#191
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Wenting!!!
SteveA wrote (one day I'll put the story of me, the Amsterdam railway station, th junkie, the police and the can of beer on the forum Please can that be now? I really want to hear this -- LotteBum |
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#192
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Wenting!!!
LotteBum Wrote: SteveA wrote: (one day I'll put the story of me, the Amsterdam railway station, th junkie, the police and the can of beer on the forum) Please can that be now? I really want to hear this. Im curious also. There are that many stories that come from this city -- oely |
#193
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Wenting!!!
oely Wrote: Im curious also. There are that many stories that come from this city. The (long) story. Mid 1980's. I was backpacking in Europe. I had been travelling with girl from Finland for a few days. We had checked out of ou accommodation and went separate directions that morning. I was to catc a train that night. I had a bad cold so I spent the day doing laz things around the station area. Coffee, watching buskers, chatting t other travellers. It started to get chilly so I sought the refuge o the station waiting room where I read a book While I was waiting, a chap about my own age with an American accen approached me. He was in quite an agitated state. He told me a sa story of having his wallet and all his credit cards, airline ticket papers etc stolen and needing to get a train to Belgium where he ha family and could get his airline ticket replaced. He asked if I could help him out with some money which he would arrang for American Express to replay to me at my next destination (of course) I was sympathetic, but I am also naturally wary and cynical. I gav him the equivalent of A$10. I thought that if he was conning me, I wa not going to miss that amount, but if he really was in genuine distress It might go a little way to helping He got some money from other people who were waiting and then left. went back to my book 20 minutes later, he was back. This time being held by the scruff o the neck by a chap in a leather jacket and sunglasses. The leathe jacket introduced himself as a policeman and told me that his charg was a junkie who scabbed money off travellers to buy his next fix. Hi parents were American and Dutch, hence the American accent. It appeare that he was a pest who was known to the police The cop asked if I would make a statement detailing what had happened. I agreed and went to the police office in/near the station. The co typed up my statement. In Dutch. He read it back in English and aske me to sign it. I don't speak Dutch. I do speak German so I could gues some of what was on the statement. Before I would sign it, I demande that the cop also type "as translated into English and read to th signatory in English by........" and that the cop put his signature t the translation. He did, and I then signed it. While all this wa happening I got coffee and biscuits from the cops. And I got to sit i a warm police station I then went back to the waiting room to read my book and wait for m train. Half an hour into the book, my junkie 'mate' arrived again He had come to apologise. I said "thanks for the apology now fec off". He did Another half hour later he came back, this time with a can of Heineke as a peace offering and a lament along the lines of "I'm sorry, I wan to be your friend" . This time I spoke much softer but when I told hi to "Feck Off" he knew I was serious and he never came back (And I never got my money back either Steve -- SteveA |
#194
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Wenting!!!
SteveA wrote:
oely Wrote: Im curious also. There are that many stories that come from this city. The (long) story.. Mid 1980's. I was backpacking in Europe. I had been travelling with a girl from Finland for a few days. We had checked out of our accommodation and went separate directions that morning. I was to catch a train that night. I had a bad cold so I spent the day doing lazy things around the station area. Coffee, watching buskers, chatting to other travellers. It started to get chilly so I sought the refuge of the station waiting room where I read a book. While I was waiting, a chap about my own age with an American accent approached me. He was in quite an agitated state. He told me a sad story of having his wallet and all his credit cards, airline ticket, papers etc stolen and needing to get a train to Belgium where he had family and could get his airline ticket replaced. He asked if I could help him out with some money which he would arrange for American Express to replay to me at my next destination (of course). I was sympathetic, but I am also naturally wary and cynical. I gave him the equivalent of A$10. I thought that if he was conning me, I was not going to miss that amount, but if he really was in genuine distress, It might go a little way to helping. He got some money from other people who were waiting and then left. I went back to my book. 20 minutes later, he was back. This time being held by the scruff of the neck by a chap in a leather jacket and sunglasses. The leather jacket introduced himself as a policeman and told me that his charge was a junkie who scabbed money off travellers to buy his next fix. His parents were American and Dutch, hence the American accent. It appeared that he was a pest who was known to the police. The cop asked if I would make a statement detailing what had happened. I agreed and went to the police office in/near the station. The cop typed up my statement. In Dutch. He read it back in English and asked me to sign it. I don't speak Dutch. I do speak German so I could guess some of what was on the statement. Before I would sign it, I demanded that the cop also type "as translated into English and read to the signatory in English by........" and that the cop put his signature to the translation. He did, and I then signed it. While all this was happening I got coffee and biscuits from the cops. And I got to sit in a warm police station. I then went back to the waiting room to read my book and wait for my train. Half an hour into the book, my junkie 'mate' arrived again. He had come to apologise. I said "thanks for the apology now feck off". He did. Another half hour later he came back, this time with a can of Heineken as a peace offering and a lament along the lines of "I'm sorry, I want to be your friend" . This time I spoke much softer but when I told him to "Feck Off" he knew I was serious and he never came back. (And I never got my money back either) SteveA "Beggers" seem to be fairly common in European train stations. At Bern in Switzerland the youth hostel is behind the parliment house and there is a park area where drug addicts hang out. At night time you have to "run the gauntlet" and hope you don't lose your wallet in the process. Marty |
#195
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Brake lever handedness?? (Was Wenting!!!)
On 7 Jun 2005 23:11:02 -0700, nebakke wrote:
John Pitts wrote: Pardon my ignorance Nebakke, but this is bothering me - do bikes have the front and rear brake levers on different sides in different parts of the world? Is it a European/Australian thing, or a drive on the right/left side of the road thing? Or is it just your bike that's odd, or have I completely misunderstood what you're saying? :-) Just to double up on what my Scandinavian brother ;O) had to say, yup they are indeed reversed, and I believe it's a left/right side of the road thing... Live and learn... -- John Pitts (Unscrew to reply by mail) |
#196
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Wenting!!!
TimC wrote:
On 2005-06-06, Tamyka Bell (aka Bruce): Bleve wrote: I wonder if Tam knows what "Fsck" really is? not exactly, just give me a sec... !man fsck ... yep now I do. Who gives a fsck? Not me! I use a journal! you've obviously never experienced a system with multiple 2TB volumes say goodby to the power mid-reboot? you'll pray your fsck is the best thing there is... and is as fast as a very fast thing. cheers, kim ~ /me is very glad for new shiny UPS type things |
#197
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Wenting!!!
On Wed, 8 Jun 2005, oely wrote:
Cycling and geekery is a mix that is working for me. Ive been lucky, I brought the nerd to my relationship while my girlfriend brought the cycling bug. Now it seems to be the reverse, im the one out on the bike, and about to wipe myself out up Ventoux while shes is on the pc nerding it up. Shes sexy and intelligent too! well....by my sarcastic, jaded, people are all arseholes view of the world. Now if only we could solve this soon to be problem of being opposite ends of the earth not knowing when we will see each other again. Some advice for all prospective suitors of Dutch men or women. - He/she stands a better chance of living in Aus. snip Hehehe so even better than cycling geek girls are DUTCH cycling geek girls... well I am halfway there... Tam |
#198
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Wenting!!!
On 2005-06-09, Kim Hawtin (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea: TimC wrote: On 2005-06-06, Tamyka Bell (aka Bruce): Bleve wrote: I wonder if Tam knows what "Fsck" really is? not exactly, just give me a sec... !man fsck ... yep now I do. Who gives a fsck? Not me! I use a journal! you've obviously never experienced a system with multiple 2TB volumes say goodby to the power mid-reboot? Heh. We currently have ~16TB or so. And every 6 months on average, when the computers are rebooted for something or other, then the computers decide it's been 180 days or more, so gotta get the fsck out of here for a good long coffee break. -- TimC *** System shutdown message from root *** System going down in 60 seconds |
#199
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Wenting!!!
"Marty" wrote in message ... SNIP STEVEA'S BIT "Beggers" seem to be fairly common in European train stations. At Bern in Switzerland the youth hostel is behind the parliment house and there is a park area where drug addicts hang out. At night time you have to "run the gauntlet" and hope you don't lose your wallet in the process. Marty One of the funniest beggars I saw was in Florence. An old dear, walking along. As she approached a group of tourists outside the Duomo she pulled out a collapsible walking stick, bent almost double to use it and hobbled pathetically around the group, rattling her paper cup. Once she got her 'donations', up she stood, folded up her walking stick and strolled away. And they wonder why you become cynical! Me |
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