Aldershot!

Hehehe! I wonder how many non-English will look at this and think “Huh?”. (^_^)

Hint: Look it up on Google Maps.
And: Makes sense in context.

Yay! I feel my posting counter going mental ;-)
Well not anytime soon though there’s probably a blogger conference in the Holiday Inn sucking my 3G cell dry. Or maybe not, the situation tends to improve AFTER midnight.

I don’t get it even when looking it up on Google Maps…

The failure at Aldershot ?

how many non-English will look at this and think “Huh?”

And English.

Look it up on Google Maps

“Service error -27. That’s all we know”

“Service error -27. That’s all we know”

Strange. Works on my phone and netbook, looking just for “aldershot”.

Maybe it is a conspiracy to pretend the place doesn’t exist? ;-)

Well, it’s here:
http://goo.gl/maps/3cEKf

503. That’s an error.

The service you requested is not available at this time.

Service error -27. That’s all we know.

(That’s on Netsurf, I can’t be bothered to wire up my Windows Box, the mobile version showed nothing that explains things.)

Ah-ha. You’re using NetSurf. I believe Google Maps is somewhatextremely script-heavy.

For the record, it is a boring place in Hampshire. Known as “The Home Of The British Army” due to the massive army barracks, but they’re somewhat smaller than they used to be.

To back up what I was hinting at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldershot#Shopping_in_Aldershot

Surrounded by Guildford, Farnham, Godalming, Woking, Alton, Fleet, Camberley…

Since this is the off-topic part, I can reminisce slightly. (^_^)

Used to go to Guildford on Christmas Eve and sit in the gallery at the top of The Friary. I’d get a few cups of tea and sit overlooking the floors below, all the people rushing around in a mad panic for all those Christmas presents they didn’t think to get until two hours before closing time. I would have handed a list of requests to Radio Murcury (nowadays The Eagle; sadly streaming UKRD stuff isn’t available outside of the UK…) some of which would be played. One day I was there, there was a film crew making an advert. Took hours and hours for a 30 second advert. Dunno what it was for, but no doubt I’m one of the background faces…

Farnham was a nice place to walk around, save for the fact it was a big long line (a lot of walking). Marred only slightly by stupid traffic rentacops that had a propensity for neglecting to see parking chitties in the upper car park. I actually wrote a letter of complaint to the town after our third parking fine sticker (which was dismissed, yet again, due to a valid ticket for the time in question). As you’d expect, no reply.

Godalming was an odd place, kind of cute olde towne. You expected to walk down a back street and see a guy bashing molten iron into shape, and such.

Fleet was one of the better redevelopments I’ve seen in the area. They stuck a mall where it wasn’t really feasibly possible, and made quite the clash from old to modern. Yet, somehow, it worked. I’d give a shout out to John Honneysett, but I don’t know if he’s still involved with RISC OS. I also remember Redfields (Garden Centre) when it was nowt but a garden shed with rows of plants around it, however it grew into something much larger with quite a nice place to go for lunch. They don’t do things like that over here in France, hence my apparent obsession for McDonalds on my blog – the alternatives are small local places that consider a cheesy crepe or an andouille and chips to be ediblelunch), or “Buffalo Grill” that is like a proper steakhouse with prices to match. There’s a new Chinese nearby, I have not sampled their offerings yet.

Camberley. Used to walk around there, but not so much due to the new “Meadows” (M&S / Tesco superstore). Dixons used to be my last supplier of Betamax tapes, right up until the late ’90s. I suspect the manager would command them in from dusty piles in the backs of all the other Dixons…

Woking. Lots of shops, insane three-level mall with escalators in places that made it look like that impossible-puzzle with the never-ending stairs. Very nice light effects for Christmas. Some good second-hand bookshops, and it used to have a nice library until they got rid off half the books and stuck PCs in there instead. Library also featured a very sweet librarian that looked a little like Willow(Buffy).

Alton is my only regret. Only went there once, by car, to go to Alsystems for a harddisc for my A3000. It was, I believe, the next stop down the line from Aldershot station. I kept thinking “I must go”, but never did…

Never walked around Worthing, even though my boarding school was not so far away (used to go to Bognor instead). However, a special mention to Chris there who sold me a reconditioned RiscPC on the programmer’s scheme. Not only that, but he stayed open after hours after guiding us (my mother drives, I don’t) through rush hour traffic in darkness as we got hopelessly lost, along with the caprices of a first-generation digital mobile phone and coverage nothing like that which we take for granted today. Unfortunately as it was winter, all I saw were neon lights and headlights. No so much of Worthing itself, though I could have sworn CJE was about a stone’s throw from the sea? I thought we took a wrong turn and damn near fell in…

I found this http://www.worthingtowncentre.co.uk/c_j_e_micros.htm and love how the picture has nothing to do with the shop. Women on a sunny beach? Damn, must buy inkjet refills right now ! Well, it works for car adverts, right? Papa! Nicole!

So the German translation of Aldershot would be “Bielefeld”. ;-)

That photo looks very similar to Herne Bay, except Herne Bay pier pavillion has been demolished.

Yes, Bielefeld would be a suitable match. See Bielefeld Conspiracy

I was at RAF Brüggen myself, but bought my first VW from the NAAFI car showroom in Bielefeld.

Can I just say that I have no idea what this thread is about and yet I find myself inexplicably drawn to it…

Is that a part of it?!

AHT, Ascot, Waterloo, Mornington Crescent!

AHT, Ascot, Waterloo, Mornington Crescent!

I’m sorry, I haven’t a clue what you’re on about!

Couldn’t resist it! :)

I must say I still have problems figuring out the choice of the name of this forum, even after having read this thread…

If I read it correctly, it’s kind of in the middle of nowhere, but what has that to do with the name of a forum? :)

In the middle of nowhere = Not having anything to do with ROOL?

Maybe you have to be English to understand this one… :)

Aldershot, could that be a reference to Baldur? For me, at any rate, this forum is an excuse to think any silliness aloud that happens to enter the head. Like POGO’s puce stamps, guaranteed worthless; and so saving the housewife or the reader endless problems (no sticking into booklets for redeeming, no intellectual struggles to comprehend). I am sure that a playful attitude to words can be found in almost any language: Edward Lear in English, Ennius in Latin, … . Who are their equivalents in French, German, Danish (Storm P, Piet Hein?), Spanish, Chinese, … ? I would love to know.

In the middle of nowhere = Not having anything to do with ROOL?

Way over my head too… and I was wondering if it was just me!

Edit: Or maybe this is it: Night Out: RISC Global Extravaganza!

I think you might need to know Aldershot to get the joke…it is otherwise like trying to explain Tanka…