tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38781732012-02-04T22:25:57.623-08:00English Humor with Miss Feasance & the GreenwelliesEnglish (mostly) rantings (always) about life (sometimes) in the USDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.comBlogger561100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-73734332543155320502011-05-12T06:55:00.000-07:002011-05-13T13:25:37.388-07:00Sad to say...Ronnie's mum died in November last year - but at least two of her daughters were with her at the end, peaceful and painless. God rest.I joined Ronnie and rest of the family at the funeral and had the priviledge of reading a Eulogy adapted from AE Housman "the land of lost content". I will post it once I remember the words.We have the ashes.DavidDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-5254105212066480432010-05-28T10:50:00.000-07:002010-05-28T11:18:40.889-07:00Muriel and the Ischaemic IncidentThank you to all for your kind words for Muriel - she is improving slowly and we will post updates every few days. Ronnie is exhausted having slept overnight in a hospital chair.Anyway here a day by day account of events:Thursday 27 May:Just Another Day: Ronnie chats with Muriel before heading off to work, David leaves her at 9am ... DT visits her just after 11am Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-15190830402456819462009-08-20T08:11:00.000-07:002009-08-20T09:00:15.626-07:00Mental age: 21, Rowing age: 92, Waist: 38Finally I got a Concept II machine and started rowing again. Maybe i was embarrased into it by my gut, maybe a recent invitation to row at sea made me nervous... but whatever, so I borrowed a friend's machine and got my family to kiss my gut goodbye.First day on the machine and my 2000m time was 9:57 - not a bad start. I am pleased to report that this is Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-90680992268250297652008-04-30T18:33:00.001-07:002008-04-30T18:33:20.369-07:00Bahama picsA week of fun!Mobile post sent by Greenwellies using Utterz. Replies. mp3Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-3373489922993650312008-04-14T08:38:00.000-07:002008-04-14T09:22:15.575-07:00Happy new year to everyone - thought that you may all want a bit of on update:- Ronnie is all clear on the cancer front... but it seems that the survivor mantle is quite heavy.- The house is progressing well - before (top) and after (below) pics show the progress. Spot the Difference? (answers below).- We will have guest beds for visitors soon - some UK pals tried them out at the weekend and we Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-46971057788062256552007-10-19T01:21:00.000-07:002007-10-22T06:36:11.161-07:00My Mum Said...a Eulogy to DenIf he was anybody, Den was a travelerCircumnavigating the globeat home, his sister, she waited for newsand for photos of travelers boldCircumnavigating the globeIf he was anybody, Den was a boyA boy with a passion for wheelshe loved, all machines, I have the same genesfor planes trains ‘n automobilesA boy with a passion for wheelsIf he was anybody, Den was a train Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-68996427063975623062007-08-22T18:46:00.000-07:002007-10-22T07:00:16.427-07:00The bridge at Millau is a fantastic sight, rising abouve the clouds. And as impressive is the construction where the two bridge pieces (built on land) were pushed into place using hydraulic rams. Almost like sliding doors on an elevator (UK: lift). The analogy from one of the French engineers is similar to the way that a sewing machine moves the material in small steps. On the bridge, rams movedDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-75990729071216429602007-05-18T08:31:00.000-07:002007-05-18T13:15:35.438-07:00Solar Power 0, Electricy Meters 1As if I need another project... but solar power is so compelling a mirage that I can not resist. Are solar panels viable in New England?The Theroretical Approach1. each panel is about $5 per watt2. Exposure: 745 hours of output per year *3. panel alignment efficiency: 80% (panel azi 235, and tilt 45) **4. 1W panel output: 0.8 x 745 watthours per year (approx 10c)5Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-3752157325478424122007-05-17T07:57:00.000-07:002007-05-17T08:29:44.516-07:00That we would have an Irishman helping Anglo-American relationships is news indeed. And for those of you less versed in the saga, Wiredgoose is correct that Caracalla* and David have indeed fallen out (* Caracalla is not his real name). I feel duty bound to point out that I did offer the "olive branch" but it was too little too late.As to the airbrushing or damnatio memoriae for you more literateDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-724918508130613532007-04-19T09:05:00.000-07:002007-05-17T09:19:19.670-07:00Hey, it's suddenly a lot less crowded here. Reminds me of that famous pic of Lenin and Trotsky, pre and post the crude Soviet airbrush.I know you guys have fallen out, and I know not and care less why, but does that justify airbrushing (or self-airbrushing?) the entire contributions of a regular poster?Whoever (s)he was, the airbrusher missed his comments, which haunt this now-quiet blog like theWiredgoosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04647408985644136306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-50143452564717983592007-04-15T08:47:00.000-07:002007-05-17T09:17:50.281-07:00Secondhand Chemotherapy results.So, there was I thinking that chemotherapy was some kind of nuclear therapy where they inject your body with isotopes that irradiate the body. Green phosphorescent liquid administered intravenously - gamma emitting elements coursing thru the veins amid cries of Kryponite!Snuggling up to Ronnie at night was doubly fun - marital bliss and some secondary radiation Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-11417077219188341442007-01-14T06:57:00.000-08:002007-01-14T09:14:07.133-08:00Mortality Rate, Confidence Interval, Control Groups... it is more like a statistics course than a visit to the doctors. I guess that is why the walls of the North Shore Cancer Center are painted with "hope, compassion, love, spirit...".So, we are agonizing over the chemo decision – the stats say no, the friends say yes and the docs say don’t know. The biggest issue seems to be the natural Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-46583912294758041132006-12-17T18:00:00.000-08:002006-12-18T09:50:21.626-08:00"I've sent a hamper to our partners" - no David, not good David, bad taste, poor judgement, naughty, what were you thinking? So, a major breakthrough in Anglo-american safety - the hamper (American) is a Laundry basket (English) where as a hamper (English) is a Gift basket (American).God bless our languageDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-68417032209544351522006-12-14T02:32:00.000-08:002006-12-14T03:10:24.235-08:00Wiredgoose is re-blogged, following a frustrating lockout due to BetaBlogger raising my heartbeat contrary to expectations.Speaking of things coronary, and continuing Kevin's French vein below (pun avoidable but irresistible), last night's typical example of French customer (dis)service raised my blood pressure a notch or two.SFR, the part-Vodafone-owned French mobile operator I chose to use someWiredgoosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04647408985644136306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-1164154015516074582006-11-21T14:58:00.000-08:002006-11-21T16:56:44.863-08:00And now the Living Forcast, issued by the Met Office at 2300 GMT today.General synopsys for the patient is fair, 1005, rising steadily, expected moderate or good later tonight:Lungy: cancer, storm 10, removed more quickly, poor.Mind, Soul: SW, 5, clear, 40 years left, moderate or fair.Body: MWF, almost 50, mostly clear, lost weight, good.Doctor: SWM, fair, rich, unmarried, working rapidly, Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-1163713496523265632006-11-16T13:30:00.000-08:002006-11-21T16:59:49.053-08:00Stop all the clocks... I have joked about my ability to not smoke in US vs smoking like a chimney in UK. I have tried Nicorette, ciggy stinking water, acupucture and hypnosis.. there is nothing that works as well as having your wife diagnosed with Lung Cancer (probably).It kind of hits you like a funeral invite - better get your papers in order, better get ready to say goodbye, better get a grip Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-1161267978798526632006-10-19T07:14:00.000-07:002006-10-19T07:26:18.816-07:00Mon dieu, I resemble that remark -- NOT.Firstly, on peut etre irlandais, but one is more that un peu irlandais. One is cent pour cent irlandais. No offence (or even offense) to my froggy neigbours, but un ouef is un oeuf.But Monsieur Trayneur is right -- I am perched on the side of an Alp as I write this, and it's not bad.Also Monsieur Trayneur, those weren't ever chatup lines, unless you countWiredgoosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04647408985644136306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-1161266741997520142006-10-19T06:59:00.000-07:002006-10-19T07:07:22.883-07:00Un Peut Irlandais. Please also welcome Eoin (pronounounced Owen, from the Gaelic word meaning 'to be in debt to the British'). Eoin is sharper than a tack but unfortunately lives in France and his Irish heritage has slowly been leaking into the Alps.Eoin's favorite chatup lines are: 'Are you married?', 'What age are you?', 'How much do you earn?', and my favourite, 'How are your bowel movements Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-1163797718519491012006-07-31T13:06:00.000-07:002006-11-17T13:08:38.530-08:00Top O' The Morning to ye, and greetings from the future... Most kind introduction. Enjoying reading your blog. I confess that many of us over here in Hibernia are congenitally afflicted with TTM. But not all of us. As Father McGillycuddy was only saying to me last week after a particularly enjoyable 4 hour mass and glorious benediction, "Is iad na muca ciúine a itheann an mhín". Which of course Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-1153025416481378622006-07-15T21:24:00.000-07:002006-07-15T21:50:16.506-07:00The Irish are so friendly and we are so guilible - so please can you all welcome Niall, an autentic Irish chap, better educated than most of us, with a sharpness of wit that could cut cheese (so to speak).I am now spending so much time in Dublin that I fear I may have contracted * TTM from my exposure to the folk in Dublin. Apparently it is one of the few diseases that can be transmitted via the Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-1153022831556124232006-07-15T20:58:00.000-07:002006-07-15T21:24:23.956-07:00Coup de BouleIn the Wall Street Journal this week... front page, a story on Zidane head butting in the World Cup in Germany (near Paris). My view on this kind of behaviour is clear, dreadfully disgraceful and such are poor reflection on the everyone involved that I can barely talk.Firstly, it is incomprehensible that such a paper would publish such a story four days after it happened, but then toDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-1148003702777113412006-03-18T22:43:00.000-08:002006-05-18T18:55:40.183-07:00Voice over IP... it just cracks me up that we can convert voice into IP packets and route it over the same Sonet (SDH) backbone that is handling regular telephony. It is kind of like telling people they can use the browser on the phone to get to a site that allows you to send texts for free (http://www.cingularme.com/do/public?l=en-US&v=cingular) instead of charging people 10c to send SMS texts Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-1134752231503847162005-12-16T08:14:00.000-08:002005-12-21T13:43:24.796-08:00Season's Greetings !With the separation of church and state (and the separation of common sense and state), we are duty bound to say Happy Holidays and can no longer mention baby cheeses, yamaha or twelfth night. In England, holidays almost always refer to your summer vacation so Happy Holidays does nothing to conjour up the festive spirit. It is so bland... you may as well say "have a nice day".Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-1134748786831324642005-12-10T07:37:00.000-08:002005-12-21T13:36:47.330-08:00The English Muffin. Bastion of the confusion of all things anglo-american.For you Brits and Aussies... what is it? A flat plain bread thingy that is cooked from yeast dough with milk and butter. It is a little like a crumpet in size but is crumbly not stodgey. Usually eaten toasted with butter. Often used to make a sandwich with egg and bacon called McMuffin (or with just a potato filling, an Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-1133292689392319582005-11-29T11:19:00.000-08:002005-11-29T11:31:29.403-08:00Here are some of my better one-liners, preserved for future eulogies:"You don't speak very good england.""There is only one problem living with Americans.""Sadly America's command of english is limited to the pool halls.""Bath, ME - the last remnants of the nation's inclined ways.""The Heimlich Remover."God saves quotesDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-1131821649545822432005-11-12T08:56:00.000-08:002005-11-12T14:41:45.060-08:00Bad day... My Mr Rearden has just started behaving like Mr Boyle (Holmes and Moriarty respectively for you British out there).So it falls to me to research the word 'english' (with a small e) : an American noun to describe spin on a ball particularly in pool. In Britain, the noun used is side, top or bottom depending on where the cue strikes the ball. and the verb: to screw (as the ball wriggles Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-1131726899154514932005-11-11T07:54:00.000-08:002005-11-12T12:55:13.466-08:00large flat paddle... leisurely thrown ball... hold on there!Obviously few Americans have stood in the way of one of those deliveries or perhaps slow-motion action replays are to blame for the misconception. The balls travel at well over100mph and while the total surface area of the 'paddle' must be a couple of times that of baseball, the fact that the ball hits the ground before getting to the Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-1126829062538135832005-09-15T15:01:00.000-07:002005-11-12T12:53:26.796-08:00In preparation for the 3rd anniverary of this blog, I am wondering if blogs have actually added value to the way that people communicate? I am sure that more people communicate, but it seems that the quality of the communication is sadly lacking - to quote an old english show - 'Never mind the quality, feel the width' . If you do the math, it seems that the product of volume and quality has Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-1115055039503365362005-05-02T10:29:00.000-07:002005-05-02T10:30:39.503-07:00Another year... overpaid and underworked... I have decided that a new job is in order to get this little grey (gray) cell working at capacity again...Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-1075829294092668862004-02-03T09:28:00.000-08:002004-02-03T09:38:48.950-08:00One of my pommie pals asked about the -ize and -ise rule. The broad rule is that the -ize forms are standard in the US, but that -ise ones are now usual in Britain and the Commonwealth in all but formal writing. For example, all British newspapers use the -ise forms; so do most magazines and most non-academic books published in the UK. However, some British publishers insist on the -ize forms (Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-1075829060721889012004-02-03T09:24:00.000-08:002004-02-03T09:35:19.076-08:00The time has come to set the Aluminium record straight... The metal with 13 electrons and atomic weight of 26.981538 is known around the world as Aluminium (except a few remote corners of the globe who refer to it as Aluminio or Aluminum). Why, you may ask, is the US one of those who use Aluminum... let's look at the history.
Sir Humphry Davy named the element from the mineral called alumina, Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-1075828908842350572004-02-03T09:21:00.000-08:002004-02-03T09:37:06.436-08:00So, instead of watching some rugby, a small group of Brits stayed up last night to watch the Boston RedSox play baseball - it was a shame that they lost, had we known, we would have watched something else on telly.
We were trying to remember this whole "Babe Ruth" thing but we are not sure who cursed who and why, and whether other people effect curses when they move from Boston to NY - and do Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-1075828826282317622004-02-03T09:20:00.000-08:002004-02-03T09:23:17.576-08:00Someone used the word umpteen and meant in the teens...
Umpteen is not necessarily less than 20, if it were, then one could argue that it be more or less than 19, or more or less than 18 and so on...
All we can say of umpteen is that it is a complex number >2j, but necessarily neither real, integer nor positive. It is generally thought that it was coined by folk who could not count past 10 (or Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-1075828722455318712004-02-03T09:18:00.000-08:002004-02-03T09:37:43.450-08:00The Rugby World Cup - while watching the final in one of the hallowed enclaves of Welsh golf, the topic of the day (aside from the usual ramblings about points for penalties and drop goals) was - are football boots legal in Rugby?
According to Dia Hughes (who plays off 6 at Abergele GC), playing with footy boots is illegal and causes the kind of fat lip injuries sustained by the bleeding Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-1065705617606712262003-10-09T06:20:00.000-07:002003-10-09T06:25:18.626-07:00We were so appalled by an incident that Mr Poe appeared before me in a dream and dictated one of his shortest stories: (edited to fit your intellect)
"Believe revenge is always near at hand, nectar to the senses, sweetness to the lips.... It was a dark and dreary night, the inmates of the local assylum had been drinking heavily at a remote windswept house of ill repute, curiously called The Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-955488532003-06-11T07:06:00.000-07:002003-06-11T07:07:53.000-07:00My colleague used a phrase the other day that gave cause to a level of pondering - the word that flooded my synaptic clefts with Acetyl-coline was 'overwhelm'. Whelm is to overcome utterly, engulf, submerge, envelope.... overwhelm is therefore completely redundant, - or is it the American need to use the superlative, even more overcome - more pregnant, more unique, more quanta... more French. On Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-909711882003-03-18T20:47:00.000-08:002003-03-18T20:47:45.186-08:00Although I could relate several amusing stories, I think I'll just sum up some of the more poignant differences I observed in a set of rules I've established as a sort of 'American's guide to the UK'
Left is Right.Up is Down.Zero is One.Public is Private.
These apply to driving, lightswitches, building floors, and schools respectively. Once one wraps one's head around these paradoxes, one is wellDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-908674632003-03-17T10:25:00.000-08:002003-03-17T13:09:43.000-08:00I recently mused over some news that "Lazarus" won a product naming contest for a Financial Services product being developed in the UK. Call me old fashioned, but am not sure that a wealth vs virtue story adequately reinforces the goals for Corporate Finance (or was it the poverty and scab ridden existence that is attractive? ["...thou shalt not prosper" (Deut. 28:16)]). Metaphors to parables areDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-898115152003-02-26T18:32:00.000-08:002003-02-26T18:54:04.000-08:00And so to a final tale of Air France, my last sojourn peut-etre. (..and where are those graves and circumflexes when you need them?). Air France have acquired new 777s and they are very confortible and le video works tres bien if you are happy watching les not-so-jeune fils prancing around. Unfortunately it takes about half an hour to realise the film is absolute trash and really just a kind Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-886041532003-02-05T11:29:00.000-08:002003-02-05T14:08:51.000-08:00So these darn yanks have discovered that we Brits have to pay a license fee of 120 quid to watch TV (Since the BBC are not allowed to advertise, the fee is intended to allow them to recover the costs of their service). Lots of laughter emenated from the (now two) americans - "Y'all you could by a whole TV in a couple of years!" was their retort Ha Ha! Very Funny!
Well, for you parochial English Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-874460782003-01-14T16:52:00.000-08:002003-01-14T16:52:28.850-08:00Another couple of US phrases that do not translate - 'if I had my druthers' and 'segue'. Any answers?Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-868342702003-01-02T09:10:00.000-08:002003-01-03T04:49:57.000-08:00It seems that the whole of Europe was on vacation from Dec 21st onwards and will not return until Jan 6th. So basically Jo, Philip and myself represent the entire GNP for the period. Did you know that during the second world war on xmas day, the British and German troops downed their arms and played soccer - the only problem was getting the ball out of the mine fields. (Can we have our ball back Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-868254422003-01-02T04:17:00.000-08:002003-01-02T09:11:22.000-08:00Chaps... having lived in the US for as many years as I did, I can understand the frustrations of "no immediacy", as I live and breathe them most days. My only comment is SOD Tea - the only way through it is vodka and copious amounts. I just wanted to prove to both of you that I am capable of using the blogger!!!!!
[God Blesses] JosieJohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941676067236818760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-867924172003-01-01T10:47:00.000-08:002003-01-02T10:59:29.000-08:00Being a kind hearted soul David has built an online Captain's log for the intrepid Scotts. So if you would like to offer some advice about how to circumnavigate the globe or have some handy tips on remote schooling and bilge pump repair, click here to help, or to see what the Captain and his rusty crew are upto!
Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-867617382002-12-31T12:59:00.000-08:002002-12-31T12:59:29.463-08:00Being a brit (small cap) I hang my head in public shame (as in transport not schools). I have worked with many UK and US startups and I guess that is why I left the green and pleasant lands... satanic mills says it all for the work and the ethic. Bring back the death penalty for misfeasance.
God forgot EnglandDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-866853672002-12-29T21:29:00.000-08:002002-12-30T15:45:45.000-08:00And news from a famous educator (I will refer to him as Alan to protect his innocence). Alan was telling us the story of the Yank in an Edinburgh Moss Bros store asking if he could rent a 'Tuxedo'. (Tuxedo means nothing to almost every Englishman except those who worked with IBM, ICL and NEC on Transaction Processing stuff). The shop assistant asked Alan what he meant, to which Alan explained, 'ADavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-866847502002-12-29T21:10:00.000-08:002002-12-29T21:10:49.000-08:00The question is, "Is Microsoft that evil?" - thankyou to our reader in Chelmsford, MA (not that Chelmsford in Essex is any better!).
The answer is, sadly, yes, on twenty seven counts!
1. If you use word to edit an html file the resulting file will only work on MS web sites.
2. If you upgrade to XP, and then try to uninstall back to w98, all your files are lost.
3. If you use Office 11, you have Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-858658922002-12-11T16:38:00.000-08:002002-12-11T16:44:36.000-08:00Checked out a very amusing site called Gimcracker and was prompted to write:
I am gobsmacked that 'gobsmacked' was successfully exported to the US, and thought that most US folk would follow 'collector of gnomes' usage. A quick poll of an American and half a Canadian suggested that 'blown away' or 'bush whacked' would more appropriate to North American colloquialities.
gobsmack - (OE) is Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-857996462002-12-10T12:50:00.000-08:002002-12-10T12:53:32.000-08:00Two very early mornings getting up to travel - the jet lag may have passed but I think I have generalized stupidity disorder (I just hope they don't name the disease after me!). The weather is (surprise) cold damp and rainy, rumour has it that the sun appeared briefly somewhere in Nottingham but sadly not many folk were outside at the time.
Yesterday I was down in Pangborne and had a super Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-856627492002-12-07T18:58:00.000-08:002002-12-10T12:41:01.000-08:00XBox has (apparently) not arrived as yet - otherwise I'd get a call asking about component video connections! Amazingly the whole XBox thing doesn't seem to be very popular over here - everyone in UK uses PS2.
Working late again... guess it is the weather cos it is dull and gloomy even in the middle of the day! Think I will have a cup of tea and off to bed. Kevin, my US buddy, asks what the Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-856510242002-12-07T12:49:00.000-08:002002-12-07T12:52:16.000-08:00Still in UK on a rainy day - still in PJs also!
But it didn't stop me going out for a drive: and just realised that one more suble difference between our nations is the red/yellow traffic light combination!
Guess every one knows that red is for stop and green for go (except in Boston)...
Red and yellow in the US means definitely stop (?) (pedestrian or policeman has control over the lights)
Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-850176392002-11-24T11:54:00.000-08:002002-12-07T19:03:25.000-08:00Spent most of my life thinking that Guy Fawkes night was celebrating the attempt to blow up parliament - and was somewhat relieved earlier this month when someone at Castle Kimberley explained that it was for celebrating his failure and execution. Maybe I have been in the US too long? God Bless the Queen, she looked very sad at the Whitehall service.
Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-835375452002-10-25T20:07:00.000-07:002002-10-25T20:28:11.000-07:00My son, DT has not blogged yet - maybe I should get his girlfriend to blog first?
The story goes that he was on the bank at Henley during Regatta and he saw his Dad (me) in an eight at the end of a race.
I am completely knackered and almost passing out... DT says - "Look there's Dad and they must have won 'cos he's asleep".
Reminds me of a poem ... "the bird it has landed mere humans remain" - Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-835310732002-10-25T16:47:00.000-07:002002-10-25T20:26:44.000-07:00The stage is set - just had a $60 haircut and now I look like a UK bovver boy (don't ask). So the sulltry Englisy Hairdresser (Hi Steve) wazzes around with $600 clippers and talks about canvas and black. And now my wife thinks I am a God, my daughter thinks I am different - here's is what she says from her blog:
hi, my names amy .my dad looks waaaaaaaaaay differrent :)bye , from me
life withDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-833651422002-10-22T12:38:00.000-07:002002-10-22T12:38:55.470-07:00Martinlutherking.org hate site: Saw a flyer at the school about www.martinlutherking.org - visited the site and was shocked to read that they are hoping to cancel MLK day over here in the US, and that MLK was a communist spy and that.... A few pages later noticed that this site is run by David Duke and is actually a front for more white supremacist trash.
I can not believe that we allow this Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878173.post-833646842002-10-19T12:28:00.000-07:002005-11-12T12:54:12.153-08:00American Football: When Amy was 6, she said that she wanted to be a (American) football player. I asked here why, as we watched players wrestling each other to the ground and she said "Well, I'm good at hugging and you have to good at hugging to play football"God bless American AmyDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01286973744906883408noreply@blogger.com