Chris Howe

I have lots of lizards, in the house even. Also lots of frogs.
Nothing stops the ant apocalypse

We've got the rest of them. And they keep biting. Do they think they're going to drag me home for dinner?

I have a copy of the Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments.
The original one that tells small children how to generate chlorine gas and sulphur dioxide, among other things. It's pretty rare now for some reason.

It's been so long since I read it. My sister used to have a copy, I'll have to borrow it (because I don't already have enormous TBR piles, real and virtual...)

I bought "Ingathering" a while back. I hadn't had access to a lot of the later stories so that was good. There's a 1972 telemovie based mostly on the story "Pottage", with William Shatner the only actor I recognised. I found the DVD by chance in an op shop. It's not a bad effort.

Clifford Simak? It's been a while but i remember his stories as humane and thoughtful. Try Way Station for e.g.
Zenna Henderson?
I read a lot of the old stuff in the '60s & 70s and if I go back now it's usually oh dear, oh no. That's before thinking about what the authors were like irl

I grew up in East Bogan and now live around the IT / Lawyer border. I move around Sydney a bit for work and would like to congratulate the cartographer on their insight

Always weird how those who get well paid for contributing little to society except their opinions, think others like childcare workers should not get a decent wage.

I had a copy from back then too! Then it got nicked, along with a bunch of other vinyl. And *then* my son found a copy in the old Gould's in Newtown. It gets a run occasionally

I'm sorry, Andy. Look after yourself

I hope he sorts it out without too much frustration.

Australians are treated poorly. Last time I flew into the UK (Edinburgh) in 2018, I got interrogated. I've been avoiding Heathrow for years bc it's so unpleasant. We go to see relatives & friends in Northern Ireland now, so it's easier to enter through Dublin. We still do the UK paperwork though.

Before Christmas, Woolworths Marsfield was playing Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again on the PA
So tempted...

You're right there. I handle it OK into the high thirties, but above that you're risking harm if you're exposed and physically active. All you can do is stay out of it. At least in the cold you can dress for it (
I'm very aware that you'd laugh at my idea of cold...)

I will certainly heed your recommendation
(It was 42⁰C/108⁰F here yesterday)

Oh yes, she will be. Much better option all round.
If you're affected by all this UK stuff, and you have any Irish connection, check your eligibility for an Irish passport. It's pretty generous, unto the first generation at least...

It might do, but if UK immigration join the dots & identify the kids as citizens they are going to be stranded. Winging it like that would give me the heebie jeebies (not for me, for my partner). Last trip, I specifically entered through Dublin to avoid dealing with UK border crap

Yes Irish pp is more useful than UK, and bc of the Good Friday accords it appears she can enter the UK on the Irish passport.
She won't be able to enter UK with AU passport plus ETA bc the AU passport shows Belfast as her birthplace & she'll be stopped.
It matters to us bc there's family in Belfast

This is where my partner is at. Her UK passport lapsed decades ago. Aus passport shows her birthplace as Belfast.
Just to rub it in, one of our kids can get UK citizenship & the other can't.
The upside is that she's eligible for an Irish passport - cheaper, easier to get & more useful than the UK

See also Musk and the other arsehats' take on Iain M Banks's Culture novels. IIRC, Banks seemed irritated and amused by turns with Musk's obtuse misunderstandings.
I don't think he'd be laughing now.
I reckon if that lot lived in the Culture, they'd all have slap drones assigned to them...

Hi Wolfie, I've had a dwarf Meyer in the ground for several years. Bought it in Aldi.
It's very prolific for its size, and the juice tastes great.
Downsides are that it's a bit straggly and untidy, and the fruit is prone to fruit fly, which mightn't be a problem for you

Good luck with it. My only downside was that my knees didn't thank me for the experience

Give it a go! I made a poor job of ours, years ago. I got sick of looking at it, fixed some waterproofing problems, used levelling compound and retiled it. It came up better than I hoped and made me feel like I'd learned some skills

The frogs, lizards, pillbugs and especially the burrowing roaches like me leaving wood tucked into the corners of the garden. You're doing a good thing.
If I find a really nicely shaped chunk and spare it from the fire, it might get hung up with some sort of epiphyric plant stuck to it

Yes, in Australia for sure. We're one of the most urbanised populations in the world, and one of the more diverse, but apparently in political and media circles you're only Aussie (and should get a say) if you meet the old bush stereotypes.

I did grow up in The Shire*. I'm not especially tall and I did spend a lot of time barefoot.
*Sutherland Shire, widely known as The Shire, in southern Sydney. So called bc the inhabitants were, and still are, conservative, self-absorbed and rather dull.

I've started to help out there, was there today. Every time, exactly this thought runs through my head.
I have no hopes of improvement on this front in the near term, so I guess I do what I can.

Even if I was sure of the ID I'd be more tentative, given your conservation background.
Anyway, I've just finished Absolution (late to the party as usual) and wanted to thank you for the ride. I'll go back now and read all four in sequence.
Happy holidays

I was going to get out of town for the Sydney Games, but then I got a job with the antidoping lab, which was quite an experience.
Don't really remember the games as such, I was pretty busy

Thanks for the information. I use Libby a lot.