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

Yes, it is a fortnightly collection - they do the rubbish one week and recycling the next, so there'll be another 2 weeks' worth of rubbish for them to collect next time. Our bins are normally sheltered by our houses except for when we have to put them out on the pavement for collection when they're exposed more then.

The weather's been extremely changeable here. We've had warm days with spells of hail. I went out for a run on Saturday with a work friend for my permitted socially-distanced exercise (the only person I've seen socially outside my family). We did a 13.1 mile half-marathon distanced run, which is my longest ever outside an organised event, though the route we went was extremely muddy and we got a bit lost when we were supposed to be circumnavigating a forest and ended up on a golf course

Good news that you've found your Christmas card list notebook Make sure you don't put it somewhere you immediately lose it now that you knew briefly where it was.

Hope you had a good weekend, with Mothering Sunday yesterday.

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“warm days with spells of hail" - yes - perfect way of putting it!

Glad you got to go out for a proper good run That is quite the difference between a forest and a golf course, though I can imagine you would have got a telling off if the golf club had been open, but I hope you managed to find your way out with no trouble.

Yes, I think I shall put my Christmas card notebook with my Christmas cards left over from 2020 and that should be fine

I did have a good weekend. The supermarket was busy like a bank holiday again, and they were low on bread, canned food and bouquets of flowers but they had managed to stock up on the nice rice Mother's Day was a bit random, that mum and I just went birdwatching and sat in the car so we were sheltered from the showers, but mum really appreciated the company so that was good

Today's motto was 'biros biros everywhere, but not a drop of ink' - the two pens I brought with me from work this time last year both ran out while I was taking notes during a meeting, and then my propelling pencil ran out as well! Luckily I have more from A87934044 the merchandise I got.

With the run the route on the map was for us to go through the first gate we pass into the forest, around a loop to the right and out the second gate - but in real life there wasn't a first gate. So we went in the first gate we passed which was really the second gate, expected to go right for the way back - but we were running out the way back - and so ended up on the golf course. But after scrambling over hedges and fences we managed to find our way back in the end...

Saturday is going to be my son's birthday and he's going to be a teenager. So we ordered some things for him from Argos - and as we ordered things from Argos including some colouring pencils for me (they were £22 on Amazon or £10 from Argos along with colouring crayons and a colouring book which I've given to my daughter). I bought 24 different coloured colouring pencils, including:
Extra light almond
Light almond
Very light almond
Light medium almond
Medium almond
Deep almond
Medium deep almond
Very deep almond
Extra deep almond
Deepest almond

And a similar pattern with 'golden' and 'rose'.
I've never drawn an almond...

As you know I like drawing cartoons but 'cos I'm drawing with biros on paper, all my characters so far are white. Which as someone dedicated to diversity - or basically trying to understand and treat people fairly in the way you'd want to be treated were I in their shoes - I'm aware this isn't really acceptable in today's society, but to be honest I have limited talent that doesn't stretch to my ideals... Still, by putting my money where my mouth is I thought I can at least try. I'm not convinced that colouring pencils can convincingly and sensitively portray skin colour, but I can try to do the best I can with what I've got.

I hope you've not been drinking the biros
I definitely miss their being a stationery cupboard. And all the notepads and other bits on my desk that I've not seen for almost a year.

Glad to hear you enjoyed Mothering Sunday despite the rain and managed to spend time together.

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Aah, that is tricky when real life doesn't look like the map - very easy to get lost indeed... Glad you were able to scramble your way out!

Wow, that is that your son is becoming a teenager! I hope he has a good birthday Did you manage to get a good collection of Red Noses? I haven't seen any this year, although I have been looking.

That is a bargain you got from Argos! Fascinating colours, though. "I've never drawn an almond..." Coloured pencils can be quite sophisticated (this artist was advertised in my RSPB magazine http://school.colinbradleyart.com/courses/kitten-coloured-pencil ) but yes, art is challenging to match the physical skill with the mental picture... Tricky with white paper, yes, that it easily leads to people being depicted as 'white by default'. Good luck with your almonds and roses.

Yes, fascinating that it is almost exactly a year since I last saw my desk, too... The evenings are getting lighter again, and it is currently sunny so I am

We ordered an initial set of 4 red noses when they were first released but the material they're made out of this year is very cheap and feels like packaging. Instead of being spherical there is also a prominent ridge where the front half is joined to the back half, so the children were disappointed and in the end decided they weren't interested in collecting these ones. We did get the set of cuddly creatures inspired by the designs instead.

I've not got any other news at the moment I'm afraid, though. I am trying to ensure I get out every day for a spot of exercise.

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Ah, that is disappointing about the red noses - I heard they were not being made of plastic this year, but didn't realise the replacement wasn't even spherical... I see online that the soft toys look much better indeed - the snail is particularly cute!

Glad you're getting out and about I had a bit of drama yesterday, that I was just minding my own business when a dog the size of a appeared from nowhere and started galloping towards me In fright, I started growling at it, and luckily a neighbour heard me and shooed the dog away before it knocked me over... I went for my walk in the opposite direction this evening, and encountered no dogs, thankfully Fascinating, though - I hadn't seen my neighbour for at least 3 months, but we just happened to meet while walking on Monday and then met again on Wednesday! Very fortunate, though - good to know we neighbours are looking out for each other.

Lunchtime was an illusion today, but I made progress on three projects that all need to be finished by the end of the month so it was satisfying.

I hope you all had a good weekend. Good to see the photos of your son’s birthday on

I went out at time again on Friday - there was a bit of a fight so I had to go on the road to get round them, but luckily both were on leads so I wasn’t too worried.

Much better at the weekend, that the only animals I saw were birds . I only added two birds to my list, but they were good ones. I heard the Chiffchaffs singing for ages before I spotted one. I’d not seen a Bittern before and luckily someone pointed it out to me as it was very well camouflaged in the reeds.

I found another little nature reserve, too - not the best for me, because I could only get to one small bit and the rest was down some steps, but it was interesting to see what is there, hidden away behind some houses.

I had a run after me and jump up on me when I went for a run last week - and that was just along the same path (but opposite end) of where I'd been knocked over by a small dog that managed to catch me off balance. In the end I ran a total of 43 miles last week which helped me lose 3 1/2 pounds, after having maintained more or less the same weight from September onwards and then putting a little on over Christmas. But there's no marathon now so less pressure to have lost the remaining 2 stone I'm over by.

I now have a blister on my so I'm torn between going for runs and having to wait for it to heal (no foot pun intended). I've been cycling instead to try and plan some more varied routes, but it isn't the same.

I've not spotted a Bittern that I know of - been up close to a pheasant and deer in the last week though. I have also been to Bitterne about ten days ago where I've gone for socially-distanced runs with a work colleague.

Sorry to hear you didn't have full access to the nature reserve but it still benefits nature and is helpful to know what is there for future - you never know, the access may improve in the future.

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Glad you were OK this time when the jumped up at you - that's true indeed, that it is possible for a dog to knock me over accidentally, so I'm right to be wary, even though the owners look at me as if I'm weird for not liking their dogs as much as they do...

Well done for a good week of running Sorry to hear about the blister, though - I hope it soon heals so you can get back to running comfortably. Glad the exercise has had some impact already. This might be a useful calculation for you to do http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/how_many_calories_do_you_need - I find it helpful myself.

Yes, tricky to spot Bitterns, but that is coincidental that you have been to Bitterne instead

Yes, the access to that nature reserve may well improve in future - the other end of the footpath is the one where there is a lump of metal that I can't squeeze past, but I reported that to the Council, so they will be able to do something about it at some point.

The good news is that I finally got my wheelchair footplates sorted out - the new one is a single footplate and the locking mechanism is metal on metal, so it should be much more robust

On this occasion the jumped up at my back after I'd passed it, which was a surprise as I didn't see it coming.

That link doesn't work on IE but I copied and pasted and it worked on Chrome
I've recently been using Strava to record when I've been out and about running and riding and that seems to imply that a ten mile run burns over 2,000 calories yet the same distance cycling is only 200. Hopefully I'll get to run with a friend tomorrow, if the weather is a bit less precipitous than today...

That is great news that they've finally sorted out the footplates which is metal on metal, so touch wood (or metal) it shouldn't wear out. Is it inconvenient having a single footplate rather than two? Does it still fold, say backwards rather than sideways?

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Yikes, that is scary about the *shudder* - glad you were OK.

That's strange about the link - I wonder if that is javascript, too Hmm - that does seem to be a weirdly large difference between running and cycling - looks like 1000 calories for the run would be more like it...

The single footplate is taking some getting used to, but it's not too bad. It does flip up sideways and it is actually easier to move than the previous plastic footplates as they had very stiff hinges. I'm still working on my technique for moving my legs out of the way while flipping it up, though. So much better not to have to worry about the footplates snapping out of the sockets - the locking mechanism makes the chair feel much stronger

The weather has been rather changeable this weekend - I hope you managed to get out for a good run. I did drive-in birdwatching again, and it was fascinating to watch geese hovering like kites as they tried to fly in the wind

I enjoyed a good run on Saturdy with my friend, we ran 15 miles and bumped into 4 people we knew from work, so it was almost a Solent Saturday and this time ran with my friend's ex's . This time we didn't get lost and actually followed the planned route and didn't end up wading through rivers or crossing golf courses and gardens...

The weather was good for running, it stayed dry and though the breeze was a bit cold it wasn't too blowy. Glad you managed to enjoy the drive-in birdwatching despite the wind

I think Strava bases the calorie burn based on that I put my height as 5'10" and weight at 15 stone, which I'm a bit under now but the more you weigh the more calories you burn.

Is it a thick footplate or quite narrow? As with all things I imagine it'll take a bit of getting used to but if it easy to operate and feels stronger and more secure that can only be a good thing

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Excellent - glad you got to have a good social run Glad you also encountered a in controlled circumstances and didn't get lost

Glad the weather was good for running, and you didn't have to fight against the wind The weather yesterday was surprisingly warm. For some reason I decided I would go out for my walk without my camera, so of course I encountered a bird at the top of a tree singing loudly and I couldn't tell what it was. By some luck, the bird was still there after I ran home, grabbed the camera and ran back, so I got great photos and saw it was a Song Thrush - that was a pleasing addition to my 2021 bird list That was plenty of exercise for me, as well! Fascinating that two parkruns would be the equivalent of more calories than I consume in a day, but I can see that makes sense that it takes effort to move every cell around, and each cell needs fuel for the effort

The footplate is thinner in the vertical dimension ( __ vs == ), but it is the same depth as my foot size (## vs ==) whereas the old footplates were only large enough for part of my shoe to fit on so they easily flipped up past my shins. Practice helps, though

The weather looks to be warm again today - the sun is shining, and there are just some hazy clouds around

It's a bit cloudy today, but still fine. Tomorrow's my last day at work for a while as I've next week off for Easter - I've already bought the Simnel for this week and am looking forward to eating again, as well as consuming biscuits, an occasional and drinking fizzy . Though hopefully in moderation...

Do you have plans for the Easter weekend? Been meeting in gardens or parks with five others or any of the other things we're allowed to do now? I can't say the relaxation of the rules have made any difference to my life or are likely to, although I'm allowed to go on a socially-distanced club run tomorrow.

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Much colder weather today, but pleasant for my lunchtime walk

Glad you got some Simnel Cake - I saw a recipe in a magazine this week and wondered if you would be able to buy one

No, I haven’t done anything different since the change of rules - I did speak to my neighbour as I found a rather large trying to get into my house so she moved it for me, but haven’t seen more than one person at a time yet. Glad you’re able to go on a club run

I don’t have any particular plans for the weekend, but I’ll perhaps be able to go a bit further afield to see some birds. I hope you all have a good week, and enjoy your cake

I was able to get a Simnel Cake from M&S, which is where I've bought one for the last few years - it was one of the first things I did during lockdown last year - ah, happy memories

Hope you enjoy your Easter if I don't speak to you between now and then. Take care and stay safe my friend.

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Excellent

Thank you my friend, and same to you

I hope you had a good Easter weekend. I did indeed. I met my sister, and it was excellent to catch up as it has been months since we last met in person. I also went to A87874573 and A87875987 and saw a pleasing number of different species of birds

Mixed weather, though - Friday was sunny and warm and today was sunny and cold with spells of snow and hail! Luckily it was blue skies while I was outside, so my photos turned out quite well, and I didn't get wet I hope you had good weather for getting out and about

I hope you enjoy the rest of your Easter week, too, and find some good things to do while you're not 'at work' See you around

It's been an uneventful Easter weekend where we didn't really go out - family still not happy about the outside world and just want to stay indoors, though we did manage a very short walk. I've enjoyed a bit of , some biscuits and some fizzy drink but have decided to continue giving up .

Iv'e been doing a lot of drawing, though. The next book is now on Lulu and so I'm waiting for the draft to arrive for me to proof-read before it is announced on sale - the 100-page 'Legacy of Eve Eel' which starts when the two girls meet the lawyers. Though the story continues beyond the 100 pages and I'm still drawing it now.

They've now got pages for each author (though I wish their text editor let you put in line breaks): http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/matthewsprack

Hope to get out and about later in the week though. And I've been going out for bike rides each day, which is something.

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Glad you've been getting out and about for bike rides. Sorry to hear your family are still struggling with the outside world, though I hope things improve as the weather improves I was lucky with my walk yesterday - went out in the sunshine, and then just a few minutes after I got back the sky turned dark and then there was hail and snow! Dull and cold today, but dry so far.

Thanks for mentioning Lulu have brought the author spotlights back - I updated h2g2's yesterday http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/h2g242 Not as good as the old spotlight, though, indeed - very annoying that they have taken the line breaks away, and the layout of the page is less clear - but at least we again have one page with all the books on. Your books make a very good-looking collection all together

Ah! I had a look for a Lulu spotlight page for h2g2 but didn't realise I had to try h2g242 and that explains why h2g2 on its own didn't bring up anything... Shame that they dislike line breaks, it makes things so much easier particularly when all I want to do is list the books as:
1.) Running Commentary
2.) What the Dinosaur
6-8.) Livin' La Vida Lockdown
9.) Legacy of Eve Eeel
(With 3-5 still unfinished and not quite up to 50 pages - I think from now on I'll try to avoid having books shorter than that if I can help it.) I do quite like the simple, uniform look of them all so that you can see they all belong together ('Bank Wars' is onsale from a direct link only).

The local running club are doing runs again now - though they are only allowed a maximum of five people per coach, so a strict booking system is in place. I booked one session last week and assumed people would be booking a week at a time, but now it appears every slot this month has been booked in advance so I'm not sure when I'll be able to go again.

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