(Boolbar) But we have no need to import banter - we already have a unique top-class product that, given some loose translation, would sell like hot cakes throughout Europe. Alas, we are governed by cretins and the newly-erected barriers and associated bureaucracy make it just too much hassle. What a silly country we are.

[Rosie] I hope you weren't affected by the explosion in your locale!

(Phil) Are you insinuating that my abode is in Forneaf?

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Thornton Heath

How dare you! I'm a good six miles SSE. In any case it's not really Forneaf, more like Norbury/Mitcham Common. That shows you how much the media 12-yr-olds know about south London.

[Rosie] I knew I'd heard you mention it. My sincerest apologies for such a slur. My daughter now lives in Surrey, but about as far from you as it's possible to be, while still in the county. She assures me it's not deliberate.

(Phil) So she's in Haslemere, is she? Well, there's posh. I don't think I could afford a garden shed there.
I'm looking for a way to represent a glottal stop without resorting to IPA. There is a distinct glottal stop after the "r" in Forneaf, to say nothing of the "th fronting".

Hi folks - what's happened to MCiOS???

[Blob] I was wondering that, although I have a feeling that it was mentioned that the domain name was meant to be changing at some point.

[Boolbar] That rings a very muffled bell for me, but my browser autofills the whole name as soon as I type "m", so if there was a new domain coming in, I never trained it to use it.

(B,B,R) This is ridiculous. What is the new domain name? It's like changing your address or phone number without telling anybody.

[B,R,R] Hmm, it doesn't seem that long ago that it changed from parslow.com to mcios.pathetech
Does anybody have Dan's email address?

If anyone feels like having a rant give me a bell on 020 8657 4109

MCiOS is back.

MCiOS is gone again.

Back again!

Gone again. I don't understand this. Someone is taking the piss.

[Rosie] I reversed-searched the number (seeing as I have nothing better to do this morning - or at least nothing I'd like better to do. Haha!

(pen) Couldn't you have just dialled the number? No need now - Dan has explained how a singularity in the Universal Force Field led to temporary withdrawal of the source of our addiction. Better have a fag - ah, that's better. Popeth yn iawn rŵan

[Rosie] Farnham. My daarn saarf geography is woeful. I still get Woking and Wokingham mixed up. Ditto for Maidenhead/Maidstone.

No-one's said anything for a couple of weeks. Are you all OK?
Last day of summery weather today, and aside from useing it to dry blankets and quilts today, I have no further use for it. Throughly fed up of being sweaty. Next Saturday is forecast to be 16C ALL DAY. Can't wait!

(pen) 16°C all day? That means total cloud cover, probably a strong breeze and quite possibly continuous rain.
(Phil) Farnham. That's very nearly Hampshire. I'm at Hamsey Green, a part of Warlingham.

[Rosie] Yup! Every excuse to either sit in the car at the mill listening to the rain on the roof while drinking tea and reading books while the windy miller does his thing, or sit at home reading books and drinking tea while the windy miller does his thing at the mill.

Nope, the continent refuses to play sensibly and it's 27°C for some reason.

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I think it might be time to turn the North Wales connection on for all games by default...

Ti 'di'n meddwl Mrs T?

How are things with y'all? Over here the school holidays got changed to two-week half terms and I am wondering if becoming a teacher is still on at my age. Currently jobseeking, so you never know.

I flogged my writing muse yesterday to great effect and today she's gone AWOL just when I need her to help me write a webpage and a bunch of campaign emails. And the windy miller is having a day-long snooze after overdoing it (not Covid - we've tested). On the plus side I've booked a trip to England in late Nov instead of at Xmas. At least I'll get a decent break in December instead of dashing all over the place.
I have no idea how people do teaching. My pa was a teacher for 35 years.

(pen) Mine too. He taught English, a language he couldn't speak until he was about 8.

[Rosie] That's impressive. Mine was an art teacher.

(pen) Have you inherited his talent? I can only draw steam engines.

[Rosie] I did Art O-level in one year and got an A (I did the still life and calligraphy papers) but that's as far as I took it. I thought I could 'always do art at home' so I studied science instead. I think I might have a bit of talent but it's completely untrained and I get frustrated that my lack of training doesn't let me produce the things I want to produce. But I've got all the kit should I ever feel the urge to practice...

[penelope]I have no talent for art whatsoever. I’ve tried, but lack the whatever-it-is to convert what I imagine to what I can draw. The Stevieling is *extremely* talented, but refuses to work at it. She draws manga-style for fun, but is capable of much more - we persuaded her to take a class in college and she claimed she enjoyed it but she dropped it next year. Very frustrating for me. She has fantastic ideas and a great imagination. I’ve tried to get her to draw comics or illustrated stories but to no great success. Aaaaargh.

[Stevie] Bad luck. I bet she's not going to fall for reverse psychology any more either

I can't art either, but I can script and I can program. Not well, but I can. So I use PoVRay and/or Blender, and that lets me program a computer to do what I want. Yes, this is easily as difficult as just drawing the stuff, and in many respects it's much more work, but it's something I can do, whereas I cannot draw