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

I've been going down memory lane and thoroughly enjoying it. Having engaged a little with a German-speaking researcher, it prompted memories of Bossel, a once legendary Scout, who I met at one of the H2G2 meets in London. By that time, I was a fellow Scout. Here's what he had to say about Scouting:

https://www.h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/brunel/A584246

His organisation and work-rate was astonishing.

Hi Zarquon's singing fish!!!

I often wondered what happened to Bossel. He was so thoroughly involved with the site, then he disappeared absolutely and very suddenly.

It's lovely to see you here. We are rather thin on top these days, and many of the earlier "greats" have gone now.

I hope you are well and thriving and still toastmastering(it was you that was doing that, as well as TRiG, wasn't it?)

Zarquon's ! good to see you back! (some of us are seemingly pereminantly stuck here forever....)

I've never been able to leave. To be honest, I haven't really tried

Hi TC, 2Legs and Gosho,

Good to hear from you.

TC – I don't think we ever learned what had happened to Bossel - he was such a hero of mine in the early days. He just disappeared without explanation, as far as I could tell. I hope he's fine and thriving. That post of his, 'A view from a Scout' says a lot about him.

I haven't done much Toastmastering in recent years, although I was heavily involved in starting my local club and was at one time President of it. The club is still going strong.

2Legs - I have great memories of you from the first H2G2 event I ever attended - that treasure hunt - remember? I see you are having some medical challenges. I hope you are otherwise well.

Gosho - Yes, H2G2 is definitely addictive. I imagine you've seen lots of changes over the years. Are events still held, I wonder?

OK, you've got me - TRiG? I couldn't work out what that stands for.

You may not have crossed paths with him, then. It's just that he was an avid toastmaster at some time.

Unfortunately you have just missed a series of meets. Paperlady Amy is/was visiting the UK and met up with various groups of us in several venues. (I couldn't go but there are pictures and reports on her page)

Thanks, TC,

I will go check her page. I seem to remember she attended events virtually many years ago - great that she got to visit and meet folks.

The meets, asides Amy's visit recently, have been a bit thin of late; well, the population actually on hootoo has gotten very thin....

oh I certainly remember the photo scavenger hunt! that was a good meet.... - whatever happened to all the dutch researchers; they always used to fly over en-mass for the big London meets,

I'm still alive... at the moment that's pretty good considering in the last two or so years I've had cancer, panhypopituitarism, a brain hemoridge, an abdominal aneurysm, err, osteoporosis and ... some other stufff to me but now I'm getting into the gym, and trying to coax my Drs to function like humans, I'm gradually feeling a little bit like myself again err... oddly I'm more ill than I've ever been, yet at the same time, thanks to exercise, fitter than I've ever been since even when I was a teenager - I'm a continually evolving set of contraditions. Oh, and I'm now the only blind transvestite with a moustache in Cambridge. oh, and I got married

Wow - that's a lot of stuff to go through. "panhypopituitarism" - I'm going to have to look that one up.

I was on your team during the photo treasure hunt. We didn't win, did we, but it mas the most fun of all the meets. You told me what happened with that truck and your sight. Do you remember the research called "Consisently inconsistent"?



You got married - congratulations!

yeh, that was a really good meet.... back when the site was busy, so there were loads of people at it - heck I was quite young still back then!

At least with all my medical stuff going on; I barely noticed I turned 40 during the same period!

panhypopituitarism; the pituitary gland (in the brain), packed up, so I don't make a load of hormones; testosterone, growth hormone, thyroid hormone and cortisle are the main ones...

Unfortunately i barely remember the actual wedding - I got really ill the day of the wedding, but somehow, made it to the town hall, did the vows and everything; signed the register; then threw up all over myself, almost went into a coma, and got rushed to hospital! - I missed my own wedding reception - a few brave s souls went to the reception (ate all the pizza), whilst I was in hospital, having I.V., lines put in every vein they could find, pumped full of steroids and saline liquid to get my blood pressure up, and having a rotten time!

Oh, and talking of random things. I'm still not quite sure why I decided to become a transvestite.... thinking about it now, I might have been unduely influenced at the time by the chemotherapy medication but... stuff happens

I just wish the hospital did some kind of reward card... there's barely a department I've not visited in the past three years "save up enough points, get a free amputation...." heck; I even had a scan in the maternity department, - they didn't have another scanner free in the hospital

Was it vogonpoet and deakie .. and... on our team for the scavenger hunt?

Yes, the site had huge amounts of energy going for it in those days. I think you're definitely right about Vogonpoet being one of the team, and it may have been Deakie as the other - sorry to say my memory is a bit faded. You, I remember very clearly.

Wow - that was one hell of a wedding, from your description!! Did a lot of that medical stuff occur as a result of your initial accident? I imagine the panhypopituitarism may have done, as you had a brain injury. You had a scan in the maternity dept!?!

When was it you became a transvestite? Are you still? I always think of you in that hat.

yes; the Drs think the panhypopituitarism was due to the accident in 1993; or more specifically, due to the hemoridge on the brain I had in 1994, (did in my left eye), as a delayed response/result of the accient; they think that hemoridge, leaked, over the years, eventually put enough pressure onto the pituitary and crushed it.

I'm starting to think they're right; since I started GH my nails have been amazing; strong, dont' break; I've never had nails like that all the time I can recall, so assume I lost production of growh hormone very long while ago; and, growth hormone is useually the first hormone one stops producing as the pituitary gets dammaged; quite simply; the cells that make the growth hormone are on the outside of the gland....
over the year sI probably gradually lost some/then all of the other hormones; and it was just a wild coincidence that the moment that got diagnosed, was; a few weeks after being diagnosed with an unrelated cancer, and a couple days after having a random out of the blue second brain hemoridge.
I've no idea how my brain functions.... well, on caffine and alcohol I think is a good bet

I became a transvestite, slowely,in 2015; during chemotherapy and radiotherapy.... I started cancer treatment dressing as a male, and by the end I was wearing a dress... - I really still have no idea why I did it... - maybe my brain is a bit squiffy at times but.. hey, I stick by my descisions, however drue/medacine or illness driven they might be, so... I think I prefer it anyhow... so much more clothing choice... and afterall i can still wear jeans when I want too - just now its moreoften than not with a sparkly top! - and anyhow, a handbag is useful for carrying my emergency cortisol injection and other meds in oops! its midnight; time for my injection of GH <

Handbags are definitely useful.

Interesting about the growth hormone. My nails have always been soft and break easily. Maybe I've been deficient in that department.

Well, something like fingernails can be brittle, soft etc, for so many reasons... I'm only guessing its the growth hormone; but I guess it could be all the suppliments I have to take each day.... calcium, vit D, vit K2, magnesium, zinc, etc., etc., . . but I'm sure the nails really improved when the GH shots started.... the GH we naturally produce tends to reuce with age anyhow, and it can also be afected by things like oestrogen/oestrodyle and/or testosterone I think...

Magnesium and Vit D are very good indeed for bones, together with that other good stuff. It's a good sign.

I'm hoping they might help a bit; problem is the steroids I'm on, kills the cells, in bones, which make new bones; and increases the activity of the other cells, which break down bone... and interfers with calcium absorrpton too, of course, - I had to reduce my calcium intake, as I was having too high a level in blood; demonstraing both that which I ingest isn't being used (put into bones), plus showing all the calcium being rleased from my existing bone matrix its unliekly to reverse the osteoporosis now I have it, as I have to continue taking the drugs causing it, which.. kinda sucks really... but I'm hoping to do what I can to slow it down, with the exercise plus supplements being there... - plus the Drs said I'll go onto drugs that are ment to help build bones up. they did say this six months ago though, and won't talk to me about it anymore, as they're so useless and don't know what they're doing. I've just about run out of actual reasons to see my Drs anymore, they're so unhelpful...

After I broke my leg, I was assessed for osteoporosis and put on tablets, which had nasty side-effects, so I stopped taking them almost imediately and am now relying on magnesium choride baths, Vit D and Vit C and exercise. Possibly I need to review my regime, but I'm convinced it's heathier than taking the meds. I'm not convinced that taking calcium is that beneficial. Magnesium deficiency leads to calcium leaching from the bones.

I'm one of the few people of my age I know who is not on any medicines.

You need to balance the calcium if your taking it, with magnesium, to get the benifit, as I understand; plus the vitamine D3, which helps activate the osteoblasts (build bone), and then the vitamine K2 MK7 has been shown in several trials now, to have as much a positive effect on building bone as some of the actual meds.... was it one of the bisphosphinates (sp?) you were on; they want me on that eventually. The problem I have is that the steroids kill the osteoblasts, so there is less cells availible that build bone, and the steroids also activate and speed up the activity of the o osteoclasts that break bone down. Plus there is some weird effect of the steroids, meaning any bone that is formed, whilst taking them, is intrinsically weaker than 'normal' bone; as the mix of minerals deposited isn't correct, for some reason I hate being on meds.

Catch 22 situation for you.