Journal Entries
Teeth, Dentists and other such things
Posted Feb 27, 2002
Today, for the first time in ages, I managed to get out of the Dentist's chair without any new fillings littering my mouth. I know that, for some, this is a regular event, but for me it is not - I always get stung with yet one more lump of metallic gloop (or, if I'm feeling vain, Porcelain gloop) shoved down a gaping hole in my teeth. To be fair, the reason this seems to happen regularly is probably because, in the past, the actual act of going to the Dentist has been far from regular, but hey...
To what do I put my good fortune down to? Regular brushing with a funky new electric toothbrush, I guess (how can one go wrong given enough electrical gizmos?).
However, the experience has left one question. What the heck did people do before hygienists were invented?
When I was young I don't ever remember seeing a hygienist. Now, though, I am told that I must go to the hygienist every six months (and if I don't the Dentist may strike me off his records).
The good news is that by visiting the hygienist so often one may be able to avoid the trauma of actually seeing the dentist. However, to balance out this small comfort, the hygienist charges twice as much as her more medically qualified counterpart.
So, have hygienists always been around, or are they a new invention. If new, is the general quality of teeth in the country going up, or is it just the general wealth of dental practices?
On a similar vein - Floss. Wouldn't have been able to pick it out from a line-up 5 years ago, yet now I'm told that even one day without flossing will mean imminent deforestation of the mouth. Did I just live a deprived child hood, or is there a conspiracy among dental practitioners?
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Latest reply: Feb 27, 2002
Personal information
Posted Feb 27, 2002
Okay, here is a little bit more information about me.
My name is Edward Harrison, and I was born in Greenwich, London. The next 19 years are really a blur of family life (mother Jill, father Peter and elder brother Robert), school (Christ Chirch, Shooters Hill until the age of 8, followed by Colfe's, Lee, until 18) and, in the later stages, swede rolling (whereby the smotthness of a Swede could be tested by seeing how far down Shooters Hill one would roll before colliding with pavement).
The next few years saw a sudden transplant from the bowels of South East London to the less temperate climate of St. Andrews and it's University. Having gone to get a degree in Astronomy and Astrophysics (Trillian was clearly an early influence on me), it seemed only right that I would leave with a degree in Computer Science, which seemed easier due to its lack of complex Maths.
The end of University heralded yet another transplant of location - this time to North London and the, reasonably temperate, climate of Enfield. Here I found solace (and salary) in the depths of a "world reknowned" software company (world reknowned in the sense that you almost certainly won't have heard of us, so I won't mention the name here).
And that is basically where you find me now (quite literally, as I am obviously using work resource and time to fill in this journal entry). Whilst at work I have managed to find myself both a house (in Enfield) and a fiancee (also in Enfield). Apart from that, though, there is not much else to say (for now at least).
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Latest reply: Feb 27, 2002
Something for the archives...
Posted Sep 20, 1999
So, in a fit of boredom I finally get round to writing my first h2g2 journal entry. After the all the good intentions, now I actuall get here I'm struck by the question "What do I write"?
Maybe, as this is my first time, I ought to say a little about myself. My name is Edward Harrison (Ed to almost everybody except my parents) and I'm a 26 year old who originally hails from South East London.
The majority of my life was spent living on the top of Shooters Hill (5 Shrewsbury Lane, for any future historians) with my parents (Jill & Peter), occassionally my brother (Robert) and, through the years, a number of wonderful cats (Whisky, Pussy, Fleekie, Harvey and Purdy).
Having initially schooled at Christ Church Primary school, Shooters Hill, I then went to Colfe's School Lee until I was 18. After a reasonably worthless "gap year" I travelled North to the University of St. Andrews where after four years of toil I obtained a degree in Computer Science.
I left St. Andrews and started working for a Software firm called Data Connection and that is where I am now - living and based in Enfield (having made the major move from South to North London). Although unmarried I do live with a wonderful woman called Gemma who has been my partner for over 18 months at time of writing.
So, that's who I am.
I guess any readers may be wondering why I have bothered writing this stuff (I'm sure you're not that interested...). I guess the reason is because of something I watched on TV a couple of weeks ago. Sad as it no doubt sounds, this entry is dedicated to an episode of Star Trek Voyager!
Let me explain - the episode in question (I think it was called 11:59pm or something) showed the story of one of the character's ancestors. The character in question (Capt. Janeway if you're interested) knew that her ancestor was an important engineer involved in some famous architectural and scientific project. Throughout the course of the story it turned out that the ancestor, whilst being involved in the project concerned, had had a much less important role to play that Janeway had been led to believe.
All very well. The thing that struck me was the difficulty Janeway and her crew had in finding information on this ancestor. It seemed almost impossible to get anything on her from the archives - a news cutting here, a birth certificate there, but no real idea of who she was or what she was doing.
So - in order to avoid such a fate I thought I'd try and make at least a small mark on the world. Whether h2g2 will survive in 300 years time is not in my hands, but if it does, it would be nice to know that historians (and our descendants?) can catch a glimpse of life at the end of the 20th century and, more importantly, can begin to know some of the people who lived then.
I can't guarantee how often I will post journal entries and certainly can't promise they will always (ever?) be interesting. But, if anyone is reading this in many years time, I welcome you - and thank you for showing such an interest in my life.
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Latest reply: Sep 20, 1999
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