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

Hi Jill,

I just thought I would drop you a note telling you that I am off on my NY trip on Saturday and that it's been a while since we last conversed. I'll be incommunicado for the first 10 days or so, and then off to lovely Edinburgh.

I know you have had your family troubles to contend with (hope that they are proceeding to a satisfactory conclusion) but I was wondering...did I do something to offend you? It's just that in the times you have been on you haven't actually seemed to acknowledge me. Apologies if I'm reading too much into this, but I'm a pretty straight talking guy and we seemed to be getting on ok. I was concerned that I may have done something to offend/horrify.

One of my pitfalls seems to be honesty. That sounds bizarre, doesn't it? I have a tendency to get myself into trouble at work by not being deceptive or evasive. That's why they took me off the Assurance team as I would tell the clients as it was and not what the company wanted them to hear. Bad business , apparently, but you can't expect people to hand over 8 million pounds on the basis of a few management-speak phrases.

Anyway, if I'm reading too much into this, sorry. If there is something I have done or said, let me apologise for that too, but let me know what it is so that I don't hack others off with it.

Jamie.

Your turn on the watching rota, is it, Jamie?

Have you offended me? Well, no, not personally; but then, not an awful lot does

I don't feel I owe you any explanations, really, as to why I stopped conversing with you, but to set the record straight, here goes.

You first arrived by jumping straight into a conversation between myself and Alpha; now, generally, in forums, as in "Real Life" it is not customary to interrupt quiet chats, but I put it down to mere newbie enthusiasm. So I started another thread to you to converse.

My first thought, when I "met" you, was that your writing style was very similar to that of a particually obnoxious Troll we, as a community on H2 had problems with just prior to your arrival; a really nasty creature calling him/herself *.

So I was pretty wary to start with - but I thought "Naw.. give this researcher a chance.

So we conversed.


In "our" thread (as such) you were charm and sycophicism itself - which again, made me rather wary.

What's this youngster want to chat to a boring old f@@t like me for I thought?

But the inconsistancies became glaringly obvious - the impression you gave of your age ranged from mid/early twenties to 45 plus; there you were watching "Sharpe" in your early teens,(1980s/early 90s, if I remember correctly) whilst simultaneously and at the same time, claiming to another mate of mine (spike) that your father had attempted to take you to a recording of The Goon Show (last recordings were late 1950s/1960s) I could go on, but hell, why waste virtual ink?

I was already smelling a large rodent.

And then there were your constant interruptions to Alpha's thread to me. And your persona changed to that of a taunting, and rather vicious little boy. Not young Mr Honest and Principled as you portrayed in the "Morning" thread.

I don't like inconsistancies like that.

They make me suspicious

Add to that your constant probing and questioning as to what I knew, what I thought of Alpha. I'm fairly sure I suggested that you sorted your differences out back in June - and frankly, even if you asked a straight question to Alpha (or anyone else on this site, come to that) and they choose not to reply, you don't have a god given right to bludgeon an answer out of them. Silence doesn't always mean a person's lying. Sometimes it means that they aren't willing to tell you anything.

It is not - and never will be in my nature to discuss ANYONE behind their backs; if I am not prepared to say it to their faces, then I will not say anything atall. I'll do all I can to evade the issue, or smile sympathetically, but you picked the wrong person to get information out of. I'm a bit of an odd ball that way. I just don't gossip or back bite.

Snitching and tittle tattle - or immediately believing what I am told (BY ANYONE) lost it's appeal for me around 40 years ago love.

The really funny thing is, I probably know more about the private lives of more members of this forum than a lot of people realise - and I feel honoured and priviledged that they have chosen to tell me things about themselves

And the reasen they tell me?

It may possibly have something to do with the fact that I know how to keep quiet and not betray confidences.

Despite the fact that I *do* waffle on an awful lot

As you may well remember, that was not the case, Jill. I originally spotted the reference to games after going through several other forums. I was looking for games chat, originally. I thought I could contribute on your game choice for your lads. I did apologise for the interruption (my father at least taught me good manners) and as a newbie you did forgive me this transgression. That was always very much appreciated.


Well, as you may or may not know now I was not this individual you suspected me of being. If you had doubts, then you could have had me checked out by the ACEs. Or, heaven forbid, you could have asked me. I will willingly submit my details to the ACEs and give my consent for this in order to prove your assumption incorrect. They may contact me at their leisure, but you have my permission to set the ball rolling and we can have this posted somewhere publicly to quash any rumours that may have been spread.

One of my jobs here is risk management. We have to know that our system will work and what possible mitigations and contingencies need to be in place to stop this falling over. We have people in our management team who invent risks that have absolutely no bearing on the matter at hand. They do this for three reasons. One, they need to feel they are contributing. Two, they mean to create problems for others to deal with. Three, they are rather paranoid and see risks everywhere. I don’t know what category you fall into, Jill.

As to why I stayed for the chat...I thought you were very interesting, and I still do. You are a very talented and diverse person, and I was sorry to lose you as someone to converse with. I chatted with a few others on this site, but without disrespecting them, I did not find them as interesting or worldly wise as yourself. I am upset to learn that you were duplicitous from the start it seems.


As to my age, I’m in my twenties. Sharpe was on the television in 1993/1994. I know this as I am fully aware of when my dad died and my life changed. The dates are rather hard to forget. If you will be able to access the post I made to Spike you will notice that my dad did try to get me into the Goons, but could never have taken me to see them for the reasons you describe. At no time do I mention going to see them. I have seen them on the television in repeat broadcasts or on comedy shows, but that is all. Dad had a large collection of audio tapes (The Goons, Round The Horn, etc) that he used to sit and giggle to and at times Radio 2 would broadcast repeat shows of The Goons and I remember he was feverishly taping those. These were the only format he ever used to try and get me into the Goons, so I don’t know where you are getting your facts from.


I was curious about Mr Alpha as I explained to your friend Spike because he used the phrase Dragon Slaying for day to day work. I know someone else who uses that phrase a lot and I took off on Mr Alpha for it. There was also something else about him that reminded me of this man (an arrogant, bigoted user) and it struck a chord with me. All my attempts at reconciliation with Mr Alpha failed, and he sought to undermine or ignore me. Do you remember his first comment about my first post? It was like he owned you and that if you need to know anything about games, you could should ask him. Perhaps he considered me on his territory. I do not know. You yourself admitted you were unsure about him. Perhaps this was merely a ruse to get me to admit something you could use against me.

I was contacted recently by someone on here and he has since been able to correct me on a few things. He has put me in touch with others who have similar misgivings to myself. It has been a tremendous relief to know that I was not the one in the wrong.


I do not want anything more to do with you. Do not post anything on here with my name on it again. If you do I will have it removed.

When you somehow reached these conclusions and had me hung drawn and quartered, you effectively abandoned me. I do not forgive that.

This is to state that I found your post (or some comments within that post) to have over-stepped the boundaries of the spirit in which H2G2 was created.

I will not discuss this because of the risk of disrupting the well being of the site as a whole, but I also cannot leave what was said unchallenged. To do so would imply tacit acceptance.

So I am letting you know that I strongly disapprove of what was said and I hope you will abstain from posting any similar comments in future.

Just to say that this:

"I do not want anything more to do with you. Do not post anything on here with my name on it again. If you do I will have it removed."


... is a bit dubious. If it breaks the House Rules, the Moderators will remove it. But you won't.

Okay?