I think the basic idea of the thread was to entertain.

As Eeyore says, ballons, parties, here we are! and there we are!

If you are a librarian, or a quantity surveyor who was just passing byand got sucked in. If you were dragged away from the serious concerns of the day: deciding who was nicest Saddam Hussein or the IRA.......call it a sabbatical.

Perhaps you can make the time up if you get up earlier and start taking cold showers.

The deadly serious nature of this thread is hinted at in the title - one would have thought.....