mike carey

Who says Catch 22 is only a work of fiction.

I don't want to go there either, or to Doha, but a good fare on Emirates or Qatar could change my mind. Now, back to the topic at hand.

I dearly wish that you had said that, and that I had been there to witness it. That said, my most recent such withdrawal (of US cash) at the HSBC branch in town, I said was for travel to the US. I didn't say, nor did they ask, why I needed green cash. Nor did I volunteer that some of it was hooker money for a well-known gentleman visiting from the US. But then, the staff were delightful, so I saw no cause to add that particular element of colour about my intentions!

As I sit in the chill of a Canberra morning, I envy you the relaxed drive across so much of the country! Thank you @Oliver for a great weekend, and also to all that assisted and participated in this wonderful tradition.

He may not remember you, but you could have taken the view that hiring him again would in itself be your thanks for his advice, and would give you the opportunity to tell him his earlier advice had enabled you to better understand reactions you'd received from partners on previous encounters.

Hotels in DC were quite expensive when I booked for my stay there last week, but as Unicorn mentioned Crystal City is an option, and both it and Old Town Alexandria (which has more plentiful dining options) cost significantly less at the time (still not exactly inexpensive but that might be just my perspective). As he also said, the Metro is your friend, and both those areas are accessible on the Blue Line, which also takes you to the National Mall area. (The Yellow Line is closed now but is scheduled to reopen before June.) The Silver Line from Dulles is a game changer! Six bux at peak times.

I agree with @Unicorn that AA MCE has quite adequate legroom. I'm not sure I'd say the white wine was anything more than adequate, but hey, it worked at the time! (Booking on AA's AU site - which I had to to use an AU CC - I had to buy it by sector not for the whole trip, so paid the $AUD50 for the three hour sector but not the MIA-MCO one.)

Right, who ever heard of a shark getting hammered anyway?

I must have been eating at the wrong places. No sign at all of any influencers at the diners I was at!

That is true, but it also reflects the general reaction out there that Carlson's firing generated far more interest than Lemon's. Carlson had an agenda that everyone had views on. Lemon did not.

Or to Midway!

Haha, let me count the number of times you've already said that in here! Yet still it sometimes comes as a surprise to people.

Oh, I know all that, but he so completely inhabited the persona of Dame Edna that it seems churlish not to wish that both he and his alter ego might rest in peace and to do so separately. I'm certain that they will continue to coexist and even to clash in the hereafter. And as you suggest, Humphries was no progressive and Dame Edna's snobbery would have come easily to him.

He was. Or She was! Being in Alexandria-on-Potomac, I hadn't heard this sad news, much less whether a state funeral (or memorial service) will be offered. Olivia and Judith were both accorded one.

He was at some forum weekend functions, lovely guy.

You can't discuss whether you agreed with moderation decisions or details of them but there's no problem with talking about whether the moderators can police the forum with the timeliness and in the detail that is needed to keep it on track. Short answer, we couldn't devote one FTE to it, so it wasn't feasible.

Oh, I agree completely. I didn't think that needed to be stated. Most people on both ends of such an exchange know the limits and can respect them. For those who don't or can't, there are laws that can limit their conduct. I was commenting specifically on what can be included as a 'workplace'.

Lol! Indeed, next month is Chuckles, the question was who was the one 86 years ago!

This. There is a difference but you are still in the delivery person's workplace and whatever local workplace sexual harassment laws apply will apply to you. In many jurisdictions they apply to customers as well as other workers and management. You as a customer may be liable, or harassment by a customer may leave the employer liable for failing to provide a safe workplace (they may even have a 'Don't react but tell us if a customer is a creep and we'll ban them' policy). It's not necessarily simply an issue of what is ethical, or of what is appropriate (or lawful) between two random members of the public.

Well, if you must treat Toronto as if you were still in California, things may not turn out well!

That would be the one!

Yes he did, but just for the pool party and he's left town now.

If I'm not mistaken, for the US military to retain jurisdiction there needs to be a status of forces agreement between the US and the other country, otherwise the host country is entitled to retain it. A SOFA could specify that the US retains jurisdiction for all alleged offences or cede primacy to the other country for some. I think I recall murder cases in Okinawa were although the US was entitled to retain jurisdiction, diplomatic considerations led to a trial in a Japanese court.

I would venture to suggest that in business where there is negotiation it is about the terms of the entire arrangement not just for the price element of it. Negotiation about price would generally be on the basis that what was to be delivered would be subject to change in order to arrive at the customer's preferred price. In this, and some other businesses, what's being offered is a defined product that neither party is much interested in changing. Here, time is the central element of what is on offer, so understandably most providers are reluctant to vary the price for their time (and what they do with the client in that time isn't part of their price structure). For longer engagements there are things within the time involved that are amenable to negotiation, such as private time for the provider, degree of exclusivity, the cost of incidental activities and meals, and the like, many of which should be agreed in advance so both parties are clear on expectations, irrespective of whether they will affect the price.