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

Wellington is fairly similar on the earthquake front. lots of little ones. which i agree with sea on, can be quite fun. they keep saying that the big one is coming, and our 150 years is up, but it hasn't arrived yet. i don't see the point in worrying about things that you can't control. so just roll with it (ha ha ha)

They (who are They anyway?) say that SL valley is going to get hit by another big quake. One happened at some point to create the Wasatch Fault and They fear that another is coming some day. I know a couple of geologists that study the fault and it's effect on the valley 10,000 years ago or so when they think it occured. I know that the last place I want to be is my house. I am about two miles from teh fault line and on the foothills of the Wasatch range. Anything major may follow the old fault and destroy my neighborhood. Buildings in Salt Lake do not enjoy the same seismic considerations that our friends in Los Angeles and the outlying areas have. The Unified Building Code in Utah has few entries in it about making your house, office, skyscraper safe in a quake.

*The Space Station Big C settles into orbit over Earth, activates its defence systems, and just sits there.*
*A few minutes later, a poor dishevelled creature teleports into the Atelier. It looks like it's in a bad way, smells distinctly of alcohol, and doesn't even have its trademark green many-pocketed jacket on. It tries to lift its head rather weakly, and gives everyone in the Atelier a faint sign of a grin. *


Hellooh everyones! I be back from da GalaGroop.


*The unkempt figure, now known to be that of the Professor, attempts quite pathetically to stand up, but fails miserably, managing only to lift himself off his hands.*


I'd just love, just love ta tell yuz all about its, but yuz may nohtiss I's a bit...


*The figure sways on the spot, and falls backwards onto a sofa, unconscious. A mild gleam of a drunken smile is seen plastered onto his face.*

Welcome back, Prof. I'm sure that Courtesy is around here somewhere and can whip up a hangover shake for you. Maybe a nice one.

G7

*As the Professor is unable to get up, his Watch delves into his mind and searches for what the Professor would say at this point.*

{Beep. The Professor would like that very much, thankyou. Chocolate would be most adequate.}

9 little red lights to while away the hours reading!

please Matina. Hey there Prof, boy have I had a busy time. Now going to relax, chill, sip a Macallan and saunter my way through the backlog.

*floating in*

A talking watch?

Hmmm... Godbotherers...

...well, I know that I don't like the YW (sorry) but they always seem to approach me trying to discuss things like the ozon layer, or cruel animal transports, or anything BUT religion, and THEN they pull out the....eh...'Wake up!? and the 'Watch Tower'? - anyway, those pamflets...... I've had dozens of those stuffed into my mail box...

...but it's definitely an improvement to several years ago, when their approach was to threaten me with eternal punishment in Hell, when I told them I'd rather believe in Darwin than in the Bible...

...so I actually prefer the Mormons, usually represented by young, handsome male exchange students, in neat costumes, and - this is what I really appreciated - saying, in broken Swedish 'Hallo, we come from the (the really long name for Mormons) and we'd like to talk about our faith with you!'

Straight forward! No fussing about! One sentence, telling me who they were and what they wanted!

But I never let any of them in - the day I do make up my mind what to believe in, I prefer to make that decision myself, thank you very much!

Amy, when was that quake in Egypt? Because I know I missed one in tha autumn of 1992, because we were still in Jordan, but supposed to be in Cairo at the time of the quake - and when we got there, it was quite impossible to tell which buildings had been destroyed in the earth quake, and which ones that were just deteriorated...

{The Professor wishes you a happy few hours reading.} **

{I have questioned the Professor on the topics of the moment, and he can say that he has never been approached - in RL at least - by any religious converter of sorts.}
{Furthermore, he has never experienced an earthquake, though has learned about them - to his great annoyance - in Geography.}

{The Professor wishes you a good day, Titania.} **
{Indeed I am, as you put it, a talking Watch. My very purpose is to serve the Professor, and I am his greatest invention next to the Space Station. I operate using the principals of... Do forgive me. The Professor has ordered me not to bother you with the details.}

On the subject of earthquakes, I must say that I've not lived through many. Only one, I think, and I was too young to remember that.

BTW, somewhere in the backlog, someone said something about people in religious groups losing their free will, or something. I'm just trying to figure out what's meant by that. Without trying to sound too much like a zealot, I just have to say that I've never really noticed anything like that in the churches I've attended.

Napier (where I live) was hit by a 7.9 quake in 1931. 256 people died. Nowadays many people welcome smaller quakes - we experience quite a few of them. We reckon (unscientifically - a lot of finger-crossing and no-doubt a bit of mindless praying to non-existent entities is involved) it relieves the pressure on the fault lines.

Well, watch, tell the Prof. that I wish I could have experienced that earth quake in Egypt, but preferrably in the desert, without the danger of buildings falling down upon me... just feeling the earth move beneath my feet would be an interesting experience...

...you see, I try to collect interesting experiences - let's see...

...I've never been freezing(?) as much as I did a winter in Brighton - nothing like a seaside resort during an exceptionally cold winter with temperatures below zero (Celsius) - when I woke up in the morning, I discovered I had to put pretty much effort into unclenching my teeth, which I had clenched in an effort to keep them from clattering... the noise kept me from falling asleep... that is also the only time I've had a bad cold causing me to loose my voice...

...never got so wet (on 'dry' land) as in the south of Switzerland during spring time - we had finally had a break in the 14 days of never-ending night-and-day rain - and I went for a walk - and the rain started pouring down at the point where I was furthest away from 'home' - feeling my impregnated jacket leaking through - first the hood, water trickling down the top of my head - then my shoulders, my back, my shoes (ever tried to walk in shoes with built-in foot bath? Squish, squash, squish, squash!) - and when I got 'home' I could wringe water out of all my clothes, including underwear...

...pain - hmmm, yes, interesting... I'm still not sure which experience that was the most painful - breaking my leg or squashing my finger rather badly - wouldn't recommend any of those, though...

...I think the finger wins, since I both fainted because of the pain, and then screamed out loud (I hope there weren't any other patients waiting outside - at least there weren't any by the time I stepped out)...

*cuddles Springie*

Hah !

I well remember the pain and humiliation of the pointing fingers and laughing. Laugh with, not at. A young girl was driven to suicide over here thanks to people like that. (sorry Affy, PCT, touchy subject).

As to the doorsteppers Asking a gorgeous couple of female Jehovah's Witnesses out for a drink to discuss it was the only time I have ever had to deal with them. I was young, handsome? and very surprised that they turned me down.
My Aunt (aged 97) loves them coming round. She's lonely during the day and housebound and loves the conversation. Their religious sales technique just bounces off and she gets an hour of company.

I can add a couple of entires into the personal files of extremes.

The hottest I ever have been in nature was when I lived in Moab Utah in the summer of 1994 with the outside temp at a cool 50 celsius and the temp inside our trailer over 70.

The dryest would be the same year when it did not rain in Salt Lake for nearly 50 days.

The most snow is the winter of 1991 when we got something over a meter of snow in less than 48 hours. We were driving back from California for the entire storm.

The most intense pain I ever had was an ingrown toenail that was trimmed just over a year ago. Strange how something so small can hurt so much. Mind you I have had a collection of broken bones and serious cuts require medical attention.

The quake in Eqypt would have been in February 1996. After the 19th, before the 25th.

Simulpost Eatsmice... Who says that you have to have kids with you to see Shrek? I intend to go with other 20something guys that I work with.

Suicide?

Borrow a kid? Pah! Lame excuse - come on, challenge them, confuse them, surprise them - go on your own!

Yes, a young girl in Derbyshire committed suicide because of bullying of that sort.

I went to Shrek without kids although I would quite happily have wrung the neck of the kid that was kicking my seat through the first half, then announced he was bored, then when his dad tooik him out insisted on returning so that he could kick the back of my seat throughout the second half.

He also was quite insistent that girls can't fight like that.

I must go to - the Antmobile has her annual test first thing in the morning.

Oh drat - creeps like that can really ruin the experience, Amy...