I worked for a bit in the coastguard in Wales and I used to send weather
reports to other bases, using a sort of antique FAX machine. I would call
first on a special telephone and then send the data. They used to answer the
phone with:
" Epicentre of the Universe, God speaking."
" Hartland home for lost whores." (that was Hartland CG) " Da, zis iz
Ivan: do you have zee secret information, Boris?"
" Pentagon command: transmit destruct sequence (pause) sequence correct:
T minusone minute and counting"
And then there was one phone we didn't use, with a number one off that of
the
local take-out. With my, non-British, accent I had some great fun with that
phone.
"Starship Enterprise, Uhura here, can you hold please? -- Captain, there
is
a transmission coming in on hailing frequency seven, do you want it on screen?"
(silence...click)
"Vancouver coastguard, may I help you." British long distance rates are
phenomenonal and I had this poor dude sputtering with horror that he had
managed
to make a long distance call by dialing five digits.
W H Y C O P S H A T E Y O U <<<<&l <
-if you have to ask get out of the way-
Have you ever been stopped by a traffic cop and, while he was
writing a ticket or giving you a warning, you got the feeling that
he would just love to yank you out of the car, right through the
window, and smash your face into the front fender?...
