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

Well of course we've all heard the Lotus pub bores' stories about family outings to the seaside, but I didn't think anyone took them seriously.

Shopping trips are another matter - Lotus make vehicles which are entirely suitable for a trip to the supermarket to buy your lunchtime sandwich.

I believe them, cos we used to fit a family of four and a large dog inside a 944 so

Doesn't the 944 have rear seats though?

Come on, you've seen the Elise - there's maybe room for a reasonably patient jird behind the front seats, but only if the roof is up!

jird?

I looked it up... Jirds are also known as gerbils, right?

well yes kind of There are lots of different types of jirds and gerbils but only 7 types of true jirds from Libyan (like Eddie)and Shaw's jirds through to Persian Jirds.

The best known type of true jird is the Clawed Jird which is also known as the Mongolian gerbil and those are the ones you generally see in pet shops. They are not actually gerbils, but you need to be a real jird anorak to worry about that.

There are some links from my personal space in the section entitled Eddie. Poor Eddie - he doesn't get enough attention from me since I acquired a boyfriend. I am so sorry Eddie!

OMG I have just reread this! I am a jird anorak!

Well, for the purposes of illustrating how little space there is behind the seats, isn't gerbil close enough? There's much more room in a 4 door 2001 Pontiac Grand Am...(See my journal if you're wondering why I'm being so specific )

Sorry I should have said that Eddie is about 3 times the size of a pet shop gerbil and getting bigger everyday worryingly!

Oh...

So I think Ian was trying to say that there was slightly more room then that. Enough for three gerbils infact. But in a 4 door 2001 Pontiac Grand Am... well you could cram it with gerbils and jirds to your hearts content!

Nothing like a new car is there?

I'd much rather stuff it with visiting researchers (as even before this weekend, there's no way I could have flown overseas to any meets )

So, how many visiting researchers do you think will fit in the back of a 2001 Pontiac Grand Am?

3, if we want to stay legal, more depending on heights, widths, and how well everyone knows each other if we don't care about all adults getting seat belt tickets (and Tom and I getting tickets for any minors unbelted...)

*laughs quietly to herself*
Gerbil
*giggles even more*
Hehehe...
*decides to add Gerbil to the list of words along with spoon and aardvark which make her laugh*

You alright?

*looks concerned for Tinkerbell's sanity*

*grins*
You're starting to worry about my sanity now??? What took you so long
*resists urge to sing Emma Bun-tin songs*

It's probably all this talk about your Lotus it's making me insanely jealous as my own little cars at home without me... Besides they claim love makes you do strange things so maybe I can use that as my excuse for being odd?
*uses that as her excuse for being odd*

Anyway don't you think gerbil is a funny word? Even if you say like ger-bill
*sits giggling to herself*

*goes to fetch men in white coats*

*pauses*

So, using love as an excuse for being odd - is that a valid legal defence?

*starts plotting*

*wonders if she gets to pick which men she wants*
I don't know... umm, did my being in love provide a valid enough reason for me finding the word gerbil funny (It so is!!! Not quite as good as spoon though...) or was it a fairly weak defence for my lack of sanity?