General Chat

you know those questions which occur to you but which you never quite get around to asking ( or searching for an answer on Google!)....

For instance:

Why is it that ( going by 'Escape down under' and other such programmes) most (?) fences there seem to be made of metal rather than wood? I'm sure there's an obvious answer :-)

termites!

:-(

Cyclone fences when they're strong mesh-like and not solid metal.

Many wooden fences in SW of WA

Built in Jarrah, a hardwood, impervious to termites.

Also to drills, nails and many other things :-| :-D :-D

We have wooden fences........ but get the Pest Man (sorry, being sexist..... Pest PERSON) in once a year to spray for termites (we're in NSW).

Someone told me recently that Tasmania has NO termites!

ahhhh I knew there must be a good reason, but I would never have thought of termites. Now I can 'nod wisely' every time the programme is on and someone says "I don't like these metal fences" :-)

RR, we have termites; you have dry rot :-D :-D

Dry rot, wet rot, death watch beetle, and woodworm :-)

It's all a load of rot ;-)

:-D

And another thing.....

Once a year you might exchange cards with neighbours and old friends.
They might say from John, Jane and family.
You've never socialised with the family, and your children never played with their children. In any case, their 'family' moved out a decade ago.

Why do people do that?? :-S

To let you know that they are all still alive!

If the card just said "from John" my immediate thought would be "what's happened to Jane?"

One such person lives 3 doors away. The grapevine would soon let us know if there was anything amiss. We can see her driveway ( we're in a Close) from our front window and have observed boyfriends moving in then they & daughters moving out, babies being brought to visit and 'granny' child minding as they get older.
Apart from the very occasional passing the time of day, we aren't 'coffee' time ' acquaintances. That's what makes more confusing. They moved in by the time their girls had already left school.

Just being friendly I suppose.

You're probably right, but why include her children who don't even live there?

It may sound ungrateful, but isn't meant to be, just puzzling.

Detective, it might just be that it is their 'stock' way of signing cards and they put the same on all cards to everyone lol?

I send quite a few Christmas cards to old friends of my mum's that I have never met myself, but I usually add my brother as 'T and family' as some of them will have met him as a child but not since.

I also, I must admit, sometimes put 'To X and family' when I am not sure of the names of their children, and in case they are not still with the same partner...and it includes the pets ;-)

Hadn't thought of the 'stock' signing. On occasions I've sent cards to our children from X & Y rather than Mum & Dad :-D

I think it was Alan Sugar who had his secretary sign and send his cards, but got caught out when it came to his wife receiving a birthday card signed 'Lord Sugar' lol.

:-D She'd (the PA) had obviously thought it was an instruction too far. :-D

Maybe people are thinking in terms of 'family'. i.e. from John, Jane and family.

Also, at Christmas, people get a bit carried away, and feel in a generous mood, so include all family, wherever they may be..

In some ways I agree, but its horses for courses!!