No.6 Discussion Board

... now I removed my last post instead of editing it. Way to go with not reading what the warning says.

But the last one wasn't anything proper anyways. I did comment on how after the visit to the hairdresser my hair was partially too short for a pony tail. But it's long enough again! And I'm pretty happy with it no need to cosplay book version Nezumi anymore.

There was also a thank you for the compliments!

Still haven't got any proper contacts, the one's I'm wearing here are way too blue, but I wanted to see how something really light would look so I put them in. What I'm really more happy with now is the hair, a little bit of a trim for the bangs maybe, but that's almost more of a tiny detail left. (I do want the deep black, not the anime-version colour, it's just personal taste.)
I think I might try taking a picture with the leather jacket and scarf as substitute for the cape next time (I don't have the jacket with me right now or I would have experimented with that now...) for now it's an old way too big T-shirt that made me take the liberty of lounging around. Maybe I should have picked up a book while I was at it.

But now I can actually call this a prototype for the cosplay to come.

I'm excited.

It's back! I was surpirsed when it was suddenly gone. But I'm glad everything's still here and all. (I don't know if anyone remembers ... I forgot the name, never mind, but some free board service closing down. At least they warned and gave out back ups but there was one board I was on with and it was not so much fun to move EVERYTHING on our own to a different provider. Not much fun. So I suppose it's quite nice of the provider if they actually moved all their data instead of making people do it themselves.)

@Ahiku
I hope you were able to deliver that package by now. I assume you don't have a phone number to call? That's what I'd try if they're never home. If they're never home at all, I assume the mail box would be overfilled as well? What I used to do in such cases (when I wanted neighbours knowing something as soon as they come home) is a post it on eye-level on their door. Can't be overlooked, not even if you're tired or drunk when you come home. Or even more extrem over the door lock, so they're forced to take it if they wanna get in.

And yeah, I'm not that giant... The numbers are the snowboard heights, mind you, not mine. ^^ (And I also have big feet, so I'd prefer one on the upper side of normal height and thus be a little wider to give me good leverage.)
Anyways by now I'm just gonna wait and see. Maybe I'll wait another season after all, if I'm lucky I could borrow a board to go for a day or two this winter.
I did see another nice one when I was in Germany on Friday, but again, tallest one was still a tad short.
If I'm very very lucky I might also find something at the very end of sales before they pack all the winter stuff away again.
As said before, in the end, it is a luxury thing to have and not a necessity. (But it's something I enjoy since I live in a mountany country and have the opportinity to make use of it even on a whim - I have several ski resorts within a relatively short amount of travel.)

On a note of winter sports... The snow here is again melting. This winter so far really has been... extremely warm. Though I hear it's not much different in the US at least along the eastcoast.

Does anyone else here enjoy winter/snow sports/activities by the way? (Any kind, not just ski or snowboard!)

That's just sad.

It's the same here though as a physical therapist you're not allowed to make official diagnoses, but in very many places at least everywhere I've interned at so far, the doctor or specialist perscribing the therapy expects updates and reports from us and it isn't uncommon that we have different opinions or find new things and if that happens we're actually expected to call the doctors and tell them or actually just chat them up when you see them/in their office. And they tend to react to what you tell them...

Well alright, I guess the main problem though are insurances. I understand their need for checking a little bit, since there are a lot of idiotic lazy butts that want to cheat their way out of work by feigning illness and some doctors make money that way... But when it turns into a scheme that's just looking more like 'trying to keep the money' instead of looking for cheaters... well...

I'll just keep my fingers crossed that the things for you will start falling in place. You've worked a lot for it that I can read out of your texts, you'd be someone where health care can make a good 'investment'.

@Ahiku
Okay, point taken, I was thinking of how earth can mean ground as well in literature, less in science. And I admit I was too lazy to actually google it and just go for an (un)educated guess.

But the homeless story sounds so typical. And it sadly sheds bad light on those who would want to do and work. We had a bad case like that with a refugee family in the neighbourood. They would have been allowed to live in a newly renovated farm house and turned it down because they wanted something better. That's just... you're fleeing from a war, you get offered a house that actually has a lot of worth (rustic renovated farmhouses actually are expensive), is warm, cared for and has everything you need, in a counry that is considered very safe. Appreciative much? Other people get temporarily housed in military bases (which is still warm, has a bed and proper meals) and don't complain.

@Weisel
Oh, good thing that friend of yours hasn't told me. I would honestly ask her to explain me why this is so bad, especially if she has a functioning computer already/would get a less expensive one that covers her need for education or enough savings to buy it herself. I'd make her explain it to me and probably drop very snide and sarcastic questions. Behaviour like that... is just... asking for people to lower their respect and expectations.
I get it if someone indulges a little every now and then and complains that they don't have a luxury item or just say they would really like one, we generally are spoiled brats in industrialized regions, but there's a line where it gets ridiculous.
I'm also really glad my parents taught me how to respect value and don't take everything for granted.

Your trip to Ghana though sounds like a lot of valuable experiences. And helping out like that as a teacher, now that is 'charity' I can respect. It's not easy getting yourself to places that don't have a comfortable life. Although it is true what your father said with valuing your own life. You can't help any further once you're dead after all.

Also that's actually even known around here that the US insurance/health system is ****. And that it can ruin people. We don't have the perfect system either, it's ridiculous as hell sometimes, but I'm actually rather happy, compared. I pay way too much for insurance (over 300 a month) but I'm at least certain I can get medical attention when I need it, where I need it and the basic needs are well covered. Also as a citizen here I can always fall back on social help by the government. It may be a pain to prove it that you need help, but to land your rear on the street isn't gonna happen very fast.
It may be not easy to get certified as disabled, but it's not impossible either, you're always allowed to ask for a second opinion from a different doctor and usually the best and most up to date work in university clinics, which are not private and therefore not needed to pay yourself. (That's just if you want some fancy private doctor, then you need a private fancy insurance - it's not like that matters much though in a general hospital, I've dealt with privately insured patients as well, all they get is a more fancy room alone and the chief shakes their hand more often/is present for the doctor's visite. Okay, as a student I'm only allowed to treat them if they agree to have me, so they get asked beforehand and not just put on a student's roster. But that's about it, really.)
So the system might be a pain in the ass still, but I'm grateful to at least have to posibilities when I bother to look for them.

The nordic countries though have worked it out best as far as I know?
 
I hope though that the things we learn from those countries get adapted here as well, and I especially hope the US gets some change in their healthcare in forseeable future.

I know I'll be broke forever if I do that, that's the problem. -laughs-

And I did think about going to the bring and buy section at conventions. But that would mean I have to go to conventions and then there's barely a chance for English one's. I might get French around here, but English is rare. Garage sales are practically nonexistant, too. You need a permit for something like that.

I'll probably have to hunt used copies online and go hunt for real whenever I get to the US or UK. Ah... it'll take me ages. Maybe I should just be happy with reading scans online.

Also, our weather is... strange. It's was almost night dark, I heard thunder, then there was a bit of ice-rain and now I can see blue skies again in some places. An hour ago it had been sunny, too. Kinda creepy.

I've wondered about this before as well.

He's quite a complex character with a very disturbing and complex history that probably has had a lot of influence in his behaviour when he was older.

Though, intelligence is not altered that strongly by nurture and Nezumi seems to be exceptionally bright. He has little problems with literature and is able to understand different cultures and worldviews, which is quite a feat thinking about the barren cultural background he grew up in. I doubt that people in the west block give a **** about other's beliefs or traditions if they don't even care for their lives. But Nezumi still understands the concept. (He though does have a head start as he was confronted with a most likely very traditional culture in his early childhood.)
He also seems to have an able mind when it comes to the mathematical-logic intelligence, since he's built the robot mice himself. Not to mention that apparently he was way better in making them behave natural as in the novels it is mentioned that No.6 robots are nice, but often dysfunctional especially with those that get more complex tasks and are easily recognisable as robots.

Taking that into consideration, no matter where Nezumi would grow up, he'd most likely be a person to think about and analyze the world around him. He'd most likely be critical either way as he developed that trait even in a world that tries to extinguish it within people. So yeah, the snarky, a little wary part of him would probably still be there. And I think if he grew up with the forest people he would definitely have met some sort of prejudice against the city as they clearly want to stay out of the developement business.

I could very well see him being interested yet very wary about technological advance. And with all that intelligence he would probably still know how to manipulate people just as well, but I could see him making less use of it and probably also being less harsh with it.

His emotional development would be the most interesting though and that could definitely even with his family take several routes. There's not much of a description on the forest people and Nezumi obviously does not remember very much. But their social structures would be very interesting.

There's one thing I did wonder about. Nezumi is a singer and due to that, how much of a different treatement he would have gotten because he has inevitably more "power" than others. I don't quite think there's as much of supressing hierarchy amongst the forest people since they're trying to just live peacefully with the nature around them, but even in tribes there's usually a hierarchy. And with someone that holds a potential for power treatment is usally different.
It could very well be that with growing years expectations of him would have grown and caused him to be more careful with his emotions. So he would still be careful whom he shows how much of his emotions. Also, he might generally be someone not so vocal and social, he seems to have been playing alone after all in the very few memories we get from him. Being alone in the fields when he meets the forest god.

The biggest difference I think would be the lack of his obsession with destruction. I think that is what would also make him more approachable and gentler in general. He wouldn't be driven with the destruction of No.6 which would broaden his sight for his immediate environment and mostly the people around him. I don't really think he'd give or show anything of himself carelessly, but he'd certainly be more invested in having people get along around himself and he probably wouldn't think in the strong dichotomy he shows in the novels. That part is almost controverse to his intelligence and undestanding of the human being otherwise, that's mainly driven/blinded by his obsession to get rid of No. 6.

The lazyness that has been mentioned, I'm not so sure if that is a part of his personality or more of a symptom of the depressive surroundings. Could be either way.

I'm actually going as far as to say that Nezumi would under the circumstances of the forest people being alive make a pretty good mediator - probably working best alongside Shion - between them and the city of No. 6. Gentler than he is with all the trauma, but still not naive and pretty realistic, good for standing his ground with his arguments.

I'm not even trying small book shops. *laughs* They usually don't even have any manga at all. No, there's a manga/anime store in Zürich I know of and there's a very big bookstore in Bern that actually has one shelf of mangas. Last time I was up there to check I at least saw they had volume 7 but that was perhaps two weeks ago?
I bought 6 and 7 at the Connichi in September. The thing is the price is a lot and I really mean a LOT cheaper in Germany. I didn't check No.6's price but the new edition of InuYasha for example is I think € 12.90 and last time I looked at the price in Switzerland it was CHF 22.10 (and the currencies are pretty close still).

And yeah, they've had quite successfull dub workshops as far as I remember from the Animagic and Connichi - I've never been to one though, they've always been too full. But if there was a No. 6 workshop... I'd go sit in the line for hours.