Just keeping the thread simmering, in case somebody wants to post message number 400 ...


15. An uncle, on my father's side of the family, was once a magistrate (in Gateshead, North-East England). I haven't spoken to him for many years, now. Partly, we have all drifted away, and I like to think that we "black sheep" of our families, have some principles to uphold [tongue firmly in cheek].
16. Another uncle, on my mother's side this time, emigrated to Australia and died there a few years ago.
17. I recently achieved a long-held ambition, and played guitar along with "Guitar George" Borowski, all right, a mere half dozen chords before somebody snatched it off me, at a friend's "house-microwaving" party (she got the house after a contested divorce, this was its "re-warming"); but it still counts, in my book.
18. I once travelled thirty miles in a coffin. (My little brother owned a BSA C11 motorcycle, at one time. It had a sidecar, the body of which had rusted away, and been replaced with a plywood coffin.)