Nice People Thread Number 11 - A Treasury of Nice People

PasturesNew

vivatifosi wrote: »

I sat part one of the Behavioural Economics exam tonight. I don't know why considering I have absolutely nothing riding on it other than a bit of time and pride, but I was a bit nervous. Thankfully it was pretty straightforward and took about 20 mins of the two hours allowed. Phew.

Sounds like the launch of the old GCSE exams. If you just wrote your name at the top you'd get a grade.

2 minutes/2 hours seems similar .... the start of the "nobody can fail" attitude

PasturesNew

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Me too....

Although I hear playing it is a prerequisite to winning. So that's me out of luck then.

That's the trouble ... there's always a catch

Generali

The Generalissimos asked to help the heating on today. It was probably 20C at the time.

They got the 'you don't know anything about cold' speech, some of which is even possibly true unlike much of what I tell them.

Kids are so credulous.

It's actually a bit nippy today: 17C now. Aussies don't believe in insulation or even simple things like doors that fit in the holes for them.

PasturesNew

Generali wrote: »

Aussies don't believe in insulation or even simple things like doors that fit in the holes for them.

Hangover from the convict days .... they hate feeling shut in :P

vivatifosi

PasturesNew wrote: »

Sounds like the launch of the old GCSE exams. If you just wrote your name at the top you'd get a grade.

2 minutes/2 hours seems similar .... the start of the "nobody can fail" attitude

Nah... it's multiple choice and they give extra time for people around the world taking it with poor internet connections as once you've started the clock is running. You still have to read and revise to get a very good mark.

I once took a multiple choice quiz for a job. I didn't know I was going to have to take it and new nothing about the subject matter... which was nothing to do with the job. It was to work for the military and you had to take all these tests irrespective of whether they counted towards your job. It was a technical quiz about vehicle mechanics. I got 16%. The score I should have got by just guessing was 20%.

One of the questions was... what should you top up a battery with? I checked "kerosene". My family, who are hands on in comparison to me, think this is hilarious.

PasturesNew

vivatifosi wrote: »

One of the questions was... what should you top up a battery with? I checked "kerosene". My family, who are hands on in comparison to me, think this is hilarious.

LOL ... yes, it's distilled water

Generali

PasturesNew wrote: »

Hangover from the convict days .... they hate feeling shut in :P

They love that joke over here, especially at customs .

"Do you have any criminal convictions Sir?"
"I didn't realise I still needed one!"

vivatifosi

PasturesNew wrote: »

Last night I was googling my family name in this area where I live (it's a hotbed of where the family name came from.... and very/scarily overactive) .... and in the past I'd read a story that "XYZ was in the Workhouse, 16 and pregnant ... with her brother's child" - and last night I read another site where somebody took that head on and pointed out that the person who'd come up with that had found only one instance of a Frank ... and, in fact, there'd been two Franks locally and the other one was the father (and not the incestuous brother).

Fascinating stuff.

My aunt started doing our family name, but then discovered there's a HUGE study base of researchers doing it here + they bred like rabbits ... so she ended up pursuing our maternal line instead (which is also in a foreign language) as they didn't breed like rabbits and were a "more refined/upmarket" line .... such a snob.

There is a vast difference between published lists too. e.g. Census of one particular year can yield very different results/families depending where you get it from - so you never know when you've got a full list.

I can only "spot" my maternal line in lists because I have insider information about what went on and a thorough understanding of the local geography.

If the surname is not a really common one, it may also be worth looking at the Guild of one name studies... they call themselves goons. If it is a local name and its on the list, you may find that the expert on that surname is near you.

PasturesNew

Generali wrote: »

They love that joke over here, especially at customs .

"Do you have any criminal convictions Sir?"
"I didn't realise I still needed one!"

In my "tree" is one of the first fleeters - probably the "most famous one". He was a sailor and married a convict on the boat over.

I doubt I'm a descendant as I suspect they all stayed over there .... but go up my tree and I'm probably descended from his brothers/parents/grandparents.... the link/information would be out there if I had to time/desire to make the link.

PasturesNew

vivatifosi wrote: »

If the surname is not a really common one, it may also be worth looking at the Guild of one name studies... they call themselves goons. If it is a local name and its on the list, you may find that the expert on that surname is near you.

It's easier than that.... locally (15 miles away) the prolific group with their own building/archive centre have a list of "interested names" and at least four of them are full-time doing that name. Couldn't have been closer to the "seat of the name". So I'd just have to join that group (£12) and stick my hand up and say "Hey - see, I'm one of you lot". Probably half the room would instantly be related and pull out their charts.... it's easy/traceable.

Only "fly in the ointment" is I am a direct descendant from: the fella who seems to have left his wife/child and ran off with another woman and had a family .... so descended from the black sheep... they're probably still muttering about it in the village 150-200 years on. I might be auto-banned from their pubs or something

There are roads round this way and houses round this way that use my family name.

My name might also be mud as my aunt got in an online ruck over the name 11 years ago .... and it all ended in people severing links on their charts and refusing to speak to each other....