Text 3912, 119 rader
Skriven 2008-03-16 17:26:44 av Glen Jamieson
     Kommentar till en text av Bob Gearhart
Ärende: BICYCLES  80316
=======================
 -=> Quoting Bob Gearhart to Glen Jamieson <=-

 GJ> True.  I suspect that some of my ancestors would have been treated
 GJ> that way if any Puritans had migrated to Australia, but most of my lot
 GJ> were involved in the honorable trade of distilling fine whisky in
 BG> Mine were all teetotalers who ruined every good reunion possibility
 BG> my uncles could start, by complaining about a few bottles of hooch
 BG> being sneaked into the punch bowl.    When it worked though, those old
 BG> ladies were funny as all get out.

At our last clan re-union the Tomatin distillery back in the town where
the McRaes had migrated from, sent enough small sample bottles of their
excellent whisky for everyone to have at least one.  (The organising
committee got a case of the big bottles.)  A merry time was had by all.

 BG> I need your guides.  Winter had me stop production of a gazebo in the
 BG> back yard.  Replacement for my shade tree of course.  I keep hearing
 BG> "when are you going to finish putting the roof on that thing."

Reply, "When you help me, of course!"

OTOH, Summer has stopped me from clearing out the termite-ridden shed.
Soon it will be Winter, and, hopefully, some rain to stop me.
 
 GJ> I run away from home regularly.  Once gone, they can't stop me doing
 GJ> things, so unless one or other of them happens to be around, I am
 GJ> free. Usually, however, I find I am staying or travelling with them, so
 GJ> can't really get away with too much.  They have a surveillance network.
 BG> 
 BG> I get caretakers when the chief warden has to go away for extended
 BG> periods of time.

I have lots of them.  They take me to the airport or train, and arrange
for other warders to meet it at the other end, to make sure I don't
escape.  Sometimes I travel with so-called friends, but then when I try
to misbehave they reveal that they have been got at by the relatives,
and then they stop me from having fun.  "No, you can't go out tonight
to that seedy Mexican dive!", or "Don't you dare go bungy-jumping!", or
"Don't you think you have had enough to drink?".  I was only allowed to
go looping in a Tiger Moth after my NZ daughter had personally
interviewed the pilot and checked his credentials.

They have a quite comprehensive network around the world, but I have
managed to excape to places where they don't yet operate, such as when
I have managed to excape from the Darwin warders and dash off for a
week in Singapore, Hongkong or Brunei.  When I do volunteer overseas
work my guards assume that I will be looked after by the clients, but I
can usually escape into the jungle from time to time.
 
 GJ> I maintain good health by consuming a bottle of medicinal wine a day.
 BG> 
 BG> Now that is indeed a fine habit.  I showed the family the article in
 BG> the health magazine about how much a bit of alcohol will extend your
 BG> lifetime.   They still hide my rotgut whiskey.  I think they hate me
 BG> and don't want me to hang around forever.

There was a 10 year survey done of 60+ year old residents in the
Australian country town of Dubbo, NSW, which proved conclusively that
the longest lived people were those who had over 28 standard drinks a
week, and the ones who died youngest were the strict teetotalers.  As
one of my daughters pointed out, it may not have been just the alcohol,
but the general conviviality, drinking with friends, and the enjoyment
of life which was associated with the drinking that helped.
 
 BG> airplane if I can help it.  Trains and large ships are a far more
 BG> civilized way to travel.
 GJ> Trains are my first choice, particularly as pensioners get discount
 GJ> rates in most places.  Having gone by train in Australia as far as I
 GJ> can to the north, east and west, my next will be a 10 hour trip will
 GJ> be southeast to Melbourne, a city I haven't visited for 40 years.

 BG> Yes, sitting in a little cramped seat for long hours has to be the
 BG> most pitiful existence a human has to survive.  People were meant to

As someone once wrote on air travel, "There are only two emotions
associated with travel by aeroplane - boredom and extreme terror."

 BG> sit in fine leather swivel chairs with their arms on the table,
 BG> watching the world roll by out the large viewing windows, while
 BG> sipping good drink and nibbling fine food.   Getting up to stroll the
 BG> length of a few cars every so often just for a bit of exercise.

Exactly!  And being rocked to sleep in your bunk, to be woken in the
morning by a coffee brought to your cabin as you look out to see how
the landscape has changed in the night.
 
 GJ> Like a flock of seagulls!  I've got the picture.  A family Christmas
 GJ> in Manila is like that, except that there, sisters-in-law cook.
 BG> I never thought of them like that, but you are so right.  Seagulls
 BG> hovering around the dumpster as the left overs are cleared from the
 BG> table..

Then squawking triumphantly as they fly off with their booty!
 
 BG> Mine isn't open topped.   Large unit I plug into the natural gas
 BG> line. In the fall and when cooking for long times at a set
 BG> temperature, keeping it in the garage with the doors closed, keeps the
 BG> wind from blowing the heat out of it.  Easier to regulate.

A good idea.  Mine has a wind shield, but that is never 100% effective.

 GJ> That account is a wonderful way of displaying the skill of the ancient
 GJ> patriach in covering up after stuffing up.  Now, of course, everyone
 GJ> will want to copy you and cook turkeys that way.

 BG> Well they could do worse.  I used to do the turkeys on the grill when
 BG> we had an electric stove, but the new gas one just is so easy, and
 BG> I'm so lazy.  I never did the smoked turkey when it was full of
 BG> stuffing before.  Smoked a few turkeys and a lot of other stuff on it,
 BG> some of it intentional even, but nothing that required really long
 BG> cooking times..

Youngest son has brought a new girlfriend in as assistant minder, and
she is doing her best to get under my guard by cooking a roast chicken
dinner for me - and washing up afterwards.  She seems to be succeeding.
___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR]

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 * Origin: Braintap BBS Adelaide Australia (3:800/449)