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

A world Heritage site eh? What will that new status mean to fossil hunters I wonder...
Possibly they won't be allowed to persue their hobby - which would be a shame, as all those nice fossils will now be pounded into pebbles by the sea... I will endevour to find out.
As for the grauniad article - I consider it impossible that they reporter could have written the piece without my help and will be sueing immediately.

I've got pond olives, apparently...

Pond olives eh? Sounds - not the sort of olives you slice up and add to pizza toppings I take it.

Not sure what that World Heritage status really means, just that governments are supposed to take special care to preserve the site. What that means to the enthusiastic amateur fossil-hunter I couldn't say, probably nothing unless they're walking off with half ton slabs of cliffside.

But that's what we like to do!
Pond Olives *could* be put on pizza - but seeing as they're small wriggling things with a tri-corn at one end, I'd recommend against it. Unless it was a very small pizza. For a spider. Maybe.
Are you working yourself up into a high state of excitement for Christmas? Or are you of the Humbug faction?

at thought of spiders munching pizza. So much easier to cope with all those slices when you have 8 limbs I'd imagine.

Haven't really had time to think about being Christmassy yet, stressed out and busy at work and people all around me having problems too. I'll be glad of the break certainly.
I normally like the cheeriness around Christmastime. My living room is graced with a nice , decked out in strange bits and pieces collected on my travels. My favourite is the Chinese bamboo skiing although the red-hatted Icelandic puffin is quite cute too

I didn't know the Chinese *did* Santa. Or was it for scrutible gaijin only?
Still, you have a tree already - we won't have our 'till the weekend. That's very organised of you - but there again, so's having a pilot's license.
Do you have children, or are you just more Christmassy that you let on?

Seems like any excuse for a party and tacky decorations is acceptable over there! Although I did buy my at an airport gift shop so maybe you have their measure.

Got your up now? Me organised?! Nah I just like having a tree around, no kids, no excuses.

Just off to visit my mother for a couple of days, hands full of Christmas pudding and mince pies. The baking's the other bit of Christmas I like. All those spicy aromas mmmmmm.

Merry Christmas

It all sounds so good...and I hope it was. Let me know how it went
Frogbit.

Did you get the dreaded lurgi? It seems our house was a disease free island of calm compared with most of the people we know.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
So far I seem to have stayed healthy (crosses fingers) although there's a lot of people at the office gone down with the bugs.

Christmas at the folks was a nice restful few days with hardly any major arguments to speak of. My sister decorated the family Christmas cake with a lovely invention of skiing penguins and promises surfing chickens for next year in my honour.

We've had lots of lovely crisp white snow making the hills and valleys round here look absolutely gorgeous. Best not to talk about the roads though...

Back at work now but off again next week when my house finally gets its new central heating fitted. Looking forward to that although the freezing weather has provided exactly the excuse to light up my wood-burning stove for a bit of Winter cheer.

THANKS VERY MUCH!
And the same to you!
Good news about being a bug-free zone - is this still accurate?

"Christmas at the folks was a nice restful few days with hardly any major arguments to speak of."

Sorry, I think you're confusing this with some other holiday - that can't have been Christmas

Have you had your central heating fitted? Does this mean the wood-burner is going into retirement? Shame...

Like the sound of the snow, though. Had nothing but a morning's worth down here - but at least it hasn't been raining.

Speak soon,
Frogbit.

Hi Frogbit.
Afraid the bugs got me and I've had one of those snuffly things that annoys everybody around me far more than it does me. Feeling better now though

Central heating, don't talk to me about central heating... The plumber changed the plan half way through and has had to pause work for a week until a flue extension kit arrives. So the woodburning stove will not be retiring just yet, it will stay on as a tried and trusted fallback position

How's things with you so far this 2002?

Central heating isn't everything - it leaves you more supceptable to bugs. Nice warm room, nice dry throat...
So far 2002 isn't so bad - a bit down though, for no specific reason. Probably just January. And then Feb's a bit of a swine too. Being fired at the end of next month due to ill health. So every cloud has a silver lining
You?

You know, my old piano prefers the cool, damp, non-centrally heated version of my cottage too. Nice to come home to a warm house without trying to set fire to things though.
2002 seems pretty good to me so far. Raises Let's drink a toast to the promise of a good year.
You don't sound too worried about the job. Commiserations or congratulations anyway, whichever is more appropriate.

Congratumiserations?
I'm not worried about losing the job. Although I do worry about not having achieved many goals so far...
Don't get ne wrong, I'm not an under-achiever...I'm not that ambitious
Fossil hunting tommorow - if there's no rain. Red green and white ammonites - bone neds, fish teeth, whole fish - and get this, rock-pools with ammonites in!
I'd go in a storm, but the driver has suddenly got rain-shy. Oh well.

Multi-coloured ammonites eh? Sounds like fun. Hope the weather holds out for you.
You trying to make me believe you'll find some millenia old beasties just swimming around in the rock pools?

No, I meant that fossilised ammonites get dragged down the beach and into the rock-pools by the tide.
How are the frogs? I've got a pondfull, and they're spawning. One toad, though, looking a bit lost. If he doesn't have any luck tonight I'll take him a bit of cake later.

Shame - I liked the idea of discovering the coelocanth of the ammonite world just casually pottering about in a rock pool somewhere.

So your frogs have awoken. What about spawncam...?
I've not seen any frogs inside or outside my place yet, but then it's probably a bit colder up here. Good luck to your lonely toad.

Any frogs yet? The spawn's developing fast, the black blobs have changed shape. Implementing Spawncam any day soon. Sorry it took so long to get back, only I had to go to the implausable excuse shop. In Guatemala.
Frogbit.

Spawncam is too late! They're all out. I have a fringe of tiny wriggling black things round my pond. (In it facing out. The other way would be scary).

Oh No! I knew I should have nagged more!
In or out, I'm not sure I like the idea of a fringe of wriggling black things. Hope you get a good crop of surviving froglets. All my frogs seem to be still hiding away from the heavy frosts at the moment. Either that or they're just hiding from me - or they've gone to play in somebody else's house.