Monday, February 5
Feb. 6th, 2024 12:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gottawonderToday I am grateful for:
Though it is colder, still nice enough. -8 C is pretty livable.
When I was spending time with Wonder in her pasture, I watched a wee mousie heroically traverse a good distance through the deep snow, and I guess he found some kind of shelter in some grass growing on a dirt pile, because that's where he stayed.
I went to pottery, and thankfully the roads were okay.
I was able to pass on a big bag (probably eight skeins or more of very nice wool) of wool that was too fine for me to knit with, that was meant to be woven. There are weavers in the same area as the pottery studio, so I passed it on to one of the weavers to distribute as she saw fit. I did ask for five dollars, as it was what I paid for the wool (I bought from someone else), but it seemed a bit trivial and maybe I needn't have bothered.
I am glad it has moved along, and I hope they make something lovely with it.
A woman who is in my class, who up until recently was the President for the craft center, was there. She broached the topic of D, the woman who is dealing with her Dad living with her now. The one whose response to him,..ahem..BEING ALIVE shocked me so badly last week.
This woman, let's call her Ann, was talking to D recently, and was also quite disconcerted by her reaction to having her Dad live with her.
Ann is not a gossip. It is quite extraordinary that she would talk at any length about another person, except that I think she is quite concerned about D, and possibly a bit concerned about D's father in that, how does he feel being treated this way?
It's a bit surprising to discover how much it bothers ME, that D seems to be so upset that her Dad is living with her. That they emptied his apartment and got rid of his stuff while he was lying in a hospital bed, thinking he would be dead in a day or two.
I'm frankly horrified over the situation, in that somewhere there is a person whose family is making it clear that NONE OF THEM want him in their home, even though he cannot live alone, yet is not eligible for a personal care home.
They were likely talking about clearing out his things in front of him, as he thought he was dying.
He is lucid, and worries about his wife, who has dementia, and he hasn't been able to see her. I don't think he saw her while he was in the hospital, thinking he was going to die.
They got rid of most of his things, and if they had waited to see if he was actually going to die or not (he's okay for now) he could have had some say in what he got to keep, and what could be sold or given away.
I know that Ann is worried about D, as D seems to be in a very upset, reactive state. If she could just calm down, maybe she could see that having her Dad with her is not some kind of death sentence for her own life, that there are options, and maybe seek help?
I kind of worry that even if this poor man is cared for well enough on a physical level, that there could be emotional abuse happening to him.
D ended up going to Mexico, and maybe that's okay now that her Dad is more stable. I'm not sure who is staying with him. Hopefully this might at least give D some space to process everything.
I didn't do a lot of actual pottery. I cleaned up the handles I put on the mugs last week, smoothing them out and cleaning up the point where the handle joins the mug body.
Then my former dog walking friend and HER friend L came in. L is usually very pleasant, and the FDWF was actually very nice to be around today. She did not suck the air out of the room expounding upon her own amazingness, and gave myself and L space to talk and the conversation moved around a bit, and did not stay firmly on a topic of her choosing.
I wonder what is different about today?
Interestingly enough, they are BOTH going to be working on Tuesdays now, instead of Mondays, because it works much better for the FDWF's schedule, and L just more or less wants to work on the same day as her.
I don't know if it had anything do with me or not, it sounds legit like a schedule issue. So, I hope it works out for them.
That does mean that I will be back to probably working alone almost all the time, as everyone else on my day seems to go home very early, and I tend to work from about 5:30 to about 8:30.
I did go grocery shopping, and wasn't in a real hurry this time, which is nice. It wasn't a massive trip like last time, but I feel like I got what we needed.
I am always grateful for being able to get groceries.
Trying to learn about Samoa. What stands out for me just as a way to distinguish it, is the great, big people that live there. Dwayne The Rock Johnson is half Samoan. Frankie Adams is an actress who was in "The Expanse" who is also part Samoan.
This is from Wikipedia: Samoa is a unitary parliamentary democracy with 11 administrative divisions. It is a sovereign state and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Western Samoa was admitted to the United Nations on 15 December 1976.[15] Because of the Samoans' seafaring skills, pre-20th-century European explorers referred to the entire island group (which includes American Samoa) as the "Navigator Islands".[16][17] The country was a colony of the German Empire from 1899 to 1915, then came under a joint British and New Zealand colonial administration until 1 January 1962, when it became independent.
So, Samoa is now an independent country.
What is confusing, is that even though there is a big section on Samoa being run with an elected Prime Minister and so on, it says this:
Today, all of Samoa is united under its two principal royal families: the Sā Malietoa of the ancient Malietoa lineage that defeated the Tongans in the 13th century; and the Sā Tupua, Queen Salamasina's descendants and heirs who ruled Samoa in the centuries that followed her reign. Within these two principal lineages are the four highest titles of Samoa - the elder titles of Malietoa and Tupua Tamasese of antiquity and the newer Mata'afa and Tuimalealiifano titles, which rose to prominence in 19th-century wars that preceded the colonial period.[20] These four titles form the apex of the Samoan matai system as it stands today.
That makes no sense to me. Is is run by a Prime Minister, or by a Royal Family?
Samoa was an important place for American whaling ships to land for water and other supplies.
The main people who laid claims to Samoa were America, Britain, and Germany, all taking turns fighting or defending or trading with/making colonies etc. over the years. After the dust settled, the Eastern islands were under American control (and are to this day, it did not become part of the independent Samoa, it's still called "American Samoa", and the Western part was under German control.
Early in WW I, New Zealand landed on the German controlled part, and took it over, thus making it also in part a New Zealand territory. This Western region remained a New Zealand territory until 1961. It is this western region (consisting mainly of two islands, Savai'i and Upolu).
Not sure where Britain was at this point. Unclear.
Christianity is the dominant religion.
Things are not great there for women or LGBTQ people, as "homosexual acts" are still illegal. At least it doesn't seem to include death by stoning or amputations like Indonesia.
Efforts are being made to diversify the agriculture exports from mainly copra (coconut) to include natural rubber, cocoa beans, and bananas.
There is some industry (not much said about what that might be).
Most of their energy is generated from Hydro.
Traditionally, tattoos were very important culturally.
Today, traditional songs and dances are being blended with hip hop music.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samoa
This is a great video in a nutshell: https://youtu.be/6wqebJpv3G4?si=_7zax1Vt8l6mLRqt
Though it is colder, still nice enough. -8 C is pretty livable.
When I was spending time with Wonder in her pasture, I watched a wee mousie heroically traverse a good distance through the deep snow, and I guess he found some kind of shelter in some grass growing on a dirt pile, because that's where he stayed.
I went to pottery, and thankfully the roads were okay.
I was able to pass on a big bag (probably eight skeins or more of very nice wool) of wool that was too fine for me to knit with, that was meant to be woven. There are weavers in the same area as the pottery studio, so I passed it on to one of the weavers to distribute as she saw fit. I did ask for five dollars, as it was what I paid for the wool (I bought from someone else), but it seemed a bit trivial and maybe I needn't have bothered.
I am glad it has moved along, and I hope they make something lovely with it.
A woman who is in my class, who up until recently was the President for the craft center, was there. She broached the topic of D, the woman who is dealing with her Dad living with her now. The one whose response to him,..ahem..BEING ALIVE shocked me so badly last week.
This woman, let's call her Ann, was talking to D recently, and was also quite disconcerted by her reaction to having her Dad live with her.
Ann is not a gossip. It is quite extraordinary that she would talk at any length about another person, except that I think she is quite concerned about D, and possibly a bit concerned about D's father in that, how does he feel being treated this way?
It's a bit surprising to discover how much it bothers ME, that D seems to be so upset that her Dad is living with her. That they emptied his apartment and got rid of his stuff while he was lying in a hospital bed, thinking he would be dead in a day or two.
I'm frankly horrified over the situation, in that somewhere there is a person whose family is making it clear that NONE OF THEM want him in their home, even though he cannot live alone, yet is not eligible for a personal care home.
They were likely talking about clearing out his things in front of him, as he thought he was dying.
He is lucid, and worries about his wife, who has dementia, and he hasn't been able to see her. I don't think he saw her while he was in the hospital, thinking he was going to die.
They got rid of most of his things, and if they had waited to see if he was actually going to die or not (he's okay for now) he could have had some say in what he got to keep, and what could be sold or given away.
I know that Ann is worried about D, as D seems to be in a very upset, reactive state. If she could just calm down, maybe she could see that having her Dad with her is not some kind of death sentence for her own life, that there are options, and maybe seek help?
I kind of worry that even if this poor man is cared for well enough on a physical level, that there could be emotional abuse happening to him.
D ended up going to Mexico, and maybe that's okay now that her Dad is more stable. I'm not sure who is staying with him. Hopefully this might at least give D some space to process everything.
I didn't do a lot of actual pottery. I cleaned up the handles I put on the mugs last week, smoothing them out and cleaning up the point where the handle joins the mug body.
Then my former dog walking friend and HER friend L came in. L is usually very pleasant, and the FDWF was actually very nice to be around today. She did not suck the air out of the room expounding upon her own amazingness, and gave myself and L space to talk and the conversation moved around a bit, and did not stay firmly on a topic of her choosing.
I wonder what is different about today?
Interestingly enough, they are BOTH going to be working on Tuesdays now, instead of Mondays, because it works much better for the FDWF's schedule, and L just more or less wants to work on the same day as her.
I don't know if it had anything do with me or not, it sounds legit like a schedule issue. So, I hope it works out for them.
That does mean that I will be back to probably working alone almost all the time, as everyone else on my day seems to go home very early, and I tend to work from about 5:30 to about 8:30.
I did go grocery shopping, and wasn't in a real hurry this time, which is nice. It wasn't a massive trip like last time, but I feel like I got what we needed.
I am always grateful for being able to get groceries.
Trying to learn about Samoa. What stands out for me just as a way to distinguish it, is the great, big people that live there. Dwayne The Rock Johnson is half Samoan. Frankie Adams is an actress who was in "The Expanse" who is also part Samoan.
This is from Wikipedia: Samoa is a unitary parliamentary democracy with 11 administrative divisions. It is a sovereign state and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Western Samoa was admitted to the United Nations on 15 December 1976.[15] Because of the Samoans' seafaring skills, pre-20th-century European explorers referred to the entire island group (which includes American Samoa) as the "Navigator Islands".[16][17] The country was a colony of the German Empire from 1899 to 1915, then came under a joint British and New Zealand colonial administration until 1 January 1962, when it became independent.
So, Samoa is now an independent country.
What is confusing, is that even though there is a big section on Samoa being run with an elected Prime Minister and so on, it says this:
Today, all of Samoa is united under its two principal royal families: the Sā Malietoa of the ancient Malietoa lineage that defeated the Tongans in the 13th century; and the Sā Tupua, Queen Salamasina's descendants and heirs who ruled Samoa in the centuries that followed her reign. Within these two principal lineages are the four highest titles of Samoa - the elder titles of Malietoa and Tupua Tamasese of antiquity and the newer Mata'afa and Tuimalealiifano titles, which rose to prominence in 19th-century wars that preceded the colonial period.[20] These four titles form the apex of the Samoan matai system as it stands today.
That makes no sense to me. Is is run by a Prime Minister, or by a Royal Family?
Samoa was an important place for American whaling ships to land for water and other supplies.
The main people who laid claims to Samoa were America, Britain, and Germany, all taking turns fighting or defending or trading with/making colonies etc. over the years. After the dust settled, the Eastern islands were under American control (and are to this day, it did not become part of the independent Samoa, it's still called "American Samoa", and the Western part was under German control.
Early in WW I, New Zealand landed on the German controlled part, and took it over, thus making it also in part a New Zealand territory. This Western region remained a New Zealand territory until 1961. It is this western region (consisting mainly of two islands, Savai'i and Upolu).
Not sure where Britain was at this point. Unclear.
Christianity is the dominant religion.
Things are not great there for women or LGBTQ people, as "homosexual acts" are still illegal. At least it doesn't seem to include death by stoning or amputations like Indonesia.
Efforts are being made to diversify the agriculture exports from mainly copra (coconut) to include natural rubber, cocoa beans, and bananas.
There is some industry (not much said about what that might be).
Most of their energy is generated from Hydro.
Traditionally, tattoos were very important culturally.
Today, traditional songs and dances are being blended with hip hop music.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samoa
This is a great video in a nutshell: https://youtu.be/6wqebJpv3G4?si=_7zax1Vt8l6mLRqt
