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

Mol, I'd love to move our Wii upstairs, but hubby won't let me. He reckons he can see the floor downstairs move when I'm using the Wii Fit for things like Basic Step and Free Step, and he doesn't want to think what I'll do to the ceiling if I'm doing that kind of stuff upstairs. Aside from that, the only room with a TV upstairs has a double bed in it and there isn't room for exercising.

Icy, here are my thoughts regarding your list:

1) Microwave oven - try if you eat a lot of ready meals or re-heat stuff. Other than that, you'd need a recipe book that deals exclusively with things you can cook in a microwave oven.

2) Dishwasher - try, if you can find a small one. We have one that does 6 place settings and it takes us several days to fill it. It does avoid a lot of hassle and arguments over whose turn it is to do the washing-up.

3) Blu-Ray DVD - avoid, if you just mean a Blu-Ray player. DVDs are OK, there's no need to try to replace your collection. There isn't that much of a range on Blu-Ray anyway.

4) Flat-screen TV - try. They use less power than an old-fashioned CRT model.

5) Games console - no advice here. I have a Nintendo DS, which I use from time-to-time. I've never tried any other kinds of console. You'd have to check games and prices.

6) Wii - I have one that I mostly use for Wii Fit exercises. You'd have to check whether any of the games appeal.

7) iPhone - What do you use a phone for? If it's just making calls and texting, avoid this. If you want to do other things like web browsing and social networking, other smartphones are available. Check them out first.

8) Tablet PC - Do you have a use for one? If so, try, but shop around first. Otherwise, avoid.

9) Kindle - If you read a lot, buy.

10) Remote-control toy helicopter - this is one I'd love to try. Go ahead if you like 'boy's toys'.

11) Blackberry - avoid. I don't think it does anything that other smartphones don't.

12) Navigation device - if you drive a lot , try. TomTom is better than Garmin, but you have to pay for map upgrades (Garmin do them free).

13) Satellite TV - depends. If you like watching a lot of sport, try it. Otherwise there are better/cheaper ways of getting a wide range of viewing.

Those are the thoughts of a technophile, not a techno-junkie. I like technology, but I don't insist on having the latest kit as soon as it comes out. It took me a while to get a Kindle, for example, but I wouldn't be without it now.

1) Microwave oven – if you can cook properly without one, then don't give in to the temptation.

2) Dishwasher – great for when you have kids making a constant mess. But they hum like washing machines. If you are lucky enough to live in a house/flat where you can't hear the noises of the fridge or washing machine in your lounge/bedroom etc you can consider getting one.

3) Blu-Ray DVD – I suppose we'll all have to upgrade eventually when they stop selling DVDs, but probably not this year.

4) Flat-screen TV – we were given one for my wife's birthday, but only because our old TV's colour broke and everything was different shades of reddy-pink.

5) Games console – if you've lived this long without one, then why get one?

6) Wii – if you had to get a console, you can get a wii. You can buy Beatles Rock Band and sing along to Beatles songs, pretend to play a guitar (never got the hang of that bit) and pretend to be Ringo!

7) iPhone – Not tried, but then I don't use my phone much.

8) Tablet PC – How big a glass of water do you need in order to swallow it?

9) Kindle – Do you mean firewood? I like books. You can't beat the smell of books, or the joy of arranging books on a bookcase.

10) Remote-control toy helicopter – sounds fun, but I know if I piloted one I'd crash it immediately.

11) Blackberry – see iPhone

12) Navigation device – You can't beat an OS map.

13) Satellite TV – what? Spend £40 a month extra, and all you'll watch is the BBC and other channels available on Freeview anyway. What have Sky actually made? Three Terry Pratchett adaptations and 'The Strangerers'. They show a few US dramas which you can buy on DVD for a lot less than £40 a month anyway, and you won't have to put up with any adverts.

<BB<

<> if you're driving alone (as I do) I find it impossible to drive and navigate at the same time.

1) Microwave oven – I use mine a lot. Most mornings for either scrambled eggs or porridge. And it's a great way to cook baked potatoes or to soften aubergines quickly to add to a tagine. And baked beans. Best bit about it is the cooking pot is also the eating dish, so it saves washing up. Which brings us to....

2) Dishwasher – I find them much better at actually cleaning the dishes than hand washing. And modern ones use less water than hand washing. Plus it saves having dirty dishes piled in the sink, or even clean dishes piled on the draining board. Which is a major source of disagreement chez nous - I like them to drain, he likes to dry them with a tea towel and put them away asap, but I believe tea towels to be harbours of germs......

3) Blu-Ray DVD – Meh.

4) Flat-screen TV – Meh.

5) Games console – dont really see the need for one.

6) Wii – I can live without, but I can see how many people find them useful.

7) iPhone – you will prise my iPhone from my cold dead hands!

8) Tablet PC – I love my iPad too

9) Kindle – Really handy to carry about while travelling

10) Remote-control toy helicopter – it's fun for about 10 minutes, then it'll be put away in a cupboard and forgotten about.

11) Blackberry – haven't used one

12) Navigation device – Ooooh, yes! Definitely useful, both in car and also as a running assistant. Tells me where I've run, how fast, what teh elevation was etc.

13) Satellite TV – too many cahnnels, nothing to watch.

You mean you don't use Zen Navigation?

I must admit I don't drive, just cycle and hike, so there's always the luxury of being able to stop for a minute and look at a map.

<BB<

1. reae more; aim is two books or more a month, though I've a couple of big non-fiction ones which might upset this plan...
2. lose weight; lowest weight achieved was before Christmas, at 13 stone 10, I want to end the year at least a stone less than that.
3. hoover more.
4. dust mop.
5. mop more.
6. Get rid of my lodger.
7. get rid of 25% or more of my posettions.
8. finish rebuliding the KLH cases.
9. repair the big monitor speakers/turn into passive units.
10. have more sex.
11. redecorate, recarpet/floor the house, fix bathroom and utility room.
12. try a fetish I've not tried before (if I can find one).
13. Finish all the guide entrys I've got active and write the ones I've intended to do for ages..

1) Sort the gardens out, I have a very large patch of nettles at the back corner, loads of tree spalings that need getting of (they're in my borders as well), dig up the ferns that are too big now, mow the lawn weekly when it starts growing again and get rid of the bloody brambles - they're everywhere and don't crop very well.

2) Build the wardrobe in my bedroom properly.

3) Get my eldest boys room looking like a bedroom

4) Finally put the new shower riser in (I've only had it since July)

5) Clean the bathroom weekly.

6) Mop the kitchen floor twice a week, rather than when it's look rather icky

7) Redecorate the lounge (I've had the paint for that since July as well)

8) Organise my son's schoolwork properly into the various folders so the Home Ed guy can *actually* see what we've been doing since last he came.

9) Learn German (with my son)

10) Play the guitar daily and try and teach my son how to as well.

11) Keep the kitchen table as clear as possible.

12) Write some entries for the Guide.

13) Relax and enjoy the Summer. (I'll be exhausted by then, anyway )


and from Icy's list:

10) Remote-control toy helicopter - my son got one these last year for Christmas, they're really Make sure you keep it away from pets, mind, one of my friends had one but the dog chewed the rotor blades and he didn't get spares with his (we did with ours and they're still safe and I know where they are, which is unusal for this house)

and my to Icy:

1) Microwave oven - we only ever used ours to boil milk to make yoghurt (easier than on the stove for some reason) now it is broken we put frozen things in to defrost

2) Dishwasher - I wouldn't be without mine but then I work full time, so does , I study, there are 4 of us and I have a *

3) Blu-Ray DVD - only if you have a high quality TV I think

4) Flat-screen TV - only if you need to get a new one

5) Games console - meh

6) Wii - meh

7) iPhone** - meh

8) Tablet PC - meh (but I do want a Lenovo Yoga if only because it has "tent mode" so presumably i can use it at festivals to sleep in)

9) Kindle - love mine. Useful for uni books and if (like me) you have emergency books stashed all over the place it means you don't have to do that any more and can carry them all with you***

10) Remote-control toy helicopter - of course. Why wouldn't anyone want one of these?

11) Blackberry** - meh

12) Navigation device - I have a navi and can use my smartphone for this. Much much easier than trying to read a map, on your own, in the dark in a strange town (needs to be updated periodically, can't recommend the Garmin I have for that - although everyone else says they are fab so it could just be me)

13) Satellite TV - does freeview count? I think there's enough to watch but we all have different needs

* he has to, by law, use EVERY UTENSIL in the kitchen when he wants to boil an egg or something. More complicated things require him to get extra special utensils from his -cupboard

** other smartphones are avaílable, I had a Samsung Galaxy S2 and now have some kind of Motorola and they are fab

*** other e-readers are available

I have always had a respect for Icy North, now I have more respect.

It is my opinion that is smart not to get tricked into buying "new" things that do not make life better.

I not only made my living with technology, it was my hobby.

Still, I applaud anyone who resists the items on your list.

Out of Icy's list the only ones I have ever owned are the microwave, flat screen TV and the Kindle.

I wouldn't be without my Kindle and would replace in an instant.

TV gets used about once a month for a DVD or to youtube something on a big screen, perhaps because we don't have satellite TV or just that we don't really watch the telly!

The microwave blew up while heating leftovers on Boxing Day and apart from having to put the oven on a bit more often, I'm not noticing the lack so may not replace that.

Being old enough to remember the first electric refrigerators
it was hard not to accept the idea that every 'new' device
that was coming along would be equally important and useful
in the post-war whirled.

But a series of hoover salesmen trying to boondoggle me old mum
and hearing my old man's rants about 'new' not meaning better
it was years into my adult life before I would adopt the electric
can opener and even longer for the electric toothbrush.

Both of these have proved to be as 'essential' to me as the fridge
had been to my parents and I was almost ready to believe once more
and embrace all the new tech. But the electric tie-rack soon brought
me back to my senses. I haven't worn a tie for...



~jwf~

In relation to the microwave, I definately wouldn't be without mine, especially as they're now so cheap... Even though I don't use it a great deal, I find it very good for what I do use it for; Plus when its not being used as a microwave it gets used as the bread bin...
I find it the easiest adn quickest and cleanest way to make hot choc Its useful for quickly 'frying' bits of veg without using too much oil (mushrooms and onions mainly, If I'm just wanting to throw them into something else like pierogi), and its used a lot for defrosting frozen chicken thighs, breasts and minced beef and fish portions etc (do remember your microwave has other settings other than 'full power', and for defrost yes they take longer but work a lot better) and, of course, for reheating is very useful; as a person who's always (so far) only been cooking 'for one', its more economical to make a giant pot of stew, soup etc, and then easier to reheat a portions worth on day two or three etc., rather than transferring it out of the pan it was cooked and stored in, into a seperate saucepan for reheating (in orer to prevent multiple heat and reheats of the entire lot, which is not a good idea )
Have already arranged to do one of the things on my list... once I'm back in Cambridge

Ah thanks for that reminder 2legs! Yes, as well as my home microwave, I use the office one daily, as I always bring my own lunches, which are the home-made leftover stew/ soup concoctions that I have frozen in single portion containers.

Out of Icy's list I own 1, 2 and 13. The dishwasher is the only one I wouldn't part from.

Out of Icy's list I only have 1) microwave oven, 4) a flat-screen TV
(which I bought when my old analogue TV conked out) and 13) satellite TV (I have digital TV from Virgin which is part of my Internet & landline telephone package). I wouldn't want to be without my microwave oven as I like a hot breakfast and my night-time hot chocolate is essential. I use it to defrost frozen leftovers when I can't be bothered to cook.

I've never wanted a dishwasher as I don't mind washing up, it's my chill-out time after the stress of preparing, cooking, serving up and clearing away the pots & cutlery. Used to be. I live alone now but I don't want to kick that habit of watching the wildlife in my garden while my hands are in the sink. It'd take me a month to fill a dishwasher anyway

The only thing I want on Icy's list is a sat-nav. It will enable me to visit some people I want to meet and hug in the flesh who are too far away to walk or hike to. I can't work it into my budget though and didn't have any spares.

In our first home together the garden was a jungle, but without the added interest of wildlife. Our cats managed to bring home mice, frogs and various birds. The most interesting thing I saw from the kitchen window was a couple of , and I only saw them once. Our present home was inherited from hubby's parents and the kitchen doesn't have a window over the sink. If it did, the view would be of the shared drive - not something I'd want to stand looking at.

It's easier to list the items on Icy's list that I/we don't own - 3, 7, 10, 11, 13. Microwave is mostly used for making porridge, dishwasher saves arguments (as mentioned), flat screen TV was all that was available when our other TV broke. My only games console is a Nintendo DS - this and my Kindle were bought to give me something to do on holidays and to reduce the weight of books I took with me. I bought a tablet PC for a similar reason, and also to allow me to type documents without the weight of a laptop or notebook in my luggage. (The Kindle and DS stay at home if I take my tablet with me.) The Wii and Wii Fit are(in theory) there to help me get fit. We held out against sat-nav for a long time but wished we had it when we had problems finding our hotel in Cologne in 2009. We found it a godsend when we went to France in 2010.

ah, CD, driving in Cologne. A rookie mistake if ever there was one

I might eventually consider a dishwasher when I re-do the kitchen, if I could get a tiny one... but I have a strange feeling using the dishwasher and al that would no doubt go with it, would be more time consuming than doing it by hand. I wash up as I go, as I cook, so at the end there is rarely more than a plate/bowl, cutlary (which is useually either just a knife or a spoon depending on what I've eaten), and maybe one pan to wash, which takes, oh, maybe two minutes to do. So I think a dishwasher is probably more time consuming than time saving; the time taken to wash up as I go along, isn't extra time taken from the cooking time, as during it, one is watching what is cooking and timing when to add wahtever is the next thing to go in etc Plus I guess they are stil good at making glassware extra brittle as they always used to seem to do this in years gone by Plans well underfoot to achieve one of the 13 on my list, which isn't bad, considering I'm still away from home Until Monday

I'm going to be really bold - and put down one resolution !

To finish a first draft of my alleged novel 'Dreaming in Stone' and decide whether to:
1. Scrap it
2. Try to improve it.
3. Stick it on hootoo.

You have been warned.

So, just working on Icy's list...

1) Microwave oven - I have one as it's ideal for reheating meals for one (home-made, not shop bought)
2) Dishwasher - Marigolds?
3) Blu-Ray DVD - Why? Who's eyesight is that good to tell the difference?
4) Flat-screen TV - Yes, because when my CRT packed up there wasn't a choice.
5) Games console - I don't need any more time-wasting gadgets.
6) Wii - See above. Aren't they the same.
7) iPhone - Of course. I'm a Mac fiend...
8) Tablet PC - Yes, as above, but only use it when I don't fancy lugging my laptop around, and there's free Wifi.
9) Kindle - Yes, but not really sure why. Seemed a good idea at the time.
10) Remote-control toy helicopter - Dee 5 and 6. Just end up as another item in the cupboard, with dead batteries corroding inside, destroying it.
11) Blackberry - Why, if I've got an iPhone?
12) Navigation device - Go for it. Ordnance Survey do a huge range. Over 200 at the last count.
13) Satellite TV - Why? I had enough trouble with 5 channels, now I've umpteen, and still struggle to find something that isn't bubblegum television. Stick with television on demand.

So, onto my 13.

1) Get a job. One I actually want and enjoy.
2) Start going to the Gym. Initially I'm hoping this will be by Dr's referral then continue.
3) Plan my charity tour of Olympic phone boxes for 2014, concluding at the start of the XXth Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
4) Complete at least on of my neglected entries. Ideally 2.
5) Learn how to use Photoshop.
6) Label and tag all 30,000 of my photographs.
7) Attend at least one h2g2 Meet, with Reims being top of the list.
8) Go on at least one fibre-glass animal parade, be it Elephants in Luxembourg, Gorillas in Norwich or Gromits in Bristol.
9) Shift stuff on e-bay.
10) Whilst unemployed get out more, not happened since the miserable weather set in.
11) Whilst unemployed, take up a part-time volunteer post.
12) Be bolder with my camera.
13) Accept help when it is offered, rather than being so independent.

That'll keep me busy for the next two years...

MMF