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

I used to 'collect' stamps when I was a kid. That meant I went out an bought packets of them, readily-prapared, and occaisonaly oeeled them off envelopes. I still got my albums, I ended up with so many Russian stamps it took the mick! I ended up wondering whether they were all genuine or what, then after that it sort of fizzled out.

So, you're a plant inspector...why inspect plants? Is it to check how a species is faring, or to see how these new GM crops are mutating them etc?

Stamp collecting isn't what it used to be...the advent of self-adhesive stamps has made life simpler at bill-paying time, but they are much more difficult to remove from envelopes and preserve in an album...many people who used to collect stamps have given up due to these new sticker stamps. Another problem for stamp collectors began in earnest in the 1980s, when many stamp agencies began developing large issues, with many different images and associated "stuff" to buy...it got harder and harder for a collector to be able to afford to buy all that their favourite country was putting out...Australia is an example...it was costing a couple hundred bucks a year to buy it all.

As for plants...every state has laws governing the movement of plants respective to insects and plant diseases. The same exists between countries. Quarantines are enacted to help prevent the spread of injurious pests such as Imported Fire Ants or Asian Longhorn Beetle within or into our country. These laws and the inspections accompanying them are an important tool so a particular critter, such as Fire Ants (which do not exist, for instance, in Ohio, don't get moved there from a Southern state in a pot of shrubbery, for instance. Inspections are a way of spot-checking to make sure growers and dealers are doing a good job keeping down the bugs and diseases and running a clean operation.

I hope that answers your questions!

John

Tbh, I've never seen any self-stickin' stamps. From what you've said, I figure you're in America. Since I'm in England, might it be that these self-adhesive things are just in your country?
I guess sticking in the stamp with part of the envelope attatched is out of the question. *^_^*

Good job with the inspecting...if you catch any fire ants, burn the buggers for me please. I -hate- those things.

Yup...I be in America...I live in Gray, which is in the ridge and valley province (physiographically)...we're in sight of the "lesser" Smoky Mountains (the Unakas)...about an hour and a half drive from the Great Smoky Mountains...the "valley" is a series of parallel ridges and valleys, some limestone, some shale or slate lying between the Unaka Mountains and the Cumberland Plateau's Walden Ridge escarpment. Within these ridges and valleys are some higher ridges such as Clinch Mountain (an old song goes "Way up on Clinch Mountain I wandered alone...as drunk as the devil and a long way from home"...sung to the tune of the Waggoner's Lad...and the Bays Mountain formation. We live in what I think you all would call a tract development (we call 'em subdivisions)...a former farm off of Hog Hollow midway between the cities of Kingsport and Johnson City (about 50,000 people in each city, which are about 20 miles apart). Anyways, I can drive 2 miles and see all the way to North Carolina and nothin' but mountains to the East...a real pretty view, 'specially in the fall when the colors change.

This area used to be Washington County, North Carolina until 1784, when the State of Franklin was formed...unfortunately, Congress didn't ratify statehood and in 1788 it reverted to NC control until 1796, when Tennessee became the 16th state. Tennessee's some 500 miles long, and is divided up in three regions, West, Middle, and East. The Eastern part is comprised of the Smokies and Unakas on the NC border, then moving westward is the ridge and valley province, the Walden ridge escarpment and the Cumberland mountains, then the Cumberland plateau (sandstone), which at the lower end is bisected by Sequatchie Valley, then you stairstep down to cherty limestone and the Eastern Highland Rim, which together with the Western Highland Rim surround the Nashville basin, formed due to uplift of the Nashville dome (granite) cracking the overlying rocks which eroded down to a real pure limestone which leaves a thin soil after dissolving in rain water. Moving West is the Tennessee river and beyond that's a band of sand and clay deposits from an old alluvial plain called the Coastal Plain soils, then to the Mississippi muck way out west near Memphis. Our area is dominated by parallel ridges and valleys, with the ridges wooded and the valleys in farmland. We're about 30 miles from Bristol International Raceway, which hosts some of the Winston Cup NASCAR events...the rascal seats 137,000 people! Middle Tennessee is rolling hills except the basin which has big flat areas with exposed rock and cedar glades...and West Tennessee is hot, flat, and black...well, it seems that way to us hillbillies...and what's a hillbilly? it's a descendant of the Ulster Scots...lowland Scots from Dumfries and thereabouts that settled in the plantations of Northern Ireland and supported "Billy" (William of Orange...the namesake of the Orangemen you see marching through Catholic neighborhoods each year in Ulster making everybody get pissed off) and later settled in the hills of Appalachia. We can always tell a yankee 'cuz they say Apple ay cha with a long "a" in the middle...we say Apple atch a ...

There must not be anything on TV...gosh I'm rambling!

Your turn! Do you have a page I can read? Tell me about Liz and Chuck and Camille and the rest of the Windsor gang...and what you do in your neck of the woods!

What part of England are you in?

In reference to sticker stamps...

I know that Australia and the US have been producing self-adhesive stamps for several years now...just peel and stick. I guess you could cut around them and stick them in an album, but securing just the stamp would require some kind of solvent which won't harm the ink...too much trouble for ole lazybones here.

That's enough for one breath. Seein' as you are curious enough to read these ramblings, it's Your turn to fess up...

"what's goin' down, bro?"

Later,

the bug guy

Agh!
Well, the unfortunate thing is that I have no idea where any of the places you cite are! *^_^*
You obviously know a lot about your hometown/province. Might I recommend you right a guide entry about it. You've got plenty of information, and I reckon you could make a brilliant job out of it. Simply go to the bottom left of your homepage and click the link that says "Add new guide entry".
If you do do a good job, then it may be worth submitting it.

Now, you want a page to read. Beleive it baby. I see you've already discovered my Watership Down entry.
On my homepage you can see the 20-odd official entries I'm involved with in some way or another. Then there's my 100 unofficial guide entries, plus another 34 that I've subbed and are now just hanging around my list of guide entries. There's plenty for you to read.

I live in Plymouth, which is in the south-west of Endland. In Devon, bordering Cornwall.
There is already an official entry on PLymouth, but imo it sucks. I would try to get it changed, but the problem is not quite with facts, it's to do with style.
The entry has plenty of facts, but these concentrate on the sea-front and city centre. There could at least be a mention of Plymouth Argyle FC in there. And, what about the rest of the city?
It's also a bit pro-Plymouth. It tries to make out that Plymouth is like the Garden of Eden, which it ain't.
I also resent the mention of morris-dancers at the end. There are no morris dancers in Plymouth.

I have a mate on h2g2 who lives down the road from me, and since he knows more about Plymouth than me I'll be leaving it to him to write a guide entry that sorts out these mistakes. It'll be a nice ego-boost for him once it gets accepted too

End of rant...your turn