and what was to happen, this morning, then?...a young man...a bit of a 'hoodie'....on one foot, for most of the time...and quite literally, if you understand what i mean...because he had been using a children's scooter - as his chosen mode of transport....anyway, he was to stop me, just outside of magnet house, this morning....having scooted across the 'traffic lights' island...to then stop in front of me.

...and he had the eyes of 'mr CID/plumber'....what was that 'saint' reference, again?...."germaine" replies BI ONLINE...anyway, could have been his son....such a facial likeness....and a similar essex accent...except - that i couldn't understand the young man...when he politely asked me:

"excuse me - do you know the way to the playstation?"

my initial response was to think...'point out the nearest dvd shop' (in order to get rid of him, quickly) - to then rapidly think the better of it....i was then to apologise..."i'm sorry but i have no idea what you mean...the playstation?"

he looked at me...and then he replied, much more slowly..."the police station".

i laughed...he smiled...and i then answered that he could go 'either way' around the block - whilst pointing in the general direction of the police station...but that the route down jackson road, was quicker....hmmm....i didn't add that you had to turn left down ellis road, afterwards...but i think that he 'got the picture'.

...hmmm...do i sense a CID note, here?....probably...but 'why'....a play-upon-words....playstation/police station...i mean to say, come on....it was a deliberate ruse...had to have been...because he had definitely said 'playstation' and not 'police station'  in an essex/london/estuary/cockney/mockney accent...unless 'playstation' is now slang for 'police station' on the street...which it might well be, for all i know....see previous notes upon what eliza manningham-buller and rimington had got up to, so many years ago - now....go figure.

hmmm...let me posit the following...if you were one of norwegian intelligence (or any other foreign nationality for that matter)...and you were trying to say 'police station' in an essex/london accent but hadn't quite got it right...you might end up by saying 'playstation'...hmmm...because a 'native-speaker' would make the beginning of the word sound more like 'plea' or 'ple'...when talking fast....in fact, when i think of my own pronuncation when talking fast...it sounds a bit like 'pleastayshun'.

...and again, i pause for thought...having remembered MI5 malcolm (a bit older than me) who used to work as the coordinator of the teacher training program at the prague DTO - see previous notes....anyway, malcolm and his junior school 'experimental education' program....he had been taught to spell words 'as they sounded'...and so words like 'pretty' ended up being spelt like...well so many variations and so i'll give one example - 'pritty'....in short, he was to fail his 11-plus even though he was a bit of a 'child prodigy' at maths, let us say...and so malcolm then got sent to the local 'secondary modern'...which he rather enjoyed...oh and it didn't affect his career, either...didn't hold him back - at all, in his own words....go figure.

...and you might ask...how somebody who couldn't spell...somebody, who had been taught how to spell things 'like they sounded' but then tried to re-learn the whole lot..."and still hadn't quite got the hang of it" replies MI5 ONLINE...by the time that he was in his - was it his late 30's?....got to be so high up in an EFL environment....but i think that i have already answered that question...in a previous post...he had been very useful, to those like fadia/fadya - the wife of the overall director of the british council in prague.....fadia - who used to do her husband's job for him, to all accounts (i.e. those who worked in the 'admin' department)....

...oh and matt was to tell me that you spelt her name 'fadya' but i was to consciously decide to use the 'ia' ending, in a previous post....because in english - 'ia' sounds more like the way in which her name had been spoken by british council members....not a ya but an ia...people didn't say fad-ya...they always pronounced it 'fa-dei-a'...three syllables....go figure.

...and finally, i can remember...what the above, had been all about...fadya had been run by obama...remember 'mir-and-a'?....go figure.

...oh and i am also reminded of that old 'whales/wales/rails' joke...that 'bernie' had once told me, in poland - circa 1993....the whole japanese tourist number....see previous notes......the railway...and the whaleray....etc etc...go figure.

...and so, finally...had the CID set a test? - see previous notes...had they wanted to know...what that young man was really all about?...well, if that is the case...then he was probably a scandinavian....not necessarily norwegian - might be 'finnish'?...ha ha ha....go figure.

"it wasn't them - it was us" replies MI5 ONLINE....and so what was your conclusion?

"finnish"

well - good, then....and upon that note...i shall 'finish' this post....because if that young man was anything like 'mr CID/plumber' - then he was head and shoulders over the rest of them....and for 'finnish' read 'another alliance' with mr putin, perhaps?...because finland had been where mr putin had most liked to spend his holidays....go figure.