 'new' pair, then, as I found the other two missing, but identical socks, I could do the same with them and all would be back to normal, as though nothing had ever happened.

About half an hour later, having felt pleased with myself that the whole plan had worked so efficiently, I realised that I hadn't actually lost any socks...

[WRENNEIRE]

I had to wear black socks at work for some years
There was a fire in Dunnes Stores Donaghmede in the 90's
We were involved in the investigation but it turned out to be an electrical fault
The sprinkler system managed to ruin most of the stock in the clothing department
Also smoke damage to the stock as well.
They invited anyone involved in the investigation plus staff to purchase any of the smoke damaged stock
I managed to get a box of a gross of black socks (144 pairs) for £5 (shows you how long ago it was)
The smoke had permeated the socks and it meant they were good for 2 days wear!
Might still have a couple of pairs somewhere

[Galteemore]

6 minutes ago, WRENNEIRE said:

Might still have a couple of pairs somewhere

Worth swinging past your stall at the next Bray event then ? 

[WRENNEIRE]

I usually wear sandals but could put on a pair to show you what they smell like?

[Broithe]

On 20/5/2024 at 8:16 PM, WRENNEIRE said:

I had to wear black socks at work for some years
There was a fire in Dunnes Stores Donaghmede in the 90's
We were involved in the investigation but it turned out to be an electrical fault
The sprinkler system managed to ruin most of the stock in the clothing department
Also smoke damage to the stock as well.
They invited anyone involved in the investigation plus staff to purchase any of the smoke damaged stock
I managed to get a box of a gross of black socks (144 pairs) for £5 (shows you how long ago it was)
The smoke had permeated the socks and it meant they were good for 2 days wear!
Might still have a couple of pairs somewhere

My crows take advantage of the footwarming and delousing properties of the shed stove emissions.

Edited May 31 by Broithe

[Mayner]

57 minutes ago, Broithe said:

My crows take advantage of the footwarming and delousing properties of the shed stove missions.

Can't beat animals for common sense!  My dad had a story about the way a fox would take a bath in a river with a small piece of wool in his mouth when he had a flea problem.  Fox would gradually submerge himself until only the tip of snout and piece of wool was above water and the fleas would take to the piece of wool as a lifeboat as the fox submerged his nose and the piece of wool floated away!

[Horsetan]

1 hour ago, WRENNEIRE said:

I had to wear black socks at work ....

Were they really black? Or were they actually a very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very *very* dark blue?

[jhb171achill]

15 hours ago, Horsetan said:

Were they really black? Or were they actually a very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very *very* dark blue?

Call in the sock livery experts….

[Horsetan]

14 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Call in the sock livery experts….

 

[Broithe]

46 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Call in the sock livery experts….

These don't look quite right to me.