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

It wasn't bad at all Everyone has an old acoustic guitar languishing in the corner of their bedroom, or some other room. I believe they're there solely to await my presence and be temporarily revived and restored to a once great youth... I also love rock music.

I wouldn't know to comment. I'll let you know my opinions when I have experience to comment on

I've done all mine- I've only bought for about six people. All of whom I have some sort of familial bond with.
I think crimes of passion are probably up there with suicides for christmas crime- both are generally fuelled by loneliness and some percieved victimisation.

I see even less of my friends at christmas than any other time of the year- they're all tied up with their families.

I'm no better organised, just less seasonally active- I'm buying very few people presents, and I'm not sending anyone at all a card. Makes things easier. I was talking with my friend earlier about cards- why bother- just get last year's back out and you and your friends will save a lot of money. Or if you really must do the giving and recieving thing, write it in pencil each year, and just swap the same cards back and forth with each friend.

Thank you, same to you and your family and friends. I maybe hum-bug-y at this time of year, but I do honestly hope that those who deserve a good time are able to have one

TK[1]

Good evening and a Happy Bank Holiday to you (or happy hangover if that is more appropriate). I hope you've had a nice couple of days.

I am utilizing the gift that I bought for Chris while I write this (well, he's been playing with the digital camera he bought me for the past two days). I got Chris a digital radio and so far this afternoon I have sampled BBC 6 Music, BBC World Service, Core, Capital Life and for the past hour - Planet Rock! Planet Rock made me think of you, actually.

Did you get any nice pressies? Besides my rather fabulous digital camera (which wont talk to my PC because my PC doesn't have enough memory), I also got a pink watch, a miniature clock (the fourth of my collection), books, household stuff and a stack of chocolate.

We had a nice day with my parents on Christmas Day and an even nicer day yesterday when it was just the two of us. Have you had any snow over your way? We've had really hard frosts the past two days with gorgeous blue skies and sunshine - it's been really rather lovely. We went for a nice walk at Woodbridge yesterday and today we ventured into town. Bad idea. Very crowded. We didn't manage much shopping but we have sorted out fancy dress costumes for the 40th birthday party we are going to on Sunday.

Anyway, I think I might write me a festive journal entry, otherwise I will be typing the same thing about a dozen times on here.

Chat soon.

Liz
~

Lol, nah, I'm not hungover . It's been O.k, though I haven't done much partying. Feel a bit too worn out by the events of this year, and looking forward to starting a new one, which will hopefully be a bit more enjoyable!
But same to you- you seem to have been having a good time, and good for you

Oooh, I want a digital radio! And yes, Planet Rock is an excellent station, and actually the reason why I want a digital radio! I got a digital camera. It's pretty good, even if it does eat batteries

Aside from my camera I got a posh compass from my grandparents (silver plated "Dalvey" branded), a 'wakeyoo' alarm clock (the most attractive feature being that you can record your own wake-up call!), Goldeneye: Rogue Agent for the PS2, a few bottles of beer (with a Spitfire pint glass and a Hobgoblin T-shirt ), the usual chocolates, some pencils recycled from plastic cups, a battery- powered glider-type thing, and absolutely no socks.

Nah, no snow unfortunately- there never is. It'd be nice to wake up on christmas morning to a deep, even covering of snow.
We had christmas at home, with my parents, brother and grandparents on my mother's side. Boxing day was spent with my grandparents again, as it's their wedding anniversary. Yesterday I went to see a friend near Nottingham, and I've just got back home from his.
We're having a party here on new year's eve.

Happy New Year, if I don't speak to you before!

TK[1]

Sounds like you're having a pleasant festive period yourself.

We're not doing much tomorrow evening (New Years Eve). Chris's youngest brother is supposed to be coming up from London during the day and there is a half-formed idea to take him out to lunch. Chris has to go to work at around 3pm but expects to be finished by 7, so we are going out for a curry. I lurve a good curry and it will be especially welcome after all the ing turkey I've eaten this week.

We are trundling up to Lincolnshire on New Years Day to spend the day with my parents. We are going to a 40th birthday party near Boston on Sunday, hence we are staying two nights with the parents.

Happy New Year to you and I look forward to chatting to you some more next year.

Liz
~

It's not so bad At least there are people around- I'va actually seen people rather than sitting and festering in between filling in application forms.

We're having a small party. Not much, just us and a few family friends.
Lol, I only had turkey on Christmas day and Boxing day- we didn't have loads this year, I think my mum and grandma got about the right amount for once!

Hope you enjoy that then

Same to you

TK[1]

New Year's Eve was a bit dull. We had a nice lunch with Chris's brother but we hadn't slept very well the night before, so by the time we went out in the evening we were both flagging a bit. After our curry (which was rather good), we just sat in a pub waiting for it to be midnight and then we went home. However, we had a delicious lunch at my Mum's on New Year's Day and we had lots to drink, so that was nice. And she stuffed us full of food again on Sunday too. And she did us cooked breakfasts on both Sunday and Monday.

I hope you enjoyed your New Year party.

The 40th Birthday Party on Sunday night was really good. Most people were in fancy dress. The theme was 1960's, but I couldn't find anything suitable that actually fitted properly with the notice that I had, so I hired a 'little Miss Christmas' outfit. It was very short and the birthday boy informed me that I had the best legs at the party!! Chris went as a 60's mod. We didn't win any prizes for our costumes but Chris did win a box of chocolates for being the best male dancer. He is the boogie monster!

And now it is back to work and back to the real world It's my first day back at work today and I've got a sore throat, which seems somehow rather fitting.

Liz
~

Lol, aw, never mind. Though it's marginally more interesting than mine a year ago- I even went to bed before midnight.

It was fun, thanks

Niiiiiice. Always good to be told you've got nice legs Sounds like a fun party

Aw I've got my medical interview with the NHS job bank tomorrow, at last. If all goes well, I'll be doing some odd jobs here and there soon. It's not proper work, but it's something!

TK[1]

My sore throat developed into a cold, which is still troubling me. It's not the worse cold I've had by any means, but it does involve a dry tickly throat and I'm worn out from the constant coughing. My boyfriend is working away from home tonight and informed me that he is looking forward to sleeping in a hotel so he wont be kept awake by my coughing and snoring. Thanks!

So, how did the interview go?

Liz
~

Aw It's that time of year, though, isn't it? My mum was complaining of flu-y symptoms earlier. Hope you feel better soon
Lol, poor thing...

It was just a formality, really, to make sure I was fit to work in environments with a slight potential health risk. I got a phone call that morning though, inviting me for an interview the next morning! It was for a local company who manufacture and test gauge blocks (don't ask). That interview went O.k I think. Just waiting to hear from them now

Get well soon!

TK[1]

Hiya,

My cold is much better now thanks, still a bit thick in the throat some of the time, but not coughing my guts up anymore.

I'm only managing to get on here about once a week at the moment - I'm too busy at work to do my usual surfing from there.

So - two interviews in a week! I'm surprised. My own experience of being made redundant in December 2000 was that there isn't much doing on the job market in January and February. Any sign of any work for you yet?

Liz
~

Ah, that's good then! On the mend

Aw, who'd have thought- actually having to do /work/ at work? I dunno...

I have a job, and started on wednesday! I'm officially a "Gauge Block Inspector" . It's not great money, but it's giving me relevant experience, and hopefully that'll change. I work at hours far too early for my liking, but I'm unlikely to get a job starting at 4:00 pm anyway... and I've already bought a car :-s

TK[1]

Blimey, the world moves on quickly doesn't it? A job and a car in less than a week?

Congrats on the job - what exactly does a Gauge Block Inspector do (and if you say "inspect gauge blocks" I shall come over to Leicestershire immediately and slap your legs) When I first went out to work (aged only 16), I worked in a shop for the princely sum of £30 a week, which was deeply crap wages even back then (1983). However, things improved eventually and whilst I don't exactly earn a fortune, I do make enough to live on and I've even managed to buy my own house (luckily, I stepped on the housing ladder in 1999, just before it shot out of the reach of people in my income bracket).

How is the job so far? Or is it too early to say? It generally takes me a while to settle into a job. I hope you are getting used to the early mornings.

On my own 'news' front, I've ordered a new computer, which I hope to have possession of in the next few days, but haven't paid for yet and my article about Queen Elizabeth I has been picked up by the sub editors and is going to be in the edited guide!. Have you been contributing to the talking point about Queen? I bet you could contribute enough to write your own entry about that. And on the subject of rock music - how is the band going? Are you still gigging?

Chat soon.

Liz
~

Thank you I picked my car up yesterday after work- I'm pleased so far!

Well I'll say exactly that, then- I inspect gauge blocks. And you'll be wasting your time going to Leicestershire because I'm only there on the odd day when visiting friends .
But that's my job! Gauge blocks are blocks made of cermaic or tungsten carbide (sometimes steel), and they're used to gauge things. for instance, certain items of measuring equipment, such as a micrometer, could be used to measure a gauge block. If the reading on the micrometer agrees with the number on the gauge block, then the micrometer is correct. If not, it needs to be recalibrated. As you can probably work out for yourself, teh gauge blocks need to be very accurate- I'm one cog in the machine that checks the finished articles for such accuracy.

The job's O.K so far- I'm still learning a relatively small part of it, but the people are nice enough and the day doens't go too slowly.
I'll never get used to the early mornings... At least I've managed to persuade my dad to make me breakfast in the mornings, so I'm not so bloody hungry at work... I didn't ahve any breakfast the other day, and by lunchtime I was about willing to eat my own feet.

Oooooh... I'm about to buy a flat screen monitor for my computer! Good luck with your purchase! I've had a couple of entries in the edited guide so far *polishes lapel badges* It's a good feeling when they get to the front page Good luck with that too!
I haven't really contributed that much to the Queen one- I've made the odd comment but I've just been so tired lately... what with these new fangled 'morning' things and whatnot.

I haven't done anything with the band since the last gig, lol. I've spoken to Mike a couple of times- they had a gig on new year's eve which he nearly called me about, but it was a three hour set, and I've only just done an hours worth of stuff with them, so I'm kinda glad he didn't! After that, the only thing they've got booked is in July!

TK[1]

Well, your new job sounds OK. You're bound to be tired for a while, until you get used to your new routine. I go through phases of being tired myself. I'm not sleeping as well as I'd like just lately (I think it's the cold weather - I shall be putting the electric blanket on my bed when I change the sheets tomorrow), so I'm not exactly bursting with vim and vitality this week.

My new PC isn't ready yet so I'm still on the old one, which is rather odd now that I have removed so much stuff from it.

Me and Chris went to a pantomime last night (oh yes we did!). It was a special late night show and it didn't finish until 1 am. I could have done without such a late night, but it was very enjoyable. It was really weired leaving home at 10pm to go out for the evening.

I hope the car is going OK and not eating up too much of your money. I haven't owned by own car since 1993 and while I sometimes miss the convenience, I certainly don't miss the expense.

Have a good week.

Liz
~

I'm never bursting with vim and vitality- it's not a trait that I was blessed with. Especially not in the mornings, lol.

I find it's always the way that just after you hand over the dosh for the new computer, your old one starts working better than it ever has before...

Coool. I just booked tickets to see Queen + Paul Rogers in concert in March. Yey!

It's going really well! I filled up the tank today, andit cost me ~£27 :-S. Hopefully it'll last me for a while, though- Fiestas are supposed to be good in terms of fuel economy, and it doesn't have a huge engine.

And you

TK[2]

I'm not really a morning person either, but then nor am I a late night person.

So you've got a Fiesta? My very first car was a Fiesta, a Mark I, built in 1978 (were you even born then?) and already quite old by the time I bought in in 1987. It only had a 957 engine in it. It was a metallic gold colour with a black roof and my little brother (who was only 12 at the time) named it the Ford Wicked because that is what Delbert Wilkins (a Lenny Henry character) called his car.

£27 to fill up a Fiesta - eeek! I remember the days when £10 bought a full tank of fuel.

My old PC didn't work any better for having been cleared down - in fact it crashed while I was using it last Saturday afternoon and corrupted the disc I was using in the process . So, I shall have no qualms about hurling it into a skip when we go to the dump tomorow. I'm now hootooing via my new PC, complete with Pentium 4 processor and a rather sexy flat screen. I've had it since Tuesday and I'm still sussing out what it can do.

And on the subject of computers (, this is turning into a rather long post, isn't it?) - the offices where I work have been broken into twice this week and a large flat screen monitor was stolen on each occasion.

Won't it be weired to see Queen with a different lead singer? I saw the UK Music Hall of Fame show on TV where Queen performed with Paul Rogers and he was very good, but it didn't seem right without Freddie. Anyway, I hope you enjoy them - it's ages since I've seen a real live rock band.

Chat again soon.

Liz
~

I just have trouble getting to sleep... and then getting up again :-s

No, I wasn't born then. I wasn't even a hazy idea at that time- it would be another 4 years before I'd be on the scene. And even then, I was too young to drive. lol, aw My /very/ first car was about 4 years ago, and it was a J-reg Fiat Uno- a lawnmower with windows, lol. Bought it off my Uncle for £500, spent £1200 on insurance, spent around £500 on having it fixed over various occasions and then sold it after a year for £150.

It's a bigger fiesta than they used to be... and things are more expensive nowadays...

Oooooh, get you, little miss poshcomputeruser! I'm still awaiting delivey of my nice new flatscreen monitor andcordless mouse and keyboard

Oooh, :-s. They're a popular theft- item...

It will be very weird! But you're right- it won't be Queen. I'm just thinking of it as the ultimate tribute band. The only real rock band I've seen live was the Brian MNay band, lol. I'd like to see the Darkness at some point, though.

TK[1]

I'd like to see the Darkness too - isn't it about time they made a new album? I do hope they can keep up the momentum from 'Permission to Land'.

I intend to investigate the downloading of music (legally, of course) once I have got the hang of my new PC. I haven't played with it much this week. Sometimes, when I've been at a PC all day I don't always want to sit down at another one when I get home. I'm hootooing from work today - I haven't got much to do and Mrs Boss is 'on the piste', so it's nice and quiet in the office.

Hope your new job is still going OK.

Liz
~

eah- I've heard rumours about a new single coming out- not sure when, though. Hopefully it'll precede another decent album. It's about tme.

Ah, I do it illegally- I generally download a track to see if it's worth buying the album. Sort of a try before you buy idea. Computers aren't reliable enough yet to actually pay to download a file off the internet.

It's not so bad, but I've been ill all this week so it hasn't realy been that pleasant. I'm in bed at the mo, having a break from snoozing, trying to sleep off the worst of it before tomorrow.

TK[1]

I think I need Broadband before I can get into downloading from the net - my dial-up is much too slow. I have been playing about with media player, but I still can't get the sound quality where I want it Whatever I do with the graphic equalizer, the music still sounds hideously tinny.

I'm sorry to hear you have been poorly. I hope your feeling better now. There is an awful lot of fluey type germs around at this time of year.

Liz
~