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I always thought my grandfather was an old fuddyduddy that never did anything exciting, just pottered around in his garden and smoked nice-smelling cigars. He used to work for British Rail somewhere.
Only after he died did I find out that:
1. He had fought in WWI as a Second Lieutenant (in the Royal Artillery), then was promoted to First Lieutenant when all the other Firsts in his troop were killed, then three weeks later to Acting Captain when all the Captain's were killed. A week or two later, his unit was surrounded by outflanking German troops and he was advised to spike all the guns, kill all the horses and surrender his men. He didn't, but instead led them in a galloping charge forward through the front line (most of the German troops were behind him at time) along behind the lines for a few miles and then back across to the British side, saving all the guns, all but one horse and all of his men. For this he got a medal (I never found out which one), was field promoted to full Captain and was Colonel by the end of WWI.
2. He was a Brigadier General by the end of WWII after having helped with the logistics of moving war materials around the railways in Britain. He was then assigned to organise the reconstruction of the German Railway system after the war.
3. He was a member and founder of a couple of Lodges for the Masons.
I wish I had known this when was still alive to talk to but he never mentioned his wartime experiences, I only found out from a great uncle and a couple of his old friends.
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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Dear Marc
I'm most probably not qualified to post a comment for this here, because my English is not safe. So please apologize and keep in mind that I'm not native English.
But I am qualified because I have experienced life with all positive and negative sides more than once.
Quote: ... was so very very inaccurate This is your point of view as a computer scientist. In my chest both hearts are beating. Please think about this when you think back to your dad.
Quote: It's sad, it's amazing, it's all over the emotional map These is the thing I would call "it is the life".
Kind regards, Bruno
modified 19-Jan-21 21:04pm.
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My dad died last year but had been gone for some time before that (dementia). He was a quiet, gentle, good man whom I miss.
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R. Giskard Reventlov wrote: had been gone for some time before that (dementia)
That's the really nasty bit. You know them, remember them, love them. And they can't remember you, get frustrated, and forget where they are...
My mother had brain cancer (as a secondary from her lung and oesophageal cancers a year after they were "cured") and it turned her brain off slowly over six months or so. Much the same effect as dementia, but progressive and at a speed where you could see it killing her "self" on a daily basis.
I think I'd rather shoot myself that put others through that. You have my sincerest sympathies.
And Herself works with Alzheimer patients every day. I have no idea how she does it.
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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/ravi
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I was quite moved reading that and sense it has had something of a profound effect on you.
What a nice thing for your aunt to go to the effort of tracking you down.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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Yeah, stuff like that can stir up the emotions.
My mother passed away when I was very young (about a year old) and I was adopted by my grandparents. After they passed away and I was cleaning up some old stuff I found a box with old photos and a diary that my mother had kept. It was interesting to see how she thought and I also found out some things about my grandparents I didn't know.
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Thank you for sharing. Sorry of your loss.
My relation with my Dad didn't blossom until after the "Dad" necessity part was "officially" out of the way. Many good years of memories since. Haven't seen him in person in 7+ years; we Facetime often.
BryanC
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That's nice! Hope that wasn't the end of getting to know the Aunt.
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Anybody here bought one /got it yet?
I have the OnePlus 1 and ready to upgrade, just curious to hear if anybody has anything to say about it?
The reviews look promising......
And does anybody have and use Dual Sim phone? Hows does that behave? It is one aspect of the OnePlus 3 that would drive me to upgrade from the 1 so I can have a UK and Qatar Sim (or another when traveling)
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DaveAuld wrote: And does anybody have and use Dual Sim phone?
I do. ACer Liquid E2 Duo. The dual sim is handled very smoothly, and you can have 4G and both sim cards, as opposed to a lot of other phones in which the second sim is limited to Edge.
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DaveAuld wrote: And does anybody have and use Dual Sim phone?
My new trusty & gorgeous Lumia 650!!
But I only have 1 sim inside! haha!
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DaveAuld wrote: The reviews look promising...... Yeah, superb reviews and much promising camera giving great results in low lights as well.
For the brand review, I own OnePlus X[^] and its so much satisfactory experience after moving from iPhone after 5 years.
Except battery, overall third time its great package having nothing left for improvement.
I would suggest to go for it.
You can have all the tools in the world but if you don't genuinely believe in yourself, it's useless.
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and thanks for all the fish !
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Rage wrote: thanks for all the fish
Well, quite!
Quote: Cleethorpes MP Martin Vickers a strong Leave campaigner said: "It is a very clear and decisive result from the people of North East Lincolnshire . Membership of the EU has not served this area well. which saw the decline of the fishing industry and the EU has not done much to replace it."
I am not a number. I am a ... no, wait!
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That is a Little bit early. At this Moment it is "only" that UK People have voted for the Referendum to leave the EU. They are still member and I think they are still member for more than one year from now
modified 19-Jan-21 21:04pm.
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"We are all very sad, but don't let the door hit you on the way out."
some high ranking EU official
modified 20-Oct-19 21:02pm.
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On est toujours la!
This isnt an anti Europe vote, its an anti Eurocrat/Brussels bureaucracy vote, so dont take it personally.
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I have very mixed up feelings about all that.
First, I am glad UK is out, because to me, they have never really been in, and having someone not wanting to play by the rules in a team isn't good in any way.
See my views here : [^]
This will however be more tough a time than the "Leave" side thinks : it is always more difficult to support a negative vote when it eventually turn out negative - protesting for the mere sake of protesting is always easier. I am very eager to know how they will handle the future.
On the other side, this will now be open doors for all the monkeys in France advocating for a leave, the pattern being "Look, UK has done it, so this is not it is possible", and this is already pissing me off before it ever started.
And while Pete and you argue the contrary, this is definitely and clearly an anti-Europe vote, by a majority of UK people : The ones interviewed this morning on the radio clearly said that UK is better off alone. I am fine with that, let's show what you (the interviewed people) can do "alone", but let me grab my popcorn first.
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Rage wrote: First, I am glad UK is out, because to me, they have never really been in,
100% true.
Rage wrote: clearly an anti-Europe vote, by a majority of UK people
OK. We don't feel 'European'. We don't identify as European. Some of us see ourselves as English, some see ourselves as Scottish, a few of us see ourselves as British. Not many see ourselves as European.
A lot of us feel closer to our American cousins than we do to Europeans. If we felt the EU was like the United States we would be behind it. But it isn't. It's an un-easy German-French alliance over the rest of Europe. It could be better - but it isn't. Some of those reasons are Britains fault - we have never had our heart in it like you said. Some our Frances fault - you will always hold Germany with suspicion - some are Germanys fault, it has appointed itself as the leader which was always going to be dodgy giving it's history.
Rage wrote: this is definitely and clearly an anti-Europe vote, by a majority of UK people
This is where I want to make my point. It wasn't ant-europe, it was anti-EU in it's current form. We are not a racist country, in fact we are one of the most tolerant. If the EU hadn't become the monster it has become - we would have stayed in. The main reason I think we voted out is that the last general election a lot of people voted for the Nationalist UKIP. To appease this Cameron gave us a referendum. He went to the EU asking for reform - he told them the Brits might leave if they didnt. The EU wasnt interested, they wanted to stay how they were. Look what they did to Greece. Look what they did to Italy. Forced them to sack their PM and replace him with an ex-Goldman Sachs banker.
Finally - Please forgive me for posting to you on a Friday night when I'm pissed. I feel like I've made my point but I know when I read this back tomorrow it's just gonna be a load of unintelligable sh*t
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I agree 100% and will go further: The EU is a French-German models designed to avert war between those two countries and is no longer relevant in today's world.
Drunk or not, you certainly make more sense than a Eurocrat!
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