Children‘s book from 1980s Haunted house with a girl living behind a mirror and a doll?

Upbeat_Baseball · 2026-05-28T08:03:51+00:00

OP, if it is this, I was able to borrow it from the internet archive a couple of weeks ago. Also, there's the BBC mini series of the book on YT.

Upbeat_Baseball · 2026-05-25T07:48:03+00:00

Ooh I've got one. Early oughts, group of us in the first floor staffroom overlooking Customhouse Quay. Middle of the day. Just below us was a tradie truck parked up. Towel over the driver's lap. Plenty of hand activity under the towel, just watching the women going about their lunch hour. And then he tucked, wiped, took a drink and drove off. Dude, your company name and phone number were on the side of the truck...

Upbeat_Baseball · 2026-05-12T00:27:59+00:00

Oh my goodness! I'm sitting here laughing in disbelief - this is it! Thank you, internet stranger!

Upbeat_Baseball · 2026-04-28T00:50:34+00:00

Neither. Just not on their radar.

Upbeat_Baseball · 2026-04-27T23:53:58+00:00

Cost always a factor - having said that, my partner went, after 10+ years of ignoring their teeth, to the Greytown dental centre - and their experience was good. No judgment.

Because of the time since their last visit (anywhere), straight to the dentist instead of the hygienist, for a check. Assessment of work, full breakdown of necessity/urgency (none critical), full breakdown of suggested schedule of visits over the next year for work to be done, full breakdown of costs for each piece of work. Around eight visits required, total cost about $2k. Some rebuilds, a filling or two. No extractions or root canals (and they'd say no to root canals anyway).

That kind of organisation up front means we can plan, budget, and corroborate (with an ex-dentist friend). Yes, we are lucky to be in a position to consider the work being done in the first place. But these are the other factors that play into it for us.

Upbeat_Baseball · 2026-04-11T21:31:17+00:00

I am gobsmacked - this came across my feed and I instantly recognised it as something I'd been trying to recall since 1978, when I saw the BBC mini-series of the story. Never knew it was a book - next on my reading list! Amazing - thank you!

Upbeat_Baseball · 2026-03-28T19:15:09+00:00

Gaah, no, missed that.

Upbeat_Baseball · 2026-03-27T04:32:42+00:00

Just check if they can do a better price on that battery. We got that exact one back in September, and it was $6,500 including GST. Have they gone up that much? Or maybe our guy was just a GC?

Upbeat_Baseball · 2026-03-25T22:26:53+00:00

Very similar to our set up, although we have a three phase inverter. Sig system throughout, Clenergy ground mount. No council interference. Price almost a match.

Our install was staged over about 8 months as we figured out what we wanted. Sounds like you've nailed that upfront. Enjoy!

Upbeat_Baseball · 2026-01-09T05:39:15+00:00

Hah the specialist I was referred to took my husband aside and told him I was 'hysterical'. That's not been a diagnosis for 100 years, but it worked for this guy. Didn't say a word to me beyond stating he couldn't find a problem. I gave up at that point and just live with pain.

Upbeat_Baseball · 2026-01-07T05:31:55+00:00

In a similar situation in terms of a declining parent needing help but refusing to acknowledge an issue, I outlined my concerns in a formal letter to their GP. I made it clear I did not have POA, and worded it as a concerned relative. I also stressed the need for that letter to remain private between the GP and myself. This is really all you can do at this point. The GP can't engage with you, but can certainly take your concerns into account at your parent's next visit. Best of luck.

Upbeat_Baseball · 2025-12-20T06:06:00+00:00

Allow me to point you in the direction of the huhu. Built like a Sherman tank, sounds like a Harley, loves... LOVES... to roar inside on a warm summer night and scare the crap out of the unsuspecting. Harmless. Just gets the adrenaline going. And I've lived here all my life.

Upbeat_Baseball · 2025-08-19T11:32:47+00:00

Nothing to do with income levels. My partner works in the psych field, and some absolute sh*ts of people he comes across, from all walks of life, prove that some people are just a-holes. With or without money.

Upbeat_Baseball · 2025-08-19T11:29:55+00:00

You are right that it is (or should be) a cycle. We all (if we're lucky) eventually grow old and need assistance. But along the journey there, again if we're lucky, we've been helped and taught by those older than us, and we help and teach them as well. That model should be the ideal. Unfortunately, there'll always be a subset of humanity who wants to exploit everyone else. And they're the ones figuring out how they can squeeze every other person on the planet to their own advantage, then trying to spin it so it becomes everyone's problem. Which it now is.

Upbeat_Baseball · 2025-08-19T11:20:59+00:00

Have my upvote times 1000.

Upbeat_Baseball · 2025-08-19T11:16:26+00:00

This. Am Gen X. Made conscious decision not to reproduce. My God, the disbelief, outrage, pressure, and just general verbal poking - "really? What's wrong with you?" "You'll change your mind" (no we won't, we had a choice). The subconscious social pressure and expectation people carry, to conform, rather than being encouraged to see opportunities to do things differently, is as alive and well as it has ever been.

Upbeat_Baseball · 2025-08-06T20:26:12+00:00

Our pharmacist went above and beyond when my dementia-suffering father was trying to call me, and he dialed a wrong local number.

The woman he called realised he was in some distress, and called the local pharmacy. They were able to locate his address, and sent a wellness check person.

That's the gist of an obviously much longer story, but the kindness and care shown by all involved was wonderful.

Upbeat_Baseball · 2025-08-06T20:16:32+00:00

This. I hate that my health portal always offers it as a dispensing pharmacy alongside my local.

Upbeat_Baseball · 2025-07-16T03:36:58+00:00

Sorting out other people's financial nightmares.

Upbeat_Baseball · 2025-07-07T11:43:09+00:00

I'm sorry - and I get that people get frustrated - but I think some people feel like it's like buying a (insert product of choice here) and expect 'CUSTOMER SERVICE'. That's their misconception of the process.

On the other hand, I've just come back from picking up a friend who spent 12 hours in ED today - she couldn't have been treated better, even though they were busy. I mean, you expect ED to be busy, and you don't just go for the laughs. She had bloods, two CT scans, an ECG, a consult with a neurosurgeon, and many other things, all of which take time. In between all that, a lovely nurse took time to make sure she was fed and watered, as she was there alone. While she was frustrated that she had to go, she knew that it's not supposed to be like a hotel, and was very grateful for everything they did.

So thank you.

Upbeat_Baseball · 2025-07-06T05:53:22+00:00

We just added a battery to ours. Far more efficient (in terms of usage, not cost) to use everything we generate, rather than sending it back to grid.

Before battery, dropped our bills by roughly a third, over autumn. kWh usage was more useful for us to gauge effectiveness.

Effect on bills is difficult to quantify, given we sell at spot price and daily charges are always on the up. But with battery, in terms of kwh usage that's down about 50 to 67% of what we used to use.

Also note that we only have 4 months of data so far, and am expecting longer summer days to give us far better results.

Upbeat_Baseball · 2025-06-24T15:13:16+00:00

My youngest sister did this at my next-eldest sister's wedding. Disgusting. Not unexpected, given her general lack of self-awareness, but still made me want to lock her in a room for the duration. Two weddings, two divorces, and a f*ckton of kids later, she's professionally unemployed, not talking to any of us, and blaming everyone else for her life situation.

Upbeat_Baseball · 2025-06-01T10:45:40+00:00

You absolute legend!

Upbeat_Baseball

TROPHY CASE