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

I still want a badger skin, but that's in the future.

Fantastic news!

I realised that I thanksed the eds but I haven't thanked the new committee and everyone else who played a part in this - thank you!

*hoists a for all of you who've done this!*

I remember the lovely time I spent in London with so many great researchers. Mrs. Zen looked as if she had not been getting nearly enough sleep, and I felt bad for her and all the others who have been working so very very hard on this. I hope your work on your Master's Degree will come through on schedule, Mrs. Zen. I also thank Gnomon for his very lucid explanations that have helped so many people understand concepts that were all Greek to them (not that there's anything wrong with being Greek). Many thanks to Pastey for his awesome memory of many things relating to H2G2 over the years. I know I have left out a great many people who also deserve thanks and recognition. Many an analogy will help: In "Rosenkrantz and Gildenstern are dead," we see "Hamlet" through the eyes of two supporting players. I am like a small supporting player who only glimpses a few key scenes, and has to figure out (in my own imperfect way) what the main story is supposed to be. So, there is much about this great drama of H2G2 that I didn't see firsthand, but the parts I have seen have been spectacular. Champagne for all, and I'm changing my name from Rosenkrantz and Gildenstern to somebody with less likelihood of going to the gallows.

I remember at the same meet, sitting at a table with Z, Mrs Z and "some of their friends". I only found out later that they were Brian and Aly, the owners of Noesis future hosts of our site.

Such an honor, and I didn't even realize that's who they were! I hope they enoyed meeting us.

I was tired because we'd gone into the BBC to do the bid on the Tuesday before the meet on the Saturday.

So the previous weekend had been mad, frantic typing-of-documents and preparing-of-slides. Work on Monday, and travelling down to London on Monday night (if I remember right). (Or was it Tuesday morning - there was one trip down where we had to blag our way into the Balmoral Hotel by Waverly Station to print off our Railway Tickets which we'd bought online. But I think that was another trip. I can't remember to be honest).

So we all went into the BBC on Tuesday and Z went back to Scotland that night and I stayed with Agapanthus and went to work in my employer's London office on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. (Big thanks to them for the time off on Tuesday, it was incredibly bad timing for them).

On Wednesday evening I met up with Aly and PurpleJenny to talk about Moderating h2g2. Thursday was with Agapanthuse and S. Friday night was pre-Meet Meet-up, and Saturday was the Meet again.

The thing was, we couldn't even say we'd put the bid in, it was all so secret-secret. Unbelievably frustrating. "Here are our friends who just happen to run the largest chat site in Europe". Ho ho.

I remember on the day of the bid not being able to post anywhere what a big day it was. So I just changed my user name to 'Z Wibble'.

Good god woman how are you still so sane?

And you to Z?

I'm faking.

Might there be a book in this?

Who knows what it was good for that we didn't know.

This way, I wasn't shy and just chatted with them, and found out that Brian was some sort of 'neighbour' who knew my hometown (being a Dane), and that both he and Aly had lived in Germany, and so on. I thought they were really very nice, and if I'd known their crucial role in the bid, I'd probably just watched from the sidelines.

I feel reassured that they met us and *still* wanted to be part of the site.

You're doing a heck of a good job at it then..carry on with the faking

When we said "there's a meet that Saturday, do you want to come" and they said "sure - is it family-friendly, we've got a little 'un" I knew they were all right.

None of this "but... have you MET them....?" "how do you know they're .... er .... OK?" carp you get with some folk when you say you are meeting people you know from the internet.

I know what you mean, Mrs. Zen. I've been meeting H2G2 people on two continents for ten years now, and my family/friends *still* worry when I say that I'm meeting some online friends.

swl: "50% of UK users are accessing the internet online"

How do the other 50% use the internet?

for Ben and everyone else involved in our deliverance. I look forward to hearing all the details in February.