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

All I can say about worry is this:

Worrying is a bad habit to get into. I only worry about things at the precise moment they go bad. To linger in worry is futile. Worry should be a short bridge to acceptance, or better yet, responsibility(ooh, I hate that word!). The 'serenity prayer' that is used by Believers has some good points: *paraphrasing*

'*** Grant me the Serenity to accept the things I can't change;

The Will to change the things I can;

And the Wisdom to know the difference.'

Don't worry Cloughie your time will come.

I blame women. Adam didn't have a worry in the world until Eve turned up.

Just a step up, and to the left from that, some say that the Mark of Cain, placed upon Cain's brow by God, were, in fact, worry lines.

I don't tend to worry about anything - which is very worrying as it means that I end up not doing anything and not caring.
I've never worried or revised for exams in my life.

Great words DD,why worry indeed.I try to live my life without worrying unduly.i would say that worry probably kills more people than any other single thing,even if only by virtue of the fact that it leads to ailments such as ulcers,addictions,accidents and gawd knows what else.Problems are merely things to be solved or dealt with yet it always amazes me how people get so wrapped up in them selves that they cannot see the wood for the trees.I read a great little book the other week called "tuesdays with Morrie".I would say that it is a great book to read for anyone who worries,there really is no point over and above having concern and respect for yourself and those around you.
Worrying never solved anything.

Yes, well, that can all be true, but... but... but...but...but...but...but...but...but...but... I find it all a little worrying Whahahahahahahahahaaa...!

sorry guys but i just had to. and NNTraveller, ulcers make great conversation if approached with a cold vodka and a sliced herring.

I'm not too worried about it. ~~

The best advice I've heard is that most of the worry in the world is about things that never happen. I couldn't count the number of times I've proven this myself.

Most recently, I had a family doctor look at a bump on my lip, she said better get a dermatologist to look at it. Oh-oh. I've done a LOT of sailing, with the associated sun exposure. The next day was Friday, but I couldn't get an appointment til Monday. So all weekend I worried and scrounged around the Internet finding more ammunition - melanoma is b-a-d!

Of course it turned out to be nothing per the biopsy, but the dermatologist suggested I wear sunblock most of the time (Houston, Texas, USA has a LOT of heavy sun) since there is evidence of sun damage. So now I do that, maybe a good thing in the long run.

You are obviously an extremely interesting person to be with head snot

Absolutely Steve,it either never happens or it is something that one can do nothing about except make it worse by worrying.

Shucks, I dunno.
I know I can talk to myself for hours on end, if that's any indication

There is a third category, which I ran into most often in my career as a project engineer for a chemical plant design/construction company. It is the problem that you KNOW is going to come up, but you elect to worry about it later. Unlike making payments on a loan, later is NOT better ... it is invariably worse, since too many other things depend on the resolution of the problem, and if you wait, those "other things" which were decided on an assumption, have to be changed. At great expense.

Maybe you have to be there to understand, but the moral is don't let a problem fester. Being a little behind in a math course is like being a little pregnant.

COLLEGE STUDENTS START WORRYING WHEN...

You consider McDonalds 'real food'.

4.00AM is still early on weekends.

You'd rather clean than study.

You live for getting mail and e-mail.

Two miles is not too far to walk for a party.

Re-arranging your room is your favourite pastime.

You schedule classes around sleep and TV soaps.

There is less then $4.50 in your bank account at any given time.

The visa cards are full and the overdraft is up to its limit.

Computer solitaire is more than a game, its a way of life.

You get excited when you find change that someone carelessly left in the drinks machine.

it depends on whether the problem is visible or not,if it is then of course,either deal with it there and then and if that is not possible then prepare for i.If it is not visible but you know that "something"may happen then,apart from being alert to the possibility the best thing is to cross the bridge when it arrives.Worrying about a possibility,particularly a negative will in all likelyhood make it happen,whereas a positive approach will result in the problem either not appearing at all or an answer appearing as readily as the problem itself.

Well, although everything you say is true, politics get in the way. The Vietnam War is one example - the Secretary of Defense for the US said in the last year or two that "maybe we didn't do it right" or words to that effect. A monumental tar baby called the Communist Domino Effect.

My example is a large client organization who was not reviewing our designs with the right people. But nobody in my company wanted to face up to the client on this point. Neither did the low level client representative in our office. Maybe it'll be OK. The client eventually got the right people involved, and boy! did they make changes - at a VERY late date. So we crossed that (very expensive) bridge when we got there. In fairness, my company had provided a good design, the client company simply did things other ways (Fords vs. Chevys) - as we finally learned.

As a postscript, the same company gave us their next big job, and I was present when their manager said "No changes just to do it OUR way!" Grim satisfaction on my part.

Of course all the general rules and applications change when dealing with government,corporations,dinosaurs and conglomerates!!

What is a "tar baby"?

A book written by Toni Morrison, Tar Baby is the story of the love affair between a beautiful black model, molded by white culture, and a black man who represents everything she both fears and desires. It sweeps from a white millionaire's luxurious Caribbean estate to the shimmering sophistication of Manhattan to the bedrock realities of the American southland. This is not only a novel of hypnotic, lyrical beauty, it is a revelation of all the shades of feeling and the full spectrum of choices facing women and men in a black-and-white world. (From the Sleeve)

or...... a sticky tar doll, the central figure in black American folktales popularized in written literature by the American author Joel Chandler Harris. Harris' "Tar-Baby" (1879), one of the animal tales told by the character Uncle Remus, is but one example of numerous African-derived tales featuring the use of a wax, gum, or rubber figure to trap a rascal.

In Harris' version, the doll is made by Brer Fox and placed in the roadside to even a score with his archenemy Brer Rabbit. Brer Rabbit speaks to the Tar-Baby, gets angry when it does not answer him, strikes it, and gets stuck. The more he strikes and kicks the figure, the more hopelessly he becomes attached.

The sticky-figure motif is also common in American Indian tales.

Hmmmm, have I got enough for a h2g2 guide entry on "Tar Babies"?

It's a bit of a worry.