The Happiness Thread

Are you allowed to keep the big snappers for soup? um....... forget I asked.

A flat-blade shovel allows even the most timid to help all but the largest ones across the road (there's usually one in the back of my truck......shovel, not a snapping turtle)

It might even work to "coax" the larger ones across the road.

 

I find they tend to want to bite the shovel, and then once it's in their mouth they don't want to let go, and it's pretty hard to push or lift with a shovel when the damn thing's stuck in a turtle's mouth... but I've had some luck with a two-pronged approach, when there are two people - one dragging from the mouth, the other push/lifting with the shovel from behind.

Honestly, the damn things are more trouble than they're worth!

 

TODAY IS OVER!

 

Looking at the photos, I think they're tortoises. IIRC turtles have flippers for limbs while tortoises have feet.

 

I'm not sure which makes me feel older. The fact that I know this show (I was a big fan)*, or the fact that I remember it being called Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles! That may have just been in the UK though, IDK.

*This might be where my interest in redheads started...April, anyone?

 

I remember the theme tune as well, and from what I understand, the UK was really paranoid about the violence of ninjas and nunchucks back then, so they cut all of Michaelangelo's action scenes as a result. Poor guy...

 

I did manage to find a VHS tape in a charity shop in England that said Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles on the cover, so I know I didn't imagine it at least. Wonder what the deal was at the time?

 

finally got my name changed via deed poll and after 4 hours of messing around with the government sending me to each other's phone number, the DWP knows my new name and I won't be prosecuted so that's nice!

 

I did a deed poll too. Found one free online, printed it, signed it, got it witnessed. Then took it to the Post Office to get a new passport done. Sorted.

 

I've never had a passport, gotta sort my voting name thing next and then start applying for a passport.

 

From what I understand, people were taking the point that ninjas are assassins too far. Plus concern that kids could make an imitation nunchuck and hurt themselves or others imitating the moves they've seen. Nunchucks were 18 rated here back then.

Now people look back on it and laugh.

 

So... I've had a very interesting couple of days.

On Saturday, I got a call from one of my old clients. He moved to Pittsburgh two years ago, but we've kept in touch. Great guy. Anyways, I got a call from him saying that he'd like me to come out to Pittsburgh to oversee a big purchase for him, and to take a look at the past two years of his finances to see if there's anywhere he could be doing better.

He was also offering double my company's usual hourly rate for eight hours every day I was out there.

I called my supervisor, who told me that this sort of thing actually happens from time to time, which surprised me. When I told him that the client was offering to pay us double and for a whole eight hours each day, he was sold pretty quickly. He then set up my flight, and I was off to Pittsburgh on Monday.

Got home last night, but was too tired to post anything, so here we are. It's so strange that the first day I'm going into work is a Friday.

Now I'm just trying to catch up on everything I've missed in the forums. Let's see here, we had sexism, turtles...

 

That seems to be what they called the show everywhere outside the US.

 

Am I reading that right? That's all you had to do to legally change your name???? If so, consider yourselves lucky!

To legally change my name to incorporate my pen names* in California USA was a long process that required: a paralegal or attorney, hefty court costs, running a classified ad in a newspaper announcing the name change for I forget how many weeks, and an appearance before a judge explaining why you want to change your name. I had my attorney do mine because I needed some other things done as well, so mine was around $2,000 and took six weeks. Then you take the judge's decree and use it change all your ID. I think I finally received my last piece of ID two and a half months after I began the process.

*not a legal necessity, but I'd received checks made out to the wrong name, so changing it was easier.

 

How would that be easier than sending them back, and getting a fresh book with the correct name on them?
Sounds like a hassle to anything in Cali.

 

I also have to run my name in the london gazette and it had to go to the courts for about 4 weeks but yeah then I got my deed polls! the government doesn't communicate with itself though so that's what the four hours of phone calls was about XD but its done and dusted now!

 

Ouch!
My only costs were the printing of multiple deeds, the paper, and some certification stickers (I don't know if they were actually necessary). Then went to the Post Office with a filled out form for a new passport, plus 2 photos. That was sent off, and I got my new passport issued within 2 months. Since then, my passport has been my ID for everything.

 

This is so very true, and completely ridiculous.

 

I did it to prevent the same error from happening again because it happened twice, and it simplifies/eliminates explanations in other business matters.

Eh, the scenery is worth it.

 

Actually you don’t even have to do that. All you have to do is document in some form that you have, on a certain date, changed your name. This can be as simple as writing a letter to your family, bank etc stating “from the date of this letter I wish to known as x”. As long as you have evidenced your identity, this is sufficient. Once you have your name changed in some formal sense, like changing your bank account, you can use letters and bills in your new name to change more legal things like your driving license and passport.

A deed poll is not legally required, nor is it necessary. It has no more legal clout than the letter I described above, though having it witnessed might help matters if somebody were to query your identity for some reason.

 

Damn...That plus healthcare kinda makes me mad my U.K. ancestors left!

 

Are people talking name changes?

How curios!

I've always hated my last name. It's a boring "son" name and it has too many R's in it (I come from a part of Sweden where we can't really pronounce that letter). In Sweden you either have to take a name that's already in your family, one of the top 500 most common or make one up from scratch. Today I found out that my grandmother's parents had taken an unique one back in the days. Only one person goes by that name today. I'm strongly considering taking it in the future. Some day when 200$ isn't a big chunk of my paycheck...

Or I'll just steal Lost's name when he's not looking...

 

Don't be too envious. The NHS is pretty shit right now.

 

Is your surname Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrobertson?