"I have been shouldering the emotional labour as my parents have aged, and so am dropping my story here. It's this: when my mother came out of the hospital after having both hips replaced, I left my apartment and slept on herliving room couch for three weeks so that I could help with her recovery and cook for her and be available in case she needed anything during the night. And everyone thought this was the correct and appropriate thing for me to do, despite the fact that my brother was already living there." (Source: metafilter.com)
Stream of unconsciousness
Ngaire writes: "Before the introduction of double decker buses down Mt Eden Road, it was decided that it was cheaper to widen the footpath so the new buses wouldn't hit the canopy of shops in the Village. Great idea and good value for money you would think?! But the genius who designed and installed the new section of footpath should be acknowledged. As you can see from the photo, they widened the footpath, but the level of the new section sloped inwards towards the old footpath. Every time it rains in Mt Eden now, the water flows off the shop canopies, down into this new channel and along the footpath. Creating our own special Auckland Transport waterway. None of this rainwater goes into the channels and drains. You should see it in an Auckland downpour. You would think they would haul the contractors back and fix the problem but no sign yet of this. I believe Auckland Transport deserve the Genius Prize for 2017. Have a Merry Christmas and thank you for bringing a little joy into our lives every day!"
As CNN reports, newly declassified documents show that in 1981, Lord Zuckerman, president of the London Zoological Society, asked Thatcher's staffers if the PM would be willing to share her US-bound Concorde flight with the giant panda, who was being loaned to the Smithsonian Institution in order to mate with a female panda at the organisation's Washington, DC zoo — a move that Zuckerman saw as a "demonstration of the special relationship" between the United States and England. But Thatcher wasn't biting, and didn't mince words. After receiving a note about the request from her private secretary, Thatcher laid out her response in bright blue felt-tip pen: "I am not taking a panda with me. Pandas and politicians are not happy omens!" (Via Mental Floss)
