mike carey

Oh, yes there are, and for me it was only time, not anything that really affected me in the grand scheme of things. I can live with that!! And thank you!

In LA, have car, see you all tomorrow! PS. I hate the LAX immigration queue. Over 90 minutes tonight. OK, I'm over it now!!

Hey, a guy's gotta milk this gig for all it's worth!

Eid Mubarak! And a glorious autumn day it is in Canberra. A far nicer day to walk to the bus stop than it was yesterday, 9 degrees at midday and cold rain. And I am about to do just that now, to go to the airport for my flights to Melbourne then on to Los Angeles. I can't wait to get to Palm Springs tomorrow. Well Thursday, and it is already Wednesday here, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Small earthquake in far away country ... nothing to see ... Seriously, I had heard something about that, but I'm never sure about which small island a place is on ... To quote another poster, 'grin' ...

So is Upper Manhattan in Queens now ... ? I remember using such a parking meter in Rotorua (on the North Island of Aotearoa) when I was there with two other forum members a few years ago.

And Sydney is in the band of totality but near its southern edge, a bit further north at say Newcastle would be closer its centre. The path of the eclipse will be from the NW, moving to the south-east of the country. I've seen (well experienced) one, 200km south of Canberra, in the mid-seventies. It was overcast, but you certainly knew it was happening, and the 'shadow' of totality was still obvious.

Sounds a bit fishy!

A wild-arse guess, but I suspect he is sure.

Moderators Note Gentlemen, we've all had our say about each other's opinions and motives for posting here. It's time to return to discussions of Mark himself.

Engaging and cheeky entry into the forum, and welcome aboard Travis. The forum can be engaging but at times annoying (well, 'some posters' rather than 'the forum'), and you can get as much from it as you're prepared to contribute. But I think you have already assessed the lie of the land here. I hope you get someone to take you up on your offer, alas I'll be unable to be one of them!

Please don't be shocked that someone is posting here on an actual Friday. Despite their use going back a long time (think FDR, JFK and LBJ), the Economist has published a light hearted lament at the increasing use of TLAs (and other sometimes indecipherable abbreviations and acronyms), from RGB, MBS and MTG to the endless list employed and understood (or not) in social media. For those who have access to the site, it's here. The author notes wryly (and I suspect falsely) TBH IDK WTF a PSA is.

And in 3... 2... 1... 'But it's still Queens'. Or as it should now be called, 'Kings'. I'll show myself out ...

Maybe they think a tongue indicates they'll use it?

The word 'relationship' is very flexible, so I wouldn't read too much into it. A professional relationship is still a relationship if it involves periodic contact, whether it's your doctor, accountant or masseur. If you go to the same cafe every morning, your relationship with your barista is probably one of your closest (and they may know more about you than anyone else!).

'When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean–neither more nor less.’

And as such, he is no doubt aware that there is no forum requirement to @ someone when you talk about them. And no, it is not a 'common courtesy' to do so. Rather it is rude to demand that people do so.

Gosh, someone needs to tell our resident doomsayers!

Pfft, those are Easter buns, not eggs!

Thread moved.

I keep finding reasons to go to London again.

Maybe donuts but perhaps pizza later. But in the meantime ... I acknowledge that members are entitled to respond by suggesting ways of finding an escort who can speak with a Boston or east coast accent rather than one naturally blessed with one, or to comment on whether finding one in the California wild is a reasonable aspiration, but I think we're done those variations on the theme of the thread to death. So if anyone has a suggestion of a suitable Bostonian (or north-eastern) escort, please speak up. Absent that we always have @LocallySocally's solution to fall back on.

To clarify in case it isn't clear, Nordkapp is level with Helsinki in Longitude (it's actually slightly further east) but it's over 10 degrees of Latitude further north (11 to be precise). That's 660 nautical miles or over 1,200km.

I see what you did there!

For me, 'Hi there' is fine as an opening line to a longer message. Saying just 'Hi there' and expecting a response is what people might take issue with