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Messages - Kiltpin

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 ... 133
1
The Lighter Side / Family Habits
« on: Yesterday at 10:22 »
Good Enough for My Granddad, It's Good Enough for Me!
When it comes to family matters, do we do things because we always do those things, unthinkingly, by rote, by force of habit? I found out this week that our family does.

My wife's first husband, while still a young man, bought The TV Times every week - BBC1, BBC2 and ITV only in those days. There were some programming conflicts, and you had to be quick to change channels so as not to miss either the start, or the finish.

He meets, courts, and then marries the woman who later became my wife. After a while, a baby son was born. There was an accident at work for which the company was to blame. While off work, recovering from broken bones, it was discovered that he had terminal bowel cancer. A long lingering illness till the end. 

The widow and son carried on with their lives till I arrived on the scene. We become a family. Eventually, step-son leaves home, marries and starts his own family. Next January he will be 40. 

We have arrived at yesterday. A throwaway remark by either my wife, or I, led to a thunderclap of realization - like St Paul on the Road to Damascus. Between us, we have been buying The TV Times for over 40 years and NO ONE READS IT! It goes in the rack and 4 weeks later goes out to the recycling. 

I am happy to say that we have given up the habit - cold turkey. I will let you know if either one of us gets withdrawal symptoms ...

2
The Lighter Side / Re: Stillbirths.
« on: Monday 01 April 24 22:47 BST (UK)  »
Only two in my tree and my wife's (one in each) but they are both included.

Regards 

Chas

3
The Common Room / Re: Finding a will beneficiary called Nicola. How do "THEY" do it?
« on: Saturday 23 March 24 15:32 GMT (UK)  »
I am really struggling to believe that the police have some super secret archive to which the rest of us have no access. After all, it is reckoned that up to 25% of the drivers in this country have moved house more than once since passing their test, but have failed to inform Swansea.

Regards 

Chas

4
The Common Room / Re: An interesting thought!
« on: Sunday 10 March 24 09:39 GMT (UK)  »
Quote from: Erato on Saturday 09 March 24 20:59 GMT (UK)
"the National Rail Chaplaincy Service (NRCS)"

Huh?  Why on earth are chaplains needed on trains?
It seems that people do die on trains more than we would think. So much so that there is a corporate proceedure and "code word" in the event so that all staff know what to do. 

Regards 

Chas

5
The Lighter Side / Re: Myths debunked when doing family histroy.
« on: Monday 26 February 24 13:42 GMT (UK)  »
I was invited to a job interview at the "One Love Centre" in London, because I put my birthplace on the application as Bombay, India. 

When I got there, mine was the only white face for miles around. I did not get the job. 

Regards 

Chas

6
The Common Room / Re: Finding the original photograph
« on: Monday 26 February 24 11:25 GMT (UK)  »
What is on the sash she is wearing? What year is that? Check newspapers for that year and the organizers of what ever the event was. She is wearing summer clothing in a known year, I think that they are two good leads. 

Regards 

Chas

7
The Lighter Side / Re: Myths debunked when doing family histroy.
« on: Sunday 25 February 24 21:11 GMT (UK)  »
Yes, well, you can't choose your family ... 

Regards 

Chas

8
The Lighter Side / Re: Myths debunked when doing family histroy.
« on: Sunday 25 February 24 16:36 GMT (UK)  »
We have two myths - 

1–We are descended from Florence Nightingale. The fact that she was never married and never had children is just an inconvenient factoid for most of my family. 

2–Stonewall Jackson (of American fame) is either an ancestor, or a descendant of our Jackson primogenitor. Nobody seems to know which. 

No amount of debunking is changing anybody's mind. 

Regards 

Chas

9
The Lighter Side / Re: The railway revolution and its impact on our ancestors.
« on: Friday 16 February 24 21:17 GMT (UK)  »
Quote from: EdinKath on Friday 16 February 24 21:02 GMT (UK)

I assume that train would be how they got to Scotland but would two children have been sent alone? They had another aunt in London but she had 6 kids of her own so unlikely to have been able to take them.
thanks
 

There was a time when people could be posted - tag round their neck with stamps on. Boys were often sent home at end of term from boarding school by post. That would mean going in the baggage car. They had to provide their own food and drink, but it was cheap ... 

Regards 

Chas

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