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

Only in triplicate? I never knew the beeb was so dynamic. Next you'll tell us you don't have to justify the expense to seven oversight committees

But they still have to be buried in soft peat for three years and recycled as firelighters.

Committees? Yes, seven is about right. And they have angle-poise lamps too, you know!

Peta

Ah, so that's what Dimnock et al do when they are not dumping water features and decking in perfectly good gardens... the beeb probably has its own peat repository. I suspect it might be in Aberdeen, for some reason... An image springs to mind; a vista of rolling peat bog, dotted with small markers. "Here lies a request for 3 paperclips for employee 2/Z37AD384/7365/X. RIP. Exhumation date: 2/5/2003". The atmosphere lies heavy, like Blakey without the witty sense of humour. Out of the mist a hideous apparition looms, although on closer axamination this turns out to be a middle manager. From his mouth strange and eldrich chants issue; "synergy", "mission statement", "total quality assurance". For this is the land of Bureaucratium, in the kingdom of Administratium, where the blind are led by the incompetent.

O' course, I don't experience any of this, working in a university, no siree, not at all

Of course, that's what the Beechgrove Garden was for originally, before they decided to attempt to justify its existence by using it as the basis for a Scottish gardening programme, the reference to which will hopefully baffle a fair percentage of people reading this thread.

Committees of Seven, I was once on a Bowling team who's selection committee had a grand total of ONE. Mind you I couldn't be dropped as I was the Club Chairman and Treasurer at the time. (Plus I was one of the better bowlers as well. )

So let us get this straight. We all meet up in the Station. Booze. More Booze. Crawl in a zig-zag motion to another low level train. Stop Wumbie Base Jumping off train. Booze again to gain confidence for climbing tower. Over booze to number of people required to make ten (just to show we are trying). Don't throw up, up tower. Hold Jamie upright for descent of Tower (We remember Lothian Road). Booze. Alcohol. Spirits. Ale. Winos, not us OF COURSE, Honestly. More Booze. Goodbyes. Moze Boose about another two hours worth, then home, for a nightcap.

Doesn't sound like MUCH fun but count us in.

Base jumping off a train? Not much point there, I whould have thought. Now paragliding...

A sudden thought strikes me; there probably won't be a bar at the GSC.

Which from my point of view is probably a good thing.

My object for the day is to get to Byres Rd reasonably sober (i.e. without assistance) once there I'm sorted. As Munchkin can probably verify, get to the bus stop, catch the bus and get home without assistance, while being technically unable to stand. Probably the most useful skill that eight years of uni has given me

Hmmm, another thought. Who is coming? I'm assuming we will have at least ten people to get the cheap(er) tickets. Off to the attendance thread to confirm, methinks.

EIGHT YEATS at Uni!!!!! Why aren't you in a speciman jar somewhere then Jamie? Most students are pickled after 4 anyway.

Four years of undergraduate degree, three years of a PhD, about nine months of doss- er, job searching while writing up, and now I've hung around for so long they've given me a job.

Argueably I have hootoo to thank for this. If I had not joined around the turn of the year, I probably would have finished the thesis several months ago, and probably have got a *shudder* proper job

I was in Central Station about an hour ago and I couldn't see a bar called the Governor.There is one called Coopers at the Union street entrance, Yatse's up where the departure boards used to be and Bonapartes, which is near platform 8. So which one are we meeting in?

Whichever's cheapest.

Now then, can everyone who's planning to attend please go and say so in the "Attending..." conversation, so I can update the page and make us look popular.

Ardzil, there are (if I remember corectly) two bars up near platform 8. Yates's is the one where you go up the stairs and turn left, and then there's one where you go up the stairs and turn... Right.
I say we use the old reliable make-sure-everyone-knows-where-we-are gathering tool, the mobile phone.

Could be Yates's, I got the name from someone else cos I couldn't remember either. The reason I suggested it was that as it is not quite as obvious as the ground level bar, it should be reasonably quiet around lunchtime.

Well, until we get there anyway

If we meet in Yates's, Central Station, at 12 noon on the 21st July, that means we have a location, time and date. All this with 5 days still to go. That must be a record .

I would say so, yes. It actually seems as if we've got most of it planned.

This month is not being good to my economy... First a trip down to London, then another H2G2 meet in Glasgow. That is definitely not good for my economy. Good thing that it's pay day on tuesday.

After only a week or so of procastination, I finally got round to looking up the name of the bar I meant. Ghillie Brown's Bar is the name. I've thrown together a quick entry on how to find it at http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A596883 , and this has links to maps etc. If I've got anything wrong, now would be a *really* good time to tell me

Ghilie Browns. Hadn't that sold out of everything the last time we were there? Still, that should get you moving to the GSC.

Oh, and have fun, but please don't destroy Tennents, its about the only decent pub left on Byres Road. I am well peeved I can't go.

I heard a rumour that the GSC had closed again!

Is there a Plan B?

Jamie for putting up such elaborate directions with maps and stuff.

SPINY, I would say that if the GSC is really shut down again, Plan B probably just consists of spending the afternoon drinking...
We've done it before.
Or perhaps we could find somewhere else to go. Botanical gardens or something.

They did have a power cut a few days ago, so yes, they were closed for a day. However, I'm surfing a tide of incurable optimism and am going to assume that the place will be open on Saturday.

*Cue meteor strike*

I don't have a Plan B, from outer space or anywhere else I do have a Plan Z, but that involves giant killer mutant sparrows, and I was saving that for next Tuesday...