That’s a good strategy, thanks.

Crossing the street is a thoughtful thing to do, and I for one appreciate it.

Oh I’m sorry, did I break your concentration?

Aw man, I shot Marvin in the face.

You know what they call a quarter pounder in Paris?

And you will know that I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you.

Planning what will probably be my last ever trip to NZ to visit family, with a stopover in Japan on the way back. Happening in Oct/Nov.

I don’t know about the States, but in the UK dog-walking can be a lucrative business.

I used to drag my clothes into bed with me in winter when I was a kid. No central heating, no double glazing, no insulation, no carpets. Might as well have been living in a tent.

UK: I don’t know if it’s produced domestically, but pasta is dirt cheap. Own brand spaghetti can be under 60p a kilo. Tinned tomatoes are also cheap, so there you go - dinner.

Potatoes and brown onions are fairly cheap, ditto carrots.

Eggs, of course. £2.70 ($3.50) a dozen, medium free range.

Same! Passionfruit also. Mmmm.

I have two feeds: one is “subscribed” for all the stuff I’m actually interested in, and the other is “all”, for when I’m up for a bit of US politics, Reddit-bashing and weird German memes…

I wear a cheapish waterproof one while swimming. The pool has a clock but I can’t see it without my specs.

If only they could be more like Chuck Feeney.

In February 2011, Feeney became a signatory to The Giving Pledge. In his letter to Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, the founders of The Giving Pledge, Feeney wrote, “I cannot think of a more personally rewarding and appropriate use of wealth than to give while one is living—to personally devote oneself to meaningful efforts to improve the human condition. More importantly, today’s needs are so great and varied that intelligent philanthropic support and positive interventions can have greater value and impact today than if they are delayed when the needs are greater.” He gave away a final $7 million in late 2016, to the same recipient of his first charitable donations, Cornell University. Over the course of his life, he gave away more than $8 billion.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Feeney

God Speed You! Black Emperor.

Not a band, but Patti Smith, with Philip Glass.

My first adventure in Linux back in 2003. No idea how I achieved this, but from memory I just reinstalled and all was well.

"No girl should get to the sixth form without having learned Latin "

Fuck you, Mrs Entwhistle.

You can get tooth powder in jars.

Well that took me a minute - oh, autumn, you’re talking about autumn! Ha ha, excellent dad joke.

The imbalance in numbers isn’t just in movies. Think about the judiciary, legislators, business leaders… It’s everywhere. In my own career I was the first woman to hold a senior position with one of my employers. Crazy. Achieving even what we have has been uphill all the way. I’m glad you’ve woken up to this - maybe you can keep spreading the word!

How do I feel about it? Really fucking exhausted. It’s not just the movies, it’s my everyday life. Being patronised, talked over, ignored, belittled… Ugh. A lot of men seem to outright despise women. On the bright side, most of this behaviour comes from men of my own generation (I’m old). Young men in general seem much less arrogant, more respectful of women. My sister suggested this is because we remind them of their grannies, lol, but they speak well about women their own age too, and regard them as equals. (Apart from this one young bloke who talked about “women and other minorities”, sigh.)

Father Ted.

It was when I tripped and fell over outside my house. The next day my neighbour said, “I hear you had a Fall.”

Yes, when you’re old you don’t fall over, you “have a Fall”. Everyone hearing about your Fall will make concerned noises. (I was perfectly fine! I’m not OLD old!)

In the staff fridge at work someone used to label their milk as “breast milk” and people would go eeeww. Like it was snot or something. But from a cow’s breasts? Fine! So weird.

Mary Queen of Scots was 6ft tall.

Where I am the cost of water is rolled into the local authority tax. It’s not metered, so it feels free. It’s pretty good water too.

I can sew, but finding decent fabrics is hard. Back in the 70s I made all my own clothes and I can still remember some of the fantastic fabrics I used: a ming blue paisley sateen cotton; a red denim (for a duffel jacket with a toning floral for the hood lining); a soft purple lightweight wool; a dark green raw silk; glorious Chinese rayon florals in rich colours. So much choice!

Down the Hatch?

I had a fish finger sandwich for lunch in a pub near Inverness last month, it was delicious.

Get a blank notebook with alphabetic tabs and write all her passwords in there. Label it “crochet projects” or something. A non-techy friend of mine does that. At first I was horrified but it’s a lot safer for her than post-it notes on the monitor.

Clever but slightly below average attractiveness? Yes, I’ll take that. It would be a double upgrade for me.

Quentin Crisp: “There is no need to do any housework at all. After the first four years the dirt doesn’t get any worse.”

My only deviation from this philosophy is when visitors are coming. The bath and toilet get a good deep clean, I run the vacuum cleaner around the place, and also dust the guest room if they’re staying overnight.

My worst fail was when I had people over for dinner, and as we all sat down I saw half a dozen dead flies on the (dusty) windowsill. Invisible when you were standing due to the curtain, but right in your eyeline when seated.

Next up: you don’t fall down, you “have a fall”.

Old lady here. When you’re young (teens, twenties), your body can bounce back from all kinds of abuse - eg heavy drinking, extreme sports. As you age, bouncing back is harder, permanent damage can result. Drinking heavily can kill your liver. Extreme sports can kill your joints. Your fifties is when you need to take stock of your general health and do stuff to support it. Like, not furring up/hardening your arteries with bad habits. Exercising so your muscles can support your joints, all that stuff. It’s not a time to take up smoking! Soon enough you’ll be in your seventies like me, and still striding about enjoying life thanks to the prep you did earlier.

Having said all that, the only area I can think of where I’ve “let go” is clothing. I dress purely for comfort these days, fuck fashion.

Sort of like the “Hollywood suitcase”, which appears to be just about big enough for some underwear and a hairbrush, when I’m lugging clean clothes, toiletries, shoes, pyjamas, all for a weekend away.

Ah, the Scunthorpe problem… https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scunthorpe_problem

I kissed the blarney stone once, disgusting business. I lay down, half my body hanging out under the parapet, while a man held on to my legs. Reached up my head and put my lips on the stone. What was I thinking?!?

It’s an upper crust thing. A bit old-fashioned as well.

Scotland too: “hen” to women, “pal” to everyone.

Ah. Maybe work up a few phrases explaining your situation ahead of the trip?

Be open, humble, friendly, listen more than you talk. Try and learn a bit about the country you’re in, not to have opinions about it, but to better understand the people you meet. Happy travels!

Shetland is an archipelago, but ok. Historically populations in the Scottish islands moved around a lot more than you would think. Sick of the tiny village you grew up in? Hop in a boat and go to Orkney, or Skye, or Lewis. Travel by land was difficult, by sea was comparatively easier. There was also a lot of incomer traffic, from Ireland, Scandinavia, even the Baltic. So yes, there might have been a tiny fraction of genetic connection, but unlikely to be significant.