# Forum More Stuff At the end of the day  Why do we bother posting?

## Marc

After 3000 odd post ... and well before that, I have often posed myself this question. Why on earth do I bother? 
Yes, I know there is that bit of me that enjoys the chat, to pass on some of my experience, to soak in other's experience, to have a banter or two, to read post from those you know have something valuable to write.  
And then invariably you get that overzealous moderator or administrator that treats you like you are in year 2 in a public school and I say to myself ... really?  
After all if you think about it, I ... and you of course are the engine behind this and any other forum. No post, no traffic, no advertising no business. So whatever I write, be it well written or nonsense, funny or stupid, right or wrong, generates traffic. Yes, there are limits and of course a forum full of crude cursing or porn would not attract the right crowd and probably deter the existing one, but tell me what is the harm in going off topic? Talking about a "different" kind of fuel from the one in the original post? or copy and paste a longer than usual post? Don't they bring in traffic? of course they do! Once the topic is exhausted, we regularly joke and go off topic ... so? 
I find that if anything I am owed some respect just because I have been a part of the drive behind this forum in my very small and modest way. Without the 10 or 20 regulars in this forum it would shut down quick smart. I say it once more. The "off topic" rule must be the dumbest rule ever invented.  
Perhaps I should spend more time fishing from my backyard pontoon.

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## OBBob

We had a really nice vegetable lasagne lasst night ... and I think all members with over 3350 posts should get paid for their time.  :Smilie:

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## Moondog55

Well I bother sometimes because I think my banter amuses some of you all and also I learn a lot and sometimes I actually manage to teach old doges new tricks
Read between the lines here and there is a lot of very good information about life, not just building.
Yes it does get a little personal at times but that's because most of us are passionate about life

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## Neptune

> And then invariably you get that overzealous moderator or administrator that treats you like you are in year 2 in a public school and I say to myself ... really?

     
We are just a sale-able product Marc...............

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## PlatypusGardens

Yeh the internet is a funny thing.
Actually, the way we communicate changed drastically back when mobile phones got the text function. 
All of a sudden we could send a line of text to friends which they could reply to at their leisure.
There was no need to make a phone call if you didn't want to. 
Then emails became more common, we could send pictures and "letters" instantly, and get a reply straight away. 
Then online chat, MSN messenger and the likes.
Great way to have lazy conversations with people while at the computer doing other stuff. 
My first forum was the movie forum IMDb.
I was looking for a screenshot from some movie, and ended up on IMDb.
I found the message board section.
Wow.
You can talk to other people, strangers, about stuff online?
Cool! 
I made some good friends from messageboards, some which I would chat to daily on MSN (for a number of years) when I was spending a lot of time by the computer. 
Even caught up with a guy in the UK on one of our visits over there, which was cool.  
Then I discovered that forums were the best way to find information about specific things like electronics, machining, metal work, chainsaws etc etc.
The forum life almost took over for me for a while and I'd get up in the morning and "check in" on over half a dozen every time.
It could take a couple of hours to read and reply to all the conversations I was a part of. 
I realised it got too much and left a couple of forums while a few others seemed to lose a lot of traffic as people moved on to other things. 
These days I mostly post here and on SNA and check in on one of the radio control car forums from time to time.   
On most forums you tend to gravitate towards likeminded people and find your "group"
(You know who you are  :Wink:  ) 
Have a bit of a laugh, chew the fat and poke fun at eachother.
I think this forum is quite relaxed and not overly moderated like some other forums. 
Yes we do tend to stray off topic at times and it can put some people off.
The recent incident which-we-do-not-speak-of was maybe partly brought on by the OP "demanding" his post be taken seriously. 
All in all I don't see a lot of newbies getting snubbed on this forum, unless they ask a question which has been covered 20 times already, and they're kindly asked to do a search before starting a new thread.  
It's good to have people from the trade (Metrix, Jimj, Marc etc) who have been there done that and have real world experience with tools and materials, rather than just reading a "customer review" on Amazon. 
We're all learning from eachother here and having a good time while doing so.    :Smilie:

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## PlatypusGardens

And some people just type way too long posts.....   :Shock:

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## johnc

I guess even moderators have bad hair days, this forum seems to have a light hand in that area it isn't often you see a mod action that isn't justified (in the opinion of the great unwashed). I think the thread that must not be named was quite light hearted but shutting it early was probably sensible, the point had been made, no one had been attacked but it had run its course.

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## Marc



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## PlatypusGardens



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## PlatypusGardens

Guess Marc went fishing then    :Unsure:

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## Marc

Yes, I take all the points made, yet my point is that if I or you for that matter post something that seems off topic yet is within the decorum expected, such is irrelevant to the business and deleting the post because of some intellectual rule of "keeping on topic" does more harm then good. The poster gets pissed off, the rest don't know what's going on and clearly no one benefits. 
This is not a one off incident about the ghad dad thread...( by the way how can someone name himself that is beyond me) ... it is a trend and I must say that it offends me and I am not easily offended, in fact I have pachyderm skin. Yet everything has a limit. 
I think that the mullet will come up river to spawn very soon.

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## PlatypusGardens

Hm well we don't know the reason/meaning behind that username.
Might be something completely different from what it seems.    :Smilie:  
Words and names get different meanings as things happen.
I was reminded of this just the other week as I was driving through the ISIS area.
I crossed the Isis river, saw the Isis hardware store and lots of other Isis shops and businesses. 
5 years ago that didn't have the same unfortunate association as it does today.

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## Marc

Yes, and pachyderm skin is an [oxymoron] (wrong) tautology ... a bit like ATM machine, ha ha

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## PlatypusGardens

> Yes, and pachyderm skin is an oxymoron ... a bit like ATM machine, ha ha

  And VIN number   :Wink:  
Anyway, stop worrying about this now and check out the dog thread I started.   :Smilie:

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## PlatypusGardens

My god the forum is quiet today 
Where did everyone go?    :Unsure:

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## ErrolFlynn

It's not so difficult, if anyone has the interest or motivation and time, to start a new forum.  Domain names are not expensive.  There are relatively low cost web hosting providers around the place.  And there is public domain (free) software available that runs the forum.

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## PlatypusGardens

> It's not so difficult, if anyone has the interest or motivation and time, to start a new forum.  Domain names are not expensive.  There are relatively low cost web hosting providers around the place.  And there is public domain (free) software available that runs the forum.

    :Confused:

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## OBBob

> My god the forum is quiet today 
> Where did everyone go?

   
Hi PG!!

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## Moondog55

> My god the forum is quiet today 
> Where did everyone go?

  I'm here' 
It's just that I have very little to say today and no questions to ask.
Got the chippy coming on Thors day tho, so when Friggs day rolls around I may have some more pictures to post

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## PlatypusGardens

Yay, friends  :Smilie:

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## Cecile

> My god the forum is quiet today 
> Where did everyone go?

  I'm at work, working and not really reading this thread.  Where are *YOU???*   

> I'm here' 
> It's just that I have very little to say today and no questions to ask.
> Got the chippy coming on Thors day tho, so when Friggs day rolls around I may have some more pictures to post

  Holy cow.  Very little to say and no questions to ask?  Are you sick?

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## PlatypusGardens

> I'm at work, working and not really reading this thread.  Where are *YOU???*

  Where I always am.
Somewhere between the shed and beer fridge   :Wink:

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## METRIX

Ohhh, Is there a Rule about going "off topic", I better watch it then, I do tend to go off topic a lot, but as has been said here, this usually happens when everything has been said about the particular topic that can be said, and a bit of fun is in order. 
Ohh is that a bar of chocolate over there ?

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## PlatypusGardens



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## ringtail

> . and I think all members with over 3350 posts should get paid for their time.

  Agree  :Tongue:

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## ringtail

> It's good to have people from the trade (Metrix, Jimj, Marc etc) who have been there done that and have real world experience with tools and materials, rather than just reading a "customer review" on Amazon.

  You cut me deep PG. Real deep.  :Cry:

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## ringtail

> 

  I think someone needs to get their head out of the weld plume  :Biggrin:

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## METRIX

> You cut me deep PG. Real deep.

  Again

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## PlatypusGardens

> You cut me deep PG. Real deep.

   :Rolleyes:  
Such a sook.
You're part of the "etc" group.     

> I think someone needs to get their head out of the weld plume

  Mmm, I'm short sighted on one eye, and tend to favour it when doing intricate stuff.   :Wink 1:  
Which places the welding helmet about 200mm from the work...   :Unsure:

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## ringtail

> Such a sook.
> You're part of the "etc" group.     
> Mmm, I'm short sighted on one eye, and tend to favour it when doing intricate stuff.   
> Which places the welding helmet about 200mm from the work...

  Just close the bad eye then and move back  :Tongue: . Take it from an etc.., you don't want to be breathing that crap

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## goldie1

> Agree

  But should they be paid as much as plumbers

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## paddyjoy

Please keep posting, the regulars here have gotten me both in and out of trouble many times  :Tongue:

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## Random Username

Well, TV really went down the poo-chute back in the early 2000's and has only gotten worse since then, angsty teen vampire romance novels and similar fantasy works have pushed all the hard science fiction off the local bookstore's shelves (not that much was stocked in the first place), and Triple J's musical taste has has copped a huge dose of 'must appeal to a wider audience' and is in the middle of the road like a vacuum cleaner on full suck. Gee I miss hearing Severed Heads on the radio...

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## PlatypusGardens

> Just close the bad eye then and move back .

  I do when I remember to think about it.
It's just habit to use the other one 
Same with most other things I do as well.    

> Take it from an etc.., you don't want to be breathing that crap

  *cough* 
say what?

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## PlatypusGardens

> Well, TV really went down the poo-chute back in the early 2000's and has only gotten worse since then, angsty teen vampire romance novels and similar fantasy works have pushed all the hard science fiction off the local bookstore's shelves (not that much was stocked in the first place), and Triple J's musical taste has has copped a huge dose of 'must appeal to a wider audience' and is in the middle of the road like a vacuum cleaner on full suck. Gee I miss hearing Severed Heads on the radio...

  
I have JJJ on in the shed all day.
It's certainly a lot more pleasant than any commercial stations.
The lack of Harvey Norman commercials for a start,  it to mention all the local shout-commercials.
Most of the presenters are actually pretty good these days, especially now that "The Doctor" has finally retired. 
Louie at lunch is a bit annoying with his faux slacker/stoner/don't care-attitude but he's bearable. 
There's a lot of good music going around at the moment.
JJJ plays a lot of different stuff from commercial Top 40 bubblegum pop.
Yes they do try and cater for everyone, which means you get everything from singer/somgwriters to hip hop and metal.  
As an alternative I always recommend Radio Paradise internet radio station as well as Buddha Radio.
Good mix of music on both.   :Smilie:

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## Marc

> It's not so difficult, if anyone has the interest or motivation and time, to start a new forum.  Domain names are not expensive.  There are relatively low cost web hosting providers around the place.  And there is public domain (free) software available that runs the forum.

   So in other words, if you don't like it start your own forum right?
I wonder how long untilll someone asks you to become a moderator?

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## PlatypusGardens

Good morning Marc.  
How are you today?   :Smilie:

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## Marc

Still pissed off.
But the rain scared the fish away..

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## ringtail

> But should they be paid as much as plumbers

  Oooo, good. Time to retire then

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## PlatypusGardens

> Still pissed off.
> But the rain scared the fish away..

  Maybe this will cheer you up

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## Marc

haha, mm I think?

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## PlatypusGardens

Well....I dunno....go to the workshop and pound some steel or something.   :Unsure:

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## ErrolFlynn

> So in other words, if you don't like it start your own forum right?
> I wonder how long untilll someone asks you to become a moderator?

  Yup. It's an option that allows you to set your own rules.  If the key contributors shift it may well flourish.

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## PlatypusGardens

> Yup. It's an option that allows you to set your own rules.  If the key contributors shift it may well flourish.

  
I've been a part of this in the past.
A small group of people break away from a large established forum trying to start something new. 
It all seems great at first, new forum interface, different colours and functions.
But after a while the same 10-15 people realise that their little club gets pretty lonely and boring without the flow of new people. 
Conversations start to drop off and it inevitably fizzles out and dies.

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## ringtail

> Maybe this will cheer you up

  I'd eat that too

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## ringtail

> I've been a part of this in the past.
> A small group of people break away from a large established forum trying to start something new. 
> It all seems great at first, new forum interface, different colours and functions.
> But after a while the same 10-15 people realise that their little club gets pretty lonely and boring without the flow of new people. 
> Conversations start to drop off and it inevitably fizzles out and dies.

  I've seen this happen a lot and the biggest issue is actually running the forum. It takes a lot of work to run smoothly. A lot of unpaid, boring, mind numbing work. And lots of coding skills too. Not many are up for it and the whole things just quietly dies.

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## Marc

That would be like buying your own removalist truck because you don't like the removalist customer service. 
You are missing the point altogether.  (Not to mention that to say to start my own, is rude by elevation)
I say that people who post on a bulletin board, are an essential part of the business of owning and running a forum like this. 
Members are not the recipient of some free concession, they are not receiving a favour but they are doing the business a favour by posting and giving content that attracts traffic that makes the business possible. 
The member is the customer, that makes the business possible like the customer who walks in a shop to buy shoes, is the one that makes the shop viable.  Members give content in stead of money, in exchange of some perceived return, subjective as it may be. 
It is therefore a symbiotic relationship of giving and receiving, yet in my view it is not I who receives the privilege of posting for free, but it is the website owner who receives my writing for free. And no I don't want to get paid, my payment is the little satisfaction I get. That is enough. However I demand in return some respect as a free lance contributor to someone else's business as small as it may be, not my concern. 
So when rules like the stay on topic rule are enforced by deleting post I put some though in, it pisses me off because I am no longer 8 years old, and my free contribution and your free contribution is the only thing that keeps this business going.

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## PlatypusGardens

> I say that people who post on a bulletin board, are an essential part of the business of owning and running a forum like this. 
> Members are not the recipient of some free concession, they are not receiving a favour but they are doing the business a favour by posting and giving content that attracts traffic that makes the business possible. 
> The member is the customer, that makes the business possible like the customer who walks in a shop to buy shoes, is the one that makes the shop viable.  Members give content in stead of money, in exchange of some perceived return, subjective as it may be. 
> It is therefore a symbiotic relationship of giving and receiving, yet in my view it is not I who receives the privilege of posting for free, but it is the website owner who receives my writing for free. And no I don't want to get paid, my payment is the little satisfaction I get. That is enough. However I demand in return some respect as a free lance contributor to someone else's business as small as it may be, not my concern. 
> So when rules like the stay on topic rule are enforced by deleting post I put some though in, it pisses me off because I am no longer 8 years old, and my free contribution and your free contribution is the only thing that keeps this business going.

  
While that is all true and I mostly agree, we're all playing in their house by their rules and they have the power (and right) to moderate and delete as they see fit.    :Smilie:

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## jimfish

> Members are not the recipient of some free concession, they are not receiving a favour but they are doing the business a favour by posting and giving content that attracts traffic that makes the business possible. 
> .

  Unless what they are posting drives people away !

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## PlatypusGardens

Had a little visitor behind the shed today.
Went to look for something and he poked his head out.  
I'm not good around snakes.
Never have been, they make my skin crawl....  :No:  
Also, not knowing what they are by looking at them, I'm even more worried when I see a decent size one in the yard.  
So I rang the local wildlife something thingo association and an old lady and her daughter came around within 10 minutes as they live just a couple of streets away.  
After lots of poking around and moving things we found it, down inside a besserblock underneath another besserblock.
(When I say "we" I mean grandma)   
Turns out it was a carpet snake, so not dangerous, but there's been a lot of brown snakes spotted around here so can't be too careful.       
He was a bit injured around the mouth so they bagged him to have him checked out.
Not sure if it was from when she was moving stuff around looking for him, but she reckons it looked like an older injury...

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## PlatypusGardens



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## joynz

Three cheers for that brave woman!

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## Marc

Carpet snake! ... I thought they were more colourful

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## PhilT2

Seen a few in ceilings over the years, sometimes you have to wake them up to move them. Colour seems to vary a lot. But it's breeding season at the moment so it's best to give them a little privacy.

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## PlatypusGardens

> Carpet snake! ... I thought they were more colourful

  
Come play with me, snakey.
Forever
And ever
And ever

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## OBBob

Love how your snake handler already has a bandage halfway up her arm!

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## PlatypusGardens

> Love how your snake handler already has a bandage halfway up her arm!

  
Haha yeh was not from a snake she reckons.

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## OBBob

> Haha yeh was not from a snake she reckons.

  Likely story... probably a crocodile.

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## PlatypusGardens

Can't remember which thread it was, we talked about different Platypus companies.....but here's the soap.  
Absolutely rubbish for cleaning my grubby shed hands, but smells nice  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## Marc

> Love how your snake handler already has a bandage halfway up her arm!

  Probably skin lesion removal.

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## Marc

That soap seems to be chewed up by a platypus ... haha

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## PlatypusGardens

I think she said it was from a rusty nail sticking out of a board. 
I'll go through the video which I pulled the pics above from.
As she comes out from behind the shed her phone rings, she has the snake wrapped around one arm trying to answer her phone and the snake crawls across and "handcuffs" her. 
Was hilarious.    :Rofl:

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## Marc

We had a small yellow (and expensive) python in a terrarium. We called it Houdini because it was so good at escaping. He or she had the best of us and finally managed to lift the loaded lid and disappear. This was years ago and despite the fact that it was in a bedroom upstairs, we never found her gain. I always think that it will crawl from under something one day.

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## PlatypusGardens

Mmm, I never did see the point in pet snakes   :Unsure:   
or anything else that mostly stays in a box/cage for that matter....

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## notvery

> Mmm, I never did see the point in pet snakes    
> or anything else that mostly stays in a box/cage for that matter....

  And yet you make iron maidens for plants...

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## Moondog55

Ooooh IronMaidenhair fern [ better than an iron maiden h**d] Whoops did I say that?

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## PlatypusGardens

> And yet you make iron maidens for plants...

  Hmmm. 
Iron Maiden was a torture/murder device with spikes on the inside.
My balls....  :Unsure:  ...THE balls I make for plants are practical and artistic. (Unlike my balls)

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## PlatypusGardens

Another chop job 
Got it to this stage yesterday   
Was gonna gop and lengthen the frame but thought naaaah not now.
Too many other things to do    
5 minutes later and....    
Really don't need another project right now, or later or ever, but I've started...so....    :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## Bloss

> We had a really nice vegetable lasagne lasst night ... and I think all members with over 3350 posts should get paid for their time.

  3350 - a low bar . . .   :Wink:

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## OBBob

> 3350 - a low bar . . .

  Ha ha... I was being generous to Marc.

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## Smurf

> Can't remember which thread it was, we talked about different Platypus companies.....but here's the soap.

  What's it made from? Real platypus?

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## PlatypusGardens

Platypus extract

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## PlatypusGardens

Metrix....what was that you said about gardener's utes and empty trays?

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