April 2021 chitchat

Hey everyone, April fool's!!

PAN's comment about ET dumbing down their content for their hoped-for demographic prompted me to post this, so if you check it out and it isn't your cup of tea, blame her. :

There's a kid named JT Kelly from Kentucky (18-20 yrs old) who has a YouTube channel called "JT Reacts". His life story is horrific, but he's a real charmer and a delight to watch. He comes off academically dumb as a brick, but he's not stupid and is hugely curious and eager to learn.

He's also IN LOVE with Queen Elizabeth and the UK - especially Wales, for some reason - and most of his subscribers (and there are a lot of them) seem to be from the UK as well.They send him presents of things that represent the UK and he's been invited to stay with many of his followers if he ever gets to make the trip. Some of them have even unofficially adopted him! TBH some of the comments are as much fun as his videos.

If you need a bit of cheering up, or if you're just curious, check him out - especially the videos where he's opening gifts (they're adorably funny). It's worth a few minutes and will brighten your day!

How was everyone's Easter (those who were celebrating)? I got four Easter eggs - result!

Didn't celebrate but it was nice and quiet.

Hoping everyone had a blessed Easter/Passover.

All quiet here. Hope everyone's holidays were peaceful (and not too fattening! ).

LizzyNY wrote: (and not too fattening! ).

Cheesecake isn't fattening, right?  Right? 

      Right! Keep dreaming!

I made these for Easter.  Think it's going to be an annual tradition:

https://www.amytreasure.com/easter-egg-cheesecake/

Ooooooohh!!!! Those look good! Did you make them all by yourself? More important: Did you eat them all by yourself???????   

By the way, how's your garden doing?

If you can make cheesecake (the kind that doesn't need baking) then you can make these, dead easy.  Next year I'll put them into smaller Easter egg halves because it's a shit-load of cheesecake!

The garden's coming along nicely.  I'm trying to work up the willpower to plant out peas and the tomato seeds.  I'm getting excited because I've got some cotyledons coming up where I'd scattered seed, so something's clearly survived my rough love!

So, what's everyone else been up to recently?

Buckingham palace confirm that Prince Philip has died this morning.

Gave me quite a shock because normally I get my news from various websites and social media, but not this time: I always have the radio on in the background and I heard the BBC announcer suddenly say, "We interrupt our scheduled programme for this announcement," and I have to say my blood went cold for a second.  I guessed it was probably going to be about him because he'd been in hospital so long recently but before then, my mind went to a million places from the queen's death to the start of war before I got control of myself.  Awful, awful memories of princess Diana's death, which I also heard on the radio.

It's been on the news and in the papers here today. Such sad news, although at his age it must have been expected to happen sometime sooner rather than later. I can't imagine what it must be like for the Queen to lose her partner after so many years together - and for the country to lose someone who's been so prominent for so many years. Condolences to all.

What worries me is how much longer will the queen hold out now? You hear so many stories of couples that were so close dying within a year of each other.  I know it has to happen at some time, and probably sooner rather than later given her age, but I can't face the thought of the queen dying.

I can't imagine the sense of loss people will feel when she's gone. It seems as if she's always been there and I'm sure there are many Britons who can't remember a time when she wasn't the queen. I guess it would almost feel like losing a parent.

It's so different here. We get a new "leader" every 4 or 8 years and when they die it's usually after they've been out of office for quite a while. They've been out of the spotlight so we haven't thought about them much. Their passing is sad, but nothing like it would be if they were in office for as long as Elisabeth has been on the throne. Here's hoping she reigns for many more years.

I think that what Prince Philip gave to Britain, the Commonwealth (and there-

fore quite a lot of the world!) can't be overstated. From a dreadful, heart-

breaking start in life he started the brilliant Duke of Edinburgh award system for

disenfranchised youth, The Worldwide Fund for Nature, etc etc. No wonder the

whole of last evening's tv was taken over by everything that he had done be

cause he 'wanted to be useful' One interviewee was typical - he was in prison

and found himself picked to take part in the D of E awards scheme. He's now

a leading chef in his thirties. And of course this scheme went all around the

the Commonwealth and inspired so many..

Would you say he was the inspiration for is children to be so involved with charity works or was this something that has always been expected of the royal family?

I would think so, Lizzy. He definitely seemed to lead by example long before

many of us were even thinking about the damage we were doing to the planet.

And maybe because of him or maybe both he and the Queen had similar

thoughts they always thought of public service and not putting yourself first

was important and he definitely lead the way in that. It's interesting to learn

now that when they go to places like Sandringham (huge place in Norfolk) they

all actually go and stay in Wood Farm, much smaller, nearby. It's well-known

that they turn off all unnecessary lighting and heating becos it's better for the

planet and the use of travelling rugs instead is encouraged. He had been stay-

ing there all his retirement until he joined the Queen during the pandemic.


He and the Queen were way ahead of their time and she instigated the

planting of forests worldwide in her name - a responsibility to visit and en-

courage I think she had passed to Harry........

It occurs to me that there's great value in having someone representing a country, whether it be a royal family or someone else, who can lead by example without politics shaping everything they do.

I know they have to consider the political implications of their choices, but it seems they have more freedom to choose the issues they get involved with than a politician could.

Came across this today.....

 https://twitter.com/WestWingReport/status/1380614762753572877



then scroll down two posts further............

It might help to link to the actual tweet you're referring to because in the minutes after you post, there'll be more tweets added.  All I see is posts about Prince philip and the Kennedys?  Is that what you meant?

PAN - The same thing happened to me.  After the initial tweets all I saw was responses - lots of responses. Are you saying there were other tweets after that?

The story about Prince Phillip and little John Kennedy was part of the coverage in the papers here. It's a lovely story and says a lot about the kind of man he was.








th

Yes, the first three tweets were the relevant ones - and the comments were

a little extra. For some reason I couldn't extract the last tweet without attracting

comments!

Hey - good news! I've booked both my covid vaccinations 

The website you have to use to book through is a bit stupid: despite my living in a large city that has many vaccination centres, it couldn't find me a single appointment in the city and instead suggested a number of seaside towns and trips into the countryside to nearby towns.  Anyway, I kept trying and finally have managed to get appointments in my own city.

Congratulations, Katie! I'm still trying to find an appointment close to home.

Watching the ER video and the problem they had with the sound reminded me that I had a question for you guys.

I was on a zoom "gathering" the other night and the sound kept dropping out. The only way I could get it back was to drop off the meeting and re-enter. It happened several times and sort of ruined the meeting for me. It was really frustrating! Does anyone know a better solution?

My husband and I got our first vaccination yesterday and will get our second shot in three weeks. Our parenrs in their 80s and our handicapped kids also already got their first shots, so we all are quite relieved.

Interesting to hear that husbands and wives are having vaccinations together in some places.

Sometimes here too (and often with age differences - which is weird given that they started

with the eldest and more infirmed first) although maybe the younger of the two could be des-

cribed as a carer in some instances.

I am now fully vaccinated (tho with a couple of delays on the final shot last week) and

the suburbs of London and the Home Counties seem to have been run incredibly efficiently -

and caringly. I think there have been many medical professionals who chose to volunteer for

the scheme and used holiday leave they couldn't use to do it. My last shot was given to me by a

vet!

PAN,

they try to do so but it doesn't always work. My parents also had their vaccines together, but friends of them had them on two successive days - which doesn't make it that easy since it's 20 miles away.
I also heard from neighbours that she had an appointment first and her husband got his first shot one month later because she's over 80 and he's under 80. Not always easy to organize but at least consequent. At least they started vaccining people at medical practices which makes it easier for those who can't leave their house anymore or can't drive.

I just got my second shot , so glad it is done. Now have to wait and see when the third one will be needed. I had no side effects except a sore arm for about three days.

The CDC has stated that those who have been fully vaccinated  can go out without a mask.  I think this is a dangerous idea, there are several strains of Covid. Not all are covered by the shots they have given. It has also been said that there may have to be a third shot at some point. I will continue to wear my mask even though I have had both shots. I am not willing to risk my health at this point. I have also read that five million people have had the first shot and not taken the second.

I'm still waiting. I check every day for someplace nearby that has appointments and there's still nowhere that is giving first shots. When I check the map of providers, my neighborhood is a big blank space in the middle of tons of places it would take more than an hour to get to. I'm totally fed up!

That is crazy Lizzy, have you tried just walking into a nearby hospital? Here our hospital will give you the shot if you walk in and they have it with no appointment.

Annemarie - If there was a hospital near me I would, but there isn't. The closest places are a couple of Walgreen's, but they're not giving first shots now - and haven't been for weeks. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens - or take car service to one of the "nearby" places. That'll probably cost me @$20 each way for the "free" shot.

I feel your frustration Lizzy, I really do.  I hope you manage to find somewhere to get jabbed soon.

Thanks. I just found out that the CVS near me will be giving the Johnson & Johnson shots beginning this week. Now all I have to do is go online and get an appointment. Wish me luck.