Coombe Barton Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 (edited) And a se'nnight meaning a week Isn't it French where a quarter to the hour is 'moins le quart" = less the quarter. I.e same type of construct. Edited January 21, 2015 by Coombe Barton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Happy Hippo Posted January 21, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 21, 2015 I read earlier that good old Ashers is willing to send flowers at the drop of a hat! I'm cutting my toe nails this evening (Big thing for a hippo) My address is........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium southern42 Posted January 21, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 21, 2015 Night in front of the telly, did I say? Uh uh. I've been catching up on ERs instead but I think most has been said and better than anything I can add but to say I'm thinking of you, Trev and GF. And Dad Squid, that's a mighty nice photo of Baby Squid. I'd get that in a frame quick - before all those school (then uni....etc) photos come and go. Thankfully, the kids' childhood seemed quite long - at the time - but no idea where the time has gone since. Take care all. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
railsquid Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 On a side note, I keep noticing various idiosyncrasies in language use in East Germany. For example, it's common to say "quarter of nine" ("viertel-neun") or "three quarters of nine" ("dreiviertel-neun") if you want to say it is 8.15 or 8.45 respectively, so that 8.30 would be understood as "half of nine", too. That's something which still confuses me as I'm used to the "quarter past eight" format! The "quarter" thing confuses Wessis too. What do they call small bread rolls in your neck of the woods? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted January 21, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 21, 2015 Just catching up on a couple of days of ER. So much to take in. Thoughts to Trev and hope the future has brighter times. Congrats to the arrival of minisquid - it doesn't seem like 17 years and 357 days since ours came along. That time has passed so quickly and we're going to have a big party next week. In the meantime, it's been cold/snowy/icy round here, resulting in a couple of cancelled driving tests last week. It can be hard to take - for the pupil, working up towards a test and then finding out at a few hours notice that it's been cancelled and the next available date is 5 weeks away. As I'm not really a morning person (unless I'm cycling/golfing/playing trains) my ER usually consists of alarm/get dressed/go out to work and get breakfast on the go. Anyway, life still goes on and in less than 70 mins, I'll officially be another year older - but maybe not wiser. Tomorrow's ER may be about 30 mins earlier, just so I can celebrate with a bacon butty! Cheers, Mick 19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Late good evening all, Happy birthday Mick, and many of them! Geoff, and anyone else on the mend - hope you have a speedy recovery. Trev, I'm sure you are heartened by the support on here and it might not be a bad idea to let GF know how many of your digital friends are rooting for her, I know from experience just how moved Joanna was by all the posts I received! Stewart, and any other ex-pat Scots on here - hope you've remembered to order in the authentic 'Chieftan o' the Puddin' Race' for Sunday. On that subject, must remember not to drink all the whisky before the 25th as we'll need some for the gravy! Possibly bored you with this before, but my grannie and mum used to swear by the quality of produce from 'Millers the Butchers' in 'Friar's Vennel', Dumfries when I was very young! Imagine my surprise when I moved to live near Dunbar in the early seventies, to discover that Millers had moved there also. Old Mrs Miller used to run the shop on rigid old fashioned principles, and due to Scottish law, she had to have separate rooms for raw and prepared meat products. She rather cleverly had a sort of 'Check-point Charlie' glass structure built between both entrances and the butchers were charged with pricing the portions, but no money changed hands until the customers reached her position with an opening on either side! Amazingly, when I moved to Cornwall to live, I could still get their wonderful haggis by Red Star from Dunbar to Redruth next day. Sadly the business folded when she shrugged off the mortal coil at an advanced but undisclosed age! My local organic butcher now sources mine direct from Scotland now but I suspect it comes by refrigerated truck - probably not a bad thing in light of the daily woes of our resident commuters! Just noticed that we are over the hump, and minutes away from the anniversary of Mick's entry into the world, so it's goodnight and, Kind regards, Jock. G'night Pete! (Just don't care eh?) 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenceb Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 (edited) Birthday greetings for tomorrow Mick Trev anything Ican say has alredy been put and better, all I can add keep hopefull and remember we are hear as a souning board. Night all Edited January 22, 2015 by laurenceb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy2 Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Birthday Greetings, Mick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium NGT6 1315 Posted January 22, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 22, 2015 Morning all. Happy birthday, Mick! Trying to speak as little as possible to preserve what's left of my voice till my lesson which starts at 11.35. Deep joy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
railsquid Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Right now he's on a drip of some sort as a "precaution" because the wise people with the white coats have discovered some apparently slightly non-normal values in whatever it is they measure. Which sounds worrying, but with the progress of the years I find myself worrying a lot less than I used to, moreover I held him in my arms for an hour and he looks absolutely fine and my gut feeling says he's completely OK (like I said, it's a precaution). Good news, today's test came back negative. Apparently it was a "C-reactive protein" test (I got Mrs. Squid to find out exactly what it was, the more you know the better), either yesterday's result was erroneous (which evidently can happen) or he's fought off whatever was causing it. Otherwise a grey chill day, I shall depart shortly for the hospital by bus (note to self: remember portable listening device as the announcements on the bus are starting to drive me crazy). 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelintrev Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Good Morning all, and Happy Birthday Mick. Well GF's back in California -- I've just spoken to her...now packing for the drive home. But we are both going to stay positive. Anyway tomorrows POETS day, so let's all make the best of the penultimate Thursday of the month. Trev. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold grandadbob Posted January 22, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 22, 2015 Good morning all, Slight frost on car and 1oC. It will probably be cloudy but dry to start with then there may be some sunshine later. Many happy returns Mick. Nothing much happening here today except collecting Chris from work and shopping. I say nothing much but the latter is very important because somebody has been drinking the red wine and there's hardly any left! Have a good one, Bob. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emt_911 Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Morning all. A dry and chilly 1 degree today and again no problems on Southern. I have to admit that I'm starting not to believe them when I see and hear of delays around the network. Happy birthday Mick. Roll on tomorrow, POETS day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted January 22, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 22, 2015 Morning. Just warm enough not to be frosty. Not sure what I am doing today. One of parcels from Amazon yesterday was a Bluetooth loudspeaker so that I could listen to music from my iPod without firing up the big stereo. I am surprised how much sound a little box can produce. Tony 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Morning All, Happy Birthday to Mick! Around here, the weather is a little warmer this morning, and there is no snow. The temperature is currently hovering at around 2°C, but at least it is the right side of freezing. I see that we have some scheduled downtime on RMweb this morning. On the subject of German, I wouldn't feel too bad Neil. It is an incredibly difficult language to learn. I have lived in Germany for 15 years now, and despite speaking the language passably, I have yet to really master it. What I find the most difficult are the Articles (Der, Die and Das) - if you lean German as a mother tongue (as my Son has), you learn them from day one and you know instinctively that a Table is masculine, a Child is neutral and so on. Of course, you can get away with more when speaking, but when writing get the Article wrong, and you end up getting the rest of the grammar of the sentence all wrong! English on the other hand, is less structured gramatically (we have more irregular verbs for example) but one hundred words make up one third of all the words we use (the basis of the Ladybird Keywords series - which many of those who are now middle aged will have used to learn to read). The modern way of teaching children to read (Phonics) works (in my opinion) much better in German than it does in English! Have a good day everyone... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Barry O Posted January 22, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 22, 2015 Morning all! Happy Birthday Mick! Have a great day! Trev, hope all goes well, its hard being away from a Loved one when they have medical problems. Its very foggy here and the snow was melting rapidly last night so hopefully it will clear today. No scheduled maintenance listed by her indoors so I should get some weathering done. Have a great Pre Poets day everyone. Baz 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Morning all, Belated congrats to Mr & Mrs Railsquid! And a warm welcome to the planet to the young Railsquid, too. Thoughts are with you Trev. Just shout when you need support - this is the place for it. Got to dash as there's a pile of forms that won't get filled in without me. Hope to get some teaching in, too, if there's time. Best. Andy 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted January 22, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 22, 2015 (edited) This morning the trains seem to be running OK and no pushing or shoving either.It appears that the LBG problems of the last few weeks and a lot of press publicity has paid off so far. I hope that au don't gave to eat my words later.Yesterday's problems around Guildord affected others At work for a change but I did have sympathy for one colleague as his journey from Haslemere took four hours. Apparently rats had nibbled through cables which is quite ironic as he has a rat problem in his place!!!Just two more days to go till the weekend. Can't wait. UPDATE crawled into LBG so alittle late Edited January 22, 2015 by roundhouse 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted January 22, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 22, 2015 Morning all, Happy Birthday Mick! a strange thing for me, Mick to say. Snow still laying about the place looking icy and cold. I am feeling very flat at the moment but it is payday tomorrow, MrsB has a significant birthday next week so a suitable present must be found and a meal arranged. I need to organise myself better and get fitter and thinner. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Colder again this morning and dark, so the dogs haven't been out yet and I am getting some worried looks from my four legged friends. I'm hoping Steph gets into work OK today. Living next to the sea, temperatures here tend to be higher than elsewhere in the county. Yesterday it was 4 deg C here but when she got to Donegal Town, the side roads and pavements were a sheet of ice. Fortunately, she only had the hospital car park to negotiate in these conditions. Jock, what is it about Dumfries and butchers/bakers. Not only are the champion meat pie makers in Thornhill, you can also buy some of the best bread known to man in the same wee town. We stock up every time we visit Lucy and fill up the freezer when we get home! I don't think the dogs will wait any longer so I had better be off. Mick, have a great birthday. The rest of you, do the best you can. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emt_911 Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 <Whinge mode on>Why can't any of the youngsters turn up for work on time<Whinge mode off> A decent journey this morning. Train a couple of minutes late but managed to get a seat for a change 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iL Dottore Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Morning All, And a Happy Birthday to MIck, as well, ....On the subject of German, I wouldn't feel too bad Neil. It is an incredibly difficult language to learn. I have lived in Germany for 15 years now, and despite speaking the language passably, I have yet to really master it. What I find the most difficult are the Articles (Der, Die and Das) - if you lean German as a mother tongue (as my Son has), you learn them from day one and you know instinctively that a Table is masculine, a Child is neutral and so on. Of course, you can get away with more when speaking, but when writing get the Article wrong, and you end up getting the rest of the grammar of the sentence all wrong!..... Hah! You have it easy! Try Swiss German, not that there is A Swiss German: Basel-German, Bern-German, Zurich-German, Apenzeller-German, yes, but a single Swiss German? Vergiss es. And to make things even more complicated, within a Kanton there are diverse dialects - so that, for example, Liestal has a slightly different dialect to Aesch (both in Baselland). And just when you think that's fun there is the added bonus that Basel-German has a huge amount of words taken from French (and, nowadays, English). e.g. The Germans say Fahrrad, we say Velo. I've been in CH for over 20 years and can manage to speak an understandable high German and can just about understand Basel-German, though not speak it (although I can swear fluently in Swiss German - courtesy of Mrs iD being at the wheel of the VW Golf she had when we first met). Without boasting, I share much in common with George, Lord Byron. Inasmuch as 1) I am mad, bad and dangerous to know; and 2) like him I believe that "life is too short to learn German". Tschuss iD 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lurker Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Morning all, blue skies over Borough Market Junction, but a bit of grey to the north. Feels colder this morning though no frost. Our Dyson blade does a good job of providing temporary extra warmth in our ice box lounge. Spent most of the morning worrying about whether my left eye has got better or worse or is the same. I'm slightly obsessing about it so if you see me looking through one eye at you I'm not winking.....! Verdict - it's probably slightly worse but it's difficult to tell. Interesting discussion about telling the time in German. I wonder if what is used in the East is a slightly older way of doing so. I'm sure I was taught that way in the one year of German I did at school and I don't think Mr Johnson was preparing us for the glorious revolution, but it was more than 30 years ago. He thought I was quite good at German and wanted me to carry it on for O level; but exam results suggested that geography was a much better bet. So if I meet an English-speaking German now, I am perfectly able to inform about Continental Drift, terminal moraines, and the development of Central Business Districts. Journey last might was OK even though my train seemed to be the only one that was delayed. This morning likewise, a seat from Lewisham, when a whole group of what appear to be regulars who travel together got off. I shall look for them and stand near them again! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 (edited) Morning all, An early and brief post before the promised 'outage' on RMweb, hope the fix is more successful than those we endured at the garage - Citroën systems used to be out for hours longer than stated, completely siezing us up! We are apparently going to be busy today, I believe we've got to help Tesco with their cash-flow problem! Trev, keep the bulletins coming! MickB, try not to be too hard on yourself, and do let us know which day in order that we can send the usual wishes, Robert/Flávio, the only German I know is that which I've picked up from being a Wagner fan, so I sympathise. Flávio, bet you wish you could write poetry as well as he did! (or perhaps that's another of your abundant talents?) School in Scotland concentrated on French (entente cordiale) and Latin in my day! Kind regards, Jock. Edited January 22, 2015 by Jock67B 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 45156 Posted January 22, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 22, 2015 (edited) Morning All Popping out as soon as the school run is over, as the shopping list has got bigger and bigger as soon as 30747 knew I was using the car to go out this morning - but as a concession, she said that I needn't come and pick her up from work. Happy Birthday Mick. Geoff - like the reference to Buck Ruxton - one of Lancaster's more notorious characters - but I really felt that naming a pub after him was one step too far! I'll pop back later once the site's been maintained.... Regards to All Stewart Edit - Jock, I've never been keen on haggis - even those made by champion butchers. Now Scotch Pies from a good butcher or baker - that's another story. I'd have one with beans inside it any time, even as a Burns' night treat. Also, a good single malt (well, we've discussed that before). Edited January 22, 2015 by 45156 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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