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

And I'd like to wish everyone a Patrick Swayze Christmas, if that's okay.

And 50 bonus points to the one who can name all three pop-culture references there....

Well, the odds are large, I'll admit. But go on, hazard a guess. Toss out random numbers. It's healthy. I think.

Hmmm....to further complicate it, I could amend it to say include the odds that it would be a person that I know on h2g2....but that'd be a bit too weird even for my normally strange life.

Did I get the cattle prod? I have to confess that I skipped about 300 posts, but if I am feeling very virtuous over Chrimble I'll go back and read 'em.

I am off into town today to buy a balloon for this evening, and I get to finish early tonight, and will be driving home for the holidays at lunchtime tomorrow. Yay!

Did anyone see "Grumpy Old Women" last night? Made me think of Ag, and kelli, and anyone else stressed by the Myth of the Perfect Christmas. s all round for people feeling seasonal stress.

Also been thinking of GDZ and Marv. for anyone feeling nervous about employment.

I am really enjoying my work. It has all been a bit hectic. I had to take a day off last week and a day off the week before to talk to some grown-up doctors, (took my own baby-doctor with me on the second occasion - everyone should have one!), and as a result I have been cramming five days' work into three and a half days' time, which makes for stress and tiredness. However, it should all be a lot more normal in January and February.

What is really pleasing is that I am doing some good work and making a considerable difference to the likelihood of success in my small sub-section of the programme. I am also enjoying the kind of thinking that my job demands, and I forget how much I enjoy thinking that way because work is the only place where I get the chance to do it. Finally, people are saying nice things to me about my contribution to meetings, (mainly asking awkward questions), and about the documents I am preparing, so that's nice too.

Affy, hypothetically you understand, I'd say the odds on that were pretty low. Accidental, like. Purposeful? Ah, now, that's a different thing.

Mind you, when I was gallumphing around in a vile temper in the pub before the meet met up in the summer, I was welcomed by a group who said 'are you looking for the picnic?' I said yes, but when they started introducing themselves I realised they weren't hootooers. So I said 'Do the initials h2g2 mean anything to you?' They all looked blank except one of the women who said 'hitch hikers guide to the galaxy?'

I know. I know. I should have asked her how she knew that. But I stomped off to wait for the rest of the meet to arrive in the pub some five hours later. But I do wish I'd asked her how she knew.

Anyway, s to all.

B

I saw Grumpy Old Women... seems a lot more petty and, well, bitchy than Grumpy Old Men (which is on tomorrow). Mrs. Dreadful (who is now a proper official member of H2G2, yay!) was shocked by the line "why would anybody want to make their own mince pies?" and incredulously said to the TV "Because they're usually nicer than shop bought ones!"

Finally got Mrs. D's last present yesterday, still need to get a few for the outlaws (on both sides) and we haven't even started wrapping yet!

Am I the only person here with completely intact glasses? (although it was a bit touch and go last night when I blearily walked into the door frame on my way to bed)

Hmmm....very unlikely if unintentional....more likely if intentional....

If it was intentional, then it wouldn't be a very mischievious intent as I'm seeing it....but then again, I shouldn't be worried about the probabilities. Exceptions to the rules need to pop up once in a while.

Sorry Mr. Dreadful, symlpost.

But if it's any consolation, my glasses are perfectly fine. I'm considering various ways that I can tempt Fate and Freddie with my glasses.

And judging by the last post, Penny Whistle's glasses don't seem to be in such a bad shape either.

Morning

I saw Grumpy Old Women last night - I remarked to J that they seem far better preserved than the grumpy old men I also decided that I am a prematurely GOW. Looking forward to the blokes version tomorrow

Now I've got over my anger at the outlaws I am glad they have dumped us - we'll have a far more relaxed and fun time without them They are now coming over for boxing day lunch (cold cuts and salad, am making no special effort - this is a no-cooking meal), they tried to get J to arrange a dinner with them and my parents on xmas-eve but he told them we have too much to prepare. They could have lunch on boxing day or nothing - I think there is still a lot of anger in him!

Glad you are enjoying yourself Ben, are you working over christmas?

Affy, did this actually happen?

It is really in my office today - there is hardly anyone here and I guess they haven't turned up the heating to compensate fr fewer bodies and computers giving off heat.

*goes to get third of the morning to warm up my hands*

k

"Toss out random numbers" - reminds me of my father, who was a statistician by heart and as such kept a small metal box in his drawer, which has this label on the lid: "D**n random numbers". In the box was - a lot of small, neat numbers cut out of cardboard. So you literally could grab a handful of 1s, 8s,7, and 9s and toss them about

A random number, in the shape of a probability? Well - how about 0.0117?

Did he really have the asterisks there (I presume the word was 'damn')... or are you just being over cautious?

Just curious.

Oddly enough, my glasses were refusing to stay on my nose yesterday, implyng that some emergency tightening of screws is in order...

Haven't had anything like Affy's coincidence attack me on h2g2, but did find that an astonishing number of colleagues in Moscow were either from my home town originally, or had spent a considerable amount of time there. One of them, and I'm sure I've told you this before, suggested that people from my home town spend a lot of energy trying to escape as far as possible from it though, so perhaps that's the solution. Another one is that after my home town, the frankly unpretty architecture of Moscow is not a problem: we clearly feel right at home. The oddest thing was when one of my students informed me that he had spent the last two years (very near) there: I couldn't imagine what for...

Off to look at flats this afternoon. B and decided that, on balance, with the amount of rent we are paying, we might as well have a mortgage. Unfortunatley, for the amount of money we have to spend, the choice, I suspect is rather limited to shoeboxes and unmortgagable concrete blocks. Still, it doesn't hurt to look.

Affy

Are you sure you haven't accidentally left a cookie on a machine.

Mornin'/evenin' All

Like Ben, I also need to go and buy my balloon for Frank. I'm just blown-away by the idea that so many people, in so many parts of the world, will be thinking about and celebrating Frank's spirit and Hypatia's love for him. This man has touched so many people and tonight our little Hootoo community will be part of something so much bigger.


On a different note, I await in trepidation, a final backlashing twang from Freddie - all to do with my resignation.
Part of me is quite taken with the idea of being put on gardening leave, which may now be a possibility, but I hope there will be no nasty legal repercussions.
It all boils down to whether or not I can trust someone with some information. I was asked a direct question, gave an uncomfortably evasive answer - and then felt I had to 'come clean' after a sleepless night. My daugter thinks I did the right thing but Mr T thinks I should have kept stum.

to all those with employment matters to consider.

and My spectacles are intact - but I'm suddenly aware that my spare pair has been sitting in its case with a screw missing for over a year.

If your spares have a screw missing that's just tempting fate...

Mr D - the actual text on the lid was in Danish ('Skide tilfældige tal' to be exact), so a) it was an approximation, and b) I was being somewhat cautious...

Surely you mean 'S***e tilfældige tal'

'Damn' isn't really a bad word... unless you're one of those ultra-PC Americans who think 'darn' and 'heck' (as opposed to damn and Hell) make good expletives.

If I asterisked the wrong word in the Danish version bear in mind that my Danish is only marginally better than my Swahili.

Affy, just delete it?

but I can't figure out how it got there?

Maybe it was a glitch, and someone else is wondering where their journal entry is?

Your asterisking was spot-on! Your Danish seems to be better than my Swahili

Hurrah!

Bye everyone! I'm off for a week with the future in-laws. Wish me luck.

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year indeed to all you good people.

Agapanthus

Bye, Ag. We'll miss you. Have a good one.

B