Stranger things

[Sanity Check]

20 hours ago, Taomeow said:

 

The masochist in me subscribed to the medicine subreddit -- populated by MDs and other professionals -- and aside from sheer horror from reading their conversations with each other (well, some people like watching horror movies, I don't, but this is sort of my equivalent, I read it when I feel like getting my hair to stand on end), I learn some valuable behind-the-scenes stuff...  So today they discussed allergies mentioned on patients' charts.  They are, generally, livid about it.  How dare a patient claim an allergy when it's merely a side effect!  So half of them said that they just remove the "allergic to" entries from the charts because they find most of them ridiculous.  And they were mocking the patients incessantly for mislabeling their symptoms from drugs "allergies."   Some of them don't believe anyone can have allergies to any painkillers or to penicillin (well I do, incidentally) and unless there's proven anaphylaxis in the history, they mostly don't believe anyone is allergic to anything.  Fun read.  

 

 

Not to name names but in the last 5 years.

 

There have been MIT and Princeton grads who made their diplomas look like toys they found in a mcdonalds happy meal.

 

[Nungali]

On 5/20/2025 at 2:50 PM, Taomeow said:

 

The masochist in me subscribed to the medicine subreddit -- populated by MDs and other professionals -- and aside from sheer horror from reading their conversations with each other (well, some people like watching horror movies, I don't, but this is sort of my equivalent, I read it when I feel like getting my hair to stand on end), I learn some valuable behind-the-scenes stuff...  So today they discussed allergies mentioned on patients' charts.  They are, generally, livid about it.  How dare a patient claim an allergy when it's merely a side effect!  So half of them said that they just remove the "allergic to" entries from the charts because they find most of them ridiculous.  And they were mocking the patients incessantly for mislabeling their symptoms from drugs "allergies."   Some of them don't believe anyone can have allergies to any painkillers or to penicillin (well I do, incidentally) and unless there's proven anaphylaxis in the history, they mostly don't believe anyone is allergic to anything.  Fun read.  

 

Why I first went to a TCM practitioner : 

 

I went to the regular doctor and told him my symptoms , he listened with this smarmy   look on his face ,  then... get this ... THEN  he says,     " I don't think so ."      He didn't think I was having the symptoms  I described to him . 

 

 I really wanted to reach over grab his hair and jerk it down and smash his forehead into the desk .....    I really wanted to , so much so , the muscles involved in that where twitching  .... bastard !    I restrained myself , walked out and down the street , saw TCM and went in . 

Doctor did the usual  checks and examinations  and asked me nothing, and I said nothing , until he started asking me if I felt this or experienced that , and his questions where virtually a list of my symptoms that  Dr Dickhead did not believe I was having  ! 

 

[Nungali]

Which reminds me of other strange things like that ; 

 

People who think they hold a privileged arsehole position : 

 

Legal jobs , especially  solicitors and lawyers .  When I had to use one in a years long case in the Supreme Court , I first assumed he was a greedy money grabbing bastard  .  Then some 'suspect money' was paid to bribe him to take the case on but we made it look like legal assistant  fees  ( and that work I actually did ' 60K's worth at his estimate )   which the prosecutor  suspected and started cross examining us on . The solicitor was freaking out that I would  snap under cross-examination and put him in , I assured him I would not ..... as long as we still had a 'defense running '  (  'nice' way of putting it    )  

 

And because they froze our accounts  ( or tried to )    so we could not fund a defense   ( that's how they work ;  yes, we will fight you in the ring ... tie his hands behind his back first )  he had to keep working for free  which he didn't like at all , one time outside court he abused me ( Oh ? Its all right for YOU to do that ?  ) including  saying   "  You got me over a barrel ."   I responded  " Oh ? How does it feel when its the other way around ? "  he went off !  " You are not supposed to talk to your solicitor like that , I am a professional and we are  to be  treated with respect ! "   I patted him on the back and said "  You'll be right ..... barrel boy  ! "  and he  "  And your not supposed to touch your solicitor as well !  "      

 

Chefs ... where on earth did they get off thinking they can throwing  emotional tantrums,  being rude to staff , etc .   I had to work with one guy that tried it , I immediately questioned why he thought  he had the right to be like that at work when no one else or no other jobs allow that ?   "  Its a creative genius thing, where are temperamental; and and are under a lot of stress at work , and we do important  work feeding people, its essential ! "

 

Me ;  " Yet if someone under 10 times the amount of stress and responsibility , like a a paramedic, a nurse , a police officer  did it  ?  " 

The guy actually slammed his knife down and walked out . I went out to find him outside sitting on a bench  crying  ! 

 

 Curious that law, medicine and food are covered there . What other professions , that are supposed to be for our service ,   do you lot find   self important arseholes in ? 

 

.

Edited May 21 by Nungali

[Taomeow]

47 minutes ago, Nungali said:

Which reminds me of other strange things like that ; 

 

People who think they hold a privileged arsehole position : 

 

Legal jobs , especially  solicitors and lawyers .  When I had to use one in a years long case in the Supreme Court , I first assumed he was a greedy money grabbing bastard  .  Then some 'suspect money' was paid to bribe him to take the case on but we made it look like legal assistant  fees  ( and that work I actually did ' 60K's worth at his estimate )   which the prosecutor  suspected and started cross examining us on . The solicitor was freaking out that I would  snap under cross-examination and put him in , I assured him I would not ..... as long as we still had a 'defense running '  (  'nice' way of putting it    )  

 

And because they froze our accounts  ( or tried to )    so we could not fund a defense   ( that's how they work ;  yes, we will fight you in the ring ... tie his hands behind his back first )  he had to keep working for free  which he didn't like at all , one time outside court he abused me ( Oh ? Its all right for YOU to do that ?  ) including  saying   "  You got me over a barrel ."   I responded  " Oh ? How does it feel when its the other way around ? "  he went off !  " You are not supposed to talk to your solicitor like that , I am a professional and we are  to be  treated with respect ! "   I patted him on the back and said "  You'll be right ..... barrel boy  ! "  and he  "  And your not supposed to touch your solicitor as well !  "      

 

Chefs ... where on earth did they get off thinking they can throwing  emotional tantrums,  being rude to staff , etc .   I had to work with one guy that tried it , I immediately questioned why he thought  he had the right to be like that at work when no one else or no other jobs allow that ?   "  Its a creative genius thing, where are temperamental; and and are under a lot of stress at work , and we do important  work feeding people, its essential ! "

 

Me ;  " Yet if someone under 10 times the amount of stress and responsibility , like a a paramedic, a nurse , a police officer  did it  ?  " 

The guy actually slammed his knife down and walked out . I went out to find him outside sitting on a bench  crying  ! 

 

 Curious that law, medicine and food are covered there . What other professions , that are supposed to be for our service ,   do you lot find   self important arseholes in ? 

 

.

 

With some personality types you find them in every profession methinks, I've seen self-important assholes among plumbers, computer tech support on occasion, receptionists!! -- well, some DMV clerks, obviously cops, TSA!!! -- HOA ghouls, anyone with a smithereen of power over you or over anything you have the tough luck needing that they have the power to control.  In higher positions there's more of them, and they're more vicious.  According to Jordan Peterson, sociopaths comprise 4-5% of the general population but 10--15% of CEOs (the numbers are derived from both his primary research and general psychological data.)  I'm sure in politics it's closer to 100%, well maybe 99% if I want to be generous.  

 

[old3bob]

 

Well its not exactly strange but many costs are out of control!  For instance I stopped by a local car dealership to pick up automotive paint and while there I asked what their shop rates were per hour,  they said $169.00 for gasoline rigs and $196.00 for diesel!!  I asked the parts guy who in the hell can afford that and he just grinned. 

The viscous circle and status quo of greed is so prevalent and accepted that many use it without blinking an eye!  Anyway some of the systems that mankind uses can only last for so long and then something has to give or break along with the people involved...

 

Edited May 22 by old3bob

[Nungali]

The same with rents .... they put up shop rents ridiculously , in the  'popular' near by town it has a result of continually recycling some businesses , open and go broke and close in 6 months .... what happened to all those people that went broke and lost their money and business ? Now living at the homeless camp ?

 

That's greed on  property owners part .... but the stranger thing is the less popular towns , those shop rents are not  affordably so the business closes down and so does the shop - empty or abandoned  . Does this free market of ours immediately drop the rent as supply and demand would seem to dictate ? Nope , rent stays up , no one rents it owner gets no money at all ... but they won't offer cheaper rent  .  So now some  small town centers look 20 % abandoned  with empty and boarded up shops  while the owner looses money . 

 

WTF ? 

 

Its almost as if you pay for the privileged and experience of running a shop for a little while  .  That reminds me of 'intern directors '  ; I worked on a film in Melbourne and they do it a bit different 'down there ' , I never seen so many 3ADs  ( third assistant directors , basically menials that run errands,  hold and release crowds of extras  from their 'holding pens' onto sets     etc .  I talked to some and they were enthusiastic  and one said something about  being an 'intern' . I had to ask . Apparently the company advertised film intern positions for trainee ship  ......   " Are they paying you ?"    Oh no, but I get training  and experience on a film set  and free lunch !  

 

  ... 

 

Wow !   getting another job as film director with that experience  is like an actor claiming past experience as being there  a dead body in a crime series  or suffering  incontinence  in a tv commercial  .... "Oh right !  You were that adult diaper woman with the urinary problem ! " 

[Sanity Check]

 

 

 

 

Something strange:

 

I dug a breadfruit tree out of the ground and replanted it.

 

"Stimulate the body, to stimulate the mind."

 

[old3bob]

 

Medical, dental and drug costs are often much harder to deal with in the US,   for instance a couple years ago a root canal expert made $1,000.00 per hr. !   (which I had to pay out of pocket since at that time I had no dental insurance)   As for hospital care and surgery those can bankrupt people in one major event if they don't have decent insurance!

 

And I can't hardly imagine paying sky high rent like millions of people do, especially at an older age! 

Anyway I'll post these cost issues in the current events forum from now on where they probably should be.

 

Edited May 23 by old3bob

[Cobie]

3 hours ago, Sanity Check said:

… breadfruit tree …

 Where do you live?

 

 

[Nungali]

13 hours ago, Cobie said:

 Where do you live?

 

 

 

That's a big tree for transplant , however those types seem to handle it , if its done in right season . 

 

Many trees are planted . Not that many survive .   A problem for all the 'carbon capture '  , as low as 15% survival rates in some cases . 

 

I keep telling people ; its good to plant them water them and put a guard around them .... but you have to take care of them as they grow up !

 

At this years festival here ; I want to take people around and make them look at what they did last year . The tree plantings they did then are already dead ! 

 

It isn't enough to ceremoniously dig a hole and get all 'meditative' about it and ceremonially plant A TREE   ( that is doing that for each one ! )  and all put water in your mouth and mix it with spit and put it in the hole and then do some chant . Especially when it is in a bad spot where it is  going to grow  ( bad soil ,  root invasion including   poisoned bamboo roots done by "Land Care' regeneration group  - no it is bare of trees because none grow there ! Just planting more trees will not address the problems of what killed the old ones 

( where is that new facepalm thingo ? ) 

 

I mean , those guys didn't have any water with them to soak the ground after planting . I hope to show them how to do the whole process realistically ... but I am pretty sure the organizers will step in and not allow me to do it . 

 

festivals be a bit like Daobums nowadays    

[Nungali]

This mornings (most recent ) 'strange thing ' ; 

 

Driving through dangerous flood waters while onlookers cheer you on .   " Let's see if he 'makes ' it . 

 

and if he doesn't 'make it'  ??? 

 

background : 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2025/may/22/thousands-isolated-as-nsw-faces-worse-flooding-than-many-have-seen-in-their-lifetimes-video

 

Three dead and one missing , most from crossing floodwaters .  For years we have been hammered NOT to do this ; radio TV and newspaper adverts ... sometimes constantly ... stern policeman warning us , emergency workers begging us not to  do it .... yet 

 

A few floods back I have stopped at our nearest  (old style low wooden ) bridge as I was not going to drive over and a police vehicle is there with two officers ;

Police to me ; " What do you reckon ?"

Me; " About what ?"

Police; " Do you think we will make it ?"

Me : "Oh sure ! " 

 

So off they go , the POLICE  crossing floodwaters , after accepting advice from some random dude on the roadside .

!

 

Anyway, I been flooded in for some time ( I waved the rescue helicopter on  with a thumbs up , I am used to floods and not stupid , I checked the weather and saw it coming  and went out and got extra gas, fuel in case I need generator - didn't , solar never went below 12.4 v ! ... my own system - neighbor has super duper professionally installed system, - they had their generator running-   and  I got plenty of  fire wood, food and   packets of  joint papers in the rice jar . )  

 

We just had two days of glorious blue sky but water  is still over the  bridge , don't stop people though . I watched this morning .  There is a huge hole on this side  where bridge end meets the road ... hidden .  Dude comes along from other side , too fast , a wall of water in front of him, over the hood, I signal there is a hole but ... mhe .   Wham ! Boy did the bottom of his engine take a blow ! But he got through and then scoffed to everyone ... until he realized he lost his number plate  and then tried  to go back in on foot and fish around in the raging hole trying to find it while he   hung over the edge . 

 

Then a guy comes along walking a drinking a beer while he is crossing . Signal him but nah , he is smug .... and steps in the hole , nearly goes over edge . Then young goth girl with big Doc Martin's thick wooly short socks and lace tights gets out a car and walks into the water calf deep ... Mother ; " Why did you do that ? You have ruined your new boots and now you have wet feet all day ! "

 

Crazies ... I had to go home and could not watch .   (  rescue helicopter is back ... its got a stretcher on it ) 

 

A few years back when the water went down the next bridge down stream , from one end of the flooded bank to the other was a wall of thick high flotsam of huge tree stumps with gnarly roots, logs and similar in a tangle with the top just above the raging water level above the bridge deck . Two 'intrepid' young  guys decided to cross by climbing along the top .  I had a look at that , it was terrifying ;  swirling masses of strong water getting sucked through the unstable  labyrinth   with many trees   with root ball attached  with broken  roots and logs pointing upstream, like rows of teeth waiting .  Anyway they made it  ...  just , but  really scared themselves , so much so they could not face it on the way back (from the shop .... heavens knows what product they needed so urgently ? beer ?  smokes ?   something with coconut on it ? ) and decided to walk upstream and do a diagonal current crossing way up stream.  Number 1 goes, he tells me later "  I thought I wasn't going to make it , I swam as hard as I could for ages , it was close I nearly got sucked in " Now he is signalling to his mate 'NO ' and indicating to go much further upstream . mate is enthusiastically waving back ! and in he goes ..... he didn't make it . 

 

I sometimes think of the terror that kid felt as he approached that wall and got helplessly sucked down and into it . His body was found a few days later downstream .

 

Yes, people's stupidity  does annoy me .  Especially when its tragic results could have been so easily avoided . 

 

Deep fried turkey anyone ?  

 

[old3bob]

 

when younger some of us tended to think (or kind of unconsciously sallied forth ) that we're immortal and took risks we shouldn't have, but as we age we come to realize that this physical body of ours is not going to be around after an "x" amount of time of wear and tear, thus hopefully by then we are more careful.   Alas, look at all the terrible accidents that happen in our so called modern world!  Most of them are not "acts of god" but are because of carelessness or foolishness by human beings who should know better! 

 

The rate of "accidents" seems to be really increasing in the past couple years, especially this year along with all the natural disaster's, many of which we brought on ourselves after decades (or in some cases hundreds of years) of harming or destroying various ecosystems that we were warned not to do!

 

I have a pretty long list of my not so bright actions in earlier years.  Somehow I survived my surfing days and didn't drown or get bitten by various sea creatures.  Speaking of surfing it originally had a lot personal communing with nature aspect to it but now when looking out at a lineup of surfers one can often see an over-crowded rat race of egotistic and even violent competition!   Its similar with a lot down hill skiing that is going on.   Btw, why do some risk death in unnecessary or radical ways to seemingly prove they are alive,  because its there?

 

[Sanity Check]

On 5/23/2025 at 1:11 AM, Cobie said:

 Where do you live?

 

 

 

 

Hawaii.

[Sanity Check]

On 5/23/2025 at 3:01 PM, Nungali said:

 

That's a big tree for transplant , however those types seem to handle it , if its done in right season . 

 

Many trees are planted . Not that many survive .   A problem for all the 'carbon capture '  , as low as 15% survival rates in some cases . 

 

I keep telling people ; its good to plant them water them and put a guard around them .... but you have to take care of them as they grow up !

 

At this years festival here ; I want to take people around and make them look at what they did last year . The tree plantings they did then are already dead ! 

 

It isn't enough to ceremoniously dig a hole and get all 'meditative' about it and ceremonially plant A TREE   ( that is doing that for each one ! )  and all put water in your mouth and mix it with spit and put it in the hole and then do some chant . Especially when it is in a bad spot where it is  going to grow  ( bad soil ,  root invasion including   poisoned bamboo roots done by "Land Care' regeneration group  - no it is bare of trees because none grow there ! Just planting more trees will not address the problems of what killed the old ones 

( where is that new facepalm thingo ? ) 

 

I mean , those guys didn't have any water with them to soak the ground after planting . I hope to show them how to do the whole process realistically ... but I am pretty sure the organizers will step in and not allow me to do it . 

 

festivals be a bit like Daobums nowadays    

 

 

A good portion of the root is intact. 

 

The top 10+ feet of the tree was also chopped to reduce the number of leaves & amount of water it would lose via transpiration. (Also to reduce weight)

 

To prevent from drying out after replant.

 

I dug a hole to give the tree root ball growing space. Filled with dirt. Covered with mulch. And more mulch. Watered in.

 

Normally rains here a lot and so it should be good.

 

 

Edited May 25 by Sanity Check

[Taomeow]

A strange musical interlude 

 

 

[Nungali]

16 minutes ago, Sanity Check said:

 

 

A good portion of the root is intact. 

 

The top 10+ feet of the tree was also chopped to reduce the number of leaves & amount of water it would lose via transpiration. (Also to reduce weight)

 

To prevent from drying out after replant.

 

All good procedures  and the species can tolerate transplant .  But you never know , sometimes they do not take and other times :  

 

native tamarind ; NOT a transplanter and not grown from cuttings . One small one got saved after a landslide and roadworks years back, rescued from a ditch in roadside in the mud . neighbour rescued it and put it as virtual stick , in between our two places . It took a few years to  take off and it was tough and go  "That will never work " I told him . Now its big nice tree , unfortunately he left  and didn't see the results .

 

Me to new neighbor  :  " Dont chop down that tree , its  survivor and has history ." and I told her about it , She said when will not cut it down . 

 

native tamarind ;

 

    

 

 

16 minutes ago, Sanity Check said:

 

I dug a hole to give the tree root ball growing space. Filled with dirt. Covered with mulch. And more mulch. Watered in.

 

Normally rains here a lot and so it should be good.

 

 

 

Rains there a lot does it ? 

 

here is a weeks rainfall 

 

 

We are about the third one down .

[Nungali]

33 minutes ago, Taomeow said:

A strange musical interlude 

 

 

 

 

I prefer my strange to be stranger   

 

 

[Giles]

 

Stranger Things...

 

😊

 

Just when I thought I'd got everything solidly nailed down, I came across Sifu Bin Liu (Yuan Tze) and his wife, Melissa and decided to undertake their L1 teacher training course.

 

😊

 

Stranger Things indeed... 😊

[Nungali]

Why not ?  Let's  Go  ;  

 

Me 

 

Giles ;

 

Limnal Luke 

 

 

Old3bob

 

Taomeow

 

 

Cobie 

Edited May 25 by Nungali

[Nungali]

Mark Foote  (observing his breath )

[Mark Foote]

On 5/23/2025 at 8:57 PM, Nungali said:

 

Yes, people's stupidity  does annoy me .  Especially when its tragic results could have been so easily avoided . 

 

 

 

Sad tales, Nungali. 

 

[Taomeow]

@Nungali Why are  you the prettiest boy in those pictures?  Did you use a filter?

 

 

[Nungali]

I just happened to be the prettiest  boy around .   I know because I got objective opinion on that , my mum told me so . 

 

I never used filters at that age , I do now , long ones  made up from rolled up lotto entry cards  ....... smooooooth . 

 

 

 

 

.

Edited May 26 by Nungali

[Cobie]

13 hours ago, Nungali said:

Me ...

 

含德之厚者 One who embraces the fullness of virtue 
比於赤子     May be compared to a newborn babe. (DDJ Ch 55)

 

It's very modest of you to depict yourself as so much older; while seeing us as virtuous infants - thank you. 

 

 

Edited May 26 by Cobie

[Taomeow]

This is not a reflection in the mirror.  This is a mystical sci-fi connection of cats across time and space that happened in the home of someone I know, who's the son of one of the Strugatsky Brothers.  Who had a cat named Kaliam at the time the sci-fi Brothers wrote "One Billion Years to the End of the World" in the 1970s and made that cat into its main protagonist's pet.  It's been a family tradition of theirs spanning decades to name all their subsequent cats Kaliam -- alas, cats' lifespan is shorter than that of humans, so there were several Kaliams.  This one is the current one, the photo is of the original one.  The scene was not staged and the picture was taken accidentally.