Hi, All!

-----Beginning of the citation-----
Whatever the building was built for, it hadn't been
doing it for a long time. The corridor was dirty and
lined with rubbish - cardboard boxes, mounds of paper,
bin-liners, and half-way down, a mountain bike without
wheels.
----- The end of the citation -----

What are "bin-liners"?

Bye, All!

Alexander Koryagin

---
* Origin: nntp://news.fidonet.fi (2:221/6.0)

Hi, Ardith Hinton! -> Alexander Koryagin
I read your message from 07.11.2020 19:20

For instance, where to keep your money safer -- in bank

| in a bank or in the bank

It's interesting why "on board" is written without article? So you can do it if you want very much. ;)

or at home?
In bank your money are eaten by inflation,

| your money is [blah blah]. Dollars, Euros, rubles etc.
are countable... the word "money" isn't.

Is it the same in American and British English? It seems to me in British English, for instance, "the police" is plural, and in American English, is single. Also IMHO "the government".

Or bank fees or whatever. Here in Canada the federal government now provides deposit insurance (up to a limited amount) so that it's
unlikely we'll find our life savings reduced to zero in an
eyeblink, as many people apparently did long ago. The theory,
however, has not yet been rigorously tested....: - Q

IMHO government compensates you only if a bank went bankrupt. But there can be situation with a high inflation and low deposit interest. You lose your money slowly and perfectly lawfully. ;-)

but at home they can be taken by more conventional robbers.

Uh-huh. Dallas & I read a book by a professional thief, in which it
was made quite clear that such people know where others are most
likely to hide their valuables regardless of how clever they think
they've been. We have also heard from friends & relatives about
their experiences while travelling abroad. One individual said his
watch was stolen in England from underneath his pillow, although he
slept with his head on the latter. Another noticed someone outside
his bedroom window who quickly disappeared when it became obvious
he was awake. And a friend's wallet was stolen in Italy...
apparently by "a cute little girl".. from the pouch he carries
underneath his middle-aged belly.

I remember my purse had been stolen in France, in Grenoble, when I was there on my business trip to the local Atomic center. I forgot it in my room, and when I went back the window was opened and the purse had disappeared. I suspected then an employee of the hotel. After that I took my handkerchief and sewed a little bag from it with a lace and wore it on my neck. It was fortune for me that the assignment allowance for me arrived after that. ;=)

If you hide your $$$ under the mattress, under the edge of a
carpet, etc. it seems likely dishonest people will check out such
places first....: - Q

Yeah, they know where to search first. :-)

Bye, Ardith Hinton!
Alexander Koryagin

english_tutor 2020

---
* Origin: nntp://news.fidonet.fi (2:221/6.0)

Hi, Alexander! Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

Various examples & historical anecdotes available
on request. :-))

Oh, you are very welcome! ;-)

Okay... here's one. As you probably know, Americans drive on the right side of the road & people in a majority of other countries do too. But things haven't always been that way. When it really mattered which side of a horse a knight mounted on & what the chances were of meeting up with an enemy who was approaching from the opposite direction, it made sense to keep to the left. The situation changed in the 18th century when teamsters began hauling farm produce from one place to another. Most preferred to drive on the right because, with a team of horses working in pairs, they'd sit on the left where they could simultaneously use their dominant hand to control the horses & see that their wheels didn't get tangled up with other people's wheels.

The aristocracy still wanted do things the way they were used to, and others sometimes resented being forced to the right when horsemen passed. But over time continental Europe, Russia, and the US all accepted the idea of driving on the right. From my POV as a student of language this is where the story gets a lot more interesting. I understand that when stage coaches were used in the US somebody would probably be "riding shotgun", and that in those days people were routinely told "don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes" because the firearms which were available at the time couldn't be aimed with the same degree of precision as modern weaponry. There had been highway robbers in England since medieval times at least... e.g. Robin Hood. I think they'd have found it advantageous to conceal themselves on a horseman's left. Later on, in SomePlace Else, it made sense to position whoever was guarding a coach on the driver's right... where assailants would be more likely to hide.

AFAIC it doesn't matter which side of the road other folks prefer driving on as long as there is general agreement WRT how things are done. In Montreal there are two types of pedestrians... i.e. the quick & the dead. In LOndon the same applies, but you must look "right-left-right" before crossing the street despite what's been drilled into you since you were knee-high to a grasshopper. I survived both. Meanwhile, folks here in BC drove on the left until it became problematic that our neighbours to the south didn't. Not all provinces changed at the same time... but BC did it about a century ago. :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
* Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)

Hi, Ardith Hinton! -> Alexander Koryagin
I read your message from 17.11.2020 16:12

Various examples & historical anecdotes available on request. :-))

Oh, you are very welcome!

Okay... here's one. As you probably know, Americans drive on the
right side of the road & people in a majority of other countries do
too. But things haven't always been that way. When it really
mattered which side of a horse a knight mounted on & what the
chances were of meeting up with an enemy who was approaching from
the opposite direction, it made sense to keep to the left. The
situation changed in the 18th century when teamsters began hauling
farm produce from one place to another. Most preferred to drive on
the right because, with a team of horses working in pairs, they'd
sit on the left where they could simultaneously use their dominant
hand to control the horses & see that their wheels didn't get
tangled up with other people's wheels.

I also want to note, that women also were road traffic participants, and during those times they sat on their horses sidelong with their both legs hung on the left side of horse. So, if the traffic on roads had been right-sided women could have gone under the horse approaching from the opposite direction, in case they fell from their own horses. It case of left-side movement they could get safely into the road ditch, the worst scenario. ;-)

The aristocracy still wanted do things the way they were used to,
and others sometimes resented being forced to the right when
horsemen passed. But over time continental Europe, Russia, and the
US all accepted the idea of driving on the right. From my POV as a
student of language this is where the story gets a lot more
interesting. I understand that when stage coaches were used in the
US somebody would probably be "riding shotgun", and that in those
days people were routinely told "don't fire until you see the
whites of their eyes" because the firearms which were available at
the time couldn't be aimed with the same degree of precision as
modern weaponry. There had been highway robbers in England since
medieval times at least... e.g. Robin Hood. I think they'd have
found it advantageous to conceal themselves on a horseman's left.
Later on, in SomePlace Else, it made sense to position whoever was guarding a coach on the driver's right... where assailants would be
more likely to hide.

So, returning to our horses, the women used to dismount from both horses and carriages from the left -- and a universal rule, as we know, is a good and easy rule. You should not rake your brains and think which variant is better. That's why they still follow the rule in England. ;-)

AFAIC it doesn't matter which side of the road other folks prefer
driving on as long as there is general agreement WRT how things are
done. In Montreal there are two types of pedestrians... i.e. the
quick & the dead. In LOndon the same applies, but you must
look "right-left-right" before crossing the street despite what's
been drilled into you since you were knee-high to a grasshopper. I survived both. Meanwhile, folks here in BC drove on the left until
it became problematic that our neighbours to the south didn't. Not
all provinces changed at the same time... but BC did it about a
century ago.

It's interesting to look at how the road with left-driving rules is passing into the right-driving road, especially if the road have a good traffic. ;-)

Bye, Ardith Hinton!
Alexander Koryagin

english_tutor 2020

---
* Origin: nntp://news.fidonet.fi (2:221/6.0)

Hi, Alexander! Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

For instance, where to keep your money safer -- in bank

| in a bank or in the bank

It's interesting why "on board" is written without article?
So you can do it if you want very much. ;)

Yes, we spoke earlier of how e.g. some people say "in hospital" and others say "in the hospital". At first I thought the difference might have to do with where they grew up... but since you brought the matter to my attention I've noticed some of the same people (including Dallas & me) using both. :-))

or at home?
In bank your money are eaten by inflation,

| your money is [blah blah]. Dollars, Euros, rubles etc.
are countable... the word "money" isn't.

Is it the same in American and British English?

According to my Canadian dictionaries, "money" can be pluralized if you have in your possession substantial amounts from different countries or if you're treasurer of an organization which has various sources of income... but While that would justify using "are" a few francs left over from your business trip to Grenoble probably wouldn't count in most people's eyes. And AFAIK the situation is much the same in both US & UK English. I'd welcome comments from other readers, however, because I'm always open to further input.... :-)

It seems to me in British English, for instance, "the
police" is plural, and in American English, is single.
Also IMHO "the government".

Although that rings a bell in the back of my mind, I would hesitate to make a rule about it unless I've heard a gazillion examples and/or FOWLER'S says so. I regard "police" & "government" as collective nouns because in both cases we're speaking of a group of individuals. From a grammatical standpoint we can treat the group as a unit (singular) or as xxx people (plural), and the choice we make depends on the context & on which we want to emphasize.... :-)

IMHO government compensates you only if a bank went bankrupt.

That's my understanding too.

But there can be situation with a high inflation and low deposit
interest. You lose your money slowly and perfectly lawfully. ;-)

Yes. But if you hide it under the mattress its original value will still be eaten up by inflation... that's what I was thinking of.

I remember my purse had been stolen in France, in Grenoble,
when I was there on my business trip to the 0local Atomic
center. I forgot it in my room, and when I went back the
window was opened and the purse had disappeared. I suspected
then an employee of the hotel. After that I took my
handkerchief and sewed a little bag from it with a lace and
wore it on my neck.

IOW you made a drawstring bag. Very creative.... :-)

A backpack... with my purse in it... was stolen in Los Angeles. We didn't realize until after the fact that our rental car came with a sticker in one of the back windows which made it fairly obvious we were tourists. At the hotels there were signs advising us to lock valuables in the trunk, as we did. That's what I'd have done at home... where I had an old car with a lot of rust around the wheel wells etc. and coveted the bumper sticker saying "Don't laugh
-- it's paid for!" Nobody tried to steal anything from *that* car, although I drove it to a few less than salubrious parts of Vancouver. I reckon it looked to passers-by as if the driver didn't own anything worth stealing. With these older vehicles it was also far more difficult to get into the trunk than it is with modern cars... which at the time I knew very little about.

Fortunately, I had my keys in my pocket & Dallas had my passport in his pocket. Nowadays I wear garments with several pockets if I can find them. It's not easy to find female garments like that. But apparently it is easy to steal handbags, shoulder bags, and backpacks if one is so inclined.... (sigh).




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
* Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)

Hi, Ardith Hinton! -> Alexander Koryagin
I read your message from 23.11.2020 20:42

But there can be situation with a high inflation and low deposit
interest. You lose your money slowly and perfectly lawfully.

A situation! I missed that damn thing again! ;-)

Yes. But if you hide it under the mattress its original value will
still be eaten up by inflation... that's what I was thinking of.

In Russia people can buy stable foreign currencies and store it under mattresses. But it is probably more risky than storing in the bank. Especially if you haven't a strong safe hidden behind several steel doors and alarm system. ;)

A backpack... with my purse in it... was stolen in Los Angeles. We
didn't realize until after the fact that our rental car came with a sticker in one of the back windows which made it fairly obvious we
were tourists. At the hotels there were signs advising us to lock valuables in the trunk, as we did. That's what I'd have done at
home... where I had an old car with a lot of rust around the wheel
wells etc. and coveted the bumper sticker saying "Don't laugh --
it's paid for!" Nobody tried to steal anything from *that* car,

"to covet" is "to want very much". Why does the sticker is coveted?

although I drove it to a few less than salubrious parts of
Vancouver.

So, "salubrious" can be pertain not only to the person's health, but to the criminal situation, too.

I reckon it looked to passers-by as if the driver didn't
own anything worth stealing. With these older vehicles it was also
far more difficult to get into the trunk than it is with modern
cars... which at the time I knew very little about.

Do the locks in the old vehicles are more sophisticated?

Fortunately, I had my keys in my pocket & Dallas had my passport in
his pocket. Nowadays I wear garments with several pockets if I can
find them. It's not easy to find female garments like that. But
apparently it is easy to steal handbags, shoulder bags, and
backpacks if one is so inclined.... (sigh).

Do they pay now in cash, or people now pay with credit card only?

Bye, Ardith!
Alexander Koryagin

english_tutor 2020

---
* Origin: nntp://news.fidonet.fi (2:221/6.0)

Hi, Alexander! Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

When it really mattered which side of a horse a knight
mounted on & what the chances were of meeting up with
an enemy who was approaching from the opposite direction,
it made sense to keep to the left.

I also want to note, that women also were road traffic
participants, and during those times they sat on their
horses sidelong with their both legs hung on the left
side of horse.

Yes... we call it "riding sidesaddle". Years ago I saw a picture of Queen Elizabeth II mounted that way on a formal occasion when she was wearing a full-length skirt. In less formal situations she & other female members of the royal family evidently wear jodhpurs (riding breeches). Until the 20th century it would have been unthinkable, however, for a female to wear trousers.... :-)

So, if the traffic on roads had been right-sided women
could have gone under the horse approaching from the
opposite direction, in case they fell from their own
horses. It case of left-side movement they could get
safely into the road ditch, the worst scenario. ;-)

Good point. I am told right-handed people generally prefer to mount from the left & horses generally learn to expect that. It would be safer, both for males & females, to mount/dismount at the edge of the road than to walk out into the traffic... and when we were in England I didn't see wide, deep ditches like some of the ones I've noticed in rural areas around here. On flood plains & river deltas these may be filled with stagnant water more often than not.

At any rate, the thought has occurred to me too that a person who is riding sidesaddle may be in great danger of falling... [chuckle].

So, returning to our horses, the women used to dismount
from both horses and carriages from the left -- and a
universal rule, as we know, is a good and easy rule.

I hadn't thought about carriages, but I get the drift. :-)

You should not rake your brains and think which variant
is better. That's why they still follow the rule in
England. ;-)

Dallas has driven in England with me as a passenger & navigator. We both thought the roundabouts there were a great idea because they don't take up a lot of space... and if you're not sure which exit to use you can drive around in circles until you've figured it out. On North American freeways you may not get a second chance to read the signage, and if you take the wrong exit you can easily waste half an hour getting to wherever you should have been.

Why don't we use roundabouts here? Theoretically they ought to work if all the directions are reversed... but, as often happens when somebody comes up with what they consider to be an improvement on the traditional way of doing things, a few details were overlooked. We've kept the rule that the vehicle on the right has "right of way" although we drive on the opposite side of the road
... and usually we make it work. But in some intersections it doesn't.... :-)

Meanwhile, folks here in BC drove on the left until
it became problematic that our neighbours to the south
didn't. Not all provinces changed at the same time...
but BC did it about a century ago.

It's interesting to look at how the road with left-driving
rules is passing into the right-driving road, especially
if the road have a good traffic. ;-)

Yes, I reckon it must have been quite a challenge to switch from one to the other upon crossing the border. I don't know how it was done, but I see that as the population increases the volume of traffic increases as well. :-))




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
* Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)

Hi, Ardith Hinton! ->Alexander Koryagin
I read your message from 30.11.2020 23:56

When it really mattered which side of a horse a knight mounted on
& what the chances were of meeting up with an enemy who was
approaching from the opposite direction, it made sense to keep to
the left.

I also want to note, that women also were road traffic
participants, and during those times they sat on their horses
sidelong with their both legs hung on the left side of horse.

Yes... we call it "riding sidesaddle". Years ago I saw a picture of
Queen Elizabeth II mounted that way on a formal occasion when she
was wearing a full-length skirt. In less formal situations she &
other female members of the royal family evidently wear jodhpurs
(riding breeches). Until the 20th century it would have been
unthinkable, however, for a female to wear trousers....

So we see why the cavaliers could not afford the right road traffic. If the queen got off the horse/carriage from the left side going to the Buckingham palace, it was a strong example. ;)

So, if the traffic on roads had been right-sided women could have
gone under the horse approaching from the opposite direction, in
case they fell from their own horses. It case of left-side
movement they could get safely into the road ditch, the worst
scenario.

Good point. I am told right-handed people generally prefer to mount
from the left & horses generally learn to expect that. It would be
safer, both for males & females, to mount/dismount at the edge of

Yes, it is also a point. And I can see no good reasons why did they migrate to the right side traffic.

<skipped>

So, returning to our horses, the women used to dismount from both
horses and carriages from the left -- and a universal rule, as we
know, is a good and easy rule.

I hadn't thought about carriages, but I get the drift.

You should not rake your brains and think which variant is better.
That's why they still follow the rule in England.

Dallas has driven in England with me as a passenger & navigator. We
both thought the roundabouts there were a great idea because they
don't take up a lot of space... and if you're not sure which exit
to use you can drive around in circles until you've figured it out.
On North American freeways you may not get a second chance to read
the signage, and if you take the wrong exit you can easily waste
half an hour getting to wherever you should have been.

But we also have a circular motion in the places where several roads are connected with a doughnut style road. It works, too. ;)


Bye, Ardith Hinton!
Alexander Koryagin

english_tutor 2020

---
* Origin: nntp://news.fidonet.fi (2:221/6.0)

Hi, Alexander! Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

The other day I unintentionally omitted a proposition.
Even English teachers make misteaks. What matters AFAIC
is that you can correct your own errors....

Did you mean a preposition?

Oops... indeed I did. Give yourself a gold star. :-))

I think the inflation in Canada is not so high as in
Russia. How many percent do you have per year?

On average it's been roughly 2% per year for the past few years, not counting 2020, but in the more distant past I've seen it go a lot higher. And the numbers are based on the prices of all sorts of things... many of which we don't usually buy at frequent intervals. The price of food has increased with the onset of COVID-19 and is expected to rise another 5% within the next year. By the time it is lumped in with the prices of things others don't need to buy right away because they're working from home... or can't afford to buy because they're unemployed... the composite picture may be quite misleading.

Late flash: Vancouver City Council announced recently that property taxes will go up by 5% this year. The cost of natural gas will go up by 6.59% this year as well. But meanwhile the Bank of Canada is keeping the prime rate at .25%, meaning folks may get very little interest on their savings.

While I could ask what the inflation rate is in Russia, the averages may not be any more helpful from an individual POV than they are here.... ;-)

Times are changing. A day on two ago I saw in an internet
shop a lock for a bicycle which can be unlocked only via
a smart phone application. ;-) It has an alarm system, too.
Looks as a usual bicycle lock. ;)

Hmm. Sounds like a good idea... until you realize that in Vancouver bicycle theft is increasingly common & what kind of lock a person uses may not matter much to professional thieves. We've watched film footage of them using bolt cutters etc. to get through a chain or steal an entire bicycle rack. :-Q

When smaller businesses such as Mom & Dad's Grocery can't
afford to do that they must still accept cash. If their
produce is better & cheaper than what I can find at the
local supermarket, and they offer more variety, I may still
choose to buy such things from Mom & Dad whenever their
shop isn't particularly crowded.

So, people really can start money laundering, in a real
sense of this phrase. ;-)

Ah... now there's a wonderful example of a live metaphor! Years ago Dallas & I read a book by a woman who was "in service" during the 1920's. She mentioned that her employers insisted all folding money & newspapers be ironed before they'd touch either. And a female friend who is somewhat older than we are routinely ironed sheets & pillow cases to kill any nits (i.e. insect eggs) which might be there. I wonder if today's plastic bills can be washed. :-)))




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
* Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)

Hi, Ardith Hinton - Alexander Koryagin!
I read your message from 23.01.2021 18:46

I think the inflation in Canada is not so high as in Russia. How
many percent do you have per year?

On average it's been roughly 2% per year for the past few years,
not counting 2020, but in the more distant past I've seen it go a
lot higher. And the numbers are based on the prices of all sorts of things... many of which we don't usually buy at frequent intervals.
The price of food has increased with the onset of COVID-19 and is
expected to rise another 5% within the next year. By the time it is
lumped in with the prices of things others don't need to buy right
away because they're working from home... or can't afford to buy
because they're unemployed... the composite picture may be quite misleading.

Late flash: Vancouver City Council announced recently that property
taxes will go up by 5% this year. The cost of natural gas will go
up by 6.59% this year as well. But meanwhile the Bank of Canada is
keeping the prime rate at .25%, meaning folks may get very little
interest on their savings.

So actually you are losing you bank money by 2% per year. Is your pension indexing or your pension is constant?

Times are changing. A day on two ago I saw in an internet shop a
lock for a bicycle which can be unlocked only via a smart phone
application. It has an alarm system, too. Looks as a usual bicycle
lock.

Hmm. Sounds like a good idea... until you realize that in Vancouver bicycle theft is increasingly common & what kind of lock a person
uses may not matter much to professional thieves. We've watched
film footage of them using bolt cutters etc. to get through a chain
or steal an entire bicycle rack.: - Q

Yes, that lock can be useful only in an open public place. The cutting tools now are in a great progress. I see it looking at how our railways fight with people. The new railway policy now is that people should not enter the passenger platform without a ticket. So they barred all railways with high iron fences, sometime literally cutting whole cities in two. But this fences are mercilessly cut by a numerous cutting tools during the night. Actually every day the railway workers go to mend the fences, and these fences look very funny and pitifully because of their numerous patches.

When smaller businesses such as Mom & Dad's Grocery can't afford
to do that they must still accept cash. If their produce is better
& cheaper than what I can find at the local supermarket, and they
offer more variety, I may still choose to buy such things from Mom
& Dad whenever their shop isn't particularly crowded.

So, people really can start money laundering, in a real sense of
this phrase.

Ah... now there's a wonderful example of a live metaphor! Years ago
Dallas & I read a book by a woman who was "in service" during the
1920's. She mentioned that her employers insisted all folding money
& newspapers be ironed before they'd touch either. And a female
friend who is somewhat older than we are routinely ironed sheets &
pillow cases to kill any nits (i.e. insect eggs) which might be
there. I wonder if today's plastic bills can be washed. :-)))

I heard that viruses don't live long on dry surface.

Bye, Ardith!
Alexander Koryagin
english_tutor 2021

---
* Origin: nntp://news.fidonet.fi (2:221/6.0)