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

We got the Tempurpedic because I'm a light sleeper, and every time TJ would roll over, I would wake up.

We went to the store to test it out, and the salesperson handed TJ a remote for the adjustable one with the massage. Needless to say, that's the kind we got.

We stayed at my parents' house over Christmas. We prefer to stay in a hotel, but my Mom got bent out of shape that we didn't want to stay there. The beds are awful, and my Dad gets annoyed at everything. But we stayed. She switched around the beds, so not only were we now sleeping in a full-sized bed, but it was a very cheap one. I hurt so much in the morning!

I'm sorry to hear about that, Shea.

In the Ancient World, people tended to sleep on straw spread on pallets. In the Revolutionary Period, Thomas Jefferson slept in a hammock in Monticello. Other options have been feather beds, water beds, and various concoctions of quilts.

I've tried them all but these days prefer my completely horisontal medium hard foam rubber mattress

There's one more option I forgo: Hanging upside by one's feet, and sleeping that way.

I meant "forgot," not "forgo."

yesss master

I was going to ask if you had ever tried sleeping in a hammock, but it appears Pierce has. I did on a campout years ago, I'm quite sure I couldn't do it anymore. We had the canvas ones that tied up between two trees, not the woven ones that have wooden supports on the end to hold them open or a frame to hang from. Good old Girl Scouts

I slept in a woven one 27 times - all in one night

I later learned (from watching a documentary about natives in the amazons) that you should rather lie across a hammock

I'm having a hard time picturing that.

The hammocks there are made for it and adjust better to your body. Actually they are more like easy chairs than beds, if you know what I mean. Lying on the kind of hammocks that we know from comic strips isn't very pleasant for your back, I can tell you

When we were in Florida last year, there was a hammock at the hotel that was strung up between two palm trees. I thought it would be wonderful to relax there, but not so much! I opted for a new-fashioned sun lounger by the pool!

Do hammocks have some sort of mystique? They're better than nothing if you need to rest, but I'd still prefer a bed of futon if one was available.

Perhaps it's the thought of the gentle swaying motion. Like being rocked to sleep in your Mama's arms.

Funny, I was never all that enthralled about heing rocked to sleep. If my bed isn't stock still, I get nervous.

I went on a Windjammer cruise a while back, and one of the things I really wanted to do was to sleep on deck, under the stars, the ship gently rocking beneath me as we sailed to our next destination.

Of course, I picked the night that a storm blew in, and had my blanket in one hand, the mat in the other, the wind blowing them both behind me like sails, and I was staggering back and forth trying to get below decks. Rather funny, actually.

That's just bad timing, Shea. All of us succumb to that from time to time.

I'm very good at it! Lot's of practice!

When I was a young sailor many s ago I was very seasick but eventually managed to fall asleep. When I woke up again the next morning the ship was moored in a quiet little harbour and I instantly went ashore - only to find that now the land - not the ship - was moving under my feet. That's what it felt like anyway. Apparently the rhythm of the waves was stuck in my body A very disturbing sensation!

Luckily I got better after a few hours

Apparently you've become so used to the rolling of the ship that you've risen to the rank of a pirate captain. All hail Captain Pierce!

Thank you