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

Its often said in the defence of spiders that they eat flies. The trouble is they don't eat enough of them, so both flies and spiders remain a source of fear and loathing. They only have themselves to blame if they meet an untimely end.

I don't like flies. Spiders love them. Other than that me and spiders agree.

~*~So what I gather from all this is that we *all* hate grocery shopping with a passion.~*~

*shrug* I don't have a problem with it. 'Course Americans don't generally pack their own groceries. You can complain that we're lazy if you like, but we don't have all these problems, so I'd say we're coming out on top.

I don't mind grocery shopping either. In fact I volunteer to do it in our household. What I do dislike is the eye rolling, etc, from people behind you in the queue when you're not like The Flash getting your purse out or when the shop hasn't correctly priced something that you want to take with you and there is a delay while the price comes up.

I enjoy a little potter around the supermarket, looking at new varieties of stuff and getting cross about the discontinued ones.

As for hassle at the till, either I don't notice, or I go shopping at times when there are very few people there and no one is after me in the queue. It's usually the latter. I get my customer card and my debit card ready before I get to the cashier, and pack in my own good time. The only delays are usually due to the supermarket tills' incompatibility with my Bank's cards - sometimes it takes 5 or 6 swipes before the machine can read it, but that's not my fault nor the checkout girl's fault.

Very occasionally I'll have picked something off the shelf from next to the item I looked at and haven't noticed it's not got a bar code on it, which means we have to wait for someone to come from the office to sort it out, but the supermarkets are always improving their systems, as far as I can see, and this happens far less frequently these days.

Oops - what I was going to say was that I enjoy shopping. It's my one hour of escapism in the week, where I can browse through the CD's, DVD's, paperbacks and tee shirts once I've got the food shopping in the trolley.

Shopping does seem to feature very prominently in this thread, though. It's perhaps beaten only by anything vehicle or road-related.

the gym. A source of a huge number of PHs for me. F'rinstance. Today I was on the cross trainer. There are 15 of them in a long line. I prefer the ones that are beneath the gap in the strip lighting (so it doesn't reflect on my Kindle and I can read)

So when I am the ONLY person using a cross trainer don't go on the one next to me. And don't compound that don't compound that by trying to talk to me. I have a Kindle in front of me, and my earphones in. I will seriously sink my teeth into the next person that does that.

People who overtake, pull in and slow down to a speed, slower than you were travelling before they overtook you.

(Equilibrium restored).

PP.

Don't tell 2legs that or he'll do it on purpose.

(not so) PH: the heat. it is too hot. I can't exist in heat like this. I'm a north european winter baby. Anything over around 24°C is too hot. And I will moan and whine and whinge about it until the temperature drops again. so there.

Coachella Valley, CA, USA, ~630am PDT

The sun has just popped up over the mountains to the east.

The temperature is 79F/26C and that is the coolest it will be the rest of the day.

How much is 24°C in Fahrenheit?

around 75F

Don't worry Sho. I like hearing you whine about it. It reminds me it's not just me.

But what I will miss about summer is long, long hours of daylight right up until almost midnight. It's already getting dark noticeably earlier!

I'm the only one in my office allowed to whine about the heat because I never ever complain about the long nights, the cold, snow, rain, fog or whatevs. Only the heat. Which means my weather related whining is infrequent.

PH today. I'm trying the chili & lime ice lollies again. This time I've added half a teaspoon of agar agar to the lolly mix, but not enough I suspect, to prevent the chili and lime pieces from sinking to the bottom. Ho hum. Guess I'll just have to make another lot next week

and today? changing ISP. Unplugged old wireless router phone etc. Moved heavy dusty cupboard to get at the wall connection stuff. Got covered in dust and spiders' webs (triggering an allergy attack). Connected everything waited until the lights settled down.

Phone doesn't work, no internet.

Called ISP to discover that they have pushed back my connection date by 10 days without telling me.

It is so entertaining to talk to customer services when you spend most of your own working day dealing with grumpy customers

As it happens, I am also changing ISP today but won't know the full horrors until I get home late on after watching Millwall beat my beloved AFC Wimbledon in the first round of the League Cup.

PP.

People who spread the mantra that if you want something done, you should give it to the busiest person around.

The busiest person around doesn't fracking appreciate it, you know.