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

Ben, great news about the allotment I'd go for low maintainance "grow yourself" sort of thing. When I went to the garden centre with you we got some dwarf sunflowers, they looked very cute and nice and colourful.

I flew today well to be more precise the instructor flew and I had a play once it was in the air - despite the conditions being appaulling, there were fairly high crosswinds, and then there were small patches of vairable sinking air which could have been deadly if we're caught them on the approach. So we gave up and went to the pub for lunch - got in about 8pm. We got two new members today, they really enjoyed their trial lessons - didnt' seem to realise how difficult it was to actually fly in these conditions.

Hope the weathers good next weekend

dont forget to grow some polychysanthis,i think thats what there called ,look at the dried flowers in the shops ,helioc..,another name i recall,also several of the broom(e) family have great colors folliage.Most fairly easy to grow.

IIEM, I need anticoffee.

IIEM, a diet vanilla pepsi please. It's going to be a long night.

and please, to go with my scrambled eggs

Sunny, but cold and windy morning here. I must venture into the garage to find the wallpaper steamer to start preparing No2 son's ex-bedroom and to encourage No1 son to continue the process. He is moving into there once it is freshly painted. At the moment Cassie thinks it is her room and thumps around up there chasing nothing in particular!

IIEM, a sleep draught ould be nice about now.

Poor Cassie . A room of her own at last and you're going to take it off her. Meanie .

Ben, for your allotment I'd recommend growing things that are useful for adding to a bought bunch of flowers but are expensive or impossible to find.

Living where you do, asparagus should be easy to grow. You can eat it and then let some of the spears develop into fern. 'Baby's breath' is an easy annual to grow, as is 'clary sage', which has pink, purple and white bracts. 'Bells of Ireland' are good too but are sometime difficult to get going when sown straight into the soil unless you warm it up first under polythene or cloches.

My house have been on sale for a week now. Some people have shown up some interest but I have had so busy week that I didn't find the time to show them around in the house. My kids were home alone mostly so now I have to clean up everything at first. I hope so much that everything will work out fine enough. I want to get out of here!
The winter has had bad effect on my houseplants, some of them are dying and I can't help it. Not enough sun and too cold in here. I don't have enough firewood this winter, you see. So ficus and stephanotis are almost dead by now and the pincher-plant is not doing so well either. The dragon-tree (I'm afraid it's not how it is called in English) is dead. I can't move from the house before 2 months, I'm afraid as it is too cold for moving houseplants now. I have around 40-50 of them.

Sad to lose the stephanotis, Hati. I had the same problem. I asked a friend to loook after my houseplants in the winter of 86/7 which was the coldest in the last 40 years. I got about 15 of them back, and that was only because she was dedicated.

A fly cup of tea, please, IIEM. We are off out enjoying ourselves today.

Ben

I have to find a new place for myself and one important issue is that there must be good conditions for my houseplants, too.

[Dylan] My dad's been for a new place for some time now ... and he's found one, but there's all sorts of complications regarding prices and stuff.

"a fly cup of tea"

That's a new expression for me. Is it a very tiny cup, appropriate for a house fly?

Spent all day yesterday removing wallpaper. Or, rather, about an hour removing the last of the wallpaper, and the rest of the day removing wallpaper paste. There was only one layer of wallpaper, but whoever put it up didn't spare the paste. The ceiling was the worst.

Should be able to get a coat of primer on tonight.

* checks his concoction of a couple of weeks back *

Oh dear, I think we have a problem here

A fly cup is one you have on the fly, or on the hoof I guess.

Had a great day. Had a phone call from Rainbow this morning, (she used to post in Askh2g2 as "Slug" but changed her name to "Rainbow". She has had the most awful time. We live in the same area and know a lot of the same people (one of the lawyers she is dealing with at the moment was the lawyer who handled my mother's estate, and she and I both had dealings with the same land agent at different times). However she seems to be finding the loonies around here, or maybe she brings out their inner psycopaths. Anyway, she has had some nasty experiences.

The Stepson and I went over to see her and have a catch-up, (the last time we saw her was before Christmas), and then we went on to Bath and wandered around for a bit. It was very cold, but good to get out and about.

I taught him the question game, which should be compulsory training for all journalists, sales people and lawyers. Essentially you hold a normal coversation, but when you get to the end of what you are saying, you finish up with a question. It is hard work, because you are doing three things at once: holding a coherent conversation, thinking about the question you are going to arrive at, and trying to sound normal while you do it. He is getting scarily good at it. His homework for the week is to do this one-sided during ALL of his interactions during the week...

We also talked about sects, drugs, and the dangers of withrawing from reality. He has been thinking a lot about reality and the fact that people avoid it recently, which is interesting because my biggest issue with him is his habitual disengagement from things. If I can send him off into the world able to be fully engaged if he chooses and asking himself questions about the world around him, I will feel that my work has been done well.

Mind you, I am not entirely sure what I will be unleashing on the world by the time he has finished his stay with me...

Be afraid, be very afraid!

Ben

Rainbow... Yeah, I remember her. She had some real trouble with her H as far as I recall.

IIEM, a - thanks...*sips *

Real trouble with her H. They are now divorced, but they still have dealings as a result of her children, and as the children grow older they become more troublesome in turn. Four teenage boys - makes my situation look like a cinch. The trouble with her ex is spreading among their shared aquaintances. I have been asking her why she doesn't move for a while, and for the first time today she volunteered that she was thinking it. Some ponds are too poisoned to stay in.

Ben

*agrees strongly with Ben*

I live in the same house with my exboyfriend. We don't have to meet each other as we have separate front doors and everything but just the idea of living under the same roof is . And there is also the problem with our friends. He and his wife put quite some effort in "painting me black".
So, we are selling the house.

"...is a cup of tea you have on the fly"
Just because I may share my name with a type of buzzing household fly doesn't mean that you can put cups of on me - even if I make them

I once grew potatoes in the allotment my Dad had as a child - rather nice they were too. Like Rincewind I think potatoes are one of the most wonderful things on .

*Washes up*
*Puts v/_\3 on, but not on flies, buttees, s, s or any other insect, including Amy the *

Amy, I've transferred to the Open University now and am now on my second second year course. The tutorials are held at Leeds Met, although this year's teacher, alas, doesn't seem to know what she is talking about. She's supposed to be teaching Europe 1815-1914 but spent the tutorial talking about Samuel Pepys. She also said "In the 17th Century, Britain was ruled by G.P.'s", which either indicates power-mad s, or she meant JPs and is talking about the wrong century for some reason.

<BB<

Oo H

Thanks <BB<

By the way got any of those "fly biscuits"

Can't remember their real name