The past few days have been interesting. There were two storms this past week. Well, actually, there were more than two storms this past week, but these two are the only worth mentioning as it is not my intent to talk about the weather but to talk about what resulted from the weather which is to say that twice in the same week we experienced power outages. The didn't really affect me, as I was driving at the time and didn't get back to the house in Grand Rapids until about 22:00. Twelve hours after I arrived, the power came back on and so I was able to get a shower before I met someone at Dairy Queen to hang out before I shipped out to processing.
The second power outage is notable in that the only tree to get knocked down, that I could see, during the course of the storm's passing just happened to be the very same tree which, if it fell, would completely sever the connecting wire from the power lines (and cable) to the house. It also managed to rip the metal pipe that the wires run through off of the house, as well as damaging the pole the helped guide the wires to the house from the power poles across the street. So for the greater part of Wednesday we had no power, and Thursday and Friday we had power but no cable. Friday I left to visit with my family.
And thus it is that I can update my blog and read my favorite blogs. I won't name my favorite bloggers because I don't want to make anyone feel bad, because I know that my opinion of you means quite a bit to you all, despite the fact that I don't even know you in person (two exceptions being the two who help contribute to Custos Honor). However, my favorite bloggers are, after myself and in no particular order, Harvey of Bad Example, Sissy of And What Next, and Boudicca of Boudicca's Voice. But like I said, I don't want to name any of my favorite bloggers because I don't want anyone to feel badly about me not mentioning them. Likely I just haven't gotten around to reading your blog if you aren't my one of my favorite bloggers. :)
Okay, it is planned that I leave for processing on Monday. I have no injuries, I'm at my desired weight, I'm up to five pull ups and fifty crunches (this from one of the first and 18 of the second). I have no traffic tickets, I haven't been arrested recently, and I won't be drinking alcohol again until after I graduate. So things look well that I will actually leave on Monday. For some reason I'm actually nervous about it this time, but I'm sure it will pass.
I promised an excerpt from The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy or one of its sequels, though it actually reads like one book, and I have chosen The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe. It can be found in Chapter 19 page 243 of The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. By doing this I hope to get those who haven't read this series to do so, and those who have to go and read it again.
"The Universe--some information to help you live in it.
1 AREA: Infinite.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy offers this definition of the word "Infinite."
Infinite: Bigger than the biggest thing ever and then some. Much bigger than that in fact, really amazingly immense, a totally stunning size, real "wow, that's big," time. Infinity is just so big that, by comparison, bigness itself looks really titchy. Gigantic multiplied by colossal multiplied by staggeringly huge is the sort of concept we're trying to get across here.
2 IMPORTS: None.
It is impossible to import things into an infinite area, there being no outside to import things from.
3 EXPORTS: None
See Imports
4 POPULATION: None.
It is known that there are an infinite number of worlds, simply because there is an infinite amount of space for them to be in. However, not every one of them is inhabited. Therefore, there must be a finite number of inhabited worlds. Any finite number divided by infinity is as near to nothing as makes no odds, so the average population of all the planets of the whole Universe is also zero, and that any people you may meet from time to time are merely the products of a deranged imagination.
5 MONETARY UNITS: None.
In fact there are three freely convertible currencies in the Galaxy, but none of them count. The Altairian Dollar has recently collapsed, the Flainian Pobble Bead is only exchangeable for other Flainian Pobble Beads, and the Triganic Pu has its own very special problems. Its exchange rate of eight Ningis to one Pu is simple enough, but since a Ningi is a triangular rubber coin six thousand eight hundred miles along each side, no one has ever collected enough to own one Pu. Ningis are not negotiable currency, because the Galactibanks refuse to deal in fiddling small change. From this basic premise it is very simple to prove that the Galactibanks are also the product of a deranged imagination.
6 ART: None
The function of art is to hold the mirror up to nature, and there simply isn’t a mirror big enough--see point one.
7 SEX: None.
Well, in fact there is an awful lot of this, largely because of the total lack of money, trade, banks, art or anything else that might keep all the nonexistent people of the Universe occupied.
However, it is not worth embarking on a long discussion of it now because it really is terribly complicated. For further information see Guide Chapters seven, nine, ten, eleven, fourteen, sixteen, seventeen, nineteen, twenty-one to eighty-four inclusive, and in fact most of the rest of the Guide.”
Okay, so that was the excerpt. If it doesn’t spark your interest in reading the actual series then you are a Vogan. If you don’t know what a Vogan is, then read the series or watch the movie or BBC television series to find out.
