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

Really? I've barely seen him around lately. Where has he been annoying you?


az

Loads of places! It is tiring that every posting starts with some bad-spirited comment about della and then descends into some rant or other, often having a go at everyone in the thread after taking comments and extrapolating their meaning to ludicrous extremes. We are all bigoted daily mail readers apparently.

Ach, I shouldn't whinge about him here. Sorry az, just letting off some steam.

Yeah, I had a lurk around and saw that thread. I know that he is under a fair bit of pressure in RL at the moment so perhaps he is also letting off some steam.

The constant Della-bashing is definitely beyond tiresome by now though.

Well, my bag is packed and the kitchen is clean and we're all set to pick up the car in the morning. Here is where we'll be staying tomorrow night:

http://www.andalucia.com/beaches/bolonia.htm




az

And here is where we will probably have lunch on Sunday:

http://www.andalucia.com/province/cadiz/conil/home.htm




az

Noggin has chickenpox!

Well, at least he has no nasty symptoms (other than the spots) but he will have to take some *very* expensive anti-viral medication for five days, which is recommended when adults get chickenpox.

Weird, eh?

Fathom, I'll tell you more about that internet biz by email, I think. Otherwise *everyone* will be doing it!


az

Poor Noggin - better get some calamine lotion to help with the itching

Might be a good idea to call your friend that came on the road trip with you and the friend that lent you the car (memory for names has gone) as he was probably infectious at the weekend and they may have caught it. Have you had it before? Or had a vaccination? You might want to think about moving your classes somewhere too

I would offer a but I didn't have it as a child and don't want to risk infection...

here an interesting article had thought adult version was called shingles ,which can be quite painfull so i hear, poor noggin perhaps
brought on by stress of long car ride

http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?objectid=1F5E8789-87F8-44A3-94A882C09AB49C2A&dsection=3

Oh dear, poor Noggin.

Adults usually get shingles because they have already had chickenpox as a child. Shingles is a reawakening of a dormant virus. To get chickenpox as an adult can be quite unpleasant I believe; not to mention inconvenient.

A3022525

We've just had our ADSL connection switched on and it's playing up (isn't technology wonderful?) but if it's working tonight I may get the chance to chat to you by e-mail. Broadband - yippee - if we ever get it to work properly. The ISP [helpdesk] suggested we should unplug the Sky decoder (from the phone line) but surely people who use broadband also have Sky and don't have to keep unplugging the Sky box? Then they wanted me to reinstall the modem and software and switch the filters around and unplug the phone. In short, try anything and see what happens. In the end I phoned BT and asked them to check the line; it seems to be working now so we'll see...

Get better soon Noggin.

F

Thanks F

Actually, from my my point of view it's not too bad, as I don't have any symptoms apart from the rash - but it does *look* a bit Just hope I haven't passed it on to az (or anyone else) as it's contagious before any symptoms show up.

Hope you can get your adsl problem sorted - as you say, "the wonders of modern technology". They rarely work for me either.

Noggin

Hi you two

My partner and I send our regards and sympathies. Watch the skin Nogs, and be prepared as it can turn very quickly.

Have you got your E111 form Nogs? If not contact us offline (the yahoo address) and we shall get the info for you.

One question. Is your local surgery part of the Spanish National Health Service? If not you may not be able to claim any refunds.

Itchy Blessings,
Matholwch /|\.

It turns out that my little circle of doctor friends/students have come to the rescue this time. One saw Noggin for the diagnosis and another has made it possible for him to get the medication (120 euros!) for free. But Noggin does have one of those forms and will pick up a few more in January.

Hey Math - will you be going to the meet in London?

Must drink now . . .


az

Hi Az

Not entirely sure about that trip to London. With kids it isn't always easy to plan that far ahead. Remind me closer to the time please.

Blessings,
Matholwch /|\.

hi Math,

Noggin and I really hope you can make it. We thought the winter meet would be easier for our friends with kids as the summer meet might interfere with family holiday plans.

Meanwhile, Noggin is definitely on the mend. And I have a class at home with my doctor/student Javier this evening (who'd first seen N on Monday at his surgery) and he will check out N's progress while he's here. Can you believe it - Noggin is getting doctor house calls!

This morning we went out on another shopping expedition - mostly for Noggin. Boy, it's so frustrating that HE can find great clothes here and I can't! It seems that men's clothes are typically offered in all-natural fabrics. This had been my main motive for going to the M&S in Gibraltar as it seems to be the only place that makes women's sweaters, etc in all wool or all cotton - and I just *hate* synthetic materials.

Also, since my other doctor/student Agustin arranged for N to get his medication free of charge it was like today he had an extra 120 euros to spend on clothes - bonus!



Fathom,

I'll send you an email shortly to explain this guy's Internet biz idea. It sounds very interesting.


az

Hi guys,



I'll look forward to your e-mail then az; if I ever get back online. We're still having problems with our ADSL connection and it's totally inconsistent so it's likely to be hard to fix. Mrs Fathom wants to go back to dial-up.

F

One thing that often happens with my adsl connection is that I have to sometimes uninstall and reinstall the modem. Bit of a pain in the butt, but after I have done this the connection works again. And any sort of thing can set it off. In fact, I have to keep my computer on 'stand-by', not ever shut it off, or else I have to re-install the modem everytime I start the beast up. Same thing happens after powercuts. Or well, sometimes it just happens.

What is the problem? Are you getting 'error' windows popping up when you try to connect? Or do the problems happen after you are connected? If they are the former then I suggest the 'un-install, re-install' thing. Takes about five minutes.

Have just sent you an email with a link to this guy's webpage.


az

Got the e-mail, thanks, and we appear to be back on-line again. The problem seems to be a dodgy phone connection so I'll see how it goes. I might have to replace the extension line or socket if it keeps happening. It's working for now though.

Strange thing is if we stay connected it seems to carry on working but if we turn the computer off it won't reconnect - a bit like your problem I think, but this time I didn't have to reinstall the software, I just fiddled about with the connectors. The problem with intermittent and seemingly random faults is that they can be hard to track down.

F

Morning everyone! ?

How was the weekend? Mine was quite relaxing compared to the previous one. And we spent a lovely day out and about yesterday doing touristy stuff with my friend Lisa for about eight hours. Noggin *finally* saw the inside of the cathedral and walked up the Giralda tower (seen here):

http://public.fotki.com/azahar/sevilla/vista_catedral.html

Today we are going to book our tickets for the trip to London.




az

Morning!

thanks.

We've got a 'man' coming this morning to check our ADSL connection. I eventually persuaded the helpdesk at our ISP to have the line checked. The problem is - if he doesn't find anything wrong with out connection he can charge us for the call out. We'll have to see what he says.

My wife and I had a nice day out on Saturday; it was sunny, albeit cold, all day and we went out to take some photos. We had a pleasant pub lunch and a wander about in the fresh air. Yesterday we went to look at TVs and DVD recorders to see what's available and try to decide if we should buy one yet. All the different DVD formats are a bit confusing so we might wait a bit to see what the market settles on. We don't want to end up with the DVD equivalent of Betamax.

F

morning.

How is Noggin now? Itching a lot or not too bad?

J and I spent most of the weekend tidying the garden for the winter, planting some new bulbs and attemting to dig up a tree stump. I want to plant a new tree in the garden so that we can be screened from next door. There used to be a large tree doing this job but it was damaged in a storm a few years ago and the then owner had it chopped down. She didn't get rid of the stump though, and after this weekend's exertions I understand why! After nearly two days of digging and sawing it now wobbles if you run into it - I think we might need dynamite. I hope the weather holds during the week, J is at home so will keep trying to shift it. Would ideally like to get a new tree in before december.

*can feel the stump laughing at me from its secure position in the garden*

k