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

So how did the second part of the review thingy go then? Are you still with them or will you have to give the car back after less than a week? And how is the pub?

Me, I'm OK, apart from the computer crisis of course. Seems I've lost all my stored e-mails. Well not *lost* exactly, I can convert them into a wordpad document; 1,000+ pages long and full of random looking HTML code; so not exactly *user friendly*

A link that you might like

http://www.btinternet.com/~k.trethewey/index.html

Hi There!

Sorry - did not get a chance to send a mail - did your method work?

The review went fine and they definitely want me to stay - no giving the lovely car back yet

I have had a week from well not a good place and will have to spend this weekend sorting a lot of stuff out for w**k. If I get a chance I will mail you about it, but thank goodness for the weekend!

PS Loved the link

Thank you

The computer problems seem to be more or less fixed. I do still find bits and pieces that don't work, or at least don't work in quite the way I was expecting. I'd say its 90%+ there by now.

Good news on the job front then

So, how long will it be before you can take your foot of the pedal a bit and start doing some more sensible hours at work? Or have you, in this moved for the corporate thing, sold your soul to the and life will just get harder and harder?

* accepts slapped wrists *

I know! When I get around to explaining this weeks traumas to you and the solution to them you will see that there is light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to the hours - it may just be quite a long tunnel!

Hopefully things will get easier - its always going to be a fast paced role and I love that about it, but it should get more manageable!

So how has your week been?

Two days off on holiday

You are off on holiday? Or is the weekend your holiday

Still very dim Light!

I've needed to burn off annual leave before the end of March, so I've started taking long weekends. Three days this weekend, four days last weekend and I think a half day or so next weekend. Then its three days off in mid March, but that is for Grandma's 90th birthday, so its not so much holiday as a three line whip.

Had a wonderful time yesterday. We beat Palace 1-0 Because my car is in the garage getting a wheel bearing fixed, I had to go by train. Well from Croydon to Selhurst and back the thing was packed to the rafters with Palace fans. It was rather a strange feeling being surrounded by so many of the opposition.

They did clock me for a SheffU supporter on the return trip as I was the only person on the entire train with a smug grin on his face. I couldn't help it, I'd just watched a team with Premiership ambitions get murdered by us bunch of Northern oiks

* giggles *

Glad that you had fun and seem to have survived!

I guess going by train also made a few s a possibility!

We had some very strange weather here yesterday - sunshine for a little while then really driving wind, with drizzel and then flurries of snow, You could see the snow going horisontally across the window. I stood and watched as the grew snow sky slowley overtook the blue in the distance, with the snow falling in columns - it was amazing The again I was indoors and not out watching footie!

Went into Oxford in the evening to try and see a film, but my friend Kate had not booked it so we did not get in - meant the next half hour in the pub was a Kate rant about how you should be able to just walk into a cinema and how stupid it being sold out was Still we had fun and it was great to catch up with her - we ended up going for a very good takeawy - you giessed the resturant was fully booked too - anyone would think it had been a saturday night!!!

Been w**king today Still it should pay beack next week as at least I am going into the week knowing more or less what is out there

Possible opportunities for cinema and restaurant development in the Oxford area then

It sleeted really hard at the match. All of it coming down horizontally and from a northern direction, straight into the faces of the thousands of Palace fans in their Kop

Us in the eastern stand stayed nice and dry and chanted our little heads off

That would be great

Do you think you could have it ready fro next weekend?

I am going to stay in Brum for most of this week - things are far too hectic to be driving up and down - I may even have time in the evenings to mail you about it!!!!

Hope you have a great week and catch up with you really soon

Well have fun. I s'pose you're staying in that *posh* company flat in Birmingham again

Sorry. I have trouble with the concept of anything being *posh* there. Its the accent I know. I was once offered a job at the City Hospital but couldn't take it because I couldn't take the people seriously, I know thats all wrong, but there we are.

Truth to tell, I don't *really* know what my own voice sounds like, so maybe I should not be the one to start casting stones You're the speech therapist, so perhaps you'll tell me what I sound like sometime.

Anyways, have fun. Enjoy work, try to take some time out, and we'll all hold a light up in expectation of your speedy return

Thanks GD!

I know what you mena about how the locals sound - luckily the people I work with are from all round the world so very few of them are native!

I have been in that 'flat' all week and have had some time for relaxation! I actually read a book! And wrote a few emails - you should have had one?

I expect to stay up there again next week and then its back to normal or to finding some lodgings

So who has your week been?

Sorry should have said thanks for the mail. I hope things are resolved/resolving now. And I didn't know they did special wheat free pot noodles. Tell me, do they have all the salt and chemicals and crap that the regular ones have in them?

This last week has had its ups and downs. I was pretty busy at the end of the week sorting out some R&D costing stuff. I'm fortunate that I have a couple of research nurses who are dead keen to to get things sorted out and start generating a bit of cash for reinvestment in the Trust. Its a real shame that I won't be doing that work for much longer as a new accountant starts in a month or so, and R&D will be part of his job.

Talking of another reason I've not been around too much in the last week (with one exception - see later) is that I felt that I had been neglecting Lucy a bit. I'd settled into a bit of a routine of coming on line when she had gone to bed, which is hardly the most romantic thing a guy can do. I'm now not going online at all on the nights that she is here. That said its impossible to work out quite when that will be, as she does strange shifts all over the place now, and I really don't know where she will be from one day to the next.

I was here though - and quite spectacularly here - for the final race between the Questions Only and No No No (now called N3) thread. I'd been happily chatting in both threads the night before the final push and N3 were way ahead and expected to get to the 20k mark first. I came in the next morning and both threads had moved on another few hundred. Well I went to work, and kept a weather eye on the situation as best I could. Then about 4pm I noticed a bit of movement on the QO thread and I though - sod it - lets help the folk out and I started posting as fast as my two finger typing technique would let me.

Well guess who turned up? Tacsatduck and Tonto! I knew in that moment that we were going to win. The three of us pushed from about 150 behind to 100 ahead before N3 noticed, at which point it was all hands to the pump for them as the whole lot started posting page after page of absolute rubbish to try to get to the finishing line first.

They didn't make it. QO crossed the 20,000 line about 25 posts and 4 minutes before them

I expect that my next work place internet log will look rather interesting. It remains to be seen whether I get in any trouble for it. I think I'll probably be OK, as I'm the one who the boss asks to find work around solutions to the ban on sports web pages in the office to get the cricket scores.

Anyway, I've prattled on for quite a while here. And given that its now Sunday late, I expect you're in bed asleep, ready for the next week. Well have a good one, and have you thought of taking your own cereal bowl to the flat?

See you next weekend

What I forgot to say is the lands at Heathrow on Thursday morning She's going off (hopefully) to see one of her friends in Bedford for the first couple of days before coming here on Saturday.

This is all in preparation for Grandma's 90th birthday which is the following weekend. When, it goes without saying, I will be off line.

* falls over a weeks worth of backlog *

* sniffles *

Hello!

Gosho!

everyone!

I must be worse thank I thought!!!!

* stumbles in complete with cerial bowl! *

Great minds think alike

I have loads of news and will write properly soon ....

* falls asleep *

Hmmm... A Gosho fascination going on here

Mum arrives in a matter of hours. I hope I'll be able to grab a little time on line, but I don't hold out too much hope.

See ya soon

Good luck with your mother I will be thinking of you.

I will write more tomorrow as I am supposed to be out to dinner in the village tonight - so not in the mood but ought to at least change I guess!

Catch you soon