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#12299 12/07/00 02:42 PM
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Why does the bloody New tag behave so arbitrarily? Sometimes it stays on after reading a thread, sometimes not; sometimes it will reappear on a few threads when going back again later....

AARGH!


#12300 12/07/00 03:07 PM
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Mav

Have you ever tried to figure out the rules of chess (or any other game) just by watching it being played? You always come pretty close, but can be sure there will be one or two obscurities you are likely to miss (I've never seen the en passant move used in any master game, though I've trapped a few tyros with it in my time).

With which qualification, here's my thoughts.

In Flat mode

1. If you view in 'show all' mode, rather than page by page, the posts you've seen will still show as new. The thread will not.

In threaded mode

2. In general, posts you have not seen will show up as new, but there are exceptions.

3. If you jump into any forum, and then leave, none of the threads will show as new any more. If you go into the newer looking threads, though, within the same session, you can see which actually have posts that are new to you (they have orange instead of yellow icons).

4. If you leave a forum before checking all new posts, and you quit the board as well, threads as well as posts tend not to show up as new.

As a result (and as an addict of the threaded mode), I tend to sticvk with a forum (and ideally the board) until I have read all the new posts. Sometimes, if I can't do that, I go back to the most recently modified threads and look for posts that aren't in my 'history' (showing up as purple instead of red/blue headings).

I am sure that I haven't really sussed out all the ramifications of the 'new' threads for old rules, but maybe these few rough guides will help you.

cheer

the sunshine warrior


#12301 12/08/00 12:28 PM
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Thanks for the thoughts, shanks.

The thread will not
- but that's the trouble, it sometimes does even after I have just left a completely read thread. Not always. Just enough to be really puzzling, when trying to navigate thro' the daily molesworthill...


#12302 12/08/00 04:22 PM
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Yes, I've noticed this, mav, and puzzled about it for a while. In the end, I have dismissed it as on of life's ineluctible mysteries, like why is it that when you press the button on any given controlled pedestrian crossing, sometimes it changes within 30 seconds, othertimes you have to wait for eternity before the little green man appears (and this is when you are the only person who has used the crossing within the last ten minutes)


#12303 12/08/00 06:09 PM
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Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb

... when you press the button on any given controlled pedestrian crossing ...

Doesn't everyone know that pressing the button at a pedestrian crossing does absolutely nothing except turn the "Don't Cross" light on? I tell you this from the experience gained from years of angrily stabbing at the damned things!



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#12304 12/08/00 07:42 PM
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today I created a new post, then went back to edit it; when I returned, the whole thread... no, the whole bloody board was marked NEW!!


#12305 12/08/00 07:46 PM
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marked NEW!!

That's the way the cookie crumbles....?


#12306 12/08/00 07:47 PM
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> Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb

I chortled when I saw this. Many years ago, my sister, an amateur thespian, told me that when a director wants background crowd noises it is customary to tell those extras producing said noise to say rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb to one another.



TEd
#12307 12/08/00 08:15 PM
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When I acted at Washington State University, we were taught to repeat "peas and carrots" in crowd scenes. Are there others?


#12308 12/08/00 08:22 PM
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Apparently, New England Style is based on repetition of "baked beans, baked beans"...


#12309 12/08/00 08:24 PM
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What a concept! NY gave up on those buttons-- we are a lawless bunch of jaywalks..

mayor rudy has tried (he was a crossing guard in school) to get us to cross only at the corners, and with the lights, but its like holding back the tide!


#12310 12/08/00 08:24 PM
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toy boat... toy boat


#12311 12/08/00 10:39 PM
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TEd SAid: Many years ago, my sister, an amateur thespian, told me that when a director wants background crowd noises it is customary to tell those extras producing said noise to say rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb to one another.

That's where it came from, old chum. The best take-off of it I ever saw was a sketch in a British sketch comedy called "At Last The 1948 Show". It had a number of wonderful features, including:
- The self-confessed "lovely Amy McDonald"
- Marty Feldman at his goggle-eyed best
- Some of the most beautifully-crafted comedy sketches I've seen, before or since.

One recurring sketch occurred, which I suspect was thrown in to fill out the time available, was a bunch of people standing around saying "Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb ..." to each other for no apparent reason. Of course, this was directly linked to its use as described by TEd above.



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#12312 12/08/00 10:43 PM
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Helen, the voice that launched a thousand quips, opined: What a concept! NY gave up on those buttons-- we are a lawless bunch of jaywalks

So are we, sweetheart. It's just that in New York, as I learned to my cost, it isn't individuals crossing against the lights, dodging cars with balletic grace to the tune of car horns as it is here in Zild, it's whole sections of the Manhattan daytime population doing it at once ...



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#12313 12/09/00 11:53 PM
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Sorry to burst your bubble there Rhu but I have it on good authority (gentleman who used to work for the city and install those light posts) that most of these buttons are not even plugged in. They are called <patience makers>. By letting people think that they have influence over the lights they wait at the corner longer, and jaywalk less.


#12314 12/10/00 01:36 AM
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PREVIOUS POST : Sorry to burst your bubble there Rhu but I have it on good authority (gentleman who used to work for the city and install those light posts) that most of these buttons are not even plugged in. They are called "patience makers." By letting people think that they have influence over the lights they wait at the corner longer, and jaywalk less.
THOSE S-O-Bs!
That tears it!! I have just converted to jaywalking. Crossing at corners is dangerous anyway. Ever seen a dog cross street? They do it mid-block where they can see the traffic. I recall nearly being run down by a driver who made a LEGAL "right turn on red" while I was LEGALLY crossing.
That patience light really makes me mad!
grumble grumble.
WOW


#12315 12/11/00 11:31 AM
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most of these buttons are not even plugged in...
I know for sure that the buttons at the crossings near where I live are connected. More generally: some measures taken for our collective safety are best kept secret - in view of certain "amateurs of Russian roulette", which cause disproportionate cost to the community.


#12316 12/11/00 12:57 PM
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the crossings near where I live are connected

My sister lived in Switzerland for a few years. Her boyfriend (also a Werner) used to smilingly say "Swiss efficiency" when I remarked how things actually worked properly (crossings, trains, elections, etc). The joys of a well-regulated democracy, eh W?


#12317 12/11/00 04:56 PM
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>a driver who made a LEGAL "right turn on red" while I was LEGALLY crossing.

Wow:

Not that it would make a damned bit of difference to you if you got squished, but it is illegal to make a right turn on red when there's a pedestrian in the crosswalk. Even if, Heaven forfend, you are following orders and running when the sign clearly says "Don't walk." Running certainly is NOT walking, so it's OK, right???

While pedestrians always have the right of way, sometimes they are dead right.

Our English and other correspondents who drive on the other side of the road (notice I didn't say the wrong side) will verify that a New York cabby almost changed the course of world history back in the 30s when he ran over Winston Churchill, who had looked to his right when stepping off a kerb (and I even spelled it right!) rather than to his left.

A decade too long ago, I was in Ireland on a cycling holiday. After something like 20 hours in airports or airplanes, I was cycling from Shannon towards Limerick, in early afternoon, safely hugging the left kerb. I stopped at a traffic light and looked to my right at the car about two feet from my elbow. "What," I said to myself, "is that dog doing driving that car?" Proper rest is a prerequisite for making my brain work!!!

And apparently accidents such as that that almost took Churchill from us are also a matter of concern in Dublin. There, painted on the sidewalks, are instructions to look to the right rather than to the left when crossing the street.



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#12318 12/11/00 06:02 PM
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TEd said: And apparently accidents such as that that almost took Churchill from us are also a matter of concern in Dublin. There, painted on the sidewalks, are instructions to look to the right rather than to the left when crossing the street.

It always takes me about three days to remember to look in the right (left) direction when I go to the States at crossings. Why can't they drive on the same side of the road as us? Note: This was a rhetorical question and does not need responding to ...



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#12319 12/11/00 06:30 PM
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>Why can't they drive on the same side of the road as us?
Note: This was a rhetorical question and does not need responding to ...

and I respond only to ask (rhetorically): would this not be an appropriate instance for use of the interrobang?!


#12320 12/11/00 06:56 PM
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the economist report some year ago, that NY was the only city in the America's to experience "pedestrian traffic jams"

A certain amount of foot traffic is required to have effect.. it is (according to the Economist) quite common in old world cities, like hong kong, or bombay, but not general found in new world cities, since it takes a large populations and a certain attitude..

i think it is one of the pleasant endearing charms of "small towns" like chicago or LA that they do yield to pedestrians. i have also heard, that LA cops will ask for ID, and give NY'ers a warning for jaywalking... but natives they actually fine!

Jaywalking is very rare in Japan, and my sisters kids have learned two languages, and two sets of rules.. at home you speak japanese, and when in NY, you can sometimes jaywalk.


#12321 12/11/00 10:14 PM
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'elen said: Jaywalking is very rare in Japan, and my sisters kids have learned two languages, and two sets of rules.. at home you speak japanese, and when in NY, you can sometimes jaywalk.

Let's hope they never get them mixed up. In Japan they'd be arrested and in NY they'd wind up as involuntary residents at Bellevue.



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#12322 12/12/00 10:25 AM
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In reply to:

Poster: TEd Remington
Subject: Re: In a crowd scene

> Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb

I chortled when I saw this. Many years ago, my sister, an amateur thespian, told me that when a director wants background crowd noises it is customary to tell those extras producing said noise to say rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb to one another.


This, of course, part of the provenance for my soubriquet. The term "Rhubarb", when applied to someone else's speech,has come to denote that they are talking rubbish (i.e., making "crowd noises").

The other reason is that the village where I lived at the time when I joined the board is known, locally, as "Rhubarb City."




#12323 12/12/00 10:44 AM
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"What," I said to myself, "is that dog doing driving that car?"

Had it been anywhere but Ireland, I would have said that you were joking! But there is no doubt that the animals of Ireland are particularly sagacious.

A friend of mine, touring by car over there, came to a grinding halt on a lonely country road not far from Sneem, Co Kerry. He raised the bonnet (hood) of the car and gazed at the motor, hopelessly.
He heard a voice say, "To be sure, I t'ink your distributor lead has fallen off." He looked round, and could see no one at all. The countryside was empty, except for a couple of horses in the field next to where he had stopped. One of these horses was leaning over the hedge, looking very interested.
So my friend asks the world in general, "Did you say the distributor lead?"
"To be sure, t'at's what it is." said the voice - it was very obviously the horse who was speaking. My friend, somewhat freaked out by this, investigated the electrics and found that, indeed, the lead from coil to distributor had worked loose. He replaced, it, tried the starter, and the engine roared into life. Feeling a little foolish, he thanked the horse, who acknowledged with a bow of his head and a casual, "'Tis no problem."
A little later, in conversation with the local Inn keeper as my friend had his lunch, he related this incident.
"Sure," said the man, "Was it a black horse?"
"Yes, it was," said my friend, amazed, "How did you know?"

"Ah, well," said the Inn-keeper, "the white horse in the self-same field, he knows nothin' at all about engines."


#12324 12/12/00 02:17 PM
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But there is no doubt that the animals of Ireland are particularly sagacious.

This is because the tree of wisdom and understanding (represented in its earthly form as a Oak) grows at the headwaters of the shannon. the acorns are eaten by all manner of creatures, but especially the salmon, and so it is they that are wisest of all--

the horses in question no doubt has eaten some acorns from the tree... its a sad fact, but must humans avoid eating acorns, the taste is sharp--and acorns from the tree of wisdom and understanding are sharper even than a regualar acorns. its a sad thing that wisdom can be had so easily, but it is passed by, in favor of something more immediately pleasant.


#12325 12/12/00 06:21 PM
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>
But there is no doubt that the animals of Ireland are particularly sagacious.

But in this case the dog was merely sitting quite calmly in the passenger seat. It took me more than a moment to realize the drive (and the steering wheel) were on the other side of the car.

The question about why we in the US (and in most of the world) drive on the wrong side is one that has interested me for a long time.

Almost certainly, the first rule of the road is about which side of the road to take when meeting another vehicle (or pedestrian for that matter.) Certainly the rule had been etched in the mud of the moors for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years when the first colonists left for the "New World." Someone, somewhere, had to have made a conscious decision to follow the Continental rule rather than the Insular rule. Was it a matter of throwing away a rule just to be able to do so? Or was there another equally good reason? Since the American aborigines didn't have the wheel they would have had to deal only with one walker meeting another. Did our first "invaders" adopt the existing convention? Did the existing convention change from place to place?









TEd
#12326 12/12/00 06:38 PM
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In reply to:

Someone, somewhere, had to have made a conscious decision to follow the Continental rule rather than the Insular rule. Was it a matter of throwing away a rule just to be able to do so? Or was there another equally good reason? Since the American aborigines didn't have the wheel they would have had to deal only with one walker meeting another. Did our first "invaders" adopt the existing convention? Did the existing convention change from place to place?


The Canadian columnist Gwynne Dyer (author of the excellent War) wrote a column on this very issue once. I tried finding it on the Web the last time this came up here, but failed. The gist of his column was this:
Archaeological evidence strongly suggests that driving on the left was the norm for millennia. It was definitely the Roman tradition. The evidence consists of things like wheel ruts and other indicators of traffic flow. Also, as most people are right-handed, driving on the left made sense for purposes of defending oneself from oncoming traffic, should it prove hostile. Dwyer wrote that everybody's favourite Corsican deliberately changed the rule from left to right, in order to leave his mark on Europe. That is the extent of my clear recall of the article. However, I have a vague and uncertain recollection of reading in it that the then nascent US adopted Napoléon's change for the same sort of reasons that Webster arbitrarily imposed his very "non-u" orthography. It was another opportunity to demonstrate how xompletely the ties with the former colonial oppresor had been broken. That, and the large influx of immigrants from Continental Europe.

I am determined to try to track down the article in question, if only for my own peace of mind.


#12327 12/12/00 07:00 PM
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my own peace of mind

If the aluminium allows, which piece of mind exactly Max?


#12328 12/12/00 07:08 PM
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If the aluminium allows, which piece of mind exactly Max?

I have all of them numbered, so, perhaps piece #42?


#12329 12/12/00 07:10 PM
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perhaps piece #42

Is that the piece which passeth all understanding?


#12330 12/12/00 07:32 PM
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More on why we drive the way we do

this might be apocryphal, but I heard it was from the design of Conestoga wagons, which were the first to include a brake- and the lever to control the brake was on the left side (since most of us are right handed, and would hold the reins in our right hand) the brake could be controlled with the ‘free hand'
(american roads being, at the time, much rougher than old world roads, and more steeply graded--so a brake was needed)

the brake lever extended a few inches past the axle, and on narrow roads, two way traffic could crash into each others brakes. So it became the habit to drive a wagon so that left sides of the vehicle would pass each other, and the driver could make sure not to hit the brake lever.

Though Conestoga wagons are associate with taming the west– Conestoga is a town in upstate NY that first made the heavy duty wagons with brakes, and they were very popular all over. and lead to us driving as we do...


#12331 12/12/00 07:56 PM
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> this might be apocryphal, but I heard it was from the design of Conestoga wagons, which were the first to include a brake- and the lever to control the brake was on the left side (since most of us are right handed, and would hold the reins in our right hand) the brake could be controlled with the ‘free hand' (american roads being, at the time, much rougher than old world roads, and more steeply graded--so a brake was needed)

OT:

It seems to me that the rule of the road is established almost as soon as there's traffic, which would have been long before the first Conestoga wagon. Heck, the Romans had chariots; the Egyptians had them even before that. And it wouldn't necessarily be wheeled traffic. When two people meet on a sidewalk here in the US, they each keep to the right. Otherwise, with every encounter there would be a stare-down. Any time one horse and buggy meets another, you have to have either a convention or a confrontation.

One of the stranger things I encountered in a city was in Sydney, where I saw arrows on the sidewalk (but only in one place, not throughout the city) to tell people which side of the sidewalk belonged to those going north and which to those going south, It's been many years, but I seem to recall that they had the same convention, that on a sidewalk you remained to the right.

If Max is right that Napoleon changed the whole continent from left side driving to right side driving, he must have been one powerful dude. Can you imagine what it took to convince literally millions of people to change a life-long habit on the whim of one short little Corsican?

Of Corsican, she replied :)




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there is, of course, at least one web site devoted solely to this matter of the right-borne...
http://www.travel-library.com/general/driving/drive_which_side.html


#12333 12/12/00 08:45 PM
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Nga whakawhetai kia koe, tsuwm. The link you posted was very informative, especially its analysis of the different "natural" norms for different modes of travel. It even included a link to the Dyer article I remembered. Once more, your skill at locating these resources has left me awestruck.


#12334 12/12/00 11:15 PM
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Rhubarb said: "Ah, well," said the Inn-keeper, "the white horse in the self-same field, he knows nothin' at all about engines."

Rubbish. Absolute piffle, Rhu. The bloody horse was a bay gelding. It knew nothing about engines, but it did all the accountancy for the PIRA and most of their weapons purchases. It was called Gerry Adams. It ran at Newmarket but fell and banged its head. It became a Member of Parliament after that because it had lost most of its marbles.



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#12335 12/12/00 11:42 PM
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My Maori is rudimentary, but Quordlepleen said: Nga whakawhetai kia koe

I think he was inviting all Americans to his place for Thanksgiving ...



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#12336 12/13/00 09:41 AM
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Rubbish. Absolute piffle, Rhu. The bloody horse was a bay gelding. It knew nothing about engines, but it did all the accountancy for the PIRA and most of their weapons purchases. It was called Gerry Adams. It ran at Newmarket but fell and banged its head. It became a Member of Parliament after that because it had lost most of its marbles.

Now, CK, will ye be gettin' in the next round of Guiness whilst I collect me thoughts.

That Bay Geldin' ye're talkin' about, now. You're a small distance off the right track, there. It could be that you are mixing him up with Bob Geldorf - a natural confusion, to be sure, I've done as much meself - but I t'ink you're refering to a horse of that description that lived in Co Derry. And that horse did indeed lose all his marbles, not jist the most of them - which you'll agree is a most necessary t'ing for any soul to become involved in anythin' to do with the Parli-a-ment, at all. The last I heard of him was that he'd become thoroughly banjaxed and had left the PIRA for the RIRA.




#12337 12/13/00 04:25 PM
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CK nayed: Rubbish. Absolute piffle, Rhu. The bloody [talking] horse was a bay gelding.

well, that's as may be, but once again perusing the Robbie Burns pome (quoted elsewhere in its enormity), we find that it may also have been a 'furrahin'!

"My furr-ahin's a wordy beast..."


#12338 12/13/00 04:29 PM
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Others have blethered: CK nayed: Rubbish. Absolute piffle, Rhu. The bloody [talking] horse was a bay gelding.

well, that's as may be, but once again perusing the Robbie Burns pome (quoted elsewhere in its enormity), we find that it may also have been a 'furrahin'!

"My furr-ahin's a wordy beast..."


Yes, but see my post in that thread. It's probably either "Geddup, Jim" or "Alastair you lazy bastard", not "Robbie" ...



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#12339 12/13/00 07:40 PM
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>grinding halt on a lonely country road not far from Sneem, Co Kerry.

Ah, and a lovely town it is. In fact, when I went through there, it had just been named the prettiest village or town in Ireland, according to an Irish tourist board sign. Right on the outskirts of town I watched two Americans driving on the wrong side of the road smash into a stone bridge, badly mangling a tyre and a wing.

After offering up a prayer that I had not been on the bridge on my bicycle at the time, I offered to assist them. They had rented this little car, an English Ford of some tipe (if tire is spelled tyre, type should be spelled tipe, shouldn't it?) Anyway, I spent 20 minutes pulling at the bottom of the boot to see if there was a hidden compartment, crawling under the car, etc., searching in vain for the spare. Eventually, we found it mounted on top of the engine!!!

And something occurs to me totally off the wall. Has anyone noticed Father Steve about? I don't think we've heard from him in a week or thereabouts.



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#12340 12/13/00 08:38 PM
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Just noticed something else. You may already have realised it. Or it may not happen to you.

When you choose "Show All" instead of a page number, no New tags actually appear ... very disconcerting.



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#12341 12/14/00 01:10 PM
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Re: the 'new' icon not appearing when you go to Show All: yes, I did notice; and, when you come back from Show All, they haven't gone away on your Index screen. You have to go to the page they're on to make that happen. And when a thread runs to several pages, quite often for me the screen won't change from page one to say, page 8. I get that "cannot be displayed" thing. I've learned to baby it along, though this takes time. It will nearly always go from page one to number four. I've never gotten it to go from say, 4 to 8 or 9. I have to go from 4 to 5, 5 to 6, etc., but it will get there this way.

Speaking of time--I find, to my dismay, that in simply trying to be sure I'm getting to everything, I am missing some of the subtleties. For instance, I just now on the second reading caught tsuwm's wordplay: CK nayed: Rubbish. Absolute piffle, Rhu. The bloody [talking] horse was a bay gelding. And it took a private reminder (thank you) to associate 'the whole chicken' with the other thread on kinkiness. Augh--I love stuff like that; it's one of the best things about this place! P'raps I should seek some of Helen's bitter acorns and eat them.
Lovely story, my friend.

Speaking of frustrations: if anyone can tell me how not to lose a typing-screen window when I change screens, I sure would appreciate it. I have learned that if I stick to the back and forward arrows, I can get back to my typing ok, but if I click the back arrow to say, page three, and then have to click on the number two to go to that page,
I cannot get my typing back. I've learned to hit copy
aforehand if I think this might happen--guess how.

Father Steve is about, on good works, no doubt.
Glad to see xara back!


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Still scrolling through screens and screens of this stuff, only 250 posts to go but I have sent off the accounts to the accountant, so I am allowed to peep at posts (very quickly though)!

On the subject of not losing your typing, it appears to be inevitable with some operations. The easiest thing is to have two have two browser windows open (or copy your message onto the clip board or into a wp file). Sometimes, if I'm using a search engine or two, I have three or four windows open. You can have your new post in one, look for another post in the second screen, google or whatever in the third screen etc etc. If you are using Internet Explorer, all you have to do is open the program again (double click on the icon on your screen or whatever you usually do) and it will open another window.

The next question is - I do this all the time and I was wondering if I appear twice on the "Who's online" screen - perhaps someone could have a look next time they notice that I'm online.


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Hi, jmh. You asked: The next question is - I do this all the time and I was wondering if I appear twice on the "Who's online" screen - perhaps someone could have a look next time they notice that I'm online.

The answer is No. Every time you open a new window, you are simply getting another view of your current session. Unless you actually log on twice (which I've never tried to do, hang on ...) — which you can't do.

As far as the board is concerned you are a single user, regardless of the number of browser windows you happen to have open.

Cheers - CK



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#12344 12/15/00 05:42 PM
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>>>how not to lose a typing-screen window when I change screens,<<<

if you use netscape and have a three button mouse, try clicking the middle mouse button to open your typing screen. when i click on a link with the middle mouse button it opens another window. i don't know whether this will work for IE, or whether it works in windows.


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The answer is No

Thanks Calv - it is as I expected!


#12346 12/18/00 01:25 AM
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I dredged this up from the wwftd archives:

the worthless word for the day is: walla-walla

an unintelligible sound made by many people talking at once [from a Hindi word]

In the theater, a walla-walla scene is one where extras pretend to be talking in the background -- when they say "walla-walla" it looks like they are actually talking.

...perhaps shanks can confirm this one.



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Hmmmm, I seem to recall someone in a previous thread saying that the extras usually said Rhubarb Rhubarb Rhubard.


#12348 12/18/00 02:00 AM
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Do you think "walla" is related to "wallah"? While I haven't a Hindi dictionary, wallah is a parsee(?) term for 'by occupation'. Hence the punkah-wallah waves the fan back and forth, the tea-wallah makes and pours tea.

Could be well off-beam. Our Australian colleagues may also like to confirm or deny my impression that walla-walla is actually an aboriginal word for something. In fact, isn't there a town with that name?



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#12349 12/18/00 02:34 AM
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>Hmmmm, I seem to recall someone in a previous thread saying that the extras usually said Rhubarb Rhubarb Rhubard.

yup, that was *this thread, with several variations, many moons ago. : )


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In reply to:

wallah is a parsee(?) term for 'by occupation'


The Parsees are a religious grouping rather than a linguistic one. They are the last remnants of the religion revealed to the human race by Zoroaster at(according to who you believe) the end of the 2nd millennium BCE or in the first half of the 1st millennium BCE. (Fortunately whether millennia begin or end in the year ending 00 is irrelevant here.) In a later form, which spread throughout the Roman Empire, it is called Mithraism, and the birthday of Mithras (as the Sun in one of his manifestations) was celebrated on Dec. 25th, hence the timing of our jollifications next week. After the fall of the Sassanid empire, some Persians fled to India where they preserved the old beliefs and the scriptures in Avestan, but for every day purposes use the language of their neighbours.

Bingley



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#12351 12/18/00 05:58 AM
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Bingley said: The Parsees are a religious grouping rather than a linguistic one

I thought that was the case, which is why the question mark. The reason I "guessed" Parsee was that I read a book by a Parsee woman called Bhapsi Sidhwa a number of years ago which took a long, hard and humorous look at being a Parsee - without explaining exactly what a Parsee is. Her chief character was Freddy Faredoon Junglewallah (amazing memory for the important things, don't I? Not.). Almost all of the males in the book had -wallah as part of their name. Could have been tongue in cheek, as most of the book was.

Anyway, in retrospect I prefer the Oz connection. Come in, ringer!



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#12352 12/18/00 10:18 AM
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CapK: Indeed, there is an Aussie town called Walla Walla; it's in New South Wales and its postcode is 2659. In fact it must be close to Wagga Wagga which has a 2650 postcode and the Waugh brothers [non-cricketers, disregard].


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paulb responds: CapK: Indeed, there is an Aussie town called Walla Walla; it's in New South Wales and its postcode is 2659. In fact it must be close to Wagga Wagga which has a 2650 postcode and the Waugh brothers [non-cricketers, disregard].

Well, from a purely parochial perspective, have the place razed while they are visiting their folks. Please.



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#12354 12/18/00 06:43 PM
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Ongoing discussion of towns named Walla Walla.

The Walla Walla, Wash mentioned in the Christmas lyrics thread (http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=wordplay&Number=11017&page=0&view=expanded&sb=5) is a city in the state of Washington, USA. Walla Walla is a Native American name for "many rivers."


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and is famous for onions-- almost as good as vadalias-- and later in the season..


#12356 12/18/00 09:32 PM
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Walla, Walla

Yes, Walla Walla is a city in Washington south of Spokane near the Oregon border. It's probably most famous for being used by Daffy Duck in the name of his sales company.


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And I had always thought, 'til now, that "Walla, walla . . ." were the opening words of that grand old Tommy Steele song, "Singin' the blues."



#12358 12/19/00 10:14 AM
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Thanks, Faldage. Perhaps Wagga Wagga is the town of "many runs", eh, Capk? 13 on the trot, now [non-cricketers, disregard]


#12359 12/19/00 10:23 AM
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paulb said: Thanks, Faldage. Perhaps Wagga Wagga is the town of "many runs", eh, Capk? 13 on the trot, now [non-cricketers, disregard]

Sorry, Paul, don't actually follow you. Are you suggesting that the Waugh brothers are making the runs, getting the runs, or just having the trots?



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#12360 12/19/00 02:57 PM
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In reply to:

Walla/Wallah


Not too long ago I read a most interesting magazine article about a day in the life of a tiffin wallah in India. A tiffin wallah is someone who delivers tiffin to office workers. Where is Shanks when you need him?


#12361 12/19/00 07:33 PM
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What a fascinating thread. I've learned so much here!!

OK, besides the aforementioned Walla Walla, can anyone think of other reduplicative place names? I can think of three others.


#12362 12/19/00 07:44 PM
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OK, besides the aforementioned Walla Walla, can anyone think of other reduplicative place names? I can think of three others.

In NZ, we have Matamata, Meremere, and Chch.



#12363 12/19/00 08:03 PM
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Pago Pago


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Max, how do you pronounce Chch [interrobang]

Faldage, yep, Pago Pago's one of the ones I thought of. There's another in the South Pacific, and the third in Europe.


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AnnaS enquired Max, how do you pronounce Chch [interrobang]


Sorry, Anna, that was a little in-joke for CapKiwi. Chch is the standard abbreviation for Christchurch, the South Island's largest city.


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baden baden takes care of europe..
i half remember someplace in NJ-- and another in one of the midwest states..
I'll wake up tonight from a sound sleep and know them...


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Gotcha, Max.
You had me thinking NZ was beset by an immigration wave of post-Bosnian War Serbs


#12368 12/19/00 10:52 PM
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>OK, besides the aforementioned Walla Walla, can anyone think of other reduplicative place names? I can think of three others.

You're just not thinking hard enough then, Anna.

Wagga Wagga (also already mentioned) would have to be the best known Australian town with such a name, but a quick scan of our postcode list reveals:
Bli Bli, Boonoo Boonoo, Curl Curl, Doon Doon, Gol Gol, Ki Ki, Lal Lal, Nowa Nowa, Pindi Pindi, Pura Pura, Wool Wool and Woy Woy. Then there are placenames for other geographical features, such as Yarra Yarra and Mullum Mullum. I don't know the significance of repetition in the Aboriginal languages concerned - my completely uninformed guess would be a plural. Perhaps Nicholas Nicholas can help us out?

I grew up in a house named Goonoo Goonoo after an outback farming property. Curiously my parents pronounced it (rightly or wrongly, I have no idea) as "Gunna G'noo".

Which reminds me, I was told as a child that "Pago Pago" is pronounced something like "Pakka Pay-go". Any truth in that, or, if not, any idea where the notion sprang from?


#12369 12/20/00 04:30 AM
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There's a Pare-Pare in Sulawesi (the island in Indonesia that looks like a disected starfish). There must be others. I'll let you know as I think of them.

Bingley


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#12370 12/20/00 08:04 AM
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Which reminds me, I was told as a child that "Pago Pago" is pronounced something like "Pakka Pay-go". Any truth in that, or, if not, any idea where the notion sprang from?

I was there many moons ago. From memory, it was pronounced "Pango Pango". One of the "Pago"s is stronger than the other. Can't remember which one.



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#12371 12/20/00 09:10 AM
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I don't know the significance of repetition in the Aboriginal languages concerned - my completely uninformed guess would be a plural.

Not as such, in any one I've come across. (As opposed to e.g. Malay-Indonesian, anak-anak = 'children'.) Aboriginal languages typically don't have plurality in nouns. Reduplication has some morphological function, clearly, but in odd ways, e.g. names of colours in Bidyara if I remember rightly.

Pago Pago is Samoan, so the <g> is nasal [N] as in <singer>. Samoan forms plurals of some nouns, but with a variety of means: reduplicated syllable, vowel lengthening.

If the two <a>s are different, perhaps one is long: as in <pucker> vs <parker>, but I don't know.


#12372 12/20/00 09:58 AM
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Hello BYB. You said: A tiffin wallah is someone who delivers tiffin to office workers. Where is Shanks when you need him?

Indeed you are right there, though in Bombay we most usually called them dabbah-wallahs (Dabbah being a contraction of tiffin-dabbah, itself meaning tiffin-box.)

I also posted a bit about tiffin in a thread called Food for Thought under Wordplay and Fun. Since I don't know the 'short' version of post references here, I won't actually try to make a url of it, but any search on tiffin, over the last three months, should turn it up.

cheer

the sunshine warrior


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can anyone think of other reduplicative place names? I can think of three others.

There's a Bora Bora in the Pacific somewhere, isn't there?

Dum Dum, where the bullets came from, near Kolkata.

Sing Sing where the convicts go.

Kwekwe in Zimbabwe, formerly Que Que; and Xai Xai in Mozambique, formerly Beira I think, and Tete also there.

I think there's a Kukukuku tribe in Papua New Guinea: there's a Malak-Malak language from northern Australia.


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Ooh, serendipity. From a news article today on unrest in the Central African Republic:
In reply to:


The opposition leaders, party officials and hundreds of supporters turned up at Bangui's Bonga-Bonga stadium in spite of the ban, but were met by riot police who ordered them to disperse.

When they refused, police reportedly fired tear-gas canisters and live ammunition, causing a stampede during which several protesters were injured.


Good thing they were only injured. I've heard the old death option can be quite nasty.


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NW offers: Sing Sing where the convicts go.

Sing Sing is the name of the prison. It's located in Ossining, NY.

Course there's always Torpenhow Hill, in England, but that's a little off track.


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Amazing, Faldage

I'd never heard of it and yet I've been to that area lots of times. Its not far from Rhubarb Commando country. We'll have to put it on the shortlist for an AWAD gathering one of these days.

http://www.ucle.org/ucle10.html


#12377 12/21/00 03:57 PM
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Sing Sing isn't really the name of the prison, but is just a nickname, I think. They nicked the name from the name of the town. BTW, I noticed that the house the Clintons bought in NY is about five miles from the prison. Should make it convenient for Hillary on visiting days.

Actually someone told me the other day they already sold the house as they are (or at least she is) looking for a house in the DC area now that she's got a new job.



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#12378 12/21/00 05:57 PM
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Local Ithaca area philanthropist et al. Roy Park recently had a park named after him. In a related story, Cornell University has a building named Anabel Taylor Hall and commonly referred to as Annie Hall.


#12379 12/29/00 04:28 PM
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Another realization, and a question--

If you use the back arrow on your window frame (the one that is there no matter what site or program you're in) to go back to the Index, you will get literally the same screen you already had, showing the New icons even for the thread you just came from. (I think.)

My question: How is it that the spacing of my posts changes between the time of me typing it and the time it appears? A lot of my posts show up with some lines having one or two words, and others going all the way across--actually wider than the box I get for typing in.


#12380 12/30/00 02:48 AM
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>I dredged this up from the wwftd archives:
>the worthless word for the day is: walla-walla
>an unintelligible sound made by many people talking at once [from a Hindi word]
>In the theater, a walla-walla scene is one where extras pretend to be talking in the background -- when >they say "walla-walla" it looks like they are actually talking.
>...perhaps shanks can confirm this one.

Hi Tsuwm
Just read your post- thought I'd try my hand at it. I first thought of the Urdu word "W-allah" which means "O Allah", but then in an Urdu dictionary I found this:

Walwala - Howling, lamenting. A tumult noise, uproar, murmur. A gush of passion, ardour, fervour. Pining, repining.

A rather varied amount of meanings. My Urdu dictionary I treat with indulgence. The words are not very delicately explained. Then it says :

Walwalaat - is howling or lamentation; Walwalaa-na - to howl or lament

So the dominant meaning seems to be howling and lamentation. But the meaning of "Tumultous noise, murmur, uproar" could have lead to walla-walla.




#12381 01/02/01 04:43 PM
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I think you're right, its something on the order of the NY State (downstate) Correctional facilities at Sing Sing ... but the prison has always been known Sing-Sing. The town got tired of giving their name to the prison, so they changed it to Osinging-- both names came from indian place names for area.

But it was where you went, in James Cagney movies when you got sent "up the river"-- which is still used to express prison time.


#12382 01/03/01 01:23 AM
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>I think you're right, its something on the order of the NY State (downstate) Correctional facilities at Sing Sing ... but the prison has always been known Sing-Sing. The town got tired of giving their name to the prison, so they changed it to Osinging-- both names came from indian place names for area.

Another myth shot ALL to hell!

In 1825, $20,100 was appropriated to buy the 130 acre site, named after the Sint Sinck Native Americans. By May, Mr. Lynds had selected 100 convicts from the Auburn prison and brought them by barge along the Erie Canal to freighters down the Hudson River. They arrived in Sing Sing on May 14, "without a place to receive them or a wall to enclose them."
(snip)
Eventually, the system was phased out after labor unions established their opposition to prison-made goods. The municipalities of Sing Sing changed their name to Ossining in 1901, when goods from local manufacturers were boycotted because of the "Sing Sing" connection.

http://www.hudsonriver.com/halfmoonpress/stories/0500sing.htm

Thank you, dear lady. You have educated me yet again. Another entry in the never-ending book of lies taught us by our teachers.






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I know in some parts of the world a certain logic applies. But pedestrians don't always have the right of way. In California according to the book, Only blind pedestrians with a white cane or seeing eye dog. The rest have to be legally in the crosswalk. Of course, in the end it doesn't matter where you are, when you're hit by a car you lose. We also have signs that say "End 45 miles/hour" with no indication of the speed limit (my personal pet peeve) and a poll of the neighbors indicates no one know what it is. I call it California logic.


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have signs that say "End 45 miles/hour" with no indication of the speed limit
Hello, ladymoon ... what a lovely name ... and welcome.
When I lived in California I had to get a license and take the driver's exam. As I recall there are speed limits you are supposed to know for the area you are in i.e. school zone, populated area, and wouldn't you slow to the appropriate speed after the 45 mph zone ended?
a poll of the neighbors indicates no one know what it is.
Perhaps a look at the Driver's Manual you studied before you got your first license ?
REALLY love that name!
wow


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So what's the point of the sign? Why not a sign that says what the limit is, instead of what the limit isn't?


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In New Zealand, our signs either state a speed or have a black line diagonally across a white background which means "open road" - 60mph max. There are fewer and fewer of these as they are replaced with 100kmh (60mph) signs.



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Exactly as in the UK.
Where a speed limit is in force there are repeater signs at regular intervals. If there are no repeaters, we know that we may drive at 60mph on all roads, or 70mph on dual carriageways.


#12388 01/14/01 08:15 AM
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70mph on dual carriageways or 100mph on the M roads ...



The idiot also known as Capfka ...
#12389 01/14/01 02:08 PM
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Ladymoon wrote : So what's the point of the sign? Why not a sign that says what the limit is, instead of what the limit isn't?

Well now, if you want to get LOGICAL, you have to get more women on the job.
wow


#12390 01/14/01 02:17 PM
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RhubarbCommando wrote about
Re: at the cross walk

An oblique take on crosswalk differences : in UK I discovered drivers used the red-yellow to get a jump on the green.
In US the red-yellow is "pedestrians walk!"
Something people from UK should know if they decide to drive in States!
Just trying to be a good neighbor.
wow



#12391 01/14/01 05:50 PM
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>Where a speed limit is in force there are repeater signs at regular intervals. If there are no repeaters, we know that we may drive at 60mph on all roads, or 70mph on dual carriageways.

I think that the rule in built up areas is that it is 30 unless specified as 40 (or these days, sometimes 20).


#12392 01/14/01 07:31 PM
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Is that because it would be logical to have a "balance" of women and men, or are women (suddenly) the more logical of the two (devils advocate emoticon).

(...as I hop on my Marusho and drive away at 101kph)

#12393 01/14/01 09:27 PM
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Musick asked : are women (suddenly) the more logical of the two (devils advocate emoticon).

Nothing sudden about it, dear one.
wow


#12394 01/15/01 06:19 AM
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Musick asked : are women (suddenly) the more logical of the two (devils advocate emoticon).

Nothing sudden about it, dear one.
wow


S'all right, Musick, it's just over compensation for perceived past wrongs. They'll get over it in somebody's lifetime ...



The idiot also known as Capfka ...
#12395 01/15/01 09:55 AM
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wow informs us that - In US the red-yellow is "pedestrians walk!"

In the UK we have just two classes of pedestrian - the quick and the dead.



#12396 01/15/01 09:59 AM
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Jo, quite rightly, points out - I think that the rule in built up areas is that it is 30 unless specified as 40 (or these days, sometimes 20).

Yes, I was thinking entirely about non-urban situations, and can't understand why you-all didn't read my mind.


#12397 01/15/01 01:07 PM
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two classes of pedestrian - the quick and the dead.

Oh, my! I do hope you folks try to watch for us poor
befuddled yanks stepping off the curb without looking for cars coming from the wrong direction! Thank you.

By the way, I now think of you as the Rhubarb
Co-mahn-do, dag nab it.





#12398 01/15/01 01:15 PM
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Nah! we don't bother with knocking down foreign visitors, as a rule. You only score one point for them unless they're from *********** (censored under EU anti-xenophobe regulations) You score much more for old ladies on zimmer-frames who ARE looking in the right dierection.
(I was going to edit the typo in the last word - but it is so apposite that I'm leaving it in)


#12399 01/15/01 02:31 PM
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Repeat after me : Drive left, look right. Drive left, look right. Drive left .....
wow


#12400 01/15/01 02:53 PM
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*jumping up and down*
I know what this means!


#12401 01/15/01 04:08 PM
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Poster: AnnaStrophic
Subject: Re: Zimmer frame

*jumping up and down*
I know what this means!


Obviously, AnnaS and I are fans of various BBC-America programs as I figured out "zimmer frame" (from context) too!
Now to The Question : WHY do you call it a zimmer frame? Is Zimmer the inventor's name perchance?
In USA they're called "walkers."
My Dad had one while recovering from a broken hip ... a nifty one with wheels. Downward pressure and the walker was steady, .... release the pressure and you could roll it forward instead of having to semi-pick it up. For people with balance problems it is easier and steadier than the no-wheels version.
Awaiting word from the Mother Country with heart aflutter.
wow



#12402 01/15/01 04:34 PM
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Is Zimmer the inventor's name perchance?

Yes, I believe so - he was either Germa ot Swiss, I am almost certain, but I don't know which.

Yes, I've seen the semi-wheeled ones, which are excellent devices. I'm going to have speed stripes put on mine, when I get it!


#12403 01/15/01 05:23 PM
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RhubarbCommando informed us : Nah! we don't bother with knocking down foreign visitors, as a rule. You only score one point for them unless they're from *********** (censored under EU anti-xenophobe regulations) Hmm "unless they're from", nope, too many asterisks to spell France - who else do the Poms dislike so much?


#12404 01/15/01 08:05 PM
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So was I the only one taught to look both ways? Then you don't have to remember where you are or where you're from, you're covered. Maybe my parents traveled too much, or maybe it's because I was raised by one of those logical women.


#12405 01/15/01 08:12 PM
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Rhubarb says : only score one point for them unless they're from *********** Max Q says : too many asterisks to spell France - who else do the Poms dislike so much?

Beware all !
Wouldn't touch this one!

wow


#12406 01/15/01 10:48 PM
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My sweet bride of 29 years suffered from Multiple Sclerosis and was, in the several years before she died, required to use a walker. The Commando suggests racing stripes as an appropriate decoration. My sainted wife had a Bermuda bicycle bell mounted on one side of hers and a brass horn with a black rubber ball attached on the other. In the middle, she had mounted a device, intended for bicyclists, which supposedly measured wind speed and provided a read-out on a black-faced dial with white numbers that went up to sixty miles per hour.



#12407 01/16/01 01:23 AM
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My sweet bride of 29 years...

My very dear Father--she sounds exactly the kind of person I think would be perfectly suited to you. I am not surprised in the least to learn that you married someone with such a superb attitude. And, had I been able to ask her, I'll bet she would have said how lucky she was to have
found you. Oh, bittersweet is loss.


#12408 01/16/01 02:46 AM
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Jackie says, of my late wife, ...she sounds exactly the kind of person I think would be perfectly suited to you. I am not surprised in the least to learn that you married someone with such a superb attitude.

My sweet bride retained her sense of humour when most of the rest of her ceased to function. She was rolled into a hospice on a gurney because she was too weak to ride in a wheelchair. When greeted by the Medical Director, she said to him, "Do you have square dancing here?"

I guess the Lord knew that it took a woman with a sense of humour like that to live for almost 29 years with a man with a sense of humour like mine.



#12409 01/16/01 05:55 PM
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Perception is reality (a woman once told me)

Wow - Aren't we both missing a wink in your reply?

Fine, just call me "the missing wink".


#12410 01/17/01 08:14 AM
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Father S, I greatly admire your wife's sense of style. My brother has embellished his electric scooter with similarly hilarious and inappropriate devices and strikes terror into all pedestrians. I certainly believe that the best way to cope with affliction is to raise two fingers to it! I would have loved to have met her.




#12411 01/18/01 09:18 AM
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>Fine, just call me "the missing wink".

Just don't call me "the weakest wink"

Goodbye

Clue: It's another of those UK cultural links. I'm not sure if we have inflicted the programme on any other nation yet:

http://www.qwertyuiop.co.uk/gs/atoz/programmes/w/weakest_link/


#12412 01/18/01 11:44 PM
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Every time I see that programme (about once a fortnight) I wonder how much Anne Robinson must be cringing inside at having to play the tyrant. Do her children (does she have children?) take the mickey?


#12413 01/19/01 12:52 AM
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Doesn't everyone know that pressing the button at a pedestrian crossing does absolutely nothing except turn the "Don't Cross" light on? I tell you this from the experience gained from years of angrily stabbing at the damned things!

Are you not familiar with the impatience switch? The more you press the button, the longer it takes the lights to change. I believe the same principle applies to the 'close doors' button in elevators.

Rapport was established superficially.

#12414 01/19/01 01:42 AM
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unless they're from *********** (censored under EU anti-xenophobe regulations)

Hmm "unless they're from", nope, too many asterisks to spell France - who else do the Poms dislike so much?

ze Germans (don't mention the war).

Rapport was established superficially.

#12415 01/26/01 02:53 PM
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When I first watched that programme I thought she was the rudest person alive and wondered who could have given her a job she was so obviously so ill-fitted for... then I caught on and started wondering what on earth could bring the contestants to a TV show where they are so harshly mistreated... I haven't figured this one out yet...



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