Seemingly trivial things that cheer you up
Comments
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Re Nationwide:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/05/19/nationwide-bank-customers-loyalty-scheme/Millions of Nationwide customers will receive a £100 payment after the building society launched a new reward scheme for its most loyal savers.
Around 3.4 million Nationwide Building Society members will benefit from the windfall, which will cost the lender £340m.
Payments will be sent out automatically to those holding both a Nationwide qualifying current account and either a savings product or mortgage in June, assuming they held them on March 31 this year.
It comes after the lender reported its strongest financial results on record.
The building society’s underlying pre-tax profit surged to £2.2bn in the year to April, from £1.6bn this time last year.
Its total underlying income jumped to £4.7bn from £3.9bn the previous year as it was boosted by surging interest rates.0 -
Aye, given it remains a mutual, post that wave of 90s de-mutualisation aka gimme da money, yes give profit share to members rather than shareholders of the types various.
I still have my Cashbuilder Book account from... the 80s?... which means I'm in the bricks. F knows where the book itself would be, but the app shows the account.
I did think 'scam' when that email popped up this morning.0 -
orraloon said:
Aye, given it remains a mutual, post that wave of 90s de-mutualisation aka gimme da money, yes give profit share to members rather than shareholders of the types various.
I still have my Cashbuilder Book account from... the 80s?... which means I'm in the bricks. F knows where the book itself would be, but the app shows the account.
I did think 'scam' when that email popped up this morning.
I didn't, as they include one's postcode in emails, which most scammers don't, and it didn't ask me to click on a link, which most scammers do.0 -
🤣🤣🤣
Nothing more to add.The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
Today’s long run. I had to pick something up from my parent’s so opted for a change of scenery and ran from near them. It was mainly on NCN 46 which is an old mining railway close to @blazing_saddles turf I think, beautiful scenery and a steady climb for 9 of the first 9.5 miles before a couple of miles on quiet roads (including the 20% descent of Rhiwr Road which is in one of the 100 Greatest Climbs books) then back onto the cycle route for 4 miles of gentle descent. Almost all in shade apart from the very top which had a cooling breeze. Perfection.0
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I so hope this is true... a thread about English tourists in France...
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The tweeter is hardly covering himself in glory either.briantrumpet said:I so hope this is true... a thread about English tourists in France...
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Isn't that the guy who made up something ridiculous that loads of people took seriously a couple of years ago?TheBigBean said:
The tweeter is hardly covering himself in glory either.briantrumpet said:I so hope this is true... a thread about English tourists in France...
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TheBigBean said:
The tweeter is hardly covering himself in glory either.briantrumpet said:I so hope this is true... a thread about English tourists in France...
It could well be fiction, but I can't see anything objectionable about winding up Brexiteers who expect furriners in their own country to speak Ingerlish, or to wind them up. The bit about the mayor and gendarmes sounds entirely plausible.
I've actually occasionally wanted to pretend to be French when I'm there, then switch to idiomatic English to try to get them to say how good my English accent is, but alas, I don't think my French is good enough to pull it off.0 -
Oh, I’m sure a few “he haw, he haw”s would suffice for some. 😉briantrumpet said:TheBigBean said:
The tweeter is hardly covering himself in glory either.briantrumpet said:I so hope this is true... a thread about English tourists in France...
It could well be fiction, but I can't see anything objectionable about winding up Brexiteers who expect furriners in their own country to speak Ingerlish, or to wind them up. The bit about the mayor and gendarmes sounds entirely plausible.
I've actually occasionally wanted to pretend to be French when I'm there, then switch to idiomatic English to try to get them to say how good my English accent is, but alas, I don't think my French is good enough to pull it off.The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
Have you been anywhere that wasn't English or French speaking?briantrumpet said:TheBigBean said:
The tweeter is hardly covering himself in glory either.briantrumpet said:I so hope this is true... a thread about English tourists in France...
It could well be fiction, but I can't see anything objectionable about winding up Brexiteers who expect furriners in their own country to speak Ingerlish, or to wind them up. The bit about the mayor and gendarmes sounds entirely plausible.
I've actually occasionally wanted to pretend to be French when I'm there, then switch to idiomatic English to try to get them to say how good my English accent is, but alas, I don't think my French is good enough to pull it off.0 -
pblakeney said:
Oh, I’m sure a few “he haw, he haw”s would suffice for some. 😉briantrumpet said:TheBigBean said:
The tweeter is hardly covering himself in glory either.briantrumpet said:I so hope this is true... a thread about English tourists in France...
It could well be fiction, but I can't see anything objectionable about winding up Brexiteers who expect furriners in their own country to speak Ingerlish, or to wind them up. The bit about the mayor and gendarmes sounds entirely plausible.
I've actually occasionally wanted to pretend to be French when I'm there, then switch to idiomatic English to try to get them to say how good my English accent is, but alas, I don't think my French is good enough to pull it off.
Must remember not to try it while wearing my Exeter Wheelers jersey.
I did mistakenly greet a cyclist coming the other way this morning with a full-on "Bonjour!" before thinking that that's not the normal greeting on Dartmoor.1 -
Yeskingstongraham said:
Isn't that the guy who made up something ridiculous that loads of people took seriously a couple of years ago?TheBigBean said:
The tweeter is hardly covering himself in glory either.briantrumpet said:I so hope this is true... a thread about English tourists in France...
- Genesis Croix de Fer
- Dolan Tuono0 -
pangolin said:
Yeskingstongraham said:
Isn't that the guy who made up something ridiculous that loads of people took seriously a couple of years ago?TheBigBean said:
The tweeter is hardly covering himself in glory either.briantrumpet said:I so hope this is true... a thread about English tourists in France...
Rather glad I caveated my post. Who knew that not everything on Twitter is true?0 -
He is spectacularly good at winding up Brexiters and there are some truth to the individual exchanges (I've had them all at one time or another). However, all of them happening at once from one person is a rather large dollop of artistic license...We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
- @ddraver0 -
TheBigBean said:
Have you been anywhere that wasn't English or French speaking?briantrumpet said:TheBigBean said:
The tweeter is hardly covering himself in glory either.briantrumpet said:I so hope this is true... a thread about English tourists in France...
It could well be fiction, but I can't see anything objectionable about winding up Brexiteers who expect furriners in their own country to speak Ingerlish, or to wind them up. The bit about the mayor and gendarmes sounds entirely plausible.
I've actually occasionally wanted to pretend to be French when I'm there, then switch to idiomatic English to try to get them to say how good my English accent is, but alas, I don't think my French is good enough to pull it off.
Not really, but Arabian Gulf in my teens. Had to make do with miming in Muscat. Seemed best not to insist they spoke English.0 -
I'm not sure I find the dialogue plausible: "I'm a Rotarian!"TheBigBean said:
The tweeter is hardly covering himself in glory either.briantrumpet said:I so hope this is true... a thread about English tourists in France...
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
A friend of mine was queueing for something in France when someone came up to him and asked something in French. He said that he was sorry, but he didn't speak French. The man then asked, in English, why he had come to France if he couldn't speak French? My friend, who was only in France for a weekend, asked whether he was only allowed to visit countries if he spoke their language? He went on to say that he wouldn't expect all visitors to his country to speak Arabic. Obviously, this all ended with a Gallic shrug and my friend was able to continue queueing in peace.briantrumpet said:TheBigBean said:
Have you been anywhere that wasn't English or French speaking?briantrumpet said:TheBigBean said:
The tweeter is hardly covering himself in glory either.briantrumpet said:I so hope this is true... a thread about English tourists in France...
It could well be fiction, but I can't see anything objectionable about winding up Brexiteers who expect furriners in their own country to speak Ingerlish, or to wind them up. The bit about the mayor and gendarmes sounds entirely plausible.
I've actually occasionally wanted to pretend to be French when I'm there, then switch to idiomatic English to try to get them to say how good my English accent is, but alas, I don't think my French is good enough to pull it off.
Not really, but Arabian Gulf in my teens. Had to make do with miming in Muscat. Seemed best not to insist they spoke English.
I've never experienced this in France, but I've heard many similar stories. No one should be expected to be speak English (or French), but if you do and you can't be bothered because the other person is foreign, then I'd regard you as a bit of shit.
That doesn't excuse the made up behaviour of the tourists.
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I remember (2009 IIRC) Wiggins being awkward when asked a question by a French journalist in French, he said:
"I dunno why you're asking me in French, I don't speak French."
Really?! He rode for French teams for 6 years.
seanoconn - gruagach craic!0 -
He does speak French, but see my comment above.pinno said:I remember (2009 IIRC) Wiggins being awkward when asked a question by a French journalist in French, he said:
"I dunno why you're asking me in French, I don't speak French."
Really?! He rode for French teams for 6 years.
That said, some cyclists such as Indurain refused to speak French because some journalists deliberately misquoted them.0 -
Isn't he as much poking fun of the people who genuinely want to believe this about Brexiters, as well as the Brexitersbriantrumpet said:TheBigBean said:
The tweeter is hardly covering himself in glory either.briantrumpet said:I so hope this is true... a thread about English tourists in France...
It could well be fiction, but I can't see anything objectionable about winding up Brexiteers who expect furriners in their own country to speak Ingerlish, or to wind them up. The bit about the mayor and gendarmes sounds entirely plausible.
I've actually occasionally wanted to pretend to be French when I'm there, then switch to idiomatic English to try to get them to say how good my English accent is, but alas, I don't think my French is good enough to pull it off.0 -
TheBigBean said:
A friend of mine was queueing for something in France when someone came up to him and asked something in French. He said that he was sorry, but he didn't speak French. The man then asked, in English, why he had come to France if he couldn't speak French? My friend, who was only in France for a weekend, asked whether he was only allowed to visit countries if he spoke their language? He went on to say that he wouldn't expect all visitors to his country to speak Arabic. Obviously, this all ended with a Gallic shrug and my friend was able to continue queueing in peace.briantrumpet said:TheBigBean said:
Have you been anywhere that wasn't English or French speaking?briantrumpet said:TheBigBean said:
The tweeter is hardly covering himself in glory either.briantrumpet said:I so hope this is true... a thread about English tourists in France...
It could well be fiction, but I can't see anything objectionable about winding up Brexiteers who expect furriners in their own country to speak Ingerlish, or to wind them up. The bit about the mayor and gendarmes sounds entirely plausible.
I've actually occasionally wanted to pretend to be French when I'm there, then switch to idiomatic English to try to get them to say how good my English accent is, but alas, I don't think my French is good enough to pull it off.
Not really, but Arabian Gulf in my teens. Had to make do with miming in Muscat. Seemed best not to insist they spoke English.
I've never experienced this in France, but I've heard many similar stories. No one should be expected to be speak English (or French), but if you do and you can't be bothered because the other person is foreign, then I'd regard you as a bit of censored .
That doesn't excuse the made up behaviour of the tourists.
Oh yes, I'd be offended by that, though I've never once come across that attitude. I'd be interested to know if was somewhere like Paris (where they are snobby about language, I think), as I could fairly confidently say you'd not get that response in my area, despite the fact that very few people speak English... they just want to communicate *somehow*. And generally, just a few words in French will be appreciated. I sometimes have a bit of fun when someone who thinks they can speak English (generally from somewhere like Paris or Lyon) try to say something in English, get stuck, and then I have to help out in French.
I forgot - when I was cycling to Rome, apart from musical terms, I have no Italian, but I was very much of the opinion that it was an omission on my part, and felt very apologetic for going so ill prepared. Again, no derogatory remarks from Italians.0 -
On my travels I have found that it is appreciated if you make a little effort, even if poor. Coming across as the arrogant traveller on the other hand, not so good.The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
I must admit I do raise an metaphorical eyebrow if someone has absolutely no local vocab at all, or English, not least as it's going to be tricky to do some stuff. I remember meeting a Dutch lady on holiday near Die who had neither English nor French, and the French definitely don't do Dutch - even less so than English.0
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The summer I left school at 16 I went to France and went into a shop to buy stamps for postcards (remember them?) and the shop assistants openly took the piss out of my attempts. It certainly put me off future attempts. There are d!cks in all countries for sure.TheBigBean said:
A friend of mine was queueing for something in France when someone came up to him and asked something in French. He said that he was sorry, but he didn't speak French. The man then asked, in English, why he had come to France if he couldn't speak French? My friend, who was only in France for a weekend, asked whether he was only allowed to visit countries if he spoke their language? He went on to say that he wouldn't expect all visitors to his country to speak Arabic. Obviously, this all ended with a Gallic shrug and my friend was able to continue queueing in peace.briantrumpet said:TheBigBean said:
Have you been anywhere that wasn't English or French speaking?briantrumpet said:TheBigBean said:
The tweeter is hardly covering himself in glory either.briantrumpet said:I so hope this is true... a thread about English tourists in France...
It could well be fiction, but I can't see anything objectionable about winding up Brexiteers who expect furriners in their own country to speak Ingerlish, or to wind them up. The bit about the mayor and gendarmes sounds entirely plausible.
I've actually occasionally wanted to pretend to be French when I'm there, then switch to idiomatic English to try to get them to say how good my English accent is, but alas, I don't think my French is good enough to pull it off.
Not really, but Arabian Gulf in my teens. Had to make do with miming in Muscat. Seemed best not to insist they spoke English.
I've never experienced this in France, but I've heard many similar stories. No one should be expected to be speak English (or French), but if you do and you can't be bothered because the other person is foreign, then I'd regard you as a bit of censored .
That doesn't excuse the made up behaviour of the tourists.
(Was either in Vallon-Pont-D’Arc in the Ardeche or Valras Plage on the south coast).0 -
He regularly gave interviews in French. Maybe he didn’t like the journo.pinno said:I remember (2009 IIRC) Wiggins being awkward when asked a question by a French journalist in French, he said:
"I dunno why you're asking me in French, I don't speak French."
Really?! He rode for French teams for 6 years.0 -
The good, bad and ugly are evenly distributed around the world, but I was surprised that our resident trumpet player approved of such behaviour.Pross said:
The summer I left school at 16 I went to France and went into a shop to buy stamps for postcards (remember them?) and the shop assistants openly took the piss out of my attempts. It certainly put me off future attempts. There are d!cks in all countries for sure.TheBigBean said:
A friend of mine was queueing for something in France when someone came up to him and asked something in French. He said that he was sorry, but he didn't speak French. The man then asked, in English, why he had come to France if he couldn't speak French? My friend, who was only in France for a weekend, asked whether he was only allowed to visit countries if he spoke their language? He went on to say that he wouldn't expect all visitors to his country to speak Arabic. Obviously, this all ended with a Gallic shrug and my friend was able to continue queueing in peace.briantrumpet said:TheBigBean said:
Have you been anywhere that wasn't English or French speaking?briantrumpet said:TheBigBean said:
The tweeter is hardly covering himself in glory either.briantrumpet said:I so hope this is true... a thread about English tourists in France...
It could well be fiction, but I can't see anything objectionable about winding up Brexiteers who expect furriners in their own country to speak Ingerlish, or to wind them up. The bit about the mayor and gendarmes sounds entirely plausible.
I've actually occasionally wanted to pretend to be French when I'm there, then switch to idiomatic English to try to get them to say how good my English accent is, but alas, I don't think my French is good enough to pull it off.
Not really, but Arabian Gulf in my teens. Had to make do with miming in Muscat. Seemed best not to insist they spoke English.
I've never experienced this in France, but I've heard many similar stories. No one should be expected to be speak English (or French), but if you do and you can't be bothered because the other person is foreign, then I'd regard you as a bit of censored .
That doesn't excuse the made up behaviour of the tourists.
(Was either in Vallon-Pont-D’Arc in the Ardeche or Valras Plage on the south coast).0 -
Re the swimming advice - back in the pool this morning.
Again, very enjoyable. I slowed down the kicking to 2 per arm pull, worked on stretching out the stroke to slow it down. That gave me more time to breathe more air out and it slowed it down enough to get more air in when I did breathe in.
Still not there yet by all means but doubled the distance before i ran out of puff so that's a good start.
Also started alternating lengths breaststroke front crawl to even it out; I always was better (relatively speaking) at that anyway.2 -
Good progress!rick_chasey said:Re the swimming advice - back in the pool this morning.
Again, very enjoyable. I slowed down the kicking to 2 per arm pull, worked on stretching out the stroke to slow it down. That gave me more time to breathe more air out and it slowed it down enough to get more air in when I did breathe in.
Still not there yet by all means but doubled the distance before i ran out of puff so that's a good start.
Also started alternating lengths breaststroke front crawl to even it out; I always was better (relatively speaking) at that anyway.
Waaaaaay back before your were born, there was a U.S. swimmer Matt Biondi. World champ, Oly champ etc etc. The Pan Pacific champs were on here in 1987, and I got free tickets, and met him at the hotel I was working at. Great bloke. Watched him in training and warm ups, and was mesmerised at the effortless power.
He did an interview on TV here and was asked some decently technical questions about his form. I recall him saying he used to train thinking there were ladder rungs across the pool, and every stroke he’d just let his leading hand drop over one, grab it and drag and kick himself forward to pass it rather than pull his hand back to himself. In the training pool it looked exactly like that, he’d do a slow drill on just that technique, as if his hand stayed still and his body just cruised over the top. Awesome to watch.
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