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

Well, I actually rolled up to request a cd of 'last chance to see' but I see you have other things on your mind. Kidneys have to be one of the most painful things when they're not funtioning properly. I had stones last year - scared the crap out of me. Couldn't believe the pain. I'll stand by what you say about the NHS though - wonderful service. My own room and morphine on demand. Aaah, fond memories...
I spoke to a friend in Brighton who has had kidney stones once and given birth twice - she says if she had to go through either pain again, she'd pick giving birth every time.
So there.
Get well soon,
Frogbit.

Kidney Stones? Pah! That's nothing, in the last four years my right kidney has been swelling up and bursting, turns out now i've pissed out 60% of it and there's probibly not enough to perform a reconstruction.

OK you have a choice, the audio book: 3cds of well produced but abrided reading; the CD Roms (which i've got working now): containing the full text and photo's (2cd's); the full reading from the CD-Rom as Audio cd's (6CD's); or the Audiobook AND the CD-Rom's. Let me know and i'll do them for you this week.

Nasty. I'd imagine the pickled egg vinegar didn't have quite such a big effect as your friend suggests...

"there's probibly not enough to perform a reconstruction."

So what to do? Is the other one healthy enough to get by on until they find you a spare? Or won't you need one?

Right;

The Audiobook - 3cd's. I understood that.

The CD roms - 2cd's. I understood that too.

The full reading from the CD roms - 6cd's. Errrm, how? Would you be decompressing mp3's from the cd rom? Or is this a different cd rom?
Outrageously kind of you I'm sure, but you don't have to decompress things for me - if you want to send me the neccessary I can't save you the trouble.
This is possibly not what you meant at all. I would, of course, like them all. So please don't hesitate to let me know what I can do in return...

Frogbit.

Yeah, just in case you can't burn your own cd's, i could if you wanted burn the audio files from the cd rom as a set of standard audio dcs, if you have a cd burner, well, you can do that yourself if you feel it's necessary.

But i'm guessing that the 3 cd's that comprise the Random Century Audiobook (origonally 2 cassettes), and the 2 CD-Roms will do you fine. Where do i send them?

Things are looking pretty good as far as the operation is concerned. Despite the long standing problem the left hand kidney doesn't seem to have been put under too much strain, and no noticable damage has been sustained. You can cope perfectly well with just one and indeed i have been doing fine with just one these last few years. But when the right hand kidney trys to work, and becomes enlarged it does endanger the good one - hence having to have the bugger out. PLus it will mean no more pain. I've been in pain for the last three days, and it's not excruciating at the moment because if got pain killers, it's just a constant nagging ache. And that's what's so bad, it's just there all the bloody time - i can't escape it! It's not being able to run away from it, not even for a short while.

Nagging aches are a bummer. I've had bilateral achiles tendonitis for a year and a half - looks to be permanent. Lots of painkillers are reuired when it's bad - not too often at the moment though. I have a load of scar tissue built up on the tendon lining which constantly irritates the tendon itself. Nothing like what you're going throu though. Still, it means I don't have to work, which is always a blessing.
Email me at [email protected] and I'll send you my address and we'll discuss what I can do in return. No rude stuff though. Well, maybe...

I've not had a reply to the mail i sent you yet - the discs are burnt and awaiting postage.

Ooh, that's a devil. I sent one last night and another this morning. Must be the eudoramail server. Try [email protected] if you'd be so kind...

I've recieved them both, together, this morning, i think there's something up my end to be honest. Are you interested in hhgttg series 2 as well?

Wahey! Are you kidding? Yes please. I am severly in your debt. Let me know you interests (and your address), and I'll come up with a surprise.

I'm going to send the cd's today, i was going to print you some labels and sleeves, but my printer is ooo and i'm not going to get round to buying ink before i go into hopital, so i'll send them as the are and you'll just have to figure it out for yourself.

Much obliged Autist. Please let me know your address so I can send you something in return. When are you back in?

Hey Autist, you're an absolute star! They all arrived this morning. I see you managed covers afterall - good on you. Althought the 3 audio cd's had nothing written on them, I guessed the order (correctly) by looking at the finger prints on the silver side of the disks. Disk No.1 has just a few prints and a very faint smell of curry/pillau rice, Disk 2 has a few more prints and a slightly stronger smell, while disk 3 is covered, and smells delicious. What an amazing filing system you've developed. I think I'll expand on it myself. That way I won't need to turn on the lights to see what cd I want.
Seriously though, what an amazingly kind person you are.
I can't get the cd rom of the book to run though, it keeps asking me to insert the cd that's already in. Puzzling, but I'm sure it'll work out. The problem might be that my DVD drive is L: - it may be looking for a more usual D:

Anyway, thanks again, let me know your address, and I'll send you something nice to take into hospital.

Love,
Frogbit.

Yeah, i've found the cd roms to be a bit touchy myself, for some reason you can't swap between the two discs, if you want to run disc two you have to load the contents page from disc two also. Also each time you try a disc in a different drive letter you have to go through a short system faliure routine and change the drive letter - i don't know why. If you upload the lot onto your c:/ drive it will all run just fine.

Is this the same problem as you have, or is it something more profound?

No, no more profound. I stick either disk in, and hit setuplc.exe and it asks for the disk to be put in, or to specify the drive in which the disk resides. And then refuses to find it. I might well put it all on drive C: after all...
How's thing with you?

Click on lc.exe and you'll probibly get a 'system error' message.

Click on cancel (possibly twice) and it will disappaer and a message to insert disc or type in drive letter.

Type in your drive letter (just the letter - no colon) and click the button below.

It should then (if it's got the same hiccup as mine) work like a dream.

Hhhmm. When I click on lc.exe I get the pop-up asking for a drive letter and when I put it in (with no colon) the field goes blank and asks me again. Whne I get bored an cancel it, another pop-up appears and tells me it can't find the CD. HHmmm. How's things anyway?

I had that too, but can't remember what i did to get over it...

Things seem to be going ok, i've been in hospital today to have all my pre-operative stuff done, and i've spoken at length to my consultant and i know whats going on now, and that's put my mind at rest a little. I'm still caking my pants you understand, but i wouldn't let on that i am to anyone.

My cousin was a weak and feeble diabetic with so many complications you wouldn't believe it. They had her kidneys out, stuck a new one in and gave her a new pancreas while they were about it. You'll walk it, mate. I understand about the pant decoration, though. It's much easier to keep it to yourself, I think. Don't startle the horses, and all that. Although Nuegen seems pretty open...

Or did I mean Uber Red?