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Hi, Rusty!
I have no doubt told you that I once did a proof -reading course?
It was great fun actually, and I qualified with flying colours!
But when it came down to the nitty-gritty of correcting manuscripts, I just couldn't hack being told to let most errors go unchecked .......because the authors didn't like criticism!
I gave up doing it!
I found I couldn't let a mistake go by....
"Now We Are Sixty" is a parody /skit by Christopher Matthew , on A.A. Milne's book "Now We Are Six"!
It should be very entertaining!
I ordered it but recently from Amazon., and am looking forward to reading it.


Hello, Chris!
Just read your post...
It's all in a hyphen !

Good evening, Elle!
"Flying colours"!
Wonder where that comes from?
I'll have a look in Brewers later.
I would have thought the authors would appreciate the proof-readers efforts to make their book better?
In my "New York", there is a character called Dirk van Dyck.
I wonder if Mary Tyler Moore will make an appearance!

Hi, Rusty!
I used to love watching "The Dick Van Dyke Show"!
Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke played a very convincing married couple!
Goodness, that is a long time ago now.....
Our mechanic friend has just popped round to take look at our car.
The car keeps telling us that there is a fault with the battery.....
(The car thinks it's Kitt in Knightrider....)
But apparently there is nothing wrong with the battery that a long drive on a motorway won't solve!
So.......I am thinking where to go....!
A good excuse for an outing?!

Hello, Elle!
I liked Mary Tyler Moore.
I think she is dead now.
There is a lad in my book called Peter Stuyvesant.
I remember they were a brand of cigarettes, too.
Sounds like your battery needs a charge.
Did your mechanic check the terminals were clean and tight?
It does not need to be a long drive on a motorway.
If it was my car, I'd do 20 miles with everything switched off.
Like lights, heaters etc.
But, batteries have a limited life, so it may be coming to the end of its useful life.
Keep an eye on it with Winter ahead.

Hi, Rusty!
Yes, Mary Tyler Moore died last year....at the age of 80, I think.
I don't know what Chris did to the car, Rusty.....the workings of cars are quite beyond me!
He says the battery is fine anyway, but just needs a good charge!
Funnily enough, when we bought the car from the Volvo garage a few years ago now, we were told that we should take it for a longish (fastish) drive on a motorway every so often!
I'm not sure what that was supposed to achieve?
I think it helped to clean something out?
I have no idea what?
However, we have never done that...driving it very little really, and certainly not for any significant distance.
Only for local trips.
I guess the car just needs a bit more excitement in its life!
Yes, we shall keep an eye on it...but I don't think there is any cause for concern.
Bill Bryson does not seem to have a very high opinion of Bolton!
He dismisses it in one sentence!

Hello, Elle!
If you only do local short trip, stop start driving, your battery will not be getting sufficient charge.
A brisk drive of twenty miles or so will charge it up.
Or, the first really cold morning, it may not start.
I do not know what your Volvo garage was meaning by "clean something out", but cars are designed to be driven and not short trips around town.
What did Bill say about Bolton?

Hi, Rusty!
Ah, Bolton.....
Bill simply dismissed it in one sentence by coupling it with Bradford ( in Yorkshire) which he had been tearing to pieces in a previous chapter!
I cannot offer any input about Bradford, as I have never been there...but Bolton wasn't a bad old town when I used to live there!
It may well have changed over the years, of course ...I haven't been back there in a very long time.
I remember the town centre as having an imposing Town Hall, good shops and a covered Market Hall.
I lived on the outskirts of Bolton though.....only a fairly short walk to the moors and lovely countryside.
He didn't seem to like Manchester either .... I was amazed though at his saying he couldn't find a curry in Manchester!
The city is famous for its "Curry Mile"!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curry_Mile
Neverless, I am still enjoying the book!

Hello, Elle!
I have certainly heard of the great curry shops in Manchester.
Still, Bill is allowed his opinion.
I am not sure if I still have that book or not.
I know I liked it.
I would like to see what he has to say about Bolton and Bradford.
He should visit the Pribilofs, then he could really find something to moan about!
Didn't he go to Blackpool, too?

Hi, Rusty!
Bill said
"You would never guess that a place as prosperous and decorous as Harrogate could inhabit the same zone of the country as Bradford or Bolton........"
A very disparaging remark?
And a tad confusing as Bolton is not even in the same county as Harrogate and Bradford.
Bolton is in the North -West of England ( previously in Lancashire; now classed sa being in Greater Manchester)
Whereas Harrogate and Bradford are both in Yorkshire - in the North-East.
However, I enjoy Bill's books too much to be influenced by his opinions!
I shall continue to read and enjoy them...... without prejudice!

Good afternoon, Elle!
A fine day here!
It is only Bill's opinion.
That's what he is paid for.
And he does not hold back when speaking about bits of the USA that he dislikes.
I agree, enjoy his books, some of them are very good!