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

hello there, just thought i would drop by and say hello to you at your home . i must say that i do love your opening line, i find that there are so many people these days who have forgotten how great it is to be outdoors enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. actually, to be honest, i even enjoy going outside when it is raining and dance...there is something about being outside in nature (completely, not hid under protective coverings to keep it off of you) that makes me feel fantastic!
AA

Hullo, Aunty, and thanks for dropping about.

*bustles about*

The place is a bit messy. Don't mind the stacks of magazines and newspapers; it tends to get a bit cluttered here sometimes. Would you care for some tea?

I have found that, unfortunately, modern society is so out of tune with the natural rhythms of the earth that people don't even realize what their bodies are telling them. A prime example is winter. Here in Pennsylvania, winter means about 9 hours of daylight and some nasty weather. Yet people (by force or by choice) try to keep their same busy routines, and then go to their doctors with complaints of seasonal depression. When, in fact, it's just their bodies saying "It's winter. Slow down, hibernate a bit, wait for spring." But our jobs don't allow us that luxury...

But now spring is upon us. The days are getting longer so fast, the warm weather keeps teasing as if it might stay, and those early spring flowers are blooming. Time to get out there and start to live again!!

do not mind the clutter my dear, it is only a sign of an intelligent person as for what a persons body is telling them, i could not agree more....back before all of this modern mumbo jumbo people scheduled their days around the seasons...when it was light outside they rose and went to work, when it became dark they stopped, if the weather was not appropriate for outdoor work they did indoor things. now days it seems everyone is spending all of their energy trying to turn a 24 hour day into a 36 hour day and forgetting to 'stop and smell the flowers' (sorry for that but it is the best way i could put what i was trying to say ). i try to take the time to enjoy life and view what nature has so kindly given us. and yes, this is a great time of year, i just love the newness of it...all of the flowers and trees beginning to come back to life and the sounds of the birds, frogs and other such creatures bustling about
AA

Full reply to this tomorrow, AA, but this little bunny is feeling a bit sleepy. So off to bed it is!!

bp

that is alright, i found myself a bit sleepy as well and went to bed after that post ...i will look forward to chatting with you again soon though
AA

I must agree with you again, Aunty. So many people spend time doing things that don't matter, often in the name of earning money. Where I work, a lot of people will take as much overtime as they can get. Now,if they were saving for something special, I could see. But more often than not, it's just to buy ANOTHER television, or fancier car or something. I often say that when I'm lying on my deathbed, I won't say to myself "Thank goodness I worked that extra Saturday."

Ah, but I'm now ignoring the advice on my own homepage; it's a beautiful spring day out there, the trees are starting to bud, fresh blue sky and the migratory birds returning to this part of the world, and I'm sitting in front of my computer.... Time to get out there and enjoy the day!

what can i say, some people just refuse to see anything beyond possessions. it is a shame because there are so many better things out there but for some reason all they can seem to think about is having the newest or the best of something. a kind of 'keeping up with the Jone's' thing. when i die, i know that i cannot 'take it with me' so what good is it if i never get to enjoy my life. myself, i try my best to enjoy the simple things, my house is not small but neither is it large, i have a lovely yard that i greatly enjoy working in. i find myself during the day wishing for work to be over so that i can go outside. there is nothing worse for me than being stuck inside when it is so beautiful outside . of course, as you stated, it is a beautiful day out there today and here i am typing on a keyboard while feeling the wind from my open windows tickle my hair. must say, i think i am going to go outside and enjoy it while it lasts .
AA

Hello again, AA. How is spring in your part of the world?

Reading what you say about your house fits in perfectly with what I've been thinking about recently. I don't own a home (yet); I still rent. I was walking through my neighborhood yesterday, and looking at all of the lovely houses, and thinking how much I would like to have one sometime in the next few years. Problem is, if I had a nice house, I would never want to leave it!!

(sigh) I'm not the 9-5 sort of woman, Aunty. My secret dream is to be a writer, which is probably why I spend so much time here on H2G2. I tell myself that I have to just sit down and do it, or it will never happen. But that first step is always the hardest.

Going off to work in some boring office every day is not my idea of how to live life. They say that our lives are what we make them, and I believe that completely. The problem is, as I say, getting started. We all build up certain routines which are sort of just comfy, and so we stick to them (or at least most of us do). It's nice and cozy and safe. The downside is that it keeps us stuck in the same place we've always been. Of course, if you've reached the point you wanted to in life, that's not a bad thing. But if you still have dreams to dream (and who doesn't...?) it can hold you back.

And now, Aunty, I sound like I'm writing in to one of your advice columns!!

Ah, well. Off to check up on some of my other forums.

spring is just lovely in my part of the world...flowers and trees all in bloom and even though it causes my sinuses havoc i still love to be out in it...i feel it is a small price to pay for such beauty .
i find that i have trouble leaving my house, i do so enjoy working on my yard and seeing it evolve before my eyes ...it is especially nice to sit on the swing in my backyard after a full day of 'messing' about in the yard and look at what has been done ...just before sunset is the best because that is when the frogs start to croak around my pond and soon i will be able to watch the fireflies emerge from the grass and dance about ....
i must admit that i do not enjoy working 9 to 5 either, it is just terrible to be stuck inside a dark (fake lighting does not help) office when the sun is shining outside...i love doing my art and wish that i could spend more time on it and less time in an office but for now i am stuck, it does look like soon that will change which makes me quite happy
please, do not worry about sounding like one of my columns, it is nice to be able to sit and chat like this with someone
AA

Hullo AA. Have I really gone five days without replying? Between real-life and all the forums here that I somehow find myself at, it can be difficult to keep up.

Allergies. I've recently started taking Claritin. My doctor actually prescribed it for a rather annoying dry cough I get every winter, but I'm hoping it'll keep my spring allergies at bay. I'm not much of a medication person, but the cough was driving me batty. As for spring, I can handle the sneezing and stuffy nose. It's the itchy eyes that bother me most.

Still, spring is one of my favorite seasons. Along with summer and autumn. It's so nice to see everything coming back to life, and to feel the warmth return to the sun.

My parents have a small pond in their yard. I want a big backyard one day, but I want lots of time to work in it. I need to start rethinking my career goals. To this point "comfortable salary" has been my prime objective. Well, they say you get what you ask for in life, and as it turns out, "comfortable salary" alone isn't all that it's cracked up to be. It's time for me to start exploring other avenues. Playing with words is what makes me happy. I love the way they dance on a page. I love the way I can sit down at my keyboard, feeling all muddled and confused, but then I start to write and all the words just come to me, like they were there right along, just waiting to be found. I love the way a really good book can make you see the whole world from a slightly different angle, how it can make you see the truth that had been hidden from you.

When I picture my future, I never picture myself in a stuffy office. I see myself in a little room in a biggish house, up on the second or third floor, with an open window and a view of mountains or ocean. I see myself at a desk, or with a laptop out under a tree, writing and thinking and feeling like a part of the natural order of things.

The only thing stopping me is myself. I realize that I could be perfectly happy staying home for days at a stretch. I've become quite the homebody as I get ready to leave my 20's behind....

don't worry yourself for the delay, i do understand how things can get busy from time to time and let's face it, the real world is so much better than a computer screen this time of the year i have been outside quite a bit lately doing my planting, i do so love flowers and such, they make the yard look so inviting and the different aroma's float around making it smell wonderful as well. i am trying something new this year with my tomatoe plants, i purchased a couple of large pots and am attempting to grow them on my patio...so far they are coming along quite nicely
i can relate to the 'comfy salary' part, i found that once i achieved this for myself i was not any happier than before, as a matter of fact i found myself less happy because i was unable to find the time to do the things i enjoyed most in life. i am also a bit of a homebody, always prefering to stay around my house and yard instead of going here or there....i find so much to do around here and am always so happy with being able to sit back and view what changes i have made a bit of pride in knowing that it is mine and i did it .....
and do not worry about leaving your 20's behind, it is not as different as people make it out to be...you will find though that your 'homebody' side will become worse, it seems the older we get the more we enjoy spending time around our own home
AA

It's occurred to me, AA, that spending my life literally wishing away the time til the weekend, or until my next paid day off, is no way to live a life....

I once had a job which I loved, working in a smallish bookstore with people who turned out to be probable life-long friends. The pay was lousy (though I was still living with my parents at the time, so that wasn't much of an issue) but I loved it. When I'd have vacation, I couldn't wait to go back to work. That, I realize, is how life should be. Ideally, anyway. If you love your job, then you don't spend your days wishing away the time.

I have a Chinese fortune (one of those from a cookie) hanging on my computer at work. It says "Many a false step is made by standing still." Words to live by, I think.

Right. My taxes await me.

i fear that i have the same problem at the moment. the bad part is when i began working at my present job i did so love it but as the time went by i have grown to dislike it greatly...i spend my time waiting for the end of the day and dreading going in the next morning, the weekends are never long enough and vacations are not near as good because i keep thinking about going back in to work. i used to hear people talk about money being good but it wasn't everything and now i believe i understand what they were talking about. we spend the majority of our lives working, it is a shame that so many of us must spend that time misserable ....unfortunately i must wait a bit before i correct the problem due to personal things that are present at the moment. i do look forward to the day when i can leave this job and begin doing something that i love .....
AA

Hullo, AA. Real Life has kept me quite busy recently.

I just read in an entry above where you were thinking of putting tomatoes in pots on your porch. I've been thinking of doing the same thing. I've been told they do quite well that way.

Are you getting ready for Easter? I'm not a religious person myself, but I love the whole rebirth symbolism with the eggs and the lilies and stuff. Unfortunately, the weather hasn't been very pleasant around here; I haven't seen the sun in days. . I suppose it beats the drought we had last year, but somewhere in between would be nice. Everything is downright soggy!!

I have decided that if I want to write, there is nothing for it but to write. I've been thinking of taking a journalism class, or a creative writing one, just to give me a kick-start (and also to polish my grammar, which has slipped woefully in the last year and a half or so, when most of my writing has been of the informal e-mail variety ). There are those who believe that the world gives us what we ask for, and I'm starting to think that may be true. All those years I worked low-paying jobs I used to think "If only I had a job which paid at least $xx,000 a year." Well, now I have it, and I realize I've been wishing for the wrong thing all along.

I'm sure the day will come soon enough when we both get to do something to earn a living which doesn't leave us wishing our lives away.

All the best,
bp

no worries, real life has been keeping me quite busy as well...with spring here and all i have enjoyed the outdoors...when it hasn't been raining ...we had quite a bit of it but it seems to be going away for the weekend which is nice ....
the tomatoes seem to be enjoying their pots, some blooms are already beginning to show so i have my fingers crossed that they will produce as well as the ones planted directly into the ground ....
i am preparing for my grandkids tomorrow, i thought about colouring some eggs for them to find...they are still quite young so the hiding will be quite out in the open if you know what i mean ....should be fun for the little tykes though ))....i am religious to an extent but find that most people tend to go a bit overboard with it...at least for my taste, all the arguing between the religions and such is just too much for me. seems they are contridicting themselves when they argue ...i tend to be more of the let everyone believe and think what they wish and do not try to change them....just because it may not be the same as me does not mean they are wrong just means they are themselves.....
i wish you luck with going back to school, i am sure you will enjoy it ...i agree with you that money does not make happiness, doing what you love does ...seems i should listen to what i just said and begin doing what i love......hopefully soon i will be able to....my dear husband and i are working towards that goal and it should not be much longer ...
i do hope that you are enjoying yourself and look forward to hearing from you again soon seems we have quite a bit in common which makes for nice chats
AA

Do you have a nice warm fireplace I can sit in front of, AA? It seems that it is commonplace in my little corner of the world for landlords (I rent) to turn off the heat around mid-April. I wouldn't mind, really, but with a high of 50 today and a low of 40 tonight (that would be Fahrenheit) it's a bit chilly in here. And I'm afraid the electric space heater I have isn't doing much more than raising my electric bill. It's not supposed to get above 56 for the next few days, and it's rainy, so not much chance of it getting warmer in here anytime soon. And no matter how warmly I dress, the walls, floors, furniture, etc are cold to the touch, so I'm still chilled. Well, at least I'm spending most of the day tomorrow at my mother's, so hopefully it will get warmer soon. It's not like I live in a low-rent building, either.

It's a bit early here to put tomatoes out; Memorial Day weekend (oops, you wouldn't know when that is!!!).... Let me start over. The end of May is usually the earliest you can put in fragile things, as we still sometimes get frost until then. Tulips, crocuses, daffodils, and other hardy things are the only plants you can really put outside this early. I'm assuming you're in the UK and benefitting from those moderating ocean currents.

I agree with you about religion. I myself believe more in the Eastern philosophies than the Western religions, even though I was raised Catholic. But I believe in letting people believe what they will, as long as they don't try to force it on me. I think spirituality is pretty much a personal thing, and even individuals within any given religion vary in their interpretations.

It seems, AA, that you and I will eventually goad each other into leaving the 9 to 5 monotony behind and spreading our wings to do what we love. Isn't that what friends are for, to encourage the best in each other.

I agree that our chats are very nice. And the good thing about H2G2 is that we can all fit in replies as time allows. Oddly, my real-life friends (with one or two exceptions) seem to be harder to fit into my schedule.

my poor dear why would they do such a thing? i would think that they would be kind enough to let the tenants decide when they want the heat off. just try to imagine yourself on a nice sunny beach with warm winds blowing through your hair. i know, it does not do much good but maybe it will help a little .
when it comes to my plants in their pots (including the tomatoes i am trying this year) i find myself bringing them in and out depending on the weather that particular day. this time of the year is nice but i have found that it can go from warm to cold at the drop of a hat so i spend a great deal of time moving my pots through my doorway .
it is strange to me how so many people try to force their religious thoughts on others. as i have said, i tend to always listen to others thoughts and if they ask tell them mine but never try to change their minds. as a matter of fact i have a daughter who has sitting on the same shelf books from 3 different religions, she has a king james bible, a book of mormon and wiccan reading material as well. i never tried to tell her what to or not to believe and always encouraged her to learn about any religion she wanted to. i would hate to think that i forced my children (or anyone else) to believe something not because they wanted to but because i wanted them to .
and i do hope that you are right about us helping each other out of our 9 to 5 jobs and into something we truly enjoy. friends do make these things much easier
AA

Hullo again, AA. I'm happy to say I talked the landlord into putting the heat back on, when the temperature in my apartment read a chilly 55°F on Easter Sunday. . He turned the thermostat down from its usually balmy 70 to 65, so sometimes it still gets a bit cold before the heat kicks on (and esepecially on days when it's a bit warm for the heat to come on and all, so it hovers right at 65 all day). But it's tolerably chilly,. at least.

As for religion, I was raised Byantine Catholic but drifted away when it started raising more questions than it answered for me. I've dabbled a bit in watered-down Taoism, but mainly I find my own way. Oddly (or perhaps not) I consider myself a rather spiritual person, and think that maybe I'm a bit more in tune with the rhythms of the world than many devoutly religious people I know. Regardless, it works for me, and I still have a pretty good relationship with my quite religious parents.

And on an even better note, I started the novel I've been kicking around in my head. Maybe "started" is a bit strong of a word. I actually got the opening paragraph done. Still, it'a a beginning. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with one step, they say. I think I've just taken my first step.

(um, that would be "Byzantine Catholic."

i am pleased to hear that your heat has been turned back on i was a bit worried about you over there all frozen and miserable
i feel that when it comes to religion the best thing for everyone is to believe what they feel comfortable with in their hearts and as long as they are happy that is all that matters ...some of my best friends in life have never stepped foot into a church.
you started your novel? this is fantastic! i am tickled to death, you must keep me appraised as to its progress...maybe send me a crumb or two of it to read, i am sure it will be great!
AA