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

Okay, am I morbid? I was doing some cleaning, and found my ticket to the World Trade Center Observation Deck from 1986, and started crying. Is that weird?

MR -

I think it's healthy and normal.

Courtesy

Most definitely...

I would have done the same, MR.

{[caer csd] that's were that map went!}

[not here]

Fascinating! I always had the feeling that some sorts of apples made my mouth and throat itch - watched TV tonight and learnt that some apple sorts are very rich in the same kind of proteine as birch pollen (which I'm allergic to) so they will cause an allergic reaction - and here I was wondering if I could possibly be allergic to some foods too!

Is it only certain varieties of apples? I hope you don't have to give them up altogether. No more apple pie - dreadful.

[not here]

No problem whatsoever with apple pie!

...only fresh fruit, it seems...

...and I do seem to cope better with completely green apples (like Granny Smith unless they are too ripe) rather than with those with hints of red or yellow...

{[caer csd] MR, you aren't weird at all, a caring human being in fact.

I keep reading that apples are good to eat if dieting because there is something in them that encourages the brain to switch off/postpone the hungry response. I find that after eating an apple I feel more hungry!}

[not here]

I recently heard one of my colleagues explaining some theory on why some fruits shouldn't be eaten when you're hungry, but *after* a proper meal - and apples were mentioned among them...

...I've had the same experience - getting even hungrier when eating apples...

The pectin in apples is supposed to fill you up. They're also supposed to help lower cholesterol. Don't know if either is actually true.

MR - sometimes we react strongly to things that take us by surprise. You weren't expecting to see the ticket and wham. And as we age - I'm talking about myself, not you, so don't throw things at me - we cry more easily. It's also a sign that you're a caring, empathetic person, and that's something we need more of.

[lil]
if here she would agree and describe her emotional reaction to hearing "A Groovy Kind of Love" in muzak today and how she has been trying since then to remember the original group's name

I don't either, but I do thank you for permanently putting it in my head, Lil.

I do believe that the "I left my in Missoula" is your bumper sticker. Mine is the "I Missoula". Speaking of bumper stickers, I saw one of the best yesterday:

"What if the Hokey Pokey *is* what it's all about?"

For those of you who don't know, the Hokey Pokey is a children's song. As in:

You put your left foot in,
you put your left foot out,
you do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around
that's what it's all about.

(Repeat for each limb.)

As for the Nine Mile Virus, it's really not that funny to someone outside the state--perhaps I shouldn't have shared it. The West Nile Virus is a real, scary disease. The Nine Mile Valley is a remote area west of Missoula. Some dummy at a party I was at got the two confused and started ranting about the Nine Mile Virus.

Oh, and the second paragraph was directed at MR.

I was reading it an entirely different way.

I found some other mementos from my trip to NYC, most of which prominently display the twin towers. I think I am going to put them someplace safe, so that when my daughter gets older, I can tell her about it, and show her pictures. Also, it might make for an interesting school report.

Have we found that bomb yet?

[]

The West Nile Virus is, I believe, over-hyped. Certainly it is a serious disease and it is spreading rapidly in the mid-western US, but when you stop to consider the statistics you have to wonder what the fuss is all about.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/qa/cases.htm

For most people it is nothing more than a mild flu. 1% of cases become serious, almost all of them in people who have compromised immune systems (due to other disease, old age, or sometimes very young age). Of that 1%, 85-97% will recover. From 1999 through 2001 there were fewer than 300 serious cases nationwide.

It does get much scarier when you look at the 2002 statistics, but you still have to consider that it is a new disease in the US and nobody here has immunity yet. Immunity comes with exposure, and you can see that NY/NJ where it was first discovered has seen a sharp decrease. So the 99% of people who get it and have nothing more than a mild fever won't get it again any time soon, possibly not for 10 years or more, possibly never again (unless the virus mutates like influenza or the common cold, which does not seem to be the case).

An apple in the morning is also supposed to wake you up better than a cup of or .

*suddenly realizes that she has posted to the Atelier four times in less than 24 hours and wonders if it is a sign of a coming apocalypse...*

[lil]
The Mindbenders
written by Phil Collins of the Mindbenders

if she were here, Lil would be singing to herself incessantly
wouldn't you agreeeeeeeeee
baby you and me
got a groovy kind of love

If Lil were here, I'd be telling her that's a great song...

Darn it, now its stuck in my head...