CH:- "Besides... as I said to someone the other day... people in the chat room are only as real as YOU chose to allow them to be..."

That is the only trouble with Mudcat gatherings, the people turn out to be REAL, and with a brain like mine, you can't remember what they have posted or what their interests are! That leaves me floundering for quite a while, hoping that I don't say the wrong thing, like "How is the shakey-egg practise coming?" to someone who is a professional sitar exponent & black belt in Origami.
So if I seem aloof when we meet, it's just that I'M busy wondering who the bejasus I am, and where the gin is at?