The Happiness Thread

The other one is when they want to give you a number, and you say you have a pen when you don't. Humans are funny beings.

 

They found a pink planet way out in the solar system.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/farout-newfound-object-is-the-farthest-solar-system-body-ever-spotted/?fbclid=IwAR15xhyCPxKFrSCmA0z6OtkXfkEIzNg33uwlBbD2EnjBlVEWmPgJsGwWEgo

 

On one hand I'm so tired I could die... on the other hand Lost comes to Sweden tomorrow and I'm too giggly and happy to care about anything else.

I do hope I'll be able to sleep tonight, though. I really, really need it!

 

My dad had sudden BRAIN SURGERY today and it went really well!!! Apparently the tumor (which they think is non-cancerous but have to wait for biopsy) wasn't attached to his brain, but the derma just under the skull (Not sure what that is, can anyone tell me what the derma is?) They got it all out and he could be home as soon as Friday depending on recovery. I've been so worried about him (this all just happened over the weekend) and this is such a relief. He's only 63, so I've been counting on many more years with him. HOORAY!

 

Best of luck to both of you, that can be a really stressful time.

 

I love each and every one of you.

That is all.

 

Had an energy drink for breakfast after almost a week without coffein and this is the first day this week I didn't wish to die.

Today will be work, julfika, cutting my hair, shop, dye hair, clean and then finally, finally I can fall asleep in my beloved arms

 

Finally got my letter through stating my entitlement to Disability Allowance, and when it will be paid-9th Jan 2019. My payment day will now be wednesday instead of friday, which should mean I'll get 2 payments within a week of each other. I'm not complaining!
Next step is to go back to Citizen's Advice with said letter, and hand back another 2 forms for extra entitlements. Must remember to get my DA paid into my bank account now though.
I'm becoming a modern day human being, with a bank account, regular payments, a TV license, travel pass, and home delivery on whatever I can buy online and get delivered to Ireland!

 

I've never understood what a "TV license" is for. Also, why a "travel pass"? Is that just a passport? Or do you need some kind of government permission to leave your house?

 

This is something that makes me happy, and got a chuckle.
http://www.hrtwarming.com/customer-saves-this-waitress-from-tears-this-is-perfect/?fbclid=IwAR3IIYNP8xalQGDNhe0jSWmOuAy7lidhH2MgQ143eae45fzGvK2emYCx5Ic

 

Finished the first draft of my new book! Yay! I started in July, og the ETA was July next year. Darn, this book has written itself. I still need to edit it and all that, but still, the first draft is done. Another big milestone to check off the list. Only problem is it's the second in a series, so I kinda want a third book. But I have no idea what that'll be about. There are a few loose ends here and there in the current one, but I don't do "direct sequels", so it's gotta be an all new story with the surviving characters. But hey, first draft done. Yay me!

 

I'm pleased it went well. These things often do not, so that's really great!

You sure it's derma and not Dura? The Dura mater / Dura is a membrane that surrounds the brain.

 

My mother-in-law also had a tumor in her brain that was something related to "derma" or "epidermal." I can't remember the details, but I recall thinking it was strange. Cancer rarely originates in the brain, it's usually cancerous cells that have migrated there from elsewhere that kick things off, so that might have something to do with it.

But this is the Happiness Thread.

 

Because we are strange. In England, you have to pay a TV license if you transmit anything through a TV or mobile device (as far as my understanding goes, it pays for the BBC and Channel 4). I think Netflix and the like are exceptions (someone else may be able to clarify that).
Here in Ireland, it's more stupid. You have to have a license if you have a TV set (even if it isn't yours, and you have no aerial for it-as is my case), regardless of whether it is capable of transmitting anything. There is a high evasion rate for the TV license here, by the sounds of it.

A travel pass both here and in England is an additional entitlement you can recieve if you get Disability Allowance/Employment Support Allowance (and I think also some other supports). In England, it gives you free travel on all trams, most buses, Tube, Overground and DLR, and most rail services between certain hours.
In Ireland, it means you can travel for free on most Iarnrod Eireann (Irish Rail), Bus Eireann (Irish Bus Company), Luas (Trams) and Bus Atha Cliath (Dublin Bus Company) services.

 

Hey, we have that stupid Goddamned nonsense too! Neat!

 

Seems pretty reasonable to me. Since the BBC doesn't have ads, they need to get their money from somewhere, so they came up with the idea of TV licences when they were founded in (I think) the 1920s. Since only the very rich had tellies at that point, a bit of extra money to make it work was nothing to them. Then ITV came along, and that did have ads, but the BBC kept its TV licenses. Seems like a fair trade-off to me.

 

Yeah, I get the reasoning behind it, it's the same thing here... But no, I don't agree that it's fair to have to pay good money for a(n absymal) service I don't use or want. I'll die before I subsidize subpar television. My TV is a monitor, nothing more.

Luckily, we have the option of having our TVs "neutered", for lack of a better word, thus getting out of the license in exchange for a comparatively modest one-time fee. That is fair in my book, or at least fair enough.

 

BBC is one of the three, four flickering and floundering beacons before we submit to a fascist Dark Age.

My son might be the last generation to gather at the wireless as the zombie hordes gorged on Netflix stagger cross every horizon.

(Needs edit for verb sense)

 

You're so right. I'm currently watching Alison Moyet on old TOTP, and you don't get that kind of gold on Netflix.

 

But I have been binge-watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine on Amazon Prime, I first watched Avatar: The Last Airbender also on Amazon Prime and I plan to get Netflix so I can watch the new live-action re-make that I'm super excited for, so streaming has its advantages.

 

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Blue Peter is relayed every Thursday on the CBBC. Surely more nourishing for intellect and education?

 

Yeah, I remember Blue Peter. Didn't watch it much, but I saw it when it was presented by Barney Harwood and Helen Skelton. We didn't have Sky or any of the channels that came with it, so no Nickelodeon, no Cartoon Network, and no Disney Channel. All we had was CBeebies and later CBBC. There were some great shows. I remember Bear Behaving Badly and that Dick and Dom game show, and no-one can forget Horrible Histories...