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

Feeling too lazy to dig up an existing conversation, and Hotmail's acting funny this morning, so I decided against trying to email and working myself into a temper so early in the morning.

Feeling any better? Have you returned to work? Whatever had me feeling "off" has passed, but I've got a couple of coworkers who make me sick, if that counts.

I'm feeling rather more lifelike, I'm back at the office, and I'm being overwhelmed by a sea of idiots when I'm there. Most of the idiots aren't colleagues, but a couple of them are. But never mind, another 15 business days and I'll have an entire month off.

Tomorrow I'm going to Parliament. I'll get to see the ghastly little Prime Minister in action in the House of Reps. I'm not allowed to express myself in any way while I'm there, the boss has told me. (She knows me well, it seems.) But that'll be good material for a journal entry at least.

I know what you mean about the sea of idiots. Most of my coworkers are fine, but the ones who aren't cause a disproportionate pain in my arse. One or two in particular... though it seems that might be changing in the not-too-distant future.

Going to Parliament, huh? That sounds very exciting. Not. I'd recommend that in addition to not expressing yourself, you endeavor not to make any agonized moans, or burst into fits of hysterical giggling, either. And avoid gesturing with your fingers.

Glad you're feeling reasonably human again. I'm sort of under the weather- it's this darned humidity. It makes me feel like I'm being smothered under a giant armpit.

Parliament was almost fun, actually. Mind you, it helped that I was there with a bunch of cynical iconoclasts. I've posted a journal, but t only scratches the surface. I don't have the time for a full write-up and a lot of the things I could go on about would only mean something to other Australians anyway. Observations about particular MPs, that sort of thing.

Quite an exhausting day. One can only be on best behaviour for so long before the head starts to hurt.

I hear that! About the best behavior, I mean.

Sounds like an entertaining way to spend a day- or a work day, anyway. I'll have to re-read that journal entry again later, to absorb the full effect. It's nice to know that some things really are the same the world over.

Any big plans for the weekend? It's going to be hot and humid here, so we're planning to venture out as little as possible, if at all.

I'm planning another weekend of nothing much. I have Monday off as well, being owed some hours by my employer, but I need to save some money for use next month when I have my real holiday. Besides, it's going to be cool and windy here - not the best weather for going places.

Took me long enough to get back here to respond to this. Apparently, my monthly reports, which I thought were due in time for a meeting a week from Monday, were in fact needed for a meeting this coming Monday. Argh!

Mad scramble this morning to get everything done. Now I have the afternoon to play catch-up.

I'd settle for cool and windy just to get a break from all this hot and humid nonsense. I'm not sure, we may be opposite in this regard, but while neither extreme has ever proven fatal to me yet, I much prefer cool/winter to warm/summer.

I like our winter - cold by Australian standards, but not by anyone else's - especially when it's still. Windy cold weather is horrid and makes all my joints creak. And yes, Summer is deeply unpleasant a lot of the time. In Winter you can make yourself warm, but in Summer there's nothing you can do...

I now have only 13 w*rkdays before I have my month off. I'm getting quite giddy with anticipation.

Ah, yes, we agree on the warm weather thing. It's even worse when it's quite humid, IMO.

Windy winter weather is something I'm not unfamiliar with. It can get in the bones for sure. I'm pretty tolerant of cold, unless it's damp or windy, or sub-zero. That's kind of a pain.

30°-33° for the next five days, then t-storms again. It gets boring.

Sorry I've nothing more interesting to say at the moment. I scrambled madly this morning to complete a project at work that I thought I had another week to complete, then played catch-up all afternoon while one of the two Harpies who annoys me at work wandered by on her Avoiding Work By Being Away From My Desk Making Idle Chatter With Anyone Who Can Stand Me rounds and commented how nice it must be that I had nothing to do.

Do you have access to a shredder? I've always found it useful to shove harpies like that into the shredder.

In my daydreams, anyway.

Humidity is The Worst Thing. It's the real reason I could never live in Sydney. I could get used to the insane traffic, the crowded public transport, the many and varied attitude problems of the inhabitants, but I could never learn to enjoy the humidity. Ugh.

I am also devoid of interesting comments, just at the moment. I'm trying to save money like a big frugal thing so that I'll have cash to spare next month, but this leaves me with nothing much to say at the moment because I'm not doing a whole lot.

I don't even notice the insane traffic or crowded public transport for the most part any more, but the humidity gets me *every* time. Ugh is right. Most of the suburbs are hotter and more humid, though, as they're not near enough to Lake Michigan, whereas I live 3 miles away and work maybe a mile away, if that. Of course, by August, the lake has had enough time to warm up that it doesn't help keep things much cooler, but the breezes that come from that way make you feel cooler anyway.

Trying to save money like a big frugal thing is a real test of will power, and I admire you for it, even if it means fewer exciting adventures to report.

Today's big plan for excitement involves digging a hole to extract an ivy stump. Gosh I know how to have a good time. The wind's not as strong as it was yesterday and I'll be w*rking in a sheltered corner so I shouldn't end up all rheumatic afterwards. At least I hope I don't.

Money spent since 5pm Friday - $0. So that's going quite well, at least.

I hate garden/yard work. But digging up a stump doesn't sound all that bad. Fingers crossed you won't be aching like hell afterward.

Well done you, not spending any money this weekend. Wish I could say the same. Didn't get too crazy, but had to get some general bath stuff and some produce.

We just watched a rather dumb movie, an embellishment of folklore called "Beowulf and Grendel". While I never thought that Vikings were dainty, I'd never imagined they used so many 20th-century vulgarities. Or that Selma had given birth to Grendel's kid. It was fun in the epic sense, but sometimes, liberal creative license leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, you know? Oh, well, K had fun watching the bits of swordplay.

Once upon a time I had a truly unpleasant colleague who unaccountably became pregnant. Towards the end of the business she was talking about possible names, mostly stupid ones, including some from Lord of the Rings. So I suggested Grendel. I don't think she ever understood what being Grendel's mother would involve.

The Stump is still there to some extent. I gave up after my shoulder started to hurt. This is a bit annoying really. I wonder if I could just dissolve it with acid or something.

The suggestion of Grendel as a name made me laugh- good one!

Supposedly, using chemicals takes a while, but it might not be a bad idea- at least you can dump the chemicals on then go back inside while you wait for them to eat through everything. I'm no gardener, so I can't offer any personal experience. But once I watched an episode of a show on PBS called "This Old House" where a stump was removed, and I seem to remember their advice was not to dig too close to the stump, and to use an axe or saw to cut some of the roots as you go.

Or you could use a donkey and some tow chains. Just kidding!

I did actually consider geting a donkey from somewhere.

The Stump is in a two-foot-wide strip of round between a brick wall and a concrete slab. *sigh* I think I've done as much digging as I can. It'll have to be acid, or training some wood-eating insects to eat the stump and nothing else.

Trained insects sounds like an excellent idea, in theory, but it might be difficult, in practice, to get them to quit eating wood when they've finshed with what you want them to eat. Which would require more chemicals.

Glad I'm not the only one who thought of a donkey.

How did your Monday go? Mine's off to a quiet start, which is possibly just the quiet before a storm.

Monday was good. I flitted about town looking at this and that and raiding Asian grocery shops. I also bought a DVD, but I'll have to replace it today 'cos it's faulty. *sigh* Never mind, it won't be a drama once I actually haul myself back to town to deal with it.

Today, sadly, is Tuesday - back to the office in less than an hour. Gosh how tiresome.

Three more days until the weekend. At least from where I'm sitting...

I want to sit where you're sitting.

Four days to go here- haven't even technically started Tuesday yet. Ah, well. It'll go by quickly.

Glad that your week is going well so far! Is that 8 more days till vacation, then?