= Сообщение: 11213 из 12505 ===================================== ENET.SYSOP = От : David Rance 2:203/2 05 Feb 22 11:34:30 Кому : Ward Dossche 05 Feb 22 11:34:30 Тема : Calling ... FGHI : area://ENET.SYSOP?msgid=2:203/2+61fe52b6 На : area://ENET.SYSOP?msgid=2:292/854+0e242a22 = Кодировка сообщения определена как: CP437 ================================== ============================================================================== On Sat, 5 Feb 2022 09:35:09 Ward Dossche -> Björn Felten wrote:
WD>>> Calling you is a bit like checking if Voyager-2 is still BF>> transmiting.
WD>>> How's your nuclear reactor doing?
BF>> I too miss his words of wisdom, but I can assure you that he picks up BF>> every piece of interest here, like a clockwork every ten minutes.
WD> Way way way back in time there was a Norwegian sysop who had been dead WD> for 6 months and nobody knew about it ... he lived alone, all his WD> payments were automated, his system ran unattended, picked-up mail like WD> a clockwork ... alone when he started smelling did neighbours worry ...
WD> Or more close to you ... Goran's system also ran unattended while he WD> was in no way capable of monitoring it. I saw in my logs when he passed WD> in the hospice when they powered down his PC and calls suddenly failed WD> ...
WD> The man whose name we're not supposed to mention ... the same thing.
WD> Like a clockwork means nothing ...
BF>> As soon as David finds something interesting, nothing much of that BF>> going around presently though, I'm sure he'll respond, so keep on baiting BF>> him. <3
WD> C'mon David ... let's hear from you ...
I'm flattered that you still remember me - and even care about me! :-)
Yes, I'm still here. Of course, you are right in that my system is picking up messages with a regularity that surprises even me (!) and that I could have been laid to rest without anyone knowing until such time as my daughters felt the need to turn off the lights permanently.
Bjorn is quite right, I don't tend to litter the vast space known as the Internet with unnecessary chatter but I do read ENET.SYSOP as soon as new messages come in and will respond if I feel I have something useful to contribute. Whether others think my contributions are useful is not for me to say.
However, I didn't read your messages until this morning because I was occupied yesterday with playing the organ for a funeral service for a good friend of my eldest daughter. She was a doctor in London and died suddenly a month ago from cancer.
I'm pleased to report that I am in good health and have managed to steer clear of the dreaded Covid. I haven't been able to visit my house in France for over two years and I'm still waiting for the French to lift their requirements for PCR testing before I attempt to go over again. The vineyard must be in a terrible tangle but I have promises from my children to come and help when I am able to get over there. In the meantime I spend time on the garden here.
My organ playing is picking up again after the lockdown and I have, for the last three months or so, been called back to the church where I was director music until I retired nine years ago. My successor suddenly resigned and they asked me to take over the music for the Christmas services. I'm still playing for their Sunday parish communion until the church building is closed down for, what is called in Anglican churches, re-ordering. That is a complete renovation of the interior of the church.
A couple of weeks ago we did a final choral evensong and I needed an assistant organist so that I could conduct the choir. Unfortunately a day before the service this assistant organist went down with Covid. Nil desperandum! I accompanied the choir on the organ for the psalm and the Magnificat which they sang without a conductor. The Nunc Dimittis needed a conductor because parts of it were unaccompanied so I asked one of the basses to conduct for that.
But then I needed an organist for the anthems, Vivaldi's Gloria and the Hallelujah chorus. Difficult accompaniments. So I resorted to a kind of karaoke! About fifteen years ago we'd had a MIDI interface added to the organ and I had recorded accompaniments in MIDI format to several pieces which included the two anthems above. So I dug out my fifteen year old laptop and recordings and connected it to the organ and ..... it still worked! It played the accompaniments flawlessly just as I had done fifteen years ago! (When I say flawlessly, I should say that I edited out the wrong notes!)
Well, that's more than enough about me for now, but I hope it's enough for you to know that I am not just alive but am still kicking vigorously! (If anyone needs me to explain that saying, just ask!)
Oh, I expect you'd like me to say something about Boris.
Well, I think he's a twerp! In spite of many mistakes he's done a lot of good, but he's spoiled it by not sticking to the rules that he set for the rest of us.
I've always wondered about Churchill and WWII. I always thought it a bit of a double standard that he could enjoy drink and expensive cigars while the rest of the population were suffering rationing and shortages. I wonder if Churchill would have suffered the same criticism as Boris today.
David
-- David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK
