Congratulations all round from Mrs Zen (Aug 21, 2012)
I was delighted when we won the bid that h2g2 landed in the safe hands of Robbie and the Larholms; and now the vision is fully realised as the Community joins them as part of Not Panicking Ltd with a real say in the future direction of NPL as a business.

I don't think anyone thought it would take an entire year to set up Field Researchers Ltd, but it did, because the people setting it up were determined to make absolutely certain-sure they got the structure right. They were grappling with company law, corporate governance and all sorts of other unfamiliar and complicated stuff, and fitting it in amongst their other h2g2 volunteering, their day-jobs, their families, their real lives. So kudos to them for sticking it out over such a long journey. I am in awe of the resilience and commitment of those involved.

Being part of establishing h2g2 in its new form taught me a huge amount, it gave me the real privilege of working with and learning from Robbie for a start, and the delight of knowing the Larholms. The experience changed all sorts of things in my professional, social and personal life, and I've grown as a result.

The founding of FRL is the final piece in the jigsaw, and knowing its in place, and with the checks and balances needed to make sure it always represents the best interests of the community it springs from, makes it possible for me to let go and move on.

So, Happy Nerd, Pastey, Lanzababy, Milla, Sol, and all of the volunteers - well done. You have each in different ways done an astonishing job. And now that you are taking h2g2's Community forward into the future, let me wish all of you the best.

Let me also raise a glass in h2g2's traditional toast which includes our thousands of former researchers - members of the Community all - and remember "Absent Friends". And now I shall misquote W B Yeats: "we have spread our dreams under your feet, tread softly because you tread on our dreams".

That's it from me. There's an email address on my personal space, and I'm on Facebook.

Good luck, everyone. Exciting days ahead! Have fun!

Ben
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(13 replies, Latest reply: Aug 21, 2012)

Not Quote of the Day (Feb 21, 2012)
Occasionally I spot things I would love to be QoTD, but which I know won't be.... Here's today's:

Mr603 - F19585?thread=8290514#p110565794

Allowing gay marriage in churches would be tantamount to admitting that the CoE is basically just a 15th Century-themed wedding planning service
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Mrs Zen - I made the mistake... (Jan 27, 2012)
I made the mistake... of listing the things I need to get done this weekend.

Bad bad move.
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Mrs Zen - A Year Ago today.... (Jan 24, 2012)
F77636?thread=8018187
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My local tea-shop has just closed (Jan 19, 2012)
They sold 15 or 30 different kinds of tea: white, green and black. They would brew every cup to take away in a pot for three minutes. They introduced me to teas I had never heard of. They are non-corporate good guys in their 40s who were fighting back the starbuckification of the planet. I'll miss their tea-shop; I'll miss them.
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Dr and Mrs Zen are Powerless (Jan 4, 2012)
.... but according to Scottish Power, only for another 9 hours or so.

Have burned all the s though, so need to buy more today.

B
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(37 replies, Latest reply: Jan 5, 2012)

Mrs Zen -The Turkey Days (Dec 30, 2011)
The week between Christmas and New Year is very important to me.

It's a time to slow down, to reflect, to recalibrate, to re-arrange one's metaphorical loin-cloth before re-girding one's metaphorical loins for the year ahead. And of course, it's a time to forget what day of the week it is, to finish jig-saws, eat chocolate, and find new ways of re-cooking turkey. If I get an old age, I rather want it to be like this. With rum.

On good years I manage to stretch it into two weeks and three glorious weekends with judicious rounding out at either end, but with Christmas and New Year being Sundays this year, I feel a bit short-changed. I've got a lot of de-compressing to pack into three or four days, and it don't quite work like that, do it? And let's not talk about 2012 and my workplace. Please....

My brother and I came up with the name "The Turkey Days". We recognised they needed a name, these days of unwinding and pjs, and the Turkey Days of Winter seemed a suitable counter-point to the Dog Days of Summer.

This time last year I was cautious about 2011; I was focused on doing my shiny new job and completing my Masters. My passwords at work included D1ssertating and MSc0rbust. Then on the 24th January Z decided to rescue h2g2 from oblivion and all hell broke loose. I'm glad. But....

I don't do resolutions, but for 2012 I want to get the house tidier and more functional (and with less cat's pee in it); I want to get my finances straighter and more organised (with less metaphorical cat's pee in them); I want to get stuck into Edinburgh, visit it, go out in it, walk around it, live in it; I want to cultivate and enjoy some real physical analogue people in real physical analogue meat-space; I want to spend time with my husband which is not mediated by PCs; I want more time alone in my own head; I want to have some fr!cking fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F-J6b13Kx0

What'cha gonna do when you get outta jail?
I'm gonna have some fun
What do you consider fun?
Fun, natural fun!

And in the meantime, the List of Things To Do is so huge that I am having to tackle things one at a time with a pomodoro. A86879100

Ping!

Right, that's my 25 minutes writing this Journal.

Happy New Year everyone.

Ben
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(32 replies, Latest reply: Jan 4, 2012)

Mrs Zen - h2g2 Calendar (Dec 23, 2011)
Just got my h2g2 calendar. It's gorgeous....

http://www.lulu.com/product/calendar/h2g2-calendar-2012/18722203

We have some very very talented photographers.

Ben
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In which Mrs Zen is distinguished (Dec 17, 2011)
I got the provisional mark for my dissertation today. I got 80%, and some very fancy compliments. So after all that fuss and bother and princessing around, I got a Distinction.



This means I get a Distinction in the whole MSc.



I really am hugely grateful to everyone who didn't deck me.



Woot, it has to be said, bloody WOOT!


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(39 replies, Latest reply: Dec 23, 2011)

Mrs Zen is going offline for a few days (Dec 13, 2011)

I've a few bits and pieces to attend to which will be easier if I am offline, so you won't see me around here for a few days.


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So long and... ooops, no, that's not what I meant to say (Dec 1, 2011)
A87723967


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What I did for h2g2 today (Nov 28, 2011)
I thought I'd actually use this as a journal and start jotting down notes on what I'm working on behind the scenes each day that I do work on h2g2 projects.

So....

Saturday 26th - There was a meeting in London to review what we've done since we won the bid in August, and some planning for the future. And very cool and exciting it was too. (Followed by a nice Lebanese meal with Foules Mesdames; ho ho.)

Sunday 27th - Travel home on the train. Draft a policy document which was one of my actions from the meeting. Discuss, discuss and discuss Field Researchers Ltd (the Community's not-for-profit company) with Z.

Sunday 27th - Evening - Jump start my car at the station. Read up about the Data Protection Act. Read more about the Data Protection Act. Discuss the Data Protection Act with Z.

Monday 28th - Evening - Pick up car from garage. Fine-tune the wording of a proposed help page with Aly and Z. Start writing up the minutes of the London meeting (how did I end up with that action?). Stop a tortoise from eating newspaper and explain to it that lettuce is healthier.
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I've been to a wonderful party.... (Nov 24, 2011)
Several years ago - 21 of them in fact (good grief!) - my Ma, my sister and I threw a surprise party for my Dad. Thank goodness for photographs, because my main memories of the event come from the photos that were taken; lots and lots of smiling faces. He was a much-loved and much-appreciated man.

We managed to keep the whole thing a complete surprise. (Ye gods, but the number of people whose response to "we're throwing a surprise party for my Dad" was "does he know?").

There were people there from just about every stage in his life; his sister was there, army friends, and of course friends from his years as a clergyman.

He always used to be in a foul temper before parties, we'd call hit his "pre-party mood" and it was disorientating having him normal and sunny in the week before. He was in complete shock at the time, and it was over to fast. That was hard really - so many friends, and over so soon.

I loved doing it though. He died five years later, and I still miss him whenever I think of him which, one way or another, is most days.

B
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Counting Blessings (Nov 21, 2011)
1) The lovely weather last week and the view on the way in to work

2) Discussing in the classroom in New Lanark with Z whether Classics was really a vocational course in "Empire Studies" for young Imperialists in the 19th C

3) The tortoises; they really are incredibly endearing
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(23 replies, Latest reply: Nov 23, 2011)

Motorbike and side-hearse - Mrs Zen - NaJoPoMo - 17th November (Nov 17, 2011)
I saw one of these parked up in Lothian Road today.

http://www.motorcyclefunerals.com/index.htm

Colour me ghoulish, but it put a huge smile on my face.

B
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Going through the motions - Mrs Zen - NaJoPoMo - 16th November 2011 (Nov 16, 2011)
So many things I could say, but the most pertinent one is that I want to go to bed.

Good night sweet hootizens.

B
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Birthday baloney - Mrs Zen - NaJoPoMo - 15th November 2011 (Nov 15, 2011)
One of my colleagues had a birthday last week.

There are about five of us in the team, and we have he highly offensive habit of buying a birthday cake, which no-one likes, grouping round the victim's desk, which no-one likes, and generally making a fuss, which no-one likes.

Dave's birthday was last week and he took the whole week off to avoid the cake / candle / congregation of colleagues thing, and we just lay in wait until he got back and did all the baloney today instead.

wtf?

I mean...

What The Fuscia?

We are, individually, reasonably sane adults; two of us are overweight, two of the others are insane gym bunnies, and two seem entirely sane. So why are we doing this whole cake / candle / card rigmarole? Over half the cake was still on top of the confidential waste recycling box when I left at 6:00 this evening.

For my next birthday I am going to call bullshit on this - http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/oxfam-unwrapped-gardeners/OU5023AG

B
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Mrs Zen - NaJoPoMo - 14th November 2011 (Nov 14, 2011)
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Why are we waiting, oh why are we waiting? (Nov 13, 2011)
I am about to do something I said I wouldn't do. I am about to write a journal about h2g2. I am doing this because, forgive me, I am tired by the insinuations that we are keeping things from people.

If you are bored of hearing about "How we saved h2g2" then PLEASE stop reading now. Endless self-regarding conversations ABOUT h2g2 could just kill us all, which is why I want to spend my time on site in "normal" threads and why I wanted to keep my NaJoPoMo Journals about things in my life that aren't h2g2.

That'll be a FAIL then.

SO - if you want to enjoy h2g2 as it should be enjoyed - as a place for stuff that's interesting and fun - PLEASE stop reading this and go and read all the wonderful stuff here that IS interesting and fun....









Have they gone yet?





Surely they've gone now?





Right. We must be down to the hardcore of people who want to know WHY we haven't put up the help pages they want yet, who are worried about the processes, who are fretting about how things work under the new owners.

These are all valid concerns: I re-read some threads from 2001 recently, and events I remember as being months apart were in fact a matter of weeks apart. It feels like a long, long, time when you are waiting.

I know people are frustrated that we are not getting information pages out sooner. I don't like it much either. But it is not because anyone is deliberately holding things back. It is because everyone deserves that when things are put up for discussion that we've got the time to actually discuss them, instead of fighting fires. And everyone deserves that when things are published, they are correct.

What I've done here is list, day by day, what I've been working on. I've still not got my head above water. What I SHOULD be doing is working with other people and helping them do a lot of this; in practice I've been fighting a lot of fires and only doing the odd bit of fire prevention.

I spent the first week after I was back on h2g2 working on the pages the Mods will need to do the Modding and the second week working on information about how h2g2 is owned and run.

Neither of these tasks is finished yet. Designing the processes and pages would normally take me two to three weeks working full-time, and the documentation another week or a week and a half. (I am a slow writer, but by god am I accurate when it's official). Then there would be dicussions with the people actually using the tools, and reviews of the documentaton. This works out at 4-6 weeks full-time work; so I shouldn't be annoyed with myself for not doing it in two weeks of evenings and weekends.





Anyway - here goes.


Wednesday 26th - Evening

Early night after handing in Dissertation



Thursday 27th - Evening

Have celebratory meal with Z - discuss the Mods processes in detail



Friday 28th - Evening

Work on the Mods Toolset, documenting the processes described by Z and desiging the pages that make up the Yikes process and the pages the Mods will use.



Saturday 29th. Morning and afternoon.

Work on Mods Pages and Processes. Hand over to Pastey.
Go shopping.
Carve h2g2 logo on a lantern for The Post.
Carry on working on other teams' Pages and Processes.


Evening.

Have Skype conversation with Happy Nerd about Help Pages Project - realise that with about 150 or so of them, it will take about 8-9 months to replace them all.



Sunday 30th.

Review and update the draft of information and diagrams about NPL and the ownership structure for h2g2 and about how the volunteer groups are organised. Send some of it to Z, Robbie and Brian for comments and feedback.

Email Guide Editors about their toolsets which also need designing.

Put together a shopping order for Tescos so if we are stranded again, we will at least have food.



Monday 31st. Evening.

Continue working on toolsets.
Have Skype meeting with Brian, Aly and Robbie about volunteer structures.



Tuesday 1st. Evening.

Weekly Skype call with Senior Volunteers.

Discover that there are technical issues which mean that the toolset designs are not as urgent as previously thought.

Decide to spend three evenings a week and one weekend day on h2g2, but take the rest of my "free" time off.



Wednesday 2nd. Evening.

Migrainy. Leave work early. Have early night.



Thursday 3rd.

Continue working on documentation. This sort of documentation would take about a week of work-time (ie 40 hours) plus reviews and discussions. I have about 15 hours per week to spend on it, so it's no wonder it is not moving forward fast.



Friday 4th. Evening.

Evening off.



Saturday 5th. Morning.

Clean house. This is a big deal since we have had limited time to do any cleaning for about 6 weeks while I was working every weekday evening and all day every weekend on disssertation, and while Z was testing h2g2 when it moved from the Beeb to the new forums.


Afternoon. Friend comes round to visit. Have not seen her since August, and previously have not seen her since March.


Evening.

Fireworks.



Sunday 6th. Morning.

Carry on cleaning house and doing laundry.


Afternoon

Various emails and discussions, eg discuss what to do with s2g2 with Vip, Aly and others.

Write up meeting notes so there is a record of decisions made. These are in fact notes from a meeting during the bid which had gone awol and had turned up while cleaning the house.


Evening

Edinburgh Skeptics Committee Meeting. First I've been to for 6 months. Discuss plans for next year's Fringe.


Late evening.

Create a To Do list for the Business Process and Admin Team. Should have done this before but it's been scaring me too much and I was flat out on the toolsets. It takes a couple of hours to put together plus another 30 mintues wrestling with trying to format it on the NOesis forums.



Monday 7th. Evening.

Get feedback from Robbie, Z and Brian on information written last week on how site is owned, etc. Collate all draft information on how site is owned and run, community involvement, running projects on h2g2, the Company Ltd by Guarantee, elections into a single document. Realise that there is an awful lot still missing. Feel exhausted.



Tuesday 8th. Evening.

Should be in Skype call with Core Team. Actually have evening out with colleagues of Z's to celebrate one of them getting married. Realise I have not seen them for 5 months. Enjoy catching up.



Wednesday 9th. Evening.

Work on draft information and diagrams.

Discuss with Happy Nerd whether we can release any help pages early.

Discuss Armistice Day options by email with Robbie, Aly, Z, and various Senior Volunteers.



Thursday 10th. Evening.

Have a call with Robbie about Core Team activities, recent events on site and future planning sessions.

Continue discussion about releasing help pages early with Happy Nerd.



Friday 11th. Evening.

Take time off to spend evening together.



Saturday 12th. Morning.

Discuss practical ways for making the consultation process with the community fairer and simpler with various Senior Volunteers on Skype. Put a draft description of a "consultation process" up in Noesis where it can be seen and discussed by the people who are likely to be starting the consultations.



Saturday 12th. Evening.

Asteroid Lil has some questions about the Artists' processes and we discuss the pros and cons of various ideas at length, drawing on her experience as a Community Artist back in the day, and the challenges facing the Community Artists' group now.



Sunday 13th. Morning.

Try writing a proposal for the Artists' process to discuss with Tavaron and the Arts and Design Eds, but get caught up in a discussion on site about Moderation Processes instead, despite the fact that the Moderation processes are already documented in several help pages.


Afernoon.

Edinburgh Skeptics Committee meeting, followed by Book Group. The first I have been to since February.


Evening.

Should be continuing with the information about ownership and structures. Should finish email to Tavaron about Artists. Should do diagram about community consulations. Instead, feel compelled to justify why none of it is done already....




This has been an interesting exercise; I am torn between being around and able to talk things through with people, and actually getting things done. I don't know which is more important, to be honest.

I wish I didn't feel so defensive about the whole thing.

The long and the short of why we've not released detailed information about how the site is owned and run yet is because it takes a long time to get it all together and get it all right. It really doesn't help that answering complaints that we have not yet released detailed information about how the site is owned and run is also incredibly time consuming.

B
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(70 replies, Latest reply: Nov 29, 2011)

Skeptics between the Covers - Mrs Zen - NaJoPoMo - 12th November 2011 (Nov 12, 2011)
Last year Z, I and another person set up a Skeptics' Book Club in Edinburgh; the first of its kind so far as we know.

The criteria are broad, the book should be "of interest to Skeptics" and can be fiction, though most are non-fiction or else they are polemics. The one we've read this month is one about evolution called "Your Inner Fish". The meeting's tomorrow; this is the first one I've been to since February or so.

We need to suggest a couple of books for December and January, or maybe for January and February.

I fancy a history book, and Z's suggested Guns, Germs and Steel. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guns-Germs-...el-history-everybody/dp/0099302780/

I bought Marcus Brigstoke's book about god a couple of months ago, but was sadly underwhelmed. http://www.amazon.co.uk/God-Collar-Marcus-Brigstocke/dp/0593067363

I started reading this, but stopped for some reason, which was a shame because it's really good:
The Islamist: Why I joined radical Islam in Britain, what I saw inside and why I left - Ed Hussain - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Islamist-jo...adical-Britain-inside/dp/0141030437

My other thoughts from books I have already read are Feet of Clay by Anthony Storr about gurus and cult leaders, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Feet-Clay-S...r/dp/0006384234/ref=pd_rhf_ee_p_t_1

Utopian Dreams by Tobias Jones is interesting, thoughtful and well-written and about his experiences joining different kinds of religious communities - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Utopian-Dreams-Tobias-Jones/dp/057122380X

We are a Muslim Please, bu Zaiba Malik is about growing up in Bradford and working as a reporter including a dramatic visit to Pakistan - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Are-Muslim-Please-Zaiba-Malik/dp/0099522276/

Whoops!: Why everyone owes everyone and no one can pay - John Lanchester was recommended to me by Hoovooloo and I've not yet started it - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Whoops-Why-everyone-owes-one/dp/014104571X

However, I'm quite tempted to suggest either Hogfather or Small Gods to give us all some light relief.

B
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(4 replies, Latest reply: Nov 13, 2011)

Armistice - Mrs Zen - NaJoPoMo - 11th November 2011 (Nov 11, 2011)
ERPB to GFB

Nov 10/18

Dear Mother

A lovely parcel arrived from you today, containing a gorgeous new Shetland woollie and some soap & scent & a wee sponge & some bath salts & cocoa & 2 lavender bags- Most. acceptable my dear Mother, each and all of them, and very very many thanks indeed. The soap has arrived in the nick of time, and the bath salts & scent are very welcome, as also the sponge - its very cold o1=f nights nowadays & sleeping in a tent one wants a woollie & really the grey one you sent me before is rather worn out now - I see the note inside is dated Aug 31st, so the parcel's not been so very long on the road-

A lovely day today. Being so near the river & down rather low we get thick mists each morning with a watery sun trying to shine through- But later in the day it gets really lovely, warm & sunny but thank goodness the real heat is out of the sun for 4 or 5 months at any rate- The general & I have been riding about all the morning looking at people building railways. I met some officers of Jim's regiment who were at work on the line. He is up the river a bit, making a road they tell me, &. is quite fit & well. His regiment came under a good deal of shell fire in this last show it seems, but did not have much actual infantry fighting-

I enclose a key to some photographs I sent Ben- I am sending you the same set, but the censor rules wont let us send photographs & the key in the same letter. Of course it does'nt matter now I suppose, but no orders have come round relaxing the censor rules so till then I suppose we must stick to them-

I had a cable from Nell, dated Nov 7th, so now I wondering why she sent it whether (1 ) My original cables did go after all, (the ones I sent after the battle of 30th Oct & the Turkish surrender saying I was alright & you were not to worry}) or (2) You have some official news of me : very silly of them if they did send you a wire as there was no earthly need to- You see I sent my 2nd cable to Nell long after the 7th (the one telling her I was alright & she was to tell you, as I had no more money left!) so her cable must be in answer to something, mine or official, before that. What a muddle! Anyhow I'm quite alright & fit as a fiddle.

Lots of love & again many thanks for lovely parcel

y r loving son

Ted




ERPB to GFB

Nov 13/18

Dear Mother

I'm afraid I've got very much behindhand with my correspondence lately, but we've been very busy all the last 4 weeks, I hope you got a line or two from me giving an account of our doings lately. Strenuous times indeed they were, 10 days hard marching with 3 battles in it, & very difficult country to go over, hills and rocks & ravines so different to the usual Mesopotamian dead-level plains. But it all ended wonderfully successfully, 11,000 Turks surrendered on the morning of Oct 30th, with over 50 guns, & 30 hours later an armistice was signed with Turkey. So the old & battered Mesopotamia E.F. got in one more good blow before the finish, and I am so glad & proud I was there, & in such a fine brigade too, which did splendid work, & we were "well in at the death", our regiments being in the front line & receiving the first surrenders, Genl : Wauchope is of course fearfully pleased, & he & I agree that we could'nt have wished for a better ending to our personal share in this great war.

Well, of course, THE only thing now is the wonderful news from Europe. So its all over at last. It is all too stupendous for the limited human mind to grasp at first, & it must take time for each and all of us to realise what it all means. We can just realise the one fact that there is peace at last, & happier times are ahead for all the world. The great point is without any doubt that the anxiety of all you dear people at home is relieved now, after more than 4 years of terrible waiting and wonderful patience, courage, & sacrifice. I cant tell you, Mother, how glad, supremely glad, I am for that reason only, & I know I am expressing the opinion of every one of us in saying so - Its all, as I say, too big a subject to write on, but it is enough to know that it is all over now. And is'nt it gorgeous to be on the winning side.' Not that one ever doubted for one minute that it would ever be otherwise in the end - but that wonderful end so long expected, & now reached - but there have been anxious moments; hours and days, even minutes when it was just touch and go - Well, we've got heaps & heaps to be thankful for, both nationally and individually - and that's enough for the present.

Meanwhile we are sitting on some mud-flats by the river, in wet & rainy weather, making the best of things - Our recent advance up the Tigris landed us many many miles away from tents and railways & we were on short rations & no tents for nearly a month. Even now the men have no tents, and its been raining for four days, I managed to retrieve mine, so am all right. But in an advance like this over very difficult country the difficulties are almost insuperable, roads are either very bad, quite impassable, or non-existent. And such as do exist soon get cut up & churned into feet of dust by constant & heavy traffic, I am glad to say we have come back a bit, about 50 miles from our final battlefield, & right glad I am too, as there is no longer any 'front' -thank heavens.' to be at, it is best to be back near railways & comparative comfort.

We arrived here 2 days ago, & a mail arrived at the same time. I got a line from you, very many thanks. It was dated Sep. 2nd, Thanks awfully for sending the woollie, but it has'nt arrived yet: tho' doubtless it will in a day or so. The winter is on us now so it will come in very handy.

You ask about several men in the Queens. Of course I am not with them now, as I'm miles away from my old brigade and the regiment an' all. In any case the regiment I mean my rgt - left the country some weeks ago for Salonica I think, I suppose there's no harm in saying these things now, though the censor may see fit to cross it out. I heard from Capt Fox "at sea" yesterday, & he posted his letter at Aden. But of course they could'nt have possibly arrived anywhere in time for anything, though I have no doubt they left the country with much pleasure - The rest of my old brigade is still in these parts, the Euphrates line somewhere I think, but I have'nt heard from them or of them for a long time - You see this is an entirely different brigade, dolly lucky was’nt I to get Bde Maj to this Bde, & see this last jolly good show. I'm most awfully pleased about it & it has more than made up for leaving the regiment. I envied them awfully when I heard they were off, as we thought they wd be sure to have some fun, & at the time it looked as if we should get little or none, but as it happens it has turned out just the reverse.

I wired to you the day after the surrender of old Haqqi and his merry men, but we got news that no cables were being sent ex Mesopotamia unless paid for at a post office. You see formerly you could send a wire to the base & they'd send it for you & deduct the cost from your pay, but they suddenly stopped this one day, so my cable never went. And as we were miles from any post office I could'nt send a wire till yesterday when we got to one - I sent one off to old Nell, & then found I had'nt enough to send one to you.' & no one else had any money (just a fluke I had a few rupees) so I added "tell mother" to Nell's wire which I thought was the best way, otherwise I wd have wired you too - I hope it arrived all right.

So sorry to hear about Cyril Flanders, but I suppose he will be sent home soon. I had a wire from him saying he was fit & well. I have half an idea his rgt went on to Mosul, but I dont know- I wish we had gone on it wd have been an interesting trip & a good place to see-

Of course everyone is wondering "what's going to happen to us out here.'" Everyone's eyes & thoughts turn towards home, but that's about as far as its got at present. I have no idea what they will do with any or all of us. Someone must remain out here of course, but I should think they would clear as many troops out as they can as soon as they can get shipping- I can give you no idea of when I may expect leave, much less when I shall actually get it. But I shall try & wangle some just as soon as ever I can - I feel I want a rest & change somehow.

In your letter of 13th Aug you were at Lauriston Road with Ben & had had some letters from me. The letters were written when I was staying with dim last hot weather, years ago it seems now.

Nell was 21 on the 11th, a great day all round was'nt it. Easy enough for me to remember now is'nt it with 2 events, Nell's birthday & peace.' Is'nt the child growing up fast? She was only 18 when I left & I shall be in an awful funk meeting her again! But you all say such gorgeous things about her that I expect it will be all right - Hooray, here's the sun, the first time for four days & we may be able to dry some of our very damp kit. Lunchtime too, I get infernally hungry these days, I do hope the food position and the coal one too improve rapidly now. But I fear things will take months to become normal again. But its worth it is'nt it. But I do want to come home so much.

Best love to all

yr loving son

Ted

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Bob, the humiliation! - Mrs Zen - NaJoPoMo - 10th November 2011 (Nov 10, 2011)
This amused me: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?id=689796982&view=News

"Recent enquiries received by Foreign Office staff in Spain include a request for Phil Collins' telephone number, whilst a man asked staff to contact his dominatrix after she had left him stranded at the airport."

as 2legs would say.


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Passive Agressive Mugs - Mrs Zen - NaJoPoMo - 9th November 2011 (Nov 9, 2011)

Oh, bob, I feel a passive agressive note coming on. http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/

One of the things I like about where I work is that they trust us with a kitchen; it has kettles and coffee machines and microwaves and fridges and everything. T'Bank wouldn't let us near anything as dangerous; trusted us with billions (wrongly, as it turned out) but not a kettle.

Anyhoo, I am fussy about my tea - who'd have guessed? I'm happy enough with tetley, and I've switched to soya milk, but I do find the shape of the mug makes a difference. For tea in the morning, I like the mug large, narrow-bottomed and wide topped, so it cools fast and evenly. Very 18th century. http://tinyurl.com/bum7hpg Afternoon teacups are a different shape and much smaller, but Ben Needs Tea in the morning. Lord knows why the shape makes such a difference and there's an ignobel waiting for anyone who does the right kind of research into cooling rates and changing flavours - presumably it is something to do with dissolved solids and gasses and the human sense of taste.

People do provide their own mugs here, but there are a lot of discarded mugs, so it's hard to tell which ones are "spare" and which ones belong to someone.

You know where this is going.

It's not the money. The mugs (note plural) I have gone out and bought one at a time as the previous one is stolen are a quid or so from Poundstretcher. That's less than an frotholattechino from Starbucks. No. What sets me agley for the day is having something that is almost but not quite entirely unlike tea from a mug designed to drink frothy coffee out of. That hurts. Again.

Z doesn't know it yet, but we're going to the Mug Painting Place this weekend http://www.theceramicexperience.co.uk/branch_dunfermline.htm and I am going to get one of their large flat cups and paint my passive agressive note right there on the mug. I was thinking

"Tea tastes better out of large flat mugs, but please don't take this one to see for yourself. Buy your own from Poundstretcher. This is Ben's. Now feck off".

Or maybe

"Do not get between a Ben and her Tea...."

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Under the Wire - Mrs Zen - NaJoPoMo - 8th November 2011 (Nov 8, 2011)
There was a researcher called Ben
Whose house was a bit of a den
With the dirt and the filth
Amounting to tilth
And flies the size of a wren

Sorry about that. I had hoped to make it to the 20th before being reduced to limericks.
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Erm..... - Mrs Zen - NaJoPoMo - 7th November 2011 (Nov 7, 2011)
Ermmm..... I had to... um... download some recordings of meetings today. Errr.... we sometimes, um, record meetings at work. Lord-knows-why. We never listen to them again so-far-as-I-can-tell. But, um, hang on a second, my PC's frozen and .... sorry about this, I am really bad at multi-tasking. Ah, yessss. There we are!

So I had to download these recordings and listen to a couple because no-one had taken any notes.

I hate my voice. I am incoherent when I talk; either making noises like a broken clutch or gabbling like an auctioneer on speed. And worse than that, my bloody sister takes over my vocal chords. And when she disappears she's replaced by my MOTHER!

.... hang on ... the network'ssss .... er..... glitchy....

So there I am, listening to this incoherent gibbering southerner who slings in phrases like "...they'll be doing this five, ten, twenty, thirty times a day, that's a lot of user pain..." and says "....ohhhhhh, Bless, THANK YOU...." when the developers agree to give us what we designed. ("....ohhhhhh, Bless, THANK YOU...." F F S! And that wasn't my sister or my mother, that was an awfulness all of my own).
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(12 replies, Latest reply: Nov 28, 2011)