There is a bunch of old guys, some still working, most retired, who gather for coffee every weekday morning at 10:30. Wide discussions ensue and at 10:45, the chairman takes pen and paper napkin in hand and starts the 'game'. The 'game' determins who buys the coffee that day. I joined the group More...

an Indian software engineer was detained for not producing the original passport when demanded ,in a shopping mall region,in Malaysia.foreigners do not carry the originals as street muggings and theft in local transport system is in a high rate in Malaysia..the engineer was handcuffed and taken to More...

Wow, Appy, neither can I. Immigration is becoming such a hot button topic anymore, yet we in America are a land of immigrants. Here we are told not to carry originals for fear of thief or loss. I know it happens, but I can't begin to comprehend being stopped and treated in that manner.

Hi Jeb, like your thoughts. Congrats on becoming a member(if indeed that was you on the 'new members' patch). Please explain 'the game'? I'm intrigued.

ditto Mary - jeb...you add to the 'kaleidoscope'.

Ok Mary, you asked for it. Pour yourself a cuppa, this may take a while.
The 'game' is quite easy to understand but difficult to explain. It is steeped in tradition and lore.

When the chairman takes the pen from the pocket calendar (which is kept by the proprietor in his desk drawer) More...

Drat! Major tomes are limited to scale.
At the end of the year, the data collected in the calendar is entered into a database. Charts and graphs are created showing who bought how many cups of coffee that year, how many time each got stuck, whether it was a first round win or otherwise, a More...

jeb
who thought the game up and what is it called??

...and how long does it take to play - roughly? It sounds like it could take on marathon proportions...
Mary, you got all that?? I got 'lost' somewhere around 'OK Mary...'
When we meet for our hot choccie (end of the month - say last week in June?) we'll give it a burl (oz slang)...

everyone thought I would pop in and finally post in here.

Jeb: gotta love your game. Sounds very much like our TV show 'The price is right', but instead of winning a prize you get to buy everyone a cupa!
hmmmmmm major major blond moment here.
Mind you, the companionship, laughter and all will be well worth it I say.

Oh Jeb, The game does indeed sound wonderful, and I can see similarities to some of the jocularity that is demonstrated on this site. I'd love to be an observer on the wall while this is taking place. BTW, I think you did a marvelous job explaining it too. I can just envision the June meet up trying this on????

OK Billy, but I bags sitting in the 'catbird seat'...yay!! I have always wanted to use that phrase and now I have!!

Jeb, maths isn't my strongest suite but you say 'In this case, everyone gives a dollar to the winner, he pays for coffee and gives the counter girl a tip with the balance.' Does this in fact imply that a cup of coffee costs less than $1?

Yup Mary, coffee here went up to a whopping 75 cents last fall and nearly caused a revolution. The only reason starbucks has made it so big is because some people are willing to pay more for something than it's worth just for appearances. Coffee is coffee. Add something to it and call it More...

jeb - I am presuming that it's the water that they drink half of? - not the petrol?

jeb...sounds as if you and my hubby have been chatting. You seemed to have expressed his views about coffee and water quite well. Glad I don't drink coffee, and I've read too much about how/where the companies that are bottling and selling water, are finding their 'spring' water, to be a naive consumer....water is out-selling soda (pop)in most if not all states, so I've been told.

Bottled water costs more per gallon, if you buy the smaller individual bottles, than gas (petrol). It also has an impact on the environment, since the bottles are usually made of petroleum products and also need to be transported (more gas).

Jeb, AArrgghh coffee here is $3-$4, Billy's hot chocolate I expect to be around $4-$5. I agree that it's water and additives but if everyone ups the price what can you do?

At a recent outdoor event, vendors were selling 20 oz. bottles of water for $2.00. That breaks down to 6.4 bottles per gallon or $12.80. Petrol is currently $3.199/gal locally. I'm just curious if it is the cost of water exploration, refining or scarcity of the resource that makes it so dear. More...

And the parents who are inflicting bottled water on their children are depriving their kids of fluoride, leading to bigger dental problems and expenses. Serves the dirty little Starbucks-Volvo-Whole Foods-dot.com over-achievers right...the parents, that is...and maybe the kids, too.

Tap water is safe to drink here but the 'boutique' style bottled water is huge business. Has the tap water in the US got a 'bad rap' like in the UK? I was told not to drink tap water from friends in England but wasn't sure if they had been brainwashed into thinking it wasn't safe after knowing it More...

well here in my place milk and water seems to cost more or less the same/milk cheaper than water sometimes when paid for month..and petrol is way too high,costs 3 to 4times more than that..
water/G costs around a Dollar...and petrol around 3 to 4$...

and i used the tap water straight ,to drink and for other purposes when stayed in US..er you think i will have any trouble??i was told it was safe to use it..here at home i use a water purifier,for the pipe lines that carry the trated water are too old and theres always a risk of contamination..

Billy, yum yum, looking forward to it

the bottled water/tap water argument rages here with the discussion also of the soon to be added fluoride to our water.
through the motel we collect empty/half empty bottles of water by the trillions left in the rubbish or on bench tops.
personally I drink tap water by mega litres each day, More...

the hot chocolate/coffee discussion is interesting. I dont personally drink coffee so it is not an issue for me but they are a massive money making exercise and hence why so many 'coffee shops' exist and make big bucks (no pun intended for Starbucks)
I do very occasionally enjoy a beautiful hot More...

ap, I use tap water all of the time. The water here is much better than 20 years ago, and of course the added fluoride is very beneficial. Bottled water can be convenient. Yet like most things we use for convenience sake...its expensive. Its also a fashion statement to many !

We have great tap water here, drink it exclusively.
My kids in Texas (Ft. Worth) won't drink the tap water there, only drink bottled or filtered water.
AP, the water in the US is safe to drink but in some places minerals in the water affect the taste.
If I do buy bottled water for carrying More...

Have people noticed this ad in the upper right hand corner?

Private Label - 16.9oz
Purified Bottled Water 1,440 Bottles - $797 Delivered

Big Brother is doing more than watching...and I hope nobody starts talking about Al-qaeda.

The ads on this alternate/rotate, and the ad for bottled water disappeared after a page reload; but eventually it showed up again.

I think I just heard a gauntlet hit the floor. This sounds like a good challenge. If the adverts on the page reflect what the discussion point of the day is, lets give it a go. Maybe some really obscure subject like button hooks or typewriter ribbons or pitot tube covers.

Well Jeb, I just love pitot tube covers and I wish I could find a reasonable outlet where I could chose another one for my collection.

well now i have all the details of desalination products..and been pestered to buy a water meter that i dunno how to use..all that i did was just made a post on the rates of gas and water...

and yes it did disappear when reloaded and eventually re appeared..and an array of small clips on Huntington avenue(real estate,space hunting) appeared after i made a post on the description of the pic in the tough page today..and they too disappeared after a reload..funny..cant figure out..beyond my naive brain perhaps i think..

I assume that this ''mysterious'' linkage between the convo and the ads is simply a function of the Google search function attached to this site. Google searches the site regularly. When it sees a word for which it has sponored links, it posts an ad with the link. This was noticed a long time ago, More...

G'morning Ian..well i still see water meter and an invitation to taste spring water from Austria..plus Aqua crystals in all the colors i want is offered in a 'great price'..
hybrid cars??ok i will try...

Global warming is related to automotive exhaust emissions.and hybrid cars are fuel efficient plus a bit low in the harmful emissions that trap the heat that enhances the warming..usage of hybrid cars shall reduce the oil consumption and burning less fuel means less pollution..

I'm still getting offers for bottled water, a futile endeavour.
Ian: What a downer. You just squelched the pseudo-mystique with your logical explaination. It was so much fun to imagine some poor slob sitting at his crystal ball day and night watching what all us good boys and girls were More...

Mary: You would probably enjoy being a member of the IPTCCC. It was formed in 1927 so you can still sign up as a charter member. You can get on the mailing list of the International Pitot Tube Cover Collector's Consortium by contacting them at PO Box 357789202D44, Thule, Greenland or by telegraph to XRTubecozy.

eBay has pitot tube covers for a Cessna and a Piper. Let's see if that link shows up.