# +++Divide by Cucumber Error. Please Re-Install Universe And Reboot+++ **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 20, 2003, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-by-cucumber-error-please-re-install-universe-and-reboot/202819 "2003-09-20T17:12:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![c\_carol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@c\_carol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_carol)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-by-cucumber-error-please-re-install-universe-and-reboot/202819/21 "2003-09-25T01:46:34Z")
I haven’t read Thief of Time yet, but as I understand it, _ToT_ explains away _all_ of the Timeline inconsistencies in the Discworld. Time is weird on the Disc. The answer to whether SG takes place a hundred years ago or just a few years ago is probably “yes”. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-by-cucumber-error-please-re-install-universe-and-reboot/202819/22 "2003-09-25T01:59:31Z")
**robertliguori** - disable smilies in post, then no need for :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-by-cucumber-error-please-re-install-universe-and-reboot/202819/23 "2003-09-25T02:04:16Z")
Yes, Thief of Time did clear up a lot of continuity problems, didn’t it? I want a procrastinator! Now _that’s_ happening technology! I also long to study the Way of Mrs. Cosmopolite! ---
**Author:** ![rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rabbit)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-by-cucumber-error-please-re-install-universe-and-reboot/202819/24 "2003-09-25T03:29:10Z")
Am I the only one who had been unaware that The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents also took place on discworld? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-by-cucumber-error-please-re-install-universe-and-reboot/202819/25 "2003-09-25T10:58:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dragonblink \* > \*\*Well, I feel better now. I peeled the label off my bottle of multivitamins and labeled it “Dried Frog Pills” with a Sharpie … I had thought myself a total geek for doing that, but now I see I’m not alone. 😃 \*\* Get yerself an apothecary jar, label it (in old fashioned fancy script) “Dried Frog Pills”, fill it with green jellybeans or TicTacs, and keep it handy. You can only take vitamins once a day, while Life keeps handing you events that can only be coped with by using Dried Frog Pills. I’ll have to set up another jar and scan it, so y’all can see how clever I am. ---
**Author:** ![HDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/bb73d2/32.png) [@HDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HDS)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-by-cucumber-error-please-re-install-universe-and-reboot/202819/26 "2003-09-25T11:53:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Get yerself an apothecary jar, label it (in old fashioned fancy script) “Dried Frog Pills”, fill it with green jellybeans or TicTacs, and keep it handy. I love it! I’ll have to add one of those to my collection of little jars of herbs with labels such as Wing of Bat, Eye of Newt, etc. I’m also glad to see others are happy to share their Pratchett books. I thought it was just me, wanting to have someone to talk about how absolutely wonderful he is. After lending a co-worker Wee Free she went around saying, “Crivens!” ---
**Author:** ![manx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@manx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manx)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-by-cucumber-error-please-re-install-universe-and-reboot/202819/27 "2003-09-25T13:51:43Z")
\*Originally posted by c\_carol \* > [@](#): > > The answer to whether SG takes place a hundred years ago or just a few years ago is probably “yes”. 😃 fantastic line - very Discworldly. and thanks for the link, **mkl12** ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-by-cucumber-error-please-re-install-universe-and-reboot/202819/28 "2003-09-25T14:28:55Z")
The Discworld books have inhabited my imagination so thoroughly that I find myself using phrases from them in every day life. Just yesterday I sent an email out about an application being down, and mentioned that a certain coworker was “helping the UNIX group with our inquiries.” No one got it. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-by-cucumber-error-please-re-install-universe-and-reboot/202819/29 "2003-09-25T22:02:57Z")
The thing I love about Discworld is the way Pratchett makes the whole setting feel _OLD_. He incorporates so much real-world myth and legend and obscure religious ritual, but even better is that he incorporates the _original_ legends at the root of the myths and rituals we think we know. And he does it in a way that has me on the floor nine times out of ten laughing. I loved Douglas Adams. _Hitchhiker_ and its companion pieces are works of genius. But Pratchett has it all over Adams for depth. And it’s a depth that looks shallow on the surface, yet… ---
**Author:** ![HDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/bb73d2/32.png) [@HDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HDS)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2003, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-by-cucumber-error-please-re-install-universe-and-reboot/202819/30 "2003-09-26T00:04:34Z")
> [@](#): > > And it’s a depth that looks shallow on the surface, yet… Yes! That is what I love so much, that these wonderful wonderful books grow with you. I love them just as much now as I did ten years ago at 16. I’m seeing things I miss. ---
**Author:** ![Loneraven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c0e974/32.png) [@Loneraven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loneraven)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2003, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-by-cucumber-error-please-re-install-universe-and-reboot/202819/31 "2003-10-23T21:06:02Z")
I’m bumping this thread to save me starting a new one on the same subject. Sadly, my Discworld Quest is nearly over. The timestamp shows I made the above post on the twentieth of September, at which point I had read four Discworld books - a month later, I have read nineteen Discworld books, some more than once. As I said before, everyone is very eager to help when you announce your intention to read these books, so people seem to have been following my progress with interest and I’ve even made converts. 🙂 For Halloween, a good friend is going to a fancy-dress party as Death. Complete with cowl, scythe, and sign that reads “I HAVEN’T GOT A SINGLE FRIEND. EVEN CATS FIND ME AMUSING.” (Two other friends and I are going as War, Famine and Pollution, but she doesn’t know that yet) **Lynn** , I’m remarkably tempted to do something similar and make myself a jar of dried frog pills. And talking of dried frog pills, well… about a week ago, my school had its open morning. Because it’s an independent school, they had people in to discuss assisted places and they were put in a special room with a sign outside the door. The sign read, “BURSAR.” Well, what would you have done? It was late, there was no-one about, so I whipped out a highlighter and wrote underneath: “Dried frog pills twice daily, signed, Archchancellor Ridcully.” The school weren’t happy. Oops. Where was I? Yes… nineteen books down, very few to go. I read them in no order whatsoever, and I’m yet to read Guards! Guards!, Moving Pictures, Carpe Juggulum and Jingo. Oh, and Monstrous Regiment. I’m still very much a fan of Death. And Lord Vetinari. Oh, yes. I don’t understand how he can be unconscious for most of a book and still steal the show, but it would appear he can. In conclusion, I now understand a lot of SDMB usernames. Although I don’t understand why **Lobsang** dislikes his so much. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2003, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-by-cucumber-error-please-re-install-universe-and-reboot/202819/32 "2003-10-23T21:37:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Loneraven \* > \ I have read nineteen Discworld books, some more than once. \ > and I’m yet to read Guards! Guards!, Moving Pictures, Carpe Juggulum and Jingo. Oh, and Monstrous Regiment. That makes 24 and I think the count is now up to 31 books, including _Maurice…_ and _Wee free men_. Then there’s _Good Omens, The Bromelaid_ and the books with\* Johnny\*. And after that, you’ve got _Science of Discworld I+II, the maps, Nanny Ogg’s Cookbook…_. And then there’s re-reading (I’m up to three readings of Small Gods and Good Omens, four of Jingo and five of Hogfather) and the next new book is due out in April. Don’t fret, even if _The Truth_ shall make ye fret. And remember that CATS ARE NICE. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2003, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-by-cucumber-error-please-re-install-universe-and-reboot/202819/33 "2003-10-23T23:06:29Z")
Is this a good time to plug my massive collection of [Terry Pratchett quotes?](http://www.digiserve.com/eescape/closet/Closet.html) ---
**Author:** ![Sonyadora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Sonyadora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonyadora)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-by-cucumber-error-please-re-install-universe-and-reboot/202819/34 "2003-10-24T00:47:21Z")
Watch out for _Wee Free Men_. I read this in England a few months ago, and I’m eager for it to come to the States. _Small Gods_ was my favorite, I’ve read it five times, and I’ve laughed out loud often every time. But my favorite characters are Granny Weatherwax and Sam Vimes. Granny for President! ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-by-cucumber-error-please-re-install-universe-and-reboot/202819/35 "2003-10-24T00:57:18Z")
I have actually tried a few times to plot out an Interactive Fiction title based on characters and locations in Discworld, which I hoped to write in the TADS IF language. The one major thing that has stopped me is that I don’t have a map of Ankh-Morpork, but other minor problems (well, like the whole copyrighted and trademarked and derivative works thing) have sort of got in the way. Of course, I can still think about it, can’t take that away… FISH ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-by-cucumber-error-please-re-install-universe-and-reboot/202819/36 "2003-10-24T05:13:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sonyadora \* > \*\*Watch out for _Wee Free Men_. I read this in England a few months ago, and I’m eager for it to come to the States. \*\* It’s [here](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060012366/qid=1066972841/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/002-1953440-9236826?v=glance&n=507846). > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fish \* > **I have actually tried a few times to plot out an Interactive Fiction title based on characters and locations in Discworld, which I hoped to write in the TADS IF language. The one major thing that has stopped me is that I don’t have a map of Ankh-Morpork** Like [this](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0552141615/qid=1066973037/sr=1-17/ref=sr_1_17/002-1953440-9236826?v=glance&s=books)? ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-by-cucumber-error-please-re-install-universe-and-reboot/202819/37 "2003-10-24T11:05:24Z")
No post from Ponder Stibbons? I read Feet of Clay in August and six weeks later I’d read every thing the library had. Half way into FoC I knew I’d have to read them all and buying 25+ books looked a bit much. It’s an addiction you know. I had a habit before with Neil Gaiman’s Sandman (DEATH is a bit different in the Sandman Universe) The good thing about finding Discword (or Sandman?) late is that you’ve got a mountain of stuff to read/re-read straight off you’re not going cold turkey waiting fot Pterry to finish the next one. ---
**Author:** ![HDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/bb73d2/32.png) [@HDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HDS)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-by-cucumber-error-please-re-install-universe-and-reboot/202819/38 "2003-10-24T12:43:12Z")
> [@](#): > > The sign read, “BURSAR.” In college I used to say quietly (or yell, depending on how silly a mood I was in), “Burrrrrrrsaaaaaaaaaaar!!!” whenever I passed the office. No one ever got it “sniff”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divide-by-cucumber-error-please-re-install-universe-and-reboot/202819.md?page=1)