normanhurst wrote:

it's a job to remember who everyone is... some i've only just worked out. where does someone that lives in an ideal holiday destination go for a holiday or were you visiting family

Nowhere special Bandick, only up to Pireaus to annoy the kids for a couple of weeks. Made a nice change from them coming down here and annoying us with their piles of washing and stuff.

Hi Mick and great to see that you managed to get past the dreaded pop-up hurdle! The kind (but misguided) people at the server providers have been informed of the hassle it's caused some people.

Look forward to your input here when you hopefully find the time!

What's going on? I got logged out again there and had to sign in again despite checking auto login, have I offended the genie of the board?

Not sure - had you been inactive for a while? I have noticed that autologon doesn't do what it's meant to all the time. I put it down to the fact that I am logged on via 2 different PCs and a mobile most of the time. I'll ask the server people.

DarkLight wrote:

Nice to hear from Islanddawn as well! Your island hasn't been sold to the Germans I take it Therese?
As for me am back in wet, windy England once more. Lots of reasons, mainly that Mrs DL seems to have turned into a baby production line (DL Jr. 3 arrived in May). Had to start to think rationally, a nice warm island home seemed a bit of an unfair extravagance, especially when you take the precarious financial state of poor old Hellas into account. So, sold up and moved back. Missing the sun, sea and outstanding view, but not missing the uncertainty.

Hey DL, congrats on the 3rd DL Jnr! So you joined the mass exodus huh, can't say I blame you with 3 little ones to consider. We probably would have done the same if our kids were small, but they're just about fully independant now so we haven't been forced to make difficult descisions.

Strange… I had to log on again this morning, but I noted the pesky pop up was back… until I logged back in again.

Triceratops wrote:

Have you ever seen this one Nordmann?, I think it's brilliant.......LITERALLY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qSkaAwKMD4

No I hadn't Trike. Loved it!!!!! :)

(and we love the way monks don't fight back .... classic!)

Hi all and Nordmann,

The year is still relatively new so Happy New Year to all. I just arrived after some initial problems. Everything seems nicely set up. Now for some intelligent posts. Regards,

Tas

Tas!! You made it! Well done!

I'll have to make a category for intelligent posts, so.

Hello,

Ferval has ensured I know how to register here, though even so it proved temporarily beyond my brainpower. I will see if I can contact Priscilla and persuade her here. I think she has had lots to do recently.

There seem to be more categories that I will be able to join in here, perhaps. Though I hope we aren't expected to know too much Latin.

Three baby DLs! Well done. Be prepared for a life of worry. (Number one Caro child just out of hospital in England - managed to collapse after hockey game with some ear infection. Lots to be said for distance. Numbers two and three thankfully not up in hot air balloons.)

Cheers, Caro.

Hi Caro - welcome aboard. Hope your son has a speedy recovery. Those experiences can be scary.

Thanks, Nordmann. Haven't heard any more in the last couple of days, and am working on the theory that no news is good news.

Hello, er, Bandick (?),

It was our dil who let us know somewhat after the event (she spent the first few moments on pleasantries while I wondered why she was phoning which would indicate how often my dils phone for a chat). My son had hopes of being back teaching today. I think I will phone them right now. Though I can't remember if it is now nearly 8 or nearly 10 there. It is 9 here.

But he must be okay or we would have heard.

Cheers, Caro.

Current UK time is 20:44, Caro. Are they within reach from here - if so, let me know if there's owt I can do.

bless you gil

That's a very nice offer, Ian. They are in Sheffield, but he is fine, really. I phoned and we had a chat. Off work for the week. He had something called labyrinthitis which the doctor said would have no long-lasting effects, though wikipedia didn't sound so sanguine. They mentioned anxiety attacks so I told Rod not to get in a panic if he had an anxiety attack, which he didn't think much of as medical advice.

He did say something a little odd though. He was vomiting a lot and said he just lay on the bed and was sick all over himself and didn't care. When I said that would be partly because the hospital was looking after him, he said he felt like he was in a different universe in hospital. He wasn't worried about dying or anything, because it didn't feel like it was him there.

The other odd thing he said (unconnected to all this) was when I mentioned the name of a friend's baby - Jonah Hiruharama Marcus. (Hiruharama is Maori for Jerusalem.) When we were discussing this (with a rather roll-your-eyes attitude) and he was remembering the story of Jonah I asked how he knew this and he said, "You used to read us Bible stories, and I remember bits of them." Did I? Not often. I remember thinking that on a Sunday I should make a point of reading them something from the Bible so they wouldn't be ignorant, but I don't think that resolution ever lasted longer than a week.

But the long and the short of it (mostly the long, I see, sorry) is that he seems well on the road to recovery.

Cheers, Caro.

Omg caro… he’s not having visits from a high speed champion seahorse is he… sounds so reminiscent of my time in hospital… that was nearly a year ago and I still get flashbacks.

That hospital hit the national news not long after I left, and was closed down with immigration officers arresting a several members of the staff. A friend visiting me just a few days ago began telling me about a dreadful experience he had when visiting a friend of his in the hospital… and described it to me exactly as I remembered… a damp cold dismal place with a feeling more akin to a prison than a hospital, and being challenged at every door by staff. They suspected him of being an undercover investigative reporter… and he was asked to leave. It’s got to be the same place… still closed down.

I wouldn't worry too much if your son's memory of his childhood doesn't always co-incide with what you remember Caro. My kids sometimes astound me with their discriptions of their growing up years, sometimes I have no re-collection of the event at all and at other times it can be different from my memory of the same thing.

Just this Xmas they assured me that it was their father who read to them every night before bed, namely a chapter from Erik the Viking. Well yes, he did read to them occasionally but the story of Erik certainly wasn't big enough to cover over 10yrs of reading and my husband was actually working most nights anyway. It was me who read to them every single day (usually more than once a day) since they were born but that seems to have slipped their minds completely. I have to content myself with the fact that they both have a great love of reading which was the objective, but I do feel a little put out...

I can't see where there was mention of Priscilla. I had an email from her today and she said she would be trying the sites I mentioned. Has had some computer problems and hecticness over Christmas. It's probably all right if I quote: "Cannot believe that Mr Nordmann and Mr Rykier really missed me."

Idiot lady. :) Who wouldn't miss her?

Caro.

Caro,

I read about your son. I don't know if this has any importance, but the grandson is in Kopenhagen for the moment for his thesis.

The granddaughter has installed Skype on our computer and if he or we want to contact him via video (we have a note an he too if we are online) with some clicks we see each other. In some months that same granddaughter goes for six months to New York for university "stage" and Skype will also be our connection. It is the same for our neighbour where the son lives already for years in Singapore and is there married. She has nearly every night a connection with him. For the Chinese daugther-in-law...but the neighbour is such a nice person... (we say as in German: Nachbarin...geburin (neighbouress)...as in French: "la voisine"...

And for Skype it doesn't make a difference if you are the house next corner (we did already the test) or that you are in New Zealand and the son in England. I said already to the granddaughter that we will connect Skype at a superscreen wall TV set so that we she her nearly "in full length". But I agree that are only gadgets, the real thing is to be able to speak to each other (and that are thoughts from me).

Kind regards from your friend,

Paul.

Thanks Paul. We do Skype our son, and our wee grandson (now 15 months old) seems to notice us and waves and plays little games - before he gets distracted by my son's porridge or his toy. I never thought I would like a telephone with photos but it is a great thing. Feels a bit cheating, when for most of humanity's life they have had to wait 6 months for letters to get across the seas. (Or haven't been able to contact people out of sight at all.)

We Skyped them last night, but the time before that we put on the Skype and three people phoned us - another son, my brother-in-law, and a cousin, so we never got to see the baby that night.

Cheers, Caro.

Thank you very much Caro for your immediate reply.

Cheers, Paul.

Res Miranda, I found a way in. First my name was denied - several names in fact, then the registrar didn't like my password- or any that I then concocted. Then he didn't like my e-mail address. Mr Nordmann threw a lifebuoy - with a daft passord - and eventually after several efforts, I have been allowed in with my name intact but I have contention with the password!

I have also agreed not to offend the French, swear or defame anyone and probably much else I might be prone to. What am I doing here?

I shall make my way to the bar tomorrow but there seems to be large spaces between posts. This is I suppose to alow everyone time to see if they have abided by all the things they have agreed to. And I did NOT agree to doing the washing up.

Regards, P.

Heavens P, you were only allowed in on condition you did all of those things.
Washing up? Given the difficulty in getting served here, there's very few glasses to clear away.
Truthfully, I think Nordmann is looking for anyone who can come up with the right answers for his quiz, we're sadly failing to identify the succession of odd looking children that he dredges up for us to puzzle over.

Welcome Pricilla and (I notice) Giraffe has joined us too, it is great to see you both.

The registrar on the front desk is a grumpy old bugger and only seems to like passwords with numbers included. Took a while to work that one out, the next person in line should slip a bottle of something in his pocket. Maybe that will speed things along.

Good to see you P.

If you're finished with the lifebuoy can you chuck it in Giraffe's direction?

You can change the password under your profile. It doesn't have to have numbers in it.

Good to see you again, Priscilla!

This site supports smilies? Moving smilies, even? Deranged sheep - moving? You should be ashamed, Ros. Nun?

On a maths course yonks ago, there were nuns in our group of 12. My partner there, a cockney cabdriver otherwise with a sharp mind, asked one of them how she got to become a nun, adding "Wos your muvver a nun, then?"

Class ended for the day as we needed much drink at the bar to calm him, us and her with the helpless break up of the group.

Regards, P.

Not just any old *nun*, Priscilla. High Priestess, please. (But you can be VV Maxima, if you want - I couldn't cope with the responsibility).

I like the bouncy ghost. I don't think he looks like a trampolining sheep at all. Englistory has some good moving smileys too. Sigh. We all give in in the end.

PS Please don't mention you-know-who again. Shudder.

I have a rule for passwords (which I'm certainly not going to tell you lot about) where specific letters turn into specific numbers - a bit like the old wholesaler's "BUCKINGHAM" price tags.

Well an invite would have been nice, he said in a huff. Quite where I got a huff from I don't know but its warm and that's what counts.

So, where the bar?

Try the Eagle and Child but don't expect too much, traditions must be upheld.

So there are huffs somewhere, did you see any miffs or dudgeons?

Only low dudgeons spotted so far, so not much use.

ferval wrote:

Try the Eagle and Child but don't expect too much, traditions must be upheld.

So there are huffs somewhere, did you see any miffs or dudgeons?

There are always huffs. They tend to water at the spring behind the outside toilets, well I hope that's what they were. Bloody big coffee cups if they weren't.

Welcome Bttdp!

I say that was a bloody good piece of detective work you did to track this place down.

It took a bit of searching. Mind you it's my own fault for paying far too much attention to work and not enough to the fun things in life.

There are fun things in life?

Dudgeon!

You can't have one until we find them again.

nordmann wrote:

There are fun things in life?

Dudgeon!

Indeed there are Nordmann. There are many many fun things in life. For example posting on house hold tips websites asking how to get embarrassing humane stains out of your carpet. Comparing the US role in the war of1812 to a small fluffy mongrel pup determinedly humping the ankle of a bare knuckle boxer. Ringing up tobacconists and asking them to let st Bruno out of his tin before he suffocates and learning to play the banjo. All these things are fun under the right circumstances.

Ah - I get it. Well, all except the banjo.

You mean research!

backtothedarkplace wrote:

Comparing the US role in the war of1812 to a small fluffy mongrel pup determinedly humping the ankle of a bare knuckle boxer

If it is reaction you want Bttdp, tell that one to Buckskinz.

Well the question of treading on Englistory sensibilities has solved itself; yet another board being folded up under us! And just when I'd got nice and comfy!

I'll pitch the tent here for a while to see if it feels homey.

Avatar is my grandma and grandad at a wedding. They were both 23.

Just look at my poor uncle's outfit! (The baby) And Grandma's hat looks as if it had just alighted on her head unexpectedly. Grandad died in 1925 so I never knew him, but my grandma was absolutely the best.

They look a bit squashed, can I change that?

I always find people get squashed when I put them on the desktop (mini treat on a Monday is to change my desktop photo), so there is always a scene.

Nice to see you here, Raundsgirl. Englistory sounded good but I had never got round to registering, perhaps a good job now.

Cheers, Caro.

raundsgirl wrote:

They look a bit squashed, can I change that?

Hi raundsgirl, and welcome!

The avatars here prefer to be square so if you crop the image from rectangle to square and load it up again your poor grandparents won't get squashed. Or you can post the picture in the gallery and I can do it for you.

EDIT: Found I could do it anyway without reposting it.
EDIT 2: So I've unsquashed poor Margaret while I was at it for Temperance.

Caro wrote:

That's a very nice offer, Ian. They are in Sheffield, but he is fine, really. I phoned and we had a chat. Off work for the week. He had something called labyrinthitis which the doctor said would have no long-lasting effects, though wikipedia didn't sound so sanguine. They mentioned anxiety attacks so I told Rod not to get in a panic if he had an anxiety attack, which he didn't think much of as medical advice.

He did say something a little odd though. He was vomiting a lot and said he just lay on the bed and was sick all over himself and didn't care. When I said that would be partly because the hospital was looking after him, he said he felt like he was in a different universe in hospital. He wasn't worried about dying or anything, because it didn't feel like it was him there.

The other odd thing he said (unconnected to all this) was when I mentioned the name of a friend's baby - Jonah Hiruharama Marcus. (Hiruharama is Maori for Jerusalem.) When we were discussing this (with a rather roll-your-eyes attitude) and he was remembering the story of Jonah I asked how he knew this and he said, "You used to read us Bible stories, and I remember bits of them." Did I? Not often. I remember thinking that on a Sunday I should make a point of reading them something from the Bible so they wouldn't be ignorant, but I don't think that resolution ever lasted longer than a week.

But the long and the short of it (mostly the long, I see, sorry) is that he seems well on the road to recovery.

Cheers, Caro.

Caro, I've just seen this message. I had the same thing 3 weeks ago, and it was just like your son described except for the circumstances. I leaned forward slightly to pick up my specs from the bathroom windowsill, straightened up, and wallop! I clung desperately to the windowsill in case I passed out, and had to call OH to help me sit down on the lid of the loo, where I spent the rest of the morning (with my eyes shut). OH called the paramedics because he thought I was having a stroke. So there I was in the (small) bathroom with 2 paramedics, OH and my next door neighbour (OH called her in to help). At least I got the paramedics to help me get into bed.

Take it from me, Labyrinthitis is HORRIBLE. I wouldn't have cared if the minotaur had eaten me!

Thank you for resizing Grandma and Grandad. The first one made them look fat, and they were too poor for that.

Thanks for that, raundsgirl. I have never heard of this before and now two people with it! (Though of course you only hear about half these medical conditions when you know someone with it and frequently hear of others afterwards.)

By the time we heard about this he was on his way to recovery, but yesterday I was talking to my son and he said his wife had been putting together a book of photos of their baby and had left it to the deadline to get cheap rates, as you do. He said, "So there she was, making the book at the same time as she was worrying that her husband was dying." So it must have been very frightening to them.

Thanks, Caro.

OH thought I was too, Caro, and I felt so ill I just didn't care. I was very sick too, though happily OH brought a receptacle. I would rather go through childbirth any day.

After the paramedics got me to bed, I lay there shivering, fully dressed, with the duvet over me, till OH got me a hot water bottle. Then I fell asleep and felt significantly better when I awoke. Doctor sent me some Stemetil.

Quote :

I would rather go through childbirth any day.

I have never understood why childbirth is considered the worst pain ever. These days, at least, it's painful but limiting and you know it's not going to last too long. I could contemplate childbirth more easily than most illnesses or pains. But perhaps I've just forgotten. I remember my husband wondering why childbirth was difficult for me, but I don't think the doctors thought it was particularly so. When my third child was about to be born my doctor said, "You'll be okay. I'll come and see you later." or words to that effect, which offended slightly on behalf on my third-born, who to me was as important as any other baby.

Are you feeling completely better now, or are still a bit jaded? I think my son is fairly well, but still not totally on top of things.

Cheers, Caro.

It was about 2 weeks, Caro, before I stopped feeling 'out of it'. The 'up' side is that OH has started doing some of the cooking! Well I'm not turning him out of the kitchen, I can tell you!

[quote="Caro"]

Quote :

I have never understood why childbirth is considered the worst pain ever.
Caro.

I've never understood why childbirth is so difficult. It's as if the female of the species hasn't yet evolved to do what must be the most fundamental action that she has to undertake.
This is not intended as a a sexist issue; more a problem of design, I would say...