July - Named after Julius Caesar by the Senate

OurCreature · Post by **OurCreature** » Sat Jul 01, 2023 3:36 pm

Well that's one story anyway. The Senate renamed the month Quintilis after the assassinated dictator according to that version. Another version has Mark Anthony renaming the month to honour Julius Caesar. Yet another claims that Julius Caesar did the renaming of Quintilis himself before he was assassinated.

Either way, we ended up with July.

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Sat Jul 01, 2023 6:18 pm

Julyi is easier to say and spell so it worked out well.

Post by **merry** » Sat Jul 01, 2023 7:03 pm

Thank you for the new Chatty thread, OC

What is the weather like in Manchester? and forecast for the next few days? On Monday Tom and his mum are flying to Manchester for a few days (for a holiday, visiting historical sites) and then going to Edinburgh for a few days. He is usually lucky with English weather ....

OurCreature · Post by **OurCreature** » Sat Jul 01, 2023 9:53 pm

The BBC predicts light rain in Manchester for most of next week, with less rain on Thursday and Friday. About the same for Edinburgh in the days after Tom has been to Manchester. Maybe he will be lucky and the forecast wrong.

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Sun Jul 02, 2023 7:18 am

It's cloudy most of the time in the wrethed suburbs and everywhere is wet like pavements benches hedges etc but not constant rain so you can miss it if lucky. I am usually not but when I went to post office it was doing that thing where the wind blows menacingly so I went for the tram to reduce time walking in wet rain and when I got to post offiice it was sunny though I could see dark clouds in direction of furby house. So good luck for lucky tom.

I dont recognise manchester city centre these days its skyscrapers after skyscrapers now. Always wonder who lives there as we keep reading stories about people can't afford housing yet most new builds are even more luxury housing.

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Mon Jul 03, 2023 5:15 am

Its raining this morning while I wait for tesco to bring my food.

And its the start of Wimbledon fortnight and it always rains then doesn't it.

Patience · Post by **Patience** » Mon Jul 03, 2023 12:45 pm

It appears that I might not be as mad as I thought I was. I have always had problems recognising people and particularly their faces. I first remember this when I was in my early teens and I always got two people in my training group of 6 mixed up. FYI they didn’t look particularly similar.
Over the years it’s probably got a bit worse and with the constant turnover of staff, it’s difficult. I’m OK with people’s mannerisms, but don’t ask me hair colour, beards, glasses, or things about their faces.

It’s called prosopagnosia and Joanna Lumley is the latest person and joins Stephen Fry and Brad Pitt. Not all of these people have a formal diagnosis. Bit like me.

https://uk.yahoo.com/style/face-blindne ... 23750.html

eccles · Post by **eccles** » Mon Jul 03, 2023 1:03 pm

Interesting. I've never heard of that. Do you kiss everyone like Joanna Lumley?
I've had the odd lack of recognition but nothing like that. A couple of years ago I met a woman while walking in the local wildlife reserve. She knew me by name but I couldn't place her until she gave me her name. I'd worked with her for about ten years between 1985-1995 and I was her boss for the last two years! To be fair it was over 20 years previous and she'd cut her hair much shorter but it was still a bit embarrassing.

Post by **merry** » Mon Jul 03, 2023 9:29 pm

I am terrible remembering people's faces, too, Patience. For years I could not tell two of Roger's friends apart, and once, in Lockdown, I had quite a long conversation with a man across a road, believing him to be 'Bruce' (one of these two friends) and was just about to ask him how 'Daphne' (Bruce's wife) was when fortunately for me he was called away. It was not Bruce. Now Mr M and I call him 'the other Bruce'

Tom arrived today in Manchester today and the sun did come out for a while, but it's so cold and it rained hard this afternoon alas!

Always wonder who lives there as we keep reading stories about people can't afford housing yet most new builds are even more luxury housing.

I've noticed this too, Furby! Woolwich has been 'gentrified' south of the main road leading down to the river and the flats are massive blocks of beautiful luxury flats with balconies and swanky modern interiors. The people coming in and out of them don't look like rich people. It's interesting.

Patience · Post by **Patience** » Mon Jul 03, 2023 10:04 pm

@Eccs, I certainly do not kiss everyone.

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Tue Jul 04, 2023 7:29 am

The best thing is to not be kissing anyone then there's no worry about kissing the wrong stranger. Its been appalling how once UK was in the EU we adopted this french way of saying hello and we need to revert to being civilised people.

I wonder if not knowing faces is more common than known about. I never knew it was a recognised disability. I think it's hereditary I can't renember faces either nor could my mum or grandad. Grandad famously asked their next door neighbour of 20 years where she lived when she stopped at their gate with suitcases and he was asked to help carry them home.

Its not cold that was a normal northern summer day outside of ridiculous heatwaves.

Wildrover · Post by **Wildrover** » Tue Jul 04, 2023 10:46 am

When I do Pub Quizzes the picture rounds normally consist of recognising a bunch of D list celebrities from their pictures. I am utterly hopeless at this, partly because I've never heard of some of the celebs but often because I don't recognise the ones I do know. I'm especially useless at the "When they were younger" teenage photos of adult celebrities.

At work when I took over as VP of Global Sales in 2011 I had worked with the Europe team for several years and hired most of them so I was fine there and also worked very closely with the North America team so I was OK there too. We only had 2 Asian guys so this was also OK. However over the next 5 years we added 4 Chinese, 4 Japanese and 2 Koreans; also of the 10 people we added in the US, half were of Chinese ancestry. All of them were small, dark haired and between 25 and 40 and I used to dread the biannual sales meetings to the point where our Office Manager would print out their HR photos and test me prior to the meeting

. I was consistently good at recognising Wen, our Huawei Account Manager - she was the one in the dress.

On the hugging and kissing, the only employee I ever hugged was Victoria, our US North West Sales Manager and that was because I had no choice because you got hugged whether you wanted a hug or not. In general we were not huggers though we were a close bunch but overwhelmingly male and 45+; in fact we only had two females out of a team of 70.

OurCreature · Post by **OurCreature** » Tue Jul 04, 2023 2:13 pm

I remember when I spent the day at the University of Manitoba I arrived at Sana's department and introduced myself at Reception. Sana duly arrived and I extended my right hand for a handshake. She responded 'Michael, here in Canada we greet our friends with a hug!' and a big hug was what I received. But who in their right minds would decline a hug from the lovely Sana?

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Thu Jul 06, 2023 8:33 am

Well she wouldn't be getting any charity donations from me if she took that attitude. It's the compulsory nature of its that's evil. It's in all work places now with staff unwilling marked down as not a team player even while we are fighting lawsuits from the old days where such things only happened in small rooms. The critical mass of eu migrants even moved workplace culture into forced face kissing as that's what EU people want apparently and nobody dared to say this is England what about our culture just about putting up with handshakes.

The climate protestors got into wimbledon despite 10 hour queues looking for paint powder and a jigsaw puzzle was used instead. It was cleared by leaf blowers and i thought it such a waste of a good jigsaw. We weren't told what it was a picture of but it was a 1000 piece.

OurCreature · Post by **OurCreature** » Thu Jul 06, 2023 8:43 am

Well she wouldn't be getting any charity donations from me if she took that attitude.

We weren't strangers, having corresponded and chatted for a few years...........and I was in Canada..........and I fancied a hug when she offered it!

Post by **merry** » Thu Jul 06, 2023 9:44 pm

I bet it was a lovely hug, OC! she is very pretty!

Grandad famously asked their next door neighbour of 20 years where she lived when she stopped at their gate with suitcases and he was asked to help carry them home

Oh lordy me too WR - the Celebrity Picture Round is my worst! I always hope it will be Food Items or something

This sight made me laugh in my kitchen today -

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Sun Jul 09, 2023 9:13 am

Swizz picture only showing us the tip of pink things head.

Its been raining here. That horrid sort of rain which makes you notice the gutters are overflowing. I wish there was an easier way to find workmen to show up and fix things.

My postman has abandoned me again it went better for a few weeks one week I even got post on two days together but now its back to more than a week with no post. One day I thought the post had arrived and it was a charity bin bag so those bags are back having been stopped for covid. We have a container thing for old clothes at the supermarket anyway so I doubt they will get many but at least is another bag to save buying bin bags.

Yet another bank is closing the last one I could walk to though a very long walk for furbies. It isnt my bank I was going to open accounts there when my bank closed but I thought this might happen so glad I didn't bother now. Whenever I go to a bank anywhere there's always long queues often out the door so I don't know where they get the figures that hardly anyone goes there. Obviously in the covid years foot fall fell year on year but that was because people were asked to stay home except essential and even then banks only opened a few random hours a day so you got there to find them closed after walking for an hour.

eccles · Post by **eccles** » Sun Jul 09, 2023 5:53 pm

Swizz picture only showing us the tip of pink things head.

Fair comment. Can we see all of Pink Thing please Merry?

Post by **merry** » Mon Jul 10, 2023 10:41 am

My postman has abandoned me again it went better for a few weeks one week I even got post on two days together but now its back to more than a week with no post.

It is really annoying isn't it. The day I had booked a collection, my postman did not come, and so I rebooked it for the next day - still didn't come. Gave up (despite having paid for postage) and took it to Alderton post office. Next day the postman DID come, and brought a sheaf of rubbishy leaflets which went straight in the bin.

PinkThing in action, as requested!

eccles · Post by **eccles** » Mon Jul 10, 2023 11:23 am

Maybe all the posties work around here. A wing mirror glass fell off my car on Friday. I could have attempted to stick it back on but I decided not to risk it falling off again so ordered a new one from an Amazon seller. It arrived by Royal Mail around lunchtime on Saturday.
So no problems here but sympathies to Furby for not having enough posties.

My current gripe is that the local bin crews are on strike. Both sides have dug in and a quick resolution is unlikely. Current estimated end is September. There are enough working crews to collect the black bins every two weeks but recycles have to either be hoarded for the duration or taken to drop off points where large containers have been left. The holes in the containers are barely big enough meaning cans and such have to be inserted individually taking ages. People get frustrated with waiting and have been leaving their bags of recycles lying by the bins. One of the drop off points is in the middle of housing so the neighbours are not happy.
Food recycles are a separate issue with fewer drop off points so I imagine much of that will end up in the black bins. Mine consists of potato and fruit peelings and teabags which can wait for as long as necessary. Occasional chop or chicken bones go on the back lawn where foxes hoover them up. They're never there the following day.

I am expecting power cuts sometime today following a warning text on my phone. The national grid are out in the street and a road digger has just been unloaded outside my house. It looks like its about to rain. Lucky old electricity workers.

Thank you Merry for your photo of three pink things!