Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

[Eve11]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

DeeBee;468165 wrote: Lila, they have a short test that is for free - that's the one I did.

DeeBee,
Do you have the web address for the free test? I would like to take it as well. Found info online but it was all chargeable and I didn't want to go that route either.
Eve11

[zed]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

boxer boy's friday

My beautiful friends

How goes it?

Here's the deal. I come on to the site at the end of the day at about this time and read all the posts have been made in the past 24 hours, since I went to bed and the rest of you woke up... and there are a lot of posts and a lot of great points and little things and observations and experiences and thoughts and questions... and I want to reply to each of them... but by the time I read my way up to the latest post, I can only remember a few! So, my point is that if I don't reply to something any of you has asked me, it's just because I have forgotten. My mind is beautiful, but it's a weary, beautiful thing. So just ask again and I'll reply the second time. If I was more organized, I'd take quick notes as I read through on what I want to specifically reply to. However I'm a lazy sack of cotton-wool.

"Touch wood." It's a Commonwealth phrase. That's what we say and do. No need to knock here. A touch suffices. Our dear North American friends are probably going to ask The Deebs & me what the Commonwealth is?

And so it goes... just like Ms. Deebs & me need to be told who Walter Cronkite is exactly. We all grow up in different worlds, cultures, with different heroes, villains, myths, our gods... our goddesses... our foods and drinks and seasons. But we are, in the end, the same person. And it's just the time it takes for the sun to reach us that's different. And we learn to live with it and we share our myths, and we grow together into the same victorious being from our common struggles. At least that's the sum of my very limited understanding.

Dear ladies. It's late. Deebs, tomorrow I am lunching with my two South African friends, Lindsay and Mark. We are meeting at the south gate of Tian'enmen ("Heaven's Gate) Square and we shall walk over to probably eat Spanish food. Maybe Japanese, if there's a buffet going at a restaurant near-by that we'll pass on our walk.

Hey Lila, yeah, the weather's gone crap here again. This evening I was outside for dinner and I actually found it hard to breath. What can I say? Living in a place where the Industrial Revolution is taking place in front of your very eyes is interesting to say the least. In America and Europe this happened 150 years ago. This sort of pollution-level. London, A and New York were like this. Cleveland - The Ohio river caught fire. Phillie, Amsterdam. Paris... now it's Peking's turn.

One city too many... as the polar ice caps melt.

On a much more positive note, I have great faith and immense hope. And Mother Nature will be fine.

Deebs, hope the storm passed! Speak about changes.

Anyway - this evening I went out and had a Hot Pot dinner with two Chinese friends and a Serbian friend. Hot Pot in Beijing - very interesting. They have a small gas cylinder next to each table and the stove in the center... tasty. But I'm naturally suspicious of any restaurant that MAKE YOU COOK YOUR OWN FOOD!!! Strange concept, no? ...I mean, why pay?? It's like going to the supermarket and paying for a table to sit at. Shouldn't cost as much as a real dinner, but it does! Something fishy going on with this... hmmm. Bah-humbug!

Babies. Today I was in the lift (elevator) and there was a little baby boy in there with me. Chinese boy. Must have been 10 months old. The cutest little chap ever. We couldn't take our eyes off each other. I bowed low to him.

So after dinner we went to a bar and had a drink. Had a beer during dinner, then a glass of champagne at the bar, and then a Mojito. 3 drinks. Friday night. Didn't really want to go out in the first place, but my Serbian friend, she's moving back to Belgrade at the end of the month, so she called and I could see she wanted the company.. so I went. It was nice. No regrets. Back home now, ready to get into bed, do some deep breathing... lights out.

Tomorrow morning to Tian'enman. I have an electric scooter. Runs on a battery that I charge at night. Very cool little thing. Doesn't go fast and one thing very great about Beijing (remnant from the fading past) are huge cycle lanes on literally every street and road here. So it's safe to ride around. I will ride over there. Takes 20 minutes.

Eve, how do I get to your blog? Please let me know! Thanks. Btw, here's a site with a free Enneagrams Test: Advanced Enneagram Personality Test

Peri, that's nice to hear about your yoga instructor! Wow. And happy you get a free class. Good for you! And yes, you are beautiful. All of you are.

Vera & J-vo - hello guys. Big hugs from me to you both. Hope I didn't miss anyone. It's late. Must crash. Slept all of 4 hrs last night.

Lila - that beer. Hey now! Since when was drinking 1 beer a bad thing I ask you? Unless, of course, you've committed yourself to an AF period and the beer directly infringed upon your promise to yourself. Anyway. No stress. THAT'S AS DAMAGING. In fact, MUCH more damaging than the 1 beer. C'mon ladies. Lila gets a break. She's feeling better! YES. You're doing SO well. The crackers though... Ha. Happens. What to say. Sucks. But happens. Oh well. No crackers next time! There WILL BE a next time, count on it. So you'll have your chance to redeem yourself...

Thanks Squad and have a very good one.

I raise my glass of water to The Awesome, Fabulous Deebers on the Cape of Good Hope AND to all of us - our health this weekend, this coming year, in our lifetimes... and in our next lifetimes also. What the heck, to be safe!

By the way I'm coming back as a Water Buffalo. More on that next time...

Cheers!

BB Zed

[Eve11]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

Zed,
My tests results were a 3. It was interesting and probably pretty accurate!
Re how to find my blog: Look to the top right of my post here and you will see the #1 next to blog entries highlighted. Click on it and it will take you right to my blog.
I see you're on board so still up. Isn't it bedtime or later there?
Sweet dreams.
Eve11

[periwinkle]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

zed;468339 wrote: "Touch wood." It's a Commonwealth phrase. That's what we say and do. No need to knock here. A touch suffices.

How perfect and beautiful is that! It seems much kinder and gentler. I believe that I will adopt it for myself if the two of you don't mind.

:lilflower:

[Lila]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

'Chuffed' is one of my faves...what does it mean, anyways?

[vlad]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

Just had a chance to sit down and do my enneagram test - I'm a Type 1. Thought it was pretty accurate actually.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who PM'd me while I was away - the funeral went smoothly, everything around it was a bit difficult though as expected.

Went a bit overboard Tuesday the evening we got back, ended up having 3 beers and 3 double vodkas, oops. But I've calmed down since.

[Sunbeam]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

Hi all,
Vlad, so glad to see you back with us. I'm also Type 1 on the enneagram test - kindred spirits, I guess.

For you good people across the pond, Walter Cronkite was the CBS evening television news anchor from 1962 through 1981. For me, that was from the time I was 8 years old until the year after I got married. He brought all the news into our homes, with great kindness and respect. He was always professional and respectful, except whe we landed on the moon. Then he said, "Hot diggity dog!" He was there through the worst times (assassination of President Kennedy) and the best. Through the Vietnam war, resignation of President Nixon, anything and everything that was important we heard from him. Now, there are so many different ways to get the news, and families don't spend time together as much. We always turned on that program after dinner. The autobiography I am reading describes his life before CBS News.

I'm doing great, another AF night. I decided this morning that I'm going to eat a banana every evening. A little sweet, but with a starchy feel. I believe Liz Bonus, a dietitian who says that all diets are bad (because they end). The only way to permanantly lose weight is to make lifestyle changes. I eat high-quality foods (lots of fruits, veggies and whole grains, fast food is rare). My evening munchies are my downfall, so maybe the banana will help.

My gratitude today is for friends. You are all my cyberfriends, and it is a blessing that I can say kinda whatever I want to you every day. I have a couple of close friends, and lots of acquaintences with whom I am friendly. What a great life I have!

Friday cheers to all of you!

[Lila]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

thank you, Sunbeam! I really like logging on here as well. Yes - lifestyle, not diets! I finally got my AllOne powder and I thought with a fruit smoothie every morning I will achieve eternal youth and health. So we have two Ones! Two Twos, and a Three, and a Four, am I right?

[periwinkle]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

Hi Squad!

Welcome back Vlad! Glad to see you back! I missed you. We all did.

So I came out a type 2... from the free test. I only saw a very small description of the type 2. Where do I find the descriptions of all the types?

I had a nice "me" day. A few days ago I read the gem thread on the natural healing section of the forum. My sister took me to a rock shop today. She bought me a very beautiful amethyst that now has its place on my coffee table. And I bought some amethyst beads that I will make myself a necklace and some earrings with. Check out the thread!

Going out for Dinner with hubby now... Catch up with everyone later.

periwinkle :heartsnflowers:

[zed]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

Chuffed!

Hello girls and boys

Morning! Guten Morgen!

Peri, of course you can share the joy of Touch Wood with us and the rest of the Touch-wooders in the world. We welcome you with open arms into our gentle fold.

Trees and all wooded things love us!

Vlad, hello there, I read a lot of your old posts when I first got to the Squadron, so I feel as if I know a bit about you already. Hoping to hear a lot more from you and getting to know you a lot better. As you can see, I ramble a lot, the girls call me Boxer boy, and I am to become a Water Buffalo. That just about explains me in a nutshell.

Sunbeam, thanks for letting me and Deebs get the low-down on W.Cronkite. Yes, now I remember. I think I've seen the famous clip in B&W on TV when he announced the assassination of J FK. He took his glasses off and wipes the tears from his eyes... ahh yes, the days before Satellite TV and all the channels. In India the same thing happened but 30 years later. Until 1991 there was only 1 station on TV. It came on from 9am to 12pm. Then went off until 4pm, then on again until 10pm. The national news was at 9.30pm so we'd sit around and watch it after dinner, then brush our teeth, say our prayers and go to bed. This was the routine. Days of innocence. It was nice growing up in India for me. I didn't have TV while I lived there for most of my childhood. That meant that we played outside a lot. Back from school, homework done, then outside in the compound area with the big Mango and Coconut trees with all the other kids from the apartment building in which we lived - playing Hide & Seek and Cops and Robbers and Cricket and Football (Soccer) and generally just running around until about 7.30. Then our mothers, one by one, would call each of us up from the balconies of our apartments, "come up now..! Dinner.." and we'd each go up, have a bath, and eat. How lovely.

Peri, your a stone collector, ha? Ok. Nice.

Eve thanks, will check your blog out.

I'm going to create a thread called "On Enneagram Types and generally being chuffed!" Chuffed means, just being happy with oneself! So chuffed it's Saturday today and I am listening to The Beatles sing Let It Be. "And when the broken-hearted people in the world agree, there will be an answer, let it be...."

Have great wkend all!

Z

[DeeBee]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

Eve, here is the direct link to the test... just scroll down till you see it towards the bottom of the page
Free Enneagram Test

Zed, lunch with two SA beauties, you lucky man you. Please let us know how it was, it sounds amazing on your side of the world. I keep threatening hubby that I am going to hide in his bag the next time he comes over.
BTW I'll let you in on my secret... I write as I read, so I am forever copying and pasting as I go throught he pages - otherwise I'll never rememer everything I want to say. I am waiting with bated breath what the meaning is of the water buffallo BB.

Reading your post got me reminissing about my childhood. I had a wonderful childhood, mostly spent on the beach from the early morning until sundown. When I was old enough (13) I got my first job on the beach as a lifeguard and it was the highlight of my childhood. I feel very sad at times when I look at my daughter now at the same age. She is not allowed to walk on the streets on her own, she can only go to the beach accompanied by an adult and the movie house is a no-no because of *baddies* hanging around in bathrooms. She often tells me I am too protective but she is growing up in a society that is very different to when I was a kid.

Lila I was thinking of you as I fell asleep last night. I am a wine drinker through and through but what I have found now is that that crappy 5lt that I used to buy in order to get smashed just tastes crap. So I now buy a more expensive bottle of wine, only one mind and I am now enjoying the *taste* of different wines for the wine itself and not for the effect. I digress a bit because my point is that I have never been a beer drinker but I did buy a 6-pack of AF beers for those times when I wanted to be sociable (when watching Rugby) but didn't want to drink. Have you tried AF beers? It might be something to consider to keep in the fridge for that drink at the end of a long day. That way you will be getting the taste of beer but not the effect of AL. Sorry if I am totally of the mark but I was thinking of you last night.

Oh and "chuffed" means happy -- simple but effective.

Sun I love your gratitude list for today. Too often we take our friends for granted. Thanks for the reminder. My cyber-friends are especially close in my heart when I say thank you as they have never failed me, always supported and most importantly broadened my horizons on my topics.
Thanks for the info on Walter Cronkite, he sounds like an amazing person who must've seen and done a lot in his life time.

Peri, another Type 2! Here is the link that will take you to the description 2 - Enneagram Type Two: The Helper
How wonderful that you got some ME time yesterday. It's so important to re-connect with ourselves especially if we are on a bumpy road. Helps keep the focus on our goals and plans. I get very disjointed if I miss out on my me time, whether its my bath time being interupted or silence broken, I get rather grumpy about it.

Vladster, great to have you back!! Good on you for jumping back onto the wagon. Hey, do you have a Designasaurs update for us.... I'm missing Rozz.

Well today is a magnificiently beautiful sunny day, not a cloud in the sky. Hubby is working so I am going to head into the garden and pot around there for a bit. I am growing quite a variety of veggies and herbs so they need some attention, the spinach just grows like a weed, we have eaten it almost every night this week much to my daughters disgust.

Hi Vera, Panadol, St John, where you guys?

[DeeBee]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

Eve, I just read your blog. I feel that this is going to be something very healthy for you to release the past. Thank you for sharing,.

[Lila]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

hi all
I just read your blog, Eve. Thank you. I love reading about people's lives. Do you like being a nurse? Hi Vlad! Deebs, yes, maybe I am more into wine these days. So maybe something like that or herb tea. I am starting again today, I just got my AllOne powder, more Kudzu, L glut and St Johns Wort. Zed, thanks for starting the Enneagram thread. It is fun to see more people down here in Modders! Some people here haven't been around lately - check in guys!
have a great Saturday everyone. I am sure I will check back in a while.
Lila

[Lila]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

Yikes, just had the AllOne in my smoothie. Not too bad! Does anyone on this thread use it and love it?

[zed]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

Hey Lila, can't give you tips on AllOne. As yet.

Gang - what a lovely Beijing day today. Woke up, sun was shining, a beautiful blue sky and not cold. Got out at 12, rode down to Tianenmen, parked my scooter on the north side of the square and walked down to the south end where I met my South African friend, Lindsay, under the south gate! We then meandered over to a nice restaurant area, and then down for a long, relaxed stroll through an outdoor Chinese market. Very cool. The things on sale. Lol! Everything under the sun, including fake jade stones (thought of you Peri), plastic birds nests that lit up and made odd chirping sounds when I touched them, cigarette holders, lighters, tobacco cases, hats, belts, rubber bathtubs, pipes, finger bowls, pen-knives, spoons, forks, plates, baby clothes, latex wedding dresses, hoola-hoops, gorilla-masks and nail clippers!

After a long walk we ended up back in the restaurant area we began at, and decided to eat Italian food. Had a very nice lunch (beef carpaccio, pumpkin soup and a chicken fillet), with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. Very crisp. Mark couldn't make it as he is cramming for his Chinese exams (he's studying Chinese intensively!) next week.

On way back stopped and met an old friend for coffee. Hadn't seen him in 10 months. Turns out we now live a couple of buildings away from each other. Had no idea!

On my way up into my building, passed my little grocery store, went in and almost ended up buying a bottle of red. Resisted, came up and been here sending some emails and posting here on MWO for a while. Had dinner... craving soothed but didn't completely go away. About 30 mins ago put slippers on, got house-keys in hand, opened the door and was out again... on my way down to the store for that bottle... Stepped outside my apartment, then turned back immediately and came back in. The thought that went through my head was about how frickin' stupid and bloated and pathetic I'd feel tomorrow morning if I went ahead. I closed the door and bolted it. Then went straight into the kitchen, where I drank a big glass of water and boiled water for a cup of coffee. I'm about to drink my coffee now! Looking forward to it.

It's just past 10 at night, and the store is closed finally. So, I made it. Cheers. That was a close one. Phew. I made it through though... largely thanks to my investigations into Chakras and all your posts. Long-live the Mod Squad!

Deebs thanks for your story from your childhood. We are the same age and also share the same Enneagram personality type. I was thinking of how different our childhoods and our lives have been. Fascinating! Empowering how vast and diverse the world is and yet we can be the same in so many ways.

Have good day all, talk soon again. GOOD WEEKEND. Stay strong folks.