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

He was the shy one Ormy. He hid behind the cop

Just be glad it wasn't a pantomime



B

[Hyp]

It was a remote analogy, but it worked for me!

Teuchter, you may like to know that inspired by you I bought some interdental brushes, and you are right, the stuff that comes out is yeuch!

Ben, with a big white

It is 11.25 pm and the outside temperature is 25.1ºC . It clouded over early afternoon and I was hoping for a storm to clear the air, but so far nothing. I am not looking forward to trying to sleep tonight.

I shall be flossing first and using my flouride mouthwash last However I shall never have pearly whites, the enamel is too thin on my teeth, apparently.

Well, when I say white...

B

I became a floss Nazi for a year. Then I ran a little experiment, in which I flossed for 6 months, and then didn't floss for six months, and tried to see if my dental hygienest could tell the difference.
She couldn't, and I think she's a great hygienest. In her defence, I always rinse with mouthwash, and I also have a Sonicare toothbrush, which frankly anihilates buildup & is super gentle on the gums.

My uncle (retired dentist) said that there is a study correlating plaque bacteria and heart disease. Have you heard about this teuchter? J said that in general, the condition of a person's gums is a good indicator of their overall health.

GDZ, is that form to help them remember they are grounded? I figured out that control-G in Prince of Persia causes the words "Game Saved" to appear across the bottom, but I have yet to find a way to *load* that game.

Has anyone here heard of FOM in the Netherlands? It stands for "Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter". It's also called "Rijnhuizen". They have a position openning up for a surface scientist that I would like to apply for. Odds are I won't get it, but it sounds awesome. What do people think of the Netherlands?

I think that a good portion of Holland is under water, which would drive me nuts. Other than that, I rather want to visit the Netherlands some day.

dave, easiest thing first: CTRL-L on the splash screen, the nice pretty one that has the arch, will load your saved game. Oh, you can only save after completing level 2.

The form is just a form that they hav to initial and sign, t just tells them what they are not allowed to do while grounded. I am using it for two purposes:

1) They know what being grounded is, what the limits of that punishment are.

2) I know the limits of the punishment, those that have kids know how easy it can be to go over the set limits of a punishment which is in no way fair the the punishee.


My thoughts on the Netherlands are rather sparse, it is a country I have always wanted to visit water and all.

Sounds like a good system GDZ, I imagine it will be very useful to you & your kids. Seems flexible enough for the age that they are at.

Good point about the water Marv, I'd forgotten. I had heard that in the winter the do a lot of ice skating outside, which I would enjoy a lot.

The contract thing seems like a good idea, CDZ for the reasons you've mentioned. I think a bit to say why they were grounded would be nice too.

Have also spent the weekend hiding from the sun. Some of it in a beer festivalk that turned out to be just round the corner. I made B try cider: proper cider, not apple juice with vodka in. He was slightly horrified at first ("it tastes of rotting apples!"), but came round n the end.

I've forgotten what else I wanted to comment on...

It is raining lightly here, but no less humid or cooler.

H has been to the Netherlands and said it is a lovely country, if you don't mind the lack of hills, and the people are very friendly. The Dutch researchers group is here: A614503.

Various tasks and phione calls to make, as well as the finances. Have got to do some research into setting up a new business as well.

I would have thought that the dutch would prefer that a lot of the country is below sea level, as opposed to under water

Please be kind to that , Ben. She might be my Aunt Agatha who was last seen working her way down the M5.

I applied for a job just outside The Hague once and was invited to interview. There's a large English speaking ex-pat population and good transport links to the rest of Europe and beyond. The cost of living is high but then the standard of living is high too.

Did someone mention pantomime cows?

Yay! Buttercup, how are you keeping? I do hope the hot weather isn't getting to you.

>> What do people think of the Netherlands?

I have only been to one of the Dutch islands, but I have worked with a lot of Dutch people, and one of my best friends has a Dutch boyfriend.

Firstly it is the most densly populated country in Europe, it is small but it has a lot of population. The countryside is orderly, disciplined and flat, and in many ways that describes the Dutch.

You will be shocked by their sexual liberality - disabled people have access to specialist sex-workers who will fulfill their sexual needs for example and I think these may be subsidised as part of their medical care. Street whores are 20 euros a trick in Amsterdam, and the red light district famously has naked women sitting in windows advertising their specialities. A large number of their mainstream tv shows would be banned in the US, or XXX-rated. Don't underestimate the effect of that culture shock on innocent Americans in Europe. You may also want to limit the tv that your kids have access to, for example.

A friend of mine said 'I love the Dutch, all the conservatives went to South Africa, and the rest have been skinning up (smoking weed) ever since.' At first sight this appears to be true. Another aspect of their liberality is the famous cafe-culture where you can go to a cafe, buy just about any kind of marijuana, and smoke it.

However they are deeply conservative about money, they take family life and work values very seriously indeed, though it can be hard to see this under the very in-your-face sex and drugs. When it comes down to it, they aren't exactly rock and roll, you see.

The Dutch, (like the German) tend to get on with their work, they wont ask for interim comments and advice. This means that you have to be very very detailed when delegating or commissioning work, because they will take your instructions away, and follow them to the letter. It also means that they will expect the same high standards of you. If a Dutch person takes on a task it will be done, done well and done accurately and done without the need for any overtime or drama.

They are a fastidiously clean people, their environment is clean, their personal hygiene standards are high, their professional standards are high, they take life very seriously and although they appear to have extremely flexible sexual standards, their approach to relationships and children is very family-based. Non-conformist Dutch, (such as artists or musicians) still have the work-ethic, and still focus on self-discipline. The content maybe rebellion, but the form is still conformity.

Dutch cities are as pretty as a picture. Real chocolate-box and jig-saw puzzle stuff. Their apartments and houses are clean and orderly, and if it is like the rest of Europe there is a strong culture of renting unfurnished appartments. (Unfurnished, in Germany, means with no more than the walls and bare wires in the kitchen, for example).

The food is ok but not exceptional, though there is a lot of Indonesian food there. I suspect that the fish is probably good, and I suspect it is hard to be a vegetarian. Their public transport systems are the best in Europe, (and mainland public transport in Europe is good). They are clean and reliable, and probably very safe. The Netherlands is heaven for cyclists.

The Dutch were starved out by the Germans during WWII and though they never ever show it, they hate the Germans with a sly and abiding loathing.

That's about all that I know about the Dutch. I would certainly work there myself, given then chance. You will be able to work and live there without speaking Dutch, though your children will almost certainly pick it up. (Their standards of education, particularly techincal and professional education are, as you would expect, high). There is probably an international school in Amsterdam, though I cannot comfirm that.

When you go back to the US you will find it noisy, filthy, discordant, neurotic and anarchic in comparison.

Go there and enjoy!

B

One of my cow-orkers lived in the Netherlands for a year, to hear her talk it was one of the best times in her life. She loved it. There is an international school, but she chose to send her kids to the Dutch schools which worked out well.

I spent the day at the horse races yesterday, had a lot of fun and broke even. It turned out to be one of the biggest events at that track, the "Haskell Invitational Handicap", so it was crowded and the horses were some of the best in the nation.

104 posts in one go

[k] - aka Hannibal Lechter