I need answers

I’ve almost finished reading The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy to the kids. They’ve discovered that the answer to life, the universe and everything is … 42. And since everyone in the book was justifiably upset at waiting more than 7 million years for such an unsatisfactory answer, they built a computer that took 10 million years to reveal what the question was. But it was destroyed 5 minutes before completing the program …

I feel their pain. My stomach continues to catherine wheel as I contemplate my own meaning of life. And so far I haven’t come up with anything any more satisfactory than 42.

I asked a friend to open a small bar with me yesterday. He wisely declined.

Then I got a whiff of a job overseas. Like that can bloody happen in my current bloody situation.

I also spent the day with Husband painting the deck like nothing was the slightest bit wrong … despite being completely and utterly wrong. Things were so “normal” he even had a shower in his former ensuite and left wet towels all over the floor before swanning off to drinks with friends.

Sigh.

Back to the 42 thing … I was entranced by an article in The Guardian that offered 42 reasons why Douglas Adams was right about it being the answer. Some of them are a bit obscure, so I’m just going to stick to my top 16 … which kinda messes with the principle, but what the heck, click here for the rest.

1. Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert died aged 42; they had 42 grandchildren and their great-grandson, Edward VIII, abdicated at the age of 42.

2. The world’s first book printed with movable type is the Gutenberg Bible which has 42 lines per page.

3. On page 42 of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Harry discovers he’s a wizard.

4. The Doctor Who episode entitled “42” lasts for 42 minutes.

5. Titanic was travelling at a speed equivalent to 42km/hour when it collided with an iceberg.

6. Elvis Presley died at the age of 42.

7. Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear’s spaceship is named 42.

8. Fox Mulder’s apartment in the US TV series The X Files was number 42.

9. The office of Google’s chief executive Eric Schmidt is called Building 42 of the firm’s San Francisco complex.

10. The atomic bomb that devastated Nagasaki, Japan, contained the destructive power of 42 million sticks of dynamite.

11. A single Big Mac contains 42 per cent of the recommended daily intake of salt.

12. Cricket has 42 laws.

13. On page 42 of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Jonathan Harker discovers he is a prisoner of the vampire. And on the same page of Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein reveals he is able to create life.

14. The three best-selling music albums – Michael Jackson’s Thriller, AC/DC’s Back in Black and Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon – last 42 minutes.

15. The element molybdenum has the atomic number 42 and is also the 42nd most common element in the universe.

16. There are 42 principles of Ma’at, the ancient Egyptian goddess – and concept – of physical and moral law, order and truth.

Cool, huh?

Song of the day: Lily Allen “Smile”