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

/* The sound of a dog yelping comes from the kitchen, followed by what sounds like a robot tap-dancing, then the crash of a platter. */

50 house plants? I have one that is very hardy. The others I have had all died.

Sometimes mine die too. Then I can get a new one. Usually I grow them from cuttings and some are somebody's leftovers. I am Patron Saint of homeless houseplants.

Where's Zeppo?

I'm very fond of cactuses myself but i have lots of other sorts of houseplants too. Ivy is very reliable. Peace lilies are good because you wait until they droop and then you water them and they perk up. I like ficus trees but they like a steady temperature above 61C and I can't maintain that during the winter so they drop their leaves.

61C
Well, I guess you meant 16C.
My ficus trees (both quite small) did fine at 6C too.

Oh yes. 61F, 16C and not the other way round.

/* Zeppo runs out of the kitchen with mbougatses in his mouth, then hides behind the sofa. */

Looks like there actually are a couple of jobs out there I could do. One is abroad, and one is - amazingly enough - about 15 miles down the road. Let's just hope that there is no-one else out there who is better.

So fingers crossed, please!

B

Fingers Crossed Ben!! good luck I'm sure you won't need it, you'll be amazing!

We don't have wild blue bells in Vermont. Plenty of other wild things though, especially lilies and pansies.

[MTG]

No problem about the worker bots, Lil. I'll just call Ampton.

*GL presses a button on his watch. A few minutes later the elevator doors open and Ampton walks out. He sees GL immediately, but continues to look around. After surveying the room and aparently not seeing what he hoped for, Ampton walks over to GL.*

Ampton, we're setting up some aquaria up here and we need some worker bots to help with the lifting. B4 here is overseeing things, so he'll tell you what is needed.

*At that moment, Matina storms out of the kitchen and looks around the room furiously. Her eyes stop when she sees a yellow tail sticking out from behind the couch. She takes a step towards it, then stops and glances up, becoming aware that there are others in the room. She sighs deeply, then her eyes meet Ampton's. A look of pleasant surprise is quickly replaced by a coy look of demure innocence. Ampton smiles and winks.*

*whilst attention is diverted elsewhere, leaves her post by the kitchen door and slips under Caerwynn's armchair*

^It's all very well for you, Zeppo, but I don't eat pastries and cakes. I only said sit and 'watch' the food lady.^

*listens to the talk of *

*came running in from her apartments when she heard the crash, and now "reads" the story in the tableau before her*

Where's that suspensory harness? Let's tether Zeppo somewhere in the open where he can't touch anything for a while -- otherwise he'll think it's a grand thing to ambush Matina for food! *looks to d'E to see if he agrees*

*goes into the kitchen to clean up, seeing that Matina is distracted*

Garius, have the bots shutter the windows in one of the unused workshops and install the right kind of lights, while they're here. B4 can tell them what to do about tanks and temperature control and all.



We have all these workshop spaces, and I have an idea about how to handle them; if you want to do pottery, start a Pottery Workshop thread (here at the atelier) in which you pick out your workshop space, set it up and do pottery things. Close the door if you don't want visitors, open it if we can come in. Similarly with book-binding, Fish Husbandry, Metal Sculpting and so forth. You can make links to pictures of wat you're doing, accept commissions or whatever. The CLI bots are on hand if you want to convert a workshop to a greenhouse or make other substantive changes. Or you can work with plants in the garden shed outside and start the thread here as with the workshops. What do you think?



Anyone else want fresh tea?

Happy to accept . Would have had some mbougatses if hadn't absconded with the supply.

Sounds like an excellent plan, Lil.

The bots may have to sweep up some bits of gingerbread - rather a lot of gingerbread actually. I got a bit carried away when I built the set for the panto .

Did someone mention ?

great idea, Lil. In fact, the woodshop's open for business, and I've been getting a little lonely in there, anyway. Ya'll are welcome to partake! http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/F38024?thread=274594&post=3422497#p3422497 (sorry if this stretches the room. the discomfort is temporary)

I would take you up on that offer Lil, but the only artistry that I am at all involved with I can now do with pen or keyboard. My photography days are long past, nt having the time or inclination to set up a darkroom and purchase new camera kit. My old Ricoh XR-M3 died on me a few years ago and I cannot get it repaired. I am ignorant of the new generation of film cameras so I don't have a clue what to look for.

It's becoming all digital now anyway, Marv. On one of the lists I belong to, someone who interviewed the late Ansel Adams says he was very excited to see the coming age of digital photography. He said he would love to work in digital!

*pours out fresh tea* Interestingly, we have a computer in the library and I have one in my studio, but we don't have a suite for them. Perhaps that's what we should do with the southwest corner -- there's room to develop holograms in there. And it's the closest point to CLI, so it would be a snap to wire up. Marv, would you head up doing the infrastructure for a computer lab in Mike's old suite? I know Courtesy and Phil will help you.

Money is no object. We should have cutting edge stuff for CG, a bombproof intranet and shared outside access. Allow for programming as well. Will you three do it?

[{Courtesy}]

Lil, I guess that I am something of a luddite when it comes to photography. The resolution still is not where it could be, and there is something magical about B&W photography and working up the prints in a red room. I *liked* lab work and darkroom work.

OK I am setting up the tech lab at /F38024?thread=274605&post=3422615#p3422615 But I will need some help with the lifting and populating the racks with machines.