Originally Posted by
Danny42C
NigG (your #398),
Did you really say just "Bother"? Remarkable self-control !
If, as I assume, you were composing on PPRuNepad, you are in good company. Nearly everybody here has been caught at one time or another by the resident malevolent gremlin (and he usually waits till it's 99% complete before doing the dirty on you !)
Remedy: Draft somewhere else (I use Notepad), then copy/paste onto PPRuNepad, invite gremlin to do his worst.
HA! Yes I operate with a hierarchy of expletives. It starts with 'Bother!', which gets used for the loss of a paragraph or two. This progresses to 'B****r!' for half a page. Then it all goes Anglo-Saxon, thereon.
The other factor taken into account is the
cause of the loss of text. It's usually my fault. On this occasion it was my clicking on 'BBC News', which on my computer sits below the 'New Tab' symbol. So this was a mitigating factor. Thus 'Bother!' instead of the otherwise more appropriate 'B****r!' (Your starter for ten... how many paragraphs did I lose on this occasion?)
Yes, Danny. If I was more industrious I'd use 'Word' or 'Notepad'!
Moving on, I didn't realise that the Bardia battle was against the Italians. The casualty statistics you quote, are disturbing. If you're Italian. Though I must admit I find it difficult to reconcile Arthur's kind and considerate personality with the number of people who must have died or been injured at his hands. Therein lies the incongruity of modern (remote) warfare, I guess.
Somebody once asked him why he owned a Japanese car. His reply was that he felt he owed it to them.