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

We've had some severe weather at holiday time here lately. Thanksgiving was marred by a nasty snow/ice/rain storm that left hundreds of thousands without power.

Now there are forecasts of record rains and gusts of wind up to 50 mph, again with the possibility of power outages.

I will likely have to drive at least a bit in that weather . My father may or may not be riding with me. He's in the hospital now with blood in his urine. They're doing a cat scan.

It all seems Biblical: the river red with blood, then enough fog and rain to bring a plague of frogs and who knows what else?

Now I know my species has been doing nasty things to the planet. Is this chain of events a random blip in the fabric of space and time, or is someone trying to get our attention?



[Then one froggy ,frog>,frog> Christmas Eve,
Santa came to say,
"Rudolph with your nose so bright,
Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"]

If I see a red-nosed reindeer coming at me tonight, I don't know what I'll do

Just yell, 'ribbit!'

Ribbit, ribbit!

Wow, Paul. So many themes, so little time.

If locusts, flies, and hail fail to materialize, I will probably have to conclude it was just random .

Let's see bhow come close I can come with smileys.

Locusts
Flies
hail

Cold, or at least cool front passing even as I type, a strong rain is falling. We will be dropping into the mid 60's tonight. Should be back to the mid 70's by boxing day. (all temps are F )

My inflatable dog in the yard is still standing, had to replace him once. The real dachshund is inside laying near my feet.

A Merry Christmas to all.

F S

in my P/S

DON'T worry about tomorrow.
After all, today is the tomorrow
you worried about yesterday!

I will keep my fingers crossed, but so far it's a gentle rain that makes the air smell clean.

Don't worry 'bout tomorrow
tomorrow never comes
When at midnight clocks strike twelve
tomorrow will be gone

The frogs were obviously at home watching TV and eating pate de fly gras. The sun came out, the temps were balmy, and I had no trouble wolfing down that big piece of pecan pie.

Speaking of which, there's one last piece calling to me.

Snow has now fallen over Europe - I see that it's even over the British Isles. After very mild and sunny weather, it's a complete about turn for us here in the centre of the land mass.

We had a wee bit of sleet some days ago and again on christmas morning - but nothing with staying power if you catch my drift

I's sunny and clear here this morning, but colder.

More snow fell in the night here. The sun shining on it gave off a beautiful light. However, the sky is now heavy with more snowclouds.

Seems we're in for a few tonight

A light rain fell here overnight, and there's still dripping. The seem to be hibernating now.

I hope your Dad is keeping well and that the weather extreme weather you have experienced has become more stable and settled. In the UK it has been forecasted that we will be getting stormy, still no sign of snow in Southern and Western England.

My father was taken to the hospital with blood in his urine last Saturday. he was moved to Worcester memorial hospital [Worcester, Massachusetts, that is], which is at the end of a congested stretch of Route 9 that no sane person would *want* to drive on .

This past Monday I drove out to visit him, just as he was about to be released. The doctors decided that the blood was caused by side effects for a drug that Dad was taking for arthritis pain in his hands. Not to worry, it was one of three meds that had been prescribed. With a little, luck, the other two will still help with
the pain.

He seems to have been okay since then .

last night I sent the evening with a friend and his wife. The friend is being treated for esophageal cancer. He's weak, and his face is drawn. Radiation and chemotherapy will do that!

Right now, I'm listening to a CD of the Woodstock Concert from the late 1960s. Santana just performed. Ten years After is performing now, to be followed by Jefferson Airplane.

Paul I hope that your Dad will be able to get his medication adjusted or changed so that it won't cause him to have anymore blood in his urine but also help ease the arthritic pain that he has been experiencing.

I am so sorry to hear about your friend who is suffering from the side effects from the radiation and chemotherapy treatment for his esophageal cancer.

I was 6 years old in 1969 when Woodstock music festival was on.

I would rather watch a video of that festival than listen to CDs of it, but I often find myself trying to read or do household chores, so I would end up just listening to it anyway. Besides, my stereo sounds a lot better than my DVD equipment.