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Old 26-07-2008, 12:19 AM posted to aus.gardens
FarmI FarmI is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Feb 2007
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Default Potatoes

"Chookie" wrote in message
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:

I am guessing that your sister
lives Mosman way or Vaucluse way, or possibly Northern Beaches.


Nah, she's in Sutherland Shire.


Sorry -- forgot about that little southern outpost of the North Shore.
Easy
to do -- I come from St George!


Actually I like the Sutherland Shire bods better than the North Shore types.
Still well heeled, but not quite as vacuous.

My husband's family were North Shore types and he spent his formative
decades there before he escaped (and his leaving Sydney was definitely an
'escape' tactic) so we used to see them in action a lot. I always used to
complain about their vacuous lives.

Much too useful to society. :-)) I guess you don't want to hear the
story
of the photo of a Eastern suburbs dwelling brother in law (not my
sister's
husband) with his arm around Pamela Anderson?


Of course I do -- dish the dirt!


Well I was so gobbsmacked by the photo at the time that I can't really tell
you how he managed to get it. He has a background in Health campaigns so
has contact with lots of media people so presume he was at a 'do' that she
was also at. One thing is clear though, they are both obviously posing for
the camera. Smiling at it with their arms around each other in a crowd of
less well dressed, obviously adoring and envious males who don't look like
they'd have a hope of getting her to put her arm around them.

But I'll tell you the background so you'll know why I was so gobbsmacked and
had the wind taken out of my sails to such an extent that I forgot to ask
for the gory details (which you've now reminded me that I must do before I
die - it's a good story to put into the family history).

As you know, my husband's career was in IT. One day I was thinking about
what I'd write about him to put into the family history. Given the range of
work he'd done and the amount of money his organisation had spent with
various US companies and the trips he'd done to the US for his work, I
wondered if he'd ever come across Bill Gates in his travels so I asked him.

Response; 'Yes'. (Monsyllabic male). I pushed; 'Have you ever been
introduced to him?'. 'Yes'. 'Really introduced? Shook his hand. Weren't just
in the same room as him'. 'Yes'. 'How many times?' '3 or 4'. 'Why didn't
you tell me?' 'It's just work'.

I was so gobbsmacked by husband's reply that he also stopped me in my
tracks. I can think of hundreds of people I know (me included) who would
love to brag about having met Bill Gates, but not my bloody husband. He
thinks it's 'just work' and therefore not really important in his real life!
And he knows I love to have snippets to include in the family history! Yet
another story about him though that HAS gone into the family history because
it reveals so much about him. He isn't a blow hard by any stretch of the
imagination (I am or would be if I had access to some of the people he has
had).

Anyway, shortly after this incident, we were going to Sydney to a sit down
family 'do' with the Pamela Anderson brother in laws' family.

They have 2 teenage boys who are totally and utterly computer mad but like
all young males are monosyllabic and disinterested and I can never figure
out what to say to them to engage them.

I finally thought I had something of interest and that they might be
interested to know that their Uncle had met Bill Gates so told them the
story at the dinner table. At this point, the brother in law said I've met
Pamela Anderson and raced off to his study to get the pic of him and Pamela.
Pamela Anderson trumps Bill Gates in any male mind. I still couldn't engage
the youngsters as all attention then turned to the photo.