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If I had to take a citizenship test and was asked about the make up of my country/ nation, I'd fail the test. I think a lot of people in the UK would. I think of myself as English, rarely as British. For me, 'British' has overtones of colonialism. Actually, I think of myself as northern English .

Don't know how you managed that walk @Midland Tyke. Wow!

 

 

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@Midland Tyke, I get vertigo on anything higher than a barstool, but that scenery was stunning.

I see a "Portuguese walk of death" meet up in the offing 

 

I've always heard "Great Britain and Northern Ireland" to describe the UK. As has been said there are many places which are British but not British such as the Channel Islands, Isle of Man etc, 

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1 minute ago, Skycaptain said:

I've always heard "Great Britain and Northern Ireland" to describe the UK.

Well the full name of the UK is the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" so that isn't surprising. 😛

 

I consider myself British. If anything the term English has overtones of nationalism for me, though there is no particular reason it should. It might depend on location...

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4 hours ago, Tunhope said:

Mind you, if I got results like Spotastic's, I'd be totally confused. 

The site actually explains what they mean by each result you get, and even goes into the history of the migrations from those regions. I'm still processing all of it.

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2 hours ago, Midland Tyke said:

Here goes. For those who have vertigo issues, watch at your own risk. The first 3 minutes (up until the tunnel!) are the worst. I'd also say that the railings are in a poorer state of repair now.

 

 

How large is that strip of land to walk across in the beginning? I'd be afraid my size 13 shoes (47 Euro size, 12.5 UK) wouldn't fit on it... besides the whole fear of heights thing.

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I only managed to watch a few bits of that video before shutting it off. :blink:

 

I did a different dna test thing a few years ago, which was more about the distant past and showed things like which waves of migration from Africa (or non-migration as the case may be) your ancestors likely fell into and where those migrations went. It was a broader and more distant (in terms of time) look at ancestry. What all of  these dna tests do is look at various genetic markers (which have been discovered over time by comparing things like actual genealogies and traits and other non-dna information with dna to find the genetic markers) that establish various levels of probability of certain traits and things like ancestry. Some genetic markers are more precise than others (because some can be linked more directly to certain traits than others), but most of the ones they use for these tests have a reasonable level of reliability. And they refine their algorithms as new information comes in.

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I get a word-of-the-day in my email. Apropos of nothing (except that I thought it interesting!), today's was "boycott"--I had no idea of its origin!

 

In the 1870s, Irish farmers faced an agricultural crisis that threatened to result in a repeat of the terrible famine and mass evictions of the 1840s. Anticipating financial ruin, they formed a Land League to campaign against the rent increases and evictions landlords were imposing as a result of the crisis. Retired British army captain Charles Boycott had the misfortune to be acting as an agent for an absentee landlord at the time, and when he tried to evict tenant farmers for refusing to pay their rent, he was ostracized by the League and community. His laborers and servants quit, and his crops began to rot. Boycott's fate was soon well known, and his name became a byword for that particular protest strategy.

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@Spotastic, you are truly a citizen of the world. :)

 

In theory i’d very much like to do a DNA test and see what turns up, but I’m wary about the whole data privacy aspect.

 

Thanks for posting the video link, @Midland Tyke — that is truly gorgeous. In person it would be lost on me, though, as I’d be too focused just on not falling off either side. :unsure:

 

I find word origins fascinating too, @teatree, and probably more words than we think came from people’s names.

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3 hours ago, Spotastic said:

How large is that strip of land to walk across in the beginning? I'd be afraid my size 13 shoes (47 Euro size, 12.5 UK) wouldn't fit on it... besides the whole fear of heights thing.

the levada rim is about 50 cm (1.5ft) wide. My UK size 10 boots had to be placed precisely. So you'd have to be even more exact...

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16 minutes ago, Semisweet said:

In theory i’d very much like to do a DNA test and see what turns up, but I’m wary about the whole data privacy aspect.

Same, especially because - even if the company itself does not sell or misuse your data - any unscrupulous (or zealous) relatives and their friends/family still can.

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25 minutes ago, ryn2 said:

Same, especially because - even if the company itself does not sell or misuse your data - any unscrupulous (or zealous) relatives and their friends/family still can.

Unscrupulous friends?/family (question mark since anyone who would do this I would not consider a friend) can do this anyway. Grab a few hairs from your brush

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7 minutes ago, MakeLoveNotWar said:

Unscrupulous friends?/family (question mark since anyone who would do this I would not consider a friend) can do this anyway. Grab a few hairs from your brush

Agreed, but they have to work harder and actually be in my house/follow me around at work/etc.  I was thinking more of people who would be shown my information but that I don’t actually in any way know...

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@Semisweet, truly gorgeous, humph :P:P

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18 minutes ago, Skycaptain said:

@Semisweet, truly gorgeous, humph :P:P

I must be slowing down, that wasn’t even intentional! :blush:

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17 hours ago, Midland Tyke said:

I'd also say that the railings are in a poorer state of repair now.

And some spots seemed sans railing entirely!  I'm not sure how I would feel about walking that if I was there; I like to think that I would be "up" for it (or down in the water? Was that channel deep?).

 

16 hours ago, Tja said:

Stunning! I'd do it in a heartbeat!

This surprised me, after our ladder chat (but I do think you said you're not afraid of heights, just ladders).  It's all quite interesting, where people draw the line.  I've been wondering what actually constitutes a "height," and I'm sure it's quite different for different folks, depending on: height from the ground, narrowness of the platform, and sheerness of the drop-off.

 

12 hours ago, teatree said:

I get a word-of-the-day in my email. Apropos of nothing (except that I thought it interesting!), today's was "boycott"--I had no idea of its origin!

Super cool, @teatree!  That's a great idea, a word of the day.

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14 hours ago, Skycaptain said:

I see a "Portuguese walk of death" meet up in the offing 

😄

 

Portugal sounds wonderful.  My brother and niece went a couple years ago, and my widely-traveled brother said I should move it to the top of my list.

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1 hour ago, pickles mcgee said:

This surprised me, after our ladder chat (but I do think you said you're not afraid of heights, just ladders)

As long as there are no ladders involved, the higher the better.😊

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6 hours ago, pickles mcgee said:

And some spots seemed sans railing entirely!  I'm not sure how I would feel about walking that if I was there; I like to think that I would be "up" for it (or down in the water? Was that channel deep?).

 

 

Levadas are typically 30 to 60 cm deep (1 to 2 ft). How full of water, and how fast it flows, varies enormously.

 

I quite like mainland Portugal. There is a lot of agriculture (Olive and cork trees, in particular). But Madeira was a cut above that. Much steeper, greener and because it's not a big island, its compact, too. The driving is a bit scary, though.

 

In many ways Madeira reminded me of inland French Riviera ('inland' because Madeira has no beaches).

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Guest Jetsun Milarepa
8 hours ago, pickles mcgee said:

And some spots seemed sans railing entirely!  I'm not sure how I would feel about walking that if I was there; I like to think that I would be "up" for it (or down in the water? Was that channel deep?).

...one that can be done on the hands and knees then!

 

On the DNA front- 

21 hours ago, daveb said:

did a different dna test thing a few years ago, which was more about the distant past and showed things like which waves of migration from Africa (or non-migration as the case may be) your ancestors likely fell into and where those migrations went. It was a broader and more distant (in terms of time) look at ancestry. What all of  these dna tests do is look at various genetic markers (which have been discovered over time by comparing things like actual genealogies and traits and other non-dna information with dna to find the genetic markers) that establish various levels of probability of certain traits and things like ancestry. Some genetic markers are more precise than others (because some can be linked more directly to certain traits than others), but most of the ones they use for these tests have a reasonable level of reliability. And they refine their algorithms as new information comes in.

Yes @daveb, I noticed that after my daughter linked up with me, it adjusted things on our trait record . also the one we did,, 23 and me, had loads of questions about our daily lives and that would go towards new algorithms.

 

@teatree , you might now want to look up the stories behind the words Hooligan- and there are a few others like that!

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Place name etymology too. Gosh - we could have a whole thread on word derivations. I'd love it.

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9 minutes ago, Tunhope said:

Place name etymology too. Gosh - we could have a whole thread on word derivations. I'd love it.

Oh! That's one of my interests. For me, particularly place names in the British Isles. I have several books on the subject. :) 

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On 1/11/2019 at 11:10 AM, cdrdash said:

The bad news is I caught a cold on Tuesday evening.  It is one of the fastest times a cold descended upon me.  I was feeling fit and fine in the morning and visited my dentist for a cleaning (my teeth are fine so no dentist till 6 months from now!!).  Then in the late afternoon a sore throat crashed into my body.  It was a really bad sore throat too.  The next morning I awoke with the same sore throat and a sinus headache and feeling super tired.  I called into work sick and spent the next two days home from work.  I slept lots and took sinus headache medicine and finally today I am beginning to feel a little more like I can get back to doing more than lying on the couch!    The sore throat is mostly gone.  I have a mild cough.  And I'm still feeling a bit tired but I think I'm almost over the hump of getting over this cold.   I'm still rather amazed out how fast this cold arrived.  Usually I feel colds coming on.  This one caught me by surprise.  Knock on wood, that it will leave as fast as it came!  I have today off from work so will rest some more.   Anyone else experienced having a cold arrive suddenly?

 

Cathy

Usually mine come on slow.  I had a weird cough thing over Christmas (not a cold) and then when I was finally feeling better (and thought I was going to donate blood), a sinus infection came on.  That one came quick.  I hope you are feeling better.  Some colds are a doozy!

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On 1/12/2019 at 10:11 AM, Midland Tyke said:

Here goes. For those who have vertigo issues, watch at your own risk. The first 3 minutes (up until the tunnel!) are the worst. I'd also say that the railings are in a poorer state of repair now.

 

 

Congrats on doing this walk!!!  I am also afraid of heights, so the idea of this is terrifying, but this is definitely a beautiful place.  I prefer hiking mountains with a nice large summit.  To be fair, the tunnel and being under all that rock on the mountainside is also terrifying.  But what a trip of a lifetime : ) 

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@nspwb welcome to AVEN 🎂 🎂

 

Well the HMRC website was busy yesterday, but I've got everything done, yays. 

Also found that the most elusive section of a rail company's website is the bit where you claim for a late train (surprised, not! :P:P

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Welcome @nspwb ! 🍰

 

Well, oddly enough I never slept a wink last night! Fell asleep on the sofa at 9pm sharp then awoke at 11.30pm and that was it! I must make a note not to doze on the couch because it is really interfering with real sleep time.

 

So, this'll make for a painless work day!😄

 

 

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Cold still hanging on now.  The sore throat is mostly gone.  The sinus headaches seem to have stopped.  But the cough is now deep.  I'm going to work from home tomorrow as I feel energetic enough but I don't want to expose folks at work to the germs nor the loud cough!  I'm rather looking forward to having the privacy of home.   It is slightly easier to do work at work because the computer set up is better than my home arrangement but I do get interrupted at work more and I'm the type that likes to concentrate in long bits of time without interruption.  I am not that good at multi-tasking and shifting gears and then getting back to the work I was doing.   

 

My cold was well enough for me to manage to do two short hikes today with a good friend.  She is a very popular and busy person and I seem to only manage to do something with her about once a year.   I was glad she was OK with hiking with me when I had a cold.   Here are the photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/5bpZrZ62zZsrjbhi8

 

Welcome @nspwb,

 

@Midland Tyke  that Levada hike looked awesome.  A few spots I might have trouble with the heights (I would have to direct my attention to the side opposite the exposure).   Is one allowed to slosh in the water next to the cement walk?  I might do that on the very exposed bits.  

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