The other day Elizabeth was waiting anxiously for Daniel to get home from school because she wanted his help with something. I asked her what she needed him for and it was to translate morse code and hexadecimal. This prompted more questions. How does Daniel know morse code and hexadecimal? And what was Elizabeth wanting to translate?
The kids play a game called Roblox and apparently at the end of each level there’s some morse code and hexadecimal you need to translate before you can “level up”. Maybe playing games isn’t always a waste of time. I quizzed Daniel later and he said he taught himself morse code (he just knows the numbers) and he uses an app for the hexadecimal. Perhaps he inherited it from his Grandfather on my mother’s side who intercepted and translated morse code during World War II.
I’m happy to say the cat that I saw get hit by a car earlier this month survived the ordeal. She needed a hip replacement operation but will make a full recovery.
I’m also really happy that I’ve finally got my pension (superannuation) down to just 1.5% oil and gas. I would prefer it to be 0% but 1.5% is the best I can do and I can live with that. It shouldn’t be this hard. We know institutional investors are dumping their oil and gas stocks and it should be possible for individuals like me to do the same. It’s not just the ethical obligation but there’s a real risk these stocks are in an expanding carbon bubble and it doesn’t make financial sense to hang onto them. This is because their valuation is inconsistent with what we need to do to halt climate change. I recognise that some of these companies may and are already starting to diversify which is great but most of them are part of the problem and halting progress.
The Aberdeen Cycle Forum has started a crowdfunding campaign for an event we’re organising in May 2020. We’re planning to close the streets in central Aberdeen for people to walk, cycle, scooter, rollerblade or whatever their chosen method of active travel is. Closing the streets for two hours will cost us £2321.10 so we’re raising money by crowdfunding. If you can help you can donate at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/reclaim-the-streets
Thank you!
rachel.blog 
That’s so great that they use their initiative to solve problems. My daughters did much the same thing with Minecraft – looking up how to craft things, and then figuring out sourcing the materials on their own.
My kids love Minecraft too. It’s a great game for kids. Much better than a shooting game. I don’t let the kids play Fortnight and they don’t seem to mind.
Glad the cat’s human companion had enough money to pay for the hip replacement. Thanks for the update 😊
I am in an ethical superannuation investment fund, but have been seriously considering changing over to the one which also has vegan principles.
You’re lucky to have a vegan one you can switch to. I don’t think there’s anything like that here. Not yet anyway. It was hard enough finding one that didn’t invest in fossil fuels and as it is I’m stuck with 1.5%.
It’s called CareSaver, if you want to check it out for curiosity’s sake. It’s an ethical KiwiSaver (superannuation) fund, but goes further than the regular ethical funds.
Good luck with the cycle forum event. Hope you get the funds and the event goes well, it sounds like the sort of thing that could change people’s minds and make them feel more positive towards cycling.
Thanks, Denise and thanks for the donation! I tried applying for funding with the lottery but we didn’t get it. They said they’re looking for things that are not one-off events like this one. Hopefully, the JustGiving page will work instead.
Also it is so sweet that your kids still play together like that.
They do get on really well. We’re lucky!