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

I've just beeblereceived. was that your very own voice on the interweb?
Are you famous or what?
Cool.

Famous? With an accent like that?

It was great doing it, though. What about you, would you be up for a bit of narration? So far, we don't have very many different voices and accents. (hint, hint)

I may be. How do I do it? Do I need to speak out loud?

, somehow I managed to miss this completely.

Speaking at a normal level should be sufficient (it depends on the software you're using), pronouncing clearly would certainly be a bonus, though.

No thoughts on telegrams for weeks?

Hope you're well.

Hi Vestie, my all-time favourite entry of yours is on the FP today!

I'm abroad! My email is up the creek and I missed it!

Which one was it?

The Office Opera...

Not sure you get an email anyway when it's being 'recycled'.

Have a cracking time in Marrakech.

I'll 'go abroad' tomorrow - which would bring me into a relative proximity to you if you were in England.

Sorry to have missed you but a friend died just before we went away and we've been involved in travelling to Birmingham for the funeral. I expect you may have gone quite close to us if you flew to Heathrow. We live about 5 minutes from the airport.

Sorry to hear your sad news.

I arrived at City airport, but I left from Heathrow.

There'll be another meet some day, maybe we can meet then.

Just reading your Marrakech report.

Our friend was only 48. She had had cancer for a couple of years but hung on for her son's wedding last year. She wanted to live to see her daughter settled but that wasn't to be.

That's really very sad.

So many people die of cancer - and so many young people at that.

We've known so many it's crazy.
Four of our good friends have lost their partners. Two men and two women. the oldest of them is now 60 but his wife died a couple of years ago.
I am a governor at a primary school and one of the mothers of a child there threw herself off a road bridge and killed herself two weeks ago. It's hard enough if an illness takes someone but suicide is so selfish.

Yes, it does look as if it is - but then don't forget just in what state of mind you have to be to successfully commit suicide.

Yes, you are right. But the impact it has on her nearest and dearest is catastrophic. She had two older children, too.

The work we have done with children who have experienced a loss shows that if it is not handled well they will have serious problems later on. In this case the work will have to be intensive and also go on for a long time to support those poor kids.

Some studies that were done recently showed that 90% of children who were expelled from school had undergone a bereavement or loss (e.g. parent leaving never to be seen again).

Yes, it is horrible for those who are left behind, but I really don't think it's easy for those who leave, either - not in most cases, anyway.
Good thing there are institutions who help.

I sometimes wonder what we do to each other and what demands we make as a society that some people can't face living even when they have so much to live for.

I really don't know. They must be without any hope for a change of their lives.

My niece's step dad committed suicide. He was divorced from her mother (who was my brother's first wife) and the only person around to identify the body was my niece. It was really horrible for her.

Shall we change the topic. This is becoming a bit maudlin!

Did you manage to fold a euro?

I didn't try to fold any Euro bills. I'm not sure there are faces on them.

Aha, that's probably to do with faceless bureaucrats!