h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've just realised that I've now got 90 photographs on 83 Approved entries in the Guide.

Of these 90 photographs:
7 are for articles I didn't write.
36 are of the Isle of Wight
26 were taken in Hampshire
6 were taken in Yorkshire
25 show the sea
4 show bicycles (my bike in 3, my dad's in one)
7 are railway related
23 are of castles and other defensive structures
19 are of other buildings, such as piers, but excluding stations
7 are of statues and memorials
10 show books, DVDs, videos and games that I own
1 shows the ghastly red carpet we have in the lounge.

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I demand a link to the last entry: ghastly red is one of my favourite colours.

You can see the carpet here, but unfortunately there's a Mega Drive in the way: A87761659

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Looks kinda pink compared to the red buttons. Does that make it more or less ghastly?

Actually, I think the colour looks ok myself. But then I don't have to live with it

Deb

Just what I was thinking, Deb!

That photo doesn't show the frayed edges...

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Actually, now that you mention it, it might be pink. I've just assumed it was red. I'll ask my wife what colour it is when I get home.

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As I was leaving home at 7am this morning I noticed that someone had already posted one of those clothes collection bags through the door. This is a plastic sack which asks if you can put your unwanted clothes inside, to be collected and given to a named charity (or a fund raising company receiving money for their acting on behalf of the named charity).

I'm sure I've had at least one a day of these collection bags this month, so I'd just like to say, once and for all, that it is a complete and utter waste of time giving me these bags, as I don't use them. I don't often buy clothes, and don’t throw wearable clothes away. Today I cycled to work in a t-shirt I bought in 1994 to commemorate D-Day's 50th Anniversary.

I wear clothes, I sew them up when they get small holes in and only when they finally disintegrate do I turn them into rags for use in cleaning my bike, with all the remaining buttons carefully cut off and stored in my button box. I only throw away shoes when the soles have worn away.

Now, there are plenty of things which we have loads of and would be delighted to give to charity. I've a loft full of stuff which I need some real motivation to go through and sort out, and if I knew a charity wanted it, I could give to them. I've thousands (yes, thousands) of books. Hundreds of VHS videos. And that is only touching the surface.

I also own cables and power leads from lots of electrical appliances that broke and threw away, but inexplicably kept the leads for. I'm not sure why – possibly in the off chance that if we buy a new toaster only to discover that it didn't come with a lead and we can't plug it in, we can see whether the lead from a Phillips Savvy phone charger, the old dot matrix printer or the lead that allows us to charge our old digital camera from the car's cigarette lighter would work.

We have glass bottles for my old Soda Stream, but the Soda Stream broke years ago, and last time I looked, the replacement models use large plastic bottles rather than small ones. If I saw decent flavours around I might be tempted to get a new Sodastream. And there isn't a bottle bank nearby.

We've also got the boxes things came in. When we bought things and if the recycling bin was full, what do we do with the box but put it up in the loft?

We also seem to have kept all the instructions from anything that came with instructions, from electrical gadgets to flat pack assembly. If there's anyone out there desperately wanting to know what to do with an alan key or how to put bread in a toaster in Japanese, we might be able to help them. So we have boxes and packaging, as well as cables and instructions, for items we no longer own. (Okay, they're rubbish that need recycling, but there's a limit to what we can fit in the recycling bin and an even smaller limit to what I can carry on my bike.)

We also have boxes full of wedding catalogues, full of wedding dress etc adverts. Although my wife refuses to throw them away as she says they gave her wedding ideas, although I'm not actually sure what ideas these were; I found the church and reception venue, the florist was the one on the end of Newport High Street and the cake was made by someone who advertised in the local paper – none of which had any connection with these magazines. While yes, the magazines certainly gave her ideas, they were not necessarily ones we were able to realistically afford.

If only the plastic bags that come through the door asking for things for charity asked for things we've got to give, I'd be motivated to clear the loft out, secure in the knowledge that I'm doing good, but with no lighting or floor boards, it is easier just to chuck stuff there and forget...

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Doesn't that worry you that your wife won't throw away wedding magazines?

Is it that she isn't quite convinced that she might still get the opportunity for a second chance?

Perhaps she secretly longs for the wedding she always wanted and is waiting for you to reach a heightened financial status that might afford it?

Deb

This morning I was woken up by the running pitter-patter of little feet at 5am. So I got up, walked into the hall only to discover a trail of oats leading back and forth from the kitchen to the lounge. My daughter had filled a bowl of oats for porridge and was so excited that she was running backwards and forwards from the kitchen to the table with the bowl, spilling it everywhere in the process.

My son, however, had gone a step further and got some milk out, which explained the mess in the kitchen itself. I looked at the mess, and looked at him, and he said, 'When I closed my eyes, the milk kept pouring. That made me feel sad.' The big grin on his face didn't quite match the words, though...

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Aw bless

Deb

[Amy P]

My mum came round for the day and so we spent the morning having a chat while the children played at a soft play centre, and later enjoyed a Christmassy dinner at a nearby carvery.

So, what have I learnt this November?
Firstly, that I can't grow a convincing moustache in a month. Nope, didn't work at all.
That trunks are rather important when swimming in public places.
Singing in a group in public is quite fun.
Nothing is as luxurious as having a nice, dry feet (and being able to breathe without difficulty).
Flushing the toilet is something we take for granted.
If you suffer from condensation and dampness, ventilators do seem to have eliminated the problem.
Southampton's Christmas market is rubbish.
Gravity is a fun film.

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Yay, you made it past the finish line

Deb

Yep - I did a post for every day in November. Not necessarily *on* every day in November, but close enough, eh?

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[Amy P]