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

Evening Fly !

Just a quick hello as we haven't spoken for a week or so. Sorry that you have been under the weather with a sore throat. See that you have taken all the right remedies and that lots of people have given you good advice.

Glad the R2 boards have been fun of late. I have to say the jokes I posted last week made me laugh out loud. Courtesy of my daughter !

Look after yourself, speak soon I hope,

regards

Jen

Hi Jennifer on the 2nd of April!

Nice to hear from you.
The sore throat was a forerunner for a heavy cold, just about gone now.
I thought your jokes were so funny, the "sheep" one made me LOL. I printed them and have been telling them to my friends.

Nothing like a good laugh, is there?

I don't know, I think the whole CB has changed somehow, I feel that some of us are desperately trying to hold it together, but it keeps falling apart.

See you soon.

The coffee shop is doing all right I think. Maybe a few regulars have left but maybe some new blood will come along.

I still post on Jeremy Vine and Coffee Shop when I have the time. For me it's such a pity they close at 10.00 pm. I am more a woman of the night !!

Hope you are feeling better. Sorry, no more jokes at the moment. Have a lovely week end,

Jen

Hiya Jen,

The CB has its moments, hasn't it? There are times when nothing's going on. But I find it difficult sometimes to chat to anybody on here as well. It's seldom immediate, is it? You leave a message and days later somebody finds it.
Maybe I should venture into a Chat room, have you ever done that? It seems quite daunting to me and when I did look it all seemed such twaddle they were talking.

Hope you are having a good week-end. I've got square eye-balls from watching too much sport.
Should get out more!!

Hello Fly !

I have never been in a chat room, but I have looked at some of the conversations round and about and have never felt like joining in. Some of them are just nonsense, or worse, really strange and weird !
But I feel the same about posting here rather than on the R2 boards. I prefer conversations where we can chip in if and when we want, rather than one to one.

And sometimes, I just like to read what's being written on the boards themselves rather than joining in. Not keen on the fighting scenes though.

Grey day here. Dog duties this week so fitting them in between showers. Yesterday we were about for about 4 hours and were very lucky. Saturday we were caught in an awful shower.

Hope you are feeling better, and also if you ever see me in a conversation with anybody, please do join in. The more the merrier !!

Jen

Hiya Jen,

Did you say you were out walking the dogs for 4 hours? My god, I would have to lie down for the rest of the week. I was with our Book Group this afternoon and somebody asked me if I would join them for an organised walk. "More like a stroll", she said. I:"How far is a stroll?" "Oh, about 4 miles". "4 MILES? What if it's raining?"
No, I'm not a country-girl at heart. Nothing sounds sweeter than heels on pavements!! Do enjoy a walk, sometimes in spite of myself, really, when I've been talked into one, but I've not got "the gear" and ruined so many coats and shoes paddling through meadows and mud. Perhaps if I had a dog!!!. Cats do their own exercising, don't they?

I'm off, by coach, to a shopping-trip tomorrow. Looking forward to that.

Every now and then the CB seems to get better, but then Clout arrives and soon it's all on HIS level. At the moment they're having fun with music-titles, but I don't know too much about them either. Not much hope for me, is there? PG seems to keep up her end of the conversation. I'm glad, really, maybe it'll all come together again.
I'm sure they're not drinking enough really.

May see you later.

Hi Fly.

I'm sure they don't drink enought alcohol either. Can't be good for them to be so sober. No wonder they dwell on things and get nasty !
Just come home from line dancing and am drinking a lager straight from the bottle. So unladylike I know.

PG does manage to hold her own doesn't she. Good for her. Did you see her photo on her web site ? I said to Helen that I think we are a normal bunch really. (Well, most of us. There are one or two I wouldn't care to meet)
I have walked miles and miles since last week. But I enjoy a walk and especially if I have a dog or two with me ! Cats are self sufficient, although mine are little pests.
There is nothing I like to hear that the click click of high heels. Since I left work, other than in the summer, I have lived in trousers. My husband says that he hasn't seen my legs for 2 years.
Got soaked this afternoon, and we never got back home until gone 7.00. So, it was fish and chips tonight for tea. Needs must.

Enjoy your shopping trip. Are you hoping to buy anything special ?

Dentist - hygienist this time - tomorrow lunch. Do you never fancy going on Jeremy Vine's board. That can be fun if you don't take it seriously.

Well, think I have to reply to Helen as well. Enjoy your trip, don't walk too far !

Jen

Hallo Jen on the 6th of April,

Well, I gallopped my way through the day! My friend is 20 years younger than me and I'm nearly always one step behind!
That reminds me. Line dancing: 2 steps forward-one step back. I just used to LOVE line-dancing and I do it now and again, all on my own, in the sitting-room. But I keep dancing into the furniture. It really helps you to keep the brain alert, doesn't it? I used to go until 2 years ago and it was great fun. Trouble was, I was easily distracted and then, doing a full turn would start looking at the girl in front of me and admire her boots and bingo...I'd lost it. We used to bounce off each other big time. And isn't it thirsty work?
It seems to have died here, though, I never hear of line-dancing any more. The music is super too, isn't it, especially when it's played really loud.

Bought 3 new books to-day, that's all. We spent a long time looking for a decent restaurant and then got it all wrong. We went Chinese. Mine was fine, but my friend had some prawn dish and it smelled dreadful, they were really off.(prawns) We HAD to complain and he offered her chicken, which she accepted. He said it was the beansprouts which smelled so bad. No way! We know rotten fish when we smell it.

Then, we had to be back at the coach at 4-00. We sat there till 5-00 because one eccentric old lady was missing. She never did turn up and after informing the police we went home. But my friend (not the most patient of people) was going bananas. "never again! Never again" she kept saying.
Oh dear! I wished I hadn't talked her into coming with me.

Now, home again, nice glass of wine,, peace restored, 3 new books to read. All's well with my world.
Hope it is with yours too.

Hi Fly on the evening of 8 April.

Line dancing is thirsty work, and there are times when my friend and I are just a teensy weensy bit inebriated and then I am hysterical with laughter.

Even without the drink I manage to turn right instead of left. Or jumping to face the back of the room and find I'm face to face with a row of bosoms !
Music's good thought. Really loud and usually fast. Some of the stuff played is brilliant C&W all sad, and I love to sing along. Trouble is, I cannot dance at the same time !
We are all going on a line dance week end to Torquay next month. Should be different. I am going with 2 girl friends.
It's a pity you no longer get the chance to dance, and yes it is supposed to keep the brain active. Oh God, I hope so, particularily when I am killing off some really good brain cells with the alcohol !

Glad you enjoyed your trip, but what a shame about the Chinese. We had a Chinese take away tonight, only because by the time we had finished walking the dogs it was 7.30 and my husband was going out at 9.
Plus, I have been to the hospital today with my growth

I have a big plaster on my forehead where they have taken some cells for testing. But the doctor says she is sure everything will be fine. And so am I. So we walked the dogs at 8.00 am, drove to the hosp at 9.45 got home at 2.30 and I just crashed out until about 5.00 when it was time to be on the move again.

I am having a well earned drink (just for a change)

Hope you are enjoying your books,

Jen

Morning, Jen, on April 9th-11.24 precisely.

Got up with the plan to do some gardening, but it's so cold still. Looks O.K. from inside.

Real Line Dancing weather, actually.
You sound just like me, I was always bumping in to people going a different way to me. I used to go with 3 friends, 1 would stand behind me, one in front and 1 to the side, just so it didn't disrupt the whole line when I went the other way. It was the "people watching" that was my undoing. I was fascinated by a little lady who knew all the steps and never made a mistake, but she was so wooden, you could never call it "dancing", and there was 1 man, in full cowboy outfit, who made such large strides, he ran everybody over. But it was all the things going wrong that was the best part of it.
You are going to have a riotous time, I'm sure.
One of the friends I went with could just watch a new dance and then join in right away. Not me!

Iknew nothing about a growth, is it on your forehead? My husband had one. For a while we laughed about it and I said he was lucky as he was turning into a unicorn. But it got bigger and bigger and we made an appointment with a specialist.

Now the next thing I'm going to tell you sounds unbelievable.
A cousin of mine has a friend who used to be a doctor but was struck off because he had such unusual healing methods. My cousin told me to phone him or write to him and ask him to think of my husband and his growth. He wanted no money.
I thought: Nothing to lose and wrote to him. Then forgot all about it.
One day the next week we got up. My husband went to the bathroom and came running back, pointing to his forehead. The "thing" had completely disappeared, no trace whatsoever. We even searched the bed for it, but it had gone for good.

Later he had a skin cancer on his nose, but the "thoughts" didn't work, we were told to see a specialist who took it off. Had a little hole in his nose to start with but it filled in again after a while. So many people have this nowadays, we were told, the specialist said he spent most of his time on them.
I told Perks once on the CB, don't know if you saw it.
When my husband went into the room for his little op. the nurse said: "Right! Which one is it?" My husband said: "As far as I know I've only got ONE nose." She had the wrong notes.

Have a lovely Easter.
Wish I were coming line-dancing with you, although I think I'm far too unfit nowadays.XX

Hello Fly, 23.27 Friday the wotsits of April. My mouse is hovering but the date won't come up.

Have just returned from a line dancing dance. Does that make sense ? There was a raffle and my friend won a bottle of whiskey and I won a bottle of Piat D'Or. Red, which I quite like.

We only had 3 large glasses of white wine and soda, and we had such a laugh. Even the dance teachers were laughing because we were all so bad ! In the end, we blamed the cheap bar.

Raining here and so miserable. Yes, I think you would fit in with us line dancers here. All good fun, including the men, and we all laugh. The thing about line dancing is that if you are on your own, you can just turn up and dance to your heart's content. Plus it's a chance to make new friends.
Needless to say, my husband does not come with me !!
We used to go ballroom dancing together, and we made some great friends. We no longer dance, but meet the friends we made each week for food, drink and 'conversation'.
There are 6 of us who got together from the beginning. Well, we all went into the bar after the very first class and knew we'd get on.

But there were some odd balls there. One chap always took the opportunity to put his hand on the women's bosom whenever he got the opportunity. We called him 'hands on Fred' Another chap knew all the steps, but no sense of rythme. (?) We called him the Cardboard Cutout. Rigid was the word to describe him.
Sorry, Fly, but I never saw your note to Perks. However it's strange that you should mention your husband and nose cancer. Although the doctor said the injection into my forehead would hurt, it didn't at all. The nurse said afterwards that injections to the nose were very painful. My sister had what they call a rodent ulcer on her lips. It was cancerous, and she has lost most of her top lip. She could have had cosmetic surgery afterwards, but she could not face more surgery. Her husband was very symathetic and said it made no difference to him. He just loved her regardless. So, she never had the surgery, and although initially very self conscious, she is reasonably relaxed about it all.

Sorry about the spelling and everything. But another large glass is slipping through my lips as I type. Plus, my brain works faster than my fingers on this key board, and I assume everyone knows what I mean even if I don't make sense.
I hope you have a lovely week end. I have nothing much planned. Dog walking. Maybe out for a meal on Saturday night.
My daughter is away. So is my son. The grandchildren are away with their mum and the other grandparents.

Take care,

Jen

Is your name Katherine ?

Hiya Jen,

My name is Catharina. How did you guess? Well, close anyway.
My lack of line-dancing skills haven't spread to your end of the world, has it?

How awful for your sister, it seems that cancer of the mouth is quite common. So sad. Can she eat all right?

Don't worry about the spelling, I know what you mean, my mind works faster than my fingers. (Quite opposite to the line-dancing).
Had to smile about the ballroom-dancing. My darling husband had no sense of rhythm whatsoever. To please me he came to dancing classes with me, but he hated it. He was a bit scared of clutching strange women, I think, because he always held them at arm's lenght. One night he danced with a little lady and they both finished up on the floor, I don't know how that happened. But he wouldn't go again.
After that I taught him the basic steps in the kitchen and it wasn't too bad but if we had to go to a posh function he dreaded it. Once a year we were invited to Grosvener House in London, it was a Motor-Dealers do and about 500 people attended (I think). There were tables for 10 and my poor husband felt he had to dance with all the ladies around the table out of politeness but I'm sure they would much rather not have had to. He was so nervous that he used to shake and was then so relieved when he could dance with me again. When the music started up he would say: "What is it?" and I would say: "A waltz" or whatever. Off we went onto the dance-floor where I would have to start him off. 1, 2, 3 NOW.
If the floor was crowded and we had to stop for some reason he went on where he left off, no matter what the music was doing.
Poor love, how he suffered, and it wasn't much fun for me either, but I couldn't tell him.

When I first learnt to dance there was about 12 of us, and one chap had a WOODEN leg. Honestly!. The teacher made us dance with him in turn, the trouble was, he never felt if he stood on your foot.

Line-dancing must be better, mustn't it?
Talk about the chap and the hand on the bosom, didn't you hate it when you got one of those men who clutched your hand between your and his chest, know what I mean?

First dance I went to was with an aunt. I was very young and this man asked me to dance. Afterwards my aunt asked me how it was and I said: " Not so bad, but he had something in his pocket that was sticking into me all the time." !!!!!! Bet girls nowadays wouldn't be so ignorant.

Nothing planned for Easter either, see what comes along. Sun shining now, I'm going to have a coffee and a very naughty doughnut.

Enjoy your week-end, Jen.
XX

Morning Fly. 9.37 am 12 April !

Looking out of the window, the square one, it appears to be ok weather wise. No rain and the sun trying to break through.

Had a quiet weekend. Saturday dog walking all day it seemed ! Saturday night just had a Chinese take away. Husband watched the golf and footie, I did crosswords. Sunday morning dog walking, more golf watching. Then miracle of miracles, the dogs' mother returned, and we have been let off the leash until Tuesday. So, sadly for me, I did some hoovering and dusting around the house.
Today I am going to take it easy. Plus I feel a bit sick as I have practically eaten a whole Cadbury's choc egg and the choc buttons inside. How greedy can you get !

I am sorry, but I believe I one read you using your name when writing to either PG or BDG. (Penny and Becky)
My sister's mouth cancer was contained in her top lip. Her main problem is that she salivates more when she is speaking and eating. She just makes full use of napkins, paper tissues etc. In our ballroom class, couples were always having disagreements on the floor. We started to learn because when we went to formal dances, we had to sit out, and everyone else seemed to be having such fun. There were times when a really good dancer asked me to dance and because of their skilful leading I was excellent ! Once we had learned the basic steps ourselves, we still counted 1-2-3 or whatever. There were even times when I said this is a waltx and he was sure it was a quick step. Happy days. It must have been nerve wracking for your husband having to dance with a lot of 'strange' women. And I expect he had to make conversation at the same time ! Oh dear.

I know what you mean when you said about dancing with a man either very pleased to see you or carrying a gun in his pocket. I can remember those men when I was younger too. It is a good thing that in some respects youngsters are more aware of things. Funny though how a lot of them end up pregnant when they should be enjoying life.
I have just read Shelley and Scott on the CS board. Oh god, virtual sex and smut all the time. It's not even funny.

Here comes the sun. Time for a bath and a weigh on the scales. Still feel sick !!

Have a good day,

Jen

Hiya Jennifer,You are quite welcome to call me Catharina. Becky and Penny know my name because we have each other's e-mail addresses. Corrie invites people to e-mail her (on her Space) but I'm a bit scared to go so public, aren't you?

I haven't eaten a chocolate egg but I still feel sick as before I wrote this I had a look at the CB and saw Shellay and Scotts messages. It's not even funny and degrades the whole board. Oh for the days when we had such innocent fun. I think we were a bit naughty but never vulgar.

I saw you on the JV board and must try and pluck up courage to join in. I'm a bit scared because I love music but forget all the titles and artists. I'm afraid I let it all wash over me most of the time, should pay more attention.

Yes, the sun is shining and I've promised the garden I'm coming out there and do some weeding. It takes a lot to get me going, I'd much rather curl up with a coffee and a book.

I saw a bit of the golf last night, it got a bit exciting (for golf) and I wanted to see who the winner was. The commentator must have been half asleep as well because he didn't realise the guy had won the championship. "And it's not over yet!" he said, while the winner was dancing and jumping about. "Oh, yes, I think it is!"

A friend phoned me last night and we thought of getting together to-day. "Have to see what my energy-levels are like"!!!!! she said. I haven't heard from her so I presume the energy-levels are low to-day.

Better get on with the gardening. As with housework, I keep finding other things I have to do first.

Hope you enjoy the rest of the holiday, Jen. You are wise taking it easy, I expect everybody is heading for the coast or the D.I.Y shops.

Talk to you soon

XX

Catharina

Hi Fly aka Catherina.
Perkins has got a good thread running at the moment on the Coffee Board. A certain pair are trying to make it smutty though.

I will never put my e mail out to anyone. Like you, I am too frightened, and perhaps people may not be what they seem ! I agree that PG, Corrie and BDG are fine, and so is PP. Have you looked at his page yet ? You and he once had an interesting conversation re Holland. You should try going back to JV. I don't know lots of songs, but the Shaky fan puts up a lot of titles doesn't he. Plus google will give you titles if you just put in one word. You have to be a bit careful though as it can lead to all sorts of strange sites.

I have been to Tesco and bought some chocs for my daughter and my son's partner (ex !!) I have also had to replace the egg which I ate, plus a tube of smarties. Oh, such a bad woman. I'll probably have spots tomorrow.

Put on some salmon for a salad and sandwiches. Out to the sun again. After all, I have agreed to go for a bike ride with Mr Perkins and Jason. Join us !!

Jen

Hallo Jen
Look at the time...4-30 p.m.

Just looked at the CB and was so annoyed that I missed all the fun this morning. I would have enjoyed my ride on the tandem. Instead I've spent all day gardening.And I didn't have such lovely sandwiches for lunch either.
Yes, I saw the two smutty ones, You did well to ignore them, it's the only way, I think.

I did have a look at PP page a week or so ago, after I'd been eavesdropping on a conversation you had with Helen. (Naughty, isn't it?)
I was trying to see the picture of his dogs etc. but wondered if he'd removed them, 'cause I saw nothing. My memory is awful, I can't remember talking to him about Holland at all. He is very funny, isn't he? I must have another look at his page.

Now why did I think Shaky Fan was a girl? And I keep wondering who Familiar Face is, is it somebody I should know?

While I was gardening this morning I thought how awful it is to detest somebody (SC) so much when I've not even seen him. But I have this mental picture. I wasn't surprised he was a skinhead, but he says he is very fit. How does he manage that when all he does is drink beer and get up everybody's noses? Well, almost everybody.
Sorry, must stop badmouthing people, I suppose.

Last time my brother visited me, about six months before he died, he had hidden about 30 little Easter eggs all around my bungalow just before he left. I saw the first one about an hour after he'd gone and kept on finding some weeks laterin all sorts of unexpected places. Apparently he'd left one behind in his trouser-pocket and didn't notice it. It went into the washing-machine with disastrous results.

Enjoy the rest of the day,

Lots of love,

Catharina XX

P.S.

Jen

I managed to have a look at PP's page. Don't people look different to what you imagine them to be?
I left a message and my e-mail no. Aren't the dogs beautiful and he's not so bad himself. Lovely coast-line too.

See you soon

Love

CatharinaXX

Hi Catharina.
Apologies for the delay in replying. Your brother sounds as though he was a lovely thoughtful man. You must miss him. No doubt all your memories of him are good ones.

I have had a sad day today. My husband and I went to the local Animal Refuge.
It's a long and complicated story but my son and his ex-partner have split up and apart from the children, there are the 3 rottwielers. Two are old and beautifully natured animals. Very timid, even though they are huge. The male is very boisterous and only a young dog (5 yrs). My husband and I just cannot have him as apart from anything else, we have 4 cats. So today we went to the animal sanctuary. What a lot of sad little animals there were there. Some old, other only months old. I was glad I was wearing my sunglasses so noone could see my tears.

Familiar Face is lovely. He used to be called Don Graves, married to Ali Lula. Then he was Denzil - I think that was a West Indian pseudonym ! He and PP were always sparring. He can say some funny things. I am sure if I met him I would like him. Once on the boards when PP asked us to compare ourselves with someone famous, both Helen and I thought he was like the actor who plays Inspector Wexford from the Ruth Rendall stories.

I didn't know SC was a skin head. I will say no more.

Please please do join in if you see Helen and I chatting. Or anyone else for that matter. It's more fun with lots of people.

Well, it's 15 April 21.57. PP's dogs are lovely. Must go over there soon as he says he has a phot of his little grand daughter on his web site.

Speak soon,

Jen

Catharina !!!

What do you mean ?!!? I wouldn't dream of looking at his coast line.
(Yes, he looks rather nice though !!)

Jen

Hi Jen on the 16th April,

Ha! You don't know what you're missing!
Actually, in his e-mail he(PP) says it's Southerdown, about 20 miles from Cardiff. His little granddaughter is an absolute angel, you must get in touch and get her picture.

Did you see the announcement on CB and R2 about Scott? Wonder what brought that on, still, he's had so many warnings.

I know how you feel about the animal sanctuary. Years ago, when our little cat died, my husband and I went to one to get another cat. Oh dear! There were cats hanging off us, climbing over us, licking us, they all wanted to come home with us. We chose a little tabby and then another one was clinging to us and when we left hung on the wire, crying. We said: "We'll be back soon", and felt because we had promised that, we had to take her as well as the first one, although it was a pathetic little thing, with the thinnest tail you've ever seen. We had her for 19 years, she died 3 months after my husband. But we wanted to take them all home, and then there were the dogs....

I've been out to meet the girls from the Dutch coffee-club, we meet about 4 times a year and it's great fun. About 8 of us and we must make so much noise, we don't notice it. Luckily we were able to sit outside with our coffe, later lunch and later again, tea. It has been the most beautiful weather and I feel guilty skulking indoors now, but I'm tired of all that talking.

May see you in the CB later on.




Catharina XX