Posts by Thirdson

after many, many weeks or months of hard labour, clearing away 3 or 4 skips worth of rubble from paths, sheds and greenhouses, digging over soil and leveling it we finally layed our turf today!.

i am knackered and don't even have any beer in the house .

Thirdson

It takes three hours to mow my lawn, two and a half if you do it without the bag. I have a 15 year old son, so I spend next 0 time mowing.

Thirdson

PS Son keeps asking when we are going to get a tractor.

32

Help, my son has turned American !

by Simon in

jw
friends

i don't know what's happened ... but whenever he plays on the xbox driving games he now puts on a very good 'american' accent.

it is frighteningly good in fact !

the only thing we can think of is that he's picked it up from his cousin who was over a few weeks ago and they played on it together quite a bit (liam get's on really well with him even though he's about 5 years older).. on reflection i guess it is a bit more canadian than american so i am not as worried about it (

Thirdson

My son turned "American" (actually Minnesotan) some time ago but he has lived most of his life in the US. His accent still has enough "British English" in it to make it different and I suppose that is my influence. According to his relatives, he is totally American so I guess the subtleties that make him different in the USA are missed by the non-Americans who only hear the overwhelming Americanisms.

As for me, I think I still have an English accent but I have changed the pronunciation of numerous words including herb, yogurt, tomato, route, basil, and banana, (funny they are mainly food related) and this has happened without a conscious effort on my part so I suspect there are a lot more changes. I guess I have a rather hybrid accent, having once spoken with an Australian accent and replaced it with a midland English accent. Since I am 1/4 Irish as well I am not bothered whether people mistake me for being from Ireland or from down-under, although I rarely get asked where I am from, unlike when I first moved to the US.

A couple of years ago I visited my company offices in Paris and Southampton, England. The Controller in France struggled to place my accent in any particular US region, not making the logical step that just because I was a Minneapolis employee I might not be native. As for the English, they at least knew I was British but thought I was Welsh!

Thirdson

(Of the no particular accent and no representation class)

32

Help, my son has turned American !

by Simon in

jw
friends

i don't know what's happened ... but whenever he plays on the xbox driving games he now puts on a very good 'american' accent.

it is frighteningly good in fact !

the only thing we can think of is that he's picked it up from his cousin who was over a few weeks ago and they played on it together quite a bit (liam get's on really well with him even though he's about 5 years older).. on reflection i guess it is a bit more canadian than american so i am not as worried about it (

Thirdson

Deleted duplicate and missing text.

40

Just what constitutes a "good seat" at an assembly?

by xjw_b12 in

blondies post on an earlier thread re the gate crashers at the assemblies running to "save" the best seats got me to thinking..

just what constitutes a "good seat" at an assembly?

i've never quite understood that.

Thirdson

The good seats are the corporate boxes out of the rain or the cold or the oppressive heat where attendants wait on you. My parents now get to sit there based on their age (my dad is 73) and their "service" (45 years) having been baptized in the 1950's. In those seats you chat all day, drink and eat and enjoy all the comforts of corporate hospitality. It took my folks a long time to get their places while others with "connections" but a lot less "time in" got to sit in luxury. It's a small perk for ones so wrapped up in this religion.

Thirdson

45

United States and Canada.

by Englishman in

jw
friends

most europeans have more than a little difficulty in telling a us accent apart from that of a canadian one.

it's a bit like ozzies and kiwi's, until you've met a few, the differences aren't that apparent to the untrained ear.

some folk even think that the us and canada are simply interchangeable terms for what is basically the same place.

Thirdson

Talesin,

I guess I could have reversed by expression if that would have please'd you. I have used this expression frequently at work when referring to our Canadian operations. Since we (my employer) now handles all North American operations from the US (yes, we down-sized) but still trade as a domestic Canadian company in Canada, pay taxes to the Canadian government, and charge GST, PST and QST, everything we do is the same logistically except where Canada is diferent. That is we trade in Canadian dollars, print bi-lingual documents and charge Canadian taxes, yet customer service is located in the US and we have no physical inventory in Canada. Our customer in Toronto can place an order and receive goods the next day but doesn't import goods because that has already been done via our near "virtual" company.

In other words it's a joke.

Thirdson

45

United States and Canada.

by Englishman in

jw
friends

most europeans have more than a little difficulty in telling a us accent apart from that of a canadian one.

it's a bit like ozzies and kiwi's, until you've met a few, the differences aren't that apparent to the untrained ear.

some folk even think that the us and canada are simply interchangeable terms for what is basically the same place.

Thirdson

Americans and Canadians are both the same except Canadians are different.

I have traveled across the border numerous times by both road and air. It's funny that you go through US immigration in Canada when traveling to the US...at least when flying from Toronto or Vancouver airports. (And what's with the airport improvement fee they stuff you with somewhere in "no-man's land?" I have never had a problem either way and I travel with a British passport and a US Green Card. I haven't driven across the border since 9/11 but that used to be a very easy and relaxed crossing.

I did sort of illegally enter Canada once. I was installing machine tools shipped from the UK (of German and UK origin) to a Canadian Auto-parts factory in Nova Scotia. I shipped all the tools I needed in the crates with the machines. It's always difficult entering countries on business if the business means "working" so I arrived in Halifax and said I was on "holiday" and visiting friends. All went well and after a weekend sight-seeing aound Cape Breton Island I commenced installation on Monday. Later in the week the Premier of Nova Scotia arrived to tour the facility and I met him and was filmed by a TV crew in blue coveralls with wrench in hand. I guess no-one from immigration recognized me from my 3 second appearance on TV.

I do feel very at home in Canada. There are plenty of ex-pat Brits there and plenty of British style products. I stock up on Canadian candy bars not available where I live and enjoy fish 'n chips 'n mushy peas.

Thirdson

PS Where can I get "Fusion" bars from on line?

9

AUGUST 11, 1996 : Where were you on that day? (hint: H20)

by reporter in

jw
friends

[ hourglass2 outpost ] [ follow ups ] [ post followup ] [ faq ]

posted by sandman on august 11, 1996 at 19:40:31: .

Thirdson

I discovered H2O not long after that date. I typed WTB&TS into a search engine sometime in September/October of '96 and was blown away by the amount of stuff that I found. I had been living in the US for a little over a year and was doing as little as possible with JWs. That summer was the last JW convention I ever attended. I spent a huge amount of time reading and lurked over at H2O. The last meeting I attended was the memorial of 1997. After that I moved house and slipped away quietly.

There are a number of people I owe a great deal to. The "heavy" posters on H2O being among them.

Thirdson

PS Does anybody know what became of "Pioneer for life" or how he is doing?

26

How Do You Enjoy Driving When You Visit The UK?

by Englishman in

jw
friends

.

..i'd hate to have to have one of these stuck on my car:.

englishman.

Thirdson

Hi E-man,

I am sitting in my cube at work and on the wall I have a calendar featuring "Round-a-bouts of Redditch" (as featured on TV). My sister sent it to remind me of the better things about UK roads (and the best things in Redditch, Worcestershire, apparently.) I find driving a "stick" with my left hand after a 9 hour flight the hardest.

Thirdson

18

Do you ever get them at the door?

by MrsQ in

jw
friends

ok, i have been 'out' for about 9 years, now.

in all that time i have lived in 4 different states.

i have only had two visits from jw's during that time and both times they were from spanish congregations...the first time because my boyfriend at the time was mexican-american and someone told them we spoke spanish...the second time because my next door neighbors spoke spanish and they came to my place accidentally.. at any rate, both times as soon as they found out we spoke english, they scurried away and apologized for bothering us.

Thirdson

In 6 years I have seen them only once in my road, at least I think it was them but I was driving out. They never followed up my house as a "not home". I know they only cover the territory in my area every 18 months or so. Plus the cul-de-sac I live in has only 9 houses and like the "trick or treaters" who don't bother with the slim pickings (we end up eating left-over Candy into the new year) maybe we get overlooked.

I have spoken to the J Dubbies at the airport a few times but I haven't seen a desk there since 9/11. I relieved a local laundramat of a few JW rags and I have had the SDAs deposit one of their mini-mags (cover had burning WT Towers on cover) in my mail box.

Thirdson