Whiskey......
Thank you for the PM.....I hope that someday soon things turn up for you. I can see that you are struggling a bit right now with all of the things that life has thrown your way in the last few months.....

My thoughts are with you, my friend.

Mark and the kitties.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Whiskey, I wish to add my condolences too.

Too much to say, but not enough words. If you have Skype and wish to talk, send me a PM.

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Pluto will always be a planet to me.

Seti Ambassador
Not to late to order an Anni Shirt

Freddy-bear.. Here`s to you;



Take care!!!

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I'm very sorry to hear the sad news Whiskey. Andrea & I send you our condolences.

Do as Mark states - Take your time - We'll all be here when you're ready to return.

Kind regards

Pat

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. . . Our Condolences - from this House to Yours Whiskey

joanne & richard

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BOINC Wiki . . .

Science Status Page . . .

a Note: anybody that hasn't gotten a Personal PM from Johnnie

- PM me back and i'll send a copy over - his Mailbox is really jambed up

Thank You . . .

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BOINC Wiki . . .

Science Status Page . . .

a Note: anybody that hasn't gotten a Personal PM from Johnnie

- PM me back and i'll send a copy over - his Mailbox is really jambed up

Thank You . . .

That would be great Richard.....I was gonna offer to last night, but would not have had the time to respond, having to go to work in a bit.

It was a very nice PM, and explains a lot about what he is going through at the moment...and he did give his express permission to forward it to anybody caring about him right now.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

[EDIT UPDATE]: another from Johnnie -

[quote]

Thank you for your reply Richard.

I leave it to your discretion whether or not to post my PM on the boards.
I bow to your knowledge in these matters as I am not sure that it is right or proper to post personal bad news on what should be a lighthearted and humourous forum.

If you choose to post the PM please add a PS that I am absolutely up to my ears at the moment in reorganising and simplifying my Dads world, funeral arrangements, financial and insurance tasks, condolence visits and phone calls.
Dad still hasn't fully recovered control of his mouth and sounds drunk so is reluctant to answer the phone.

Mum had started writing Xmas cards from her and Dad. There were about 20 cards on the writing desk written and ready to be popped into envelopes.

On her Xmas card list my name is crossed out but my card isn't in the pile of cards. Her cheque book shows that she wrote me a cheque the day that she died. Ergo; my Xmas card is in the mail. That's gonna hurt when I get back to Dubai.

regards,

Johnnie.

[quote]


from Johnnie [Whiskey]

[quote]

Hi Richard,

Sorry if this is a little impersonal but it's a general news letter and a rush job so please forgive any grammatical errors.

Please do feel free to circulate this PM in case I have inadvertently offended anyone by an error of omission.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First, my heartfelt thanks for all your messages of condolence and sympathy in this tragic and devastating period of my life.

As many of you know my Dad recently suffered a stroke and is having a hard time coming to terms with his new reality. He has lost his driving license after 70 years and 50 of those years as a member of the I.A.M. (Institute of Advanced Motorists) It cut the legs off my parents because they live a long way from a bus route and were faced with shopping more regularly because they would be restricted to public transport and buying only what they could carry.
We thought that was the worst of their fears!

My brother, Graham, isn't a great a communicator and only calls me on special occasions. My Mums name is Dorothy, "Dorfy" to family members.
My phone rang on Sunday night and my brother said "I have some very bad news"
My immediate thought was that Dad had another stroke; or worse; and I was prepared for that!

When Graham said "Dorfy died an hour ago"; for the first time in my life I was shocked speechless.

As Graham told me of the circumstances of Mums demise; massive heart attack; D.O.A etc. the tears welled up and I had to tell Graham that I would call him back because I just couldn't speak. I was shocked and devastated.

My Mum and I shared a very special bond. I was her first born; born on her 21st birfday. This year on Feb 4th we celebrated 7 X 21st birfdays between us. I was 63 and Mum was 84.

I can't remember to whom I have previously stated the following but it has long been my hope that my Dad would die before my Mum because he is out of the same mold as my Grandfathers. He is a typical patriarchal, sexist, Yorkshire man. A woman's place is in the kitchen and the bedroom and a man provides for his family etc.

Both my Grandfathers survived their spouses but not for long. They weren't equipped to survive without a woman. My Dad is going the same route, he can't even boil an egg and I don't think he has ever used the Microwave or washing machine or ironed his own shirts! That's woman's work.

I once tried to talk to him about it and he accused me of being morbid and of wishing Mum dead!

A morbid coincidence. My late wife was born on 7th December. She would have been 67 last Sunday. On her birfday I can't help but remember previous birfdays and daydream about what might have been, what should have been etc. I take out the photo's of her 40th, 50th and 60th birfdays and reminisce. I did that on Sunday. What a weird twist of fate that my Mum should die on the anniversary of my wife's birth!

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You haven't heard much from me on the boards recently because I am really not a very happy Teddy Bear at this time for other reasons.

Through no fault of my own I am forced to reorganise my life. One spends thirty years working, saving, investing and planning for ones retirement and finally one retires with everything in place to enjoy the retirement lifestyle of ones dreams then stupid greedy Bankers wipe 45% off ones capital in three months.
I know that stocks and shares can go down as well as up but with a well diversified portfolio they will always do better than the Savings Bank rate over time so one can base ones budget on trends and averages; until now!
I have been hit by a triple whammy.

On top of the loss of value of my capital assets I am being financially crippled by the US$ exchange rate.

The UAE Dirham is pegged to the Dollar so I am living in a Dollar environment but my income is in GBP, Euro's, Cyprus Pounds and Danish Krone which have all dived against the Dollar by 30-40% in the past few weeks.

Then the final whammy; following the disastrous fall in property values; everyone has slashed interest rates to the lowest in decades further reducing my income.

I sought advice from three financial advisers who all gave me different and conflicting advice but all agree that I am never going to get back to the secure state that I enjoyed three months ago without financially gainful employment to compensate for my reduced credit cash flow. I am forced to convert assets to cash which in turn reduces my future income expectations from assets.

The assets which I am forced to sell were already willed to my daughter and grandchildren which involved changing my will; more unplanned expenditure.

Following the recent meeting of European and American Ministers of Finance in Dubai where they got out their begging bowls and went home empty handed; a local financial columnist wrote that; "The greedy bankers who caused this global mess are now begging us to invest heavily and bail out their Banks", "They must think that we are stupid"

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For the past few years I have been falling out of love with The Emirates and Dubai in particular. There are now no secluded beaches left where one can get away from the people, the neon and noise, concrete and chrome and the exhaust fumes for a few days of camping, diving and living naked. Every last one of the beaches that were formerly accessible only by 4X4 or boat are now either easily accessed by the general public in their Honda's or have become private beaches for new garish tourist hotels. The last "Getaway" place left; Mussandam, was "Discovered" last year and is being rapidly developed as another tourist haven with high rise hotels, Malls and Marina's. If I remain in Dubai and maintain my present lifestyle at current exchange/interest rates I will be short of cash again in 3 years so the decision over which I was mulling a few months ago has now been forced upon me.

My wife and I used to drive down to Salallah and Rakhyut in Oman once in a while. It's a four day drive all the way down the Oman coast, camping and diving then a one day drive back up the Oman spinal Freeway, approximately 600 miles(1000Km) Oman has 400 miles of pristine coastline accessible only by rough graded gravel roads or camel tracks. I have just been down there checking out the cost of living, property prices, visa regulations etc. I may soon become an Omani.

I am loath to leave the Middle East area because contrary to what you may have deduced from mainstream media reports, the Saudi satellite countries (Except Yemen) are very different from Saudi, Iraq, etc. No drunks, no drugs, no thugs, no guns, children can play out after dark and women can safely walk the streets at night. Tropical climate, no taxes and friendly natives.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As you may have already deduced from the foregoing ramblings, I wish I could turn the clock back a few months knowing what I know now.
In an unbelievably short period my life has gone from financially comfortable and stable, with two aged but reasonably healthy parents; to a state of financial near-panic, devastating personal loss and mourning and a father who is in denial and is now mentally incapable of tackling the rapid learning curve with which he is faced if he is to survive as a widower in his home of the last 61 years.

Thank you again for your sincere messages of condolence and sympathy it brings me solace to know that I have friends out there in Cruncherland who are thinking of me outwith the environment of Posts and Stats.

Cheers,

Johnnie.

If you reply to this letter please don't expect a reply anytime soon, my IN-TRAY is creaking under the load. ;(

[quote]

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BOINC Wiki . . .

Science Status Page . . .

Many years ago a friend of my fathers retired from his job as a Taxi/Limo driver and joked that a Taxi Drivers two worst fears are....

Knowing that this trip will be his last, and..Not knowing that this will be his last.

You never know when the last photo that you shot really was was the last photo....

August 2008.
Mum and "The best 21st Birfday present that a woman could wish for"

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Join the #1 UAE Team.

I just read your news, and wish to add my own condolences, good luck, hope you can get through all of this ok. I've known you a very short time, but have had great fun with you in the Mini Cities, and now count you as a friend. My thoughts, and especially, my prayers are with you and your Father and Brother. Please take care of yourself as best as you can. I'm half a world away, but would offer any help that I can do for you.

Dan

AZM-CITY - Population - 30,521 Revenue - 7,393,850 € Rank - 20

EAGLES FLIGHT - Population - 15,802 Revenue - 3,705,650 € Rank - 224

UAE RESIDENTS - Population - 23,840 Revenue - 5,600,200 € Rank - 3

SETI CITY - Population - 95,471 Revenue - 23,561,100 € Rank - 42

SKOFUS - Population - 21,186 Revenue - 5,121,950 € Rank - 28

TFFE - Population - 24,298 Revenue - 5,837,550 € Rank - 14

Eagles Flight, Seti City, AZM-City, and Skofus have all moved up in standings Congratulations. :)

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What you do today you will have to live with tonight

Thanks SE

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Pluto will always be a planet to me.

Seti Ambassador
Not to late to order an Anni Shirt

Is everyone having trouble getting onto Idarionis Hydra or is it only me?

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Is everyone having trouble getting onto Idarionis Hydra or is it only me?

Not just you....the Hydra server appears to be dead in the water this morning.....

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Is everyone having trouble getting onto Idarionis Hydra or is it only me?

This is weird - for the last week or so, every time I try to access Hydra on any of the net rigs upstairs, I get calculation errors - please re-login. However, for the past few days, have accessed through Andrea's rig downstairs & have had no problems.

Wondering is this because the router is directly connected to her machine?

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THE MINI-CITY NEWS.

8th to 9th Dec.

----------------Rank-----Rank Chg----Pop-----Pop Increase---Highest Rank

UAE Res.............3.............0..........22,454..........470.................3...............UAE.
Moon...............20.............0..........29,989..........408................20..............Norway.
Eagle.............235.............1..........14,621..........195..............235..............USA.
Skofus.............28.............0..........19,759........1,111...............28..............Norway.
TFFE................15.............0..........23,952..........204................14..............ICELAND.
Seti.................44.............0..........93,507........1,473................44..............USA.
Dvorak...........148.............0...........8,505............261..............148.............UK.
KWSN................3.............0..........80,149........1,101..................3..............GREENLAND.
DacomV.........176.............5............6,841...........253..............176..............UK.

===========================================================================================================

9th to 10th Dec.

UAE Res.............3.............0..........23,458........1,004.................3...............UAE.
Moon...............20.............0..........30,405...........416................20..............Norway.
Eagle.............226.............9..........15,549...........928..............226..............USA.
Skofus.............28.............0..........20,852........1,093................28..............Norway.
TFFE................14.............1..........24,262...........310................14..............ICELAND.
Seti.................42.............2..........95,092........1,585.................42.............USA.
Dvorak...........145.............3...........9,157............652..............145..............UK.
KWSN................3.............0..........81,231.........1,082.................3..............GREENLAND.
DacomV.........169.............7............6,292............451..............169..............UK.

Congratulations to Ingrid on your 30,000th, Bob on your 15,000th and Uli on your 20,000th citizen.

Please givvuz a click grovel, grovel, implore, beseech, plead, beg, pray!

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Join the #1 UAE Team.

Catching up with the Mini City Stats got my head away from the realities of life for a short time.

Many thanks to ALL for your emails and PM's.

I'm getting things sorted out here and can now see the light at the end of the tunnel, the funeral is tomorrow.
Last night I managed to sleep for 5 hours which helped a lot, I feel more alert today.
I'm still weighing the +/- of moving to Sallalah in Oman but all my guestimates and extrapolations regarding my future financial state are based on today's exchange rate of 1.44 US$/GBP and an average interest rate of 2%
I am now being assured that this situation will change in the near future because Europe will recover faster than the US but who can you trust anymore? Recent events have only served to prove that Stockbrokers and financial advisers are clueless.
The biggest joke was ING who were baled out for Billions and prevented from going bankrupt. One of their fields of "Expertise" is financial risk assessment and risk management. LMAO.
I would hate to go through the hassle and expense of uprooting and moving only to find, a year from now, that I didn't need to do it.

Cheers,

Johnnie.

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Join the #1 UAE Team.

...and at today's closing price £1 just about equals 1 Euro!
We should have been in it at the start.

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All done for the day. Hydra been behaving itself on Andrea's rig, again no problems.

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Rounds of the local group concluded successfully.
Looks to me as though everyone has been giving Whiskey a well-deserved boost and mine has just gone on.

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