[Bob Williams]

I don’t mean to disparage or demean anyone who uses gaming ‘cheats’. After all, as I stated, I am not a Gamer myself, so I probably don’t really understand the philosophy. I have just revisited this Thread and spoke to my Gamer grandson, who has put granddad firmly in his place: “Nothing wrong with it granddad, as you would know if you were gaming regularly. Since it doesn’t do anything for you, why not leave those who enjoy gaming, to their own things?”

“So, then you are telling me that even you cheat occasionally?”     –     “I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that it may cheapen my reputation amongst certain circles.” (Pause)   “Actually I may or may not have applied cheats in gaming myself, but I have written a few for others.”

Smartass grandsons are a PITA.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Or should that be “Windows FFS“?

Keep on truckin’ Lee, you’re getting there.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Until we had our first cat, I thought dog farts were bad. Never noticed anything until “The Lodger” ate something that obviously did not like to be eaten. It even made our son feel sick, and his diet then was all Doner kebabs, chips, crisps, fryups and Stella. LOTS of Stella. Come to think of it, The Lodger lived on his lap most of the time. She must have recognised something in him.?

Yes guys, let the Old Post fade away. RIP Warning Notice.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

WoF, you should have gone to Brugge/Bruges* That’s more of a Flemish area and less French. The beers are great there, but not in the centre, which is expensive. Find Katelijnestraat further out and the “Bier Palais”- big choice of beers and really good restaurants around as well. Knokke is also good, but more expensive. That’s the cleanest, tidiest resort I have ever seen. Brugge has good memories for SWMBO and I, we took a canal boat tour and made some Flemish Belgian friends that we still contact today.

*Brugge is what the Flemish inhabitants call it, they speak Belgian Dutch. Bruges is what the French-speaking Walloons call it. They all seem to speak each other’s language anyway and most speak very good English. After too may beers in the Bier Palais, I spoke fluent gibberish.?

Yesterday and today, to son’s and daughter’s houses to survey various pressies and results. Last saw my son late today, finishing fitting the DAB+ radio we bought him to his Combi Van. This afternoon SWMBO and I were at Sutton-on-Sea beach, wrapped in several layers against the biting wind and looking like MR and Mrs Michelin. ? It was very cold, but we enjoyed it. Sun was shining and the air was very clear. There is a huge extension to the local wind farm, way out in the Wash and north into the North Sea proper. The horizon was so clear, it was the first time we could make it out.

Gdaughter loves her Wileyfox Swift 2 Plus. Last seen before goodbyes, playing herself at some new game between phone and Laptop.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Thanks for that Ed. I will blame you when my daughter gets on my case, after I pass these links to granddaughter! Although she really should thank me for giving gdd something to occupy her active brain over the holiday.

Probably get directed to our house and instructed to get granddad to help…

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

I second that, Happy Chrimbo & thanks Lee.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

This is the latest improved version of my simple, 2:1 soundbar:

http://tinyurl.com/y9ga3db9

It is good enough for my smaller living room, quite a good sound. I expect this later version will be even better, and it can be connected to more kit for real Surround Sound, if you scroll down the page. I don’t have room or need for that, the one box gives us great sound. I connect to the Humax and Sony TV with a Toslink optical cable. I could have gone Bluetooth and wireless, but had speech/sync issues, the Toslink cured that.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

EdP:

” Maybe the Trumper was involved, as the Republicans make no secret of their dislike of the EU !!! ”

That’s right Ed, and Obama tried unsuccessfully to dissuade the UK from voting Leave whilst in Office. my view is that I am against any foreign leaders trying to interfere in a UK public vote. They can express dislike of what they see happening as much as they like, but not interfere in our democratic processes.

Obama lost some of my respect with that one.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Or, as my German (former) family would say, and my German friends have wished me this and every Christmas:

Frohe Weihnachten und ein glückliches Neues Jahr!

All the best guys, I love this forum.

No it ain’t me. But it’s close.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

The Duke wrote:

I can whole heartedly recommend the keyboard app Gammarly . wish I could move the emoji button. Other than that I quite like it. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.grammarly.android.keyboard

Oh, stop worrying, it’s the real Steve.?

Merry Christmas to you, the Duchess and the kids mate!

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Thanks for all the good wishes and moral support guys! It means a lot to me.

I will have a good (quiet) Christmas, I have a loving family behind me who are always there for me. My son, in particular, is a rock: “Whatever you want dad, whenever you want it.” Not fair to pick him out I guess, they are all good to me, but he just says and does the quiet, simple stuff. He is like that with all the family, has taken a load from me over the last few years and I am just now realising that. The kind of son that every dad needs. Objects to the birthday “do’s” we all give him, but secretly pleased:

This year’s –

Poser!

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

dwynnehugh wrote:

Hi Bob, Your dilemma is easily solved, for Xmas give him the lamps, for his birthday give him the bulbs! SIMPLES!!

I already bought the bulbs and SWMBO knows that.

Bugga!

Actually, he is a very undemanding lad, always has been. The only time he was ‘demanding’ was when he was younger and wanted me to build him a faster PC. Now he builds his own and they get more monstrous with every incarnation. He has a Server array in the second bedroom and leaves the window open, radiator off. Creates virtual servers to test ideas for his company. Gone way past me, but that’s what we want and need: the next generation should know more than us.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Thanks Steve, that’ll do me mate.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

He gets on very well with The Trumper, we are told.

Has anyone seen them both together, I wonder ……

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Definite improvement.

OK: what has this imposter done with the real Steve?

It’s not natural, I tell you! No good will come of this! ???

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Hi Wof

I seem to remember getting this some years ago on a mate’s pooter. I have a vague memory of something in the BIOS, but it is only a vague recollection.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Before visiting hospital today I went into Louth to collect the various parts of my senior gson’s pressie. The place was mad: as always in Louth, narrow Georgian streets and one way system designed by a very inebriated Town Planner, means that one single traffic-choked exit, eventually brings the whole place to a halt. I long ago learned how to get out of the place, by taking a definitely illegal cut through a narrow side street, but it does make for a long way round. I am surprised that no one else has found this as I am not a native, but they won’t learn it from me.?

I always have to think of something different for No. 1 gson: this is the IT network engineer with Aspergers and he has so much stuff that I have to think hard. Then last week I was in his flat and observed that his monster desk was absolutely choked, with a tiny lamp hardly able to cast a light across most of it. So I bought him a halogen floor lamp, with a side attachment of a smaller lamp that he can position over whatever spot he likes. Both lamps are fully adjustable. Job done. But it’s his birthday on the 7th of Jan: what next? I don’t give him money any more, he won’t accept it – “Granddad I have a very well paid job and you are a pensioner. Not taking money from you.”

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

No Richard I think it may join the Norwegian Blue Parrot, after pining for the Fjords a bit.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Hope that soon gets sorted Steve, what a bummer. My dad once put a tiny mustard spoonful of whisky on a painful tooth I had as a kid. It was the most relief possible but lasted about 5 minutes. He had to keep doing it (I was 12!) but when mother got home from the shops, he got the biggest b********g of his life. I wasn’t in any pain by then, just ratassed and asleep. ? Went to the Dentist next day with mam, pain in tooth was not as bad as pain in head! Or in dad’s ears. ?

I went to the hospital today and had both fundamental lower orifices checked. Camera inserted into me old man showed pictures on a screen either side of my position and nurse gave a running commentary. I have an enlarged and bleeding prostate, with a ‘nodule’ on it. At that point the camera was withdrawn (Most painful part) and the Doc attacked the opposite orifice* with what felt like a large log. He confirmed an enlarged prostate and after checking the pictures from BobTV, also confirmed that it was the prostate bleeding and that it had a nodule attached. I am now booked to have several scans and a biopsy of the Nasty Nodule, to decide whether or not it is Nasty, or just an unwanted passenger.

I am fine now, I am not worried about this: once I have a verdict and information about any health issues, I don’t worry. ?It will be what it is. But atm I am p*****g broken glass. ? That will go away in a day or so, they tell me. ??

*I have no idea how on earth ******* can enjoy that….??

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Dave, Yule is a word that has a very ancient derivation, morphing through several languages in Ancient Europe and beyond. I have some old writings of my granddad, who visited Wales many times and wrote for several newspapers, including Reynolds News and The Daily Herald. I wish he had lived longer than my 10th decade, because there is a lot more I would have liked to know from him. I just have these old yellowing pages of his notebooks, which I managed to get from under the nose of my acquisitive cousin. Granddad had lots to say about many things: he had a grasshopper mind but was intelligent and curious. Example: ” One day aircraft will fly without using propellers and engines as we know them. Perhaps rockets, larger and better than fireworks?” There is so much more than that. Contrast his mind with that of my gran, who was a Romany born somewhere in Devon, in a caravan. Illiterate, but had so much history of her own people in her head and the origin of my dad’s belief system and my own.

In granddad’s notebooks there is a lot of ancient British history and a lot of inspired speculation on his part. This is what I have been able to make out of his writings about Christmas and its predecessor festivals:

From Brythonic/Celtic beliefs, the world was seen as a wheel – the god Arianrhod was a “Silver Wheel”. In Germanic languages, that was “Wheol“. Gothic “jiuleis” (ywleeis) – Anglo-Saxon “geol”. Old English, which was about 70% Germanic – “Geola“. In Old Norse “jol” It’s easy to see that all the Celtic/Germanic/Scaninavian languages are closely related. Granddad then goes off into a bit of Blue Sky speculation as to  how it would have been pronounced by our distant ancestors, but it’s not easy to make out.

The interesting bit is how gran’s people saw the world: as a Wheel, continually turning with the seasons. Gran always said that her people came from the East. Some years after her death in 1967, I was paralysed for one week and incapacitated for 3 weeks by an injury. I started to look into all this for the first time seriously and wound up in getting Reference books from my local library. I found the origin of the Romany people: they had a bigger Diaspora than the Jewish people. They were a number of Dravidian-language tribes from South India, with a small tribe called the Brahui in what is now Pakistan and Afghanistan. This was in line with what gran told me: her people had a folk legend that they had been driven out by others and had wandered the world, never staying long in one place, always being moved on. I found that the Brahui must have been pushed out around 3-4,000 years ago. The origin of the planetwide mistrust and suspicion of Romanies and Gypsies. Their language is recorded as totally different in origin, to other Indian and Asian languages, except for the Tamils and some Malayan peoples. They knew the world was round, when Europeans were still convinced it was flat. Terry Pratchett would have loved that!

So the story is very much more complicated than just Saxon or Norse. It has roots as far back as our own henge-building ancestors. I like to think that my gran would have loved to hear all that.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

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