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

Hi Polly,today went down like a lead balloon,with me still feeling lower than a slugs belly,I went to Bath again early yesterday,I still feel wretched and work just seems to get busier.

St Austell is still looming although so far I've managed to escape that job.

My gaffer told me this morning the lads and I have a job in Southampton next Tuesday night with an eleven o clock at night start to be finished before seven am(Wednesday's the day of my scan and I'd booked it off)still it always seems the employer always gets his pound of flesh.

Anyway just for you I could manage a sheepish grinhow has your day been,are you finally on the mend?

Dear Rick,

You are overdoing things. You seem to work so hard, and you are so under-the-weather. I'll be glad when you get that scan over and done with. I truly hope that there is nothing seriously wrong, and that your GP tells you to either take some time off sick, or generally take life a lot slower. You are my age, and we are no longer frisky kittens!

Southampton? 3o minutes from me! A horrible place though.

Rick, don't you dare miss that scan! Work is very important, but so is your health. For your family's sake you must take things easy. And for me-please?

I ache so much all the time. I shall give it another week, and then go back to the GP. My back is very painful. And I am physically worn out. I want to sleep so much. Last night was so busy(long story), and I'm very tired from that. Then I had to pull the washing machine out yet again this morning! It's jolly heavy and difficult to move. And it didn't do my back much good.

I am winding-down with a glass of white wine. I shall offer a toast to you::"Good health, dear Rick".

xx

I haven't seen much of you today, Rick. I hope you aren't feeling any worse, and have had a relaxing evening.

Take care tomorrow wherever you happen to be working.

Sleep well. I wasn't able to sleep last night yet I was so very tired. I'm hoping that I get some sleep tonight!


'Night 'Night Rick. I'm off to my nest now.

Polly
x

Hi Polly,sorry I have'nt much time Im just off to Bath,hpoe you've had a goodnights sleep,Im feeling slighly better today.

Hello Rick.

That's good news that you feel a little better.


I'm just about to lie down for a while. I can't sit upright for too long.


Have a happy evening once you get back home.

Brrrrr, what an icy morning. What is the weaher like in Birmingham? Snow drifts?


My back is very painful today. I have got to go out for lunch, so I must put on my warm togs in a moment!


I expect that you are either having a lie-in, or at the corner shop buying your paper. There are some free DVD's in the papers. The Telegraph has a couple I have never seen before(and today's I have never heard of!). I watched 'The End Of The Affair' last night. Did you?

Well, I do hope that your weekend is one of happiness and peace. Maybe you are digging yourselves out of your snow-blocked house!

Take care.

Polly

Hi Polly,after all the forecasts of heavy snow for Brum we ended up with patches of snow that are very thinly coated.
It really is a nice bright sunny morning here I just had a four mile walk to Harborne and back to get my son's suit from the dry cleaners,he'd ripped one of his sleeves and it had an invisible?repair.

Im looking forward to a couple of cheese and Spanish onion sandwiches on uncut tinned white bread I got from our crusty cottage baker only half a mile away(I think Im really lucky to have a baker's shop so close)the baker is a young black chap who gets up early evrey morning and bakes his own bread etc at the back of his shop and serves his customers himself,£1.20 ish for a white or brown tin is not a bad price for genuinely really fresh bread,at about eight in the morning all his bread is still hot but I try not to buy the hot bread because it squashes too easily.

Anyway no improvement with the back then,ahhh never mind try and have a nice day and head up gal

Harborne? Is there cricket there?

Hi Rick. The bakery sounds wonderful. How lucky you are. I had a super organic bakery in my last town. I miss it so much. They make the most delicious tiny tartlets and tiny quiches with melt-in-the-mouth pastry(as well as fab sour-dough bread etc). Whilst living in Turkey, one could get fresh bread throughout the night.

No snow here~yet. Very cold though, and very windy.

Mmm~~cheese and onion sandwiches. Lovely. I had a different lunch today with my daughter. We were in her lovely town. We went into a small tea-shop, and had New Forest sausage sandwiches in brown bread. They were so yummy!

I know all about 'invisable' stitching! I've done it many times for folk.

I've just been finding more sources of draft here! I've spent the last 2 hours on my hands and knees pushing foam into floorboards! It's so cold(except in this room).

I've borrowed 'The Jazz Singer', from my daughter, to watch tonight~~the one with Neil Diamond. I love it. But it always makes me cry.

I've got some Ibuprofen gel to rub into my back. I wonder if it will work.

Almost time for supper~~left-over cottage pie and lots of cabbage.

Hi Polly,Edgbaston is where our main cricket club is although there is a cricket club opposite the church in Vivian Rd Harborne.
Me,I could'nt find much on the telly last night so I watched a DVD,die hard four,one of my lads bought me all four Die Hard movies in a presentation box for Chrimble.
Have decided to take it easy again this weekend and so far someone else has volunteered to do Southampton tuesday night so this week Im in Bath after monday with Liverpool on Thursday(early)and Nuneaton Sunday.
That Ibuprofen gel you propably need the maximum strength version which at nearly eight quid for a small tube seems rather expensive,remember to wash your fingers after though as it has a nauseous smell.
For about a tenner Holland and Barrett sell "blue ease gel"(containing Emu oil)after a few applications this substance lends a very warm glow
to the applied area.
Hope your back eases soon so you can get your life back,head up and have a nice day? at your church tommorrow.

Emu oil??? That is so cruel. How do they extract the oil? Do they boil the poor bird down to an oily mess??

So you won't be dropping in for tea and cake then on Tuesday?

I don't know what strength the gel is. I shall take a look soon.

I've got 'The Jazz Singer' or 'Iris' to watch tonight. Or, if I can manage to make the video work(I have to unplug the DVD and attach the video to the TV~~somehow!), then I'd like to watch 'Message In A Bottle'. That is a gorgeous film.


Yes I shall be at church tomorrow. I love it there. It is my second home! Everyone is super. It is a lively church, with lots going on. I would be utterly lost and alone without it.

Enjoy your evening. Feet up, beer in hand, crisps and pizza to nibble.!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Polly,I have absolutely how old your TV or DVD player is but it normally only takes a scart lead to connect them both together.
http://www.google.com/search?q=scart+lead+pics&rls=com.microsoft:*:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7DKUK

Old TV. New DVD player.

Oh, and old video player. Everything here is old! Including puss and me.

The problem with those leads is that I have no idea where they all go! I don't know how to have a DVD player plus a video recorder both plugged into the TV at the same time(and the digi-box as well).

I watched The Jazz Singer. It made me cry.

I guess you have retired for the night now.

'Night 'Night, Rick.

Keep warm. I shall have a hot water bottle tonight.

Polly

Hi Polly,no sympathy,you should have bought the electric blanket.

Hey Rick! That's not fair at all! I sleep on the couch every night because my bedroom is freezing. An electric blanket won't change the room temperature.

I have just been trying to fit a small bolt to the door leading from the sitting room into the freezing hall. The door frame is at an angle, so the door doesn't fit it. There is a huge gap at the top. And the door has no locking device on it! A man would, I'm certain, put a new frame around the door or do something to the wall. But I can't. So I thought I could fit a small bolt. But there is no room for it on the frame. How does one make a hole in the frame(in other words, how does one make a hole in the wood)? I can't fit the small bit of the bolt anywhere. But I can use the large part of the bolt. If I can make a hole, I might be able to use the large part of the bolt. I'm sure that these bits have names but I really have no idea what!

I'm trying my hardest to patch things up here. Please don't be horrid about my lack of an electric blanket. Things are bad enough as it is. I'm feeling jolly miserable.

Hi Polly,I was'nt being snotty,the whole idea of an electric blanket is you can sleep whatever the room temperature,you can adjust the blanket to a low setting and leave it on any night you are feeling cold.

As for your door,it sounds as though your door is now a little twisted,to make a hole in the reveal of your door frame??????????you obviously dont have a drill,so mark around the end of the bolt (with a sharp pencil)after you have secured/screwed it on and twist a pointed screwdriver in the centre of the circle you have drawn with the pencil
this will make an indentation in the wood when you have this round mark in the wood by twisting round the pointed screwdriver now put a flat ended screwdriver (not too large on the end though)into the round impression and turn it into the wood until you get enough depth to retain the end of your bolt.

If you've got a gas cooker you can very,very (as I know you're a little accident prone)carefully heat the screwdriver tip only until the tip is bright red the dash over and burn in the hole with the end of the screwdriver,all the sounds rather primative I know,anyway have fun

Oh dear,I've just realised it might be a square bolt in which case you would have to chop in a crude square hole with the small flat ended screwdriver,unless you have a wood chisel?
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/lrgimg_popup.jsp;jsessionid=GZB0IUDZMMEA0CSTHZOSFFY?productId=19184&imageNo=null&ts=44626

Err Polly if all that is too much bother use a hook and eye bolt.

Thank you Rick for the advice. I shall do what you first stated~~use something pointed to start a hole off, and then a small screw driver. I haven't got a screw driver with a point. Didn't know they existed.

Also, how does one make a piece of wood to attach to the top of the door?? There is a slight problem attached to that question! The door surround(you know~the wooden door frame) goes up at one end. So, the wood I would like to attach would have to be a thin wedge shape. Would I need to use a shaving-wood thingy? I can't remember what it is the proper name.


PS. I forgive you! I'm just getting very cold and upset. My legs ache with the cold. I look like a bag lady with so many clothes on. The hall and bedroom are like a tomb~~soooooooooooooooooooo cold.