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

Well its been a while since we last exchanged email, has there been anything of interest happen to you.

Over the holidays I took an extended trip by rail and I discovered that I just can't seem to sleep in rail cars. Since the trip each way was almost 36 hours I was subjected to a day and a half of torture.

I am now in the process of writing my senior thesis for my university. I expect that I will be asked to do an oral presentation in the middle of April as part of student scholarship recognition day. The final paper will be due by May 3rd. If nothing else I will have improved my typing speed by the time this is all over.

Just stopped over to say hullo and lvist for awhile to chat.

hi tom, good to hear from you. the site's gone thru a bit of upheaval hasn't it? had to re-register.
going thru the mill a bit at the moment, I've been seriously let down by someone. still not a lot I can do about it. got a piece accepted for the guide - good eh? thanks for popping by
John

Yeah I know about the whole re-registering bit. There also seems to be a confusing amount of other websites connected through the BBC that provide input to this one. So by answering or following messages I've been directed to places I wasn't so sure about.

These of course have multiplied the number of people connected to h2g2 but multiplied the number who have no front page nor do they contribute at all to the content/conversation.

So is pugwash your new sign on? Have you bothered to update you new frontpage? Any news about the situation you told me about earlier?

Keep in touch OK?

yep pugwash is my new sign-on - very confusing isn't it?

I need to restore my projects to my control - don't want to have to do everything all over again!

This latest hiccup hasn't really changed - the person involved has changed her phone number and not responded to emails etc - quite upsetting really. just put it down to experience I guess. doesn't help my mood/stress levels tho!
oh well, hope things are going well for you
john

This is the start of my senior year and I am giving a thesis on Methodism and slavery. I dont know whether or not I've told you this already or not. A 50 page paper and an oral presentation given on April 16th.

Methodism is one of those many things that unites Great Britain and America. The American Methodist church(while it is independent) takes its roots from the British. It has contributed emmensely to the American way of life (too numerous to mention here) but during the 19th century it had to deal with the issue of slavery and the way it dealt with it is similar to the way it is dealing with the issue of Gays in the priesthood (preacherhood?)Poorly

So in some ways I am very stressed also but maybe in a different way. I hope that one of my life's great ambitions is about to be resolved for good or ill and this climatic situation has a specific ending date. The actual paper is due May 3rd for corrections and such as thing like that.

I frequently get on H2G2 late at night here because it is early in the morning there and I can see the many listed name that are online at that time. (8 hours difference I believe).

By the way I havenet yet been able to switch control over to my old front page so if you figure it out let me know

thanks
Tom

what is your course about again?


the quakers' influence on society is very interesting as well - there are many firms in Britain started by Quakers eg Cadbury, Rowntree's etc. They started the practise of fixed prices instaed of haggling. Its all part of our heritage.

Sounds like you're enjoying the learning - I need to get into my medical books.

Keep in touch
John

I am studying history and specializing in the Antebellum America 1800-1861. However my thesis is a special project seniors do as a reqirement for graduation here at university (Willamette).

The quakers were a dissenting group there in England first and many moved to North America when they were persecuted. Wasn't there also a revolutionary who took over parliament who was Quaker?

Anyway, many (not all) historians have credited Wesley with helping Britain avoid the same type of revolution the French experienced during the industrial age (middle 18th century0 turning the ferver the lower and middle classes had into a religious ferver and in turn starting a revival.

GTG
talk later

Hi Tom, going through a difficult time at the moment. Someone I've been in contact with on the net looked me up re what we discussed and said they never wanted to speak to me again so feeling low. worried about that happening in the future. stressed out

trust things are well with you?

I find it amazing the way so called friend can come back and say the most hurtful things. But unless they are friends the hurt just doesn't get through. So we can do without friends or we can deal with the hurt.

I suspect this person wasn't much of a friend. Or they had some unstated agenda and when it surfaced the friendship just could deal with it. I feel for you. Is there some reason this issue has dragged on for so long without some kind of settlement/conclusion? Accusations while provocative are not the basis for any kind of stable situation. Is there anything else you can do to draw this to a conclusion? Get it behind you? Besides sapping your energy it drives people away as evidenced by this situation.

I'm still here and understand, so hang in there as long as you can.

I'm in the middle of writing a paper comparing the Federalist and the Republican and trying to apply their ideology to the work of Laural Thatcher Ulrich "A Midwife's Tale". Dont know if you've read the book but it is about a midwife in late 18th century New England who wrote a diary about her life there in Hallowell, Maine.

At that time the state of medicine was such that the "new thing" was Bleeding. Midwives handled much more than birthes but were herbalists also. This was befor the "professionalisation of medicine" when men took over the whole process of handling pregnancy. The midwife Martha Ballard handled nearly 1000 births with only two deaths. This was in an era when sanitation had not been discovered, and in a frontier area before hospitals.

This diary is one of only a few diaries of any women of the 18th century and it documented the activities of this small town in ways that are unique. The actual diary is written in such a way that I could hardly read it at all, much less get a whole book written about it.

Keep in touch with me, if you need a shoulder...

This person wasn't a friend (all my friends know about what has happened) - just someone I foolishly told my name in an email. Probably a bit foolish in the circumstances. Never mind.

I've got over it now - just a bad reminder of what's happened. Soon will be back to work! Look forward to helping people again.

I love history - your course sounds good. History tells us so much about society and people. Thanks for your support Tom
keep in touch
John

I've been reading a book about something called framing analysis. A way to analyse arguments and understand why people do the things they do. The subject of equity or equality seems like such a simple thing but this author shows how there can be as much as eight different interpertations of this one word, ways of understanding how to distribute things equitably.

Also about the conflict between liberty and security, which right now, while not addressed directly, America is learning the hard way about this difference given our presidents proclivities for security.

This book is called "Policy Paradox" by Deborah Sone

Glad to hear that you're back on track again

That book sounds very interesting, must get a copy. Feeling better about things now, but still not sure about going back to medicine tho. Trust you are well
John

Wishing you all the best whatever happens.

Need to start doing something constructive for sure - change something and get myself out of this rut. Health isn't too great at the moment either which doesn't help - joints and back painful again. Working on my site (http://pub16.ezboard.com/bmedicaladvice4936)