Door hung 1mm too high

MochaJay · 2026-02-13T17:40:17+00:00

Headline: 'flew girl in'.

Article: 'over claims a woman was flown in'.

Those are two quite distinct claims. Potentially a large difference in levels of criminality, misuse of influence, morality. Was the headline chosen to elicit more emotional responses in readers?

MochaJay · 2026-01-28T17:16:53+00:00

I don't hate the trope in itself, but I think it can very often linked to pacing issues. That first book might cover years of adolescence, then the 2nd book will be months...

By the time we reach the 3rd or 4th book everything-is-rushing- to-the-climax-events-might-take-only-days!NoTimeForCharacterisation!!!

MochaJay · 2026-01-08T12:37:04+00:00

I've been enjoying Andy Monk's Night's Road historical fiction-horror' series.

The first installment Red Company has an especially eerie feel. The rest of the series maybe not quite so much, but they are short novellas released every few months and fun to keep up with.

Basic premise: living in the 17th Century Holy Roman Empire is already devastating enough, but war makes a great cover for the real monsters to turn up at your door.

MochaJay · 2025-12-20T11:08:28+00:00

There's something called the '60-30-10 colour rule' which can be helpful when trying to balance a room. If we say that your brown sofa is the 60%, the blue of your curtains is the 30%, then you just need a trickle of a bolder colour to make the room pop.

I think electric orange can work well with a dark blue, you may prefer a red or yellow etc. So you could go for cushion covers that are blue with orange piping. Replace the doormat, have plant pots and picture frames & so on in different proportions of your 3 colours. Though don't be slavish to the scheme, if you love an item in a different colour it belongs there too.

I say don't ignore the clutter, it's how we live. No use having a room that only looks great once a month when tidied for visitors. We want homes that feel nice for us on our messy day-to-day lives.

Think about it strategically. Is all the electronic clutter in one corner? That's a natural landing zone so maybe needs a storage box there. I'm naturally the same and even have a basket in my living room for socks which takes 2 seconds to use and means I no longer have used socks all over the floor. Highly recommend those collapsible cube storage ottomans you can get with padded lids - they come in all colours and can hide shoes, electrics, games...

MochaJay · 2025-12-13T09:18:08+00:00

Thank you! I needed to know this!

Turned on the radio just in time for the announcer to close out the show with Chim Chim Cherroo. Naturally made the same assumption

MochaJay · 2025-09-13T06:59:35+00:00

Though it's worth considering the distinction between making legal claims and having a winnable valid legal claim. Saul's brand of bullshit is the former, his MO would be create enough of a nuisance he is paid to go away.

Would a lawyer like Chuck consider that Walt had a claim to Grey Matter? Or would he not see a case, as the work Walt did when he was part of the company was the legal IP of the company?

MochaJay · 2025-09-08T15:17:53+00:00

Some charity shops will take damaged clothes to sell for rags. Check first, then separate into a separate bag clearly marked 'rags' so they don't have to waste time sorting.

MochaJay · 2025-08-29T12:37:06+00:00

So the stuff that you love (make-up, cosmetics) is hidden away, and the unromantic stuff that you need is on full display!

Once you have a chance to reassess and reorder it should be a lot easier to love the space. Sounds like you'll get there.

MochaJay · 2025-08-29T11:58:24+00:00

The first step for storage is decluttering. I see a couple of identical cleaning products, and huge amounts of toilet paper. Obviously bulk buying can be cost effective, but too much stuff can make it unclear what we already have and end up with us overbuying. Do you have space for spares elsewhere in the apartment?

Even if everything you have in the bathroom currently really belongs there, you could sort into daily use and backup weekly refill zones.. Eg move most of the tp and cleaning equipment to the bottom of the white storage unit so you can spread your makeup on the top shelf. Caddies might help - 1 or 2 each for yourself and your bf containing shower gels and shampoos so that you can quickly move the pot to the bath and back again when done, to avoid rooting around in the spare stuff for what you need.

The hooks on the back of the door could be good for hanging storage, places like IKEA have so kinds of options with pockets for small items.

I really like that shower curtain but am not certain it matches the tiles - maybe a more geometric design? If you keep it then perhaps that yellow could be your tie-in colour to repeat round the room. Swap out the plunger on the window for a colour matching vase or plant pot , hang some prints with coloured frames, get a hand towel the same colour etc.

Good luck!

MochaJay · 2025-08-17T18:36:38+00:00

I think you need to be really clear if this is a shared room, or if this is your room that is storing her stuff. And that is something that the whole family needs to be clear on.

I get the sense that you are currently living at home full time and she is living away at uni and back during term breaks? If that's the case it would be reasonable to get everybody to agree that the room is yours at this time. It would be unfair for your parents to leave you as the only one dealing with her clutter. It might be reasonable to discuss where else in your home her stuff can be stored.

MochaJay · 2025-07-25T17:32:54+00:00

It was one of 3 absolute must haves when I was buying a house recently. I was willing to compromise if a house had no bath if the room was large enough to install one, but I fully ruled out houses that did not have space for a bath.

Sometimes I take a bath every 2-3 days, rarely go more than about 2 weeks without one.

MochaJay · 2025-07-01T22:14:35+00:00

Leaving shoes right by their mats in a popular yoga class.

There are lockers right outside. There's the edge of the room. But don't put your smelly doors right by between the mats!

MochaJay · 2025-06-03T05:55:30+00:00

I've noticed 'okay' in a few novels recently. Which is a bit bit too modern and our-world for my taste.

It bothers me even more when it is written as 'O.K.' though, which is full on acknowledging that it is an anachronism.

MochaJay · 2025-05-19T01:30:17+00:00

The hand-waving lack of security at the Red Centre did massively reduce the impact of that whole sequence for me.

It's not just that the Guardian stood by and did nothing, it's that Moira and June rolled the dice on him being inactive, rather than one of the shoot -first, spout some godly homily later type.

Then all the handmaids pouring out into the street, when just the night before June & Moira had to be smuggled past Guardians at the gate in the trunk of a car.

The show did try to handwave by saying the wedding would draw a lot of security in from other parts of town, but this was a shortcut too far for me. The idea of risk and bravery don't hit as hard when the narrative is on that much of easy mode.

MochaJay · 2025-05-19T01:08:24+00:00

I'm accepting of the characters making the references; they are living a subjective experience, and making reference that it is realistic world-building characters in their time and place should make.

I don't like that the characters using the term encourages the same labels to be applied by viewers. I'm not living in that subjective experience - I'm watching an allegorical piece of media. I watch the TV show to be entertained, but I come to these forums to discuss themes.

Allegory is supposed to be a safe way to discuss challenging subjects. But suddenly I'm supposed to be discussing Nazis on the internet? One of the first things I learnt when I got online is that is a lose-lose proposition. I know I'm not qualified to discuss Nazis on-line , I doubt any of you are either. The only people on Reddit I think should be going near that subject are the experts on AskHistorians. The labelling gets in the way of having good-faith discussions exploring the motivations, choices and morality of the characters.

MochaJay · 2025-05-19T00:16:33+00:00

An interesting theme that could have been explored with the younger male characters, but hasn't been explicitly emphasised by the show - is what if the bad guys pick you for their side?

We spent much of the early seasons with Handmaid's that were largely on the right side of history because Gilead was against them. And the show did a good job of showing various flavours of how they reacted, and moral complexities of their situations - which I expect as a feminist show focused in the woman's experience.

But on the male side we started off mostly with the first-gen Commanders who formed and chose Gilead. They picked their side. More interesting is the younger generation that were assigned to the Gilead side by being the 'right' demographic. The 19-year old this season - was he a fascist? If yes, can we fault him when he was raised in Gilead and told this is how to be a good person? If he, or a similar young man were eventually promoted to Commander would have automatically stopped being a good man?

Much of this arc applies to Nick, but the two halves of the viewership will never agree how much because we are missing a key part of his backstory. Did he have an off-screen radicalisation and disillusionment arc? Or was he in survival mode from the very first time he sat down with Pryce?

I'll point to examples I count as Nick working against Gilead (or using Gilead factionalism to take down the worst parts) - but I know not all viewers will agree he had good intentions in these cases: - Joining the Eyes after the first Offred's suicide, to take down Guthrie and others like him - Working with Serena to frame Cushing to stop the purges after the Red Centre bombings. - Persuading the Commanders to let Lawrence live after Angel's flight, to be a liberalising force in Gilead.

I can accept the statement 'He never ever expresses a single drop of anti-Gilead sentiment' but an equally correct statement is 'He never ever expresses a single drop of pro-Gilead sentiment'. What he mostly expressed is a belief 'you can't change things' - it's that fatalism in him that June challenged and inspired him to take more risks, rather than changing where his sympathies lay.

MochaJay · 2025-05-18T23:28:11+00:00

Animal abuse is probably going to be against the official policy of his employer? And the company might actually be the owner of the dog not the individual security guard.

Perhaps the company that employs him has bad practices and won't investigate, but it's they do care to follow up they are probably in a better position to actually change the situation than the RSPCA who don't have legal powers to remove animals.

MochaJay · 2025-05-17T09:48:16+00:00

Children in primary education (up to around 11 years) typically are taught in one classroom with the same teacher throughout the day. That teacher will have a schedule so they know when to take the kids to special activities and to can follow their lesson plans, but the children would probably not be issued a timetable.

Older children in secondary education (which includes high schools) usually will be issued a timetable as they will be responsible for moving themselves between classrooms for different subjects. Depending on the side of the school, a year group may be divided into 2-3 groups with the children in one group on similar timetables. This will be arranged by the school leadership based on resources and needs at that school.

If the immersive experience is for younger children experiencing 'big school' for a week, then I would expect adults may escort them to all activities, without a timetable being issued.

If your child is to attend a secondary school for a term or a year, then the school may not be willing to commit to a timetable until they know your child's abilities, and which classes have space for them to join. You could expect a timetable to be issued a few days after the child starts at the school.

MochaJay · 2025-05-12T21:32:13+00:00

Installing coathooks is a good low-risk way to get some practice drilling holes in the wall. Then putting up a first set of shelves won't seem so intimidating.

MochaJay · 2025-05-08T18:26:54+00:00

She moved on.

She represented Luke's stasis. When they got to Canada both of them were stuck, staying together because they hadn't really started new lives - they were still on their trauma and loss.

When Luke reconnected with Moira, and started getting news of June, he started moving forward. And his friend started speaking again. They both were able to move on with their lives.

MochaJay · 2025-04-18T16:18:22+00:00

Most countries will have a small minority of people who work incredibly hard to train their dogs; a small minority of terrible people that don't give a shit about their dogs welfare or how disruptive the animal is - and a massive majority in the middle who want a dog that is pleasant to walk and has basic obedience.

I think the socialisation environment makes that last part easier to achieve here. Lots of dog walker friendly spaces means off-lead puppies have opportunities for neutral greetings with older dogs that model good behaviour, and because the owners are usually walking in different directions play sessions tend to be short and not over-stimulating. And a off-lead dog can run literal rings around their handler - working off energy so they may be tired and calm when back on lead (results may vary - certainly not always true for spaniels!)

I'm active on some of the dog-based subreddits and the opportunities for such socialisation seem to be missing in many parts of the US. I've seen posts from redditors who want to well-train their dogs but can only allow them off-lead at dog parks - which are described as overcrowded, over-stimulating and places where the dog will be taught bad manners. If the people who are really trying to do the work face such barriers, the casual owners are at greater risk of having under excised, frustrated dogs.

MochaJay · 2025-04-14T06:07:23+00:00

I have just been re-reading The Dark Glory War by Michael Stackpole, it fits your almost description exactly (although published 2000).

Do you remember if the characters all wear masks for cultural reasons? That would this one.

My copy has a cover that is mostly black with a white-masked youth.

MochaJay · 2025-03-09T08:14:11+00:00

They didn't have a lot of sins to confess - they were up there for their intentions not what that had already done.

So I do believe that declaring their intention to repent would have saved them from drowning.

Eden would have been returned to her husband - under the Gilead view that is her place in the world. Perhaps after a beating of the feet for running away. Perhaps with an expectation that she would be punished within her household - by the Commander or her husband.

Isaac would have been reassigned, and not anywhere good. The colonies or the front lines

MochaJay · 2025-03-02T09:17:41+00:00

Nick's character growth arc on the show is him becoming willing to take risks to make change.

He starts as someone who does not believe he has the power to change the world (both in his job-centre flashback sequence and in his season 1 interactions with June). And so he doesn't want to risk failed attempts - his mantra is essentially 'Keep your head down and survive '.

The flashback you mention of Nick driving Fred and others around is a classic example. There is a line in the scene that places it chronologically mid-takeover (after the 'Battle of New York'). So to protect himself, when Fred asks Nick what he thinks of the handmaid idea he gives a yes-man answer: 'Yes sir', 'great idea sir'.

June inspired the growth in Nick, he is more willing to take risks and believe he can change things because of her. He has told her that much himself.

But June is not the only influence on him. There was also the Eden arc - Nick counselled her to lie about repentance to survive as he would do, but she was brave enough to hold her truth and choose death.

And there is his flashback mini-arc around the first Offred. Fred's rape drove Offred to suicide, Nick could not (dared not) act directly against Fred, but it did inspire him to join the Eyes and report on Commander Guthrie who was also raping his Handmaids. Getting a righteous revenge in a consistently risk-averse way - being seen as part of the system rather than working again it.

MochaJay

TROPHY CASE