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

Hi Ho fellow Hikers. Thought I'd do one post to catch you up to date on things rather than responding individually to previous journals. So skip over the bits you aren't interested in.

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I am up to season 6 of Bergerac. To my dismay it seems to be getting worse as time progresses. There was a brief point, season 4 I think, when the plots improved a bit but the last several episodes have been just ridiculous. I have 10 more discs to go. 30 episodes. Not sure I'm going to make it.

The ex-wife and daughter are long gone, and Bergerac has an on-again off-again (wish it would stay permanently off) relationship with an annoying brunette with a very ugly mouth. I'd like the series better if they would concentrate on the crime angle and leave his love life out of it. Good old Charlie Hungerford is still unbelievably annoying in every episode. In real life someone would have killed him long ago. And they have this female diamond thief called Phillipa Vale who keeps popping up. These episodes are even more unbelievable than the others. I hope we've seen the last of her.

They have Bergerac running around with his shirt unbuttoned nearly to the waist to show how sexy he is. I think they're trying to turn him into Don Johnson. Sorry guys but Miami Vice actually had believable plots to go along with the male cheesecake.

How on earth did this series last for 9 long seasons? My mystery Night scripts are as believable as this program for Pete's sake. I feel sorry for the actors having to deliver these lines. It's almost like panto. I suppose they got paid well for embarrassing themselves.

I like John Nettles and love British mystery/crime drama in general. But this one barely gets * and that only because the scenery is so nice. I'd like to visit Jersey now.

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Heather hasn't had another seizure, so I'm hoping the vet is wrong and she had a concussion rather than epilepsy. Only time will tell.

I had Christmas costumes for all three dogs. Intended to take piccies and put them up on Fotki. But they wouldn't leave the stuff on their heads long enough to get them posed properly. They hated them. Hamish was a reindeer, Heather was an elf and Spice was Mrs. Claus. For about 20 seconds each. If I ever get photos of them wearing them, I'll have to drug them first. And no, I would never really do that.

The pups will be 11 months old on Thursday. They're nearly grown. Heather is up to almost 20 pounds and Hamish is 16 pounds. Everything about Heather is larger than Hamish. She's taller, longer and has bigger feet. She's just a bigger dog. This is a surprise because when they were little, Hamish was quite a bit larger than she was. Life is full of little surprises.

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Syn had laser surgery on both of his eyes. I was surprised they did both of them at the same time. We're going back to Little Rock on the 10th for a follow-up exam. If the bad eye doesn't look to suit the doctor, he will schedule regular surgery on it.

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Mother is failing. She will be 90 in February. She is losing strength at an alarming rate. We're pretty much marking time. She doesn't have a major illness or even any serious chronic conditions. She's just wearing out. That's what happens if we live long enough.

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There has been a major snag with my upcoming exhibit. I'm responsible for providing local exhibits that will complement the things from the Smithsonian. I thought I was going to be able to recreate the cab and sleeping compartment of a long-haul truck for the kids. They would love something like that. Unfortunately we have space problems and the trucking company that was going to do it for us has backed out. Now I have to come up with another idea at the eleventh hour to fill that space. It all has me just a wee bit stressed. We have our preview on the 7th and open to the public on the 8th.

Also, the board member who was going to help me get the baseball exhibit organized is out of touch. This exhibit opens on Feb. 28 which is only 9 days after Journey Stories closes. The focus is minor league baseball in the region. We have a rich minor league history in these parts. So, I don't know if my board member is actually going to be able to help or if I need to fly in and start making contacts myself. There isn't that much time.

And when Baseball in the Ozarks closes, I have a mere 8 days to get it disassembled and the next one up. Art Beyond Borders opens on April 4. It is an exhibit from The International Museum of Contemporary Artists and features artists from 24 countries. I'm really looking forward to this one. I have all sorts of things planned for it. It's going to be a lot of fun.

I have the entire year scheduled already and part of 2012. We're also doing a month on sustainability, a three month travelling exhibit from the state archives (which is large enough to take up most of the first floor) called Divided Loyalities (a Civil War anniversary thing), the history of space flight, one on forensic science called To catch a Crook and one next fall called Doomsday. Add in our regular summer reading programs and I have a pretty full schedule.

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Christmas was ok, I guess. December is a bad month for my family. We have way too many unhappy anniversaries this month. But as time passes, it gets better. Well, not for Mother. She is in a state of perpetual gloom all month. This makes it harder for the rest of us. I had the Bearded Cousins over for Christmas and had a pleasant day.

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I think I'm out of news. Aren't you glad!

Your exhibits sound exciting.

Best wishes to Syn. I've had laser eye surgery (for cataracts). It's scary at first, but when it gets better, wow...amazing what they can do. I'm surprised they did both at once.

There's a video making the rounds of a cat putting ON a costume hat (think it's a bunny)!

I was pretty impressed for a bit until I realized it was just edited backwards. You might try that with the doggies.

http://icanhascheezburger.com/2010/12/27/funny-pictures-videos-cat-silly-hat/

Great video.

What a weird website...is that a new dialect in the comments?

Yea... it's "lolcatese". According to the interwebs, cats talk in pidgin English.

Believe it or not, there's even a project to translate the bible into Lolcat. Here's a great sample: http://www.lolcatbible.com/index.php?title=Ezekiel_25

That is a brilliant interpretation of Ezekiel. I have known theologians with far less understanding of the Scriptures.

Thanks for the info. Hypatia, you need to get books in this lolcat dialect.

When you put it all together, it has been a pretty full time ...

Dmitri, Syn has detached retinas and leakage behind his eyeballs somehow. I don't really understand it. He isn't much with explanations. The VA sent him to a specialist in Little Rock. That is a 5 hour drive, so a pain in the tookas. But at least he is getting really good care. The laser surgery doesn't correct anything; it keeps it from geting worse.

That video is a hoot!

That's awful, Hypatia. Much prayer in his direction that all goes well.

CZ, I finally got the Sam Jackson reference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz80uV4t-W0

He still sees good out of the good eye and some out of the bad eye. But we're worried about the long-term prognosis. The laser surgery is very sophisticated these days. It truly is amazing what they can do.

Did he have to be awake? That was the part that scared me. Talk about the Twilight Zone.

Yep. They put his head in this contraption, propped his eyes open and did it with him fully conscious. I didn't get to go back with him. Probably a good thing. I would have freaked out. It only took about an hour. He said there was a slight discomfort with the bad eye but none with the good one. More extensive procedure on the bad one, I suppose.

Yeah, it's weird. You're conscious, but totally out of it. Amazing procedure.

Did it do the job for you? I hope I don't get cataracts. I'm not sure I could have a procedure like that. My family has a history of glaucoma. That's what is likely in my future.

I hope you don't get that.

Cataracts are manageable these days. They put it special implants that corrected many of my life-long problems. Now I only need glasses to read - because I only have one focal point.

I'm very near sighted. I can read just fine without glasses but am blind as a bat without them for distance.

If you don't have astigmatism, the implants they have give you two focal points, and you don't need glasses.

Mine were so bad they needed the fancy kind.

This is why all the old folks are so thrilled with the operation. They see better than before.

Well rats. I do have an astigmatism in one eye.

There's a whole theology based on Ceiling Cat and Basement Cat.

I think this is the original Ceiling Cat:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Y7wQjK_RhzQ/THUjEYFDJtI/AAAAAAAADbs/7Lra0XLJE_M/s1600/ceiling_cat1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://georgiasam.blogspot.com/2010/08/ceiling-cat-goes-japanese.html&h=313&w=468&sz=19&tbnid=9DVDafL5AgRGoM:&tbnh=86&tbnw=128&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dceiling%2Bcat&zoom=1&q=ceiling+cat&usg=___cajC0U4WgTOBFCCrHitMOgdoso=&sa=X&ei=7j4aTemxNYjAhAe3-ci3Dg&ved=0CBYQ9QEwAA

And here's another version:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/funny-pictures-ceiling-cat-creates-man.jpg&imgrefurl=http://ideaspercolator.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/ceiling-cat-basement-cat-and-the-battle-for-your-soul/&h=415&w=500&sz=32&tbnid=-ZlZ_cTdRkYj_M:&tbnh=108&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dceiling%2Bcat&zoom=1&q=ceiling+cat&usg=__BbSLkhrIw-n2STIdO4T_f6l1Yl8=&sa=X&ei=7j4aTemxNYjAhAe3-ci3Dg&ved=0CBoQ9QEwAg

See also LOLcode: http://lolcode.com/
And here's Gnomon's Flikr photos: http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/photos_public.gne?id=34469849@N00&lang=en-us&format=lolcode.

TRiG.

I had a torn retina, and had laser surgery for it. Initially I was terrified, but once I had the experience I lost all fear. I'd rather have eye surgery than go to the dentist! It's just bright lights, as the surgeon sort of staples the retina back where it belongs.

The detached retina is a more serious bidness than "mere" tearing, although inattention to either will lead to loss of vision. At worst, Syn will be left with floaters.