Go on go on go on go on go on
Our workplace did that. You had to change every month and you weren’t allowed to just add a digit. It meant that people started writing their passwords on post-its stuck to the monitor.
Mind you, back in the 90s your password was the same as your username. It was very handy, because if someone went home leaving a document locked, you could just log in and unlock it. Our first “proper” IT professional was horrified.
Just finished Empire in Black and Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky, very much enjoyed that. I’ve just started Midnight and Blue by Ian Rankin. It’s off to a cracking start - Rebus is in prison, what the what now?
As ever though I’m reading dozens of books. Most disappointing is John & Paul, A Love Story in Songs, by Ian Leslie. I bought it after going to a talk by the author. I’m a Beatles fan since childhood, so I thought it would be interesting. Well I guess I’m not a REAL Beatles fan, because I’m finding it tedious. Chapter 7 and it’s still only 1962! I mean sure, it’s fascinating that as a child, George Martin’s family shared a communal lavatory with three other families, but please can we get back to the main subject?
Best of the rest is The Rise and Reign of the Mammals, by Steve Brusatte. Section 4 and we’re only up to the Cretaceous, lol. I love this book, not just for the critters, but for the paleontologists, some amazing characters with epic stories of working with teeny tiny bones.
Oh no, I’m sad to hear Bee Speaker disappointed. It’s on my list - I also loved Bear Head. I’ve just finished Empire of Black and Gold, first book in his Shadows of the Apt series. It was pretty good, good enough for me to try the next Apt book.
A lot of Nazis were Christians.
Here’s an example of “mansplaining”: I’ve been beekeeping for close to ten years. A gentleman joined our group recently who has had maybe a few months’ experience. Wearing a brand new bee suit and gloves, he proceeded to tell me how to carry out a basic hive inspection. He was not assuming I shared his exact knowledge, he was assuming I knew even less than him.
The term mansplaining came about because it encapsulates a very common scenario. I know a few chaps who constantly explain stuff to me that I know a lot more about than they do, and in a very condescending way. One old codger even patted me on the head and said, “A young thing like you wouldn’t know about MS-DOS.” I bought my first computer in 1984.
I haven’t found mansplaining as prevalent among young men, I must say. They seem more open and egalitarian in their approach, more respectful. Though a friend told me, “It’s because you remind them of their granny.”
We live in a society. I believe that a predisposition to empathy, compassion, love, all those good things, is inbuilt in us to help maintain a stable, cohesive society. They are taught to young children, who learn to share, care, co-operate. It seems like some people never grow up, and still need a “parent” to guide them.
Ewwwwww!!
I’m never bored. What’s it like?
Morality matters, friend, even for atheists like me. The trouble with the “only believers can be moral” standpoint is that believers can end up doing the most heinously amoral things in the name of their god. Like burning people alive for example. Stoning sinners to death.
Isn’t that just poached eggs?
Now there’s an idea.
I know!! Sometimes it’s even painted on the road in huge numerals. I explained everything to her.
I wish my windows worked like that!
Edit: And my DOORS!
My idiot sister racked up nine points in six months after moving to the UK. She claimed not to have seen the 40mph sign she blew past at 50. “They’re so small!” She only started paying attention when she realised she was one ticket away from a ban.
Time to get a hive! It’s only very slightly addictive, honestly. (My friends have stopped asking me about bees…)
We get free use of a spot next to an apple orchard, so I guess pollination is our “rent”, plus some honey. I don’t know what arrangement commercial beekeepers have - near us they move 60+ hives in when the oilseed rape (canola) is flowering, then move them again when it’s finished. A guy I was talking to said they reckon they can break even with 300 hives, because one person can deal with that many. More than that they have to employ someone else, and bang go the profits. Sounds like a nightmare. I struggle to cope with 7 hives!
No, you’re helping all the other pollinators too! Keep a corner of your garden nice and rough, with tumbled bricks or rocks, twigs, dead leaves etc to make a wee nesting spot for bumblebees.
Councils are constantly cutting down trees. https://inews.co.uk/news/trees-felled-uk-councils-10-years-3229184?ito=link_share_article-top
I may be an outlier here, but I’ve experienced mild electric shock from touching a random bare cable sticking out of a wall, and I found it weirdly pleasant. Refreshing, almost.