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

Thank you Gnoman for your kidn words.

Go well,

Christiane.
AR80

PS. another research topic for an enterprisint cardiologist. !

Apparently Terry Pratchett, who has had a stroke,n
transposes the last two letters in many of the words that he writes.

I find that I am doing the same thing. Up to now I have been correcting them (which I did in the word "kind" which I initally wrote "kidn")

Apparently some cardiology boffins think/know that this is a sign that the writer has suffered a stroke. !! Which I did ( as you probably remember) last year. But they have even given "my" stroke a name. It is a Temporal storke. This means that eventually I shall just be a ratlling old tin, not knowing who I am or where I am.

Great thought for growing old. !!

"n'est-ce pas mon ami?" - "Is it not, my friend"

Well I shall continue with my thanks. I remember that you said that it would take ages. You forget that I live alone and literally once my carer has gone out of the door, I see no-one until the next morning. I do not mind, because I have my friends on my computer. So forgive me if I do continue to thank people for comments they bother to put on line. !! I know you will.

Sincerely,

Christiane.
AR80
"!

Dear Lil, auntie giggles,

Thank you for your comments. They were much appreciated. I think what I was trying to say was that, although I had just spent six months living in France, speaking French with al my relations, I had absolutely no idea that war was imminent.

I am trying to determine why.

Was it because I was

a.privileged
b Caucasian
c Frenchspeaking
d.Stupid
e had other things on my mind.

I never got over my fear though.

I was just terrified, but I had to grow up becaus my Maman just gave up the ghost and took to her bed.

So I hope that I have the right to add

f. will accept responsibility

to my list. !!

I love the photos which GB has placed on the net. Who on earth is tht dreadful looking masked person.

No! of course I do not want you to tell me. It adds a air of mystery to the whole exercise.!!

Have a good day. !!

Much affection


christiane.

Dear Christiane,
Unless he had a second family after he deserted his first AND somehow we find each other, I won't know much more about my father's father. I only just recently found out what looks to have been the year and place of his death (1986, Lansing, Michigan). He never actually finished his service ("borrowed" a vehicle and went AWOL, resulting in court martial), and he was a rascal at the very least when he got home.

I don't know if it's much different to be a civilian or in uniform during war. Of course war is ugly and stupid (by this I mean prevention would be smarter, not that once things are set in motion war is avoidable) to both if they are thinking properly. I just don't know. I don't come from a large family, and that and other factors mean my exposure to more recent military activities is quite limited. It's different to actually know people who have been affected than to read about it, so I don't know much.

Dear Jules L

Please do not put yourself down. You asl the questions. that is wnderful.

\now, if you cannot find the answere, do some research. !!

surely you can get a copy of his death certificae, then a opy of his previous marriage certiciate - -if there is one. !!

I am lookind forward to your posting on your "rascally" grandfather!!

Perhaps he was sad, depressed,



JulesK, Do you have the saying in the States of

Troubles shared are troubles halved?

'Tis true, my dear.

go well,

Christiane.
AR80

Dear Neil,

What a charming letter.

Thank you so much. I went to your home page, and was a bit disconcerted.....probably you meant me to be. !!

anyway, it is great to hear from you - I wonder what your kind of humour is? I think perhaps I also have that kind of humour?! for me it is the way to cope with advancing age, with all it's attendant problems.

Another of my Papa's remarkrs.

"Laugh and the world laughs with you
"Cry and you cry alone. "

Sadly generally true.

Now back to thanking my friends for their kind remakrs.

go well, new friend, and I hope to get to know y9u better and I hope you will be happy on this wonderful website.

sincerely,

Christiane
AlsoRan80
(the reason for my name is that I have always been second in my life - never top of the pops!) It used to bother me p thank goodness it no longer does. !!

Hi WS

Thank you for your so generous renarks,

I was asked to write about my experiences during the time I was doing research in S.A. and became a phenomenolgist. You probably remember that that is the theme of the article which was commissioned.

In that very revealing article I actually say that had I been a man in either WW1 and WW2 I would have been either shot as a coward or sent inumerable white feathers, The sign of course of a coward. well, probably I am a ciward, but I very definitely do not think- like you - that problems are solved by war.They, of course, enrich those who manufacture arms and ammunition. But a lot of pople lose their lives.

So why don;t you write about your experiences during the war. but you were too young to remember, being I should think about the age of my children. !!

The problem is that the way societies are structured old people are past finished, gone, a la John Cleese. !!

Howeer, the bigger problem is that my grandchildren are probably going to live to be a 100 and unless society learns that there is a poace for old people from whom one can listen and possibly learn, they are akk giubg to be consigned to the scrap heap long before they are due.

In the kalahari I believe, the old members of the tribe,when they can no longer work actually walk away from their dwellings to take themselves oFf to die in the desert. I belive it is generally of thirst. Now this might have changed, but it certainly was the custom amongst the KALAHARI BUSHMEN - a word I dislike using because it seems as if there are no women. !!/ amd yet I am not a rampant feminist. !! I would never have had the courage to tie myself to railings in order to get the vote. And yet that was done just before |I was born - in the first quarter of the 20th century.
Have a wonderful day and thankyou for your generous posting.

Affectionately


~Christiane AR80

Apologies for the errors. !!
I tried!

CME

Friday 4th September 2009 - 9.15 2009 BST

Dear Christiane,

Re: Post 22.

Your parents kept your innocence. Yes, you grew up suddenly, but they at least tried to shield you from what was happening in places that would have been 'far away' from you had you gone straight home.

Children seem to lose their innocence far too soon these days. Yet, for their own safety, they have to be told things you wouldn't have heard about until your teenage years... Such a shame in my opinion.

Don't beat yourself up about it

love,

lil xxx

Dear Christiane,

Thank you for a lovely reply, but I am sorry that you were disconcerted by my home page. My sense of humour is mostly harmless, but it has the potential to be misinterpreted in a written format. I probably do use it as a coping strategy. As someone (I forget who) once said, 'Laughter is the best medicine'.

I would be honoured to get to know you better, as your posts are always interesting. I hope to see you around. This site truely is enormous, I don't think I have scraped the surface yet.

Best wishes,

neil

Christiane, I'm skeptical of the idea that transposing letters is a sign of a stroke. With me, it is a sign that I tried to type too fast, and my fingers slipped.

Crhistian What a wonderfully written journal and thank you for sharing these precioius memories. Brings back memories of my mam telling about how as a nurse she went with the other nurses when the sirens went off in the Newcastle RVI and they all went down the basement. There was one bomb that landed on Newcastle and that was at the bandstand in the park at Manors which is about a mile and half away from the hospital that my mam was at. Whenever my parents travelled to South Africa they always went by ship and coming back to England they used Southhampton port on the odd ocassion Tilbury.

Kat

Ocean travel may make a comeback as rising gas prices make airplane travel unaffordable for most people. Barges are the most efficient way to carry loads. They're more efficient than trains, which are four times as efficient as trucks.

Maybe technological advances will cut the time it takes to sail across the Atlantic.

Christiane, your posts set us all thinking as you can see!

Man's inhumanity to man seems to know no bounds, even today. Thanks to everyone for filling in with bits of personal history, it is fascinating.

Websailor <dragon

Thanks for sharing these memories, Christiane.

I'm fortunate to live in a county that this year marks the 200th "anniversary" of peace and the fact that our country was split into two halves, Sweden and (some 110 years later) Finland (that was part of the Russian Empire at first). Not far from where I live the last battle on Swedish ground took place on August 19th 1809.

The Queen Mum, who is about your age, has told me about how the war affected their daily life with Gramps in the Army down the South and Nan at home with three young children to provide for.

May I add you to my list of friends?

I didn't know you were on speaking terms with the Swedish royal family!

Of course I am - I do speak with my Mum quite often

>>Apparently Terry Pratchett, who has had a stroke,n
transposes the last two letters in many of the words that he writes.<<
I do this all of the time. I thought it was typos and then realised that I did it when I wrote with a pen as well!

I think it's typos in both cases, Vestboy. But I could be wrong.

I'm sure I used to be able to write things correctly!
I may ask my doctor to see if there is any sign of anything wrong with me noggin before I just put it down to old age!