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

Looks like yer basic XML Parsing Error day. Or is it just happening to me?

Just got back from buying a bit of cotton lace. Am going to make myself a new WARM flannelette nightdress which will be amazingly unsexy so I thought a bit of lace might at least make it look somewhat feminine.

Had a chat with my sister on msn this morning. She told me that today in Winnipeg (Winterpeg) Canada it is going to be -53º with the windchill factor (without the wind it is *only* going to be -35º, but really, nobody lives in a vacuum, hence, the windchill factor).

One of the many many reasons I no longer live in Canada.

How are you today?

az

Hi,

Bit busy today so a bit late answering this. I've only had time to pop in and out on Hootoo. I've had some error messages too which haven't helped in the odd spare moments that I've been on here.

I'm OK thanks. No snow today; most of it in town has melted leaving lumps of black slush in odd corners. The weather forecasts suggest a bit of a thaw - temperatures up to a searing 3ºC. I've just pinched your degree (º) symbol since I can't find one on my keyboard and I'm doing this directly into the message board rather than on Word. How are you today?

I won't comment on your nightwear if that's OK.

My wife and I went to Toronto once. We had lunch at the top of the CN Tower with a magnificent view of the fog. The temperature wasn't quite that low though. Nice city but we weren't there long enough to see much of it.

F

You normally write your postings on Word? I always write them right here on the message thingy. The º on my keyboard is upper left hand corner.

Oops, didn't realise that mentioning a baggy flannel nightgown was somehow risqué and would make you blush Really, it's lucky I no longer live with people as the material is white and others might be tempted to show movies on it . . .

I've only been to the top of the CN Tower once. It was a very clear night so quite pretty.

Must sleep now.

azzzzzz

Morning all, the snows all gone here in the North East and we're ready for rather wet weather to come.

"After a week of snow ice, there'll be floods low and nice"
Micheal Fish

Morning az,



Actually, no, I usually write my messages in the message pad but if I need unusual symbols I would look in Word for them. The upper left key on my keyboard only does this: ` and this ¬ but no º which I've had to borrow from you again.

What a weird concept: 'now showing on azahar screen one; The Sound of Music' Could be worse; could be Easy Rider.

As the Admiral says; all the snow has melted away. Just dull, damp and cold. Still, the daffodils are poking their little heads through so there's hope yet for the spring.

F

hi Fathom,

Easy Rider??? Yeah well, built for comfort, not for speed, baby.

Top left hand side of my keyboard does º ª and \. And being a Spanish keyboard I can also do ¿ ¡ and ñ. And also €. But there is no symbol for the pound (as in your money) and I don't know where to find it. When would one ever use \ ?

az

Backslash \ is used in computer stuff but very rarely now we have Windows. I've got a € and a £ as well as a $. On my keyboard Alt Gr and 4 gives € so maybe on yours it will give a £. There's no purpose in English for an inverted ? or ! but they look really cool.

Holding down Alt and typing a number from 1 to 256 into the number pad (not the numbers on the top row) produces a lot of strange characters. I used to have a list of these but I can't find it now.
Eg.
Alt 123: {
Alt 124: |
Alt 210: Ê
Alt 220: _
Alt 230: µ

etc. If you were sufficiently patient you could compile a list. The higher the number the stranger the character, on the whole.

☺☻♥♦♣♠•◘○

F

And some of them don't translate into Hootoo!

F

excuse me, just 'redecorating' . . .

for your collection:

U24609

Cool.

Where did you find that? A researcher who appears to have never made a post? I find them on old conversations but to do that they have to have at least posted something.

I'm impressed.

Thank you.

F

Gosh, busy again today.

How's things with you? Did you say you were decorating?

Rain all weekend here. The patio's more of a promenade; we're waiting for ducks and swans to move in. I was thinking of building an ark - at least for me, my wife and the car. I haven't the resources to single-handedly build a 30 thousand tonne boat (but then who has?) and the local timber merchant doesn't stock gopher wood. I'm not sure that MDF would do the job.

You notice how not even the most fundamentalist Christian tries to support the flood myth as fact?

Oops, not the place for that discussion.

At least the reservoirs should fill up. A couple of warm days here and they impose a hosepipe ban. If we've had a dryish winter we get drought warnings all summer so hopefully the recent rain will offset some of the dry weather we had last year. Some areas have a serious flood risk so I hope it isn't as bad as recent years for them. It must be distressing watching your home fill with filthy water every few years. No problem here, even if the garden is a bit waterlogged and rice looks like a better option than grass.

F

hola,

I was 'redecorating' my personal page by moving up other conversations to get rid of the troll ones that got put there the other day

I had a very quiet weekend. Must get more energy happening.

az

Hi again, az.



We were watching something on TV yesterday about buying a holiday home in Spain. The couple in the show were shown a nice villa with a garden. The lawn looked like grass but they were told it was 'mouse ears'; presumably some type of low shrub. Do you happen to know what it is and if it might survive in the UK? Apparently it never needs mowing. I'd be interested to know about it even if it won't live over here. Why can't I grow grass that never needs mowing? It's a conspiracy that's what it is: a conspiracy by Flymo, Atco and other mower manufacturers.

How are you today then? How's the putty tats? Lua's hip still OK? Did you have a nice weekend?

F

simulpost, eh?

Of course now I'm not sure whether to wait until you write again or if I should write again and risk another simulpost. Oh, the stress of it all.

No, never heard of 'mouse ears'. Sounds cute though. A type of clover perhaps?

Yes, all los gatitos are fine. Lua is happily perched on my legs right now (my usual computer posture is legs up on footstool and keyboard on lap). Her hip seems to be holding out just fine.

Gosh I feel boring today . . .

az

Morning az,



I think an 18 hour gap is safe. Busy today - off to lunch now - catch you later.

F

18 hour gap?

az

Although I didn't do it deliberately - I went home soon after I posted that message yesterday - leaving an 18 hour gap before posting again should reduce the risk of another simulpost.

From what I saw on the TV programme it did look a bit like clover but with slightly bigger leaves. It made for a very nice lawn, anyway.

I'm glad Lua is OK now. Pets are great but if they're not well it can be a bit stressful. It's not always easy to see what's wrong and then you're never sure if they understand that what you're doing to them is in their own interests. Especially if it involves unpleasant medicine or one of those lampshade collars to stop them licking a wound.

F

Busy day today - six classes! Well, maybe that doesn't sound like a lot, but six classes in a day is about my personal limit. More than that and I go semi-brain-dead even before I start. Because although it is a relatively low-stress job it is quite intense.

Having said that, I actually only have one day a week with six classes. The rest have four or five classes. No, not quite enough to live on. Hence, I am constantly coming up with new ideas to make a decent living. I'd better hurry up - I'm going to have to retire in another twenty years!

Meanwhile it was 22º and very sunny today.

az