The “Isn't Life Great” thread
- Thread starter Broch
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Well, just over a week ago whilst walking my dog before going to work ( at about ten to six in the morning) I spotted a homeless couple with two dogs sleeping under a bridge.
They didn't look like they'd last the month let alone the winter.
I've dropped off an army poncho and two kip mats to vive them a better chance, contacted someone in the local council who has managed to get them into temporary accommodation and took their little dog in to our home til they can get something sorted.
The dogs a nice little chap, settling in well with our bull lurcher and very well trained.
Its facial markings are pretty much the same as our dog and on the way back from where they were I saw a Little Egret (shaped like a Heron, but white, smaller and with a white crest) so that was a first for me.
I've got a few cards to write and take the dogs out before spending much of the day with my wife, daughter and granddaughter.
I realise the two homeless people have a long way to go before their out of the woods but at least they won't die under a bridge this Christmas. Its a start.
They didn't look like they'd last the month let alone the winter.
I've dropped off an army poncho and two kip mats to vive them a better chance, contacted someone in the local council who has managed to get them into temporary accommodation and took their little dog in to our home til they can get something sorted.
The dogs a nice little chap, settling in well with our bull lurcher and very well trained.
Its facial markings are pretty much the same as our dog and on the way back from where they were I saw a Little Egret (shaped like a Heron, but white, smaller and with a white crest) so that was a first for me.
I've got a few cards to write and take the dogs out before spending much of the day with my wife, daughter and granddaughter.
I realise the two homeless people have a long way to go before their out of the woods but at least they won't die under a bridge this Christmas. Its a start.
Having been homeless myself during winter (1976 cold and snowy hospitalised with pneumonia) I thank you for your thoughtfulness and kindness.
Many blessings to you.
First time I walked past, apologized for disturbing them.
Thing was that they just weren't setup to survive and everytime I saw them they were in a worse state. I'm in my 50s now and they just looked like kids to me.
It's possible to convince yourself that beggers up town have a flat to go back to. Not so much when you see them just clinging on to an existance under a bridge at a few mins to six on a cold winters morning. They would have just politely died.
They still have a long way to go before they're out of the woods but I don't think I could have looked at myself in a mirror if I hadn't at least tried to help them a bit and later on found one dead of exposure.
Make no mistake, theres issues in their lives but it's easy to forget just how a little bit of good luck keeps all of us on the sunny side of life and just a few wrong turns can land us properly in the crap.
Some people are just sailing closer to the wind.
Or "There for the grace of (chosen deity) go I"
Sometimes, all it takes is one kind act to set someone on their way. For me, it was a nurse in the hospital, that saw me crying and asked what the problem was. I told her I was homeless, and she grabbed a local paper, found me a shared flat, and even took me a what little I possessed over there..and paid the deposit and first weeks rent.
I never been able to find her again and pay her back, but I've always tried to help the homeless ever since.
This year I've helped a young lady set up her home after being homeless for many years, I gave her things like a bed, bedding , a large rug (she had no carpet) curtains, electric kettle, and a chest of drawers.
Getting a roof is just the beginning. She was still sleeping on the floor in her sleeping bag in the little bungalow!
Yesterday, I took her a Christmas present and some fruit , chocolate and mince pies.
Nobody should be invisible at Xmas, or any other day of the year either.
I never been able to find her again and pay her back, but I've always tried to help the homeless ever since.
This year I've helped a young lady set up her home after being homeless for many years, I gave her things like a bed, bedding , a large rug (she had no carpet) curtains, electric kettle, and a chest of drawers.
Getting a roof is just the beginning. She was still sleeping on the floor in her sleeping bag in the little bungalow!
Yesterday, I took her a Christmas present and some fruit , chocolate and mince pies.
Nobody should be invisible at Xmas, or any other day of the year either.
Nice one, demographic. Definitely a couple or three Brownie points earned there. And the Egret came along to thank you!
I'm always conscious that it doesn't take much to go wrong before any one of us could be in a similar situation, so I like to support the local food bank at my weekly shop, and bung a couple of quid occasionally to the Big Issue sellers. Every little helps.
A Happy New Year to you, to our fellow BCUK inhabitants, and to the other inhabitants - regardless of species - of our planet...
Finaly, after a two hour struggle,...... I got the pickled gherkin jar open!
My new years eve feast of cold cuts, cheeses, and pickles can begin !
Happy new year one and all.
My new years eve feast of cold cuts, cheeses, and pickles can begin !
Happy new year one and all.
there are devices to help with that-
i find giving the lip of the jar a few good bangs against a hard surface around its perimeter helps break the seal,
there are devices to help with that-
i find giving the lip of the jar a few good bangs against a hard surface around its perimeter helps break the seal,
I do have a few opening gadgets, and i know a few tricks, such as heating the lid by putting the jar upside down in hot water, nothing worked, it was all but glued on!
Even my neighbour couldn't shift it.
I got it eventually, by jamming it in the back garden gate, and twisting the jar for all I was worth, while screaming abuse at it!
Luckily, all my neighbours had gone out by then!
Sieger Twist. It's as effective as the garden gate, but it fits in the kitchen drawer. Honestly, your pickle jar sounds like a real stinker, but I've never had the Sieger fail. It's been handed down three generations, such is it valued in Weevil Burrows.
I like the fact you call it a real stinker,
Quite constrained compared to what i called it!I can be a determined so and so, it was NOT gonna beat me, my wrists are sore as heck!
I have been rewarded with pickled gherkins on my smorgasbord tho'
You can’t beat a bit of imaginative abuse for getting the job done.
Happy New Year to you and all here.
I didn't know that was properly named
we just call the lid gadget.It's pretty good, but I like the Leifheit one better.
To be honest, the best of the lot are two (one to hold the jar, one on the lid) thin silicon mats.
I have R.A. and the plethora of jar opening things became overwhelming.
The ones I actually use most are the silicon mats. Run the lid under hot water, dry off, and then twist. Works on any size, from giant pickle jars to sauce bottles, even pulls wine corks
I’ve never found a lid that’ll defeat a butter knife wedged under the lip of it and a gentle twist of the blade to break the seal.
You can get plumbing tools I think which have a handle as a lever and a thick rubber band to grab the thing being turned. Don't know what they're called but they're unlikely to be stopped by a sticky jar lid. Never tried one or own one but I often think they're useful to have.
I call it the Magic Device!I didn't know that was properly named
It's pretty good, but I like the Leifheit one better.
To be honest, the best of the lot are two (one to hold the jar, one on the lid) thin silicon mats.
I have R.A. and the plethora of jar opening things became overwhelming.
The ones I actually use most are the silicon mats. Run the lid under hot water, dry off, and then twist. Works on any size, from giant pickle jars to sauce bottles, even pulls wine corks
If it's not branded it's possible you might have a copy, and not sure they're as good. The Leifheit one surprises me, because I would have thought it'd need a lot of grip from the user to work effectively, which might be counter productive. Never got into silicone mats, but discovered anti-slip matting for drawers etc rather effective for fountain pen disassembly* so tend to have a square of that handy for Sieger-less situations. Of course, if worst came to worse, it'd be down to the workshop and into the vice jaws. That really works. *Now that has produced situations on a par with WG's pickle tackling. Once spent a whole afternoon, and lots and lots of swear words, trying to get the hood off a Parker 51. Ended up with actual blisters on my fingers as a result, but we got there in the end. That was an "Isn't Life Great" moment, because then I could repair it, get it on its way and never see the ruddy thing again!
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