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

I do computer support. ppl phone up from around the world to tell us out software doesn't work. We agree then we fix it.
Friday is usually the quietest night as I think everyone in the world goes out....

Hey, your fridge sounds better stocked than mine....

*argh* Great job!?! I have many friends that do not like people like you. The word *monkey* is often used, but don't take it personally.

My fridge also has mustard and old packets of soya sauce as well...and tuna fish...

not great job but it pays the bills.....I use the phrase code monkey to describe what I do....well, hey, it beats "Works in Computers"

Fridege currently has :

Sliced Beetroot,
Milk,
Marg,
Pesto
and half a jar of passata.


can't even make a sandwich with that lot.

Hang on. Lets tranfer this conversation to your userspace. Only so many >offtopic< posts allowed before someone jumps in and starts shouting random things...

*bounces over and starts a new thread*

Just resurrecting a thread I discovered whilst wandering around hootoo this morning. It was interesting to find out a bit more about people I've run into here over the past year but don't know 'personally'.

The thread was started by Ben and it asks the questions:

"Who are you? What are you? What do you get out of h2g2?"

As for me:

Who are you?: 47-year-old Canadian who has been living in Spain for the past twelve years (with a two-year stint in Bristol England in between). Female, no kids, three cats.

What are you?: Present occupation - I teach Spanish people English. Have burning desire and need to be doing something else with my life right now but haven't quite figured out *what* yet.

What do you get out of h2g2?: I have found it to be a wonderful community with a diversity of people and ideas which is difficult (impossible?) to come across in RL. I have met some very dear friends here over the past year and I have taken part in some very interesting (often challenging, sometimes silly) conversations. I've learned a lot about people, the world, myself. When I'm at home (which is a lot because I also work at home) I leave the computer on and then I just check in from time to time. It's a lovely sense of never feeling alone. Or rather, not having to be alone unless I want to be.


Anyone else?



az

Oh alright then, I'll have a go too

Who am I? - I am a 22 year old English male. 6 foot 2 inches small and weighing at 13/14 stone (haven't checked lately)

What am I? - I am currently a security guard but hopefuly will be a Polce Officer of sorts within the remainder of this year I want to be a Dog Handler. I also have a book project on the go that will become the new Bible when it is finished. Or at least as popular

What do I get out of H2G2? - Above everything else i can think of, Insight is what springs instantly to mind. Insight into other beliefs, ways of thinking and communicating those thoughts. Insight into why people believe certain things and insight into why I believe in certain things. I am now officially the Encyclopedia of Useless Information at my loacl Pool Hall, only thing is, I don't think it is useless

Who am i?

I'm Amy, 18 nearly 19 years old and from Yorkshire. I never have nails at the same size

What am i?

I work for a solicitors and am going to do a graphic design course in september, where i hope to find the job of my dreams! I am also a giraffe

What do I get out of H2G2?

Since I first started hootooing in july last year, I've learnt more about whats happening in the world, learnt about different cultures, talked to people from all over, of different ages and enjoyed finding other peoples perspective of the world. I've found a close nit band of friends that i love talking to and who make me feel better about myself when i'm feeling down. I love the daftness of hootoo and couldn't live without it now To be able to have a salad warning and still feel relatively normal is exhilerating

I've also discovered how to make a plastic bag bra

I am a 25 year old administraitor who can't seem to out grow childish behaviour.

I discovered h2g2 about a month ago and now can't seem to get enough.

I get lots out of it. mostly knowing I'm not the only person who's geek enough to spend hours on the web.

I have also learned alot, about vampires, bowel disease, pets and chocolate.

It also helps me kill time whilst waiting for my father to show, he's an hour and a half late. Doesn't he know that the cake i got in to share with him specially is shouting EAT ME NOW. There won't be any when he eventually shows up.

What a cool thread!

Well, let's see... My name's Yael, I'm 21, female, Israeli (but I do not agree one bit with the policies of the Israeli government), I was born, grew up, live, study and work in Jerusalem. Other details can be found on my Space, I see no point in hiding it. I'm not sure what I am, not here anyway - I seem to have developed a number of alter-egos on different threads, not completely different from my real-life-self, but also not exactly the same.

I can't remember how I found h2g2 to begin with, might have read about it somewhere... anyway, I joined some years ago for a short time, didn't do much and then forgot all about it.
Then last summer when I was abroad I was checking email at a relatives' house, and re-found it (I was typing the address for hotmail and Explorer did that auto-recognising thing it does and I saw www.h2g2.com and was intrigued). When I got back home I joined again, with the intent of writing some entries about Israel, which I have only partly done... I discovered the forums, I have a few "serious" threads but most of them are silly, weird and/or insane. It's just fun (well, I am definitely addicted, that's for sure ).

Besides, I think it's an amazing community, and I've met some great people here that I could never meet otherwise, if only for the reason they live several thousand km away.
It's also a great place to run away to from real life. Sometimes I feel that if I didn't go insane in h2g2 every once in a while (alright, all the time...) I'd go mad.

hi Lady P,

I agree with you that being albe to 'go nuts' sometimes on hootoo often helps with not having to go nuts in real life. But that is what having friends is all about, isn't it? Being able to TALK. I love this place.

az

I second that emotion.

M'Lady I hope you do post some entries about Israel. Hearing a voice from within would be a very, very good thing.

Well, there's an entry of "insider tips" about Jerusalem that I'm constantly planning to write... I even started it once, but it's on the other computer so I haven't touched it for a while now.

And there's one about the history of Jerusalem that's being subbed now, so hopefully it'll get to the EG soon!

Wonderful thread (so glad it was resurrected, else I probably never would've spotted it it )..
I was raving about hootoo to a RL friend last night, and we got onto a discussion of what we get from various sites and the internet in general..
I'm a self contained self employed painter and parent, my life is mostly lived within these *actual* walls. Though generally self contained, even quite solitary in many ways, I have as much need for intelligent input and contact as anyone else and hootoo goves me that. It feeds my need for alternative views and the considered thought that triggers, it inspires me to look further and to learn more on a wider range of subjects than I would otherwise find time for... It gives me a wonderful mix of laughter and learning, of freedom to speak (if I choose) and the chance to *listen* within the framework of my life.
I love the opportunity for so many people to come together without the preconceptions so often present in RL, that appearance and physical differences become irrelevant, that alternative views are not only acceptable but welcome. I love the sense of a vast community of support is there available to all of us, whether we need help with a project, a practical "how to.." or a bit of bolstering from lifes weariness.
The one thng all the researchers *seem* to have in common is an openess to each other and I love this, it's truly inspiring.

Hmmm, perhaps Saturday morning when there are about 35 researchers online isn't the best time to try and resurrect a thread?

az

Yeah, but if you bump it on a Monday morning you'll get lots of bored Peons like me jumping in....

Who Am I?

I'm James, 26 years old single male of Southern England extraction. I like , red wine and italian food.

What Am I?

I'm an underpaid toiler at the coalface of financial admin, which sucks. I'm also a frustrated musician, novellist, traveller and film . When I have more money and time I will follow these paths. I am known at work as the Oracle due to my large collection of irrelevant information. I'm a Leo, apparently, but mostly I'm a paid up cynic.

What Do I Get out of h2g2?

It's a fantastic place to spend time at work or at home, full of interesting and challenging entries, people and discussions. I love the concept. The only thing that worries me about h2g2 is the growing nighthoover cult.

Ah, we're mad and we're proud of it!

n i g h t h o o v e r

I am 35, a parent and a fryer - the and chip kind not the monk kind . I like this site because of the mad, odd, inteligent, helpfull, caring people I find here and the fact I don't know who the devil they are, but they keep me amused or help me out when I ask.
Anyway where else would you find questions like 'How do I get blu tack out of my belly button'

Who Am I?
Now there's a question I answer every morning...I'm a 35 year old married with too many kids white male expat Brit who moved to Arizona to be with my wife and now, in 97 degrees of heat in MARCH! am wondering whether this was a bright idea.

What Am I?
Another frequently asked question! Usually, the people who ask are backing away and holding hly symbols.
I'm a house-hubbie at the moment, because I'm not legally entitled to work in the USA. I'm a writer, of sorts, mostly unpublished and developing a small cult following (I know it's a cult, they want me to give them all my money, shave my head and drink suspicious Kool Aid). I'm a Geek, a proud supporter of King Edward the First and Third, an occasional contributor to the Guide and a Sub-editor. I'm shortsighted, a Leo and dammit, I'm not going to take it any more!

What Do I Get out of H2G2?
I get to see opinions and ideas from all over the place. I get to learn a lot of fascinating things. The population of H2G2 varies between erudite and learned, and completely lick the window crazy (you know who you are!) so it's an amazing place. I volunteered to be a Sub-editor to improve my own writing skills and to learn new stuff by reading entries that I wouldn't normally search for. I have met many new and fun people and suprisingly few of them want to kill me.

Who am I? I'm a 28-year-old woman with too many degrees and not enough career. I've recently become engaged to my very long term partner (we've been together since I was seventeen) and we are getting married next year, a fact people are treating like a sighting of the Abominable Snowman.

What am I? At the moment I'm a librarian in a huge academic library.

Why Hootoo? Well, I started Hootooing when I was unemployed and going spare for want of interesting people to talk to stuck home alone all day. I continued Hootooing because I was going spare for want of interesting people to talk to, stuck behind a desk all day answering the same very limited range of 'queries' (or mind-blowing displays of ignorance as I prefer to call them). And here I am, preserving my sanity still, and I may well be unemplyed again after Easter. Damn short-term contracts to hell and back in a very large handcart.

I'm 19, music student at Birmingham, and have been on h2g2 since Dec 2001, when I was a Sixth form student in Berkshire.

I joined initially out of boredom and curiosity, but quickly found a group of people I liked holding conversations with and groups that I enjoyed chatting to. I went to a couple of real life meets too and that really has cemented my friendships with both the people I've met (some of whom have gone on to become some of my closest friends) and h2g2 itself.
It's people and the conversations I stay for. The Guide itself is useful and good occasionally, but it's the people and their intellect that I love the most. Oh, and the innane chit-chat too. All of my social circle in RL at the moment are in some way related to h2g2. It wasn't intentional, but I just get on with hootooers so well!