Thursday, April 25
Apr. 26th, 2024 01:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gottawonderToday I am grateful for:
Very nice weather. Warm and sunny.
I did the dishes, changed the sheets, and washed two pillows from the bed.
I went outside and put Dandy out with Wonder again, and they look to be interacting more now.
I also had Ursula and the goats in their larger pasture. I took the little hatchet out to that pasture and chopped down lots of little poplar saplings, as they grow very quickly and can take over a pasture in no time. Almost every year we go out and chop down saplings, and especially anything growing too close to the fences.
My Sweetie got home in good time today as he didn't go to the climbing gym.
He cleaned out the eaves troughs, then he took out the electric weed whacker and cut down more saplings.
While he was doing that I pulled back the dead plant stuff away from the perennial bed. It's full of grass again, but at least now the plants can get some light.
I had been playing phone tag with Trainwreck most of the day, but she finally called back. She's doing okay, but she's been having problems with her back. She's getting a pinched sciatic nerve badly enough that some days she can hardly walk. If she's being truthful in her reporting, badly enough that she literally can't stand up.
She did her usual weird thing of saying "the doctors don't know what's wrong with it", and I fell for it at first, but she slipped and said something about doctors wanting her to have surgery like our Sister S, and so I pointedly said "you mean you have a pinched sciatic nerve, then". She then says "yes, something like that, but I just don't want surgery".
So, the doctors DO know what's wrong, and they have offered something that might help, but she doesn't want it. She does this whenever the medical news isn't good, like "no one knows why I can't breathe" and "no one knows why I'm having problems eating" and so on. Bit by bit, if you listen, you'll figure out that one of her lungs has collapsed, that her liver isn't doing well, that she has fine cracks in many of her vertebrae, and so on and so forth. But, she doesn't ever come out and say so. She says "no one knows what's wrong with me".
Anyhow, it's nice that I had a fairly productive day, and that my Sweetie did a couple of useful things when he got home. He also picked up a bit more groceries on his way home.
We made supper and watched some more "Boardwalk Empire".
I painted the birdhouses again. I had painted them "barn red", but then I find out that it's a color that might draw the attention of predators (like magpies and crows, who will steal from nests), so I found some blue/grey paint and re-did them.
Then I put a second coat of white on the door frames in the little porch. I'm not done in there, either. I need to do touch ups on the wall, and I need to paint the ceiling in there. That one small space is taking up SO MUCH OF MY MENTAL SPACE.
It does look a lot better though. It's not longer just an ugly crumbling hole with raw door holes in it.
Tunisia is right beside Libya, and has coastline along the Mediterranean Sea. It contains the ruins of Carthage, one of the most important cities of the Mediterranean in the time of Rome and earlier.
Mostly, the roughly 12 million people of Arab descent, are mostly Muslim, and speak Modern Standard Arabic as well as Tunisian Arabic, and French (it was a French Protectorate).
In ancient times, Tunisia was a land of the Berber tribes, then the Phoenicians arrived and we have the Punic culture (the center being Carthage), then Rome came along and introduced Christianity, then we have the invasion of the Arab Muslims who brought many people, and their culture with them to Tunisia.
"Then, in 1546, the Ottoman Empire established control there, holding sway for over 300 years, until 1881, when the French conquered Tunisia. In 1956, Tunisia gained independence as the Tunisian Republic under the leadership of Habib Bourguiba with the help of activists such as Chedly Kallala, Farhat Hached, and Salah Ben Youssef. Today, Tunisia's culture and identity are rooted in this centuries-long intersection of different cultures and ethnicities."
The French Protectorate period had a lot of influence, and during this time lots of Italians also lived there.
During WWI, Tunisia would still have been a French Protectorate, and Tunisian people were transported to France to fight against Germany. After the war, there was a resurgence of Tunisian nationalism, with several political parties forming with varying degrees of nationalism (meaning not wanting to be a French Protectorate anymore).
Once again in WWII, Tunisia fought in France against Germany. At one point, Tunisia was occupied by German forces, but France regained it's position after the fall of Germany. "Following World War II the French managed to regain control of Tunisia as well as other administered territories in North Africa. However, the struggle for national independence continued and intensified. This phenomenon was not particular to Tunisia, or to North Africa. Separately organized independence movements were becoming widespread throughout Asia and Africa".
Something I didn't know though, is that Vichy France (what they called that particular government during that time) was strongly anti-semetic not only on French soil, but in all of their colonies, such as those in North Africa (including Tunisia). WELL, there were LOTS of Jewish folks in the North African areas. France actually was sending Jewish people to GERMAN CONCENTRATION CAMPS before Germany declared war on France.
Wow. DID NOT KNOW THAT. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_in_France
So, even though France regained it's control of Tunisia after WWII, the feelings of nationalism didn't let up for a minute, and there was a lot of conflict and unhappiness, and Tunisia finally gained independence in 1956.
Since then, there continue to be conflicts and no clear path to democracy.
Along the coast is more rainy and pleasant, and southward you hit the Sahara Desert. There are mountains, and areas of fertile farm land, and some wooded areas.
"The agricultural sector accounts for 11.6% of the GDP, industry 25.7%, and services 62.8%. The industrial sector is mainly made up of clothing and footwear manufacturing, production of car parts, and electric machinery. Although Tunisia managed an average 5% growth over the last decade, it continues to suffer from a high unemployment rate, especially among youth."
There is also oil, and a strong tourism industry.
They made a point of addressing the fresh water issue, and have done well with making sure people have access. Tunisia also has a strong family planning program which has brought the growth rate to 1%, allowing the population to stabilize.
Today Tunisia is incompletely democratic though it's trying, has a decent Human Rights index, and a good per capita income.
Fun fact: the ancient town of Matmata was where the "Tatooine" part of the first Star Wars film was set.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisia
https://youtu.be/iBotvIvlCHQ?si=d27DTsESE006KWM9
Very nice weather. Warm and sunny.
I did the dishes, changed the sheets, and washed two pillows from the bed.
I went outside and put Dandy out with Wonder again, and they look to be interacting more now.
I also had Ursula and the goats in their larger pasture. I took the little hatchet out to that pasture and chopped down lots of little poplar saplings, as they grow very quickly and can take over a pasture in no time. Almost every year we go out and chop down saplings, and especially anything growing too close to the fences.
My Sweetie got home in good time today as he didn't go to the climbing gym.
He cleaned out the eaves troughs, then he took out the electric weed whacker and cut down more saplings.
While he was doing that I pulled back the dead plant stuff away from the perennial bed. It's full of grass again, but at least now the plants can get some light.
I had been playing phone tag with Trainwreck most of the day, but she finally called back. She's doing okay, but she's been having problems with her back. She's getting a pinched sciatic nerve badly enough that some days she can hardly walk. If she's being truthful in her reporting, badly enough that she literally can't stand up.
She did her usual weird thing of saying "the doctors don't know what's wrong with it", and I fell for it at first, but she slipped and said something about doctors wanting her to have surgery like our Sister S, and so I pointedly said "you mean you have a pinched sciatic nerve, then". She then says "yes, something like that, but I just don't want surgery".
So, the doctors DO know what's wrong, and they have offered something that might help, but she doesn't want it. She does this whenever the medical news isn't good, like "no one knows why I can't breathe" and "no one knows why I'm having problems eating" and so on. Bit by bit, if you listen, you'll figure out that one of her lungs has collapsed, that her liver isn't doing well, that she has fine cracks in many of her vertebrae, and so on and so forth. But, she doesn't ever come out and say so. She says "no one knows what's wrong with me".
Anyhow, it's nice that I had a fairly productive day, and that my Sweetie did a couple of useful things when he got home. He also picked up a bit more groceries on his way home.
We made supper and watched some more "Boardwalk Empire".
I painted the birdhouses again. I had painted them "barn red", but then I find out that it's a color that might draw the attention of predators (like magpies and crows, who will steal from nests), so I found some blue/grey paint and re-did them.
Then I put a second coat of white on the door frames in the little porch. I'm not done in there, either. I need to do touch ups on the wall, and I need to paint the ceiling in there. That one small space is taking up SO MUCH OF MY MENTAL SPACE.
It does look a lot better though. It's not longer just an ugly crumbling hole with raw door holes in it.
Tunisia is right beside Libya, and has coastline along the Mediterranean Sea. It contains the ruins of Carthage, one of the most important cities of the Mediterranean in the time of Rome and earlier.
Mostly, the roughly 12 million people of Arab descent, are mostly Muslim, and speak Modern Standard Arabic as well as Tunisian Arabic, and French (it was a French Protectorate).
In ancient times, Tunisia was a land of the Berber tribes, then the Phoenicians arrived and we have the Punic culture (the center being Carthage), then Rome came along and introduced Christianity, then we have the invasion of the Arab Muslims who brought many people, and their culture with them to Tunisia.
"Then, in 1546, the Ottoman Empire established control there, holding sway for over 300 years, until 1881, when the French conquered Tunisia. In 1956, Tunisia gained independence as the Tunisian Republic under the leadership of Habib Bourguiba with the help of activists such as Chedly Kallala, Farhat Hached, and Salah Ben Youssef. Today, Tunisia's culture and identity are rooted in this centuries-long intersection of different cultures and ethnicities."
The French Protectorate period had a lot of influence, and during this time lots of Italians also lived there.
During WWI, Tunisia would still have been a French Protectorate, and Tunisian people were transported to France to fight against Germany. After the war, there was a resurgence of Tunisian nationalism, with several political parties forming with varying degrees of nationalism (meaning not wanting to be a French Protectorate anymore).
Once again in WWII, Tunisia fought in France against Germany. At one point, Tunisia was occupied by German forces, but France regained it's position after the fall of Germany. "Following World War II the French managed to regain control of Tunisia as well as other administered territories in North Africa. However, the struggle for national independence continued and intensified. This phenomenon was not particular to Tunisia, or to North Africa. Separately organized independence movements were becoming widespread throughout Asia and Africa".
Something I didn't know though, is that Vichy France (what they called that particular government during that time) was strongly anti-semetic not only on French soil, but in all of their colonies, such as those in North Africa (including Tunisia). WELL, there were LOTS of Jewish folks in the North African areas. France actually was sending Jewish people to GERMAN CONCENTRATION CAMPS before Germany declared war on France.
Wow. DID NOT KNOW THAT. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_in_France
So, even though France regained it's control of Tunisia after WWII, the feelings of nationalism didn't let up for a minute, and there was a lot of conflict and unhappiness, and Tunisia finally gained independence in 1956.
Since then, there continue to be conflicts and no clear path to democracy.
Along the coast is more rainy and pleasant, and southward you hit the Sahara Desert. There are mountains, and areas of fertile farm land, and some wooded areas.
"The agricultural sector accounts for 11.6% of the GDP, industry 25.7%, and services 62.8%. The industrial sector is mainly made up of clothing and footwear manufacturing, production of car parts, and electric machinery. Although Tunisia managed an average 5% growth over the last decade, it continues to suffer from a high unemployment rate, especially among youth."
There is also oil, and a strong tourism industry.
They made a point of addressing the fresh water issue, and have done well with making sure people have access. Tunisia also has a strong family planning program which has brought the growth rate to 1%, allowing the population to stabilize.
Today Tunisia is incompletely democratic though it's trying, has a decent Human Rights index, and a good per capita income.
Fun fact: the ancient town of Matmata was where the "Tatooine" part of the first Star Wars film was set.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisia
https://youtu.be/iBotvIvlCHQ?si=d27DTsESE006KWM9
no subject
Date: 2024-04-26 09:24 pm (UTC)If I can learn to use the circular (miter) saw this summer, I'd like to make mouldings and birdhouses. It has been an idea of mine to hang a city of small birdhouses, 7 or 8 of them, from large cedar trees in the back garden.
I've asked the denizens about making them over the years, and their intentions were/are good. But it would also be very nice to learn how to get past the fear of the saw and build the things once and for all.
no subject
Date: 2024-04-27 07:56 am (UTC)Some people in our family just won't have anything to do with her other than family gatherings. Others try to have regular contact with her, but have learned to not take her issues to heart. Even those ones do sometimes feel like occasionally she's in real trouble and help her out a bit.
I do sincerely care about her, but I am just as often angered at her ridiculous actions or views. She's over 60 years old, but is still mentally an angry teenager who won't take any responsibility for herself, and interacting with her and wondering about her sincerity is exactly like dealing with some punk teen-aged girl who HAS been treated badly by the world, and feels she has no power and no one is listening to her, who acts out and often only hurts herself, and throws herself on people hoping for someone who will take care of her (and yet constantly hurts them too when they try to have a relationship with her). Only, she isn't a kid, she's an ADULT who could have long ago gotten help and learned how to cope with her childhood. Instead, she carries on like the world owes her something, and that every stupid thing she does is someone else's fault, or that a solution should come from other people just giving it to her because she's a VICTIM and everyone has to save her. Save her from herself.
It's a bit like someone threatening to throw themselves off a bridge. Mostly they want someone to save them, they don't really want to die. They want to be saved. Yet, is there a point where if it was someone you knew who would threaten to jump off of something a couple of times a month, maybe more, would you still really care after a while? Would you keep leaving work to try to talk them down? Would you stop talking to them (it leaves you often feeling like shit the rest of the day) because at some point your own sanity matters more than them finally jumping?
The one time I did talk to someone about my own feelings about her, it was clarifying. He said that someone like her is exactly where she wants to be in life. She is surrounded by people who care, who do things for her, who make sure she is okay, people who fix her problems all the time for her, so in reality she is JUST FINE. She could get mental help and work on being an adult, but why bother? She manipulates everyone's feelings to get what she needs.
That's what I have to remember.
As I've mentioned before, if you wanted to look for one, a reciprocating saw is not much different than using an electric carving knife on a roast, and not very intimidating at all.
You could EASILY use a recip saw to do the cuts for a simple birdhouse like the one below. A miter saw is just really nice for making angles on the boards, but if you just make plain cuts, you could use a reciprocating saw. This pattern doesn't have any fancy cuts.
https://youtu.be/XZ2Zv-EgN60?si=JZlrK6YcUrZQYn6e
no subject
Date: 2024-04-29 12:38 am (UTC)They do get into pickles fairly regularly, and they enjoy telling people they are unhappy. What to do?
I stepped back from an acquaintance who is like that (though not incapacitated or jobless) but family is hard to step away from.