Good News stories

[groovydavidii]

Outstanding good news story: That recent (USA), eye transplant operation, now probabilities of future sight restorations.

[french frank]

I strenuously avoid the humanned tills

Have I just cottoned on?

Re eye ops - I was too squeamish to read that story. Can't bear the thought of anyone fiddling about with my eyes - or brain.

[kernelbogey]

...I strenuously avoid the humanned tills....

I am of the opposite persuasion. I prefer a humanoid transaction: both as a matter of personal preference, and to do my tiny bit to stem the tide of mechanisation and AI-ification of our lives. I have also discovered that I have a strong preference for finding something out by asking someone (usually someone I know) over 'looking it up'. In many cases the latter is the quicker option, but no matter. Perhaps an aspect of Learning Styles. And there is something intrinsically daft about a machine thanking me for shopping there and wishing me a good evening.

When I lived in California for a year in my twenties I was on one Monday evening wished a 'good weekend' by the checkout lad!

[Bryn]

I am of the opposite persuasion. I prefer a humanoid transaction: both as a matter of personal preference, and to do my tiny bit to stem the tide of mechanisation and AI-ification of our lives. I have also discovered that I have a strong preference for finding something out by asking someone (usually someone I know) over 'looking it up'. In many cases the latter is the quicker option, but no matter. Perhaps an aspect of Learning Styles. And there is something intrinsically daft about a machine thanking me for shopping there and wishing me a good evening.

When I lived in California for a year in my twenties I was on one Monday evening wished a 'good weekend' by the checkout lad!

In my experience, self-checkouts can involve just as much human interaction due to the unreliability of the check-out technology - bar codes so poorly printed or placed that they do not read, etc.

[Old Grumpy]

i'm not saying that Booths customers are an untrustworthy lot, but I wonder if part of the (hidden) agenda is to try to cut down on shoplifting.

Could well be...

https://cumbriacrack.com/2023/11/12/shoplifters-target-lake-district-supermarket-three-times/

[Bryn]

The best of the good news today is banned here.

[eighthobstruction]

The best of the good news today is banned here.

....just getting the hang of it too....

[RichardB]

The best of the good news today is banned here.

Careful Bryn, you also aren't allowed to refer indirectly to any banned subjects. I wonder if I'm going to be allowed to refer indirectly to an indirect reference to a banned subject. I wouldn't be surprised. My last post congratulating the moderators on permitting us to discuss political matters as as long as they take place a couple of thousand miles away was removed.

[oddoneout]

Going slightly sideways here but I thought this was a bit of good news that might get missed due to being on the CE (St Giles, Cripplegate) thread.

Anna Lapwood posted on Facebook:- "Very proud of the Girls’ Choir for their first Radio 3 evensong with the BBC Singers today. Lots of messages asking who wrote the psalm chants & responses - the girls wrote them collaboratively during our rehearsals! I try to incorporate composition regularly so they write our psalm chants every week, & we wrote the responses over the course of a term last year. Can you tell they love suspensions…?"

[oddoneout]

Good news: at the third (somewhat delayed) attempt, my hawthorn jelly has finally set, after the addition of the juice of three (more) lemons. The rosehip only had to be reboiled once. Tasted both side by side to see if I could distinguish a difference. I fancy the rosehip is a 'lighter' taste, the hawthorn with its darker berries has a deeper taste. Both good with cheese, though.

Good to hear that you succeeded eventually. It will be interesting to see if the flavour changes over time. When I was going through my preserve making phase I tried several less usual ingredients( I had fun with foraging expeditions along hedgerows in the area), prompted in part by some very old recipes from a collection of Farmers Weekly contributions. The original book was a collection made in 1935(pre-dating modern cooking appliances so a bit of guesswork needed), and apparently was in great demand in the war years, not surprising given the using anything/everything approach from farmhouse kitchens. I found that including haws or rowan berries made something that I didn't much like when first produced but it improved a bit over time - although not to the point I wanted to do it again. Possibly more relevant to use with savoury food eg game, rather than something to put on bread for afternoon tea. Elderberries I just didn't like at any stage even once the pips had been sieved out; a case of a childhood dislike that hasn't changed with (my)age! The real surprise was medlar jelly which, although a wonderful colour was very bland, so I put it away at the back of the cupboard and used the medlar butter instead made from the jelly pulp as that was very pleasant. A year later I came across the jelly and, remembering the disappointment, wondered if I could recycle it as a base for other fruit to avoid wasting it. To my surprise flavour had appeared, and I was happy to eat it "as is". The flavour of chutneys and pickles changes over time, indeed it is often recommended to leave chutneys for a couple of months before eating, but I had assumed that was to do with allowing all the spices etc to come together, but perhaps the fruit itself also changes with maturity?
The classic case of the disappointment/ put it away situation is Worcester Sauce I believe.

[eighthobstruction]

....just getting the hang of it too....

....second slice vicar....I've got some serious business I'd like to talk to you about....I hope you have brought your serious face with you, and are not intending to bail out all of a sudden....

[french frank]

....second slice vicar.....

More tea? With milk?

[eighthobstruction]

....I was a....I ah....I....I was thinking - thinking ah, about the world ....and ah....and a....it's problems....

[french frank]

....I was a....I ah....I....I was thinking - thinking ah, about the world ....and ah....and a....it's problems....

I'm sure we all do so, regularly.

[Bryn]

....I was a....I ah....I....I was thinking - thinking ah, about the world ....and ah....and a....it's problems....

Just so long as you don't try discussing them here. Try Facebook, where, if you respond with a negative response to a certain party's unwanted posts, your response will be removed or hidden, just like here, even while you get several notifications of 'likes' for your response.