November 2020 chit chat

Here we go, folks, it's November! Tell me what you're all up to.

Here n the UK, we're about to go into another full lockdown. All I can say is thank goodness I finnaly managed to get my house more or less together in the interim between lockdowns. Now all I need is furniture!!

Katie - That's great! So all the plumbing and plastering and painting are done? Wonderful! As long as you have a bed and a comfy chair you're good to go until lockdown is lifted. (Oh, and maybe a table and a telly. Gotta have those! ) The rest can wait until you can get out and go shopping.

Here in the US we're waiting for the election. God only knows what that will bring. The virus is spiking all over the country. Our governor (Cuomo) just mandated that anyone coming into NY has to be tested. I'm not sure how that will work, but I hope it does. Our rate of infection is one of the lowest in the country now.

The weather is getting colder and the leaves are turning color. It's very pretty when the sun is shining - though not so much when it's raining, which it's been doing a lot of lately. More like your weather than ours. Also, we started Daylight Savings Time this weekend so it gets dark earlier and everything seems just a little out of whack. (Do you guys observe DST, too?)

Anyway, I hope you have fun things to do to get you through lockdown. Enjoy.

(By the way, did you ever find a pumpkin recipe that you liked?)

Yes, we do daylight savings too - the whole of Europe went back an hour the weekend before last (we do it in coordination so that countries next to each other don't have different time zones for a few weeks).

In the end I didn't do the pumpkins. Realised there wasn't any point as I wasn't going to be home for Halloween. But next year: definitely!

Don't even talk to me about rain. I'm sick of it already! Being on the west coast has its disadvantages in that the prevailing winds are from the west, so there are times when half the Atlantic is being dumped on us! If I could have afforded to buy somewhere in the south east (George's part of the country) then I would have, just for the drier weather!!

Interesting that you do DST before we do. I wonder why it isn't the same. I guess there's some actual reason - or maybe not. Maybe it's just us being contrary again.

Sorry about the rain. I guess being in the sunshine for so long has made it even harder to deal with. Is it really that much drier in George's neck of the woods? Seems like they have water problems of their own, what with frequent flooding from the river.

Anyway, I hope the rain stops and you cheer up a bit! 

There's enough of a difference between the two sides of the country to make a difference to me. All I can say is thank God for Ireland, which soaks up a chunk of the rain before it reaches me!!

Admin wrote:Yes, we do daylight savings too - the whole of Europe went back an hour the weekend before last (we do it in coordination so that countries next to each other don't have different time zones for a few weeks).

In the end I didn't do the pumpkins.  Realised there wasn't any point as I wasn't going to be home for Halloween.  But next year: definitely!

Don't even talk to me about rain. I'm sick of it already!  Being on the west coast has its disadvantages in that the prevailing winds are from the west, so there are times when half the Atlantic is being dumped on us! If I could have afforded to buy somewhere in the south east (George's part of the country) then I would have, just for the drier weather!!

we had a snow storm for Halloween,  power outages, multiple car accidents. 

Yikes, PP! Time for us all to move to somewhere warm and sunny. Wonder if George still has his place in Mexico that he'd like to offer us?

So, I've heard there's going to be some kind of election going on today. Any of you staying up for it?

Admin wrote:Yikes, PP!  Time for us all to move to somewhere warm and sunny.  Wonder if George still has his place in Mexico that he'd like to offer us?

Way2Old4Dis got it in the palimony settlement.

Admin wrote:So, I've heard there's going to be some kind of election going on today. Any of you staying up for it?

We won't know the final results for some time.. there are absentee ballots. mail-in ballots, early voting... all of which can be challenged by both teams' lawyers.  This will be worse than 2000 when Bush and Gore fought it out over Florida results.  We didn't know who won until December.

PP - Damn! Snow already?! And power outages? Were you affected? I hope not. Here it was cold, damp and nasty but no snow, thank God. That might just be the last straw.

I've hit a wall where the election is concerned. You're right. We won't know who won for days, maybe even weeks , especially with all the reports of voter suppression coming out - although I'd bet money drumpf will declare himself the winner before all the votes are counted - so I'm tuning out as much as I can from now on. I don't want to hear one more talking head's opinion and if one more politician tries to guilt me into donating money I'll scream. Enough!!!!!!!!!!

Admin wrote:Yes, we do daylight savings too - the whole of Europe went back an hour the weekend before last (we do it in coordination so that countries next to each other don't have different time zones for a few weeks).

In the end I didn't do the pumpkins.  Realised there wasn't any point as I wasn't going to be home for Halloween.  But next year: definitely!

Don't even talk to me about rain. I'm sick of it already!  Being on the west coast has its disadvantages in that the prevailing winds are from the west, so there are times when half the Atlantic is being dumped on us! If I could have afforded to buy somewhere in the south east (George's part of the country) then I would have, just for the drier weather!!

Katie,
I remember that I went to visit our British twin town by car with some friends. This was in October, about 30 years ago, we stayed overnight after having crossed the channel and had made an appointment with our friends the following day. When we came there, we were asked why we were so late. We thought that we were just in time, so we checked the time and found out that - unless us who had already gone back an hour at the end of September, Britain didn't ho back until the end of October. We had changed our watches to from Middle European Time to West European Time when we left the ferry, instead we just should have left them, simply didn't know about this difference.
So I was really glad when it was synchronized a few years later, knowing that I have to set back my watch whenever I get to Britain, no matter when it is (although I hardly ever use my watch anymore, and my smartphone does it automatically.

Same here, Carolehathaway: I've got family in Germany and it always caused confusion with making our weekly phone call!

The sad thing is that it seems we won't be doing this much longer - I think the EU is going to stop with the summer/winter time change and the UK will go along with it, Too many people apparently just find it too difficult. Sigh.

Copied from another thread:

party animal - not! wrote:
Good evening.

How are we all across the pond?

LizzyNY wrote:Don't ask!

annemarie wrote:I agree with Lizzy. We are still waiting to see who won it could go either way at this point.

Melbert hasn't checked in for a while, but in case she does:

           HAPPY BIRTHDAY! (November 4 - You beat me by 2 days.)  I hope you are safe and well. Have a great day!

Happy birthday MELBERT! Much missed here.

This made me laugh:

A lot of people chanting 'Stop the count!', I gather.

Give or take a letter, I'm chanting the exact same thing

— Andrew Hunter Murray (@andrewhunterm) November 4, 2020

A bit on the serious side, but could our friends who haven't been posting for a while please just drop us an "I'm o.k." post to let us know everything's alright? The way things are right now, it's hard not to think the worst when someone drops off the radar. Thanks.

PAN - The NY Post reprinted an article by Harry Pettit from The Sun  (Nov. 4) called "This is what cities in the UK may look like in 2100". After what you said in  the "UK lockdown" thread I thought you might be interested.

I've watched CNN tonight for hours. It's just incredible how different our election system works. Since my husband is organizing the elections for the city he works for (which means elections to our parliament in Berlin, the EU parliament, our federal state's parliament, our county council, our town council, our mayor and the head of our county. I'm always responsible for the polling station and the volunteers in my village at all these elections, and we both can't imagine counting three days after the actual election took place.

I really hope Biden will win, and I'm still stunned that Trump doesn't understand how elections work - or maybe he just doesn't care. Plus hus son tweeting and wynfing his father to go on a total war, or Steve Bannon who wants to kill the FBI director and Fauci and stuck their heads on the White House fence (for which he was banned from Twitter).
I mean, I always thought we're civilized countries...

Carolhathaway - Our election process used to be fairly simple: people who couldn't vote in person applied for absentee ballots which had to be in by election day and everyone else voted in person at a polling place near their home - on election day. The votes were counted as quickly as possible and the results announced. Barring equipment failure which might cause a recount, it was a fairly simple process.

The problem this time was covid 19. Since each state can determine how its citizens can vote, a lot of states gave permission for many, many more absentee ballots so people wouldn't have to risk the virus to vote. I believe most of them said ballots had to be received by election day. Then drumpf started spreading lies about absentee voting and put one of his cronies in charge of the US Postal Service to make sure that the ballots could be messed with. By the time the election came around there was a lot of confusion and mistrust on all sides and the courts had to get involved.

What drumpf and the people around him are doing is totally expected. They are desperate to hold onto power. For drumpf its probably especially frightening since when he leaves office, he and his family will probably face multiple criminal charges. With a little luck they'll all end up in jail. More likely they'll probably end up losing a lot of their money. It's only what they deserve.

I think the issue here is with the size of the US.  Some of the postal ballots were in the hundreds of thousands!  And some states had rules that the counting was only allowed to begin AFTER voting in person closes.   

The city I live in can barely scrape together 110,000 votes (in any format), so the idea of 'only' that many postal votes on top of the votes in person, is mind-boggling to me.

As for Trump, although he's dumb, he understands how the system works; he's just choosing to misunderstand in order to cheat.  You notice how the only states he complains about are the ones going against him?

Lizzy,

we've got the same system. My husband for example who's working all the time on election day, always applies for absentee ballots.
And I would, of course, do the same at the moment if I had a higher risk. But here in Germany, everybody has the right to vote within 1 mile from his house (unless he lives miles away from every other place). So in my hometown, there are more than 20 polling stations which are open from 8 to 6 on election day, and you're hardly ever queuing - which of course limits the risks for everybody. Our next elections won't be until September, but we've had elections in other federal states, and apart from a higher number of absentee voters, everything worked as usual.

We'll see how everything works in the end...

Interesting that the NY Post actually posted the De Niro parody - it's owned by Fox!

My favourite thing so far? When the Philadelphia Mayor said that Trump should put his big boy

pants on...........Love it!

PAN - When did you see the De Niro tweet in the Post? I read it online every day and didn't see it there. I wonder if drumpf saw it? It would make his head explode!

The Philly mayor isn't the first one to give drumpf that advice. People have been saying that to him for years. Unfortunately he never listens.

Check out Keith Olberman's YouTube channel. (video #23) He's calling for the arrest of drumpf and pretty much everyone he knows on felony charges - and he's citing the actual law they've broken!

Katie - It usually works pretty well because a lot of people can't be bothered to vote most of the time. This time was different. I think we had the highest voter turnout we've ever had, and much of it was vote-by-mail.
Because the vote in some states is so close the talking heads of media and the pollsters can't make their premature predictions the way they usually do so we have to wait until all the votes are actually counted.

I actually think it might be a good thing. It's giving us a cool-down period, where public figures can use the time to calm things down before the results are finalized. Hopefully it will help things go more smoothly.

It's over Biden and Kamala won. 

Trump is saying he won by a lot, he is an idiot.

He can stay in the White House, but will be considered a hostile guest. There is a team that will go
in and remove him if he doesn't leave on his own.

YES, YES YES!  I’m so joyful at this moment.  Way to go Joe!  Way to go Kamala!  We can’t get rid of this cancer in the White House fast enough.  I know very well Trumpism is here to stay for some time but at least we will have a sane, competent, caring person to lead our country.

Donnamarie - I feel like I've been holding my breath for 4 years and can finally breathe! Come to Brooklyn - we're dancing in the streets!!!!!!!!!! 

Enjoy all!

Had to laugh when Trump's 'lawyers' rocked up for a press conference in Philly - and held it in

front of an 'adult' bookshop called Fantasy Land!

I'm curious. How's the news being covered across the pond?

With an enormous relief, Lizzy, as far as most of the population are concerned (except perhaps

some to whom the stock market is more important, come what may)!!

Such a contrast. Compassion is back on the agenda

With an enormous relief, Lizzy, as far as most of the population are concerned (except perhaps

some to whom the stock market is more important, come what may)!!

Such a contrast. Compassion is back on the agenda

So true PAN.  Compassion is back.  In a big way.  Richard Engel who reports for NBC News reported from London tonight and said that almost all the foreign leaders are happy and relieved with the Biden victory.  Also saw a cover from a well known German magazine, Der Spiegel,  which after he was elected had a cover pic of Trump holding the decapitated head of the Statue of a Liberty.  Today’s cover pic was Biden on a step stool replacing Lady Liberty’s head to her body.   That kinda says it all.

Lizzy, I can’t tell you how many people have said what you said about holding our breath for way too long.  So many Americans were finally able to exhale today.  I loved seeing all the celebration in the streets.  Seeing the huge crowds celebrating outside the White House today was especially gratifying.

Donnamarie, so glad you're cheering up. I think we're all feeling a lot better today (at least most of us are), Now lets see if drumpf and his base can remember they're Americans and not members of some fascist state that just happens to be on the same continent as the rest of us. 

Pray for Biden and Harris to get things back to "normal" and put McConnell on notice that his bullshit isn't going to fly this time. Keeping the country from healing won't be just obstruction- it will be treason. Can't for the life of me think why he keeps getting re-elected.

Anyway, it's a beautiful day in more ways than one. Enjoy!

Don't know if you've already seen it, but Cindy McCain has joined Joe Biden's transition team

and here's what his psychology expert niece has to say about the next few weeks:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/08/mary-trump-on-the-end-of-uncle-donald-all-he-has-now-is-breaking-things

Alex Trebeck has died, he was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer.

So sad. He's been so open  and gracious about his fight, even though he had to know what the outcome would be. Pancreatic cancer is rarely survived. Condolences to his family.

PAN - Keith Olbermann is suggesting that drumpf be declared incompetent and removed from office for the rest of his term in order to limit the damage he could do. It's up to his cabinet to do this. Since he's on his way out they have nothing to lose. Any bets on whether they'll act?

They won't do it, some of them are insisting he fight on.

And some of them belong in jail right along side of him!

I want to see Trump and his minions brought up on human rights violations for kidnapping over 500 children from their parents at the border and never reuniting those families.  There should be consequences for this heinous crime.

I read ‘The Guardian’ interview with Mary Trump.  She totally has him down.  I read her book a few months ago.  Knowing about his childhood, how he was raised and the dysfunctional relationship with his father and mother it’s no surprise he turned out the monster that he is.

A little late, but I thought we'd celebrate the Biden/Harris win.  Let me know if the falling flags cause you any technical problems (not sure if they'll work in the mobile version of the site).

Thank you Katie.

This is lovely! How on earth do you do this?? (said a total non-techie person...)

And from an even less-techie person, THANK YOU! It's wonderful!

No tech skills needed - someone techie wrote the code and I just inserted it into the right place on the site!

Very nice touch with the flags Katie.    I’m so excited to have Biden and Harris in the WH.  You know the place will need to be exterminated first.  Just think of all the virus germs left behind.  Yikes!

PigPen wrote:

Admin wrote:Yes, we do daylight savings too - the whole of Europe went back an hour the weekend before last (we do it in coordination so that countries next to each other don't have different time zones for a few weeks).

In the end I didn't do the pumpkins.  Realised there wasn't any point as I wasn't going to be home for Halloween.  But next year: definitely!

Don't even talk to me about rain. I'm sick of it already!  Being on the west coast has its disadvantages in that the prevailing winds are from the west, so there are times when half the Atlantic is being dumped on us! If I could have afforded to buy somewhere in the south east (George's part of the country) then I would have, just for the drier weather!!

we had a snow storm for Halloween,  power outages, multiple car accidents. 

Earthquake this week-end.  All safe.   Did you feel it in NY Lizzy??

PP- Not a wiggle or a jiggle. I was surprised to hear about it. What's going on with the weather up there? Snow, earthquakes ... what's next? Locusts?

Seriously, glad you're o.k. I hope that's the last of the weird stuff you have to deal with.