I saw a surgeon about my knees a couple years ago who was very plain dealing in re options etc. He was rec'd by an exercise physiologist I see for general workouts to help with knee pain. I did pay for the consult tho and he is in Melb so may not suit. Happy to send you deets if interested

Also the recovery from TKR is brutal and would require so much rearrangement of my life that a large part of me honestly feels like sometimes it's easier to just live with the pain. I'm dithering terribly about it :)

Not yet. It's definitely an option but when I did my consult I was about 55 so the view was try & manage it in other ways. Hold off on surgery for a few more years. Been doing weight training to maintain muscles around the joints + flexibility but I think from memory that's problematic for you?

Much sympathy. My knees are very similar (without the benign tumor afaik). I have tried IAHA. It did reduce some of the pain but only for about 6 months - which I expected - the knee surgeon I went to was very honest. On the plus side no ill effects

FWIW I really enjoyed DATV. It didn't go where I expected and that's not a bad thing. I don't understand people who expect creators to make stories that exactly mesh with their own internal head canon. Where is the delight in something fresh or interesting?

I am with you on the no soft fruit thing. Give me all the slightly under ripe stone fruit, greenish bananas and super crunchy apples! That said I have a recipe for baked persimmon with honey and spices which is pretty delicious

I am very much enjoying all of the americans weighing in to accuse you of voting *FOR* Obama. Watching americans discover that other countries exist on the internet is perennially entertaining

Will definitely read later. Haven't started 2 yet (had to finish the latest Astreiant book) but I loved the first one

My masters thesis was on a bunch of those convents. I drew up a (pre google!) map of their locations. It’d be interesting to go back now with that map in hand

Re 19. Yep. Also outside of elite wealthy families (and that was limited) the only chance to have even a modicum of authority. Even then usually restricted to well off families who could afford the dowries for convents

Grow stuff because you enjoy doing it, or you like having fresh herbs, or you can grow varieties it's hard to find in the shops. Accept that it's a crap shoot & sometimes you'll have more apples than you know what to do with & other times rainbow lorikeets will eat them all (colourful little jerks!)

Oh god yes! I have 8 fruit trees, 3 veggie beds & most of the time it's either feast or famine, or it's a short season of one particular thing followed by another short season of one particular thing (you get very sick of), & a huge amount of work. And it usually costs more than just buying veg

It looks lovely and I also think having a living space that makes you happy contributes to your own wellbeing so absolutely do nice stuff for you when you can

And here's more info about all the newly opened records prov.vic.gov.au/daring-crime...

That's how most people in my workplace do it. Some have 2 phones (work and personal) if their role means there's an expectation of being available outside office hours. Mine is kind of a legacy case and also my brain would meltdown if I had to keep track of 2 phones.

I don’t think so. It was a work phone and in fact still is. I have never bought a mobile phone for myself which is probably also pretty rare 😀

Since about 1998 so not even close to 32 years but still a pretty long time. First phone was a Nokia with the snake game on it

Agree with your review on DA: Veilguard. It looks gorgeous and combat was engaging without requiring me to memorise 27 different key combos. Writing let it down a little but I liked the way the story circled back to elven history from previous games. Will have to check out some others from your list