On 14 Feb 2009 16:49:58 -0500, Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:

>> I bought a Wacom on ebay cheaply to try it out. (There was a lot of
>> discussion here at the time) I found that I liked using it so much I

>> around with my laptop.) I really only use them as a mouse substitute. I
>> find that they reduce my RSI a lot especially if I swap between the
>> tablet, mouse and touch pad.
>
>Cool, I don't usually think of eBay for stuff like this, will have to 
>have a look.
>

Nor do I but my wife was buying a lot of HiFi accessories on ebay, at the time.

>
>Yeah.  There's a local pub that does a good battered fish and chips, but 
>it's one of many things they do.  I find that for *really* good ones, you 
>gotta go somewhere that that's all they do.
>
>We've decided to go to the pub tomorrow, though, and I think that's what 
>I may have.  Thing is, they have other things that I like far better.
>

Pub, fish and chips? Better than nothing, I suppose.

>
>Yeah, I agree.  The shop we went to was right there on the sea (kinda 
>hard not to be, at that).  It was really funny, three Americans walk in 
>and the lad who took the order had to ask us to repeat ourselves because 
>we were *too* softspoken.  Then he got curious about where we were from 
>because he couldn't place the accent - this was near the end of 2 weeks 
>in the UK, and my wife and I adapt our speaking to where we are - not a 
>conscious thing, just the way we're both wired - so we were somewhere 
>between Utah (where we live) Minnesota (where I grew up), Southern PA 
>(where my wife grew up) and Bucks, with a little but of the local blended 
>in because we'd been there a few days with friends.
>
>He was *very* confused as a result.  It probably didn't help that we were 
>dressed like locals as well, rather than as stereotypical American 
>tourists in loud Hawaiian shirts and whatnot. ;-)

Sometimes you need to live up to people's expectations and speak as if you are
off the telly, to be understood. :) 
Harking back to my time in Jamaica. I found it quite disconcerting speaking to
white Jamaicans (actually called island-born "Jamaican whites"). My ears were
saying that they were black but my eyes told a different story. 
A little rider to that for others reading it. It is not like saying someone
sounds "urban". In countries that the people are predominantly not white there
is a more matter of fact way of speaking about colour and race than in our first
world countries. I've been taken aback a few times.

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

Post a reply to this message