StreetCowboy

Our ignorance astounds our friends as much as it surprises ourselves. Einstein was unclear on whether ignorance or stupidity required a longer string or heavier weight to plumb, and I am grateful that he is not here to see me answer his uncertainty.

Just to be absolutely clear: - there has been a lot of chat elsewhere about pos(t)er of the year 2023 - it has been suggested that people could volunteer to be in the running. No: Running is for buses.. That is the end of it. There will be no running, except for buses. As noted elsewhere, if it was a serious competition it would be in the cycling forum. If it's not a serious competition, then whatever. @Bobfish is always helpful. He doesn't need to run. He can walk to the finishing line. Or cycle. In this world, anything is possible.

Is it a handbook?

I've got cheeks that know the Japanese for 'Keep your hands to yourself'

We all have to do our best. I was grateful for the kanji signs. So back in the day, the Japanese - as their neighbours - were continuously at war with the Chinese, and came off second-best repeatedly. They interrogated prisoners "Right - are you guys telepathic?" "Eh?" "Do I need to say that out loud? ARE YOU GUYS TELEPATHIC?" "No. Don't be daft:" "So how come you all seem to know the same things at the same time?" "Orders! We get orders on bits of paper (that's a whole other technology, but we'll skip that for a moment) "How do you mean "Orders"?" "Aye, well see this bit of paper here - "Hill" "Rice field" "Man" "Coffee" " "Now that is MAGIC! We're going to have some of that! So how many are there?" "5,000" "Ye're fckin' joking, right? We're not going to have 5,000 of these ridiculous symbols, Nebdy's goin'tae remmber allthaim. What we're goin' to do is write down the SOUND of the word. Except if the word looks nice, or if its a gaijin word, when we'll have a different alphabet..." They made a rod for their own backs, and then they made another one.

"Thank God it's them instead of you" I'd like to make foreign countries better for foreigners, rather than hammering the people who seek a better life. Alternatively, we can make our country as bad as where they've come from.

Speak for yourself Were not all parochial

Aye, that's all very nice, but it's not the way home

Thank you - on behalf of everyone. Some of us did not have to post this; and the others get the benefit. I went to school with David Watts, and I used to think that I wished I could be all that he had been, but that was him, and I don't do that, and if I wanted to be someone else I would put in more effort and act differently, but I'd rather be me, and my mate didn't seem bothered that he was David Watts and I wasn't. Right enough that was back in the day...

Thanks for the recommendation. I have not had time to follow up on my helter skelter ride to my final destination - I hope I will have more time when I get there.

What do you think we should do to make the UK a less attractive destination? I am sure that our government are well down that road, given how may of our compatriots are on this forum. What do you think we should do to encourage people to stay in their own country? It is easy to be harsh on the poor and transient. If that makes you feel good, then at least there is some benefit.

When life gives you lemonade, be a lemming

Everybody suffers. Those that read understand. The best lessons are painful ones, though I'm happy to have learnt so little.

If the aborigines had done more to make England a better place to live they would not find themselves in the situation that they find themselves now. Sadly, despite our alleged sophistication, culture and technology, we cannot make Syria a country fit for Syrians. Some lessons need a lot of learning.

Some people always have to have the last word Ye're dedoanthairCowboy Thanks, Imam

I don't want to be argumentative, so we'll leave it there, other than to say Reading is one of the greatest joys, liberties and opportunities that we have, and we'll leave it there and say no more about it, barring possibly some ignorant and foolish claimed rebuttals.

I never saw the budgie. It could've been a fit-up by the Scouse mafia in their war on Country & Western. I'd never seen it as part of The Global Struggle before.

That's the great thing about reading; We all have a choice. You do not need to suffer. Your suffering is your choice.

Kenny Rogers killed the Project Director's budgerigar, back in the day, back in Hong Kong. We had a project apartment, and Kenny Rogers was the only one staying there over Christmas, so the PD gave him the budgie to look after, and came back to find it dead. Worse things happen at sea. Worse things happened in that flat. The other guys had gone out for the day, mentioning that for some reason they had lost power in the upstairs - just to be clear, the flat was three flats joined together, two and one upstairs. I mentioned this to the security guard, and (my recollection is hazy wit the mists of time) for some reason we looked in the upper flat mailbox, and had it not been rammed absolutely full of utility bills, we'd have struggled to get them out with a coat hanger. Anyway, I took the most recent Demand For Money With Menaces to China Light and Power, and settled their griveances, and the boys had power (and light) when they came back that evening. I spoke, some years later, in another country, to a chap who mentioned that he had stayed in a mutual friend's former apartment, but had moved out when the Municipal Planning Department came round asking for some ad hoc balconies to be removed (again - treat this as subject to the vagaries of recollection of pub conversations....) Anyway, the moral of this story is "Regardless of whether the Postman Knocks, check your mailbox". As St Peter said to the cheating domino player "Don't you ever knock?"

If the boys want to fight you'd better let 'em. We could be heroes Local heroes Kids nowadays don't know they're born Some lessons need a lot of revision

The postman's conundrum

Transient joys.

I do not go around shirtless, but if I had a tyre less, I might.

So long as he's got his big feet on, and a red nose, a clown can wear whatever other attire he chooses, as far as I am concerned