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

Slapping somebody else's sunburn

Sharpening a clutch pencil

Digging up the first row of spuds of the season, I can hardly wait!

We're growing our taties in a bag on the balcony, but getting your hands in there and digging down to find them in great.

And isn't it pleasurable to reflect on what people call potatos? Spuds, tatties, taters, the tops on mine have gone yellow now, next week..........! Gosh you can boil them, fry them mash them, bake them, chip them, mind you, I can't recall anyone ever saying you can eat them raw, but I'll bet there's someone somewhere who does. When we were kids up North we used to get turnips, (they call them swedes down South), and eat them raw, straight out of the farmers field we'd eat them raw allright, and peapods, (peaswabs we used to call them), well we'd go miles to plunder some poor gardner's peaswabs!

My husband is using "Amelie" (the film) for his senior French class this year. In one of the accompanying books, there are lovely lists of what people like and dislike. I'll look them out this evening, but one of Amélie's secret pleasures (that I can remember at the moment) is to put her hand deep into a bag of rice.

And opening a new packet of coffee!

I'm not allowed to do that Mal. That's my wife's perogative. She had it inserted into the vows - "Do you promise to love, honour and pass the Nescafe jar". It's easily been 15 years since I popped the foil on a jar.


Dagnabbit ... I've got an overwhelming urge now ............

Jar?

I meant ground coffee, the packets like bricks that suddenly go squishy when you break the vacuum.

Ah

We have the two extremes in our house. Instant and beans. The beans need grinding and stuff (so I'm told), so real coffee is a treat.

I haven't made my own coffee in years. I don't know how much of the ingredients I take.

Lazy I hope you at least know how many sugars?

The only instant coffee we use isn't real coffee at all, it's that barley malt stuff.

About two sugars. It's the "about" that causes the problems

In my defence, I do all the cooking.

Instant coffee (Nescafe, Maxwell House etc) is actually much stronger than what comes out of the cafetiere, as well as being bitter and not as nice, but it does smell nice when you break that foil. And yes Mal, Some ground coffees, the packet is like a brick till you cut the top open, it's rather miraculous, and strangely pleasing of course, when all of a sudden it's just powder, like opening a Pharoah's tomb!

Reading through old hootoo threads and seeing hopefully inserted potential smileys that have since turned into real smileys

They're still just dots in goo.

....


Reading the latest Terry Pratchett curled up by the fire.

Making up paint from powder pigment!

Regarding the coffee jars - I thought I was the only one denied that pleasure by The Missus!!

I have my own jar now for when I'm at work - and have found they can be a very interesting (in the "strangely pleasurable" manner of this thread) social experiment. When faced with a new jar, hand it to a clleague, and ask them to open it. Some will stab it with the teaspoon once. Some insert the spoon, then carefully remove the foil all the way round. Some drum on it with the flat of the spoon until the foil breaks. And my boss looked at me with the look only bosses have, and said "do it yourself!"

Now what does that say about you, that you're annoyed with your wife for not letting you open the jar at home, but pass up the chance at work willingly?

no-ones ever used to break the foil wit their knuckle then? you get a perfect square shaped hole in it.

I run my thumb-nail round the rim.