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I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

theguardian.com

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Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#391

Post by Tddddd »

usgroup wrote: post #286
telesilla wrote: post #266

"This valley is cut in the shape of my heart". I've known farmers like him, bachelors who are mild mannered and love their lives and the extended family that comes with living an entire life in one valley. He maybe goes to Sunday service for socialization and the local pub to watch the game, and as long as his sheep are healthy and the sky does what it promises (because he knows the day before always if it will rain)…

I appreciate the romance, but those of us who have children leave behind much more than stone walls we built in our 20s. He’s a 72 year old Batchelor who’s once stepped foot outside a Welsh valley. If happiness is a lobotomy then credit to us who don’t choose it.

It is a simplified illusion.

I always wanted to do ancestry for my family (family tree?) And I realized and still realize how far away people really become.

My last grandpa will die soon. I know his stories everyone knows but I don't know what he would have voted, what his favorite food is, what music he liked.

He has dementia now and forgets that he is at home and asks go go home.

What do I know from his life really?

He will end in some online tool as a name, two dates an image and lines connecting him to other family members.

I thought about making a legacy somehow and if I would make children I would create a family book and create rules which would share my thoughts with every future generation and everyone gets reached to follow it and enhance it like having Familie values and keeping them.

But at the end of the day I do realize for myself that this will not work as imagined and it doesn't matter at the end anyway.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#392

Post by federiconafria »

prawn wrote: post #176
voidfunc wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1 onion 2-3 carrots 2 potatoes 2-3 celery sticks 1 fennel heart 1 red pepper 1-2 tomatoes (optional) Canillini beans 2 bayleaves salt and pepper suit to taste. 2qt water cook/simmer for 1-2hr I muck around with it sometimes... thrown siracha, hot peppers, sausage in it to varying degrees of tastiness. I generally sauté the onions, celery and fennel together then add the rest. It can all be done in one pot for conveni…

You could easily tweak this to be similar to something I grew up with, from Slovenia: https://www.tasteatlas.com/manestra Maybe cook longer and blend some of it to thicken it up. Ours typically had pork and Polish sausage added, plus this type of pasta: https://www.google.com/search?q=Ditalini&safe=off&source=lnm... It's similar to what Italians would know of as Pasta e fagioli (pasta and beans) but obviously varies…

The funny thing is that we call that minestra in Italy. I keep being pleasantly surprised by how food is just different shades when you move from country to country...

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#393

Post by FartyMcFarter »

> I hear London is a place best avoided. I think living in a city would be terrible – people living on top of one another in great tower blocks. I could never do it.

He should visit - most people in London don't live in tower blocks, and there's lots of nature around.

There are wild deer in Richmond Park, and Hampstead Heath is almost indistinguishable from any other forest (and quite close to the very center of London).

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#394

Post by tomcam »

slyall wrote: post #388
usgroup wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I appreciate the romance, but those of us who have children leave behind much more than stone walls we built in our 20s. He’s a 72 year old Batchelor who’s once stepped foot outside a Welsh valley. If happiness is a lobotomy then credit to us who don’t choose it.

Think of all the people who made an impact on history and the world. How many of them did it by having children? This guy at least got an article written about him, what have you done?

Hoping cperciva answers this

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#395

Post by Tddddd »

tacitusarc wrote: post #390
mrphoebs wrote: post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Children as your legacy are no less consequential or meaningful than this man's stone walls. In the end you are grasping for empty meaning and purpose in the same way the farmer is, your children will perish, their children will perish, you will be forgotten and so will they like the rest of human existence. Our lives have no larger purpose or meaning beyond what ever we pretend gives meaning to your life, like child…

What if you're wrong?

How much do you rally know and remember from your ancestors which is more than a handful and always the same stories?

How did that really influence you?

We can look back, we are not a magic generation unique to all the other generations before us. We know what's going to happen with us and our legacies.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#396

Post by max_entropy »

usgroup wrote: post #286
telesilla wrote: post #266

"This valley is cut in the shape of my heart". I've known farmers like him, bachelors who are mild mannered and love their lives and the extended family that comes with living an entire life in one valley. He maybe goes to Sunday service for socialization and the local pub to watch the game, and as long as his sheep are healthy and the sky does what it promises (because he knows the day before always if it will rain)…

I appreciate the romance, but those of us who have children leave behind much more than stone walls we built in our 20s. He’s a 72 year old Batchelor who’s once stepped foot outside a Welsh valley. If happiness is a lobotomy then credit to us who don’t choose it.

Children are continuations of your own or someone else's membrane, but this man built one himself /s

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#397

Post by scared2 »

mrphoebs wrote: post #357
usgroup wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I appreciate the romance, but those of us who have children leave behind much more than stone walls we built in our 20s. He’s a 72 year old Batchelor who’s once stepped foot outside a Welsh valley. If happiness is a lobotomy then credit to us who don’t choose it.

Children as your legacy are no less consequential or meaningful than this man's stone walls. In the end you are grasping for empty meaning and purpose in the same way the farmer is, your children will perish, their children will perish, you will be forgotten and so will they like the rest of human existence. Our lives have no larger purpose or meaning beyond what ever we pretend gives meaning to your life, like child…

Does it matter if they are not forgotten?

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#398

Post by hughrr »

lelanthran wrote: post #348
renewiltord wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These threads are always so entertaining. Someone will make up this pastoral romance while implying that the city life is somehow lacking. Then someone will do the opposite and the wars will begin. Very entertaining. For my part, I enjoy modal editors so I think vim is better than emacs and I like the GPL over BSD.

> For my part, I enjoy modal editors so I think vim is better than emacs and I like the GPL over BSD. We need more fuel on this fire. What's your take on spaces vs tabs?

Ask ‘make’ about that :)

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#399

Post by kebman »

Ah, the simple life...

My grandfather would take me along and we'd go to the neighbour to fetch eggs. He had a plastic bucket that he put them in with some old newspapers scraps in the bottom. I heard that before the war they didn't even need money. He'd simply bring a bucket of milk, and he'd get a bucket of eggs in return. But it was of course a lot simpler to bring money. It was far cheaper than in the store too.

My grandfather knew what all the birds were singing. Every bit, plus their behaviour. He'd especially heed the magpie, because it's a smarter bird. If it warbled this way, it meant that the weather would stay warm. If they warbled in another way, it meant that it might become rainy. He said that the birds knew, because their lives depended on it.

Another more commonly known sign is dependent on where the magpie makes its nest. If it it's high in the tree, then it will most likely be a warm and sunny summer. But if it is tucked way down in the tree, the summer will be cold and wet. It makes sense. There's more protection from the elements further under the leaves, but it's also colder there. If I were a magpie, I'd want to make a warm and nice nest for the summer, but all that could be ruined if I didn't heed the weather.

One day, the grouse was seen perching atop the family house. When I told this to my grandmother, she went silent at first, and then she told me that it means someone will die in the family. This was of course terrifying news to me. But it also turned out to become true, because my grandfather also died that year. May he rest in peace.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#400

Post by nly »

Jtsummers wrote: post #77
FractalParadigm wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I came to this realization in university - I love software, I love writing programs and solving problems, but I really don't love office work or the idea of sitting at a desk all day. I dropped out of a software engineering program to work on a factory floor, a decision I haven't regret once in five years (even if my parents would consider me a failure). The hours are good, the wage is good, benefits are good, I get…

My happiest period with relation to work was similar, laborious but satisfying because I got something done every day and didn't have to think about it after work. When you're writing software, it's hard to turn off the switch (I think especially if you find software development itself to be an interesting subject) when you leave the office. It's hard to not think about the design, the thing you'll do tomorrow, conti…

Working for a big software company (thousands of software engineers under one roof) will make that off switch work again. You'll leave the office and instantly not care or think about anything you do until you cross the threshold the next morning.

This is the positive side (along with the salary) of being a tiny cog with no power to influence broader design decisions.

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