What will you get up to today, and what activities have you already got up to?

Let us know who won Ears...we're rooting for you!

I suspect the lawn stands a fair chance.

wagi wrote:Let us know who won Ears...we're rooting for you!

Oh, you!

I won't reveal who won, but a considerable amount of one of us is now in a big, green sack on the driveway. I'll let you decide which one of us that is.

I believe we may require a clue...

I plan to clean the fishtank, sew much of the new(est) flag and maybe even attempt to finish the medieval boxer shorts!

I trust there will be an illustrated 'how-to' thread on the boxer shorts? Just in case any of want some for ourselves?

Today marked ten years since the first time I arrived in Brazil and met Edson. We consider that our anniversary. We actually entered into a civil union but that was years later after we'd been together, so we mark this date instead.

wagi wrote:Today marked ten years since the first time I arrived in Brazil and met Edson. We consider that our anniversary. We actually entered into a civil union but that was years later after we'd been together, so we mark this date instead.

10 years! Congratulations. I trust there was a big party... and I trust that the bloke down the hallway who lent you his shower was invited!

Today, I am going to Chessington World of Adventures (including the zoo!) I have been excited about this for some time because during the weekdays in May, all the rides go round twice! I plan to purchase my guest lunch at the 'Greedy Goblin' as well!

wagi wrote:Today marked ten years since the first time I arrived in Brazil and met Edson. We consider that our anniversary. We actually entered into a civil union but that was years later after we'd been together, so we mark this date instead.

This pleases me; I approve of this message.

wagi wrote:I trust there will be an illustrated 'how-to' thread on the boxer shorts? Just in case any of want some for ourselves?

There might just have to be a "finished" photo - though I will have to be careful not to drive Blarg wild with desire!

El Frog wrote:There might just have to be a "finished" photo - though I will have to be careful not to drive Blarg wild with desire!

Obviously, if it drives Evening Starfish wild with desire, I will consider it a worthwhile occurrence!

Just make sure you launder them more often than they likely did back when they were "fashionable"!

Thank you for your well wishes! As well yesterday the handyman stopped by, unplugged the bathroom sink, installed a light fixture, repaired a non-functioning electrical outlet and discovered that the hot water heater we thought was old and didn't work at all, actually does!

It only serves the bathtub which we don't use, but glad to know it works. He also fixed the electric water heater on the bathroom sink and installed a new electric shower head! One can now shave with running hot water again and the shower nozzles don't spray water six feet away on the wall!

A true red-letter day if you ask me!

Hang on - civil union, not marriage? Wagi.....are you gay? I was unaware of this! Gay marriages are acceptable here in the UK, are they not in Brazil?

wagi wrote:Just make sure you launder them more often than they likely did back when they were "fashionable"!

Believe it or not, laundry was done a lot back then. Everyone (with a few exceptions, much like today) washed regularly as it was considered a sin to be dirty any longer than was necessary. Ever heard the phrase "Cleanliness is next to Godliness"? It is a medieval idea.

El Frog wrote:Hang on - civil union, not marriage? Wagi.....are you gay? I was unaware of this! Gay marriages are acceptable here in the UK, are they not in Brazil?

You didn't know? Oh bless.

Also, it is not "acceptable" in the UK. Gay marriage is illegal here too. Civil partnerships are legal though. I think it's all silly personally. Gender should ge a completely non issue with regards to everything.

Aidan wrote:

El Frog wrote:Hang on - civil union, not marriage? Wagi.....are you gay? I was unaware of this! Gay marriages are acceptable here in the UK, are they not in Brazil?

You didn't know? Oh bless.

Also, it is not "acceptable" in the UK. Gay marriage is illegal here too. Civil partnerships are legal though. I think it's all silly personally. Gender should ge a completely non issue with regards to everything.

I suspect I was unaware of potential gayness as Wagi had never mentioned it to me!

The Civil Partnership in the UK is a marriage in all but name as it covers such things as inheritance, partner's rights, etc.

Me? Gay? Child I'm a big old poof, a regular flamer!

I can understand the confusion as I was married and have a daughter - yes, I've batted for both teams... I also look at it as something quite normal so I've never felt the need to make it a part of introductions like some people do: "Hi! My name is Bob...I'm gay! Glad to meet you!". Or play teenage drama queen as a few others do feeling they need to share their angst of growing up queer with everyone. I'm quite open about it if it's part of a conversation, but overall I'm a fairly private person (witness that I have less than 40 Facebook friends...), so it's not surprising you didn't know.

Civil Unions are allowed here in Brazil by the courts, not by law. That's been stuck in the Congress here for years, same with actual marriage. They actually gave it to same sex partners of Brazilian citizens who had a marriage or civil union elsewhere first, then they allowed those such as myself to get a civil union here in Brazil so that we could apply for a permanent visa to live here. Now they allow same sex Brazilian couples to also get a civil union. Even for straights civil unions were quite common here becuae of divorce and the Catholic church. My home state of Washington also has civil unions, but it doesn't effect immigration which the federal government handles, and they still have that hateful 'Defense of Marriage" act in place, so we live here

wagi wrote:Me? Gay? Child I'm a big old poof, a regular flamer!

My favourite "term" for gays comes from the actor, Edward Fox. The story goes that at the first rehearsal for a new play, he apparently proclaimed (for no reason): "I'm glad there are no homosexuals here. The last play was an absolute FLEET OF BERTIES!"

My shoes tremble with delight!! I like that one!

I had heard Terry Thomas call some people a "SHOWER OF BERTIES" many, many years ago, but I had no idea what it meant at the time. As you can imagine, I have now been known to use both of these phrases!

Yesterday, I hopped on Millennium Force for the first time this, her 10th anniversary year.

MF is my favorite ride in the park, but I have forever been positively terrified of something going wrong on the lift, and having to maneuver myself out of the 45-degree angle train and into that little maintenance cart to get back to the ground.

Well, halfway up the lift, the train suddenly halted all movement. I turned to hubby riding next to me, and said only "You've got to be fucking kidding me" while clutching the lap bar for dear life.

We were up there for 20 minutes... some idiot decided to unbuckle their seatbelt as we were leaving the station, so they had to get management and maintenance (regular ride ops are not allowed to use the funicular cart on their own) to ride up and have everyone prove that their seatbelts were secure.

While we were waiting, I was able to calm down enough to wiggle my cell telephonic communications device out and snap a pic, which I will now post for you to enjoy:



After all that, we were given the option to ride again without getting out of the train... so, I've finally made a complete circuit on Millennium Force, riding over the transfer track between unload and load. Happy Birthday, Millie!

... That photo is larger, and has Dragster in it, too.. but this forum has chopped it off for Hears' mother's sake.

20 minutes? I won't have lasted two (not that you'd drag my fat ass on it in the first place anyways...).

Thankfully, we were at the back of the train, and didn't get very far up the lift before they stopped us. I'd guess we were only at about 100 feet up. Any higher than that, and I'm sure I wouldn't have been keeping my cool as much as I did.

I too have a major problem with heights, so I would have struggled. However, had Wagi been there, we could have woven his back hair into a rope and climbed down!

I handed in my portfolio for year 1 of my architecture course, which means 3 weeks off from work....ahhhh bliss.

Spent yesterday painting, which is something I haven't done in a while. I spent the day outside in the glorious Manchester sun (I know, we're all surprised) and got incredibly sunburnt.

Today, I need to clean the absolute dump of a flat I live in. Let's just say all the papers and models need some serious organising.

I'm doing coursework, which is due in on monday. Does anyone happen to know how shakespeare portrays the character of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet?

But later, i'm going to Birmingham to watch F1 Stockcars! whooop!

The Heth wrote:I handed in my portfolio for year 1 of my architecture course, which means 3 weeks off from work....ahhhh bliss.

Spent yesterday painting, which is something I haven't done in a while. I spent the day outside in the glorious Manchester sun (I know, we're all surprised) and got incredibly sunburnt.

Today, I need to clean the absolute dump of a flat I live in. Let's just say all the papers and models need some serious organising.

I saw your painting in the Art Thread on iratA this morning. Even as a work-in-progress, it looks rather smashing! I understand no CS was used? Even more impressive!

Get.Creative wrote:I'm doing coursework, which is due in on monday. Does anyone happen to know how shakespeare portrays the character of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet?

I feel for you, I really do!

Thanks, this is terribly boring.

We picked up our new car last night. We bought a 2010 Honda Fit XLX to replace our three year old one. It's a boring and way-to-small car for Americans, but it the standard size for one here in Brazil, plus I fit in it just fine, back hair and all.

It's also Flex, so can use both gasoline and/or alcohol. We've been waiting since Tuesday when we dropped off the old car for them to add the tinting and armor coating to the windows on the new one, it was done at 5.30pm. Here in SP, depending on the last number of your license plate, you are forbidden from driving during rush hour - 6 - 10 am and then again 5 - 8 pm one day a week. Our day is Friday, but luckily there was a mall a block away where we could pull into and park until 8.

wagi wrote:Here in SP, depending on the last number of your license plate, you are forbidden from driving during rush hour - 6 - 10 am and then again 5 - 8 pm one day a week.

what is that for? is it to stop congestion/pollution?

I am pleased because I had my last ever English Literature lesson yesterday!

In other news, I got my eyes tested today, and will be getting glasses in 3-4 working days...

Get.Creative wrote:

wagi wrote:Here in SP, depending on the last number of your license plate, you are forbidden from driving during rush hour - 6 - 10 am and then again 5 - 8 pm one day a week.

what is that for? is it to stop congestion/pollution?

Both. São Paulo has over 20 million in the Metropolitan area, 12 million inside the city limits and over 4 million cars registered just in the city. There aren't enough roads and highways for them all. We've had many days where we have 280 kilometers of backups just on the major routes at one time during evening rush.

My partner works in a small town 60 kilometers (37 miles) outside the city, and some nights he leaves work at 7 pm and doesn't get home until 10.30 pm., and most of that is spent on the final 11 Kilometers/7 miles from the city limits to our place downtown.

^ Wish I had known that before my geography exam! Thanks, it may still come in handy.