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Post by Idleness on Sept 11, 2020 11:53:05 GMT 10
My tea consumption has definitely gone up, too. Other people might drink something harder to cope with strange times, but I turned to tea. 😂 Congrats on your degree though, Seek. I have been between contracts for the last couple of months, but I've got a new contract now and I'm looking forward to starting on Monday. 😊 |
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Post by Rosie on Sept 12, 2020 1:22:43 GMT 10
Congratulations, Seek, and Idle! Hope Monday goes well. I'm another tea fan  My favourite company does seasonal loose leaf teas, and I'm thinking about ordering the autumn range as a treat for myself on this very, very long Friday! |
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Post by Seek on Sept 12, 2020 17:48:36 GMT 10
Congratulations, Seek, and Idle! Hope Monday goes well. I'm another tea fan My favourite company does seasonal loose leaf teas, and I'm thinking about ordering the autumn range as a treat for myself on this very, very long Friday! Thanks Rosie, Idleness! Also, this sounds really interesting - I'm curious what the autumn range is now! Ahhh maybe I should just start a tea thread instead of hijacking this  Also, my to read list is so long that I've not hit the Numair book yet but I've now learned Tortall verse has Jindazhen, leaving me with both dread and anticipation — but mostly dread 😂 |
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Post by mistrali on Sept 13, 2020 8:32:56 GMT 10
Congratulations, Seek, and Idle! Hope Monday goes well. I'm another tea fan My favourite company does seasonal loose leaf teas, and I'm thinking about ordering the autumn range as a treat for myself on this very, very long Friday! Thanks Rosie, Idleness! Also, this sounds really interesting - I'm curious what the autumn range is now! Ahhh maybe I should just start a tea thread instead of hijacking this Also, my to read list is so long that I've not hit the Numair book yet but I've now learned Tortall verse has Jindazhen, leaving me with both dread and anticipation — but mostly dread 😂 Congrats to you both, Seek and Idleness! Re: Jindazhen (thanks autocorrect, for making that ‘Jindabyne’), it’s not mentioned at all in T&S, so hopefully it won’t be a Yanjing-like situation. Carthak is surprisingly well developed and the characters are fairly diverse - it ‘feels’ like a real place and doesn’t fall into that ‘Emelan/Tortall is superior’ trap that I see so often with Tammy (see also: dance magic being exoticised in Magic Steps). Re: tea, I’m afraid I probably commit the cardinal tea-drinking sin by sticking to Twinings/Nerada/Bushell’s teabags and longlife milk (although Madura Earl Grey is admittedly lovely). I’ve actually found some teabags that are quite nice. |
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Post by Kypriotha on Sept 13, 2020 9:28:52 GMT 10
Congrats Seek and Idleness! I agree, tea has been a good source of comfort this year! (And every year...) On a slightly different note, I hope some of the local handmade companies bring back their seasonal candles and honey, because I really liked the Christmas-scented or flavoured ones they had last year (in that long distant past where one could attend handmade markets in person...). Also I love that you got "Jindabyne" as an autocorrect mistrali! I went there for the first time last year and it was a pretty little place. I want to go back to the schnapps distillery with the Austrian restaurant! (One day...) Okay, this post has become a bit passively-aggressively whiney. Sorry all! I don't mind staying at home for the good of everyone and I'm in one of the Australian cities that's been very lucky, so I can actually go out to restaurants, shops etc. But I would like to be able to visit my family in Melbourne, which I doubt will be possible for many months yet. |
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Post by Seek on Sept 13, 2020 17:36:12 GMT 10
Thanks Rosie , Idleness ! Also, this sounds really interesting - I'm curious what the autumn range is now! Ahhh maybe I should just start a tea thread instead of hijacking this Also, my to read list is so long that I've not hit the Numair book yet but I've now learned Tortall verse has Jindazhen, leaving me with both dread and anticipation — but mostly dread 😂 Congrats to you both, Seek and Idleness ! Re: Jindazhen (thanks autocorrect, for making that ‘Jindabyne’), it’s not mentioned at all in T&S, so hopefully it won’t be a Yanjing-like situation. Carthak is surprisingly well developed and the characters are fairly diverse - it ‘feels’ like a real place and doesn’t fall into that ‘Emelan/Tortall is superior’ trap that I see so often with Tammy (see also: dance magic being exoticised in Magic Steps). Re: tea, I’m afraid I probably commit the cardinal tea-drinking sin by sticking to Twinings/Nerada/Bushell’s teabags and longlife milk (although Madura Earl Grey is admittedly lovely). I’ve actually found some teabags that are quite nice. Thanks, mistrali! I definitely feel less worried now Honestly I wouldn't consider that a sin - Twinings has pretty good tea bags, and as I've gotten older, I sometimes just want my comfort cup of Tesco's/Dilmah where I can throw in a teabag and neglect it! And no worries Kypriotha! It's been that kind of year for everyone, and movement restrictions are understandably hard. My friend's fiance is stranded in another country so they've had to revise their wedding plans. |
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Post by Rosie on Sept 14, 2020 19:43:31 GMT 10
Oh, I hope your friend's fiance gets back home soon! My cousin's partner was stuck abroad, and they wound up getting married remotely so that he could come back.
UK wedding rules are pretty restrictive - you need to be married in a licenced venue, by somebody who is licenced, but I think the government are finally looking at reviewing this! You also have to be married under a form of covering, which is a little ridiculous, but welcome to my country's ridiculous laws. A lot of my friends were supposed to get married this summer, so seeing a lot of "this would have been our wedding day" photos of social media - suspect we're still about 18 months out from people having the sort of day they wanted, but hopefully they get to have it eventually!
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mageprincess
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Post by mageprincess on Sept 14, 2020 23:24:22 GMT 10
My little dude said his first word today and it was Mama!! I am slightly smug about it.
Can’t believe he’s nearly 9 months old already. He’s been in this world longer than I was pregnant now! Where has the time gone?
And my bestie had her second child this morning, three weeks after her oldest turned one!
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Post by Seek on Sept 20, 2020 5:35:38 GMT 10
Congrats, mageprincess ! That's really awesome ^^ Also, Rosie , shucks, that probably makes it extra difficult for people. I definitely hope people can have their special day soon, and safely, but realistically, I think we're going to be in and out of restrictions until at least the end of next year. Under a form of covering = head covering, or a sheltered venue, out of curiosity? Been a busy few weeks for me, so I guess I'll let the ideas sit on the backburner for a bit  Still hoping to be able to take part in Fix It though! |
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Post by Kypriotha on Sept 20, 2020 8:54:43 GMT 10
It's been such a tough year for people for both weddings and funerals. I had friends get married with no guests, but with a live feed, so at least we could watch them (though they couldn't see us). Friends of my partner, on the other hand, were meant to get married in Italy in July and they postponed the wedding for a year, but I don't know what they'll do now with everything so uncertain still and family and friends in at least 3 different countries. At least they themselves are in the same city/country - I can't imagine how much harder and more uncertain it would be with the couple separated like your friends Seek! Also that's exciting mageprincess! Great that your kids are all so close in age. |
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Post by Idleness on Sept 20, 2020 17:31:59 GMT 10
My friends in Germany got married today. We were meant to be there, but of course all of our travel plans were scuppered by Covid-19, which was a huge bummer. That said, I'm not sorry to be stuck at home in NZ this year, as there are much worse places to be!
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Post by Rosie on Sept 21, 2020 20:43:37 GMT 10
Congrats, mageprincess ! That's really awesome ^^ Also, Rosie , shucks, that probably makes it extra difficult for people. I definitely hope people can have their special day soon, and safely, but realistically, I think we're going to be in and out of restrictions until at least the end of next year. Under a form of covering = head covering, or a sheltered venue, out of curiosity? Been a busy few weeks for me, so I guess I'll let the ideas sit on the backburner for a bit Still hoping to be able to take part in Fix It though! Sorry, sheltered venue! It just needs to cover the couple and the officiant, so can be fairly insubstantial, but still a silly restriction. Looks like we're about to get further restrictions placed back on us. I feel pretty glum about it; I was supposed to go stay with family (actually was supposed to be with them this week but was in contact with someone who thought he might have symptoms, so had to put it all off a week and now I'm not sure I'll be able to do it at all). The government are being coy about what's actually going to happen, which just heightens general anxiety. |
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Post by Kypriotha on Oct 11, 2020 10:01:07 GMT 10
I've spent the last little while doing my normal job part time plus a virtual secondment part time, because apparently I wasn't already stressed enough with the global pandemic! It has been a good experience, but I'm looking forward to wrapping up the secondment in about a week and getting back a little semblance of normality.
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Post by Rosie on Oct 13, 2020 0:15:23 GMT 10
I've spent the last little while doing my normal job part time plus a virtual secondment part time, because apparently I wasn't already stressed enough with the global pandemic! It has been a good experience, but I'm looking forward to wrapping up the secondment in about a week and getting back a little semblance of normality. Hooray for the end of the secondment - are you taking time off afterwards? |
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Post by Kypriotha on Oct 13, 2020 12:47:02 GMT 10
I've spent the last little while doing my normal job part time plus a virtual secondment part time, because apparently I wasn't already stressed enough with the global pandemic! It has been a good experience, but I'm looking forward to wrapping up the secondment in about a week and getting back a little semblance of normality. Hooray for the end of the secondment - are you taking time off afterwards? I really should! I've been so tired lately. Currently have arranged it so my first two weeks post-secondment will be 4-day weeks with 3-day weekends, then I have a 5-day weekend in November. I'll see how I'm going after the first few weeks post-secondment - I might turn the long weekend in November into a whole week off. |
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Post by Seek on Oct 17, 2020 19:53:02 GMT 10
Kypriotha - good to hear! I've been struggling with work myself, and it keeps on piling up, so I absolutely feel this level of stress/doneness!
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Post by Kypriotha on Oct 20, 2020 17:46:27 GMT 10
I have, rather predictably, gotten sick post-secondment, so I possibly should have planned to have this week off! I hate having to take extra time away from work though, especially this year where I've already had so much forced time at home. One day I'll learn to manage my work/stress/time better... I hope you're doing better than me Seek and are able to take time off if you need it! |
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Post by mistrali on Oct 20, 2020 19:28:32 GMT 10
Oh no Kyp! But your health is more important than anything else!
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mageprincess
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Post by mageprincess on Oct 21, 2020 20:05:45 GMT 10
I hope you feel better soon Kypriotha! There must be something in the water here - another friend of mine just had a little boy, exiting at a whopping ten pounds two ounces! And my brother-in-law and sister-in-law has just announced that they are having a baby as well, due in June! They gave our little dude a "2021 - Big Cousin" onesie to wear to surprise his grandparents with and it was super adorable. I'm really glad that Little Dude has so many friends, and a cousin, that are so close in age. I'm an only child who didn't have very many close family friends my own age growing up. I had no first cousins on my mum's side (I'm the only child of an only child of an only child!) and was only close to a couple of cousins on dad's side, one who lived in another state and one is about 15 years older than me. I have relationships with a couple of younger cousins now we're all adults but I'm glad Little Dude will always have people around him his own age. |
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Post by Kypriotha on Oct 23, 2020 7:04:19 GMT 10
That's so lovely mageprincess! Having cousins and family friends around one's own age is really nice. Recovered from my (very minor) cold, but then got headaches and neck/shoulder pain from all the computer work. If it's not one thing, it's another... But I saw my osteo yesterday and I'm trying to minimise computer/phone time at the moment (hence my very quick Glake visit today...will have to read the OSW fic another day!). |
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Post by mistrali on Oct 23, 2020 7:13:53 GMT 10
Oh no, Kypriotha - hope your shoulder pain eases up! You can binge-read OSW another day! |
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Post by Seek on Oct 24, 2020 0:42:50 GMT 10
Wish I could say it was because of COVID, but I lost my job. Things are really complicated right now, and while they offered me another position, I know that they've been haemorrhaging people as though it's their monthlies from that particular position.
I just feel very tired right now. Everything is exhausting.
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Post by mistrali on Oct 24, 2020 1:21:54 GMT 10
Wish I could say it was because of COVID, but I lost my job. Things are really complicated right now, and while they offered me another position, I know that they've been haemorrhaging people as though it's their monthlies from that particular position. I just feel very tired right now. Everything is exhausting. Aw no, Seek, I’m sorry to hear  |
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Post by devilinthedetails on Oct 24, 2020 1:38:58 GMT 10
Kypriotha , hope your shoulder is doing better! Seek, I am so sorry to hear that about your job. Take care of yourself and stay strong!
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Post by Kypriotha on Oct 30, 2020 20:36:49 GMT 10
Ah Seek, I'm so sorry to hear that! Everything is already tiring and that must just make it worse. Good luck sorting things out. Thanks everyone, I'm doing much better now, but still having to be careful to limit computer time and need to do more exercise. |
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Post by mageprincess on Nov 16, 2020 19:19:42 GMT 10
We’ve had a small resurgence of Covid here in South Australia (well, small by most countries standards I imagine- 18 new cases in the last 24 hours), and already the hoarders are losing their minds. Our local shops are already out of toilet paper or headed towards being out - forcing those of us who don’t hoard to go out and look like hoarders because we are actually running low, thereby making the situation worse!
Thankfully our health peeps seem to be on top of things, putting restrictions on public meetings (gyms and play cafes are shut from midnight tonight) and urging people to get tested. So hopefully this resurgence stays as small as possible. Unfortunately, some dingus went all over the place with their symptoms so they’re putting out lists of where that person was and when and tell people to get tested if they were also there. I’m really glad our government seems to be on top of it. It’s just particularly frustrating because we have had no community transmission for probably six months or more, our only cases being in isolation hotels from overseas travel, anda couple of idiots have set us all back.
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Post by Rosie on Nov 16, 2020 20:49:25 GMT 10
A couple of idiots setting us back is the UK's problem too, mageprincess, but sadly our idiots are in government. PM now back in isolation after coming into contact with a person who tested positive - only, we're all supposed to be on lockdown, so would have assumed the PM would be taking all due caution!! Hope your resurgence stays small! |
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mageprincess
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Post by mageprincess on Nov 17, 2020 20:24:49 GMT 10
Rosie we had about four new cases since my last post, but I'm hoping the restrictions on public meetings will be enough. Our friends had to cancel their engagement party that was meant to be happening on Saturday, which is so disappointing for them, but so far they haven't put back any restrictions on people in homes. I'm really hoping that it sorts itself out with the next two weeks of restrictions, otherwise it's going to mean Little Dude may be unable to have a first birthday party, which I realise means absolutely nothing to him, but I really want him to be able to have one. Our friend's little girl had her birthday in August and didn't get to have one. I've been hearing about the UK lockdown from my Aunt, who let me tell you is NOT happy with the new lockdown. She just wants to come out here for an extended visit and she's not allowed. I hope its over soon!
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Post by Rosie on Nov 18, 2020 1:59:36 GMT 10
Gosh, I don't think we've had four new cases in a day since February (or, more likely, January). I'm envious that your government has it so well under control, but understand it's still upsetting if you are missing personal events! I can't believe your little boy is almost one, congratulations, and I hope you do get to have a party for him!
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Post by mistrali on Nov 18, 2020 10:42:00 GMT 10
mageprincess Stay safe! I hope things don’t get any worse in SA. It sucks that your son’s missing out on his first (proper) birthday party, but hopefully you can make his second extra special...
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My favourite company does seasonal loose leaf teas, and I'm thinking about ordering the autumn range as a treat for myself on this very, very long Friday!
Still hoping to be able to take part in Fix It though!
