Hi Neil,
Nice meeting you.
From the very beginning we used to have a man from Boise in Base Camp. He has disappeared, but I trust he will surface one day. His name is Lonnie.
Neil, what I was thinking of was: Do you receive e-mails you would rather not receive? Everybody - seems to be afraid of spam or whatever travels in e-mails to a degree that an otherwise fearless mermaid has become infected. You are one of the few I have seen stating your e-mail, so I thought you could give me a qualified answer. And you did just that. Thanks.

Coming up, Gil II
Nice to see you - and hear you!
I prepared this novel:
Not that this way of communicating used to work, but that should not keep me from trying again:
Gil II - you come from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. That's interesting because we have a Base Camper based at that very same place. I may be odd, but I find that interesting.
hebrides - your handle makes me think stormy North Atlantic rocky islands. But I cannot get any confirmation at your index card. Am I wrong?
astrolab - you state "We shall never surrender (Winston S. Churchill)" - UK?
deltavee - North Hays County, Texas. Makes me think LBJ. Correct?

Well, chances that a Personal Message facility for this board falls out of the sky are probably small.

Yes--this is a very independent-area the people here are very clan like--there is only one way to get here unless you come by water.The folks that have grown and lived here all their life have a old English accent--unique to this area

Here ia a good link-- http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vamathew/ some of the people are standoffish until they know you but if you are a friend of one you are a friend of all--I moved here in 1980 and started a business and it mushroomed from there--yes i am planning to spend winters in Texas--depending on fuel prices as they are skyrocketing--i show my e-mail so anyone can contact me to reprimand me if necessary as i can be controversial at times--your friend in Va Tx.

Sgt. Joe, you sit there and take care of this thread and me.
In silence. Many visitors have done that.
Is it so, that it is not considered polite to start a conversation with someone you don't know?
And if so: How will you ever get to know the other one?
Do you mind, if I strike up some small talk?

St. Cloud, Minnesota.
Far to the north, cold winters, very cold.
Many Swedes settled there.
Recently read Vilhelm Moberg's "The Immigrants" - don't know whether the title is correct. Tough life it was.

St. Cloud and more books. One of my favorites is "The Cider House Rules" by John Irving. Chuck full of love in all its variants. St. Cloud is the small New England place, where Wilbur Larch has his orphanage.
He states time and again: "Maybe it is so in other places, but here in St. Cloud ..."

OK, there you go. And all of it because you took the trouble of putting in a city and a state.

Thank you Sgt. Joe.