On Tue, 5 Aug 2003 at 13:03:01, wrote:
(ref: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>)
>I admit I have let people down in the past - I don't think Geoff was one of
>them though, but I stand to be corrected. I have given Jochen several
>headaches in the past, all of which were my fault, and thankfully he has
>forgiven me each time - Thanks Jochen. And also Tony, who has almost
>murdered me via email on several occasions when trying to do a show flyer,
>but has always persisted. Just one of the many reasons why these people are
>my friends.
You aren't the worst (8-)#
>
>I too have pondered getting out of the QL scene - as a trader at least,
>especially over the last 6 months or so. I have become a father, Dylan Jack
>Branagh is now 4 months old and its an expensive thing, bringing up kids. I
>am building a house, and commuting to Galway each week (a 400 mile round
>trip as I work in Dublin) to see my fiancee and son so every penny counts
>these days -I am no longer a single bloke living with his parents with
>loads of spare cash to blow - those days are gone. A few years ago, I made
>my last real profit at QL2000, since then, it typically costs me a couple
>of hundred quid per show to go to one. I have even been to shows were I
>have sold NOTHING, not a sausage.
I can beat that. Jochen and Roy will remember me at Eindhoven not only
not selling anything, but having to give a refund!
>
>But I too will stay with it. because I LOVE it. I love meeting the faces
>and chatting with people I consider real friends - we all have our foibles,
>and I have loads, but the reason I stay is the friendships. Every decent
>funny story I know revolves around a QL - the night Dilwyn Jones and Simon
>Goodwin where programming at opposite ends of my bedroom, and Dilwyn asked
>Simon for a Floppy dick......(!)
... and a very well known (and liked) groupie who had put a new hard
dick in his laptop.
... and the time when Phil Borman left my passport in Dover, and I had
to be smuggled around for days.
.... and when Freddie Vachha seemed impressed by my new car (quite
something if you knew Freddie and his car) but tried to grab the wheel
on the Brussel's RING - "You are not going fast enough" (I was doing
almost 100)
... and the Croatia trip by car.
... and cycling from Reggio Emilia to Parma, and finding this brilliant
Pizza place called "The Red Sun" in English. Roy remembers it from
recently.
... and Stuart's exploding tyre in the middle of a quiet Italian village
during siesta (Mafia war?) and repairing it with a piece of his
rucksack.
At 'Cap de Nuit' in Brussel's at 06:30. It was full of night revellers,
and closed at 07:30 after all night sittings.
... and Freddie Vachha's breakfast there (four helpings) - giving us the
spare 'rabbit food'.
> The time Roy Wood, Jim Hunkins, Tony
>Firshman and I ended up in a Gay Bar in Montreal,
Two from what I recall, but we recognised the first as gay (men
dancing!) I will never forget the reaction of the (very) gay barman to
Darren's attempts to teach him how to pour a pint of Guinness.
Priceless.
... and Stuart getting very drunk in Laragh and almost fighting with
groupie mentioned above.
... and the food team (including daughter) at Hove.
> The time Tony spent ages
>looking for a serial cable for Roy when there was one on Roys table all
>along,
That was at London for Keith Mitchell to try out a modem on his kneetop
(ie his very tiny laptop). ... not just the lead but a whole host of
Roy's cable converters (and it worked).
That happened again in a very similar way at Byfleet.
Roy will always have exactly the lead you want in his lucky dip, but
will never know it is there!
> The night Dilwyn used the Calculator on QPAC1 to divide out a
>restaurant bill after a row started,
These rows have happened in a similar way for years.
We had an evening out in Northampton after a show. I like squeezing
interest free credit out of my credit card, so I offered to pay the bill
and take cash. Someone (fortunately I forgot who!) walked out without
paying me "I am not paying your company barclaycard" so the few pounds
interest I saved was outweighed by the £18 loss and his free meal! He
must have thought I was on a tax fiddle - what funny ideas people have
of QL Traders.
>and the night Jochen and Dilwyn and I
>brought Marcel Kilgus out for a Birthday curry when he hated the damn
>things .........
curry you mean, not birthdays (or was it both?)
... or the time at the same venue when we discovered the whole room was
powered of one person (chained down the line). Everyone's computers went
off when this one person left!
> All priceless moments I remember with great fondness - I'm
>laughing as I write this.
>Then there was the amazing programming moments - seeing Simon Goodwin
>rewrite a portion of his DIY toolkit extensions just for me in a few
>minutes, which I still use today. Sitting in Dilwyns house having a beer,
>and then seeing Dilwyn jump up 'cos hes just had a great idea - and an hour
>later the QL Documentation CD was done. The many hours spent working
>through the night into the wee small hours before a show just to get a new
>product finished, or Watching Marcel battle with QPC and why it wasn't
>working on Toshiba laptops in Dilwyns house.... amazing stuff.
Tony Tebby will remember doing a similar things for RomDisq. Laurence
had patched his code to remove a bug (V2.13a), and TT did v2.14 (still
in use) in seconds at Eindhoven.
>
>I can see the day when we remaining traders will set up shop in a hall as
>usual, and nobody will arrive, nothing will be sold, and that will be it -
>but hopefully that a few years away yet. I do think we are having too many
>shows each year now though, and a big show each year with maybe one or two
>others at the maximum is where we are now at.
... but us traders will still be around for Irish shows (8-)#
>
>Thats all I have to say. Yes, the QL world is a shadow of its former self -
>shock!!! Its been that way for years. Geoff has made a decision which is
>very sad and he'll be missed, his eloquent turn of phrase and enjoyable
>sense of humour will be now lacking at our meetings - or will you still
>attend the odd one as a QL user Geoff?
>
>Maybe you could come to the Irish QL show this year? That really is a
>social event, and we had a ball last year. May be the tonic your looking
>for.... let your hair down and remember why you became a QL user in the
>first place.
Sturat and I will be cycling there with tents on our backs - that is
what real QL shows are about now (8-)#
... but I have little hair to let down these days.
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