The General Chat Thread (2023)

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rascal said:
My wife wont allow politics be discussed here.

Russ
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Sadly it's not politics or faith that caused the problems with our family. 1 person with 2 problems/obsessions, and a dark family secret going back many generations. Take money out of the equation and most of the issues with at least my mother's side would have gone (except the dark secret), but my grandfather was a managing director of a major UK company before it was privatised, so a very senior civil servant which has meant money has always been around for them, but he made his children earn their living which the problem one never managed particularly well.

As for my biological father's side of the family, it is my father that was the problem, alcoholic, drug dealer & drug (mis)user of the 60s with a physically violent temper and a peculiar set of "morals". Little can cure all of that, except for him moving to South America. Just a shame he survived and worse still, came backbecause I now have a brother who thinks getting in touch with his biological father will somehow help him sort out his issues. That's the last thing it will do. But he doesn't remember our father, I do.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Sadly it's not politics or faith that caused the problems with our family. 1 person with 2 problems/obsessions, and a dark family secret going back many generations. Take money out of the equation and most of the issues with at least my mother's side would have gone (except the dark secret), but my grandfather was a managing director of a major UK company before it was privatised, so a very senior civil servant which has meant money has always been around for them, but he made his children earn their living which the problem one never managed particularly well.

As for my biological father's side of the family, it is my father that was the problem, alcoholic, drug dealer & drug (mis)user of the 60s with a physically violent temper and a peculiar set of "morals". Little can cure all of that, except for him moving to South America. Just a shame he survived and worse still, came backbecause I now have a brother who thinks getting in touch with his biological father will somehow help him sort out his issues. That's the last thing it will do. But he doesn't remember our father, I do.
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I don't know what to say. Very complex, you seem to have risen above it and that's all you can do.

Russ
 
rascal said:
I don't know what to say. Very complex, you seem to have risen above it and that's all you can do.

Russ
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Or ran away to the other side of the world!

Families are friends you don't get to choose or get to unfriend.

I've been very lucky with my hubby and his family though and for that I will always be exceptionally thankful.
 
There are connections that make you feel tied to family but you can unfriend anyone. It's just you have to achieve a level of disconnect with them that's hard to do when emotions are involved. I have nothing to do with my in-laws and we live in the same field as my mother and father in law.

Their lack of morality isn't something I can live with. They worship money above all else and use the people around them to achieve their goals as if they are disposable or irrelevant for anything else other than their own aggrandisement.

Being used or using others isn't my way so I politely and quietly withdrew. It was quite a bumpy ride to start with as they love to dominate and control but I got there in the end. Now theres a pleasant status quo where they accept I'm just not part of it.

I have to say SatNavSaysStraightOn I'm curious as to what a dark secret can be that it can't be mentioned? It's obviously not something you've done so whatever it is, thats not on you.

Sounds like you had a look at the toxicity around you and wisely chose to cycle off!
 
Sitting in an Indian family-owned Dairy Queen right now, listening to one of the daughters trying to take the order of an elderly woman.

One thing is universal across cultures - if someone can’t understand you, just say the same thing again, but MUCH LOUDER!!! :laugh:
 
Delia Ann Smith CH CBE is 82 years old today.

Delia.jpg
 
I was snooping for different single plates at a nearby thrift store today. My son has started a food blog and asked me to send him some photos of my dinners. Anyhoo, I found this one with a logo of a French Restaurant named Le Procope . Came home and googled it and turns out it is the oldest cafe in Paris that goes way back to 1687. Leave it up to somebody from around here to steal a plate from a fancy restaurant in Paris.

Le Procope / Brasserie / Paris
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For the non-Americans here (most members):

It is a Monday Holiday in the US. Juneteenth. It celebrates the real "official" end of slavery in the US.

That date fell in mid June in 1865. Any history buffs will know that the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in January of 1863, but that was not the end of slavery. After the civil war, which was fought over slavery (despite what some people now say), the last enslaved people were officially freed in June of 1865... in Texas.

Many slave owners in the South sent their enslaved people to Texas during the civil war, for "safe keeping" until they figured the Confederacy would win the war, and they could bring them back to the new Confederate States of America. It didn't work out that way.

It was in June of 1865 when the US Army arrived in Texas and "officially" ended slavery in the USA. I use quotes around "officially" because there were loopholes that took a while to overcome.

If you are curious about world history, I suggest you look into this chapter of US history. Here is a starting point...

What is Juneteenth? Learn the history behind the federal holiday's origin and name

CD
 
caseydog said:
For the non-Americans here (most members):

It is a Monday Holiday in the US. Juneteenth. It celebrates the real "official" end of slavery in the US.

That date fell in mid June in 1865. Any history buffs will know that the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in January of 1863, but that was not the end of slavery. After the civil war, which was fought over slavery (despite what some people now say), the last enslaved people were officially freed in June of 1865... in Texas.

Many slave owners in the South sent their enslaved people to Texas during the civil war, for "safe keeping" until they figured the Confederacy would win the war, and they could bring them back to the new Confederate States of America. It didn't work out that way.

It was in June of 1865 when the US Army arrived in Texas and "officially" ended slavery in the USA. I use quotes around "officially" because there were loopholes that took a while to overcome.

If you are curious about world history, I suggest you look into this chapter of US history. Here is a starting point...

What is Juneteenth? Learn the history behind the federal holiday's origin and name

CD
Click to expand...

I watch stuff on tv about America. Your country's history is amazing. The l.a state is facing changing times. Strange times.

Russ
 
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