MrsDoyle

Scotland, hands down. I feel so lucky to be living here. I was only going to stay three years & then go back to New Zealand and settle down. Thirty-five years later I'm still here. I fell in love with the hills - and the freedom to walk on them - the lochs, the ancient ruins. But most of all I fell in love with the people. Their craic, their warmth and craziness, their generosity, their music. I love that you can talk to anyone and you'll often hear an amazing life story.

I love things like this: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/anti-deportations-group-issues-guide-24107754

I love the cultural richness that's come from successive waves of immigration, from Italy, India & Pakistan, China, Poland and more.

I love the food. I love haggis and Arbroath smokies and Aberdeen butteries and shortbread and oatcakes and Tunnocks caramel wafers.

And least I forget, yes, I love the weather.

I was on a work trip back in the 80s that took me to one of the northern islands of Vanuatu. Our plane landed on a football field, that's how remote our destination was. After we set up camp, someone said they'd heard there was a teacher from New Zealand in the nearby village. Well I'm a New Zealander too, so off I went to meet her. Within the first few minutes we had worked out that not only were we originally from the same small town... she was my older brother's first girlfriend.

But actually because NZ has a small population and we all travel a lot, it's not as mad a coincidence as all that. It sometimes feels like we are all just a couple of degrees of separation from each other. "Oh you're from Oamaru? Do you know XY?" "Not really, but one of my cousins works for his sister, ZY."

That's an excellent idea! I'll mention it to her.

A friend has a notebook next to her computer with all her passwords in it. Initially I was horrified - what if you're burgled? - but actually it's genius. Much more secure than letting a browser remember them, and she doesn't even need to memorise a Bitwarden password.

Same in France, though they've loosened up a bit. Used to be saints names only.

https://twitter.com/AdamJSmithGA/status/1814723038564192535

This happens with my hearing aids. They cost a small fortune, but the audiologist won't do anything about it because it's intermittent - I can never show it happening. "The charging case must be dirty" etc. The manufacturer, Phonak, says any fault reporting must be done through the retailer. It seems to happen mainly when I've got something on where I really really need to be able to hear properly, or when I want to use Bluetooth to listen to music.

AAAARRRRRRGHHHHHHH is putting it mildly. My fury knows no bounds.

What's funny is that (according to the old testament) when Moses came down off the mountain with the tablets and found everyone worshipping the golden calf, he had a big hissy fit and smashed them. So then after doing quite a bit of murdering he had to go back up the mountain to get a second set. Exodus 32-34

I asked a religious relative how it was ok for Moses to murder people when he had only just be told by God himself "thou shalt not kill", and she said it was because the don't kill thing came further down the list than having only the one god.

Struwwelpeter. We had an English copy handed down by my grandfather. It's insane.

Example: "Die gar traurige Geschichte mit dem Feuerzeug ("The Very Sad Tale with the Matches"): A girl plays with matches, accidentally ignites herself and burns to death. Only her cats mourn her."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struwwelpeter

-- pay for a large residence and security on the outskirts, then stay inside. Use disguises/body doubles when going out.

So ... you can everything you want, except sponteneity? Or privacy, with all those staff hanging around. And there'd still be some douche tracking your private jet.

Ha ha, read this wonderful piece through thinking, sounds great but what would I ever make? And then omg, yarn winder. I'm a knitter, and my yarn winder is a plastic monstrosity. I mean I'm never going to do it myself, but there definitely is a market for beautifully machined yarn winders.

Oh dear. I was planning to visit Japan in the autumn. Guess I will give it a swerve. Maybe Korea then? I haven't flown anywhere since the Before Times and have a hankering for foreign travel.