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

I thought I'd like to keep a personal record of my experiences in using Hootoo. I found the site accidentally in the first place, having time on my hands caused by a slightly snowy week in Britain.
I don't usually do a lot of random surfing on the web, just looking up stuff I need and then leaving quickly.

Once here I was captivated, firstly by the whole Douglas Adams thing and secondly by the incredible imagination and whole hearted looniness of the various researchers I took time to look at. You may think that newcomers arrive and look at the Guide? Wrong in my case, I looked at the population, clicking on researchers nicknames and following their interests and habits. And what I found I liked. I also soon discovered that its possible to talk to other folk, Lil's Atelier standing proud as a welcoming venue.

So, I joined. It took a while to realise that I couldn't choose a new nickname as I already had one from some conversations with the BBC messageboards. So I dusted this old one off, polished it up and ready to go dipped my toe in the balmy (yes I spelled that ok) waters of Hootoo. I was made to feel welcome, and that's not an easy thing to achieve where outsiders, newcomers are often held at arm's length in many places in real or cyber.

Since then I have taken part in a few discussions, and discovered some wildly varied guide entries. I've even read some of them. I was surprised to discover the depth of knowledge that permeates this community, the precise editing undertaken by volunteers, the help pages, the humour and again the welcoming atmosphere.

What really shocked me? That the H2G2 began so long ago, and I didn't know.

I might even have to write a bit of a Guide entry myself, if I can discover a hole where my limited experience might come in handy.