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

Skype is great... I use it to talk to Dan.

I had a lovely two-hour chat with MoG awhile ago on Skype, and another one with Mudhooks recently. It's great.


az

If I can obtain a reasonably priced mic and doenload Skype, perhaps you and I can have a chat sometime, Az?

So it looks like after running a few errands, we're going to attempt a matinee of Were Rabbit and then head down to the in-laws for homemade pizza dinner.

Herman says hello to everyone (he's staring up toward the monitor, sniffing, and meowing, so he appears to be saying hello, at least).

Well a mike costs maybe five bucks, PC. And downloading Skype costs nothing.

So sure, it would be nice to chat with you. I'll send you my Skype nickname in an email.

az

Having major problems with connecting to internet today; so if i disappear....could be either 'cos the wretched bank failed to make prepayment to wanadoo & i didn't get to find out till a month later, when there is no chance of making 2 payments before i get paid...

...or just that there is something odd happening with wanadoo/france telecom, somebody else i know here has had to reboot about 6 times also today...

Or that this poor old overworked beast has decided to call it quits, i don't know its history, it may be a very tired beast!

But if i disappear, that's why.

Absolute pain in the donkey. I need internet right now even more than usual

*Stares at car opposite & snarls*

Managed to get hold of Patrick N finally, he has been filming; so couldn't use his mobile. He is bringing skankydawg back for the day tomorrow 'cos he is filming out of town, it will be lovely to see him again, just pray he isn't too boisterous, the Bloody Knee won't be happy if he knocks me over!

i am referring to the not Patrick N!!!

Yoda says "hi" to Herman & could he go on MSN with her when that Bloody arrives, she is interested in sharing a supper with him; she will catch it, he can cook it.

zdt

PC, are these your type of???

http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/gbala.html

zdt

I'll pop down the block to the Radio Shack tomorrow and grab a mic. Then we can chat sometime. Thanks!!

Yep, Terri-wooh, those are *exactly* the sharks I have, and about the exact size as the ones in the photo appear to be. They're really pretty, and they're shoaling fish, so they swim back and forth in formation.

Herman's doing something so cute this afternoon- we were eating our lunch at the kitchen table after returning from errands, and there's a big patch of sunshine on the floorboards from the window in there. Apparently, our hands were making sort of "shadow puppets" on the floor, and Herman was first watching them very intently, then pounced on one and attacked it.

I'll ask Herman if he'd like to chat with Yoda on MSN while the is there, but his typing might leave something to be desired.

He's now attacking a paper shopping bag with much enthusiasm.

BTW, Terri wooh (and whoever, really), if you'd like to see updated (though still not super visible) photos of K, you can do at the Tuffy UK website ( http://www.tuffyuk.com ), just click the "photos" link. On the home page, he's the one to the far right with his mouth wide open. He's so .

PC, re Skype, I recomment getting a headset instead of a mic. More comfortable to use, and also not very expensive - the one I have cost me the equivalent of maybe 4$US.

Please; pretty please, can you send me the cutie with the black guitar in your next parcel? I'm sure he will fold up nicely.....i will unwrap him very carefully at this end

Why does K have his mouth open like that? Yes, you're right, he is but from all you have said, very nicely weird!!! Anyway, some people would consider even incredibly normal, well adjusted, conservative people like you and i to be weird.

which is very weird....

zdt*i am not weird, this is my version of normal*

I'm not crazy.
(Institution!)
You're the one who's crazy.
(Institution!)

You can do voice between Gmail accounts also.

Ah, cool! I will look into getting a headset then, download Skype, and I already have Gmail (although for some reason I can never check that account from work!).

Terri, K's mouth is open in the photo because he was, as usual, gooofing off. He's been duly reprimanded

<> (Lady P)

I'd recommend the same. Though I have my headset set up so I can speak into the headset mike yet listen on my speakers (so I don't have to unplug and plug in with each call and always have the speakers on for other things).

I'm not sure how well the G-voice thing works, but I tried the Yahoo version this morning with six7s and there was a lot of background noise and his voice also cut out a lot. Yahoo posted that if there was interference then I should close down other windows I had open. Then six7s downloaded Skype and we continued our chat with much better sound quality and no issue about whatever else was going on with our computers.


az

I've never tried Yahoo chat, but will keep the noise issue in mind.

I was just thinking of you, Az, as I'm having a lovely sparkling water (naturally carbonated, of course!) with a twist of lime in it.

I actually don't like sparkling mineral water - though I know many people find it very refreshing. I prefer still mineral-lime water myself. Not with a twist of lime in it but with the juice of the lime poured into the bottle. I'm told it's quite a good 'body cleansing' remedy, but for me it just tastes good.


az

I like to use sparkling mineral water to make spritzers, instead of club soda. There's a little European deli down the block that sells Gerolsteniner Sprudel (German mineral water, naturally sparkling) that I like.

I'm going to try juicing a lime into my water filter pitcher and see how that turns out.

Herman has a new nickname, "The Sultan of Stink". Even more appropriate if you can see the dunes of litter he's flung onto the floor in the spare bedroom.

Spent the evening visiting the in-laws yesterday. They'd cut down a dead pine tree and we spent the evening burning it in a metal barbecue barrel. I don't know why playing with burning things is so much fun.

Today we're running out to get a birthday gift for a friend and to get a few things I need for Ratatouille (I haven't got any fresh basil or parsley in the house at the moment), and I have about six loads of laundry to do now that I've dug sweaters and such out of storage.

What's everyone else up to?

<>

One of Sunny's many nicknames it 'The Sultan of Sloth', for I think quite obvious reasons . . .

Also, when he sits down and makes his legs disappear (you know how they do that!) he looks like a big fat regal pasha sitting on his throne . . .


az

Awwww...

Herman sometimes make shis legs disapperar, too, though he usually sleeps curled up on his side, with his tail wrapped around (it wraps almost *all* the way around) and his face tucked under his paw.

I was telling Terri on Friday night about another cute thing he does- most cats lick a paw to wash their furry little faces. But Herman will lie there and lick one paw, then rub his face/ears with the other paw.

Had a nice afternoon today, too. Although the musical selection was a bit mellow and/or morose... we're at the middle of the "C"s, so it was Cockburn, Codeine, Cohen, Coleman and Coltrane. With my $2 Edwyn Collins (formerly of a Scottish "new wave" band called Orange Juice) CD in there to lighten things up a wee bit.

Went to get a birthday gift for K's friend and former roommate, at Uncle fun, the vintage toy shop in Wrigleyville (a few minutes away from home). We got him a book about the Krampus called "The Devil is Disguise", and a Hello Kitty pez dispenser. Got me a little jewelry box with various depictions of people smoking dope, dropping acid, and huffing ($5), a Ganesh finger puppet ($1), a purse sized phone book titled "People I Don't Hate Much" (with the Happy Bunny, $1), and a black tiki glass which holds about 16 oz, which I have planted the Venus Flytrap in ($2).

I cooked Ratatouille for dinner, with white rice and freshly baked French baguettes, used up the rest of that Cortes du Rhones I didn't like for the sauce. It turned out even better than usual. I serve mine with grated cheese (Provolone, Fontina and Kasseri) and sliced black olives on top, and had a glass of a lovely French which cost $4 for the bottle!!

In about an hour, we're going to see "Curse of the Were Rabbit", which should let out at around 8:00 PM, allowing time for Law & Order and settling in before bedtime.

Hope everyone else has had such a lovely, productive weekend!!