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

Yes, it is sad - birdwatching as a hobby does have a reputation for being unfriendly, but I have previously found nature reserves to be very welcoming, where people will mention sightings and help others to see the birds rather than blocking the view for everyone else. Luckily there are still many friendly people around, but it is definitely disappointing that the unfriendly people seem to be increasing in number this last few weeks...

'More confusing than annoying' is a good way to put it - I wonder sometimes if that kind of behaviour can be related to Theory X and Theory Y - Theory X is that people don't want to work, so have to be cajoled or bullied into it, whereas Theory Y is that people do want to work, and just need to be given the tools to get on with it.

Glad you and weren't disturbed too much by the fireworks.

Wow, that is challenging in the office with two teams sharing the same desks... Hopefully there is space for everyone who wants some, and other people will have to go elsewhere Scary about the filing cabinet Glad nobody was nearby, as that could be nasty...

The midgy fly issue in my house has not been resolved - one sat on the computer screen yesterday, and two are sitting next to me just now (but at least they are not buzzing in my ear). I read in the local news that it has been a bumper year for midgies, which is good for the birds - there are special channels that have been dug to try to keep the midgies on the marshes away from the towns and villages, but I suspect the channels flooded in all the rain, which would help to explain why some are in my house. The houseplant fly issue is now fine, though

I hadn't realised that it was a particularly unfriendly hobby - I can imagine that it involves people wanting to get away from the hubbub and hustle and bustle of being surrounded by busy life, but there's a world of difference between being solitary and being rude. I still hope that the unfriendly ones are outnumbered by those who are helpful.

I don't think this particular person falls into the bullying people to work category, as he isn't a line manager and we don't really have an awful lot of work overlapping, on the whole we get on with completely separate workloads. He has always been someone who likes to be slightly patronising with everyone, which I previously put down to 'patronising but means well � mostly harmless' and largely ignored that, but now he seems to be going out of his way to try and put me down or contradict me at any opportunity, which makes no sense.
I can only put it down to low self-esteem meaning that only by putting others down does he make himself feel big. (Don't tell anyone but he appears as 'Sandy' in 5, where his habit of saying, 'you won't know this, but�' and then stating something obvious is referenced).

Sorry to hear that there is still an issue with midgies - perhaps you need after all. Good for the birds indeed - my dad is convinced that this year is going to be a long, cold winter.

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Yes, the RSPB Magazine has had features about it, that there can be racism and sexism in birding groups in addition to the general hobby challenges of whether people do the hobby in the 'right' way for that particular group... However, the RSPB is keen that the hobby should be open to everyone - I'm grateful for the accessibility considerations at reserves, as well as volunteers' general efforts to welcome people, so the unfriendly people are still outnumbered, yes.

Ah, 'legs bend in the middle'... Sorry you're still struggling with that guy Confusing indeed - if he doesn't like you and doesn't have to work with you, he could just stay out of your way Highly possible that he's latched on to you as a way to boost his own ego Good luck with it all

Good point that any in the house will be feasting if the midgies aren't careful... I'll have to watch out for that, as I don't want the spiders growing too big like in 2020 A87966175

Tricky to forecast the weather indeed - we are at a high peak of solar activity, so a few bits of the Aurora Borealis have been reaching the Wirral this week , but that then means more warmth... I wasn't lucky on Monday, as it was sunny but as soon as I went outside for a run the rain started. I didn't stay out long, but as soon as I came back inside again, the sun came out Today was much better - raining when I was inside, and bright when I was outside I hope you've been having reasonable weather for getting out and about

People are definitely very confusing, alas... I would have thought that the more people are interested in conservation and ornithology, the better the facilities and greater opportunities - plus better preservation. So it is in everyone's interest to be friendly and welcoming.

Thinking about it, I may remove the two pages which 'Sandy' appears on from future versions of 5. That wasn't the first page that character appeared on, and if those pages are removed it makes it an even 50 pages, plus I can change the order so that what is now page 19 will be page 22... I write it here to remind me, as I've been saying that's what I'll do for ages and still haven't done it. So the version you have will be a limited edition of 2 - but any potential sequel to 5 will probably contain 2 pages you've already seen. That means I've done 12 pages towards it already
Of course there is a degree of hypocrisy in being inspired by someone unpleasant in a comic and then complaining that they are putting me down to boast their ego. I would argue that I am not doing it to be unpleasant directly to them or to be a bully, but instead I've been inspired by their behaviour and the new, fictional character doesn't even share their name, only some of their behaviours and attitudes. Oh well, two wrongs don't make a right, but three rights make a left.

Ooh, did you get to see the Auroa Borealis? I've not been out and about too much. I suspect it is a CC6 this weekend, so I'll be out then.

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Yes indeed the hobby should be focused on the birds and wildlife, not people's egos about competing with fellow birders to get the 'best' photographs of rare birds etc, but that's not always the case alas indeed

I couldn't find the other page, but am probably not looking for what I think I'm looking for. Yes, the comedy is to do with power imbalances, so making fun of the behaviours as you experience them is not the same as the behaviours. The legwork scene comes across to me as very mild satire, anyway, as it is a cleverly exaggerated example

Yes, I was pleased with catching glimpses of the Aurora Borealis! I put something in The Post A88038912 and then a few nights later I saw the aurora again, but more of a general glow than anything particular. Still impressive, though

I'm really sorry - I'd seen that and forgotten! I do apologise.

And while I'm apologising, sorry if I caused confusion regarding that character. The page in which he was introduced was drawn but not included in 5. As the strike resulted in my drawing 9 work-related pages in a short space of time, I'm unexpectedly far more likely to have another work-themed book than I'd originally intended. Who knows, the strike might make a good ending for the sequel?

Sadly today at work was not a good day as we had a meeting in which that person bullied my line manager non-stop. I've raised it as an issue with my the office manager who said he would mention it in a discussion with my line manager.

Anyway, in good news I finished off the Christmas music entry

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Not a problem - glad you saw it - funny how things are connected eg just by talking about the weather!

Aha, thank you for the additional explanation about the book Glad another book is taking shape. Colleagues can certainly provide inspiration... I'm fortunate that, although my team has expanded in the previous year thanks to absorbing a couple of other teams, everyone gets on well. Maybe a couple of people can be a bit annoying to a couple of other people when they ask lots of questions, but sometimes the questions are things that everyone in the team appreciates answers to, so they can't argue with that.

Sorry the issues with your colleague came to a head yesterday, but at least that meant problems could be raised with managers. Hopefully the situation can be improved (although it may get worse before it gets better). Good luck with it all

Excellent news about the Christmas Entry I'll do my best to keep it on the move in the hope that it is ready in time Coincidentally I submitted an Entry yesterday, too - thanks for your helpful readthrough

I hope you all have a good weekend The weather doesn't look good for birdwatching on Sunday, so I'll think about somewhere indoors to go to, I think

Yep, I accidentally find myself having written about a quarter of the next work-themed - although when I'll write the remaining 75% is anyone's guess. At the moment at least I'm concentrating on the enjoyable spin-off I've been doing as I'd not had any central theme to the other, main story after having completed 21 pages. Oh well, doodling is a flexible hobby.

How was your weekend in the end? Was the weather as poor as expected?
Here the weather was still wet so the local parkrun was cancelled, but I did manage to get a lift to Edenbrook, which is the newest parkrun in Hampshire and the last one I had to do to complete the county - so I can now regain my Champshire status. I'd better think about updating the parkrun entry too. And start the next Beatles one - after finishing subbing the auction one.

I saw a cormorant this morning while cycling along the river to work - I just thought I'd mention it.

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Yes, doodling is flexible - good to have a few different strands to work on as the inspiration takes you

The weather wasn't good on Sunday, but mum and I did go birdwatching - we used the car as a hide so we didn't get wet No new species for my list, but the Marsh Harriers put on an impressive display Just right for a day of reflection

I wouldn't have been able to go to Burton Mere if I had wanted to, I don't think - there was an announcement on that they weren't able to admit any more visitors on Saturday because a rare bird had been seen - so many twitchers turned up the car park was full all day...

On Saturday I had a goodly charity shopping session - the CDs have been moved to a lower shelf, so I was able to put different albums by the same artistes together, to help people who are looking to build their collections I found some goodies for myself, too - Born on a Pirate Ship, which I see you have in your collection, so that will be interesting for me to listen to when I receive it at Christmas, and some random for my sister

Sorry your local parkrun was cancelled, but glad that meant you could get to a new one instead Congratulations on regaining Champshire Status

Excellent that you saw a cormorant I didn't see many birds yesterday, except for the odd one zooming past while being blown around by the wind. Luckily there wasn't much rain associated with Storm Debi, but it was certainly windy. I battened down the hatches, so all seems fine and then I went out for a run in the evening instead when the wind had eased off (weirdly warm).

Yep, I'm getting in the swing of doodling again just in time to pause once more and write a crossword for a bit instead.

Glad to hear the poor weather didn't stop you from doing what you enjoy, and you managed to 'hide' in the car in more ways than one It is good to have days of reflection. The weather forecast is for more and more rain, so unlikely for our local parkrun course to dry out, and annoyingly the railway's completely closed on Saturday for line repairs, so I won't be able to head somewhere new unless someone I know offers a lift. I don't trust rail replacement

Ah, so you've been treating yourself to Christmas presents in anticipation of the big day? Excellent idea! I must admit that this week I bought the soundtrack for 'Santa Claus: The Movie' on vinyl so I'll be looking forward to hearing that next month.
Have you heard much Barenaked Ladies before?

Yesterday was the annual silent film and this year's was 'The Mark of Zorro' (1920) which I highly recommend. This was a film that inspired the creation of 'Batman' but has lots of humour and acrobatics.

Today is my wife's birthday but sadly she is ill, so I've taken the day off to look after her. I've managed to sneak onto h2g2 now and then when she's been snoozing.

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Aha - yes, the crossword is an important project

Yes, yesterday was pleasant for getting out and about, but I see more rain is forecast later today and on Saturday Annoying about the trains indeed - I hope you can find somewhere to run

I haven't heard much Barenaked Ladies before, no - I pretty much only know them for Big Bang Theory, but I do like that

Impressive that you got to see The Mark of Zorro Glad it was fun! Sounds like I would enjoy it indeed if I can find it somewhen

Sorry your wife was ill on her birthday - typical... I hope she's feeling better today

I'm in the midst of writing the crossword now - which largely involves staring at the screen and wishing boxes were one to the left or right so that the word I want would fit, and ending up with something bizarre instead and thinking, 'Why isn't 'Glart' a legitimate word?'

I'm hopeful I'll get a lift to Havant tomorrow for parkrun - it's a course I've done before, but it'll count while the local one's cancelled. Hopefully it'll either dry out or next week the trains will be running again.

My wife's been off all week but at least she's now been able to eat a slice of her birthday , though I think it'll be another week at home.

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'Why isn't 'Glart' a legitimate word?' -

Yes, not bad to do a parkrun you've done before when only a few are open anyway - I hope you had a good run

Sorry your wife is still not well, but glad was OK

There was a large police presence at the supermarket, including a police car parked in a disabled bay, but it turned out someone had died in one of the neighbouring flats and the police had to make sure there were no suspicious circumstances On the positive side, mum and I met a few people we know (including one chap who remembers me from when I was a dahlia nerd in my teenage years ), so we had a good chat as we went around, and the shelves were well stocked up so it was a successful trip

A good day yesterday, too, as my sister visited. My sister opened a bottle for me that I hadn't been able to open even with my rubbery grip tool and in return I was helpful with her Christmas shopping mission at the garden centre, as she said what she wanted and I searched for options for her to consider

The good news is that my wife's finally feeling much better and so is back at work today, thanks for asking. Sadly if you work with infants, you are constantly getting sneezed on by children who do not practice hand hygiene at all, so illness is a part of the job.

Sorry to hear that you had an unexpected encounter on the way to the supermarket, but good to hear it all worked out and you and your sister had a good weekend overall.

This week I returned to Havant for parkrun, which was my friend's NENDY (nearest event not done yet) and he was kind enough to give me a lift. At the way back we stopped at the church as he wanted to learn how to cook bacon as part of next week's coffee rota (bacon sandwiches are being offered to the Saturday coffee mornings in order to fundraise for the church's replacement heating system - I dread to think how much bacon is needed to replace a large church's radiators for quite a fair-sized complex) and while I was waiting I met someone who had been to the craft shop to pick up craft paper and talked me through a spot of origami, so that was a good morning.

I successfully finished writing the crossword , so the next step is writing the list of people to send cards to. That involves working out and trying to remember who has moved house as well as who is now in a new relationship, who is no longer in a relationship, who has married and changed names, had babies, names of previous babies and sadly who is no longer with us.

I'll soon be helping out another team for a week or two, which I'm quite looking forward to. That raises the question, if you are seconded when on secondment, does it become a thirdment or secondment squared?

Today at nammettime I went to the Oxfam music shop, where I saw that they had a copy of the vinyl single of 'Happy Xmas (War is Over)', so of course I had to buy it. But then it looked lonely and sad that it would be leaving all its friends and companions, so I had to get some more singles to keep it company... I also asked the person behind the counter if I could swap the sleeve, as there was a Decca single in a Parlophone sleeve while another record I wanted to purchase was a Parlophone disc but in a plain card sleeve. So I was delighted to restore those. Later on I'll be able to add them to my spreadsheet - ah, the simple joys in life.

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Glad your wife is feeling better. Yes, 'Fresher's Flu' is spready enough for uni staff, but at least students can make an effort to contain their sneezes, whereas I can imagine young children find things more difficult (I was dubbed 'Sasha the red nosed ' when I was at school as I caught a cold every month, but I hope I didn't give too many of them to the teachers ). Sounds like there is something going round this week - two of my colleagues are off work ill today as their children were ill overnight

That's good that you got to accompany your friend to a NENDY Also good that there was craft and education Yes, I can imagine a fair bit of bacon will be needed for all those radiators

Yes, I must start preparing my list of people to write cards to, too

"if you are seconded when on secondment, does it become a thirdment or secondment squared?" - both are excellent options It is probably 'thirdment' but I do like the idea of 'secondment squared'

That is coincidental that you found 'Happy Xmas (War is Over)' and were also able to sort sleeves out Good idea to have a spreadsheet - I have a few Queen LPs and singles, but don't know offhand what they are. Would also be useful to catalogue my sheet music books, as I have double-bought a couple of those from second hand shops in the past

My first Christmas Dinner of the season is tonight, so hopefully that is good Should be able to catch up with a few friends, depending which tables we are all assigned to

Today it's been my turn to feel worse for the weather, oh well that's the joy of this time of year. Other than that I've no news - which is probably a good thing. A nice day without drama is probably what the Doctor ordered when not quite 100%.

Not sure being nicknamed a 'red-nosed reindeer' was a term of endearment? How did you feel at the time?

I've used the Discogs website to record my record collection as it has lots of details on there including value - and that's how I know that my copy of 'Stars on 45' is only worth 1p. Funnily enough on the day I got it, my copy of 'Now and Then' (which I bought a limited edition blue vinyl for £15) it claimed it was worth £35 - so on the very day I got it over twice what I paid. Or to put it another way, 3,500 copies of 'Stars on 45' Not sure to what extent that should be taken seriously.

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Ah, sorry you're under the weather now, too Glad you had a low-drama day and I Hope you soon feel back to 100%

Fortunately I gladly joined in with the joke as I could see my nose was so red, and laughing about it helped to distract from the soreness (so sore...). IMHO Ultra Soft tissues are one of the best inventions of the late 20th Century, as they reduce the redness by 2/3.

That is impressive that Now and Then is already increasing in value due to being limited edition. Just shows there are a few copies of 'Stars on 45' around, though...

My dinner last night was quite good - coincidentally I sat in the exact same place on the exact same table with the exact same people as last year, so it was very deja vu, but good to catch up with the people I haven't often seen mid-year. The food was burnt in places, but luckily there was plenty of it, so we didn't go hungry by missing out on the charred parts, and what was well cooked was very nice. We did give feedback to the manager, though, so they can do better for Christmas parties on subsequent evenings.

I do enjoy low drama days - never get to say that enough.

Another thing I don't appreciate? Swallowing. I wouldn't go as far as to say I enjoy or like swallowing, but it is definitely better than when you struggle to do so and your throat feels like

One of the random things I know is that tissue brand Kleenex created their tissues intended as a gas mask filter, then in peacetime advertised them as sanitary pads for menstruation use until one of the employees was ill and persuaded the head of the company to market them for colds and sneezes.

Glad you enjoyed the meal despite the burnt offerings. I assume you wouldn't have any way of knowing whether you had the same knives and forks and plates as last year? I won't ask if you were wearing the same socks
We do have a team meal this year but I'm really not sure whether I want to go.

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Yes indeed

Sorry about the throat - I hope it soon settles down

That is very interesting about Kleenex - I didn't know that Tissue is a versatile material indeed

Yes, I suspect the plates and were different from last year, as the restaurant has been taken over since then, and I can't vouch for the socks, but I do know I was wearing the exact same jacket and my right-hand neighbour at the table was wearing the exact same dress

Sad indeed that you're unsure about the Christmas meal again I'm not going to my team's Christmas meal as there was no option for fewer than 3 courses, but a couple of colleagues and I are planning to go out for ordinary lunch instead, so that should be good

Funny indeed about awareness of bodily functions - on a day to day basis I'm not particularly aware of how my right foot likes to tread on my left foot. This morning I got cramp in my left big toe, and being trodden on didn't help so I was very aware of that

Swallowing is another rather frequent activity, so I can imagine you're very aware of throat, but I hope less so than yesterday