malc d Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 manwiththepsychoGPS - 2012-05-12 9:22 AM Dear All Does anyone recall the 'Henry Root Letters'? Colin Yep. Still got the book. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 manwiththepsychoGPS - 2012-05-12 9:22 AM Dear All Does anyone recall the 'Henry Root Letters'? Colin Surely you can't be suggesting that it's all been a massive wind-up? Of course Fiona exist s - she even provided an e-mail address for anybody interested in getting in touch with her directly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manwiththepsychoGPS Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 'she even provided an e-mail address for anybody interested in getting in touch with her directly.' Indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 I sometimes wonder if it's a middle aged man who lives in a flat in Stockport, who doesn't get out much. ( Possibly an ex - plumber ). ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob b Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 Ooer!.... I was seriously thinking about a proposal of marriage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 malc d - 2012-05-12 11:51 AM I sometimes wonder if it's a middle aged man who lives in a flat in Stockport, who doesn't get out much. ( Possibly an ex - plumber ). ;-) Think you're right about it being a man - think the original name was Alf or Fred. Don't remember an email address though Derek - must have missed that when I was travelling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 I think what gave it away quite quickly for me was the inconsistency in spelling/miss-spelling if you went back over a few of "her" posts. Total wind-up ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 bob b - 2012-05-12 3:57 PM Ooer!.... I was seriously thinking about a proposal of marriage! Think you lost out there, Bob. Fiona already appears to have an Uncle, as a "sugar daddy" prepared to let her loose in his Motorhome & loading her account. ;-) ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Patricia - 2012-05-12 4:32 PM malc d - 2012-05-12 11:51 AM I sometimes wonder if it's a middle aged man who lives in a flat in Stockport, who doesn't get out much. ( Possibly an ex - plumber ). ;-) Think you're right about it being a man - think the original name was Alf or Fred. Don't remember an email address though Derek - must have missed that when I was travelling. fionaadams@hushmail.com In January 2011 Fiona began to post under the user-name "Alf Stonehouse". She also used "alf stone" from March 2011. "Plumbersvan" began to be used in January 2012. http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=26105&posts=6 While it might be thought that Fiona is a clever construct, all her postings have been consistent in terms of story-line and style. Casual content-analysis of her postings provides no evidence to suggest that Fiona is other than what she claims. As she has explained in the past, differences in the spelling quality of her postings are simply due to the use (or non use) of a spell-checker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manwiththepsychoGPS Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Hmmmmmm, 'Casual content-analysis of her postings provides no evidence to suggest that Fiona is other than what she claims. As she has explained in the past, differences in the spelling quality of her postings are simply due to the use (or non use) of a spell-checker.' Well, looking at constructs such as, 'People really are not able or willing to read,in this case the no parking signs,which while indeed mean no parking complete with a sign of a tow truck with disobedient car on toe.' The use of lexical & grammatical morphemes, e.g. the 'ing' in willing, the 's' in signs, complex structures combining the use of relative pronouns, e.g. 'which' and adverbials such as, 'while indeed' and semi-fixed expressions like 'not able and willing to' (willing and able would be more common), 'in this case' and the British English word order, Subject-verb-object-complement, and the correct positioning of adverbs, are only a few of the clues that suggest very strongly that this is a native English speaker. Given this, the eccentric punctuation is not convincing. Also someone using English as a second language would demonstrate first language interference in at least some of their posting. I can find no such indicators. If anyone is interested, Michael Swan's 'Practical English Usage' and his 'Learner English: A Teacher's Guide to Interference and Other Problems' would be a good start. None of which detracts from the fact that it is highly amusing and long may Fiona/Alf/ or whatever her/his name is, may continue to contributing to the amusement of us all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithR Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 when ive used the online translator to translate a large amount of text from french to english, ive been given similar confusing gubbins!! not that im making any inferences or drawing any conclusions. *-) i just enjoy the travelling ramblings (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 manwiththepsychoGPS - 2012-05-13 10:09 AM ...Subject-verb-object-complement, and the correct positioning of adverbs, are only a few of the clues that suggest very strongly that this is a native English speaker. Given this, the eccentric punctuation is not convincing. Also someone using English as a second language would demonstrate first language interference in at least some of their posting. I can find no such indicators... I'm not sure where the idea comes from that Fiona might not be a native English speaker, or that she might perhaps be a 'foreigner' with English as a 2nd language. That she has considerable difficulties with written English cannot be denied, but she openly admitted to this in an earlier posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 malc d - 2012-05-12 11:51 AM I sometimes wonder if it's a middle aged man who lives in a flat in Stockport, who doesn't get out much. QUOTE] I suspect a gay (m or f) welder from Oswaldtwistle - for what it's worth 8-) Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 LordThornber - 2012-05-13 7:54 PM malc d - 2012-05-12 11:51 AM I sometimes wonder if it's a middle aged man who lives in a flat in Stockport, who doesn't get out much. QUOTE] I suspect a gay (m or f) welder from Oswaldtwistle - for what it's worth 8-) Martyn What grounds have you got to suspect that Fiona is gay, please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek pringle Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Hi All, Not personally bothered about analyzing who or what plumbersvan is, just know the postings brighten this forum up. cheers derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 LordThornber - 2012-05-13 7:54 PM I suspect a gay (m or f) welder from Oswaldtwistle - for what it's worth 8-) Martyn I thought you said all the gay people lived in Hebden Bridge Martyn...............?...... Have I been exposing my wares in the wrong place in search of the pink pound :-S ............ :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinklystarfish Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 derek pringle - 2012-05-14 8:20 AM Hi All, Not personally bothered about analyzing who or what plumbersvan is, just know the postings brighten this forum up. cheers derek Or provide validation for a desperate egocentric - depends how you see things I suppose. Perhaps a better medium for such ramblings would be a blog rather than a forum. Except few would bother to read it. As before, what really makes these bearable, interesting even, is the subsequent revelation of character and responses from other forum members. Anyone interested in a genuine nutter's tale of one of the most implausible travel stories ever could do worse than Travels With Rosinante by Bernard Magnouloux. It's way more compelling than bumbling around France buying sardines with the safety net of an indulgent family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Oh come on guys. He/she/it has been posting sporadically for a long time now under at least two aliases. The inconsistencies in spelling/grammar "mistakes" occur time after time within the same posts. It's another member, hiding behind a pretend persona. Just like the little pug-dog. If any of you actually still believe the rambling of this armchair-anonymous, sad and lonely person with some obvious personality problems to actually be genuine, then I've got a bridge you'll love to buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek pringle Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Hi, Thanks for this Crinklystarfish, as I was looking for a good read to take on our next trip. If the book you mention is half as entertaining then I think I will enjoy.Seems plumbersvans postings can go 2 or more pages with other forum members joining in banter without any venom being thrown around-refreshing. cheers derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Derek Uzzell - 2012-05-14 7:22 AM What grounds have you got to suspect that Fiona is gay, please? None whatsoever Derek, merely exercising my right to post in a fashion which, in my view, matches the thread. Off on a tangent 8-) Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 LordThornber - 2012-05-13 7:54 PM malc d - 2012-05-12 11:51 AM I sometimes wonder if it's a middle aged man who lives in a flat in Stockport, who doesn't get out much. QUOTE] I suspect a gay (m or f) welder from Oswaldtwistle - for what it's worth 8-) Martyn Do you find the posts rivetting then Martyn ? :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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