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

I can remember being pretty excited to take my arm in plaster to school to get it signed...mind you I fainted as the doctor was trying to put it on...we're a bunch all right Callum will almost be in tears over a cut or something but distract him so he forgets it and he'll be right back in the middle of things again Annie likes to coddle him but I would prefer him to live the little hurts and I'll look after him for the big ones like Dan's stitches

I trained as a nurse yrs ago so I never make too much of a fuss over minor cuts and scrapes...........it tends to aggravate the situation and make the child worse.....just matter of fact, do what has to be done and then let them get on with whatever they were doing prior to the accident! Even with Dan's thumb I kept calm and didn't make it into too much of a drama, altho I was worried that he might've done some tendon damage as it was such a deep cut It turned out that he was very lucky and managed to avoid any serious damage

How old is Callum?

13 just started high school (year 8) today...tall, smart, handsome boy though can be very provoking...absolutely has to correct anything anyone says...he has a nice group of friends, and is doing very well at school

What teenage boy isn't provoking? Dan is 14 going on 24 and regularly drives me to distraction....especially now his dad is no longer around much......

He could do well at school but has a lazy streak when it comes to academia unfortunately *sigh* He changed from a private school to a local state school last September, due to my financial situation cos of the divorce and has setlled in well and seems to have made a decent set of friends.......altho it's hard to tell sometimes! He seems happy enough and said that he wouldn't want to go back to his old school even if I could afford it

Callum is a good celtic/gaelic name....any reason why you chose it?

Annie maiden name is Gordon, born in Kent but the family is originally from the other side of Hadrian's wall...Malcolm was our first choice but close friends got in first...Annie and I were reading James Herriot (All Creatures Great and Small) at the time, Callum was Tristan's younger brother

Friends can be a HUGE influence on school performance...previous group Sian was with were nice girls but marking time at school to get jobs and probably husbands...her present friends are not necessarily perfect students but at least they are interested in more than shopping and boys, Sian seems happier and focussed, I think it's because there are not as many bitchy fights at school

Greg.........been dozing and thinking up Telegram answers

As far as school went I was not a perfect pupil by any means but I did manage to pass all the exams I set out to take so I must've done some work somewhere along the line I went to an all girls school which was incredibly bitchy but not knowing anything different I just accepted it I guess

I love James Herriot's books and thoroughly enjoyed the TV series too........and I can remember Tristans younger brother! I wasn't sure if Callum was a scottish or irish name but I think it can be either, both being gaelic nations! So Annie is not a true bred Australian then, merely imported Did you meet her in Aussie?

girls on average do tend to do better in school compared to boys...perhaps they learn responsibility earlier or are compliant it's a mystery to me...I was a slacker at school but did well in trade college and training courses which sort of prompted me to get my degree

Sian was doing well but seems to be doing better...they are both a private Anglican school...mind I don't suggest parents can change their child's school friends, in fact woe betide the parent who tries!!! we were just lucky and I guess that luck will change

met Annie last year of school...her father was a RAF technician working in Woomera who transferred to RAAF in the late 60's...Annie's mum is the daughter of a cattle station family several generations Aussie

BOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hiya Greg

How's things down under today? Was a lovely day ehre yesterday, about 11C and bright sunshine all day......

If for some reason I don't get back to you, it's cos the IT bods are doing maintenance work on our servers and we keep losing things

Hi Helen

I'm fine...weather here is a bit strange...hot and humid then rain and cool then hot and humid again...

Will take vagaries of flaky IT into account

So far so good............we seem to have all systems up and running and functioning normally for the time being .........think IT have left the building so better keep everything crossed that no gremlins get in

Was watching a programme last night about Iceland and how the ice caps are melting at a quite alarming rate and how the summers are getting warmer and the winters a degree or two milder too...........all I can say is, thank god I won't be here when things really start to go haywire' Seriously tho, it is rather worrying!!!

Did you have a good w/e? What exciting things did you get up to?

what also scary is that the indonesia tsunami is considered a minor event...apparently we are waiting for any one of the volcanic islands to collapse and create a super-tsunami that could circle the world

Pretty quiet w/e really...the heat...party Saturday night with the pony club...the girls including Annie got a little tiddly and started teasing the club president the only male on the committee...had the lot of us in hysterics...mind Annie suffered next morning

work in IT a few years ago...small problems accumulate over time to become big ones and EVERY system is a unique mix of hardware and software...hard to be definite

I hadn't heard that one!!! Talk about harbingers of doom and gloom I think I'd rather not know and cope if and when it ever happens!

Don't talk to me about family members getting tiddly..........my 14 yr old son went to his local rugby club 'junior' disco night last Friday and managed to get more than a bit rat-arsed The 18 yr old sister of one of his mates was getting drinks for them from the bar and Daniel, being his usual restrained self, (NOT) managed to get himself legless, literally! I wouldn't have minded so much but I was at work and his Nan and Bamps had to cope with the subsequent fall out They had to stop 3 times in the space of 2 miles for him to be ill and then he threw up on the bathroom carpet and then all over his bed! I would've left it and made him clean it up himself the next day but his Nan is too soft with him!!! Anyway, he's now grounded for a week and has been told that if it happens again, it'll be for a month!

I know nothing about the inner working of a pc.........just come in, log on, press the relevant buttons and hope it does what it's supposed to do , if it doesn't then we just yell at the IT dept

....................................

Scary thing was the documentary was broadcast here only weeks before Boxing Day...one of those show they broadcast as a filler in the silly season

We are braced for Sian to start that stuff...the local dances and raves are managed by the police youth club and they are very strict...no bags, no mobiles, etc (they have a cloakroom) but the night will come


everyone yells at the IT dept

.....

My main worry is that his father is/was an alcoholic (been sober 12 yrs now) but it does tend to run in families I don't have a problem with it, can take it or leave it to be honest, but I do worry that he might follow in his fathers footsteps! All I can do is try and advise him and stick to my guns when he's punished I guess! I went thro it with my daughter as well, but then she met a really nice lad that she's been with for over a yr now and she's calmed right down When she was 15 tho, I had to go and get her from the A&E at the local hospital.........I was so embarrassed and ashamed, I could've killed her Still she's fine now and seems to have grown out of the fally over drunk stage

When I was that age I wouldn't have dared go home in that state.........was too scared of my Dad

my family all get drunk (and sick) too easy to be serious drinkers but I do worry what stupid things they might do...we try to make a welcoming home for their friends but with some it works, with others parents aren't people you are friends with...

I've got home drunk a couple of times and sick but luckily always got to the toilet in time...or at least I don't remember

BOO!!!

Where you been hiding lately??? Was beginning to think you'd gone walkabout

Hello beautiful, how are you?

How's the house selling going?

Am good thanx hun

The house is 'sold' but still waiting for the surveyor to come and do his bit and then hopefully things will move along a little quicker! Trouble is I've stil got nowhere to move to

Plenty of room at my place...

looking to rent or buy?

At this stage of the game either would do ........probably rent for a while tho until I find a house I really like........don't want to rush into buying something just for the sake of having somewhere to move to

Hang on! I'll just grab me passport and I'll be there in a couple of days