Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	I agree, I could listen to you talk all day, Alan. Or read your words all day. Either way, you're a great spark of wisdom. I especially liked this: Yeah well it's easy to get it all in proportion when I have been through it all personally a few times including the moving UK/US etc... and when it isn't me this time... It's a cruel fact that when we are down and need people, that's when they hide until we are happy again - and the converse is true. 'Laugh and the world laugh with you - weep and you weep alone' is an eternal truism. If all else fails I highly recommend self deception which I have elevated to an art form. It's only an extension to what we all try and do, and that is shut out bad memories. I totally rewrite my life's history in my mind whenever it gets too painful and convince myself I was justified. and if I lose money on the stock market, I add up all my assets and work out what % I have lost - that makes it seem smaller and I can smile again. After all I am gong to die, likely in pain in the next 20 years, and I shut that out because I have to. It's self deception and it works just fine ! (So does GIN) Altogether now - always look on the bright side of life ! http://www.thebards....Side_Life.shtml	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-06-02 15:47:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Stranraer, Saskatchewan? BOY, was she lost! This message gets my seal of approval, saywhat! I had to move out of my marital home during my first divorce because had to be sold as part of the proceedings etc etc etc #######. I rented a duplex and took my sweet time finding a new house to buy. Also made a rule of no dating that first year - broke it nearing the end, but it worked for me! I needed to have no extra emotional ####### thrust on me during that time until I got my head straightened out again. And I ended up better than before I was married! Yes, present a moving target to life's slings and arrows. Could be just me, but every time I come a cropper in lfe, I end up better than before. The in-between time is yukky awful though. Millenium eve 1999 I was set to start a new life in Tenerife with an 'old' girlfriend. I had given up my safe government job, moved my money to Caja Canarias bank, bought two one way air tickets and put my house up for sale. She was coming round at 7pm to see the new millenium in with me and then we were flying 4 days later. I called her at 8 and she said it was all off and she was back with her old boyfriend. SHIPWRECKED AGAIN ! But now she is 300 lbs and chain smokes and drinks from a litre bottle of cinzano all night every night. She married her ex boyfriend 2 months later and then got divorced straight away. He was throwing petrol bombs through her bedroom window and hanging himself in the hallway ! What seemed like then end of the world for me was my salvation. It ain't over til it's over and the darkest hour is just before dawn. Edited by saywhat, 02 June 2010 - 11:06 AM.	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-06-02 11:06:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Alan, I'm thinking seriously about moving back to Blighty. Tell me why I shouldn't. If done in iambic pentameter, you win a star prize. I wondered why I didn't know that then I googled it and realised its arty and that's not my strong side - though I do like Bill Shakespeare. More of a 'how to maintain your lawn mower' man. Now to the question before us... First rule of relationship break ups is that it's a very bad time to make decision coz one's mind is totally scrambled. I have decided that if my OH goes off with Jose the body building gardener (quote: man with 2 brains), I would move to Safety Harbor, Florida where I was before and where it takes a 400 yards walk to watch the dolphins, and rent a nice condo. I would let all the legalities of the deeayeveeohaaghhhsee-eee go through and visit the UK a couple of times and if, after 6 months, I was feeling like going back, then I would do a 2 week trip, find a house and buy it, and then return to Florida while it was all going through. Then I would ship my stuff direct to my new owned house in England. No rush and plenty of time to acclimatise Thing is this - as they say in the Beautiful South song 'Rotterdam' - anywhere is Rotterdam alone. Landing back in England alone will be just as lonely and nasty and unsatisfactory as some extremist religious nut ridden hole in Montana. I did 18 years on my own between marriages and when you are 40 and a Finance Director with a nice house and a Mercedes and you live near two big cities, life as a single man can be tolerable but not much better than tolerable coz the future is not clear and the present is unsettled. Gin got me through and I owe it a debt of gratitude coz I never got hooked. So first thing is to realise your precarious emotional state and don't do ANYTHING irreversible. You are pregnant with your new life and it's going to take a while for it pop out so you can take a look and see if it's ugly. So do what your heart tells you but make sure you don't burn your boats. Rent don't buy. Keep don't sell. When you get tennis elbow it can be 2 years for it to heal - through that time you have to bear the pain and know that it will get better one day. No quick fixes but the only way through is to know that it does get better. My first divorce wrecked me and I was thrown out at age 36 with 2 kids in favour of an 18 year old boy who lived with his mum and dad and had a pedal cycle with no lights. Now I look back and see it was the finest thing that ever happened to me as she is as thick as pig muck and I was living a dead life. I was with her 14 years and I can't remember any of it ! Your perceptions of relationships and the UK and the US will change a LOT over the next 10 years - so the only danger is running from one end of the ship to the other and losing time and money in between. So defensive mode now. Be super selfish for once and think ONLY of yourself and what you truly feel while realising that these feelings will change - so you need to have plan B available at all times. I had a woman working for me that wanted to run to Fort William in Scotland even though she was a scouser. She had never been there. She was newly divorced and wanted to run. She got the Fort William paper delivered and made all sorts of plans. It's the wettest gloomiest place in the whole if Europe. She phoned me from Stranraer when she got lost while trying to get there. She never did get there. It's natural to want to run but 99.954321% of people who run, run somewhere else or back to the starting point. Nope it's a time for visiting places and people and and lots of quiet reflection. We narcissists are good at reflections. Oh and don't forget the GIN but if ya get hooked baby - it's nobody else's fault - so it's ok for the occassional bad day. Edited by saywhat, 02 June 2010 - 10:43 AM.	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-06-02 10:42:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	That is so, so wrong. We narcissists don't do euphemisms well - we prefer mephormisms I have conquered jet lag ! Takes will power to stay up immediately right through to local bed time but it ensures total unconsciousness. Last time I gave in to pm drowsiness. It lasted 3 weeks doing 1pm to 4.30pm and 10pm - 3am Split shift somnambulism Just think what could have been had we not been so weak	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-06-01 13:56:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Is fish tank a euphemism? No but my cat flap is	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-06-01 13:17:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Oh wow, now I see your post in a whole different light. In Canadian English chubbie refers to an erection. We are metric in the UK and think north /south rather than laterally Last time I blushed was when i asked to buy a shirt and he said 'those are pyjamas sir' I once went in a pet shop and asked to buy a chub as they were really cheap (It's kind if fish) He gave me a big sausage of dog food which is what the sign in the window referred to. I couldn't put that in my fish tank so I fled..	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-06-01 13:06:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Something so disturbing as an errect ####### on your back is sure to permeate your subconcious and enter your dreams. I'm just saying, ** you for the nightmares in advance. apparently in American English 'chubbies' refers to large gay men - I didnt realise this when I used the English English expression which refers instead to the contents of one's bra... (otherwise the 'pointer sisters')	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-06-01 12:55:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	I'm taking notes, Alan. Though mine would be a giant Mint Aero bar. Actually, pretending he was flawless was what got me here in the first place. Mint aero it is - I brought the turkish back and I was told that I should have known better and she doesn't eat chocolate. 10 mins later the whole 1 lb had gone !! It was my fault and I was harried worse than the north under william the ####### duke of normandy Pretending they are perfect is good so long as you take a condor moment (one hour) every day when you can get in touch with reality. This is best done before signing anything. I used to have a sergeant who said men would be perfect if they had chubbies on their backs (he didn't say chubbies exactly). His view was warped by his wife continuing an affair with his priest. When I expressed doubt about this, he said I shouldn't knock it until I had tried it. It remains a word picture.	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-06-01 11:41:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Alan, I may have to demote you to Internet Boyfriend No 2 on the basis of that horrible joke. oops forgot to say I specialise in infantile, peurile word jokes .... but I have my own teeth nothing succeeds like a budgie !!!! Have at you ! You will never rope and brand one unless you learn to pretend that he is flawless - and that includes being able to take this sort of gob drivel without showing your canines and scratching the glass table top Being able to instantly conjure up a mind photo of a 1 pound block of Cadbury's Turkish delight is a necessary skill when the temptation to face shoot flickers across your consciousness	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-06-01 11:17:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Remember what we do with husbands: we take them outside and shoot them in the face. I made that very clear to Julian about 20 pages back. And yes, hair and teeth non-negotiable. Remember I have British Man Fetish, so that must be taken into account. I've already had two such husbands, and I'm working to complete the entire set. Like Pokemon -- gotta catch em all. I have had eight wives - only 3 of em were mine though	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-06-01 11:06:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Remember what we do with husbands: we take them outside and shoot them in the face. I made that very clear to Julian about 20 pages back. And yes, hair and teeth non-negotiable. Remember I have British Man Fetish, so that must be taken into account. I've already had two such husbands, and I'm working to complete the entire set. Like Pokemon -- gotta catch em all. How do you get 500 people on a train in Tokyo ? -- pokemon !	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-06-01 11:04:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Hubby takes all of the pillows if he goes to bed first. Git. http://www.visajourn...default/mad.gif[/img] The sneezeazy brand does highly allergenic pillows which should put an end to that little game. Or tell him Monica Lewinsky is telling the REAL STORY and what she really did to him and what he really did to her at 11pm on CNN - that way you get to bed first Course you need to change the names every day but it should work for a few months til he twigs	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-06-01 10:44:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Oh, and Alan, awesome post back there about you and Liz Hurley. You certainly deserve better than Steve Bing's cast-offs. You're still my No 1 internet boyfriend! Never ever think it's not appreciated ! Having my ego stroked (hughfermism) is very relaxing and can be done bi-directionally without me biting - unlike the cat	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-06-01 10:28:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Ah, but Miz Maven would definitely be grabbing hold of seeing someone with more class than Liz Hurley! Plus, someone who can handle their gin MUCH better. Sorry for butting in on a UK thread, but I find this one hilarious. It's a very well balanced UK thread coz its people who have a good experience of the UK and US and can see the pluses and minuses of both. Not sure if I could see the pluses of North Korea but there must be some - cheap dachshund sandwiches ? I suppose comparing relationships are a bit like comparing countries. The acceptable and the unacceptable and the learning to live with the unacceptable by stuffing the unacceptable full of golf balls and old tyres and cement until it stops becoming too much of an issue. Unfortunately all the old 'anti the other sex' adages have a basis in fact, as have so many aspects of life which are buried under a top kill of PC and cannot be expressed in polite company. My ex father in law used to refer to a wall being built down the middle of town with all the women put on one side and all the men on the other - he thought he knew who would be first to be scaling the wall. As far as hair tearing out company is concerned, I once spent a weekend travelling to and from the US with a business colleague and I was ready to shallow grave him after three days ! Had some annoying birds in my time but he was in a league of his own. I mean I am very punctual and organised but compulsive disorder is worse than having a companion with flesh eating Ebola virus and 200 decibel screaming tourettes syndrome. I tried swallowing my tongue to end it all, but it went on and on for 3 days. The BP references are coz I am down a bundle on BP shares right now - another 11% this morning	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-06-01 10:21:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	In the vein of this thread, a mixed bag: going to Six Flags with the nominal husband later. God knows what lies beneath. I know he's now running scared since we agreed I could see other men. Seeing is ok - 'grabbing hold of' isn't seeing - it's a legal nicety. Seeing isn't as much fun. I mean I see Liz Hurley. I don't 'grab hold of' her coz: A she looks/sound boring B she only goes with billionaires C I am not allowed (I think, though I haven't asked) D Sick of Steve Bing's cast offs http://www.laobserve.../hurleybing.jpg Edited by saywhat, 01 June 2010 - 09:20 AM.	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-06-01 09:19:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	I read this post to the husband and he agreed somewhat with you. He said it's horrible that people in the UK aren't allowed to discipline their kids without the kids being able to pick up the phone and report them. I know some people here that it would probably help to smack their misbehaving kids when they get out of line... *cough, cough*like my sister-in-law *cough* When I was at school, about 14, I got up one SATURDAY morning as we had a school rugby game. It was 3 feet deep in snow so I thought no way they can play and so I went back to bed Monday morning the games teacher asked me why I hadn't turned up and he said the match had been abandoned but I should have turned up anyway to be sent home. He used a tennis shoe to belt my backside several times very hard . But then came the English civil war and they got soft after that The collapse of English society is very noticeable though. I have been to nearly every country in Europe and it isn't noticeable. Germany /Holland etc is very need and tidy and ordered - as for Switzerland/Austria etc I think they must go out every night and polish the streets. Sydney Australia seemed pretty yobby. oh and it rains of course..... So basically countryside/country pubs beautiful - grub is totally outstanding The rest of it - yuk !	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-31 14:30:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Oh man, Alan, what absolutely rubbish behaviour from your children. Major condolences. How sharper than a serpent's tooth, eh? I have to say the yobbos are one of the reasons I left the UK, and one of the reasons I am in two minds about moving back. I'd rather think about May blossoms, and the golden light as dusk creeps in on an early July night, and Scafell Pike, and the Suffolk coast; about decent food in the shops, tubs of fresh custard, REAL strawberries, gooseberry fool; Sunday afternoons in the pub with the paper and a few pints and the sometimes silent, sometimes boisterous company of friends. Yeah - anyone who is thinking of moving back needs to make sure they can try it first without commitment or burning their boats. The first time I went to Germany I was amazed that in the subway tunnels leading to the underground trains, they had jewellers shops without bars ! Me and my pal used to roll back at 2am and the windows were totally unprotected. They wouldn't last 2 minutes in the UK. I seemed to be walking on a carpet of crushed special brew cans/pizzas/dog ends/mcdonalds cartons etc in the UK cities. Rats round the lakes where I used to play as a kid coz of the litter. Only Italy can beat the UK for filth now. My kids are part of it and it seems irreversible once it starts coz they dont even know they are doing it - its just normal for the kids to toss their cans over people's hedges. The schools must not even mention it to the kids - too busy teaching PC junk and save the planet while drowning under litter and ignorance - grumble - curmudge - grumble - grrrr country going to the dogs, etc etc	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-31 12:18:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Report from the front: Seattle security - When the plane landed we were told we would not be allowed off the plane until an immigration official had checked our passports and customs forms at the plane door ! Then when we claimed our bags, we were allowed out into the concourse in batches - so that nobody could sneak in the exit door.. Immigration officer was a real doll. Latina, late 40's with eyes like cadbury's chocolate - quiet, feminine neat .....couldn't understand her accent much - she was asking if I had USC children - I said no and she seemed baffled as to how I had a green card. I had a mental block about telling her I was married until I had to - must be habit from 18 years single in between. Slowly walked away after getting the stamp. Mixed feelings about the UK. Morrison's food is totally wonderful compared to anything in the US. The greenery and May blossom and animals were stunning and that damp fragrance of spring (or the hotel shampoo). The yobs were everywhere looking aggressive and dirty and drunk and drugged and ignorant. UK has the best yobs in the whole world bar non. We used them to build an Empire. Just give em a Lee Enfield and tell em to shoot anyone who doesn't speak English. Those gangs in SC LA would run back to Mexico if they met em. Three weeks ago I bunged my son and daughter a GBP grand each for school uniforms for kids and essentials and an emergency fund if the volcanic ash killed his business She spent it on a cheap carpet and a junk settee and threw the classy one I gave her - and he bought a necklace for my first wife and massive cocktails for really badger rough tattoed birds in the bars ! I dont like my ex and she doesnt like me ! That was my £2k !!! GONE. I could have bought 3 more rifles with that and GIN - lots of GIN - and lime Lesson learned - her bloody kids can go to school in rags and he can starve on the beach in Tenerife - done my bit and then some over the years but I might as well wee it up against a wall as them. grump grump grump and 10 times grump ok now 3 days of jet lag after which I will be back in the saddle	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-31 11:42:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	My publicist has asked me to clarify the manbag thing... Its only coz I am too mean to put my passport /greencard/UK credit cards/Euros etc in the hotel safe and I only use it on my UK trips. This is coz that safe money is best applied to the GIN fund. In most cases I risk it in the boot of the car when I make my social visits. I have left it hanging on the back of the bar chair from fort Lauderdale to tenerife to Berlin to Odessa to Auckland - so its safer in the car boot. I do cross my legs in the European fashion and not the figure 'A' preferred by American men. Its coz we Europeans are confident of our orienteering whereas American men are scared to death of being thought Nancy boys. It's a cowboy thing. The 1851 census shows one of my ancestors sharing a room with a 'cowboy' near Hereford. In further mitigation, I should mention that I do walk like John Wayne (did). An artist once stopped me in a pub and said I was the reincarnation of John Wayne and as an artist he could see the aura. Don't know if he was after capturing my aura or what. Last F&C today - checked in to leave this country where the minister in charge of cutting workers pay can claim £40,000 in rent money when he was sleeping with his gay lover who owned the house at that address - and still keep his job ! Soft touch the UK public - he would be assassinated as he was going up his back passage in the US	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-29 03:13:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Oh Alan, for you I would stop at three after you arrived. I shall just get there early. OMGx2 that's having it both ways - and I have never had it both ways despite my european hand bag (progessive insurance ad) Praps life is worth living after all But wait, can life really be so perfect ? Shouldn't we have to wait for paradise ? off to my pit now - I will dream on it	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-28 18:16:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Alan, did you go to Ilkley Moor baht 'at? Or with? Yes It was wonderful - got pics of baby ducks and a blackbirds and a wood pigeon wot goes coo coo at 4am Got pics of the valley and the white house tea room Glorious sunshine - Ilkley mo or is the finest place on the earth when its sunny and nice (not always) Back to hotel with 8 hours jet lag still and got pics of bunnies fighting Out with son and daughter tonight and now I am on the side and satisfied - back to the washington desert on sunday	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-28 18:09:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Excellent. I'm glad I am Internet Wifeling No.1. It has such a nice ring to it. I'm sure you will find my boozing credentials impeccable -- I'm just as comfortable with a pint of oyster stout as a snifter of brandy; there's very little I won't try at least once. I have been accused by more than one man as having a hollow leg as I drank them under the table. I'm a wee lass with a seemingly infinite capacity for alcohol of all persuasions. Now I want a pint of oyster stout. Yum, Adnams. OMG WHAT HAVE I DONE ! I should have qualified that by saying that I like a lady who enjoys all sorts of alky hole but gets all curly and whirly and bendy and then wilts after 3 so it doesn't cost me so much ! Hollow leg syndrome has driven many a man to ruin. Like pouring it down a drain for zero result ! Hollow leg syndrome is better than amish but it's best if they have opened a tab before | arrive I was once the subject of attempted rape by a 75 year old bird with a rolls royce and a chauffeur and open champagne tab - I am happy to report I kept my virtue but not my sobriety	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-28 18:03:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Oh man, that sucks Rob. If it weren't an airport, I would recommend shooting them all in the face. Don't worry -- I had two margaritas at Chevy's Fresh Mex last night. I drank the second one in your Honor. I just want you to know that I believe in an orderly universe so first come first served and all these other women will have to wait till I have checked your boozing credentials and found them genuine. If you really can swally like you say, they will all have to wait until you have done with me. Only bird I liked the look of in Yeadon (yorks)tonight had a huge tattoo and two kids by a really bad jailbird with one eye (not gordon brown) - so my judgment is temporarily impaired 48 hours til I am on the 'strip you naked' security machine at Amsterdam airport - the personnel actually get paid as well ! got some great shots of ducklings on ilkley tarn and some sheep and rabbits and a blackbird close up with huge lens - but I am not a camera geek really	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-28 17:35:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	GIN It once caused/allowed me to do 'Radar Love' by golden earring in a Karaoke den... The audience's jaws dropped as one - but I still don't know if that's good Gin with lime in America and lemon in the rest of the world - doesn't matter as I am omniverous - like god	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-28 03:06:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Surely there's some overlap? There is both overlap and drift and disillusionment - but revelation too. There is a big downside to being David Koresh (especially in the US where the police have tanks) so I try to maintain a fake humility at all times - even after gifting a wonderful word like 'thoil' to the new world. It is hard to be humble after being responsible for that. 'Nesh' is my equal favourite http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nesh	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-27 13:19:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Awesome. Had a huge fry-up last night with my prodigal sometime-husband -- eggs, bacon, sausages, mushrooms, real English baked beans -- followed by raspberries and Ambrosia custard from a tin, all while we watched Last of the Summer Wine from 1977. It was orgiastically English. Makes me feel sad for the rest who wouldn't get it even if they got the dvd..NORA BATTY's nylons... ! ok off to coach and horses in Harrogate now - Timmy Taylors plus plain crisps with Stevey F and his famous V neck pullover from antiquity which has defied the decades and which neither moths nor rust has corrupted (very much) He has remained married throughout, which goes to show that tolerance of OH foibles is possible given enough secretly administered valium	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-27 13:04:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	I am glad to know I am amongst the 37.2% who will be spared re-education. There certainly are fringe benefits to being an early adopter! I assume us chosen ones will receive a certificate. They will be exalted in the earth and have free mushy peas for life	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-27 12:48:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	All the ladies love Alan! Only 37.2% of those who know I am flip. The other 62.8% and all the ones who don't know I am pulling legs, hate me with a passion. I am starting a charity to provide counselling for them. This will include a 6 month work therapy course at the Foxcon sweat - oops I mean esteemed and highly productive Foxcon factory in China Thoil >>> http://www.sculpin.c...05/10/17/thoil/	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-27 12:36:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	'Cheers' according to the authorative dictionary means ' Wow you are incredible !I can't express my thanks and deep gratitude enough. I was so lucky to find someone as wonderful and talented and hard woring as you' English english, especially Yorkshire dialect is well known for having one word expressions to express either a sentence or even a full paragraph. For instance the Yorkshire word 'thoile' as in 'Can't thoile those shoes' means : I have plenty of money but I really don't think this product is worth that much money so I can't bring myself to pay that price. ps he owes me a pint for this.	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-27 12:15:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Here's another little gripe that my husband has.. not getting what he ordered in restaurants. It's getting better now, but in the beginning I had to order for him otherwise they misheard him. His accent was mainly developed in Glasgow, and sometimes it sounds like he's gargling rocks.. but whatever! Anyone else have experience with waitstaff not understanding you or your fiance/spouse? OH YES I am the furriner and I have had cheese sandwiches delivered when I asked for sirloin steak ! Actually my accent is pretty crisp and hard and clear as we are the descendents of north germans/danes. A lot of call centers in The Uk are yorkshire based because the accent is clear. Doesnt help in the US but I have learned to curl my tongue back when I say r's and drawl a bit and that seems to work most times. I can do a Glasgow accent as I spent a summer there - and I am a Rab nesbitt fan (there is a new series on dvd) - but nobody else can. This hotel is full of Glaswegians on tour buses and it certainly is VERY different. Scotland is like disney world coz scotland disney vote conservative. I had to teach my wife to say 'please' when she ordered a drink in the UK. Americans just say 'gimme a shot of red eye bartender'. No please is used. It really grates on a Brit as we are please and thankyou to excess like the germans.	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-27 00:53:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	double post... flippin hotel internet Edited by saywhat, 26 May 2010 - 03:15 AM.	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-26 03:14:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Good job you didn't think about rhubarb and custard Rain forecast pm - always good for homesickness The rabbits have myxamatosis which makes it less idyllic Got tooted at yesterday - They don't toot in Central Washington coz everyone has at least 2 guns. Would be a bloodbath. Everyone on telly and radio is obsessed by non-hetro stuff. It's all day every day. About time they got a job. Every other program is about it and every other presenter. If it's 10% then it's over represented. Lots of shops for sale/closed/boarded up/for let Shops assistants totally disinterested - put your own stuff in your bag and when they serve you they just look at you. Thats supposed to mean "can i help you". I just stared back into her eyes and then eventually I said - "shall we just stare at each other then ?" She looked baffled so I just sighed and said "I would like an O2 top up voucher". Service is superb in the US and the UK people are totally untrained and surly and disinterested and don't deserve customers to give them a livng. They probably earn more than their equivalents in the US Grump grump grump Hope the homesickness is cured now... Edited by saywhat, 26 May 2010 - 03:04 AM.	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-26 03:03:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Northern fish and chips - haddock - curry sauce - tea - incredible Had em twice since Sunday already Off to ilkley Moor today (the tarn) with cheap duck bread from Morrison's Luckily it's getting much cooler so reality and normality is setting in and it will be possible to return to the US on Sunday Joking apart, the food in Morrison's is a billion times better than anything in the US it really is. The variety of meat and custard and rhubarb and blue ribands and branston pickle and hp sauce and cottage pie mix and cheshire cheese and currant teacakes and pork pies etc etc and the carveries in the pubs etc....etc..etc.. Sorry US but when it comes to food, the UK beats you in every way - the range, the quality and everything about the the food in the US is pathetic. Indian/Pakistani and Afghan curries here too ! There is more to life than food - big brother, washing the car, paying the cable bill etc - so I can live without all this - but I am going to pig out with gay abandon while I am here and load the suitcase too I have bought an England football team baseball cap so I hope it isn't against the US constitution to wear it in the US (at the gun club !) Edited by saywhat, 25 May 2010 - 02:25 AM.	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-25 02:24:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Morning Alan. I saw pics today of the weather over there -- lots of pasty English skin on the beach, the park, etc. The English optimism at the faintest ray of sunshine always does a little something to touch my cold, black heart. Say hi to the wood pigeons for me -- I do miss them. forecast 90 in London today anyone who has been in London when its 90 knows its not good humidity will be awful I am used to 15% humidity in my desert in Washington but Clint skin is inevitable icelandic haddock and chips with curry for lunch today - eat you hearts out expats ! OK off out to see if i can still handle traffic jams and English checkout indifference	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-24 02:18:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Getting pissed off with me when his fecking Bluetooth cuts out when he's talking to me from the car. It's not my fault you're driving through the mountains! Yes but chaps cannot have their equipment potential questioned - even hough I am in a hotel room in Bramhope Leeds and its taken me an hour to get connected to the wifi! England is lovely when it's lovely and there is no arguing with that. I am on my own so if I do argue with it then it is white coat time. 75% degrees and warm and humid in England ! with pheasants digging burrows and rabbits calling at 5am and that wood pigeon coo coo - oh dear seattle jet lag...It will end in a thunderstorm in 2 days I hope or i wont go back - it's just wonderful.	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-24 01:19:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Alan, click on Settings (in the upper right hand corner box, under your username). A screen called "Your Options" will come up. Click on the "Forums" tab (between "Settings" and "Profile"). At the very bottom of the page there is a drop down box entitled "Topic Display Mode". Set this to Standard, save your changes and yer done. MEGA !!! thanks chuck that works great... the cookie must have kept that setting on my desktop comp but I have switched to lap for my flight through the volcanic ash tomorrow. Hey this is nice software. ok peculiarities of.... well if I pick one of the cats up, she immediately goes and gets the other - it's like she is left out of the 'love in' and politics ! I mean I am sort of a lefty but she does her nut if I defend BP (got BP shares) or if I buy Goldman sachs shares. It's ok to dislike big business but she is totally capitalist - eh ? Next minute she is all right wing about stuff...I'm confused But she does leave food out for the poor and I never saw that in England. On Boston common I saw 500 people standing in line for food. People with suits too. Never seen that. Who would have though that could happen in the US ? I think the US is only a rich country 'on average' and if you aren't in the top 15% then you would be richer anywhere in Europe. If you have one foot in the fire, and one foot in the fridge, then on average you are comfortable ! I am in the 15% so that's ok. 50% of Americans have ZERO net worth according to gordon gecko - yet those same 50% like the idea of being part of the richest country in the world and are proud of it. I suppose the Brits were the same when they had their empire and they were living on spuds and stale bread and saying they were the most powerful - strange johnnies, people. Perhaps the US needs to get poorer as a whole before the underclass become aware MY mother used to be a tea lady (part time) in an engineering works and she voted tory and was totally for the capitalists although her savings were in a pot jar on the mantelpiece. Jeez make the connection.	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-21 18:22:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	oops off topic - help just switched to laptop and the thread shows all the posts as a tree not one post after another With the old software you could hit 'thread tools' and change the view How do you show all posts with this new software please ?	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-21 17:48:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	You are hilarious, Alan! If you live long enough, you can trot out the old jokes and the whippersnapers haven't heard em... It's great Heard about the white horse ? White horse goes in a pub and orders a pint barman: don't get many white horses in here Whitehorse: not surpised at these prices barman: Actually we have a whisky named after you White horse : What ? Ken ?	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-21 15:26:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Get a room you two! yeah with a jakooosi and fish and chips with mushy peas and curry sauce and black pudding and .... actually, the last time i suggested covering someone with jelly and custard and licking it off - they told me not to trifle with their affections.	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-21 13:43:00
United Kingdom	Irritating BS your SO does	Have some Yorkshire pudding for me, Alan. And come back with some more tales of your misspent youth and middle age. Sigh. Alan is TOTALLY my not-so-secret VJ crush. can't believe you said that - most people find me extremely tedious and annoying and full of it ! There is hope for us all... Actually that is so on topic ! My conclusion is that we get use to other half's little peculiarities so we hardly notice em - that plus Stockholm syndrome allows us to carry on http://en.wikipedia....ckholm_syndrome Of course when the FBI ATF CIA and secret service raid our homes and arrest our spouses for what we have come to regard as normal, re-evaluation is needed.	Captain Oates	Male	England	2010-05-21 12:06:00