The Third Person Thread - Part the first

[Sjoerd3000]

Tony used to know a guy on the old (pre Anna) Harper Collins board who always posted in the third person on every thread. He even talked in the third person in MSN conversations - which Tony found very odd.

Sjoerd wonders if the name of this person was perhaps Julius Caesar?

[jaznbonnie]

Chillicamper is wondering why Bonnie is running away screaming..........come back......Chillicamper has not told you about finding half the cooling tinware missing from the engine.........Bonnie..........Bonnie.........

Okay, Bonnie is back after fortifying herself with a few beers and tells Chilli to "bring it on." She can use the practice of looking like she's paying attention while daydreaming.

Bonnie thinks she will be making a quick stop by the market on her way home from work tomorrow. Today the temps were 90+F and may be even higher tomorrow. She does not have airconditioning at home so will be cruising the ice cream section of the store. However, the good news is that her landlady is finally replacing the linoleum floor in her kitchen. It's only been there since the 1960's.

Bonnie tells Tony that she's never caught herself talking or posting in the third person elsewhere. Nope, not really, well maybe occasionally......

[Will of Lancre]

Will is posting from a pleasantly warm, quiet (but still eye-wateringly expensive) Venice.

Yesterday Will and Mrs Will visited an exhibition of reconstructions of the engineering works of Leonard of Quirm.

The website is only in Italian, and Will doesn't do Italian, so here is Google Translate's version:

The Machinery is entirely handmade, with particular attention to the finishing and the use of original materials ie wood, cotton, brass, iron and rope. The design engineer is developed computer to calculate the exact proportions of the models and their mechanisms.
The machines dedicated to the mechanics are interactive and can be used by the public, promoting the purpose of contacting direct multifaceted and pragmatic activities of a man and helping to dispel the myth of the genius away from everyday life, telling his practical work and intelligent.

Actually this is not bad for Google Translate.

Here is Leonard's bicycle:



Unfortunately 15th century Italian roads were rubbish. He would have had even more trouble riding it here in Venice.

[Tonyblack]

Tony points out to Will, that that is clearly not a bicycle, it is a machine-for-exercising-of-the legs,-increasing-stamina-and-strengthening-of-the-heart. Hence the frame to keep it in place. The wheels are merely to make it easier to push the exercising machine into another room or storage facility.

"Bicycle"? That's just crazy talk.

[Will of Lancre]

Will and Mrs Will have done St Mark's and the Arsenal and the Doge's Palace and Will's feet hurt.

They both now need a gelato.

Will is as sure as he can be that Pterry modelled (Yes, Windows spellchecker, modelled has 2 lls in English ) the Patrician's Palace on the Doge's one. There is even an armoury with a number of ferocious-looking crossbows and what can only be described as a machine-gonne , plus a Bridge of Size and a prison where the mimes, street musicians (and probably double-glazing salesmen and cold-callers selling cat food ) were once kept.

[Toothy]

Bridge of Size, or Bridge of Sighs?

Toothy drops by, measures the size (or sighs) of the chokkit pile and breathes a sigh of relief. Stocks holding up well.

Elder Toothlet is now back at uni in her new flat. Flatmates seem nice and she advises that one at least is very much like her -none of them were last year and, while pleasant enough, there was little in common for her to work with. Here's hoping for a better suited group this time.

Toothy is looking forward to a sushi lesson with Elder Toothlet next weekend at Yo! Sushi - a present from Mr Totty.

[chillicamper]

Chillicamper is wondering why Bonnie is running away screaming..........come back......Chillicamper has not told you about finding half the cooling tinware missing from the engine.........Bonnie..........Bonnie.........

Okay, Bonnie is back after fortifying herself with a few beers and tells Chilli to "bring it on." She can use the practice of looking like she's paying attention while daydreaming.

Ha Ha....Chillicamper is laughing. Bonnie has no idea what she has let herself in for! The cooling tinware missing was the awkward bits behind the fan shround and the oil cooler. You know ..... where it passes through the back plate and forms a duct to pull in cooler air from over the top of the gearbox. Chillicamper could explain all about having the engine out to get to this but there's a much better expanation and pictures in the Haynes manual if you are interested.

Chillicamper hopes the Will and Mrs Will's feet have recovered. Chillicamper has never heard of using gelato on tired feet

Chillicamper hopes Toothy enjoys the sushi but would not like to go to there himself - he is not a fan of sushi. Don't they know that the food should be cooked! Oh well. that's a good excuse to demolish the pile of chokkit that seems to be still sitting here.

[Will of Lancre]

Will thanks Chillicamper for his concern. The reason Will and Mrs Will were walking all day yesterday was that the vaporetti (water buses) were on strike. This had an upside, as it meant they had to cross the water to the St Mark's bit of town using a ferry, which is in fact just a gondola going across the canal rather than up and down. Cost of ferry: €2. Cost of gondola ride up and down canals: €40 (more if you can't dissuade the gondolier from singing ). So the Wills are very happy they can now say they have been in a gondola without being ripped off.

Will suspects the jail at the Patrician's (sorry, Doge's) palace has a cell for gondoliers who sing out of tune.

Another musical hazard in Venice is the classical concerts. Will and Mrs Will like a bit of classical music, but it seems that in Venice the only kind on offer is Vivaldi's bloody 4 Seasons. (Boardies won't be surprised to learn that the price of these concerts doubles if the musicians are dressed up in wigs etc. ) So the Wills went to a jazz club, and very nice it was too.

Will tells Toothy that he couldn't tell the size of the Bridge of Sighs as he was inside it looking out.

[Bickaxe]

Mark can't remember the last time he posted in here, it may have been back on the Harper Collins board. Mark got a raise in his appraisal earlier. His appraisal was due after 3 months. Mark has been there 7 months now. Mark wonders when his 6 month appraisal is due. Mark suspects after Christmas. Fiendish has decided the raise wasn't enough so will still do the same amount of work when he feels like it.
In other news, both Mark and Fiendish have been exploring single life in the past few months and found it a little weird but interesting

[AuntyVague]

Aunty says 'Mark? Bickaxe? Name sounds vaguely familar from somewhere...but can't quite place it...'

[jaznbonnie]

Aunty says 'Mark? Bickaxe? Name sounds vaguely familar from somewhere...but can't quite place it...'

Bonnie whispers to Aunty that she might have seen it on a Missing Person advert on the back of a beer bottle.

[cheery_j.]

Jules hugs Bonnie, tickles Aunty (or was that the other way round) and pokes Bicky - just because she can. Then she grabs some choccits and is off. Mybe she'll have time for A Stroy Wot Really Happened To Her.

[AuntyVague]

Aunty suggests that Jules/Cheery_j keep her tickling fingers away from Aunty who has a habit of screaming very loudly when tickled

Aunty says 'Mark? Bickaxe? Name sounds vaguely familar from somewhere...but can't quite place it...'

Bonnie whispers to Aunty that she might have seen it on a Missing Person advert on the back of a beer bottle.

Aunty wonders if that means Fiendish may have made his way back to FourcEcks!

[Bickaxe]

Mark thinks AuntyVague would be in for a lot of problems if Fiendish was ever allowed to leave the country again. Having said that, Mark hasn't seen Fiendish since yesterday and war has broken out in Kazakhstan since then.....

[Docandie]

ChileCamper, Docandie bought a VW Vanagon in 1963 to transport her stuff to art shows and dog shows. She only kept it for a little over a year because driving north in California required driving over the mountains between L.A. and the San Joaquin Valley and the VW did not have the power to make it with even a moderate load. She traded it in on a Ford Econoline van in April 1964, which had a bit more "oomph" and more room - although it used more gas, but back then gas was around 25 CENTS a gallon or less!

Docandie is glad to see more activity on this thread. She looked for it a couple of weeks ago and didn't see it on the first page.
Docandie has been somewhat busy with election volunteering, making calls, attending "get out the vote" and registering people. She has met a lot of "interesting" people and some who were downright nasty. She wonders when plain old good manners were made redundant...

Docandie has not done a lot of cooking or baking but has been doing some here and there, including a big (11 inch), spectacular pumpkin custard pie that she baked for her book club a couple of weeks ago. She posted pics on her facebook page.
Here's a photo.


Docandie recently re-read one of her favorite of Glen Cook's Garrett P.I. series - Cruel Zinc Melodies - Discworld fans should enjoy these stories because they take place in an alternate reality that feels somewhat related...