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

I left home when I was 21 and I was more than ready for it. I get on well with my Mum, but the fact that she can't get in my face on a regular basis helps.

I dropped by your personal space yesterday and I see you have updated it

I've just found out that my boss, who is supposed to be on leave next week, is coming in on Monday. I'm really bored today and the computer network keeps going off, so even if I had any work I couldn't do it. I've tidied everything I can think of ...

Anyway, I'd better post this message before my computer link disappears again.

Have a good weekend.

Liz
~

I'll be 22 in october... I get on well with my parents, but I'd like to have some independence- my own house, car, etc.

Well... sort of semi- updated it. I typed a few lines and got stuck. Any suggestions would be gratefully recieved, and one of my recent journal posts asked for some descriptive quotes about me. Needless to say, I got loads of replies... ah well.

Annoying when that happens- especially as you never have the privilleges to fix it, and those who do are usually just downloading star trek desktop pictures...

Well, it got here, that must be a good thing

TK[1]

Well, we've had further computer issues at work this week, which has meant that not only can I not get on with much work, I can't get on hootoo either. I'm logged on at a different PC today because my department still doesn't have a network up and running.

We have got a telly on at work today watching the Olympics (it's archery at the moment). The TV picture is not all that great, but at least it gives us something to do while we are so limited with work.

I met a friend for lunch today who is over from France for a short visit. It was lovely to see her, but a shame to only have an hour with her. I hope to go over to France to visit her one of these days.

Liz
~

Typical I suppose we can take some kind of comfort in the fact that it's the same everywhere

I'm not a big sports fan, but I have been fascinated by the badminton. It's just so fast! It makes tennis look slow and sluggish.

That's nice I've been invited to a party in Oxford on friday, which should be good. It might not be in France, but at least I can speak Oxfordish, to a degree.

TK[1]

We have been a whole week without our computer network at work. I have had to occupy myself by trying to tidy up my bosses office, which is something of a challenge. My word, she's and untidy woman! She's also hopelessly disorganised - I've found unopend (not to mention unanswered) correspondence going back to last year!

We sat and watched the Badminton at work yesterday afternoon - there were four of us watching the telly in my office while a fifth member of staff fell asleep in the other room

Anyway, I think I shall log off now, partly because logging on from home costs me money and partly beause my bloke has just come home from work. He has got to go in really early tomorrow and then I am dragging him up to Birmingham to spend the weekend with my brother, so I had better go and be extra nice to him.

Chat next week.

Liz
~

I take it it's not a company which relies largely on internet custom, then? If you want to see untidy, you want to see my room. I still have A- Level exam timetables on my noticeboard. For reference, I've just finished my degree...

Sounds like I decent place to work. How do I apply?

Ooh, have fun in Birmingham! It took me three hours to get to Oxford, but just over one to get back... I got a little lost on the way...

TK[1]

I actually work at a college, hence we have to put up with over a week of computer problems . We still haven't got full facilities (no e-mail and only limited printing). Part of my job involves admin for students studying on-line with something called The Suffolk Institute of Technology. We're not a very good advert for technology just at the moment are we. If this was a business, we would have gone bust by now!

Anyway, enough ranting. Did you have a good time in Oxford, once you found it?

Birmingham was very pleasant - we went out for an Italian meal on Saturday night and then on Sunday we made my brother take us to see a ruined stately home near Worcester (we like to inflict a bit of culture on him). His girlfriend (who is also called Liz, just to confuse you) was busy on Sunday because the Albion were playing at home and she is a season ticket holder. On Sunday evening we were invited to a barbecue at Liz's parents house. They are very nice and seem to have adopted my brother. Liz's Mum & Dad have just come back from two weeks holiday and France and have brought 100 (count 'em!) bottles of wine back with them . Needless to say, the wine flowed on Sunday evening . I had booked annual leave for yesterday and Chris wasn't at work until 6pm, so we travelled home yesterday morning.

I am able to do a bit of work today but, as the boss is still away, we are still watching plenty of the BBC Olympic coverage. At this time of year, it's not a bad old place to work. If we ever decide to run on on-line course in Astronomy, I shall suggest we employ you to tutor it.

Liz
~

No, not a great advert at all, really!!

Yeah, had a good night- It was nice to see Rachel again- I haven't socialised with her in months. Scary thought that she's getting married... and Chris has had a baby... I spoke to my uncle about it, and he said that about now everyone starts pairing off ad getting married, and there'll be one bachelor left at the end of it... no prizes for guess who that'll be

Sounds like a good few days 100 bottles is a lot... there's a story in our family about the time when a couple of great uncles of mine hired a hearse to do the booze cruise in...

I'm surprisingly interested in the Olympics- I'm not usually interested in anything sporty, but a couple of times I've found myself watching a few events. I haven't really been rooting for England, though, usually just rooting for the person who seems most set on winning. Actually, to be brutally honest, I'm usually rooting for the best looking one. Not that I'm shallow... just a little, erm, lonely, I guess.

That would be good, I'd be up for that! I'll hold you to it!

TK[1]

My brother's mates now all seem to be pairing up and settling down and one of them does have a baby. Jon and his friends are all late 20's/early 30's so they are a tad older than you. I think my brother's current girlfriend could be "The One". I hope so anyway - I like her.

I'm the same as you in that I'm not normally an avid follower of sport, but there is just something about the Olympics. There appears to me to be a great deal of sportsmanship and camaraderie among most of the competitors too (apart from the two Russian Pole Vaulters, who obviously hate each others guts). Today there was a break in the coverage on the BBC so I switched off our office telly and I haven't actually got around to switching it back on. My sports mad colleague Aaron has gone to a meeting, otherwise I'm sure it would be back on by now.

Whatever are we going to watch next week when the Olympics are over?

Liz
~

It's scary. I'm not looking forward to being the gooseberry. Though, saying that, I've been the gooseberry for the past... lifetime... so there won't be much difference except that my gooseberry status will be made legal and binding by all my friends' marriage certificates. Bah humbug. I'm going to find a cave to live in.

It certainly is a lot more attractive in that sense- it doens't have the hooligan following that football does, or anywhere near as much as the brawling between competitors. It's a lot easier to be proud to be British when watching the olympics than it is when watching certain other spectator sports.

I don't know... I probably won't notice anyway- I don't watch that much TV. I read instead. I'm currently reading K-PAX- I hadn't realised it was a book before it was a film. Having said that, I haven't even seen the film... I've just finished an Asimov anthology, and I have a Stephen Baxter book, a Doctor Who novel and the novel of Get Carter, which I also didn't realise was a book before it was a film until I saw it in the Waterstones clearence bin yesterday. I get through so many books it's unbelievable. It's something of a joke in my house when I /haven't/ got my head in a book to warn me not to bump into things.
I've bumped into a lamp post whilst reading a book on my way home from town once. No, I wasn't in a car I think it was 'Mostly Harmless' I was reading at the time. Ironic!

TK[1]

I shouldn't worry too much about being single at your age. Easy for me to say, I know, but I married an a**ehole when I was 21 and it would have been much better if I had waited until I was older and/or married someone more suitable. In ten years time when you are married with 2.4 screaming kids and a huge mortgage, you may look back on your singledom with great fondness.

It always amazes me that anyone can read while walking along - I'm just not that good at multi-tasking.

Reading is one of my leisure pursuits too. If my boyfriend is not at home (he doesn't do reading), I am far more likely to switch off the TV and either bog about on my computer or read a book. I'm sure I have already mentioned that I have been bogged down with 'War and Peace' for about six months. I'm into the final book now. I especially like to sit in the garden and read a book on a warm day, although I am easily distracted if there is any noise coming from other gardens. Similarly, I can't always read in the evenings because if next-doors telly is loud, I find it impossible to concentrate on my book. Also, because I sit at a PC all day, sometimes my eyes just feel too tired to focus - so reading tends to be more of a weekend activity for me. I'm hopeful that I will finish War and Peace in the next couple of weeks. Then I have pile of unread magazines (mostly containing short stories) to read. I haven't actually read any of Douglas Adams stuff but I fancy something a little lighter after six months of tangled love lives and the Napoleonic wars, so I might give him a go. I have a HUGE list of books that I would like to read and I sometimes wonder if I will ever get around to them all.

I didn't realise Get Carter came from a book either. I finally got around to watching the original Michael Caine version of the film last year and I can see why it has such an iconic status. I was off work with a particularly bad dose of sickness when I watched Get Carter and I think viewing such a dark film whilst feeling unwell sort of intensified the film somewhat. I think I may have read some Isaac Asimov when I was a teenager, but I couldn't tell you what it was.

Liz
~

I'm not bothered about not getting married- I really don't intend to get married ever... but it would be nice to have a member of the opposite sex interested in me every now and then. Just feel left out because everyone else is paired off, and I'm the odd one out.

Neitehr am I, obviously, or I wouldn't have hit the lamp post!

I bought War and Peace today, funnily enough- £5 for three volumes. I also bought Around the World in 80 Days- this copy looks like it has indeed been on that trip!
I don't like to sit in the garden- I have a very strong phobia of wasps, and as such they love nothing more than to buzz around my face and ears if I sit still long enough (a couple of milliseconds). They make a beeline (no pun intended) straight for me whenever I go outside. I don't have a problem with distraction- wars could start and end around me and I probably wouldn't be woken up from my fantasy book world.
My most frequent reading position is that most solitary position on Man's favourite throne. That is, until someone else comes and knocks on the door after thirty seconds. My family's bathroom cycle seems to be annoyingly synchronised with mine.

I would very much advise reading the works of Douglas Adams- he's a very individual writer- there is no other with a style quite like his, though Terry Pratchett comes close.

I often wonder the same thing, but then I wouldn't know what I'd do if I read every book on my ever-lengthening 'must get round to it' list.

I haven't seen the Stallone version... call me cynical, but I don't really want to either. I think Micheal Caine is a fantastic actor. True, he seems to play the same charater in every film, but he makes those tiny tweaks and adjustments so they fit perfectly! My personal favourite is A Muppet Christmas Carol

I want to read I, Robot before I go to see it at the cinema, but I can't find a copy...

TK[1]

I think there is a stronger desire to be with someone when you are younger - hence I married someone completely unsuitable. My best mate got married at the age of 19 and I was so desperate not to be left behind that I married the first bloke that asked. I've been with my present boyfriend for a long time, but something I can remember from back when I was last single is how some people were always much to keen to try and fix me up with a new man, which used to annoy me no end.

Yeah, I like Michael Caine too - particularly in the Italian Job, which is one of my favourite ever films. I haven't seen the remake of that or of Get Carter and nor would I want to. Have you seen 'Little Voice'? Michael Caine is fantastic in that, which is a good job because the only other thing it has got going for it is Jane Horrocks' singing.

Simon Schama is responsible for my reading War and Peace. I saw him champion it on The Big Read and I was so impressed that I asked my boyfriend to buy me the book for Christmas. I think Professor Schama's history books are probably easier to read than War and Peace

If you ever did finish your list of books, you could always go back to the start and read them again.

Liz
~

The idea of getting married horrifies me, quite frankly. I don't even want a relationship now, having fairly recently been ejected from one quite upsettingly and totally against my will. I just don't want to feel so totally unwanted and lonely.

The Italian Job is one of my favourite films. The remake would have been better if they hadn't used the name 'The Italian Job', and hadn't used the same character names with completely different characters behind them (i.e. all American). It was an O.k film, but by no means a fitting tribute to the title. I haven't seen Little Voice, though I can believe that Caine gives a great performance!

It's one I've wanted to read for a while, and I came across it, so I bought it. I'm also keeping my eyes open for some Oscar Wilde, H. G Wells' 'The Time Machine', any Jules Verne I haven't yet read and I keep meaning to turn my eye towards some Dickens. I've never been a Shakespear fan.

I don't think I'll ever get to the end... the list grows faster than I read the books (an astonishing feat in itself), and re-reading some books appear on the list anyway.

TK[1]

It's never nice to be the one that gets dumped in any relationship. I wont bore you with the 'there's someone right for you out there somewhere' stuff because you wont believe me.

I have read Oscar Wilde's only novel, 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' and I really liked it. I'm not normally a fan of Victorian novels because a lot of them follow the same plot, but Dorian Gray is just a little bit different. Have you ever seen any films of Oscar Wilde's plays? If you have seen stuff like "The Importance of being Ernest" and "A Suitable Husband" that will give you a good idea of Wilde's style.

I haven't ever studied Shakespeare, although I would like to. I have seen a couple of films based on his plays and liked them. I visited Stratford-upon-Avon last year and went to Shakespeare's birthplace, which I enjoyed. I haven't read any Dickens either, although he is on Liz's Literary List of books to read. The only so-called classics that I have read are 'Silas Marner' by George Elliott, which I read aged 16 and so can't remember much about, and 'Emma' by Jane Austen, which was hard going and not particularly enjoyable, but still better than any TV adaptations/films that I have seen of it.

I was inspired by our discussions yesterday to read a bit more of 'War and Peace' last night when there was naff-all on TV. I wish I had brought it to work with me today because it is chucking it down with rain so I can't go out at lunchtime.

Liz
~

Too right

I've seen The Importance of Being Earnest, and I've read a book of his short stories, both of which have led me to an interest in other works!

I studied some Shakespear around GCSE time, and didn't enjoy it, but I guess English lessons don't exactly give it the best light to be read in. I too have been to stratford on avon... it's where the reason for my unhappiness and general not-wanting-to-be-here-ness (re: the first paragraph) lives. It's a nice place, apart from the memories ingrained.

The line between 'classic' and 'ordinary but well known' seems a little blurred to me... does Orwell count as classic? If so, I've read Animal Farm (didn't like it, but then that was part of my English GCSE...) and 1984 (thought that was quite good).

Glad I can be of some use, at least Now, always remember to drop a book in your bag! You never know when you may be able to sneak out of reality and into a book for a few minutes.

TK[1]

I didn't do any Shakespeare at school - our CSE curriculum for English Literature was all 20th century writers. I had forgotten, until I read your last post, that we read George Orwell's 'Animal Farm' as part of the syllabus. I think Orwell's stuff is very highly regarded and if it isn't a classic - it should be! Have you read '1984'? That is on my still to read list.

I read quite a lot more of 'War and Peace' on Saturday afternoon. I have no idea why that book should be regarded as a classic - apart from the fact that is is VERY long. It appears to me to break a lot of the rules of creative writing, for example it has far too many characters and way too much unnecessary detail. Which translation have you got? The version I have was translated by Rosemary Edmunds. I gather from another hootoo conversation that I was involved with that there are other translations out there and that some are better than others.

Did you do anything over the bank holiday weekend? Apart from doing a lot of reading on Saturday afternoon and shouting at the telly when the Olympics was on (Kelly! Kelly! Kelly! and what about the 4 x 100 metres! ), I also made a flying visit to Lincolnshire. We just went for the day (Sunday) so that me and my brother could give Mum her 60th birthday present. Dad is still moaning about their new house (which is actually very nice and I don't know what his problem is) but once plied with a pint of beer and several glasses of wine, he cheered up considerably. Mum was very pleased with her necklace and earrings and wore them to the pub where we had our meal. My brother and I were both driving, so we had the somewhat surreal experience of eating dinner surrounded by four very drunk people. My Mum is hilarious when she has had a drink and starts to slur her speech after two glasses of wine. Jon's girlfriend becomes even chattier after some booze so she was thoroughly entertaining and even my Dad had an attack of humour. My boyfriend drank too much and ended up with a hangover He had to go to bed early on Sunday night!

We didn't get up until 10:30 yesterday morning, which was a novelty. My bloke works shifts and doesn't usually do lazing around in bed, so that was really nice. Yesterday afternoon we went for a little walk by the River Deben at Woodbridge (which isn't far away) and apart from that we just watched TV.

I'm making the most of my last 'boss-free' day at work. I'm really dreading her coming back tomorrow. However, I am on annual leave again next week, so at least I only have to put up with her for three days. There is a comms cabinet in the corner of my office that is making a funny noise. It sounds a bit like a didgeridoo, which was funny for a while but is now starting to annoy me.

Liz
~

Yes, I've read 1984. I thought it was quite good, but was a little dissappointed with the ending... I won't spoil it for you if you haven't read it.

I don't know which translation I've got- I haven't really looked at it yet. I finished K-PAX (I recommend it- I'm keeping my eyes open for K-PAX II and III on offer somewhere...) and now I've started Stephen Baxter's 'Time'. I didn't realise there were other translations...

I didn't do anything over the weekend... just the usual job searching

Sounds like a nice, lazy bank holiday, then, can't sniff at that

Lol, give it a kick. That'll either fix it or break it completely. Either way it'll shut up

TK[1]

Well, the e-mail is back on, the didgeredoo has gone quiet and the boss lady is back. I've hardly had time to hootoo at all for the last two days. After two weeks of skiving, it's a shock to the system to be quite this busy .

Given how busy things are all of a sudden, I feel slightly concerned about what sort of chaos will ensue while I am away next week.

I'm now on part four of book four of War and Peace and if I don't finish it this week, I am determined to complete it while I am on holiday next week.

So, any luck on the job front then? Any interviews at all?

Liz
~

I bet, you're just not used to that much work!

Lol, they won't survive without you? I've felt like that in most of my jobs, and they've all only been holiday jobs!

TK[1]