Thinking... how the heck am I gonna sort the prickly endings of the strips of shirring elastic???
I had not counted on even more work before I can comfortably wear my dress, grmble...

Be very PO: I just bought me this gorgeous dress I've been wanting for years to wear on my birthday next week!!

As for the rest... I'd do what Soufie said, and Zeena. Not sure in what order, haha.

And once dressed look in the mirror to find out if I'm a grower or a shower.

I get that, Slim, but you probably don't know that most British are convinced this is only happening to their country.
I do happen to know that as I've had & still have a number of UK friends.
When you tell them it's the exact same over here, or even worse, they don't even believe you.
I guesstimate the OP thinks along the same vein, hence me adding the extra info.
With a couple of UK friends we noticed they didn't know a lot of things that were happening in the EU or the rest of the world.
I think the news is highly censured in the UK, and prolly everywhere.
But it was shocking to learn how little they knew of what was then contemporary in the news. They knew nothing of it whatsoever.
They were shocked about it themselves.

Not an oxymoron at all.
Turn it round. What if our religion(s) would change their culture and habits in their countries? Would they allow that to happen? I think not.
We, however, have to allow that to happen because of laws and chit we came up with ourselves. Equal rights this and that, freedom of religion and so on.
And those things are okay in themselves but when they were created they didn't (have to) think about the problems we're dealing with now. Like the mass influx of M refugees in our countries and the impact of that.

We have come to accept them and all they bring and are, but most of them do not do us the same courtesy. What it comes down to is that they use the laws that were created to protect people against us and force us to change our own culture, rituals, habits, and so on.
And that isn't right. We could co-exist but they don't seem to want that. They want to change us and our entire way of being and living.
And they don't hesitate to use violence to get there. Young girls and women aren't safe anymore, they get pulled off their bicycles, threatened with knives, verbally & physically assaulted & harassed.
Where's the gratitude for being safe, having a proper house and all the luxuries that come with it, smart phones, as good as free healthcare while the Dutch pay a fortune per month, and so on?

And if they choose to live and dress the way they do & want according to their religion in their own country, I ain't biotching. Their country, their rules.
That's why I said, I have no problem with it.
When I visit a mosque I have to put on a headscarf. I do that out of respect for their culture.
In many of their countries women have to cover their wrists. Even Caucasian women must do this, and they do.
Where the reciprocity in respecting our ways and our culture? It doesn't exist.

Who would work the less paid jobs? Not so well educated people usually and often also people who choose to do that work and are simply okay doing it. Over here also Eastern Europeans.
Pay that equals slavery doesn't exist in The Netherlands. We have set minimum wages, and by law a set number of days off per year (average of 23 days, some jobs 28), unemployment benefit, sickness benefit, and oftentimes pension.
Low income groups get rent and healthcare allowance. The amount depends on income.

Everyone who works automatically gets these things.

That's not to say that having low income means you live a life in luxury but certainly not close to slavery.

That's easily sorted, Slim: just don't gamble!!


Feeling... ermm... mixed feelings. Happy I got the strip of elastic on the dress, but my head & neck are letting me know they are not impressed with me sitting bent over.
I actually need to sew a 2nd strip on but that's gonna be for tomorrow. Going to enjoy the evening now :)

Feeling... mildly stressed. Busy sewing the strip of shirring elastic on my dress and dang, it ain't easy!
There's already shirring elastic on the dress which is the reason it's so difficult. But that elastic isn't strong enough, the strip I want to sew on has way more resistance.

And I miss my good ole Husqvarna sewing machine that I was so accustomed to.
I'll get there but I've been cussing a lot so far, hihi.

True Lies - 1994
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis.

Such a great movie, action and the right amount of humour here and there.

Also, the striptease by Jamie Lee Curtis is epic!
And unbelievable that she improvised it, didn't use any choreographer. And she wore her own bra and string.
Apparently Arnold was present & watching the striptease as it was filmed, so he was sitting in the chair as she danced, and he truly dropped the tape recorder at some point, which they kept in the movie.

Thinking... the day went by unbelievably fast?!
I had wanted to sew the shirring elastic in my new dress but most of the afternoon got into sorted out the stench in the dishwasher.

Sewing machine is set up though. Tomorrow. Maybe. Hopefully!

The Rock - 1996
With Sean Connery & Nicolas Cage

Currently watching a lot of great 90s movies :)
This one is just really great, good cast, good acting, lots of action.

And Sean Connery using the F word a great number of times, haha. Makes me feel he actually enjoyed being able to do that.
Only bummer is that he had to speak BrE as he's supposed to be an ex-SAS.
I much prefer Scotsmen speaking with their own Scottish accent :) Sexy as sin!

Thinking... it's unbelievably quiet? Now that is not unusual in itself in this village but I don't even hear birds?
Kinda weird.

Thank you, Slim! It sure felt sexy to me
It was good to get into nice feminine summer clothes!

From Paris with Love
With John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Myers.

Never gets old, such a brill movie!
For me this is a solid 10/10!

Over here we had the best day yet!
It indeed got to 25C, wind wasn't too bad and not cold.
I wore my shorts today, first time this year!
Sat outdoors enjoying the sun in my shorts, a sexy see-through top and barefoot.
It was wonderful!

Hi Sir!
I'm still not sure myself hihi.
But it'll come :D

Apex - 2026
With Charlize Theron.
I think I rate it 8.

Quite the good movie but also creepy. Not horror kind of creepy but the "bad guy chasing girl" kind.
And dammit, is that dude fast!
(Taron Edgerton, dude that played Eggsy in "Kingsman: The Secret Service").

The sounds he keeps making, the speed with which he moves, eeekkhh!
Not what you'd want chasing you in the wilderness.

Charlize does a real good job as well. In that sense a great movie, just that it scared the Bejesus out of me, hihi.
I kept telling her "don't go out in the bush without a proper bush knife, you dummass!!" but she didn't listen.

Happy for ya, Slim!

We have another sunny day! Today it should get to 25C as well :D So far it hasn't been all that warm, this close to the coast the wind tends to be strong and cold.
Today should be the exception.

When talking about other Westerners this is not true at all.
I haven't owned a house etc. for decades yet lots of younger men were and are interested in me.
It has to do with being more confident as a woman and in that sense being way more attractive. When you turn 40 -approx- you know who you are, what you stand for and what you're worth.
That self-confidence is sexy and appealing and it's is what attracts younger men.
How do I know... experience!

I don't like the whole development of AI and the speed with which it is becoming normal to use.
Even my 85 year old stepmother was using it for fun to create funny vids with it? She was laughing and enjoying it, me thinking "have you no awareness of the risks of this stuff?"

My son has a paid-for AI thing from Elon Musk I think it was. The stuff that can create is totally amazing?
It clearly is big business.

I have heard of chatGPT half a year ago and didn't even know what it was.
Then my daughter advised me to use it for a photo I wanted to use as reference for a painting but it wasn't exactly what I wanted.
So I indeed used chatGPT and was flabbergasted by what it could do.

I have used the AI version of Matthew Hussey, dating coach, when he offered it for free for 14 days.
I did get solid advice from it, gave me a lot of insight about certain things in my love life.
I am not a fan of this app though. It wasn't until after I used it that I thought of how ridiculous it is and also don't like that a well-known dating coach like Matthew Hussey offers it.
Makes it clear in one go he's about making money.

When I do a Google search on something I get an AI summary? Yet I have not even switched on the AI mode???
All this chit is taking over the world.

As for using it in communication or creating content... never done that and never will.

A friend of mine was using an AI program -forgot the name of it- to create so called art. Many others did the same and many even sold it for lots of money.
To me that is not art but fake chit. Doesn't deserve the name "art" as far as I'm concerned.

It's just scary. The ones with money -and power- use it to gain more money & power. And people will fall for it if you spoon-feed the chit with the label 'entertainment'.
By the time it could pose a serious threat it's on everyone's phone. Except for mine.

Watched No Escape again.
A good movie.