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RichardB posted an update 4 years, 4 months ago
One piece of good news for the new year: subsequent to the vile attacks on it by the Farage thing (and others) for rescuing migrants in the Channel, the RNLI has just announced that donations in 2021 have broken all previous records. The more I think about the implications of this, the better I feel.
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Athelstone posted an update 4 years, 4 months ago
A very happy new year to all Denizens. Here’s hoping for a better one.
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Happy new year, Athelstone.
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Happy new year to you, mate. And to anyone else who may chance to read this…
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God bless us, every one. Shouldn’t take long…
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Happy new year! I’ve been absent while recovering from orthopaedic surgery. Am still not home yet but am tentatively starting to use my laptop from a lying-down position. I hope you are all well and that 2022 is better than 2021.
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Amen to that! Hope you’re up and about soon
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Thanks, Daeds. So do I!
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Merry Christmas.
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And to you too.
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And you. Thank you for keeping this place going.
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Happy Christmas Ath, and to all Denizens
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Hope everybody had a great time. We had a quiet Christmas with the day itself at the inlaws and then inviting them back on boxing day. Then on Tuesday we had more family round for a super-spreader event. Truthfully, it wasn’t. Every single person did a lateral flow test before attending. Which was a bit weird, but seemed the right thing to do.
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RichardB replied to the topic Sounds familiar? in the forum Blogs 4 years, 5 months ago
I did actually consider putting in something about rationing, but decided that I’d make my point more vividly by keeping it simple and sticking to one issue.
Rather more distressing than your neighbour, I had an e-mail argument a few months back with my oldest friend (I haven’t seen him for a couple of years, and perhaps it’s just as well), who…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Sounds familiar? in the forum Blogs 4 years, 5 months ago
Also “An IOPC spokesperson told PA Media: “We can confirm that on 17 December we received a referral from the Metropolitan police service [MPS] of a complaint about an alleged party at Downing Street in December 2020.
“Having fully assessed the referral we have decided it is invalid and we have returned it to the MPS to handle as it det…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Sounds familiar? in the forum Blogs 4 years, 5 months ago
Absolutely!
I do not like wearing a mask when I go shopping, but it is a tiny hardship compared with, say, passing on the virus if I unknowingly had it, to somebody else. I’m so tired of hearing people, my neighbour for instance, declaring that he will “never” wear one in a shop because he’ll “never catch it that way”. He’s a tree surgeon and…[Read more]
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RichardB started the topic Sounds familiar? in the forum Blogs 4 years, 5 months ago
Let me introduce you to a news story that might have happened in an alternative November1940.
JAILED DOCKER IS HERO, SAYS MP
It was a national disgrace to jail a man for striking a blow for freedom, said Marcus Snellgrove, MP for Much Ordure and leader of the Bin the Blackout campaign, after Poplar dock worker Albert Throbbing was sentenced…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly competition December 2021 in the forum Monthly Competition 4 years, 5 months ago
…Oh, and a very happy 21st to you!
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly competition December 2021 in the forum Monthly Competition 4 years, 5 months ago
Up the hill
Popular Oldwell couple Jack and Jill Bouquet are recovering in hospital from what police described as a “vicious and unprovoked attack” on Saturday night. Regulars at the Old Well pub on Old Well Hill were alerted by calls for help around 11:00 in the evening. Landlord John Spratt described how he and his wife found Jill Bouquet col…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly comp – November 2021 in the forum Monthly Competition 4 years, 5 months ago
Well, two entries this month. Both of them top notch.
Sandra’s story tells me so clearly about that moment when, inexplicably, there is no avoiding the surprise of what you expect to happen actually happening. It’s so familiar and so infuriating.
Knicks plunges us into the very innermost world of a relationship. Twisting and turning thoughts: I…[Read more]
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Athelstone posted an update 4 years, 5 months ago
Last day for the monthly comp! Hope that’s not a prophetic ambiguity.
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Athelstone replied to the topic The Future of the Den – Part 2 in the forum Blogs 4 years, 5 months ago
Incidentally, I turned off the option to log edits when you edit a post. Does anybody have strong feelings about this?
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Athelstone replied to the topic The Future of the Den – Part 2 in the forum Blogs 4 years, 5 months ago
Hi Squidge, glad you like it. There are forums that hang directly from the Den, and forums that hang from groups. Blogs is a forum that hangs from the Den. The item next to Blogs on the main menu is the path to all the Den forums and you can also get to Blogs that way. What I’ve done is to copy the Blogs link up to the top of the main menu. Click…[Read more]
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Squidge replied to the topic The Future of the Den – Part 2 in the forum Blogs 4 years, 5 months ago
Ath, I know I’ve not been round much recently, but that looks fab! Noticed that blogs and whatever the heading is next to it both go bold when you click on blogs, but it seems so much easier and intuitive to navigate. Thank you xxx
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Athelstone replied to the topic The Future of the Den – Part 2 in the forum Blogs 4 years, 6 months ago
Delete button. That made me scratch my head. @raine do you have a delete button for forum threads at the moment? I sneaked Teabreak onto the (real) Den for a quick check, as my own userid has slightly different access, and it looks as if there isn’t one. It seems very strange that I hadn’t noticed before. I’ll add it to my investigation list. Yes…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic The Future of the Den – Part 2 in the forum Blogs 4 years, 6 months ago
I worry about whether it’s all too late as well, but I shall carry on for the time being.
On a practical note, to reply to a post on the “activity” page, you should see a button marked “Comment” with a number next to it. This is a button to make a comment, as well as a count of those made so far. Below each reply, you should see a further Reply…[Read more]
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RichardB replied to the topic The Future of the Den – Part 2 in the forum Blogs 4 years, 6 months ago
Let me be the first to give you a huge thank you for all the hard work you’ve obviously put in.
The new navigation is a huge improvement over the old impenetrable one. I think you’ve addressed all the concerns I raised. I particularly like the little explanation boxes that pop up when you hover over a heading. Finding your way around the site…[Read more]
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I too spent some time checking out the new improved site and, without any IT knowledge as to what and how achieved, found it easy and intuitive. (My commenting on it was delayed by my rediscovery of a blog about the narrative arc which, having read Seagreen’s 7 ‘C’s I spent much of the rest of the day trying to apply to my current wip, before…[Read more]
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Athelstone started the topic The Future of the Den – Part 2 in the forum Blogs 4 years, 6 months ago
What’s new? I’ll tell you what – the Den, that’s what. OK, not exactly new, but different.
Some of you may have seen my blog a while back, where I questioned the future of the Den. Well, I’m sorry if it all seemed to go quiet, but the truth is I’ve been beavering away finding how stuff works and how some of it it doesn’t. Long story short,…[Read more]
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Athelstone posted an update 4 years, 6 months ago
21 November already! Time to knuckle down and enter the monthly competition. All it takes is between 1 and 500 words and the prize could be yours.
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Yes, I saw that. It’s great. Really marvellous. We seem to have certain people amongst our present government who lack even the most basic decency and compassion*, so it’s heartening to see a positive reaction like this.
*for the sake of impartiality, other domestic political parties may well have members similarly lacking in humanity.
Although, of course, Farage is not a member of HM Government. The fact that he has stood for Parliament seven times (I believe) without ever coming near to being elected is another heartening sign that his poisonous opinions aren’t as widely accepted as he (and others) would like to think.
Hi Richard, did you catch the radio programme about the Penlee lifeboat disaster?
Unfortunately I missed it, but I have found something on YouTube posted by the RNLI itself. I hesitate to post a link because funny things have been known to happen when I do, but a search for ‘RNLI 40th Anniversary of Penlee Lifeboat Disaster’ will find it. Relatives of the lost crew, and others, reminiscing. It’s rather moving.