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

You know, sometimes I become so tired of the usual things that we do in the evening, that I wish I could do something more interesting. Our Society encourages us to spend the down time watching TV, eating snacks, playing computer games, or sometimes all three at once. Most nights there is nothing engaging on the 'boob-tube', and I just sit there watching it anyway out of boredom.

Now, if someone else in the house liked to play chess, it would be a great solution. However no one else does. So there goes that solution.

Reading books during the daylight hours is great, however after a stressful day at work, I find I get a headache.

Maybe I could find a chess club in town? But honestly, could there really be other people in the world as ‘geeky’ as me?

Remember what your parents used to tell you when you complained that life was horrible? 'Stop moaning, there's always someone worse off than yourself'.

Well, there's always someone more geeky than you

I sympathise with you though. We had the television on at home every single evening when I was a kid in the 60s and early 70s. Indeed, on the one or two occasions when it was turned off (and there really were only one or two of them), the room just didn't look right . So that's what I grew up with, but after I left home I only watched it selectively. I spent most of my evenings in the 80s listening to John Peel or going out to see bands I'd heard on John Peel

I have a couple of friends who are part of the MTV generation. They can't be at home without having the TV on. Just can't do it. The only time they ever turn it off is when they go out, and sometimes not even then. The only time they ever listen to the radio is in the car.

Mrs Gosho is even younger than that - she's of the internet generation. Can't have the computer off. She will turn off the TV, but rarely, and if she's at home and can't use the PC or watch TV, she's pretty much at loss for what to do.

Have you thought about setting up an h2g2 chess club? It could be a good way to get a game

I know how Mrs Gosho feels. I'm a computer girl too. It's always on, however I mostly just use it to check one little thing as I pass by on my way to doing something else.

one of my hobies is/are growing plants. This time of year however, there is precious little to do, and most of my potted friends have a hard time surving the short days of the great white north.

If you're a keen horticulturalist, isn't winter for spending evenings by the fireside looking though next year's seed catalogues and deciding what to plant?

That is true.

I have a small patio, just about big enough for a few trees and a couple of chairs to sit on while enjoying the morning cuppa (weather permitting). Most of my plants are bonsais that I have started from cutting or collected the seeds myself. I love going around the parks in the evenings of the late summer and collecting seeds off the ground like a squirrel.

Having a small patio pretty much means that I can choose one veggie per year. Last year I grew sunflowers, this year it is a type of Japanese Soya bean called ‘Beer Beans’. They are an absolutely delicious snack that you cannot purchase in their ready to eat form in Canada. As you might of guest it is traditional to enjoy them with a .

If I remember correctly, aren’t you a plant man yourself Mr Gosho?