Canny lass

You've obviously never worked in an A&E department.

I can - but I'd rather not!

The first rule, I was taught by Miss Gair at Nedderton Village Junior School when aged about 10 years so it's not rocket science but it's amazing how many people I've talked too who were never taught the all important second line! The second rule is one they use here when teaching English as a second language to roughly the same age group. I think it's better. We are none of us ever too old to learn!

The insurance problem has been solved by Volvo. Just a few months ago Volvo said that it accepts full liability for accidents in which their driverless cars are involved. They are so confident that they are 100% safe. I wish I had their optimism! I've also heard that 'pedestrian avoidance detectors' can be fitted as an optional extra!

That's it! I hadn't heard about the egg white trick but I once knew a lorry driver (ex father in law) who said a peeled boiled egg would block a leaking petrol tank. never tried it though.

I looked at 23 and thought: that's the double of Eric Burns - must be a relation! I didn't spot Brian though!

Speaking of "red", what was that fluid you could put in a leaking car radiator to seal the holes? It ran out and stained everything red.

You've missed the second line of the mnemonic: I before E except after C but only when it sounds like EE. OR a better way to get it right, according to me,is: I before E, except after C or when sounded as A as in neighbour and weigh. The spelling is related to the sound system

Sorry Maggie! Just home from Greece and couldn't make it in time. If it had been an hour later I might have been able to squeeze it in.

Well done!

Had the same problem last year for several months. Capital letters will start popping up in unexpected places next followed by not being able to quote anybody! Just take it in your stride!

The 'dig up your plants veg' bit had me wondering too. I need at least another month before I can even get my radishes up. Hackles, on the other hand, are up already.

That's them! Although I seem to remember currants as well. Perhaps they were my mother's own addition to the recipe.

... and one other thing: Nobel prizes being mentioned does not mean that a Nobel Prize will be given. They are mentioned almost daily in this household but neither myself nor the old man have one.

"I didn't read this link either. If you'd like to know why then I suggest you google 'Gatestone Institute'." Ad-hominem? If you consider this to be an 'ad-hominem' attack then you are clearly feeling more threatened than I thought. What's the "Torygraph"?

You've lost me there, I'm afraid. I don't know what any of this has to do with my finding the Sicilian people charming. I did in fact ask about unemployment while I was in Sicily. It would appear to be roughly the same as most other places in Europe - if I'm to believe the few people I talked to. They weren't too happy to talk about the 'connections' bit though. Pity! I would have liked to hear more about it. Immigrants and refugees are not always one and the same thing. You can be an immigrant - like yourself and myself - without being a refugee.

My mother always baked biscuits called Anzacs but she always made them for Easter. I understood they were something to do with the Australian army but don't know what.

If you like history, nature, good food and good wine then you’ll love Sicily. There’s a lot to see and do but if you take a few hours and plan your visit it’s surprising just how much you can achieve in just one week. We booked a hotel in Aci Trezza, just 20km from Catania airport, for one night but extended it to three as we thought it was a good base for visits to Etna and Taormina – with a fantastic Greek/Roman theatre. Book a walking tour with a guide around a couple of Etna’s craters. You can do that on site much cheaper than from the hotels. You won’t be disappointed! South from Aci Trezza you’ll find Siracusa. A visit to Parco Archeologico is a must before moving on to the island of Ortygia. Heading west toward central Sicily you’ll find Piazza Amerina and the roman Villa del Casale with it’s wonderful mosaics. Thank you ExBedlingtonian for that tip. It was a joy to visit! Driving south west from Piazza Amerina towards the coast you reach Agrigento. Stop off en route and take a slow walk through the Valley of the Temples ‘Valle di Templi’. There are a half dozen temples, some dating back to before Christ and in surprisingly good condition. It’s well signposted. You can hire a guide here as well but it’s an easy walk in a straight line so just buy a little cheap guide book and go by yourself. Follow the coast northwest from Agrigento through sloping vineyards towards Marsala and on the way take a few hours to visit the small medieval town of Erice. It’s a hair raising drive that takes you to a height of 750m above the sea but well worth the journey. It’s strewn with beautiful, small piazzas and some of the most wonderful courtyards I’ve ever seen. The views are out of this world! From there, cut across the north west tip of the island towards the capital, Palermo. Just enjoy wandering around the town. We visited the Capella Paletina which, if we understood the guide book correctly, is the chapel of the royal palace of the Norman kings. It’s very beautiful and extremely interesting both from a historical and religious point of view. From Palermo it’s just a short distance to Monreale, another small, old and very picturesque old town. Leaving Palermo follow the coast eastwards towards the small, medieval fishing village of Cefalu - dominated by a huge rock and a huge, Norman cathedral. Close up it’s not so huge. It’s just built on a bit of a hill in the town centre. We had hoped to make it to Messina but were a bit short of time so we drove directly from Cefalu to the airport in Catania. 3g was right about the mosquitos. They can be a bit of a pain in the evenings but their ‘bark’ was worse than their bite – so to speak. Their whining can get on your nerves but I didn’t get bitten until I got on the plane for the homeward journey! If I was to give any more advice on Sicily it would be: Buy a guidebook and guide yourself. It's much cheaper and you can do it at your own pace. Hire the smallest car you possibly can. Driving in Sicily is a pleasure until you hit the towns and villages where the roads are the narrowest I’ve ever seen and parking is a nightmare! Both as a driver and a pedestrian proceed with caution at all traffic lights. Why Italy has chosen red and green among its flag colours I do not know as Italians clearly can’t distinguish one from the other! Hire a room on the outskirts of town and the use public transport within the town. This way you'll avoid some of the frustration of parking the car. If you only speak English avoid talking to the elderly.They don't seem to have any knowledge of the language. They understood Spanish but answer in what I assume to be Sicillian. Drink wine instead of water. They are both the same price.

I wouldn,t know, 3g. I've only lived here 30 years. That doesn't make me an expert. I found the Sicilian people charming. I also, based on the couple of dozen or so with whom I had any in-depth conversation, found them to be extremely tolerant and respectful of others. They seem to be very proud of this tolerance and respect - pointing out that it's a long tradition dating back to Sicily's time as an Arab (Muslim) country. I asked a waiter in a restaurant if they minded that a clearly north African male came in to beg for money among their customers. His answer: "Why should I do that? He's only trying to make a living - same as I am." We could learn a lot from the Sicilians. I didn't read this link either. If you'd like to know why then I suggest you google 'Gatestone Institute'.

You fear my answers are too straight for me. Which answers? I haven't had any! I don't recall making any ad-hominem attacks on any person or thing. I try to be objective in all my remarks. I make statements, sometimes provacative, but I try, especially when challenged, to support those statements with information from credit-worthy sources - experts if you like, the type of opinion that would be acceptable in a British court of law. I find that it usually makes for a good debate. I understand that you may feel threatened by this and in that case I'm truly sorry. Perhaps you could quote me on some of my ad hominem attacks so that we can discuss them? That offer is open to anyone who may feel they have been attacked in personal or subjective manner by me.

You were certainly interested in the appearance of a male Muslim on December 20th 2015, 12.30am, topic: Sunni side of the street. Indeed you thought that I should be quaking in my boots on seeing one thus inferring that they were instantly recognisable.

Sharia law is no more British' law' than are the 10 commandments as dictated in the Christian bible (Exodus 20: 2-17 and, just in case we didn't get the message first time round, repeated in Deuteronomy 5:4-21). Both are codes of conduct for a religious group and in no way judiciary. I'm sure you are familiar with the decalogue - that text that starts with something like 'you shall have no other gods before me' (that rings a bell from somewhere else). It's not legally binding. Should we perhaps start to persecute christians as well? They didn't ask to have these commandments imposed upon them. To judge by the number of divorces granted on grounds of adultery, I doesn't appear that too many people feel bound to follow them. Neither are they legally obliged to do so.

Did you ever use the word replaced? You used a derivitive - replacement (December 26 2015, page 2 of this topic). Nominalization of the verb replace to produce a noun replacement, in no way detracts from the intrinsic meaning of the root. It's similar to your verbalization of ghetto to produce ghettoize. "The present influx is about cultural replacement" has exactly the same semantic content as 'The present influx is about culture being replaced*. You are circumventing the obstacle to avoid answering.

QUOTE: On 2016-04-18 at 10.09, threegee said: " Please provide the source of your definition of a "true refugee" "Why don't you define it too? Then, any reader of this thread can determine for themselves if my understanding is more in accord with what they consider fair and reasonable than yours". REPLY: Again, 3g, I can only repeat what I've already said. OALD defines a refugee as "a person who has been forced to leave their country, home etc. and seel refuge, esp. from political or religious persecution". Another source, the good old Oxford Concise, also encompasses the notions of forced leaving in order to seek refuge and escape persecution. I can't in any way disagree with that. To do so would be subjective. More on that later.

QUOTE: On 2016-04-18 at 10.09, threegee said: "What do you understand by the word ghetto? I used the word ghettoise. That's the process of proceeding toward ghetto conditions. I suspect you want me to point to an outdated formal definition in order to "surprise" me with the inconsistency. I didn't say we had ghettos - yet; so going there is a diversion. Trevor Philips has recently said "A Nation within a Nation", and he's very right - except it won't stop there. I bet you didn't even look at that Burnley video!" REPLY: You used the word ghettoise, meaning "the process of proceeding toward ghetto conditions". I gave you two differing but very credit-worthy definitions of the word. If I am to understand the point you are so obviously trying to make It would help if I knew what you are referring to so, I'll ask you again: what do you understand by the word ghetto? I do not wish you to point to any outdated formal definition. The etymology of the word would serve no useful purpose as we are talking about the here and now. Correct I did not look at the Burnley video. It was of no relevance to know how two people, not involved in this dicussion, would define the word ghetto. It's you I'm trying to understand, not two people in Burnley.