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

and looks at gauntlet from close...*

I'll see what I can do.

The trouble with me is that I've always so many vague ideas floating about I end up writing nothing.

I know what you mean. If you have an idea and get interrupted, it's easy to lose it.

I've just sent you a short story that I was working on in my head for a couple of days before I could get it down. (Elektra got worried about me, because I would start laughing at inappropriate moments. )

Do what I do sometimes: Open a Notepad, jot a few ideas down, save. Then you can find them again.

I always mean to do that, then never do. I've even bought a notebook so I can write down what crosses my mind when I'm not at the PC. It si still empty.

Is hootoo slow, or is it my PC?

I make notes, sometimes. Mostly I just put them in my head.

I think it is slow. (I was bookmarking, and it took a long time.)

It's not just me then, having the whole story in my head before hitting the first key.

Sometimes, I have a story in my head, but after I start writing, it turns into a completely different story.

Today, I have nothing in my head - not even blood.

I feel the same way. No urge to do anything useful.

I have to be careful when I move, otherwise I start swaying.

And no alcohol involved in this at all.

Do you know what is wrong?

Me, I just overslept, and I don't have work to do, so I'm being useless (all I did was send somebody a bill).

It's the permanent and fast changes in weather. My blood pressure is way too low.

Oje. Drink more .

I had many students and colleagues with this problem in Cologne. Especially if they came down from the Eiffel on the train.

That's one of my worst memories: going down from a high altitude in the valley, in a car on serpentine roads, in extremely muggy weather.
I lost consciousness when we had left the car and were at the station, waiting for the train. That was in Switzerland, when I was 14.

Ouch. I can imagine.

Last night, we saw a programme on public television about the Carolina mountains. They wanted tourists to come.

But they pointed out that 9 miles of the road - maybe 15 km? - was one-lane, two-way traffic.

On a mountain. No, thanks.

I wouldn't want to go on such a road, especially not as somebody who doesn't know the region.

Nor would I.

When we lived outside Philadelphia - on that train line I was describing in the 'Duffy's Cut' Guide Entry - there was a place behind our apartment complex that was dangerous.

It had a 200-year-old overpass, and only room for one car at a time. And a blind curve.

You had to stop, check that no one was coming, and go through very, very carefully.

Regarding trips by car in the mountains :

Recently, returning from my trip to Lugano back to Zurich, on the highway just before the Gotthard-Tunnel I encountered havy traffic jam - which is quiet frequent there. I estimated the waiting time up to 30 minutes ( 2 lanes full of cars and trucks waiting for the green light to show up). So I decided to take advantage of the beautiful late-summer day end enjoy the sunny, blue sky with cristal clear views; just the kind you often see on the calendar pictures.
I left the highway and drove the road over the Gotthard-Pass. There was very fiew traffic on this road so that I could drive as I pleased.I was rewarded by breathtaking beautiful views. A marvellous mountain panorama indeed.

So sometimes one is concentrated on a specific goal (in this case to return home as quick as possible) and follow the usual procedure. One has a tendency to ignore/discard alternative ways to reach this goal. Although more demanding, it pays off the effort to think about alternative
solutions which can be much more pleasant than the usual procedure- and on the top of it
with not much less efficiency (in this case longer driving time)

I agree. We once left the autobahn and drove through the Werratal. It was lovely, though even slower than if we had stayed in the traffic jam, due to road construction work on a lane similar as described here. But while we waited at the traffic light, we saw an eagle soar high above, and the countryside we drove through was absolutely lovely.