mike carey

I'll ask him next time we chat. Assuming I'm talking about who I am thinking of.

Aside from licences, there is an issue of legal status in the country. I don't know the specifics but I suspect that EU (and European economic area) nationals have the right to work in Switzerland (not just as escorts), but outsiders do not. That may be a consideration.

You don't just try, you carry it off in spades.

I've been listening to Life Matters on ABC radio here (http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/) and found out that as we age we need more protein in our diet. (Look at Should we be changing our diets as we age on 19 Sep 18). So eat that meat, @Epigonos, unless you want to eat an elaborate combination of pulses. Leaving aside the fact that eating heaps of beans and other pulses is great for gut health and fibre intake.

I made a little pizza thing [wholemeal scone (biscuit for you) dough] with tomatoes, cheese, capsicum (red pepper) and bacon for breakfast, and roast lamb (leftovers) with potatoes, and cauliflower and broccoli for dinner.

Funny thing is, in much of the rest of the English-speaking world people will call the adoption of US terms 'dumbing down'. I assume they are joking. Without being in a place where I can confirm, here signs saying 'Exit' are the standard as safety signs. Sometime the doors above which they appear will have signs saying 'In Case of Emergency' or some such. If you're at a railway station, the information signs will often say 'Way Out to [George Street]'. I recall posting an image here of a picture of one of those information labels on products with flags for the languages being used. There was a Union Flag labelled 'English' and an American flag labelled 'Simplified English'.

I couldn't possibly comment1

I think the first adaptation of the novel was the French film La Cage aux Folles (1978) and that The Birdcage (1996) was either a remake or an American film based on the same novel. It's understandable that the first version one sees would look like the 'original' and other versions irrespective of when they were made appear to be the 'remake' but it ain't necessarily so. Same deal with Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven.

Wow, I just looked at the Lounge, no 'Happy Birthday Steven' thread but before I started one I did a search for one and this came up. Talk about a narrow miss from posting a duplicate. Steven, have a happy birthday and another great year of challenging us, provoking us, annoying us, and making us roll out eyes at the interminable posts. The fact that your birthday showed up in the Forum Birthday List proves you are a real person and not a DNC or Hillary bot. I hope you are having a great day even if it is 45 degrees: there's always the pool.

My mistake.

I successfully exchanged text messages with Russ (so his phone number allows contact from abroad), and yes, I use WhatsApp too. Russ doesn't.

My fave is, '8. There are 10 types of people in this world. Those that know binary, and those that don’t.' Honourable mention to the two crows and the programmer and 12 loaves of bread.

It's gotta be Julie Covington!

South Africans, sometimes mischievously, have claimed this. After all, Afrikaners have been in Africa for as long as African-Americans have been in the Americas. (And what does Afrikaner mean?)

Ace, regardless of anything else, you are completely professional in here. And apart from that, you are a joy to talk with. More fool him. Regardless of age, I know you two would blow me away!

I wouldn't capitalise it, I think it's more analogous to black and white which I also wouldn't capitalise when used about race. In general I would use a capital for groups that are described by national or continental origin, but not groups that are described by a characteristic. In English, country names and the derived adjectives (France, French unless for windows) and organised religions are traditionally capitalised. (In French, the adjectives for countries are not.) To add an element of confusion, I wouldn't capitalise indigenous or aboriginal. Except for Aboriginal/Aborigine in Australia which has become a name, not just a description. I don't see gay/Gay as an issue to go to the barricades about, though!

I wonder if it could be that they don't like the word 'pro' (as in the oldest profession, not pro meaning professional). That he said 'but thanks for the compliment' implies to me that he was reacting to one particular aspect of your communication not the overall message.

I had the complementary initial thought to Greg's. My thought was that there were other sorts of opposites in people apart from their gender so it's only partly true. But that misses the point of the joke, which is to focus on that big difference.

Happy birthday!!

The happiest of happy birthdays!

What is this 'paying by check at the grocery store' of which so many of you speak. [*no I'm not talking about the spelling of check/cheque. Here grocery stores do not accept cheques at all.]

He's apparently not readily available at the moment. Whether that will change is not clear.

Seven to 10 days for me, but I sometimes lose track of the time. I spend time in two houses, so how many times I've slept in the two beds can be hard to keep track of.

Both are fascinating but in completely different ways. Rapa Nui for those statues, and as a study of the results of an unsustainable society, and the Galápagos Islands as a kaleidoscopic display of natural history and geology. It takes longer to do the Galápagos justice.

@VictorPowers is the only one about whom I'd alert others to on that score. (Teasing alert, not serious comment.)