Posts by Lilith __
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Capture: Tribute - Dr Chris Ward, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
(others may see different things)
3 babies! Not very pleased to be peered at.
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You never know what you might find in the shrubbery. Can you see what's in this picture, gentle readers?
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Capture: Tribute - Dr Chris Ward, in reply to JacksonP,
Lying in the reeds
Envious of your pukeko picture! Here is a spoonbill.
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Southerly: I Fell Down, in reply to David Haywood,
My dad used to be in charge of safety at Fletchers many years ago, and he is a fan of starting people young. He reckons the scariest thing he’s ever seen was a class of fine art students let loose in a carpentry workshop (this from a man who was recently resuscitated back from a flatline)…
My Dad was an (elec) engineer and also a self-taught perfectionist builder/plumber/cabinetmaker. One of my many regrets about losing him when I was just a toddler is I never got to learn any of his myriad of practical skills from him.
When I was in Design School I got the chance to do welding and fine-metalwork and woodwork and such. It was great, but fairly brief, and I wish I’d had a firm base of workshop-familiarity to build on.
We did get to scoff at the advertising/graphics students on their occasional forays into the workshops, though. I vividly remember one muscular but uninformed man trying to “beat out” a sheet of copper with brute force, without annealing along the way. Lots of noise, sore muscles, broken metal.Kids should have to learn this stuff, though. Not just the watered-down version of manual training (does that still exist?), but proper principles and procedures. You and your clever sprogs can educate the nation, David! No pressure.
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Then in 2013 there was a picture of Ashley on the front page of the Dominion Post. Ashley was still locked up in seclusion with only a short daily outing into a fenced area. How come he was still there? I asked around and almost every disability organisation and many agencies knew about his story. Dave and Marlena were tireless advocates for their son.
The most appalling thing about this appalling story is that it's been publicised before, and nothing has changed. I don't understand.
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David, how wonderful to hear from you! You've been much missed around these parts. I'm sorry about your Grandfather, and, holy crap, what your Dad's been through.
As an early subscriber to Bob's channel, I have long been impressed not only with Bob's obvious smarts and his clear explanations, but of the amazing parents who have enabled him to shine. I wish technical and practical problem-solving skills were taught in ordinary primary school.
I had to get Jen to explain the bagless-vacuum-cleaner because although I have a passing acquaintance with Uni-level physics, I had NO IDEA how it worked. But Bob knew. Bob knew so well he didn't think to explain it!
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Frosty sea.
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Hard News: Three Dreams, in reply to Joe Wylie,
a totally illusory version of his regular life were so detailed and convincing
Yikes!
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Speaker: I am a Really Useful Engine, in reply to Russell Brown,
That post is a great example of what Emma does so well: writes things that we come back to for years after, because they Say It Right.
Emma, I know I'm not the only one whose life you've changed for the better through your writing. Before your Something Chronic blog post I was in the habit of never mentioning my CFS to anyone.
And Russell, you've given us all this forum. It's been all kinds of important. Thank you.
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May be a good moment to mention Descartes and the Dream Argument.
Leading to the idea that anyone could be a Brain In a Vat and never know it.
