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I am telling you this because I think that we have found a final solution. Let me explain. Our
treasurer lives in an old house, and some time ago restoration work had to be done at this
house. He asked the stone-mason to get a beautifull stone, and to make cm inscription in the
stone. The text of this inscription is: "Bill Stumpshis mark written just as it is written in
the Pickwick Papers.
This stone is at my house now, where I keep it in a big shopping bag. Although it is heavy, I
can carry it, and so now we can turn any place into a place of D.I.. What we do is this: a few
of us go earlier than the other members, we hide the stone somewhere in a wood or a field,
then we meet at a pub, we go for a walk, it happens that we find the stone, we return in
triumph with the stone to the pub, we have a drink and a meal.
The normal procedure is that we hide the stone out of doors. However, last time it was a cold
and rainy day. A few of us came together in the pub, we had a drink, and when it was time to
go outside to hide the stone, the wind was howling and the rain made a terrible noise at the
windows. Now I know that for Englishmen that would not make any difference, but being only
Dutch one of us said: "Can't we hide the stone in the pub?". After some thinking, the others
said: "Well, yes, why not?". Then we find out that it is not so easy to hide a stone this size in
the floor of a pub, especially when the floor is made of tiles. In the end we placed the stone
on a chair in a corner and covered it with a napkin.
To conclude: I hope that I have convinced you of the advantages of a movable place of D.I.
and if any of you organize a conference in the future and you are in need of a convenient
place of D.I.just let me know and I will bring the stone.
