Whitey Grandad

The number of states is the same as the number of stars on the flag. The number of stripes is the number of original states in the Union. If you see wartime footage you can see the different pattern. What is also surprising is how recently many of the states have joined the Union. Florida was the latest before Alaska and Hawai, I believe in the 1920s.

The problem was that the Marshall aid that we were given (and we received as much as Germany) was spent on setting up social services instead of rebuilding industry.

Are you not standing then, Dune?

Does that mean that we may not have needed a coalition?

There are a number of reasons that the regulars are not going, and as I have said before, if you close stands then you can't sell tickets for them. I also wonder sometimes whether the decision to close the Kingsland is so that it does not look bad on television. Perhaps a small crowd will cause the ticket office to reconsider next time. They will probably just use it as justification for their decision.

Yes, when I said arabic 'zephyr' I was, of course, anglicising the word. I believe that cipher is also related. There are plenty of other words from arabic, azimuth, zenith, nadir. (and 'bint', but that has nothing to do with mathematics or astronomy)

She just writes herself a note and shows that to immigration.

I shall not be too far away. Perhaps we can raise some enthusiasm there? Lift an eyebrow or something.

Never, ever insult your customers. They pay your mortgage.

I suppose there's a first time for everything.

Ok, not everybody who goes to watch Saints is a committed, 100%, go what may dedicated follower like you or me. A large portion of them are creatures of habit who go for a number of reasons, habit, it gets them out of the house, saves them having to go shopping, or a host of other reasons. If they have a season ticket then they will go even if they feel under the weather, tired, have other things that need doing, nagging wives. If you want them to come to extra games then you must make it as easy as possible for them to come and with the minimum of changes to their habitual routine or they may not make the extra effort that is required. Many of them will have followed the Saints for years and no longer wish to stand and sing and be happy just to be in the same stadium as their heroes, even if they can't see what is happening. They are used to having the best views in the stadium (you can guess that I'm talking Kingsland here) and anything else is a poor comparison. For some of them, even the extra walk round the stadium is a struggle. They may be getting on a bit and almost everything is a struggle, not just going to football. In short, you must make it as easy as possible with the minimum of changes if you want them to come along. Extra charges for buying tickets on the day or over the phone, or for parking when they already have a parking season ticket, will only dissuade them further from attending. Without them you are down to the 'core' support, which is what I expect tomorrow. Out of interest, when we had this situation last year for Luton(?) I made a small survey of the people near me in central Kingsland and out of about 16, 12 said that they would only come if they could have their usual seat, or one with a similar view.

You don't understand this customer loyalty marketing thingy do you?

There are a lot that are missing. (is a lot?) proactive - what's wrong with 'active'? What's the verb? I'm going to proact? 'What we need is proaction'? 'If only I had proacted earlier'? ballpark knee-jerk ticks all the right boxes out of left field literally like run up the flag and see who salutes evolution not revolution hero to zero I mean The problem is, I find myself saying them sometimes and then I cringe.

When did this so-called poshtalk start? If you listen to Winston Churchill or King Edward VIII for example they just sound like us ordinary people. They didn't say 'hice' for 'house'.

I'm not a great fan of loans, unless it's with a view to buy. He had a couple of good chances on Tuesday though.

It appears not: http://www.rosebowlplc.com/news/fireworks-night-2010/ I think I'll just hide behind the sofa, as usual.

Zero drives from the Arabic 'zephyr' via a long route and its invention was an important step in arithmetic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/0_(number). Naught is, I believe, and older english version meaning 'nothing', as in the famous poem by Arthur Hugh Clough: 'Say not the struggle naught availeth' http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/arthur_hugh_clough/poems/7006

A couple of years ago my daughter and her husband went to a pop concert there and were afraid of parking troubles so I took them to the ground and picked them up. When I collected them there was plenty of space in the grass car park opposite Holiday Inn and no traffic problems, but perhaps tonight will be different?

Correct, £10 minimum, and it has to be agreed between the two clubs.

Look, everybody is different and I am only explaining why a very large number of people are not going tomorrow. That's their choice. It doesn't make them bad or good, just different. Personally I think that the Club has made a big commercial mistake. There is a big difference between sitting halway up the stand near the halfway line and being on the touchline in the corner. Some people have paid for parking season tickets and for the first season at St. Mary's are having to pay for cup games as well. I repeat, it's madness to close the best stand in the stadium and expect a big crowd.

Well if you normally sit in seat 102 row M block 5 I'm not surprised that you don't mind changing.

Fair enough, but I assume you are not a long-term ST holder who has been sitting with the same group for over 20 years?

That's the first rule of life, although I use the term 'idiots' myself. Not that it is more politically correct, just a result of my upbringing and experiences. Always assume that and you won't be far wrong. http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/03/the-words-moron-imbecile-and-idiot-mean-different-things/

1. No you can't. 2. How do you go about doing that? 3. Who said I was not going? I know plenty of people who won't be.

Strictly speaking it's not 'naught' because that means nothing. Each of these symbols is merely one digit in a long number so a zero cannot be a nought or naught.