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

Oddly, the interregnum between the dog days of the BBC era and the glorious new dawn of the, er, h2g2 era, coincided almost precisely with an interregnum of my own, involving a house move and associated lack of interweb access and time. Now, however, I'm back, and you, oh beloved reader, are also back. So here's a quick catch-up on what I've mostly been thinking...

1. Cats and deportation.
Teresa "and I'm not making this up" May in fact did, er, make it up. Or at least one of her researchers did, or one of the propaganda sheets did. Either way, it should have been obvious that it wasn't true, and even if it wasn't obvious, she should have checked. Potentially a resigning matter, I would have thought.... to be that badly wrong and obviously misinformed.

But cabinet minister tells obvious and risible untruth to the Tory conference (which I think the Guardian once described as the anti-Woodstock, a festival of bile and vitriol) is not news. What is news is how some lunatics in the Daily Hate and in various comments sections tried to claim that - in spite of *all* the evidence to the contrary - that some it was still true. Weirdly, they *wanted* it to be true. They were *desperate* for it to be true. Anyone else think that's a little weird? Wanting something to be true just so you can feel all aggrieved and angry *because* it's true and you don't want it to be?

But that's the weird and wacky world of deluded dissonance that these loons live in. I've been trying to think of an analogy, and this it he best I've done so far... it's like me *wanting* shops to start playing Christmas songs in October just so that I can get outraged about them playing Christmas songs in October, something that I say I don't want.


2. Moving House - a few thoughts and reflections.
Freecycle is great for getting rid of spare stuff
Estate Agents are annoying, but aren't as bad as they're portrayed
Pay for a removal company and for a packing service if you possibly can.
It'll all be worth it in the end.
Christ, it's expensive.
Stamp Duty is a bizarre tax. But... happy to pay, as always.
I'm looking forward to having the boiler fixed. And then replaced.
I like my new house

3. Thanks for all the fish
Lots of threads of appreciation for the volunteers who saved the site and made the transition happen, and quite right too. I'd like to add my own tribute here, and I'm also going to start writing for the edited guide again. Finish off all that half-finished stuff.

4. Interregnum is a wonderful word that I should use more often

5. Can we have our NHS back, please? Rather than, you know, sold off piecemeal for private cherry-picking profit. As a bit of a sickboy, I'm not happy.