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

Ooh, just remembered I have my BCG scar to this day, right upper arm.


What's a BCG?

I know I got a polio vaccine, but I don't have the characteristic target that my parents have. I think it was just a single shot, instead of the child-scarer.

There's so many misconceptions about health care that I don't know where to begin. Let's just say that there's not enough time in the world to argue with idiots... What's the quote? If you argue with an idiot, listeners might not know the difference?

> A discussion about morning routines and breakfast habits led FG to wonder why no-one was admitting to getting some early morning mattress action.

Heh... I should admit that these days my action tends to be in the morning. I'm just too sleepy to work up any enthusiasm at night.

> sweetcorn growing at the end of my garden

Personally I think the best way to eat sweet corn is to peel it and throw it on the grill, until it's got nice brown marks all over it. Yum! The roadside vendors around here serve them with chili powder and salt and lime... I think they call them elotes...

It's 2.30am. Why am I *still* playing guitar hero?

I an sorry for being so tardy after registering to the Atelier, but RL tends to get in the way. So, in response to the backlog:

Lil: it is great you carry a phone with you, these situations are when mobile or cordless phones are invaluable, even if I hate the nonsense talked through them on public transport, usually at an unacceptably loud level. They certainly do have good uses. Very glad to hear that there were people on hand to help you out, & I am happy to hear you are doing better.

Having a ride on a horse-drawn coach is definitely special in this day & age - it sounds great, back to basics & all that stuff, eh? I am so envious. I love the look of horses, but having been thrown so many times in my youth, it would take wild horses to get me back on them.

Marv: "I put the word out that I am susceptible to bribery quite a while ago, and that the form of the bribe should be single malt. It appears that someone took my jest to heart."

Obviously you do a good job & are appreciated. I say, Enjoy!

V: "I caught up with a LOT of relatives (and met some new ones) as we went to my sister's 50th Bday party and my father-in-law's wedding!"

I an glad to hear the wedding went well. I had to laugh at that, as last time I met the relatives (cousins, 2nd cousins etc.) was at a family funeral. It was only then that I discovered my grandfather had been a bad boy, fathering a relatively unknown branch of the family. Well, it amused me anyway, as my elderly relatives had actively saught to keep this from the younger generations. I felt that the secrecy of grandfather's infidelity was ultimately more destructive than the fact it happened at all. Maybe I'm wrong on that, who knows the right answer?

Kelli: Insomnia is a b*tch for whatever reason. I hope things eventually settle down. Apparently, I spent the first 18 months feeding, then sleeping whenever I was put down - otherwise termed as a 'good baby' by my parents. Just look at how I turned out, so the sleeplessness may be compensated for later on. But I do appreciate how hard it is.
Also, as regards innoculations, I have seen how hard it can be for some parents - to give or not to give? Most of my friends with kids have had them done with no apparent problems. However, for one little lad who didn't have the innoculations, he unfortunately developed some blindness following a bad bout of measles. As you can imagine, the parents blamed themselves. The fallout is ongoing. It can be a difficult decision for some parents, and I feel for them. Ultimately though, if I had children, I would want them to have the innoculations rather than not have them.

Beatrice: "The most surreal moment of my weekend was on Sunday morning, in a bunkhouse on a remote part of Skye. Seated around the old collapsing miscellany of battered sofas and chairs were about a dozen rufty tufty bikers, nursing hangovers and discussing what needs to be organised for a major bike trip to Africa next January.

They all became aware of a faint buzzing noise, and turned round to see another biker wandering around the lounge with an electric toothbrush in his mouth.

No words were spoken."

No words were required, really. Class.

Mrs Zen: How was the Banksy exhibition? I absolutely love his subversions of the accepted norms, he must be an amazing person to go down the pub with - I would be first in that queue.

Montana Redhead: Apologies for any mistakes I have (& surely will make in the future). I share your (hope that's right) frustration at the misuse of the English language. The one which aggravates me the most currently is the use of 'as' instead of 'has'. Cringe. It is actually more common that I had imagined, even within so-called 'professionals'. I fail to see how someone can be considered a 'professional' using this basic a mistake, but hey ho, what do I know?

I am sorry for the length of this post, but things move at such a fast rate here. I like that.

>>If you argue with an idiot, listeners might not know the difference?<<

Lentilla, would you mind if I pinched that quote, It is a cracker.

Bribe of in the post.

Getting everything together for a trip is hard work, it is even harder when it's only you because your spouse is helping a child with homework.

I know people who avoid looking into their geneology in fear of discovering long hidden secrets of that nature...

GDZ, here's a pat on the back (*pat-pat*) for getting things together for the trip.

Can I just say that after all the that this *summer break* has thrown at me, I am now feeling

Being a child of the (late) 80's I was probably one of the first to get an MMR vaccine, apparently though some of us didn't get the two shots required so were given it again at around age 17 I know I had a tetnus, polio and diptheria vaccination in my last few years of school too, a shot in the arm and some gunk that tasted like salty soap powder on your tongue (I'm guessing this was the polio one) this was less than ten years ago, but more than five. Definatly got my BCG jag too, but I have no scar from it as most do.

mini

V, yes, it is a very thorny question, but my personal feelings are that that denial of an illegitimate branch of the family should not be ignored - they exist & should be acknowledged. The illegitamite line of my grandfather's are ignored by the 'family' for the most part, but they carry my grandfather's name (as they should, in my opinion). Therefore, they are a part of the family, whether the family keepers of moral values accept that or not.

Ultimately, they are related to me, (however the law sees it) & I would love the opportunity to get to know them, but family mores dictate that I don't. A rock & a hard place

Did we have the prickly thing, MR? Gosh, it's been so long since most of my vaccines I don't remember what was what. The exception is a tetanus shot. I had my last one in 2002. Unlike the previous one--1990, I think--my arm and shoulder didn't ache for days. I *do* remember that ache.

I had a tetanus shot last year (just couldn't get out of it this time) and you're right, it does't hurt NEARLY as much as it used to.

I've had a good day. The meeting with my advisor went better than I thought it would, I got a retroactive pay increase that got deposited a month early, and D was elected class representative for the student council.

The first two were cool, but that last one...dang. Was it really barely over a year ago that I was despairing of her going back to school here, and hating the thought of subjecting her that torture? I LOVE her new school!!!!

*mumbles and grumbles something about a failed back-u*

IIEM, a Mog's special please - and make it strong this time!

Glad to hear of the retro pay increase, MR. And great news about D -- it's nice to know her previous CA school hasn't soured her on participation.

I got the polio sugar-cube, in a long line in the hallway of my elementary school. I got a measles jab, don't know I've ever had one for chicken pox (which I had twice, last time as a 40-something!).The round prickly jab I got in my thigh, not my arm. Don't remember when it was done.

The health services ought to report how many kids *weren't* vaccinated and what has befallen them: measles, polio (it's back, you know), TB, meninhgitis, diptheria, and all the other diseases that used to cause premature death, life altering side effects and the like. I don't know as I think vaccinations should be opt-out, as the population density goes up in the big cities.

Hmmm, had no idea I was so ranty this late at night.

The most alien landscapes on earth:

http://www.uniquescoop.com/2009/08/most-alien-landscapes-on-earth.html

Neil: I felt that the secrecy of grandfather's infidelity was ultimately more destructive than the fact it happened at all.

V: I know people who avoid looking into their geneology in fear of discovering long hidden secrets of that nature...

But surely those are the very secrets you want to find!

Mind you, my family do not know All There Is To Know, and I see no reason why they should. It's not that I actively want to hide things from them it's more that I don't see any reason for or benefit in sharing. And of course it amuses me, but then so many things do.

Banksy was good thank you Neil, and I am very glad that Z voted for the three hour queue. Mind you, I think that the gallery stuff is over-rated and under critiqued, but the street art stuff is beyond awesome. But then I genuinely like graffiti, especially now that so much of it is of such a high standard. It humanises othewise grim and soulless urban environments. And better a spray can than a crack pipe. I spent far too long clicking through this last night: http://www.bristol-street-art.co.uk/ How can anyone think that those artists aren't artists?

Yay! for the pay increase MR. That's good news.

Eep! Time for work.

I cant say I am with you on the graffiti appreciation Ben . Its my experience that if they have got a spray can in one pocket , they have a crack pipe in the other . Graffiti is what they do while they are between burgling houses .

Morning all

Have got eyelids on matchsticks today as have been more or less awake since 2.30

I have decided not to argue with the idiots, I won't change their minds. I have posted something along the lines of what Mol said about survival rates and left it at that - I just didn't want new mums to be overly influenced by the lunacy.

t'Boy just told me he loves me I think becauce I made him a 'babycino' ie steamed milk, while I have my cappucino. He is ridiculously excited about it.

So McKinsey are suggesting that the NHS should lose 1 in 10 jobs. Are the management consultants so very divorced from reality that this wass the most obvious way to save money in the nhs? And do they only have one response? This is their suggestion every time anyone hires them which leads me to wonder why the govt hired them. Is it so that they can later say the cuts they do make aren't as bad as those proposed?

Mornin All

Showery, cool 11.5 DegC, windy, not Summery.

Inoculations used to be part of the work routine when I was travelling to the Far East and Africa; Cholera TAB, Yellow fever, Hepatitis etc.