Rum Doings Episode 129: I Wish You’d Go To Burger King And Die
by John Walker on Mar.11, 2013, under Rum Doings
We’re back, back, back. It’s episode 129 of Rum Doings, in which we don’t discuss how all this snow cuh global warming! Instead we talk about the silliness of condemning bacon, the sugariness of Coca Cola, and then we partake in the Pukka Bath Quiz.
As per usual, Nick insists on talking about videogames, and the SimCity nonsense. And then John explains how forgetting a bag literally led to a matter of life or death. We discuss death, and being old, and how our parents are never allowed to die.
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[audio: http://rumdoings.jellycast.com/files/audio/129_rumdoings.mp3]
March 11th, 2013 on 20:24
I am very sorry to hear about your wife’s grandfather. Even though I (obviously) don’t know either of you. But it reminds* of the circumstances of my father’s death last year. He died suddenly I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to him. And it really annoyed me that the last time I saw was about 48 hours previously (words fail me here, but if I knew it was the last I would see of him I would not have been so casual – clearly for my benefit, but it bugged me at the time).
I think Nick is right about business and bureaucracy of burying a body does wonders for getting over grief at the time (though I stopped eating and started smoking again, so maybe it is not as effective as I thought at the time). I was preoccupied by the idea that I had to keep moving. fortunately, family coming over, organising a funeral, repatriation and burial meant there was a lot movement to do.
*Remind is a poor choice of word in this case: it would have been his birthday the other day, and next month will be the first anniversary. I hardly need external things to make me think about him at the moment (which is why I have wittered on so much here).
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I would be interested to here what you thought of tropes v women in video games. I found it a bit long and tedious. Which is a shame, it was a great opportunity. I can think of others who would handle the subject better and with wit and elan.
Also, I think we are still technically in an ice age. If I am recalling a recent episode of In Our Time accurately.
March 12th, 2013 on 23:03
Interregnum breached; let’s hope for equilibrium! Seriously though, I look forward to and enjoy these podcasts; thanks for recording & providing them.
Sorry about the death in the family, John; I hope that whole process goes… as well as it can go, for all involved.
@Nick: tangentially, I’ve been looking into sugar alcohols. I gather you’re in favor of erythritol? What then of stevia (and derivations like Truvia)? Do you know of good info-resources on the topic? I’m not finding the various wiki articles all that helpful or conclusive.
March 14th, 2013 on 20:29
We never had a formal goodbye with my grandmother, but I’m OK with that.
It had already been a rough evening for her the night she died, but she had settled down into what seemed like a normal sleep, and we figured it was a good time to catch some rest for ourselves. She wasn’t conscious when it happened, and we wouldn’t have been able to give her any extra comfort. I don’t think it would helped anyone to sit there and watch the last vestiges of strength fade from her body.
March 20th, 2013 on 14:46
Having finally caught up with listening to this podcast over the past six months it’s a bit like watching a soap-opera with this sped-up version of the lives of our two hosts, them getting married and having children and all that. Like the commenters above me I hope everyone involved can get along with the loss. I feel for you, as less than a year ago I lost my mother to a five-year-long battle with bone-cancer, which is definetly not the way anyone should go. And to those who miss a formal good-bye with their family members: Be glad that it was over quickly. I can honestly say that the three last days of my mother’s life must have been the most harrowing experience in my life. 54 is not an age people should be crippled and then dead at.
March 22nd, 2013 on 06:50
Whenever someone’s run over by a bus or something I can’t help but think “what if that traffic light were red a half second earlier” or “what if someone hadn’t changed lanes 3 hours before this”.
These sorts of butterfly effects are very worrying when you think about the incredible effect you have on people’s lives without knowing it, and also pointless to worry about because you don’t know about it and have no control over it.
Anyway, whenever something fateful happens, like John’s forgetting a bag and missing an important “event”, I like to think that he would’ve been killed by a bus if he’d remembered.
Does that make sense? It doesn’t? No, I didn’t think so either…
Nick: Would you please tell the story of your interview at Oxford as you mentioned it in passing quite a while back but never got around to telling it.
Also, how did the Linux exam go? Don’t forget you made yourself accountable to us all :)
March 26th, 2013 on 20:53
It’s okay Ben, we all like to think about John being hit by a bus.