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

MR - he has - but alas he´s married. Until(l) recently he has been working for UN in Nepal.

Good news about Cille.

Have a wonderful(l) journey, Teuchter.

Do I have an old fashioned English? I'm sure I way back in time learned that the words mentioned should have double l's.?

When I started my car this morning we had clear blue sky. 15 km further the snow was dancing around the car and we could barely see 150 m and sat in a queue for 10 minutes. And then further on we again met the clear blue sky. Spring!

Single l s for those particular words, Tartaronne. English is such a confusing language.
I have great respect for those who use English as a second or third language and who communicate better in that tongue than many of those who have it as a first language.

I am still plodding my way through French, mangling and mis-spelling as I wend my merry way. The annoying thing is that my accent is actually pas mal, which got me into hot water on air france flights to BJ in January. Cabin crew would ask me something simple, to which I'd be able to reply beautifully, using my few well-honed expressions, and then I'd get a barrage of stuff I couldn't understand because they'd been misled into believing I was fluent.
Ah well. At least my French is better than my Mandarin

Not ready to ditch the thermal clothes yet, Ti?

I thought it was snowing here yesterday but it was actually flurries of blossom being blown off the blackthorn.

Apologies, WA; I'd forgotten about the Manx situation.

No probs, Teuchter, I rather like being in a situation. Overall I'm a European and I speak fluent Scouse.

Good news about Cille.

[p]

I find it that my sense of who I am has changed since I moved to Englandshire.
Previous to the move, I'd lived my whole life in Scotland and thought of myself as Scots first, European second and British third.
Now I seem to be Scots, British, European.

You USians must think we make a big fuss about such a small place.

I could quote Burns here ... but won't.


Pernicketyness is holding me in its thrall these days. I did a spinning class this morning, which was good, but curtailed my follow-up routine because of unpleasant noise in the gym.
Every time I go there, there's a woman on the treadmill who has the machine set to the steepest gradient possible. She then holds on to the top of the display panel and every time she takes a step, her foot hits the metal plate, causing it to thump on the belt. Even cranking my ipod up to eardrum perforation level doesn't drown out her noise - so I left. The worst thing is that she has been asked, several times, not to do this - and just doesn't care

Take a crossbow with you next time. A well placed bolt often succeeds where politeness fails.

/* Wipes gravlax crumbs from his mouth, then hides behind the potted plant. */

Good news on Cille Lil!

>then I'd get a barrage of stuff I couldn't understand because they'd been misled into believing I was fluent.
Well done on the accent! I've tried the same with Italian. I can make the sounds quite well - for instance, reading from a menu in a restaurant - but alas I don't speak it at all With luck that may change when 15 hopefully gets into her high school of choice after summer and starts on Italian.

tartaronne, maybe we can ship her to Jutland for a quick beginner's shock? (both Mrs SG V and I have acquaintances in Italy so she'd probably rather go there - sounds more alluring for a teenager I would guess)

*Points wildly*

d'E has been fratinising with the enemy!

*Looks fondly at the Star who is smearing snot all over the nearest viking* Well, it worked in War of the Worlds.

Good news on Cille.

That is such good news about Cille. Yay!!!

tartaronne, it is wonderful to have you back. Your daughter's fellow sounds like a special person. I love hearing about relationships like that.

People from England are called English, from Scotland you're called Scots, etc.? Nah. You're pulling my leg. It's just too logical. I think you made it up. So, what are you really called?

Ah, but the Scots used to live in Ireland and the Irish orginally lived in Scotland. And the English were Angles from Germany. And the Bretons live in France.

It's not as obvious as it looks.

Don't panic, don't panic, that's not real Gravadlax, it's special Gravadlaxative, tee heee.....

And the Normans came from Norway - but you thought they were French. Go on! You know you did!

And Father Christmas comes once a year.

In the immortal words of Sellars and Yeatman:

"The Scots (originally Irish, but by now Scotch) were at
this time inhabiting Ireland, having driven the Irish
(Picts) out of Scotland; while the Picts (originally
Scots) were now Irish (living in brackets) and vice
versa. It is essential to keep these distinctions clearly
in mind (and verce visa)."

oh that reminds me of a joke. But i can't remember the details.

the father christmas post, i mean.

Been out enjoying the sunshine and flowers myself today.

Of course in all this 'who really came from where' discussion, St Patrick was an Anglo-Welshman-he only went to convert the Irish.

[]