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

Morning All

We ignore Xmas by going away. Usually for a drop of sun but this year we're taking to N. York moors and Shropshire. Hmm..should be fun

Coca Cola is usually no.1 among fizzy drinks in Sweden - except around Christmas time, when their sales drop with as much as 50%.

See, in December, Swedes prefer Julmust. The syrup is made by one Swedish firm only, from a secret recipe locked in a safe - rings a bell, doesn't it?

Well, you wouldn't expect Coca Cola to just accept this, would you now? They bought a small Swedish brewery, kept the very Swedish name (Bjäre) and made their own Julmust - from the very same syrup as everyone else... but Swedes can be very stubbornly traditional, sticking with the old brand names. Hah!

Until quite recently Scotland was the only country in the world where a local soft drink (Irn Bru) outsold Coca Cola all year round.

We haven't had a 'western' Christmas for years, usually go to Lebanon, where the shops are all blaring tinny carols at you in the streets and there are huge (competitive) and lit up nativity scenes at every street corner, much like the road sign shrines are...

This year we seem to be staying in London. At least that is the latest news. Unless something dramatic happens in Lebanon, like they manage to elect a president or something and stop the assassination car bombings (I am not holding my breath, there was another one yesterday ).

So, the Christmas decorations have gone up and I have placed my order for a goose. We are planning on 'doing' London á la tourist. Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park is top on my list and the bratlets are after a couple of west end pantos. Hopefully we will avoid too much telly watching

Of the memorable ads for coke, the one I liked the best from the last few years was the polar bears all converging and then sitting down for the show - the northern lights up in the sky. Like they were all off to the cinema

That sounds awful Hyp, I hope someone can salvage something from your tape backups.

Glad to hear you're OK, Hyp - a 1" ice cover in your general area made it to the news even here.

Just tried to online order some books for Christmas. So, there's 11 days to the big day - should be enough? Turns out, no. Borderline if they'd make it, even from Danish online stores. For some reason.

OK, could get them on time from Amazon in the UK - against a priority shipment fee that I'm not quite ready to split with.

So I'll be resorting to tangible book shops...

I've confessed it before - I like IrnBru

11 days? Oh bum... I haven't bought Mrs. D's present yet. Heck, I haven't decided what I'm actually getting her!

[GDZ]

I should find out sometime today or tomorrow just how corrupted the database is. The important thing is to get something back up so we can at least catalog new materials. A catalog a year old is better than none at all. And circ is a nightmare. I have no way of knowing what is checked out or to whom. I think I'll use this as an opportunity to declare a general amnesty. Get a bit of positive PR out of it. The public doesn't have to know that we have no idea if they have our books or not. And I've already limited checkouts to 5 items.

It doesn't make any sense. The data has to be there someplace. I asked if we could mail them the tape and they said if the data was on it they would be able to read it remotely. There had to be a malfunction in the tape drive at the same time. What are the odds of that?

Sorry for whining.

Whine away, hyp I lost some financial info when my pc went belly up this week, about a week's worth that I can recompile fairly easily given a couple of clear days. You'd better believe that reading about your woes has shut me and my whining about it right up, though I feel very fortunate all of a sudden

Good thinking on the amnesty, turn your obstacles into opportunities and all that

Anyone have any idea what appropriate Christmas Present one would buy for a workaholic neanderthalian male of a certain age who has no discernable hobbies? I am right royally stumped.

I have bought myself a Christmas present though A rather pretty little laptop... I already said that earlier, didn't I?

I'll be getting my Christmas decorations out this weekend, and deciding on a last few gifts. I have office friends now.

>>Anyone have any idea what appropriate Christmas Present one would buy for a workaholic neanderthalian male of a certain age who has no discernable hobbies?

Force the caveman to take some time off. The gift of a weekend away would do him good.

last few gift shopping this weekend for me as well, lack of snowfall pending that is.

i don't even want to think about getting out the decorations. someone come by and put them up for me, okay? the lights and bulbs are in my closet and the tinsel and outdoor decorations are in the sewing room closet. give me a yell when you're done.

>>Anyone have any idea what appropriate Christmas Present one would buy for a workaholic neanderthalian male of a certain age who has no discernable hobbies?


meat? jerky? isn't that what neanderthals are all about?

Actualy a weekend away for a workaholic sounds a fantastic and ideal gift as while it is nice to earn a lot of money if you don't have time to spend it or take a break what is the point? Too much work can make you ill too.

I was going to add that Peru is another country where the local soda, Inca Kola, outsells Coca Cola. However, a perusal of Wikipedia shows that Coke bought the company several years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inca_Kola

Oh well. Merry Christmas and Corporate Hegemony to each and every one of us.

I want a bumper sticker that says "Just say 'No' to Coke" in the classic coke font.

Didn't we do that in the '80s with relation to apartheid?



I am very liking the idea of sending him away for a weekend, thank you

(can I send the bratlets with him too, or does that make it a Christmas present for me, then? )

For some reason, I'm thinking that maybe Nancy Reagan's badly conceived "Just Say No" campaign back in the 80s might have used that script...and then got sued. But I could be wrong.

Personally, I admit to drinking much more diet cola than I should. But I drink the *other* monolithic substance -- you know, the one partially owned by the Mormons.

MR, you mean the just say no to drugs campaign in the US? The phrase 'just say no' was also used for the anti-apartheid movement in Europe that decade. I still have a bumper sticker somewhere... It has recently been used again in Africa against N****é with regard to b/feeding as well.