The thread invites participants to share daily lessons or interesting facts they have learned, encompassing a wide range of topics from personal experiences to historical facts, scientific insights, and humorous observations. The scope includes casual learning, trivia, and personal anecdotes.
The discussion features a variety of viewpoints and personal anecdotes, with no clear consensus on any specific topic. Participants express differing opinions and experiences, particularly regarding the effects of television and the historical context of various facts shared.
Some claims made in the discussion are based on personal experiences or anecdotal evidence, and there are instances of participants correcting or refining each other's statements without reaching a definitive conclusion.
Readers interested in casual learning, trivia, personal anecdotes, or exploring a variety of topics in a light-hearted manner may find this thread engaging.
My brother and I used both systems when were young.Swamp Thing said:TIL that the name "Meccano" was supposed to suggest "make and know", apart from the obvious mechanical concept.
For non-British members, this was a model construction set similar to the US Erector Set, with which it completed for a few years before withdrawing from the American market.
I wonder when I read these polls how many of the small response items are people just #$@^&# with the pollsters. 4% believe in shape shifting reptilian people? Really? 1 out of every 25 people? Not in my community (IHornbein said:
Operation London Bridge was the funeral plan for Queen Elizabeth II. The plan included the announcement of her death, the period of official mourning, and the details of her state funeral. The plan was created as early as the 1960s and revised many times in the years before her death in September 2022.
The phrase "London Bridge is down" was to be used to communicate the death of the Queen to the prime minister of the United Kingdom and key personnel, setting the plan into motion
[SCENE START]
REGINALD: (Picking up a secure red rotary phone, voice trembling with gravity) It is done. (Beat) Give me the Commissioner.
[Split screen: ARTHUR’S phone rings. He picks up with a greasy hand.]
ARTHUR: Hello, Pike & Sons? We’re a bit backed up at the moment, if it’s about the tiling in Bromley, we’ve run out of grout.
REGINALD: (Ignoring him, speaking in a rehearsed, somber tone) The clouds have gathered over the Thames. The Eagle has nested. London Bridge has fallen.
ARTHUR: (Spits out tea) Blimey! Already? I told ‘em that structural support was absolute rubbish! Did it go into the water then?
REGINALD: (Stunned pause) Well... yes. Metaphorically and literally, the spirit has departed the vessel.
ARTHUR: I don't know about spirits and vessels, mate, but I know about gravity. Was there anyone on it when she went?
REGINALD: (Wiping a tear) The entire nation was on it, in a sense. The weight of history.
ARTHUR: (Winces) Ooh, nasty. That’ll be a lot of claims, then. I told the Council the rivets were more rust than metal. I suppose you’ll be wanting us to fish the bits out?
REGINALD: (Confused) Fish the bits out? We are currently preparing the lying-in-state! The procession must be immaculate!
ARTHUR: Lying in state? You can’t leave it in the middle of the river, it’s a shipping hazard! And don't bother with a procession, you'll need a crane. A bloody big one.
REGINALD: (Offended) A crane? For the Monarch?! We shall use a gun carriage, pulled by one hundred and forty-two Royal Naval sailors!
ARTHUR: (Long silence) ...Right. I mean, it’s your budget, guv. Bit disrespectful to the sailors, though, innit? Dragging a pile of wet rubble through the streets of Westminster?
REGINALD: Rubble?! How dare you! This is the very foundation of our constitutional identity!
ARTHUR: Look, I liked the bridge too, it had a nice Victorian charm, but at the end of the day, it’s just stone and mortar, isn't it? We can have a new one up by Tuesday.
REGINALD: (Gasping) A... a new one? By Tuesday?
ARTHUR: Yeah. We’ve got a prefab one in the warehouse. It’s concrete, mind you. Doesn't have the "heritage" look, but it won't fall down just because a heavy bus drives over its nose.
REGINALD: (Incoherent with rage) Her Majesty... does not have... a concrete nose!
ARTHUR: Well, not anymore she doesn't! She's at the bottom of the Thames getting nibbled by eels! Now, do you want the quote for the salvage or am I wasting my tea break?
REGINALD: (Staring at the phone in horror) I... I believe I have the wrong number.
ARTHUR: And I believe you’ve got a very weird way of describing a civil engineering disaster. Cheers.
[SCENE END]