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

Done with the last thread, and pasted the last bit into A2699922 Now to tackle the backlog in this thread.

Sneaks in wearing a tinfoil cloak, to short out the cattle prod

[BB]

*looks at the shining apparition that is Bald Bloke*

Is it a plane? Is it a bird?... Well, possibly a roast chicken.

Good Show d'E and others. Colour me impressed.

The CA volunteer thread has thrown up a good cartoon about the side-effects of slimming pills. http://members.lycos.co.uk/waltrichard/ and take the 'Cartoons' link or press the 'C' button.

, that's a good one, Amy.

Teuchter I think my biggest mistake is a ballgown from Monsoon, although a lovely style, strapless with fitted bodice and fullish skirt. It is just slightly the wrong shade of red. Now, of course, it is too tight anyway and I really ought to pass it on to a charity shop.

Worst clothing purchase? Um, pretty much most of my closet

No, really...A brown peasant top with ruffles and big bell sleeves. It looked cute on the rack, but as FG and others can attest, I am not a big bell sleeves and ruffles kind of gal.

Worst clothing mistake? I green suede jacket which was cropped at the waist - you have to be stick thin to wear things like that. Eighty quid and I literally never wore it!

B

So many clothing mistakes, so little time.

There was the silk tartan skirt I bought from Monsoon for a New Year party. It was tight around the waist when I bought it and by the time Christmas was over I could hardly breathe in it and I looked like a tartan sack of potatoes.

And then there's the neon-pink silk dress hanging in my wardrobe. I bought it in 1996 but I still haven't worn it. It would be lovely for a Caribbean holiday.

Then there was the floaty green thing I bought with the vague idea of wearing it as my going away outfit after my wedding. Unfortunately the weather was freezing, and we were enjoying the party so much we outstayed the guests! I never wore that, either.

B

Does footwear count? I once bought a pair of neon green gogo boots. I'm short so they came to the top of my knees. Not only were they just too dang green, but it was hard to bend my knees to walk. Those were the days of the jolly green giant commercials and my friends started calling me Sprout.

Lil, we always used Michelob bottles for candles. And the bad wine of choice for my crowd was Sangria. I had several recipes. They were all disgusting.

Then there were the red trainers with rollerskating wheels in them...

B

Up until my 40's I was extremely thin, and had trouble with clothes off the rack -- had to roll the waists, couldn't find pants long enough in the leg for my waist. So this kept me away from extreme fashion choices.

The metabolic change, when it came, was so quick that I can almost name the date. I put on a set of clothes I had worn only a couple of weeks before, turned to the mirror and saw flesh rolling slightly over the waistband. There followed a series of ghastly errors as I tried to compensate for the mysterious changes... and now I live in Lands End stuff. Jeans and tee shirts, with a few long skirts for occasions.

hmmm... Prolly the worst thing I have worn with any regularity were the T-shirts for the racing series I was a part of in 1998. They had a cartoon of a buxom blonde waving a checkered flag in front of a bad version of the car I worked on.

I am so glad I resisted buying a ra-ra skirt! I see that something very similar is being worn this summer, but not by me. In fact I very rarely wear skirts unless they are ankle and length and it is way too hot to wear trousers.

For the longest time, all I wore was long skirts and t-shirts with no bra. What the heck was I thinking?! Hippy days, I guess.

Now, and I think it's because of all the weight I lost, I'm in Gap skirts and Old Navy tops and cute shoes. I even pay attention to the make-up and stuff. Weird, eh? I guess it's because for so long I hid in my clothes, and now it's like "look at me!"

I know I said that if it rained I would go outside and stand in it, but this would have been a bad idea this evening, on account of the kumquat-sized hail amongs the grape-sized stuff, the three inches of rain in 30 minutes, and the thunder and lightning. I had water coming in under two of my doors, and a leak in the middle of the house, but fortunately everything is drying out now.

It's been strange and exhilarating to listen to a river running down the other side of the road!

Limbo didn't show up for dinner, she was out there somewhere during the weather, and I've been calling her intermittently for over an hour. Vinnie's been clinging to me all evening.

I used to love storms - until I had property responsibilities and worries. As I child in the Highlands of Scotland, I could stand at my bedroom window and watch the whole valley lighting-up every time the lightning struck. Even in Glasgow I didn't worry too much because the house was a solid old stone-built product of the early 1900s. It was rather disconcerting however to be out on a windy day and find that the small child holding your hand was almost horizontal to the pavement in a 50mph gust

Is the fire now well and truly out Lil? All those inches of rain must have given everything a good soaking. Has Limbo shown up yet?

We've had a couple of wet days here in SE England - after many dry weeks. The gardens are really suffering and I've still had to take the hose to the beds under the trees.

My sartorial disasters also involve green clothing - funny how that colour crops up repeatedly. I used to have bright green loon pants which I wore with a yellow T-shirt, yellow clogs with red stars - and a red jacket. Each of my finger nails was a different colour - courtesy of the Biba counter in the local Dotty Ps
I must have been a rather painful sight.

I am sure you looked a real chick, Teuchter. I too had loon pants, there was a little shop in Bath that sold all that stuff and on our limited shoppong trips from school, that was my first port of call.

The school was in quite a prominent position on one of the hills surrounding Bath, a great neo-Gothic building, when we had thunderstorms the windows rattled and the lightning lit up the vaulted ceilings of the dormitories. Being short-sighted I couldn't see much and my imagination would run riot, conjuring up , and .

I hope the rain holds off today as we going round to No2 son's far a bbq.

*waiting for news of Limbo*

For an excellent rose, try one made from the white Zinfandel grape. Its actually a red grape that is harversted early to giving a pink wine that is then called white! But it's pink alright and very nice. *hic*

Anyone want a lumpen teenager to do some jobs? For reasons to tedious to go into, I've temporarily grounded Sunshine for a while and she's my chore monkey. I've surgically removed the mobile phone (she's allowed 1 txt per day) has to rise before noon, and do something productive with her post exam time. Yesterday she came to help my best friend move house and we had her lifting and carrying all day. This morning she will be on car cleaning - inside and out.

Yesterday I walked her round all the shops in the village asking for summer work. She drew the line at ye olde village chippe shoppe (not wanting to smell of it) but I even made her ask in ye village hardware store, where women don't ever go and the Saturday boy is 75. Ye poshe knickere shoppe didn't like the look of her I think, but took her number anyway. The most promising lead was from ye cake shoppe and even if they don't have summer work, their Saturday girl is off to uni on October so she could take on that.

In her own sunshiny way she's accepting the clamp down on her life in a cheerful and happy manner never refusing to do any of the jobs my friend and I could find for her to do. She's never been a mood swinging, door slamming one anyway. So, anyone have dusty garages that need cleaning out, babies to sit, lawns to mow or cars to wash? Limited time only I hope, as I want her to get a job and get out from under my feet - the drawback with groundings I find.

With regard to fashion disasters, helping my friend move house uncovered so many of hers, to much hilarity all round.