Thursday, April 4
Apr. 4th, 2024 10:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gottawonderToday I am grateful for:
Okay weather. A little overcast but not bad.
I managed to get up early (for me) in order to meet D at pottery today. We had to work during the "free time" since there was an evening class (our official class is Monday, not Thursday, and you CAN work during free times, but not during another class unless you've asked them for permission).
I was disturbed again by spam phone calls when I was trying to sleep, which I am so sick of, so I was pretty tired.
It was still a good thing to go to pottery, since I missed going on Monday. I need to be fairly regular to keep up with the half finished pieces that need trimming before they are dry and so on.
I worked with the Raku clay again. I'm determined to get a nice array of pieces to fire for Raku this year (a one day event, since it's a different, fairly intensive firing process that our studio does once a year only).
I love doing Raku, and I love the wide array of wild glazes, but you often have to glaze several items to get ONE really good one. It's not an exact science by any means.
D was pretty distraught with the situation of her Dad living with her. It's not going well. He's an "old school" kind of guy, and from everything she's saying he's kind of treating her like a servant, and expecting her to put aside her entire life to take him places and his every need.
To some degree, he IS 91 years old, and he WAS living in a senior's residence (more or less an apartment with some assistance available, but fairly independent) until he had a scare with his aneurysm that scared everyone and they thought he should live with her, thinking he was going to be frail. He's not that frail, and the threat from the aneurysm is just going to kill him at some point but is not treatable. The threat for now seems to have receded. He's in good health other than the aneurysm, isn't taking ANY medication, and can walk around for short distances and doesn't have dementia. He was still driving until the aneurysm event a few months ago. He's lucid and only needs some help with cleaning or getting groceries, but can do most ordinary tasks if he's living in an apartment.
She wants him to return to a senior's residence (the one next to where his wife lives, where he WAS living, preferably), and feels that he is okay to live in one, but he doesn't want to go. That said, she says that nothing she does for him is enough, and he's not even happy living with her, and not happy with her help.
Her siblings are useless, and not doing anything to help.
I feel that maybe it's time for her to sit down with a family counselor, and work something out with her Dad. It's unfair that he's living with her but miserable all the time, and I know she doesn't want to evict him, but she IS trying to help him find somewhere else to live, he just won't go. I don't think she's going to feel good about just kicking him out, it needs to be something he understands is necessary, and that he helps choose.
She left before I did, and I was cleaning up as the first people were arriving for their pottery class. This is that over crowded beginner's class I mentioned a while ago.
The first thing they said pretty well, was that they were there super early so they could work before the masses arrived, so I talked to them about finding out how long they had to be "beginners" (maybe a year?) before they could move on to the independent classes where there were a lot fewer people.
They didn't even know they could do that; work independently after learning how to be good "pottery citizens". This is a very real issue, and I seem to be the only one who cares.
Anyhow, after that I went and got some groceries, and as always I am grateful for the physical ability to do so, the means to pay for them, and having my little car.
It means a lot to me to have a car to get around with; my life would be pretty different without it.
My husband helped me put away groceries, and he had made part of supper, and I cooked some vegetables.
He had done a bit more work in the porch on the door frames, as I felt that the nail holes needed wood fill, and that maybe the wood needed more sanding. It was a pretty rough job overall, and I thought it could look nicer.
We watched another episode of "Boardwalk Empire". I absolutely love the clothes the women wear, and a lot of attention was paid to the details of the men's suits and so on. I always wonder what they do with the wardrobes from shows like this afterwards.
Andorra is another land locked micro state situated between France and Spain.
Overall, it seems to have had a fairly peaceful history. There were early civilizations there that grew crops and raised animals, before it was Andorra. It was under Roman influence (whatever that means, exactly) until the fall of Rome. Then "After the fall of the Roman Empire, Andorra came under the influence of the Visigoths, the Kingdom of Toledo, and the Diocese of Urgell. The Visigoths remained in the valleys for 200 years, during which time Christianity spread. When the Muslim Empire of Al-Andalus replaced the ruling Visigoths in most of the Iberian Peninsula, Andorra was sheltered from these Arab invaders by the Franks.[38]"
It remained sort of a separate but not-separate region apart from the Frankish territories, and then it kind of got swapped around back and forth, but always as it's own identity, but somehow always "part" of some larger group, without exactly a war being fought about it.
At one time it had a renowned guild of weavers, as well as beneficial natural hot springs.
At one point there was internal struggle about the ban on casinos, shortly after Napoleon re-established Andorra as it's own entity again in the early 1800's. The ban was part of a reform initiated by the two co-princes: " The authorities of the Co-Princes banned casinos and betting houses throughout the country. The ban resulted in an economic conflict and the Revolution of 1881, which began when revolutionaries assaulted the house of the syndic on 8 December 1880, and established the Provisional Revolutionary Council led by Joan Pla i Calvo and Pere Baró i Mas. The Provisional Revolutionary Council allowed for the construction of casinos and spas by foreign companies.[77]"
It was not involved in WW I at all, though three people did volunteer to fight: Valentí Naudi, Josep Estany and René Huguet.
"During World War II, Andorra remained neutral and was an important smuggling route between Vichy France and Francoist Spain.[103] Many Andorrans criticized the passivity of the General Council for impeding both the entry and expulsion of foreigners and refugees, committing economic crimes,[104] reducing the rights of citizens[105] and sympathy with Francoism.[106][107] General Council members justified the council's political and diplomatic actions as necessary for Andorra's survival and the protection of its sovereignty. Andorra was relatively unscathed by the two world wars and the Spanish Civil War."
So, as you can see, overall they managed to stay out of most of the big wars happening all around them, though they had to maybe be a bit "morally flexible" at times to survive.
Andorra has "co-princes", the Bishop of Urgell (an office held in Spain) and whoever is the current President of France at the time. They also have a parliament and elected officials. It functions pretty democratically.
This was for most of it's history a very isolated and insular country because of being tucked into the Pyrenees Mountains, but in modern times with access to the internet and tourism, this is changing. The population for such a small nation has soared from about 5,000 people in 1900 to about 79,000 today. WOW!
For all that it is tiny, they participate in the Olympics and many winter sports events, and Eurovision.
Almost all of it's economy now comes from tourism (great ski resorts), the rest from banking services, and a tiny amount from agriculture.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andorra
https://youtu.be/POOvmkhlUD4?si=MMfdy1YTMFC9Qji7
Okay weather. A little overcast but not bad.
I managed to get up early (for me) in order to meet D at pottery today. We had to work during the "free time" since there was an evening class (our official class is Monday, not Thursday, and you CAN work during free times, but not during another class unless you've asked them for permission).
I was disturbed again by spam phone calls when I was trying to sleep, which I am so sick of, so I was pretty tired.
It was still a good thing to go to pottery, since I missed going on Monday. I need to be fairly regular to keep up with the half finished pieces that need trimming before they are dry and so on.
I worked with the Raku clay again. I'm determined to get a nice array of pieces to fire for Raku this year (a one day event, since it's a different, fairly intensive firing process that our studio does once a year only).
I love doing Raku, and I love the wide array of wild glazes, but you often have to glaze several items to get ONE really good one. It's not an exact science by any means.
D was pretty distraught with the situation of her Dad living with her. It's not going well. He's an "old school" kind of guy, and from everything she's saying he's kind of treating her like a servant, and expecting her to put aside her entire life to take him places and his every need.
To some degree, he IS 91 years old, and he WAS living in a senior's residence (more or less an apartment with some assistance available, but fairly independent) until he had a scare with his aneurysm that scared everyone and they thought he should live with her, thinking he was going to be frail. He's not that frail, and the threat from the aneurysm is just going to kill him at some point but is not treatable. The threat for now seems to have receded. He's in good health other than the aneurysm, isn't taking ANY medication, and can walk around for short distances and doesn't have dementia. He was still driving until the aneurysm event a few months ago. He's lucid and only needs some help with cleaning or getting groceries, but can do most ordinary tasks if he's living in an apartment.
She wants him to return to a senior's residence (the one next to where his wife lives, where he WAS living, preferably), and feels that he is okay to live in one, but he doesn't want to go. That said, she says that nothing she does for him is enough, and he's not even happy living with her, and not happy with her help.
Her siblings are useless, and not doing anything to help.
I feel that maybe it's time for her to sit down with a family counselor, and work something out with her Dad. It's unfair that he's living with her but miserable all the time, and I know she doesn't want to evict him, but she IS trying to help him find somewhere else to live, he just won't go. I don't think she's going to feel good about just kicking him out, it needs to be something he understands is necessary, and that he helps choose.
She left before I did, and I was cleaning up as the first people were arriving for their pottery class. This is that over crowded beginner's class I mentioned a while ago.
The first thing they said pretty well, was that they were there super early so they could work before the masses arrived, so I talked to them about finding out how long they had to be "beginners" (maybe a year?) before they could move on to the independent classes where there were a lot fewer people.
They didn't even know they could do that; work independently after learning how to be good "pottery citizens". This is a very real issue, and I seem to be the only one who cares.
Anyhow, after that I went and got some groceries, and as always I am grateful for the physical ability to do so, the means to pay for them, and having my little car.
It means a lot to me to have a car to get around with; my life would be pretty different without it.
My husband helped me put away groceries, and he had made part of supper, and I cooked some vegetables.
He had done a bit more work in the porch on the door frames, as I felt that the nail holes needed wood fill, and that maybe the wood needed more sanding. It was a pretty rough job overall, and I thought it could look nicer.
We watched another episode of "Boardwalk Empire". I absolutely love the clothes the women wear, and a lot of attention was paid to the details of the men's suits and so on. I always wonder what they do with the wardrobes from shows like this afterwards.
Andorra is another land locked micro state situated between France and Spain.
Overall, it seems to have had a fairly peaceful history. There were early civilizations there that grew crops and raised animals, before it was Andorra. It was under Roman influence (whatever that means, exactly) until the fall of Rome. Then "After the fall of the Roman Empire, Andorra came under the influence of the Visigoths, the Kingdom of Toledo, and the Diocese of Urgell. The Visigoths remained in the valleys for 200 years, during which time Christianity spread. When the Muslim Empire of Al-Andalus replaced the ruling Visigoths in most of the Iberian Peninsula, Andorra was sheltered from these Arab invaders by the Franks.[38]"
It remained sort of a separate but not-separate region apart from the Frankish territories, and then it kind of got swapped around back and forth, but always as it's own identity, but somehow always "part" of some larger group, without exactly a war being fought about it.
At one time it had a renowned guild of weavers, as well as beneficial natural hot springs.
At one point there was internal struggle about the ban on casinos, shortly after Napoleon re-established Andorra as it's own entity again in the early 1800's. The ban was part of a reform initiated by the two co-princes: " The authorities of the Co-Princes banned casinos and betting houses throughout the country. The ban resulted in an economic conflict and the Revolution of 1881, which began when revolutionaries assaulted the house of the syndic on 8 December 1880, and established the Provisional Revolutionary Council led by Joan Pla i Calvo and Pere Baró i Mas. The Provisional Revolutionary Council allowed for the construction of casinos and spas by foreign companies.[77]"
It was not involved in WW I at all, though three people did volunteer to fight: Valentí Naudi, Josep Estany and René Huguet.
"During World War II, Andorra remained neutral and was an important smuggling route between Vichy France and Francoist Spain.[103] Many Andorrans criticized the passivity of the General Council for impeding both the entry and expulsion of foreigners and refugees, committing economic crimes,[104] reducing the rights of citizens[105] and sympathy with Francoism.[106][107] General Council members justified the council's political and diplomatic actions as necessary for Andorra's survival and the protection of its sovereignty. Andorra was relatively unscathed by the two world wars and the Spanish Civil War."
So, as you can see, overall they managed to stay out of most of the big wars happening all around them, though they had to maybe be a bit "morally flexible" at times to survive.
Andorra has "co-princes", the Bishop of Urgell (an office held in Spain) and whoever is the current President of France at the time. They also have a parliament and elected officials. It functions pretty democratically.
This was for most of it's history a very isolated and insular country because of being tucked into the Pyrenees Mountains, but in modern times with access to the internet and tourism, this is changing. The population for such a small nation has soared from about 5,000 people in 1900 to about 79,000 today. WOW!
For all that it is tiny, they participate in the Olympics and many winter sports events, and Eurovision.
Almost all of it's economy now comes from tourism (great ski resorts), the rest from banking services, and a tiny amount from agriculture.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andorra
https://youtu.be/POOvmkhlUD4?si=MMfdy1YTMFC9Qji7
