Well, I've awoken to the water supply coming through at just a dribble.  A phone call (and attempts of turning the stop cock - well solenoid valve - on and off half a dozen or so times) and I have a visit scheduled from Severn Trent later today.  With the trickle coming through I have at least been able to make a cup of tea and I can boil the kettle to have a wash.

Well the news today seems to be mostly focusing on the resignation of the UK ambassador to the USA.  If I've looked at online (credible not silly) news outlets on YouTube from the States there seemed to more concentration on the (already discredited) American businessman, Jeffrey Epstein, and his recent arrest.  Donald Trump's name and closer to home Prince Andrew's have been banded about in connection with him.  It's very sleazy but I remembered something from about 8 years ago where said discredited businessman paid off Fergie's debts.  With these sorts of things it's hard to know what is true and what is speculation and I don't want to accuse anyone falsely.

I don't want anything too serious all the time and there have been the odd times recently I have looked at gossip sites but I think they are getting too silly even for me.  I read something on one "blind" suggesting that a certain prince had acted as a pander with his daughters.  I don't believe that though I'm not particularly pro-royal - for me they are kind of there, like the weather.  There was an article in the Daily Squib in about 2011 (an online satirical magazine a bit like The Daily Mash) intimating something of the kind but it was just a joke even if a joke in bad taste.  [url=Andrew Sold Daughters to Pay Fergie Debts - Daily Squib]Andrew Sold Daughters to Pay Fergie Debts - Daily Squib[/url]  though I did find the bit about the Duchess (Fergie) now being free to get herself back into debt funny.

Referring back to my post above, there do seem to be some people overseas who have strange ideas about the UK.  ID, Nielsen, Paul, Caro and Abelard I'm not getting at you.  There are people who think Tommy Robinson* has been hounded by the Establishment (or at least the nebulous "them") - no, he photographed events pertaining to a court case before the sentence had been passed - and a smart-alec lawyer could possibly have used that as grounds for an appeal for the people on trial.  I read some things online recently where gullible folk (a lot of them from the USA - if anyone from the USA happens upon this modest history site I am NOT implying that ALL people from the States are gullible) believe a scene from a parody TV show was real (not shown on the terrestrial stations in the UK which was called The Royals - possibly a send-up of The Crown).  The show featured a scene where a naked man escaped from Buckingham Palace and some people still believe this was an event from real life.

I mentioned above that there is a worrying trend for parody articles to be taken as fact by some people even if they are really daft.  Like I say I'm not one of those people that goes out of her way to be there waving the flag if a member of the royal family visits my town but I never thought that I would live in a world where some people believe the Queen is a lizard or a pedevore.

* I personally won't be sobbing my socks off if POTUS did grant said gentleman asylum so he went off to America.

Regarding the mains water flowing slowly, I need a new solenoid vale (I have one which operates as a stop-cock for the water coming out of the mains).  The chap who came from the local water board said it has a fault which (the valve having a fault) isn't down to the water board, so I've rung a plumber and he's going to contact me next week.  I do have some water coming through albeit slowly so I can do the basics, as I say, like wash and have a drink etc.

LadyinRetirement wrote:

Regarding the mains water flowing slowly, I need a new solenoid vale (I have one which operates as a stop-cock for the water coming out of the mains).  The chap who came from the local water board said it has a fault which (the valve having a fault) isn't down to the water board, so I've rung a plumber and he's going to contact me next week.  I do have some water coming through albeit slowly so I can do the basics, as I say, like wash and have a drink etc.

 
Lady, 

I don't understand it very well, but perhaps I am not used to the British systems...in our systems and as we have some houses for hire I have some experience...
First you have the main tap from the water board, then you have their "meter" (measuring instrument) and then we are obliged to have a valve on our own costs, which obstructs that water from our system can enter in the general water board system. mostly it is together with a little tap to evacuate the net of water in case that there is danger of extreme frost and there we have also a tap to close our system too after the main waterboard tap in case that main tap don't close completely. And sometimes they suggest a "drukregelaar" (pressure regulator) to avoid surpressure on instruments (as from the central heating), but that is with a spring.
Is that solenoid valve such a pressure regulator? In that case you better use a mechanical one with a spring in my indiscrete  opinion...

Kind regards from Paul.

I came across a video about the "Messed up origins of the Princess and the Pea".  I have to admit I HATED this story when I was a child (not a fan of H C Andersen to be honest).  Not everyone wants to watch linked videos, I know, but the presenter says that the original Danish version of the story was written in a satirical manner (i.e. he knew the Princess being able to feel the pea was over the top and wrote thus deliberately).  Apparently there was a Swedish story that was somewhat similar though in that the princess (genuine) didn't feel the pea until she was tipped off by a pet dog or cat (presumably a talking animals but it's a fairytale or folk tale so a talking pet maybe is feasible in that context). Acouple of   

When typing my post above towards the end I couldn't see what I was typing towards the end so I'm finishing here.  A couple of other tales were suggested as having something in common with "The Princess and the Pea" where again it appears that there may have been some poking fun at the sensitivity of the aristocracy.  The story being satirical does make me possibly see it in another light.  It seems the first translation into English of HCA's story was a translation into English from a German translation from the original Danish.  (Should this have been on the 'Lost in Translation' thread?).

Oh, about the problem with water only trickling - when I said I could "do the basics" I meant that if I let the water run through slowly enough I cough wash and make a cup of tea etc.

I do need to haul myself away from the internet periodically but I came across something interesting by happenstance recently.  I don't know a lot about Japanese history apart from watching Shogun when it was on TV in the 1980s but I came across something recently which surprised me.  I learned that there used to be male geisha (who assumed a female appearance)at one time (I don't know if they were actually called geisha) though there are few such now.  That was all new to me.  I don't know if the male geishas were actually gay as such or if they just dressed and acted in a feminine manner for money. In the modern world it does seem that there are male hosts in Japan but they are to entertain a portion of Japan's wealthy modern woman.  [url=The Unknown World of Male Geishas - Culture Trip]The Unknown World of Male Geishas - Culture Trip[/url]   I'd heard of there being feminised male dancers in the middle East (maybe more in days gone by than nowadays) but the existence of male geishas was unknown to me.

Lady,

I don't know about Japanese male Geishas, but in Thailand you can think you met a girl, but in reality it is a male. Only from hearsay, I didn't never the experiment...
That said I feel so lonely here on the "board", just you and me...
I can understand that Nielsen in his difficult disabled circumstances has it difficult to make extended elaborated contributions, but at least he attends the boards, as our longterm Caro.
I had expected some respons from Dirk's youth in North-Rhodesia, but I can understand it also that with his age, I guess now end the eighties or in the nineties, he is not that quick anymore to compose elaborated messages...
As for Temperance, as I understood during her brief re-appearance, she prefers to stay "stumm" (with the German aspiration of the s). But there are perhaps more subjects to discuss outside "religion"?
And nordmann we are already used to his absence, only intervening in specific matter with elaborated messages.
As for  MM, he is perhaps bored by the lack of intellect exposed on this board?...MM?

Kind regards from Paul.

Dirk,

"Actually I was 20 when I arrived in that part of the world and although it was on a 3 years assignment I did stay in that part of the world for the next 35 years and roamed around the different neighbouring countries.
Never have regretted turning down other opportunities of assignments in other parts of the world. However from the 1980's onwards the political situation in the Central and Southern parts of Africa became tricky and in 1987 it was decided that it was time to leave. Yes , there was an offer to have a few more years in a healthier location but I felt it was time to threw in the towel and I decided to retire. And Paul , believe me when I mention that I also have not regretted retiring.
Wife and I have had some great holidays in different countries but yes we both getting on now and thus taking it easy on.
Paul, yes many are the stories of my experiences but as I have mentioned before there are  many people are very quick in slinging the word "racism" around."


Dirk,


thank you for the immediate reply.


"but as I have mentioned before there are  many people are very quick in slinging the word "racism" around."


Dirk, there is a whole thread overhere about colonialism and racism on this board, I think initiated by me about the Belgian Congo sparked by the row of our Georges Remi and his "Tintin in Congo". I will seek if the film about the interview of one hour with Hergé (RRR from Remi and Zzjj from Georges) still works...
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-17014127
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/nov/04/tintin-in-the-congo

In the Netherlands they have the last years a lot of trouble with the Sint Nicolas entries as with the "coloured" knight (knecht) or is it servant in English?

But Dirk, I would say go on...go on...we will see...I have also a lot to say about our former Belgian Congo...

Kind regards from Paul.

Dirk,

and the links that I mentioned:
https://reshistorica.forumotion.com/t910-colonial-attitudes-in-the-thirties
https://reshistorica.forumotion.com/t376p300-the-things-we-learnt-from-children-s-literature

But the complete interview with Hergé with english subtitles isn't available anymore due to author rights of Moulissart
but I found this


And the English subtitles are for once easy to read and conform with the French spoken...

Kind regards from Paul.

Is that Herge as in the Adventures of Tintin?

I know I said I wasn't going to post but having been to French conversation we were looking at articles about the Tour de France and then about plastic in the oceans.  The latter seemed timely because there has been a lot about plastic polluting the oceans and killing marine life on Sky News on YouTube of late.

Lady,

of course it are the albums of Hergé (RRR from Remi and Zzjj from Georges) As you know we here in the former county of Flanders don't pronounce the "h" as in French, hence when spoken it is "erzzja" (tried to write in English pronunciation...) MM will be able to pronounce it the French way or our dialect way...
Read once the link that I posted yesterday
https://reshistorica.forumotion.com/t376p300-the-things-we-learnt-from-children-s-literature
And about the hard cover albums that I read from 1952 on, the last ones I didn't read anymore instantly while I was moved to another city and no time anymore. And the last ones were only appearing when I was already at the factory.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Tintin
And one of the hardcovers as I had in my hand reading in 1952
https://www.boekwinkeltjes.nl/su/?p=1&sort=prijs&order=1&prijsvan=&prijstot=&qs=&qt=kuifje&qo=&t=0&n=0

And of course you can find them all in French and it is a pleasant way to learn French, if you, as you, have already a good grasp of French.

Kind regards from Paul.

I'm sure I've mentioned the Bengo the Boxer Pup here before.  It was a cartoon which was a component of Whirligig a children's TV programme from the 1950s in the UK.  I always thought "Tim" who told and illustrated the stories was Belgian (I used to think he sounded like Armand Denis).  Obviously my 5 or 6 year old ears couldn't differentiate between Belgian and Austrian.  The writer/illustrator William Timym (known as "Tim") was naturalised British but born in Austria.  www.turnipnet.com/whirligig/tv/children/other/bengo.htm  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Timym

Not directly linked to Herge, except that I once thought "Tim" was Belgian.  But then (and I may have mentioned this before also) I thought Georges Simenon was French as he wrote about a Paris based detective (Maigret) but he was in fact from Liege.

Lady,

yes our Simenon...also a Georges as our Rémy...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Simenon
I read several "pockets" of Maigret in French (not that expensive in the time in pocket form) and many available in the local library.

Lady, the whole evening reading a long thread on Passion Histoire, with at least two rather knowledgeable nearly experts in it and starting in 2012 about the evergreen: "the fall of the Roman empire" continuity, or catastrophy and all between the  two and directly related to my recent thread here about the Merovingians and yes about the 5th and 6th century. When I reply I have to be prepared with some background, that I have to read first.
Having only the evenings to study and reply, I am many times short of time. Still not retired with a daily workload...As MM with his bed and breakfast...and now GG in the politics again and that is also a busy entertainment...we need some contributors that are really retired as I guess a Temperance or a Priscilla or a nordmann if he can descend to some "earthlings" as we...of course everyone has to have a desire to keep this board floating...

Kind regards from Paul.

PaulRyckier wrote:

...with at least two rather knowledgeable nearly experts...  

Oh, Paul, I am sorry, but that did make me laugh. How does one qualify as a "nearly expert"? I am a nearly expert on many things, especially after two or three glasses of good wine.

PaulRyckier wrote:

...of course everyone has to have a desire to keep this board floating...

All sorts of Titanic imagery come to mind. Who's frantically shuffling the deckchairs around, and who's playing his violin with hysterical abandon? And what on earth is the Captain up to?

I suppose we could try stuffing the hole in the side with something sensible - maybe, just maybe, it's not too late...

Thinking of what you said on another thread, Temperance, I'd offer Larry a home if push came to shove though he might find it a bit of a come down chez-moi after his present residence.

The captain could be on holiday.  Nothing wrong with with being semi-retired and working though as my work is from home and sedentary it doesn't really put me in touch with people other than virtually.

Anyway, not very interesting but I did a trip to the launderette (laundromat) this afternoon and to keep myself occupied I took a book to read.  It was a Francis Durbridge "Paul Temple" thriller.  In the story an unfortunate character who is killed off is referred to after his death as being "photographed from more angles than Marilyn Monroe".  Of course that is dated.  I wondered what one might say nowadays - "photographed from more angles than Kim Kardashian".  Of course in these days of the "selfie" and the smart phone photographs are ubiquitous.  Some sayings come and go and some stay - I remember watching a film where a character observed about another regarding peroxide blonde hair colouring that "since Marilyn Monroe it's come out like a rash" (it being artificial blondness).  The fake blondes may not be so obvious these days and there have been some fake brunettes though maybe not so many.

Temperance,

"Oh, Paul, I am sorry, but that did make me laugh. How does one qualify as a "nearly expert"? I am a nearly expert on many things, especially after two or three glasses of good wine."


You know me Temperance, sometimes I create new words in English...for instance I wanted to use a word this evening in French as I use it in English, and I found out that in French it was a complete other connotation than in English and so I used another word and now I don't remember anymore that word with another meaning in French and English...perhaps we have to have once a thread on the "language" about the Creolisation  (perhaps also a new word in English  )...


Yes "nearly experts" in my connotation that are people, who, as we, are not real historians, but would be ones (perhaps many times more serious than them) and have a great expertise on a certain narrow field of history, in the case that I mentioned a certain Pédro, who is specialized in the soldiers of the Roman Empire era I guess till the 5th century and as such is an expert about all things Roman of that era, while he had to study it to understand better his "soldiers" theme...
Mine could be: Leopold III, the 18 days campaign (1940) and the itinary of the Belgian government from its flight from the Castle of Wijnendale till the start of the government in exile in London.


Temperance, you haven't to take all my utterings on face value ...better to "déguster" some two glasses of "good"! wine...


Kind regards from Paul.

And I saw it yesterday...179 views on the third of July...an absolute record for this board...as I see it, it is, I guess, about the nordmann comments to me about the Blessed Virgin Mary and its related story of his father...yes it seems we have sometimes quite a "full" Irish public...I don't know from which "side" (faction?)...

Kind regards from Paul.

I don't know why - but having a quick look at a (sensible) YouTube video today as well as the advertisement for control underwear (to hold the tummy/stomach in) and adverts about releasing equity in property (I'm not doing that in a million years) I had an advert for Flemishmasters.com - 450 years of Breughel.  An advert suggesting that people "Get to know Flanders".  I wonder if it is the time I have mentioned anything Flemish when visiting this site that has caused the appearance of that advert.

Lady,

I think that you have looked too much to my Bruges and Flemish related subjects (BTW what is the difference between a Bruges' subject and a British subject?) But yes as most of English is French, you can as good ask what is the difference between un sujet belge (de Hergé for instance) and un sujet belge de la Belgique?).

Kind regards from Paul.

PS and now quickly back to my late antiquity Peter Brown and all that...

Glad to see you both GG and Vizzer...I felt so lonely..if it wasn't from the two ladies and Nielsen...

Kind regards to everybody from Paul.

LadyinRetirement wrote:

I'm not one of those people that goes out of her way to be there waving the flag if a member of the royal family visits my town

This reminds of an episode last weekend following the conclusion of the Ladies' Singles Final at Wimbledon when the sycophantic BBC commentator told the viewers that they might just witness "the big moment" when the champion would meet the duchess of Cambridge. In the end Simona Halep whizzed strait passed her seemingly oblivious of who she was and had to be pushed back in the direction of Kate Middleton by one of the club officials. Hilarious!

That's priceless Vizzer.

Well, yesterday I wasn't well - cough and extreme fatigue so stayed in bed most of the day and didn't go to church - and didn't check the site because it has been so quiet.  Then the day I wasn't there the site gets lively again!!

Lady, Nielsen, MM, Caro,

I came too late in. I have read all your replies, but nearing midnight overhere already again! my comments will be for tomorrow...

Kind regards to the four of you from Paul.

Welcome to the boards James.

you have to excuse me (as residing in the Low Countries) for not knowing that much about British history and the name, as your "nom de plume" suggests.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Luttrell
But I guess, nordmann, Vizzer, Green George, Meles meles, LiR, Temperance, Triceratops, embedded in British history, will know your guy. And why not Caro from New Zealand, while he had a more international role in the war of American independence?

Kind regards from Paul.

LadyinRetirement wrote:

Then the day I wasn't there the site gets lively again!

That's the silly season for you LiR. July and August are traditionally quiet news months. And the board tends to quieten down too. People on holiday or in the garden etc.

That said - I was startled by a news report yesterday which suggested that there were forest fires in Greenland. The reason is that one could probably count the number of trees on that large Arctic island on two hands and two feet. Then I realised that although the report had mentioned Siberia, Scandinavia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland and had shown pictures of burning woodland in Russia - the actual phrase used was 'wild fires'. And, yes, dry tundra does indeed burn in Greenland and neither is 2019 the first year in which this has happened. Still - I can't decide whether I should be concerned about global warming or else admiring of the skill of the reporter for having maximised the impact of a relatively mundane story on an otherwise slow news day.

Vizzer,

"And, yes, dry tundra does indeed burn in Greenland and neither is 2019 the first year in which this has happened. Still - I can't decide whether I should be concerned about global warming or else admiring of the skill of the reporter for having maximised the impact of a relatively mundane story on an otherwise slow news day."

I would say as LiR: Vizzer, that's priceless...
Or perhaps in my own words: that is the fine approach...one has to read first the whole sentence and after the thinking process start to appreciate the "pointe"

Kind regards from Paul.

I don't know if this subject has been mentioned before but my Acer (i.e. my less powerful) laptop which has Microsoft's Bing as its home server suggests various news stories on its home page.  Most of the stories are of the gossip variety but there was something today about "wolf children".  I thought it might refer to a real life Romulus and Remus type story, but when I looked at it, it referred to the fate of orphaned (or at least separated from their parents) children of East Prussian ethnicity who were put in a situation where they had to live on very little except their wits in the immediate aftermath of World War II trying to make their way in Poland or Lithuania (under the suzerainty of the USSR then).  I know that changes in the German/Polish border after the second world war have been discussed on this site before and it is commonplace knowledge that there were many displaced persons in immediate post-war Europe.  However, I read a blog report written by one of the survivors of the "wolf children" (written about 10-12 years ago now in 2019).  I found it moving and I had not known of these particular displaced children before. http://wolfskinderproject.blogspot.com/

When I become interested in a subject I can become a bit obsessed (hopefully not unhealthily so).  But I felt compelled to look online to see what I could unearth about the wolf children.  There was a German film on the subject a few years ago.  More recently a Lithuanian historical novel In the Shadow of Wolves was named book of the month (in this very month of July 2019) in The Times newspaper so that might be why the matter was mentioned on Bing's (or Microsoft's?} website.  It may be a book I will try to find.  https://lithuaniatribune.com/in-the-shadow-of-wolves-gets-book-of-the-month-in-the-uk/

Back to everyday life  - I took Pebbles my cat to the vet this morning.  She's acting normally but she's l weight and been "loose" the nether end and also needed new ear drops and now they don't sell it over the counter, they have to see the animal.  The vet said she might have ear mites as well as the allergy she always has and has given a "spot on" treatment at the back of the neck.  Her remaining teeth are not all that wonderful.  What worried me was that her left kidney has become enlarged.  Anyway the vet has taken some bloods and she will come back to me by telephone later today.  I know as people say "only a cat" but I am fond of her.

Editing the above - have had the results of cat's blood tests.  It seems she has an inflammation of the gut - could be run of the mill or could be a serious illness we all know the name of.  Trying bland food and antibiotics in first instance - let's hope it is the first possibility.

I haven't been able to find anything on the board about refugees.  I knew of course that borders changed for some European countries after the Second World War.  I found a site pertaining to things German but written in English which had an article about the absorption of people displaced from the "old" parts of Germany into that part of Germany that remained after World War II and it wasn't all plain sailing (especially as much of Germany was in ruins immediately post-war).  https://www.dw.com/en/what-germanys-post-war-refugees-taught-us-about-integration/a-18575558  The same site had some thoughts on Bo-Jo but I wasn't able to copy that (for the Brexit thread).

Post deleted because it was an (unintentional) duplicate.

I hope Pebbles is OK, LiR - no cat is "just a cat". Try not to worry too much.

Wonder if MM's moggy has had her kittens (second batch) yet?

LadyinRetirement wrote:

I haven't been able to find anything on the board about refugees.  I knew of course that borders changed for some European countries after the Second World War.  I found a site pertaining to things German but written in English which had an article about the absorption of people displaced from the "old" parts of Germany into that part of Germany that remained after World War II and it wasn't all plain sailing (especially as much of Germany was in ruins immediately post-war).  https://www.dw.com/en/what-germanys-post-war-refugees-taught-us-about-integration/a-18575558  The same site had some thoughts on Bo-Jo but I wasn't able to copy that (for the Brexit thread).

 
Lady,

we discussed it here on the board indeed in depth the German refugees and the Bund der Vertriebenen, but as the search motor seems only to react to titles of threads and not words and as I and you are always wandering off from the subject of the title it is nearly impossible to find even your own messages back, while it goes only one year back.
But I remember I suppose all what I have said in the time and it is easy to find the subjects back again on internet...

To start with, and that I think was not in my former replies, but perhaps I mentioned it in another thread...
I read that many moving stories about Jewish people trying to escape the Nazi horror and murder, the most moving one among the many:
And I didn't find it again as I see now why: but I found it quickly because I found my own text back on this forum from January 1919 by making the same error as in January
https://reshistorica.forumotion.com/t1326-the-last-survivors
"To come back on the "Last survivors", I was in the time interested in survival stories of WWII, especially in the Jewish ones. And as you mention the "pshychobabble", I was thrilled to read to what a human being is capable in times of life danger. I also still today see, especially on the French/German Arte the testimonies and life description of surviving ones of WWII including or perhaps mostly Jewish people.
About novels of surviving Jewish people, I remember as a highlight the story of a nine year old Hungarian girl and her surviving in 1944.
I read it in Dutch from the local library Bruges Belgium, but I mentioned it already on the BBC board and I knew by that the English title...
But nordmann is right when you seek on Google you don't find that much specific and I added unless you know the exact terms.
And so I came to nothing while I put "Burning castles" in google until I saw in the 60th or sowhat entry that it was "castles burning" and that the author was the girl: "Magda Denes" and then immediately I found everything. For a lot of entries one has to subscribe nowadays as the "Washington Post", who had also an article about her.
https://www.sfgate.com/books/article/A-Child-s-Light-in-the-Darkness-of-the-Holocaust-2851102.php
https://www.amazon.com/Castles-Burning-Childs-Life-War/dp/0684846888
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/514939.Castles_Burning
"There are few figures in literature as riveting as the precocious nine-year-old Magda Denes who narrates this story. Her stubborn self-command and irrepressible awareness of the absurd make her in her mother's eyes "impossibly sarcastic, bigmouthed, insolent, and far too smart" for her own good. When her family goes into hiding from the fascist Arrow-Cross, she is torn from the "castle" of intimacies shared with her adored and adoring older brother and plunged into a world of incomprehensible deprivation, separation, and loss. Her rage, and her ability to feel devastating sorrow and still to insist on life, will reach every reader at the core. Recounting an odyssey through the wreckage and homelessness of postwar Europe, Castles Burning embodies a powerful personality, a stunning gift for prose and storytelling, a remarkable sense of humor, and true emotional wisdom and makes a magnificent contribution to the literature of childhood and war.""

And these same Jewish people or the children from, have done the same to the Palestinians even up to nowadays on the West Bank. As I was moved by the stories of these Jewish novels I am a bit angry that they have not learned from their stories. The same for this moving novels and films, from which I saw many as the escape from Germans from Eastern Prussia and the biggest drowning in history of the Gustloff, more victims than the Titanic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Wilhelm_Gustloff
but as you see on the wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federation_of_Expellees

(have to take a coffee pauze with the partner, eating some strawberries with "crème fraîche" as we say, in France is it "chantilly")

as you can see from the wiki those German refugees are only lamenting about their fate and all the others are not their "Volk" as the Poles and all the other refugees from WWII and that was perhaps not so surprizing as certainly in the start, the "Bund" was lead by ex-Nazis...and as I saw recently they are still lamenting...and also as I heard in Varna (Bulgaria) former Ost-Deutsche ladies speaking to each other about Wolga Deutsche in their neighbourhood: they can nearly speak German as Russian is their mother language and they behave as Russians...disgusting...but perhaps it is all "human"...

 https://www.dw.com/en/what-germanys-post-war-refugees-taught-us-about-integration/a-18575558

Die Deutsche Welle, although bringing interesting news as the BBC, and trying to spread the German culture and thinking all over the welt, I have seen during the years as many times biased in favour of the own history...many times embellishing stories that are rather negative...and as the ZDF in favour of the own Deutsche Volk...but who can blame them...others aren't perhaps that better...

Kind regards from Paul.

A friendly neighbour of mine (sadly deceased a few years ago) was married (she was a widow by the time I knew her) to a Palestinian man and she had a poor opinion of the state of Israel.  That said, when I was in London I knew a Jewish lady (not religious) - she and her husband (not Jewish) used to send money to the Palestinians.  The Jewish lady was from Lithuania but her parents decided they didn't like what they saw (pre- World War II) with German influence (and later forces) moving eastwards and went to what was then Palestine before the outbreak of war.  She met her (British) husband in Palestine/Israel after the war.

Hello fellow posters,

I haven't been here for a long time and felt that an explanation was necessary. 

I had cancer in 2008 and 2010; the blasted thing has come back again, but this time has metastasised, so it's in my bones, marrow and basically everywhere.  I am being looked after by MacMillan nurses and have chemo tablets every day, plus monthly stomach injections and daily calcium tablets. I feel tired much of the time, too tired to do any research or contribute to a board such as this. I do like reading the posts though, all very interesting to me. I have also taken out a subscription to the World Current Archaeology magazine, so that's another nice thing to look forward to and read. 

The only other positive thing is that (because I have a Blue Badge, for UK drivers with mobility problems) I have found that you can book a car parking space right outside the British Museum - in the courtyard next to the Ionic (or is it Corinthian?) columns. How fabulous is that? We went last Sunday and the security guards walked ahead of us, blowing a whistle to make all the people milling around move out of the way. It was a real Godsend as I could devote my energy to looking at the treasures, rather than an exhausting journey by public transport.

Dear Hatsheput,

read once my message that I just sent to Lady in retirement
https://reshistorica.forumotion.com/t376p350-the-things-we-learnt-from-children-s-literature

As I have seen it with the partner some 8 years ago and now last year with a near acquaintance, I can only praise you for your courage.
Hoping that in your difficult situation, there will nevertheless come some light at the horizon,

with sympathy from another human.

LadyinRetirement wrote:

A friendly neighbour of mine (sadly deceased a few years ago) was married (she was a widow by the time I knew her) to a Palestinian man and she had a poor opinion of the state of Israel.  That said, when I was in London I knew a Jewish lady (not religious) - she and her husband (not Jewish) used to send money to the Palestinians.  The Jewish lady was from Lithuania but her parents decided they didn't like what they saw (pre- World War II) with German influence (and later forces) moving eastwards and went to what was then Palestine before the outbreak of war.  She met her (British) husband in Palestine/Israel after the war.

Lady,

yes there are many others than those that I mentioned. A rather good "tour d'horizon" is the wiki. Some will say that it is not "accurate", but those can always seek for more in depth information, recommended to not fall in the trap of biased information.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_Israeli_government

And yes mis-information isn't that easy to track...
From our mutual acquintance Isleifson/ Laumesfeld on Historum
https://historum.com/threads/german-prisoners-on-the-east-front.179853/page-5

Kind regards from Paul.

I also am sorry to hear you have been unwell, Hatshepsut.  I'm glad that you are still getting around and that's a great story about being able to reserve a spot close to the entrance of the British Museum.  I take a calcium tablet daily (because of the osteoporosis) and take an alendronic acid once a week.  I don't know if you read where I was diagnosed with coeliac disease in autumn 2016.  The condition can be managed if I keep off gluten of course. I do get tired sometimes but it's insignificant compared to your travails.  I'm glad you find the entries here of interest - I fear mine are "low brow" sometimes.

lovely posters, 

I am continuing to enjoy many things in life - food, wine, reading, our pets, selective TV programmes and of course the internet. There's lots of things to keep one occupied even when not 100% active. I am taking the attitude that I am living with cancer, rather than dying of it. 

The most disappointing aspect so far is that I am unable to enjoy air travel due to insurance concerns. Usually, people are on a chemo course and it has an end date. When I had my earlier cancers (2008 and 2010) I was able to carry on as normal with holiday arrangements. Now, when I answer the questions put to me by the insurer, I am precluded from cover as my treatment is 'ongoing' and will be for the rest of my days. We tried an expedition in the car to France in June (it's easier for us in the south of England to get to France than visit our families in Yorkshire). We had a lovely sedate time; we saw the D-Day landing beaches, the chateau in Saumur, stayed in Dinan to enjoy the medieval walled town, but we were beaten back home not by my illness but by the weather. It was beastly hot so we Eurotunnelled back home to cooler weather.

Lady In Retirement, my injection (monthly, in the stomach. Not painful at all) is for strengthening my bones. It has acid in its full pharmaceutical name, but the brand name is Denusomab. It has worked a  miracle for me with reducing bone pain and allowing me to get back to (almost) a normal life. I was originally advised not to carry, lift or push weights (so no pushing a supermarket trolley for instance or carrying washing to the line outside). Now, I can manage to do these things, slowly and with a bit of breathlessness, but at least I can manage to do them. Small daily victories!

I have to sit up or stand up straight when I take my weekly alendrotnic acid tablet.  Apparently it can cause oesophageal cancer hence the reason I have to sit up straight for a half hour after I take the pill. I didn't know that until a friend told me (it's probably in the paperwork - which I do usually read but I must have missed it).  I made a mistake taking my morning tablets all at once and had had some diarrhoea - I should have left a couple of hours between taking my daily calcium tablet and a ferrous sulphate tablet because they can interact with each other and not in a good way.  One of the ladies I know from the U3A who is a retired nurse looked at me with a surprised (as in aghast) face when I told her of my mistake.

Great that you are carrying on as near to normal as sensibly feasible, Hatshepsut.

Talking about carrying on normally, I had slept badly last night so went to have a "nap" in the afternoon. Now at 21.11 hours I have awoken too late to go to the folk night I meant to attend.  Still, it's probably done me good to catch up on sleep - hopefully it won't stop me going back to sleep tonight.  It seems as if many Res Historians are still on holiday.....

Dear Hatsheput, I was thinking about a more adequate reply about your situation, but as I see it, I can only repeat as yesterday that I have great respect for your courage in such difficult circumstances.

Kind regards from Paul.

I visited Saumur (as in I was in the same general region - I was more in Loire-et-Cher) many years ago. So many interesting chateaux in that region - not all of them well known.

Lady,

"It seems as if many Res Historians are still on holiday...."

as I see it at the B&B of the former daughter in law, it is now one of the tops of the season, especially in France (augustus holiday month) and in the rest of Europe many make the bridge at Mary Assumption 15 augustus, that feast still a holiday in the catholic tradition. And as such I guess that MM comes hands short to handle his guests for the best and is perhaps happy that he has some sleep there in the South of France...

as for Temperance, I hope she is not vexed by my reply to her about the UN human rights and the true liberal thinking...
https://reshistorica.forumotion.com/t874p900-religions-the-benefits

and yes we know, nordmann comes only in if he is really interested by the topic...

Kind regards from Paul.

...yes Paul, and I know one Catholic person who forgets that feast nearly every year.....

Hi Hatshepsut,

Your posts above rather put into perspective all our squabbles and huffy episodes here. I can only echo others' words and say, as one human to another, I'm thinking of you. You couldn't be in better hands than those of the MacMillan nurses. 

I hope this doesn't distress you, but you have something in common with Boris Johnson  . He has written somewhere that, as a young man, his idea of a really good time was to whizz across London on the Tube and spend the day in the British Museum. So he can't be all bad after all! But even he now, in his exalted position as Prime Minister, would not receive better treatment on arrival than you did! You must have felt like royalty! I'm so glad you had a good day there - it's a fantastic place.

Won't say, "Stay strong" because I don't want to sound like Meghan Markle. History and gawping at anything historical are my passions too - keep posting!

Best wishes,

Temp.


PS No, I'm not sulking, Paul! 

I agree fully with what Temp and others have said, Hatshepsut, and wish you well in your recovery (as a very irate "sykepleier" informed me here in Norway - recovery is all about getting yourself back together, not getting the machinery back to factory settings).

I'm presently sojourning in the least insane parts of the non-virtual "Pretanic Isles" so haven't had much time to frequent the virtual bar, alas. However, while I'm here I'll stand a quick round of cuirm for all present (or an uisce beatha for those so inclined), and with a nod and a "smeadadh beag" exit discreetly stage left ...

Oi,oi!


Can you still get pickled gannets in here!?