Economics 101, A Novel

Monday, August 2, 2021

Economics 101, a Novel, ch 2, The First Semester: pt 4 -- More Togetherness

What else do they do together as they get to know each other, besides attending at-home football games?

On a Sunday evening at Kristie and Bobbie's apartment, the four of them were looking at their schedules for the winter semester.

Bobbie said, "Karel and I have three anthropology classes together next semester."

Dan responded, "Oh, yeah?"

"We have a class in island culture we are talking for credit, and then he's the teaching assistant for a math class in methods of analysis for anthropologists that I have to take."

Karel explained, "They're letting me be the TA because it doesn't make sense for me to take the class, but they need to make sure I've seen the approaches used in anthropology. And Bobbie is going to be the TA in the 'Medicine and Physiology in Other Cultures' class that I have to take."

"For basically the same reasons," Bobbie added.

"So you probably won't want to do a cross-discipline class with Kristie and me?"

"What class would it be?" asked Karel.

Kristie said, "We've had an interdepartmental class in linguistics recommended to us."

Bobbie and Karel looked at each other inquisitively. Bobbie blinked and said, "I think I could do that."

"Me, too. As I recall, it's one that's optionally recommended for us, as well. By the way, what religion classes are you guys taking?"

"Haven't decided," said Dan.

"Let's all take an in-depth class on Doctrine, Commandments, and Covenants together," suggested Kristie. (Similar to the Doctrine and Covenants in our world, as you would guess.)

"Is that the one where they also study the pamphlet Discussions on Theology?" asked Dan. (Similar to our world's Lectures on Faith, of course.)

Bobbie said, "Yeah, that's it. Kristie and I were talking about it yesterday."

Dan said, "Sounds interesting."

Karel was less enthusiastic. "Discussions is going to be talking about an awful lot of things that we're going to have to specifically ask God how to understand. And some of it is considered by some not to be appropriate any more."

Bobbie was insistent. "But it will be interesting!"

Kristie added, "I think it'll fill in some of the things that I'm missing about the cultural."

Karel scratched his head and said, "Culture's not important, but, okay, I guess I'll have to take it with you guys, to keep you all out of trouble." He grinned as the other three groaned. "Just kidding. Are we going to take a dance class together?"

Kristie suggested, "How about folk dance? That should be fun."

Bobbie cocked her head and looked absently at Karel.

Karel raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "I can think of worse things to do.

Dan agreed enthusiastically, and Bobbie smiled a slightly ironic smile and nodded. "I'm in, too."

*****

The next time Bobbie and Karel met at the Anthropology Department offices, Melissa gave them an update.

"I told Winn what you told me about mutual responsibilities, and he was surprised."

"Oh? What did he say?"

"He didn't say much, but he called his ministering brother and talked to him for a while." (Borrowing terminology from Mormon culture again, a ministering brother or sister is someone who is asked to help and watch out for another member. In the Church on Xhilr, they tend to be assigned as couples when possible.) "Mr. Jordan came over with his wife a couple of days later, and they brought their scriptures. They had us read where it says the man is the head of the woman, and where an apostle says women should not speak in church." (We can can find similar verses around 1st Corinthians 11: 3; and 14: 34.)

"Uh oh." Karel said quietly, but Bobbie seemed not to be worried.

"But then they showed us about prophetesses in the scriptures." (In our Old Testament, we have mention of Deborah in Judges chapter 4; and in our New Testament, we have Anna, in Luke 2: 36-38. They had similar prophetesses in their books of scripture.) "And they explained that they thought that not speaking in church must have been for a specific reason for a specific congregation, or maybe in certain meetings. But women speak in your church meetings all the time."

Bobbie nodded her head, and Karel said, "That's right."

"Do you guys have your own Holy Book, or don't you?"

Bobbie looked puzzled.

Karel shook his head. "If you mean our own version of The Holy Book, we use the Authorized Version." (This is corollary to the (Authorized) King James' Version in our world, and, in Xhilr's history, the name of the king who gave it his seal of approval means "supplanter", so "King James Version" would work, but it would surprise too many people. So we'll just go with Authorized Version here.)

"What's the Inspired Commentary?"

Bobbie and Karel both nodded in understanding. Karel spoke first. "Several of our prophets have clarified places in The Holy Book where there were errors made when monks transcribed the original texts, or errors in translation, or where traditions of mortals make it hard to understand." (Note more minor differences between our world and Xhilr.)

Melissa frowned. "But The Holy Book is the word of God. There are no errors."

Bobbie further explained"The Holy Book has been protected by angels and blessed, but every one of God's children has to be free to make mistakes and grow. Even Jesus grew in understanding."

Melissa knit her brow and pursed her lips and named a scripture similar to Luke 2: 52 in our Bible.

"That's right." Bobbie nodded again. "And if there weren't any possibility of misinterpretations or copying errors in The Book, how could we be free to figure it out for ourselves? How could we increase in wisdom?"

"That seems like cheating."

Karel tilted his head. "If it could only be interpreted perfectly, that would be God cheating. We'd never grow."

Bobbie nudged Karel quietly.

"But how can we trust The Holy Book if it has mistakes?"

"How could we really trust it if it didn't?"

"Karel!" Bobbie cautioned him with both word and look.

Karel ducked his head. "Sorry. I always tend to use words too strongly."

Melissa scratched her head.

"Anyway," Bobbie continued for Karel, "The Holy Book was given to us to help us, not to make all our decisions for us. And traditions change, and words change in meaning, and monks make mistakes. So the modern prophets have given us some inspired commentary to help us figure out the harder parts."

"For what it's worth," Karel added, "The Inspired Commentary is not part of our official canon. And we're supposed to pray for help understanding it."

"So your prophet, Increase Wright, said that there was an 'also' too many, and changed a 'for' to an 'if'."

Bobbie looked at Karel. "Does the Inspired Commentary say that?"

Karel raised his eyebrows. "I don't have my copy with me, but I believe it does." (But not in our world. See, as noted above, 1 Corinthians 14: 34 to 37.) "But I think the verse following, 'What? Are you the only source of the word of God?' makes it clear enough to any man willing to listen to his conscience."

Melissa looked a little troubled, but continued. "Then we read where it says that men and women need each other." (The verses she mentioned here were similar to our 1st Corinthians 11: 11, 12.) "And then they pointed out something I hadn't noticed before --" She paused. "-- Hadn't really paid attention to, where Jesus told the apostles that the greatest is to be the least, and the servant of all." (These verses are similar to our Matthew 23: 11, 12.)

Again, Karel and Bobbie both nodded in agreement.

"I guess it does put a different light on the verse, '... as Christ is the head of the man, ...'." She thought for a bun or so. "And then we read some other scriptures about how leaders are supposed to behave, and about how contention is not compatible with the Holy Spirit." (We can find something like the verses she mentioned here in our 1st Timothy 3: 2 and in the Book of Mormon, in Mosiah 4: 11-15 and 3rd Nephi 11: 29, 30.)

Karel asked, "Did they talk about what 'counseling with each other in righteousness' means?"

"I'm not sure about that. I got a little lost at a couple of points. But they did read some scriptures about how being in agreement when we pray is a key to getting answers." (Similar verses can be found in our Mosiah 18: 21, and in our Doctrine and Covenants 41: 2 and 42: 3.)

Bobbie asked, "Did they read a scripture about 'without compulsory means'?"

"They had us read that, too. Those verses are poetry." She smiled hesitantly.

(You might think, if their planet and language were closer to ours, that they had copied those verses from our Doctrine and Covenants 121, starting around verse 37 and continuing to the end. Or that ours was copied from theirs, modulo translation.)

Karel smiled and said, "You have a good ministering couple."

And Bobbie smiled to herself as she nudged him again.

The concept of ministering brothers and sisters is fairly simple. In the scriptures, believers are taught to watch out for and take care of their neighbors. You may be familiar with Jesus' parable about the Good Samaritan in our New Testament, and the verses in Ezekiel about watchmen.

Similar to many other religions, Ehyephoot practice is to instruct the believers to watch over the church and visit other believers, to teach the Gospel to each other, and to help each other not to gossip or fight with each other, etc.

But nobody appreciates a busybody neighbor, and nobody really feels comfortable about just letting a neighbor walk in and start trying to help in a situation they don't understand. To help them visit each other regularly and constructively, and to learn to use wisdom in how they accept each other's help, they Ehyephoot are given specific ministering assignments. And they are expected to seek to be guided by that better, Holy Spirit which lights the conscience, as they go about visiting and helping each other. The are expected not to engage in what we would call "do-gooding".

It doesn't always work perfectly, but in this case it seems to have worked fairly well.

For the record, our four friends also took their turns visiting fellow students in their congregations. In order to avoid the appearance of pairing singles off, single men would do their ministering with another man for a companion, and single sisters would do theirs with another woman. I haven't mentioned such visits because they haven't really played a major part, but it's worth noting that they occurred.

Many of their visits were similar to the chats Karel and Bobbie were having with Melissa, helping each other find answers.

"Winn says he feels a lot more comfortable knowing that he doesn't have to decide it all by himself, and we've been talking together a lot more about our plans for the future."

Bobbie asked, "And he is listening to you?"

"Oh, we sometimes forget to listen to each other, but when we find ourselves arguing, it seems like it's easier now for both of us to back off and think and then start listening to each other again.

Bobbie said, "My parents went through this, too, figuring out that being in charge isn't about being in control, that both spouses have to have freedom, or they can't act responsibly. And children, too. They need both freedom and responsibility, also. It really changed things for us."

Karel added, "My family, too. I think every couple, every family has to go through figuring these kinds of things out together."

And after a bit more talking, Bobbie and Karel went to meet with their professors again.

*****

(An autumnal Thanksgiving holiday must be a near-universal concept in any culture.)

A couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, Bobbie suggested that the other three could come to her hospital over Thanksgiving weekend to be volunteers and help out.

"It's good experience! Changing bed pans, cleaning rooms, doing laundry!"

Her suggestion was met with groans and chuckles, but the other three seemed interested.

Karel frowned. "But my bishop is asking for volunteers to go to the Church Welfare Center, to help in the welfare cannery and store, on that weekend." (More strong parallels between Xhilr and our world.) "I guess it's not as directly people oriented, but it's still good experience, and it's still service."

"But my family is expecting you and me for Thanksgiving dinner, Karel." Dan said.

Kristie looked a little sad.

Karel asked, "What are your plans for Thanksgiving, Kristie?"

"I don't really have any. My parents thought it would be a little far just for a weekend, so we're not getting together. I could volunteer either at the hospital or the cannery, I guess."

Dan thought for a moment. "I think I'll ring my folks up."

Kristie asked, "Long distance charges?"

"We have an arrangement where I call them, and then they call back. It's cheaper to talk when they've called."

*****

A couple of days later, they were talking about Thanksgiving again.

Dan said, "Karel, my folks say they'll forgive us Thanksgiving if we all go there over Wintermas. Kristie and Bobbie, too."

(On Xhilr, the conflation of the birth of the sun god with the birth of the Savior and Light of the World was more openly acknowledged to lack basis in scripture, and what they called the holiday translates to something like Winter Mass instead of Christ-mass. Among Christians, it was still a celebration of the birth of Christ, chosen for winter solstice because they needed a winter holy day, and they didn't have any clear records of the date of the birth of the Savior in their world, any more than we have in ours.

With a little thought, it does become apparent that the Savior Himself probably did not really want to encourage the sorts of idolatry that might tend to develop around such celebrations.)

Karel shook his head. "Sorry, my family will raise a fuss."

Bobbie added, "Mine, too, probably."

Kristie said, "My parents, too. How about New Year's?"

(Where, in our world, Christmas and New Years are separate mostly because of vaguaries in the calendars, in many Christian countries on Xhilr, the new year celebrations had been deliberately moved a week or so away from Wintermas, to provide some separation between the celebrations.)

"I think that would work. I'll suggest it to them."

*****

Dan and Karel cooked Thanksgiving dinner at Bobbie and Kristie's apartment, inviting their roommates Jennifer and Wendy, and Dan's roommate Brad, and Karel's roommate Fred. And they played a card game similar to our Pit, which Karel had brought. Bobbie was covering another nurse's graveyard shift, so they left the party around seven.

At the hospital, Dan and Karel and Kristie put in a late three hour volunteer shift running laundry, to give the staff a head start on the next day, and helped mop the floors.

Dan and Karel left before one, but Kristie got some sleep in an empty room at the hospital and drove Bobbie home before sunup.

(Karel had made arrangements with the dorm mom and his roommate, so they knew he would be sleeping over at Dan's.)

At their apartment, Bobbie and Kristie took quick showers and changed clothes. Karel and Dan came over in Karel's car, and they went together to the Welfare Center for an eight hour shift. Bobbie insisted on going with them, even though the others said she needed to sleep. Nurses, she said, know how to get by on very little sleep. Dan sat copilot in front, and Bobbie napped with her head in Kristie's lap in the back seat.

At the welfare center, Bobbie stayed away from the machines, choosing to take simpler, safer activities like sweeping the floor and stocking light products on shelves. Kristie stayed with her. Bobbie got some more naptime on the way home.

Bobbie was off that night, so they all got some rest before doing another full day at the Welfare Center. This time, they stayed together most of the time, Bobbie feeling rested and safe enough to help operate the machines in the cannery and handle heavy products on the store shelves. Again, Bobbie napped on the way home.

Back at the hospital, Bobbie took the full graveyard shift for work, and the other three did a four hour volunteer shift. Kristie took a long nap in the hospital again and drove Bobbie home in the morning, to get ready for church services.

Bobbie fell asleep during Sunday School, and the teacher was nice enough to just smile and ignore it. After Sunday School, Bobbie and Kristie napped at home in the afternoon while Dan and Karel made lunch with the roommates who were home.

While they were eating, Karel had a suggestion. "Hey, I've been thinking it would be fun to go skiing."

"I think I can arrange for one Saturday off at the hospital. Where do you want to go?"

Karel named a downhill run near the school.

Kristie said, "Those are too easy!" and suggested an area with advanced slopes a little further away.

Bobbie looked a little dissatisfied. "I prefer cross-country, myself. Good exercise, no lift fees, and I don't spend as much time upside down in the snow, ...."

Everyone laughed.

Dan said, "If we weren't so busy, we could go cross-country one day, and downhill another. But I know another place, not so far away, that has intermediate level slopes as well as cross-country. And you can ski up to the top of the slopes, if you're good at skiing uphill and have the patience for it."

After a bit of talking they agreed on the second Saturday following, if Bobbie could get the day off.

For the evening services at church, Dan and Karel visited Kristie and Bobbie's congregation again. And Bobbie fell asleep on Karel's shoulder during the talks after the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.

(Ehyephoot are invited by turn to prepare and give short, informal sermons, or talks, after the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is administered. Yes, the symbolism of the bread and wine seems to be appropriate for the people of Xhilr, too.)

Bobbie dozed off in the car again. Karel was driving, and waited with the car while Kristie opened the door to the apartment and Dan carried Bobbie in, setting her carefully on the couch, while Karel waited in the car.

Bobbie woke up while Dan was lifting her out of the car, but she didn't complain, and neither did Dan.

Why do apartments never have enough nearby parking spaces?

*****

The ski trip was relatively uneventful. Roommates and members of the study groups also joined in, and they had a caravan of four cars. Dan's car wasn't quite up to the snowy mountain roads, and neither was Kristie, herself, but Bobbie, Karel, and two of their friends drove. Kristie rode with Bobbie, and Dan road with Karel.

They all rented dual-use skis at the school ski rental, with both cross-country and downhill bindings, so they could split their time between the slopes and the trails.

Kristie demonstrated that she was a better on the slopes than any of them, although Karel and Bobbie were none too shabby, either. Dan admitted that he was unstable on the slopes, and he was always the last one down, rolling and laughing a good part of the way. But he would get back on his skis quickly, and gamely stayed with the rest.

On the trails, Dan was ahead, and even Bobbie had to push to keep up. Then they would stop and talk while the rest caught up. Kristie and Karel got a lot of talking time in together in the group of stragglers, as well.

Kristie did take a roll on a downhill run once in the afternoon, just for the fun of it, laughing as she tumbled to a stop behind where Dan had rolled out and was exaggerating his helplessness. She was on her skis quickly, helping Dan up while Karel and Bobbie retrieved his skies.

On the road back, Kristie rode with Karel, and Dan rode with Bobbie. Not wanting to take the time to get coals burning, they had packed sandwiches for both lunch and dinner, and they ate in the cars on the way down. Dan held Bobbie's food for her, and Kristie held Karel's for him, while they drove.

Safely back off the mountains' winding roads before any drivers fell asleep, they all met at a roadside cafe to talk, and to drink cocoa and hot apple cider (non-fermented, unfiltered) with cinnamon, and warm up a bit, before heading back to their apartments. (Xhilr has a bean similar to our cacao bean, and a drink similar to our cocoa. And they have several citrus fruits similar to our lemons and several deciduous fruits similar to our apples. As in the US in our world, "apple cider" in the UIS on Xhilr is not an alcoholic beverage.)

*****

For Wintermas, Bobbie rode home with Kristie, stopping at Bobbie's house to spend a night and see Bobbie's family. They took turns at the wheel on the road to Kristie's house, and Bobbie spent the holiday with Kristie's family.

Dan and Karel drove in tandem to Dan's house, and Karel spent the night there before driving on to his own house for Wintermas.

To avoid being on the roads on the first day of the year, they all gathered at Dan's house on the second-to-last day of the year, and spent three days with the Claymounts.

Dan's family took them snowshoeing in the canyons near his home on the last day of the year, and they launched roman candles and other fireworks in their backyard at midnight.

And Sheliah clearly approved of both Bobbie and Kristie.

Table of Contents

Next: Heading Back
for 2nd Semester

You can find the original first draft of the chapter this chapter was extracted from, and various approaches I have tried with it here: https://free-is-not-free.blogspot.com/2016/05/economics-101-novel-ch05-first-semester.html.

Monday, July 19, 2021

Economics 101, a Novel, ch 2, The First Semester: pt 3 -- Talking about Temples

Previous: Beliefs and Attitudes

Table of Contents

Let's get a bit more of a look at Bobbie's and Karel's attitudes and beliefs about things that are important to them.

"Hi! You're early today." Melissa greeted them. "On purpose?"

The three of them laughed, and Karel said, "Well, yeah."

"Thanks. The last couple of weeks, I've been able to get past the 'When are you going to get baptized?' question with my husband."

"That's good to hear."

"But since he's never been to the temple himself, he can't tell me much about it. His bishop gave us a little book with lots of pictures. They look nice, but it really doesn't help me much."

Karel said, "It's a little hard to explain unless you've gone through it."

Bobbie added, a little dryly, "And it may be even harder to explain afterwards."

"Well, that's more than a little frustrating. How am I supposed to be confident about joining you guys if I don't know where I'm headed?"

Karel and Bobbie both thought for a bun or so.

Then Bobbie said, "I can think of some scriptures to read, but I think it comes down to trust. You get used to, well, I got used to the Holy Spirit teaching me things, and I got used to the peace and the impressions that tell me things that are true. And the Holy Spirit just tells me the temple is good, and right."

"I know something about that kind of thing from my experiences with the church I'm going to now. Can't you tell me anything about what happens in the temple?"

Karel said, "Well, after we go in, we change clothes."

"Huh?"

Bobbie quickly added, "The guys have their changing room and we women have ours. We have individual lockers, too, so we change in private. Are you sure this is okay, Karel?"

"Why not?"

"Why do you change clothes?" Melissa asked.

"It helps us remember to leave the world outside," Bobbie said. "I guess we can explain this much."

Karel added, "Since we all wear simple white clothing, it also helps us remember that we are all on equal standing before God. Oh, and, white reminds us that we are trying to be pure before God."

"Doesn't sound too unreasonable, but I'll have to think about it. Then what?"

"Usually, we wait for a few bunmu in a chapel room. Sometimes someone is available to play hymns, so we can listen quietly while we think and pray."

"Thinking and praying and listening to hymns is not bad."

"For the endowment, we go to a room where we watch a sort of play."

Bobbie added, "It's kind of like a dramatic reading of parts of Genesis and some other scriptures."

Genesis? Well, that's about the best translation for the name of that chapter that I can think of. As I have noted, they had scripture. This chapter of their scripture contained their creation story, in a mix of symbolism and record of real events. And calling their scripture the "Holy Book" ("Bible") is also a reasonable translation.

And the names of their (genetically perfect) first man and first woman translate reasonably to "Adam" ("Man", or "First Man") and "Eve" ("Mother", or "Recursive Mother").

"Parts of Genesis? I've heard rumors that you 'do the Adam and Eve thing' or something."

"Yes, part of the presentation is about Adam and Eve," Bobbie said, "but no nudity or sex, if that's what you've heard."

Melissa was still doubtful. "I was told by someone that it was all implied."

Karel asked, "What was all implied?"

Melissa thought for a moment. "Good question. Even the Holy Book comes right out and says they were, uhm, didn't have any clothes on in the Garden. But you say there isn't any of that?"

Karel nodded. "Having the people taking Adam and Eve's parts literally without any clothes on would be too distracting, and not instructive at all. That's not the purpose of the temple."

"What about eating the apple?"

Bobbie said, "Do you mean, eating the fruit as a metaphor for sexual intercourse?"

Melissa looked a little shocked. "You came right out and said that."

"Sorry," Bobbie apologized. "I guess it's because I'm a nurse. But, no, that's not a good metaphor. At least, I don't see it that way, about the fruit."

Karel said, "People argue about it. They shouldn't. Neither the scriptures nor the temple ceremonies say anything that requires one to believe it that way. If people insist on believing that, they have to have other reasons, and I think the meaning is much broader, myself."

"My husband wasn't sure, but he said if there was anything like that in the temple, it wouldn't be pornographic or worshiping sex."

"Well, he's sure right about that. There isn't any."

"He says that his dad told him once that the temple teaches that the wife has to always do what the husband says."

Bobbie said, decisively, "No."

Karel shook his head. "That's not right at all. There is a part, where, if a person's attention slips, he or she might miss the part where one or the other spouse is instructed about their own responsibilities. But both are given pretty much equal responsibility for the family. It's mutual. Both are supposed to follow God."

Bobbie added, "The husband is given a certain responsibility, but, as I understand the instruction, the point is that the husband and wife shouldn't be fighting each other over who is in control. God should be in control, and they should not be trying to control each other."

"My understanding, exactly," said Karel.

"Uhm," Melissa hesitated, "can I ask a personal question?"

Karel and Bobbie looked at each other and exchanged wry smiles.

"Oh, never mind that. But you're both single, right?"

It was probably Bobbie who said, "Uh, huh."

"You know pretty much everything that goes on in the temple?"

Karel answered. "Not everything. Temple workers help the people attending, for instance, and I haven't been asked to do that. How about you, Bobbie?"

"No, not yet. It would be interesting."

"But you aren't worried about the secrets?"

"No." was Karel's response.

Bobbie said, "No secrets. If you believe in a God who loves all of His children, there are no secrets. It's all there in the scriptures, and it's all laid out in the temple. The temple is a place where you can go and treat sacred things sacredly, and get your understanding through the Holy Spirit of God."

"Bobbie, can we talk about this, just us girls, sometime?"

"Oh, well, I'm supposed to be meeting Professor White right about now," Karel said and stood up.

"Tell Professor MacVittie I'll be along in a little bit, okay?"

"Sure." Karel said with a grin as he left the room.

They watched him leave, then Bobbie turned to Melissa and asked, "So, ..."

"You and Karel are dating, aren't you?"

Bobbie blinked, and she let out a quiet laugh. "Well, yes and no. My roommate and I and his football buddy and he seem to spend a lot of time together. Just the four of us, sometimes, sometimes with other friends, too. It's very comfortable to be with each other."

"Oh. I was kind of hoping that you'd tell me that I could get that kind of relationship with Winn if I got baptized."

"Wow." Bobbie had to look down.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"No. It's okay. It's just that it has been so easy, this last couple of months. But I know that if I start seriously dating either one of those guys, it's going to quit being easy like that. But that's not what you're asking. No. Being a member isn't magic. Relationships still take work."

"Oh. Are all the Ehyephoot men supposed to be like him?"

"I think Ehyephoot men are, on the average, more considerate than the average, whatever that is. But none of them are perfect. I mean, if they had to be perfect, we women would have to be perfect, too, right?"

Melissa laughed. "I see."

And they talked a little more about men and relationships and church and such, and then Bobbie went to her appointment with Professor MacVittie.

Table of Contents

Next: More Togetherness

Monday, July 5, 2021

Economics 101, a Novel, ch 2, The First Semester: pt 2 -- Beliefs and Attitudes

Previous: Talking about Missions

Table of Contents

Clues about relationships are often found in beliefs and attitudes.

Melissa Burns's fingers slowed to a stop on her typewriter keys as she listened to Bobbie and Karel talk while they waited in the department office. She listened for a bun or so before asking, "Did someone get married?"

Karel and Bobbie both looked up at her.

"Uhm, ...," Bobbie stalled.

"Sorry. I shouldn't be eavesdropping." Melissa looked down and started to type again.

The two of them both shook their heads.

Karel said, "No problem."

Melissa stopped typing again, hesitating before asking, "But you did you go to the temple this morning?"

(If the university were BYU, in our world, the temple up the hill from campus would not be built until something close to a hexadecade -- decimal sixteen years -- later. In this world, the temple up the hill was already operational, so they could walk to the temple early in the morning, do a significant amount of service, and walk back to campus in plenty of time to meet with their professors before lunch.)

"Oh, yeah," Bobbie replied. "With some other friends of ours."

"Did someone get married?"

Karel said, "No, we just went to do some proxy work."

( Ehyephoot religious practices include proxy ordinances for the dead similar to those practiced by the largest branch of the faith often called Mormonism. I'll borrow from Mormon culture for the names of the ordinances.)

Bobbie turned to give Karel a meaningful look, but Karel didn't immediately read her meaning.

"Proxy work?" Melissa gave them a puzzled look.

"Baptisms, endowments, sealings," Karel answered by reflex.

"Do you mind if I ask, what are endowments and sealings, and how are they done?"

(Whether we speak too seriously about sacred things or too casually, we tend to be misunderstood. It shouldn't be surprising. Sacred is that which is set apart from the ordinary contexts within which we operate. The meanings of symbols being greatly derived from context, it is generally necessary to mentally and emotionally separate ourselves from the ordinary somewhat to understand the sacred.

And words that are too serious in one context may well be too casual in another. Or vice-versa.

So it's part of being human to tend to avoid talking about sacred things except in sacred places.)

Karel seemed surprised, but Bobbie quietly asked, "What do you know about baptism?"

"Well, I was baptized when I was a baby, but my husband keeps asking me when I'm going to listen to your missionaries and get your baptism."

(Again, we can see parallels to our own world.)

Now Karel understood. He pursed his lips and nodded, and said, "I hope he isn't putting too much pressure on you."

"I do feel a little stress about it."

Bobbie said, "Oh, that's too bad. Baptism is a big commitment. It's not something we really want people to be feeling pressured into."

"It's my own fault. I should have asked more questions about the church he belonged to before we got married."

Karel tried to commiserate. "I wouldn't suggest taking or laying blame. Falling in love does make people feel adventurous."

"Thanks ... I guess." Melissa pulled her lips into a tight line for a moment, but then continued. "So what is this endowment thing? Winn tried to explain it to me once, but I didn't really follow what he was saying."

Bobbie and Karel looked at each other and negotiated non-verbally.

Bobbie suggested, "Can we start with baptism?"

Karel nodded his agreement

Melissa blinked. "So your baptism is that different? My preacher said it would be. Said you even taught a different Christ."

Karel nodded thoughtfully again. "Our practices relative to baptism may be a little different, and, I don't know, maybe our focus is on different aspects of the Savior's teachings. But I don't think we worship a different Jesus. Do you recall in the scriptures where He got baptized?"

Melissa frowned and nodded. "I'm familiar with my scriptures."

"John was baptizing in a river, and Jesus went down into the water to him."

(I'm not sure whether I should translate that as John or Elias. I'll go with John. And it really shouldn't be surprising that their scriptures would record many events similar to those recorded in ours.)

Melissa responded with a chapter and verse reference from their Holy Book, similar to Matthew 3 in our Bible.

"And John said something about their positions should be reversed, but Jesus said, 'Let it be this way once, to fulfill all righteousness."

Melissa nodded thoughtfully in response. "That's what the scriptures say."

"And the Apostles taught that baptism is symbolic of burying the old, sinful man and rising out of the water a new man in Christ." ("Apostle" translates well, here: "special witness" of Christ.) "And several places in scripture invite us to be baptized in witness of our commitment to follow Jesus."

Melissa nodded again. "I believe in that."

Bobbie said, "It's a covenant, a promise to God."

"A covenant? As in, my parents promised God they'd raise me as a Christian?"

"Well, since we don't uhm, get baptized until we're a bit older, ..." Bobbie looked back at Karel, but he just nodded. Turning back to Melissa, she continued, "it's the person receiving baptism who is promising to follow the Savior's teachings and example."

Melissa looked perplexed. "Older? Then how are your children who die saved? Do you have to do proxy work for them? And how do children get their Christian names?"

(Yet more parallels. Yes. They are there. Quite logically.)

Karel explained, "Traditionally, we usually give our children a name and a blessing soon after they are born. But we don't consider it required for salvation. Baptism isn't required of children, because the Savior suffered for our sins, and He took on the sins of the innocent unconditionally. Children who die before they are old enough to choose to accept baptism are not under the burden of sin, and are saved in Heaven without baptism."

Melissa frowned. "How do you tell if they're old enough?"

Karel replied, "Prayer and inspiration, really."

Bobbie added, "But we don't usually invite children under seven to receive baptism, and we usually try to extend an invitation by the time they are bee or cee." (Eleven or twelve. And we note more minor differences between our world and Xhilr.)

Melissa thought some more before responding, "I think I can understand that. Children can begin to think seriously about such things about that age."

Bobbie added "It's an assertion of faith."

Melissa asked, "So I was baptized when I was a baby. Does that not count?"

Karel asked, "Is that your own assertion of faith, or your parents?"

"I've always felt that I accepted it."

Bobbie nodded. "I can see that."

Karel thought for a moment. "I think that saying your baptism doesn't count would overlook some important things. But it isn't quite the same."

"Seems a bit different." She took a turn to think. "When I was hex --"

(Guess I'm not going to avoid this. Not magic hex, of course. "Ten_sixteen" also seems to engender confusion, so I'm using "hex" as a forced corollary of decimal ten: "hex" => 10_sixteen . This is not their language, it's forcing coinage from ours. I'm giving it as an abbreviation of "hexadecade". So when she was decimal sixteen --)

"-- I took the catechism. That was when I made my commitment."

Bobbie and Karel nodded.

"So when do you take your catechism?"she asked.

"Oh. We don't." Karel said absently.

Bobbie reached around and patted Karel's knee a little more forcefully than gently, and added, for him, "Many of us attend a seminary class for about four years when we are in our early hexes."

(Coining a hexadecimal corollary of teens, of course, literally from 10_sixteen to 1F_sixteen -- decimal sixteen to thirty-one, but, in practice, from about D_sixteen to 17_sixteen -- decimal thirteen to twenty-three.)

"But I skipped some of my second and third years because I was feeling a little rebellious. How about you, Karel?"

"Went all four years."

"Figures." She squeezed his knee.

"Hey." He said quietly and slipped his hand under hers and squeezed back.

Melissa pretended not to notice the hand-holding. "So, is the temple where you formalize your catechism, then?"

Bobbie retrieved her hand and Karel scratched his chin with his freed hand.

"Interesting thought," he half-muttered.

Bobbie blinked. "I don't think so. But since I don't know much about your catechism, I'm not sure that would be a wrong comparison." She thought some more before continuing, "When we record our family histories, sometimes we treat other church's baptisms similarly to our name-and-a-blessing in our records."

"Christening?"

"We call it the same as the records we record it from."

"Hmm. So baptism is a commitment. If I get baptized into your Church, how do I know what I'm committing to?"

"You'd study with the missionaries for several weeks first."

"Is there a short version?"

Karel pulled his scriptures out of his backpack. "Well, there are a couple of pretty good summaries." He opened his copy of the Book of Ehyephoot to a scripture comparable to Mosiah 18 in the Book of Mormon:

On a certain day, most of the believers were gathered at the place called Ehyephoo to hear Ringo preach, and he taught them about repentance, redemption, and faith in the Lord.

When he had carefully explained the doctrines, he declared, "Here we have the waters of Ehyephoo. Now, as you all have expressed the desire to join the fold of God and be called his people, and as you have all expressed willingness to bear one-another’s burdens, that they may be light — to mourn with those that mourn, to comfort those that need comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times, in all things, and in all places until death, that ye may be redeemed of God and numbered among those who come forth in the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life —

"I can go with that," Melissa said quietly.

"I really like this scripture," Bobbie agreed. She continued reading over Karel's shoulder:

I say, if this is the desire of your hearts, what would you have against being baptized in the name of the Lord, witnessing before him that you have entered into a covenant with him to serve him and keep his commandments, so that he may pour out his Spirit upon you in greater abundance?

"Commandments?" Now Melissa's guard was up. "What are these commandments?"

"Pretty much the sermon on the mount," Bobbie explained.

"And," Karel added, "that last part, the pouring out of the Spirit is important. Because of the covenant, we can receive more guidance and commandments through the Spirit as we need them. When we get baptized, because of the promises we make, God can teach us more than if we never got baptized."

"So there's more, and you study that in the Temple?"

Bobbie rolled her eyes sideways at Karel. He raised his eyebrows and smiled lopsidedly back. "We really should leave this to the missionaries. It feels like we're digging in too deep."

"But we're in it now," Bobbie raised one eyebrow and fixed him with a mock glare.

"What promises do you consider yourself to have made to God?" Karel asked.

"You want me to recite the entire catechism?"

Bobbie grinned. "Is it long?"

"Kind of."

Bobbie took a turn: "For us, the covenant of baptism is simple. We promise to have faith in Jesus Christ, and to repent of our sins. We promise to obey the commandments Jesus gives us. And we promise to help others of God's children when we can."

"So how many of those commandments are there?"

Karel answered. "That's what we mean by God teaching us more. He gives us those commandments through the Holy Spirit."

("Holy Spirit" is a compound that translates directly.)

"In your temple," Melissa asserted.

"Well, there, too, sometimes." Karel became pedantic. "Too briefly stated, humans have spirits and God has His Holy Spirit, and the spirit is what gives us understanding. It's the answer of faith to the question begged by certain higher branches of mathematics as to how symbols get meaning. But God's Holy Spirit is what gives us understanding about the things of God. It is also the source of our conscience."

Bobbie closed her eyes in exasperation and shook her head. "Too deep?" she muttered, just loud enough for Karel to hear.

"And you go to the temple to receive those commandments?"

Karel scratched his head and looked for help from Bobbie.

"Way too deep." She shrugged, then turned back to Melissa and said, "We receive them where and when we need them."

"If we are worthy," Karel added. "Things we are taught in the temple help us stay close to God's Holy Spirit and stay worthy to receive His instruction through the Spirit."

Bobbie looked a little perplexed, but nodded in agreement. "It's instruction to help us understand what we get from God each day, more than specific commandments."

Melissa thought for a bun before asking, "Does that mean there's no official catechism?"

Karel said, "I think that's the best answer we can give you. We have lesson manuals and the like, but we don't have a specific catechism."

And Bobbie added, "We each learn what we need as we go. It's a lifetime process."

"Then how do you know how to behave and what to believe?"

Karel answered: "Study the scriptures, pray, attend church. When we do what God tells us to do, He teaches us each what our next step is on an individual basis."

"But, how do you know that, at some point, at the next step, your God doesn't turn into a soul-eating monster and tell you to do something evil?"

"That would not be God, would it?" he responded.

"Of course not. But how do you know?"

"Practice," Bobbie answered. "Reading the scriptures. Prayer. Doing what we think is right and listening to what our consciences tell us about what we've done. And not turning away -- uhm, well, returning to God when we realize we have turned away."

Karel added, "If we find ourselves facing some conflict of belief, we can always return to the basics to figure out what we've misunderstood. God wants us to be happy."

"Ah! How do you know that God wants you to be happy?"

Bobbie and Karel looked at each other and laughed a quiet laugh.

"Indeed, indeed," joked Karel.

"Experience!" Bobbie responded. "Repentance isn't to make us suffer, it's so we can quit doing the things that make us unhappy."

"Suffering isn't repentance?"

"Not unless it leads us to God."

Karel explained a bit more: "Many sins do require us to suffer, or to pay at least a part of the price of what we did. But because we are not perfect, we often don't have power to pay the full price. The purpose of repentance is that we can leave the sin behind and move forward, live a more godly life, with Jesus' help."

"Okay, okay, so far what you believe doesn't seem so fanatical, not really so different from what I've learned. But can you tell me some examples of the 'more things' that God teaches you?"

Bobbie said, "The beatitudes are beautiful, aren't they?"

"Of course."

"But sometimes it's a little difficult to figure out how to do it, right?"

Melissa nodded.

"Unless we have the Holy Spirit's help," added Karel.

Melissa closed her eyes for a moment, and said, "It seems like you're starting out from a different approach, but it ends up being what I believe."

Bobbie said, "I think you'll mostly find it so."

"So, what's this endowment thing?"

"Instruction," said Karel. "But it's easy to misunderstand, so we leave the world behind and go into the temple to receive it."

"It's very peaceful in the temple," Bobbie explained. "You can feel really close to God."

Melissa looked up at the door, where Professors White and MacVittie were standing, listening patiently. "Oh, dear. I think I've kept you from your appointments."

"Not at all!" said Professor White.

"I'd better not keep you any more."

Professor MacVittie said, "It sounds like you're having a nice little chat."

Bobbie said, "We can definitely talk about this some more."

Professor White said, "We can wait."

Melissa said, "No, that's okay. It's time for me to get back to work."

Professor MacVittie said, "If you think so."

And she nodded.

Bobbie said, "We'll talk again, okay?"

"I think I'd like that."

Professor MacVittie said, "I do think you'll have more opportunities to talk. Well, since the two of you two are here," he suggested, "let's all talk together in my office."

Professor White was in agreement, so the four of them went to Professor MacVittie's office, where Bobbie and Karel discussed their progress towards entering their degree tracks.

Table of Contents

Next: Talking about Temples

You can find the original first draft of the chapter that this chapter was extracted from, and various other approaches I have tried with it, here: https://free-is-not-free.blogspot.com/2016/05/economics-101-novel-ch05-first-semester.html.

Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Economics 101, a Novel, ch 2, The First Semester: pt 1 -- Talking about Missions

Previous: Letters Home
(Optional) Hexadecimal Time

Table of Contents

Now, in the previous chapters, we saw how Bobbie and Karel and Dan and Kristie began to establish their friendship. We see a bit of how close they already felt from the letters they sent home.

And maybe we also got a bit of a sense of how it might have happened that Bobbie and Karel were still not married to each other when they went to the islands for their fieldwork.

So skipping ahead to the island story is probably not going to impede your understanding of the rest of the novel.

Not too much, anyway.

On the other hand, you might find their years at university interesting. It could almost be a separate novel, if a little thin on plot. And you might be interested in what kinds of experiences some young Ehyephoot students might have at a Church operated university.

There's information here. Let's see how it went.

During one of the study sessions during the first fall semester, Kristie started talking about missions. They had been talking about different ways to get teaching experience.

"Does church teaching count for teaching experience?" Kristie asked.

"Of course!" was Dan's reply.

Karel thought more needed to be said. "Well, yeah, it counts as informal experience. So what you learn from the experience can be useful in the classroom and in discussing teaching methods, and you might even refer to it in a job interview, but you can't use it to fill degree requirements. In church, we don't keep the kinds of records that schools and school districts and management can evaluate."

"No grades?" Kristie postulated.

"That would be one of the problems."

"Grades in Sunday School!" Bobbie said with a grin. "That sounds horrible."

All four chuckled, and Karel continued his explanation.

"That's the dichotomy. The value of what we do for God often can't be directly communicated to the institutions in the world around us. That's one of our sacrifices when we engage in church service."

Dan groused, "Valuable to the world ought to be valuable to the institutions in it."

Bobbie nodded in agreement.

"Even missions?" Kristie was thinking out loud. "I've been told it's okay to put our missions on our curriculum vitae."

Dan took a positive view. "We can definitely tell people about what we have done in church. Whether they accept it as meaningful to them or not is up to them."

"Exactly." Karel concurred.

Bobbie was not satisfied with leaving things at that. "We definitely shouldn't hide our missions or our church service. Jesus Himself said, 'Let your light so shine.'"

(Jesus? I could translate it Immanuel, I suppose. Or Joshua. It translates the same:

God is with us.
Or, God is our help, our salvation.

More carefully stated, the universe is not really out to get us, even if it can be dangerous and difficult, and even though some people in it think they are out to get you.)

Karel replied, "I didn't say anything about hiding anything. We just shouldn't expect that teaching Sunday School will fill student teaching requirements or things like that."

"It'd be nice if it did," Kristie said wistfully. She thought for a few moments more.

"Say, Dan, you said you went to the Prosperous Country and Eastern Realms Mission, right?"

(Somewhat comparable in reach and function to the post-WWII Swiss-Austrian mission in our world.)

"Right."

"So you spoke the languages of the Country of the Common People and of the People of the Spear?"

"Y también el idioma del Pais de los Conejos."

"¿Es Verdad?"

"Si, si."

And Dan and Kristie started talking about their missions in the language of the Country of the Conies.

(Permit me to borrow Spanish for effect here. I don't think the language of the Country of the Conies is not one you would recognize.)

Karel complained, "¡Yo no hablo el idioma Conejo!"

Everyone laughed.

"So," Bobbie asked, "Kristie went to the Conejo-Respira mission, but how do you speak Conejo, Dan?"

Prosperous Country? Eastern Realms? Country of the Common People? People of the Spear? Country of the Conies? The Wide Continent?

There are parallels in culture, history, and relative location. Sort of.

These were countries of their Old World, as compared to their UIS, one of the chief among the countries in their New World. The Prosperous Country took a neutral position in most of the fighting during the major wars on the Wide Continent in the pre-modern and modern eras of the Old World. The mission organization where Dan was assigned was one set up after the second such conflict to draw their entire world into the wars ended, and included that country and several countries around it

And I suppose it bears being more explicit -- the name of their Messiah/Christ does translate directly to Jesus, or Joshua/Yeshua: "God is (my/our) help/salvation." And it can even be understood, in the converse, as an assertion that the Parent God is not the enemy of the Children.

"I took some in high school, and the Mission pretty much was called on for all parts of the Wide Continent that didn't have regular Church organizations."

Bobby asked for confirmation -- "So you speak three languages besides ours."

"Yeah."

Kristie said, "I only speak the language of the Conies and the language of the Fishers." She sighed.

Then she asked, "Do you guys still feel like you have a testimony?"

Testimony. Witness. Some people confuse this kind of thing with a testimonial. I suppose there is a similarity.

But this testimony, or witness thing is basically a conviction or a strong belief.

Outside the religious sphere, a testimony might be compared to a mathematician's conviction that the concept of a unit vector has fundamental meaning. Less abstractly (although not a perfect parallel), it's similar to the confidence that we have that one plus one is two -- well, most of the time.

We may not be able to carefully define the contexts in which adding one to one gives two, and we may not properly understand the concept of a non-compressible unit vector, but we know that those contexts are important to us in our day-to-day lives. And we know we can use the concepts of adding and subtracting meaningfully in many places.

Likewise, a testimony is the kind of belief that gives people the confidence to do things under moral conviction, and especially to keep going when things get hard. It's the kind of belief that is expressed in faith and action.

Dan said, "Well, yeah!"

Karel asserted, "I haven't changed my mind, either."

Bobbie thought a moment. "I definitely have a testimony now, but it isn't the same one I had when I was a missionary."

"Oh?" Kristie prompted.

"When I first went out, I wasn't sure the atonement and the redemption would do me any good. I just went to be a nurse where they needed nurses."

"Well, that's a good reason to go." Dan was encouraging.

Karel nodded in agreement. "Important, saving reasons. How did you feel when you returned?"

"I was beginning to believe I had a place in the Gospel and the Church, that I could be saved, too. That's part of the reason I started saving up to work on the PhD."

"So your testimony is stronger now?" asked Kristie.

"I think so. How about you?"

"I'm not sure. I saw a lot of things that I didn't expect when I was a missionary."

Dan guessed at her thoughts. "So, were you disappointed in people who weren't perfect?"

"Yeah. I guess so. I just thought things would be so simple. Some of the elders behaved pretty badly."

Similarly to Mormons, Ehyephoot men who serve as missionaries are called the equivalent of "elders" -- even the young men. And women who serve as missionaries are called "sisters".

It can be a little confusing, since members of the church in general, in the consideration that all members of the human race are part of God's big family, are also called brothers and sisters, no matter what their other callings are.

Men seem to need the formal investiture of authority before they will get up the ambition to do good things. Women don't seem to need that so much. And men seem to have more need to perform set rituals, where women seem more to understand things more intuitively. It seems to be a general rule, although there is wide variation among individuals.

But it's the same metaphysical substance of faith, whether formal or not.

Dan looked down. "I made a few mistakes when I was a missionary." Then he looked up at Kristie. "And after, too. Don't hold it against them. Some of them will have changed their ways, anyway."

And Bobbie and Karel concurred.

Karel said, "I know if I'd had to be perfect, I wouldn't be here now."

"Thanks. I tried not to judge them, but it was hard."

"Hey," said Bobbie. "I find that, when I go to the temple, it's easier to forgive people. I've set a goal to go to the temple at least once a month during school. How about you guys?"

All four thought it was a good idea. None of them had classes the next Friday morning, so they decided to go together then. Several of the other students who were studying with them also decided to join in.

"Hey, I'm still stuck on this question." Chad was one of those other students. We'll introduce him a little better later. "Listening to you guys talk about missions and the temple isn't helping."

Several other students murmured in agreement.

"Sorry," Karel ducked his head, the other three also murmuring apologies.

Kristie leaned over the table to look at Chad's work. "How far have you gotten?"

Chad grimaced. "Well, not very. Not at all. 'Do I see common elements or underlying principles in the education systems practiced on the islands in this group?' What kind of question is that? Most of these have no system at all, but three have inherited systems from the countries that used to claim them as colonies. Different countries, different systems."

Karel and Bobbie exchanged glances.

"Well, I have to admit," Bobbie started, "on first read through the material, that's what I was thinking."

Dan added, "I just wrote something like that down and moved on. Might have more to think about it now, though. What did you come up with , Kristie?"

"From the descriptions we have, I think even where they adapted the former colonial rulers' systems, they adapted things to their own culture." She glanced over at Karel, who just nodded. "Anyone else notice anything special?"

That started a small discussion, and shortly Chad and a couple of other students who had been stuck were scribbling notes and moving ahead.

Table of Contents

Next: Beliefs and Attitudes

Economics 101, a Novel, ch 1 pt 4b -- Hexadecimal Clock Time

Previous: Letters Home

Table of Contents

It's not essential to the story to understand how Xhilr time compares to Earth time -- which is a good thing, because, as I've mentioned, the distances are relativistic, and what with biochemistry differences and such, comparison really isn't meaningful. So this chapter really isn't essential. (You can skip it if you're so inclined.)

But the sixteen-hour, well, sixteen chip, clock ...

I considered sweeping hexadecimal time under the rug along with a lot of other differences that would interfere with the flow of the story. But, well, I'm a geek.

Whether you divide the day into sixteen chippu or twenty-four hours, it doesn't change the thermodynamics -- the flow of consciousness through time. All that changes is where you set the markers and how many you set.

(Hey, there have been experiments in decimal time in recent history on our earth, for what that's worth. Not as popular as the other experiments in decimal metrics, somehow.)

So I could have just translated their hexadecimal time to 24/12 hour time, and it probably wouldn't have interfered too much with telling the story.

But, since I'm such a geek, I thought I should give you some more detail about how a hexadecimal clock translates to a twenty-four hour clock, in addition to the two clocks I keep showing you.

(You should note that the one on the right is not quite the clock Nystrom used as the clock of his tonal numbering system in our world. Close, but not quite.)

First, let's look at a chart of the relationship between days, hours, minutes, and seconds in the familiar 24-hour clock. This is stuff you know, although you usually don't think about it in this kind of detail. The detail isn't really important, it's just here for reference:

24-hour Day	Per-day	Per-hour	Per-minute	Per-second
Seconds	24×60² = 86400	60² = 3600	60	1
Minutes	24×60 = 1440	60	1	1/60
Hours	24	1	1/60	1/3600
Days	1	1/24	1/1440	1/86400

Now let's look at the hexadecimal clock vs. hexadecimal hour, etc. Again, nobody's going to test you on the numbers, they're just here for reference. But you might want to notice that these are all regular fractions in powers of sixteen. You'll also notice that the hexadecimal second is a tiny bit larger fraction of a day than the 24-hour clock second (1/65536 > 1/86400).

(And you might think about whether you'd want to use this kind of clock on Earth.):

16-hour Day	Per-day	Per- long hour	Per- long minute	Per- short minute	Per- hexadecimal second
Seconds	16⁴ = 65536	16³ = 4096	16² = 256	16	1
Short Minutes	16³ = 4096	16² = 256	16	1	1/16
Long Minutes	16² = 256	16	1	1/16	1/256
Long Hours	16	1	1/16	1/256	1/4096
Days	1	1/16	1/256	1/4096	1/65536

Comparing hexadecimal time units to their nearest twenty-four hour day units, we can write the following table of equivalences:

1 long hour (hexadecimal hour) is 90 minutes, or 1 1/2 hours
1 long minute is 5.625 minutes (5 5/8)
1 short minute is about 21.1 seconds (21.09375)
1 hexadecimal second is about 1.3 seconds (1.318359375)

------

If you want to see the actual math, here it is (with reductions and inverse factors for reference):

24 hours == 16 long hours (or 3:2) --
(2/3 lhr/hr)
1 1/2 hr/lhr × 60 min/hr
=> exactly 90 minutes per long hour
1440 minutes == 256 long minutes (or 45:8) --
(8/45 lmin/min)
45/8 min/lmin
=> exactly 5.625 minutes per long minute
1440 minutes == 4096 short minutes (or 45:128) --
(128/45 shmin/min)
45/128 min/shmin × 60 sec/min (45×15=675 => 675/32)
=> exactly 21.09375 seconds per short minute
86400 seconds == 65536 hexadecimal seconds (or 675:512)
(512/675 hexsec/sec)
675/512 sec/hexsec
=> exactly 1.318359375 seconds per hexadecimal second

A convenient aspect of pure hexadecimal time notation is that the fraction point can come anywhere, and the digits don't change:

8.8_hexclock, or 8:80_hex, is a half a hexadecimal hour past noon (12:45:00_24hr),
and 88_sixteen long minutes is 8.8_sixteen hexadecimal hours.
8.1_hexclock, or 8:10_hex, is a long minute past noon (12:05:37.5_24hr),
and 81_sixteen long minutes is 8.1_sixteen hexadecimal hours.
8.08_hexclock, or 8:08_hex, is half a long minute past noon (12:02:48.75_24hr),
and 808_sixteen short minutes is 80.8_sixteen long minutes.
8.01_hexclock, or 8:01_hex, is a short minute past noon (about 12:00:21.1_24hr),
and 801_sixteen short minutes is 8.01_sixteen hexadecimal hours.
8.008_hexclock, or 8:00:80_hex is half a short minute past noon (about 12:00:10.6_24hr).
8.001_hexclock, or 8:00:1_hex, is a hexadecimal second past noon (about 12:00:01.32_24hr).
8.0008_hexclock, or 8:00:08_hex is half a hexadecimal second past noon (about 12:00:00.66_24hr).
Etc.

You may find these factorizations useful in calculating the above:

24=(2³)(3)
60=(2²)(3)(5)
1440=(2⁵)(3²)(5)
(4096=2¹²)
1440:4096
(3²)(5):(2⁷)
45:128
86400=(2⁷)(3³)(5²)
65536=(2¹⁶)
86400:65536
(3³)(5²):(2⁹)
675:512

------

Now, for Bobbie and Karel,

A long hour, one sixteenth of a day, is a chip, the digit before the first delimiter in their equivalent of colon notation --
8: is noon to the long/hexadecimal hour, or to the chip.
A long minute, one sixteenth of a chip, is a gohb, the first digit after the first colon equivalent in their notation --
8:0 is noon, to the long minute, or gohb.
A short minute, one sixteenth of a gohb, is a bun, the second digit after the first colon equivalent --
8:00 is noon, to the short minute, or bun.
A hexadecimal second, one sixteenth of a bun, is a tic. This will be the first digit after the second colon --
8:00:0 is noon, to the hexadecimal second, or tic.
One sixteenth of a tic is a shæn, which is rarely written in non-technical use --
8:00:00 is noon, to the shæn.
One sixteenth of a shæn is ... oh, never mind, that's 1/256 of a hexadecimal second, and it sounds like a swear word in English. We won't need it. Not in this novel. I think.

But remember, a day on Xhilr is not a day on the Earth. Converting 24 hour time to hexadecimal time doesn't convert Earth time to Xhilr time. Nor does converting hexadecimal time to 24 hour time convert Xhilr time to ours.

I did try to calculate it out once using hyperfine transitions, but they apparently found rubidium and caesium too difficult to work with, using other elements for their atomic clocks -- which at once adds uncertainty to the math and raises questions about how meaningful it really is to try to compare time there with time here.

For what it's worth, I got a result of a bit more than 91 earth minutes to a chip. That makes their day a bit more than one percent longer than ours, which is an uncomfortable coincidence, making me even more suspicious of my results.

Even though it looks pretty close, it's light years away.

I have a tool for converting between the hexadecimal clock and the twenty-four hour clock, as long as you keep both measurements on the same planet.

I've written it in several languages, just for fun. I use whichever is convenient. These are all command line tools, just to keep things simple.

*****

The first version was written in the the arbitrary precision Basic Calculator tool, bc, that is part of most Unix and Unix-like OS distributions that include a command line:

----------


/* Q&D bc definitions for converting between hex and 24:60 time. 
** Joel Matthew Rees, May 2021, Amagasaki, Japan
** Copyright claimed, all rights reserved.
** Permission granted to use this source code for personal
** or small-group educational purposes.
*/

define intpart( f ) {
 auto oldscale, part;
 oldscale = scale;
 scale = 0;
 part = f / 1;
 scale = oldscale;
 return part; 
}

/* Keep it functional no matter what ibase is set to: */
k6 = 2 + 2 + 2;
k10 = 2 * 2 * 2 + 2;
k12 = ( 2 + 1 ) * 2 * 2;
k16 = 2 * 2 * 2 * 2;

k24 = 2 * k12;

k60 = k6 * k10;

k256 = k16 * k16;


m60perday = k24 * k60;
m256perday = k16 * k256;


define tohexmin( h, m ) {
 return ( ( h * k60 + m ) * m256perday ) / m60perday; 
}

kto16 = m256perday / m60perday;
kto16epsilon = m60perday/( k10 ^ ( scale - 1 ) )

define tohextime( h, m ) {
 auto hexminutes, hexhours, oldobase, xmino;
 hexminutes = tohexmin( h, m );
 hexhours = intpart( ( hexminutes + kto16epsilon ) / k256 );
 xmino = intpart( hexminutes - hexhours * k256 );
 oldobase = obase;
 obase = k16;
 print hexhours, ":", xmino, "\n";
 obase = oldobase;
 return hexminutes;
}


define to24min( xh, xm ) {
 return ( ( xh * k256 + xm ) * m60perday ) / m256perday 
}
kto24epsilon = m256perday/( k10 ^ ( scale - 1 ) )

kto24 = m60perday / m256perday; 

define to24time( xh, xm ) {
 auto minutes, hours, oldobase, mino;
 minutes = to24min( xh, xm );
 hours = intpart( ( minutes + kto24epsilon ) / k60 );
 mino = intpart( minutes - hours * k60 );
 oldobase = obase;
 obase = k10;
 print hours, ":", mino, "\n";
 obase = oldobase;
 return minutes
}

----------

Start up a bc session in your terminal window, with the library option (for scale):

bc -l

You should get a copyright notice. If it's a gnu bc, you should also get a license notice. After that you get a flashing cursor on a new line. Come back here, select the source and copy it. Go back to the terminal window and paste it in (probably using a right-click context menu). Or you can type it in if you want to focus on understanding the source code.

Then you can use tohextime() and to24time() as in the examples below. It's a little tricky. Making it more user friendly would make the algorithm harder to read in the source.

Note that the input uses a comma, per bc's function call syntax.

Note also that the output is a clock time in the appropriate base, with a colon separator, followed by a fractional time in the current output base.

Watch the use of ibase to switch back and forth between hexadecimal and decimal input, and the use of obase to get the hexadecimal fraction output:

tohextime(8,34)
5:B6
1462.04444444444444444444
ibase=16
to24time(5,B6)
8:33
513.98437500000000000000
ibase=5+5
obase=16
tohextime(8,34.0444444)
5:B6
5B6.2BBDBF6D7BCFDEE31
obase=10
ibase=16
to24time(5,B6.2BBDC)
8:34
514.04444296875000000000

As you can see in this example, even though bc is an arbitrary precision calculator, I have only carried the calculations out to the minutes and short/hexadecimal minutes. So it will sometimes be off one or two in the last column. You can use the fractional output to fudge that, as can also be seen in the example.

(The reason I use "ibase=5+5" to switch back to decimal is not obvious until you consider what "ibase=10" means when ibase is set to 16 -- or anything besides ten.)

*****

The next version I wrote was in Forth, because I have the gforth interpreter installed on my Android phone. It should work with no or minimal modification on a variety of Forth interpreters, including most 16-bit interpreters. It may be necessary to look up your interpreter's version of mixed-precision */MOD and /MOD .

I did this one in integer math, to keep it simpler and make it as portable as possible to other Forth interpreters and OSses:

----------

( Q&D Forth definitions for converting between hex time and 24:60 time. )
( Joel Matthew Rees, May 2021, Amagasaki, Japan )
( Copyright claimed, all rights reserved. )
( Permission granted to use this source code for personal )
( or small-group educational purposes. )

decimal

24 60 * constant m60perday
m60perday 2 / constant halfm60perday
16 256 * constant m256perday
m256perday 2 / constant halfm256perday

: to16min ( hours minutes --- hexminutes )
  swap 60 * + m256perday m60perday */mod 
  swap halfm60perday < 0= if 1+ then ;

( Note output order inverted from input. )
: to16time ( hours minutes --- hexminutes hexhours )
  to16min 256 /mod ;

: to60min ( hexhours hexminutes --- minutes )
  swap 256 * + m60perday m256perday */mod
  swap halfm256perday < 0= if 1+ then ;

( Note output order inverted from input. )
: to24time ( hexhours hexminutes --- minutes hours )
  to60min 60 /mod ;

----------

Again, you'll start up your Forth interpreter, either in a terminal session or as a terminal session. Then you'll select the source from above, copy it, and paste it into the terminal session, probably using the right-click context menu. Or, again, typing it in will give you a chance to familiarize yourself with the source code.

If your interpreter is case-sensitive and requires the built-in words to be upper case, and you don't want to type it in by hand, you can paste the source into a text editor, save it as something like "hextime.fs", and convert the source to upper-case easily with the Unix-like OS command-line tool tr:

tr [a-z] [A-Z] < hextime.fs > hextimeU.fs

Use it as follows, typing the hours or long hours, followed by the minutes, then the conversion function:

8 34 to16time . . 5 182  ok
8 34 to16time hex . . 5 B6  ok
5 B6 to24time decimal . . 8 34  ok
23 59 to16time hex . . F FD  ok
F FD to24time decimal . . 23 59  ok

Rather than directly storing the desired numeric conversion base in BASE, as

16 BASE !

5 5 + BASE !

you can use HEX to switch to hexadecimal base, and DECIMAL to switch to decimal. These are provided in Forth for basically for the same reason you used ibase=5+5 instead of ibase=10 to switch back to decimal in bc.

*****

The third version I wrote was in C, just because I was feeling frisky or something. It can be compiled with any ANSI standard C compiler (not C++), and linked to the standard C library. Apple's clang and the widely available gcc should work just fine.

For some versions of Small C, or for pre-ANSI C, certain modifications may be necessary, you'll probably know which.

I really should have factored it out more carefully, and tried harder to fix the errors in the final digit, but floating point C is just too easy to write like this:

----------

/* A q&d C program for converting between hexadecimal time and 24:60 time:
** Joel Matthew Rees, May 2021, Amagasaki, Japan
** Copyright claimed, all rights reserved.
** Permission granted to use this source code for personal
** or small-group educational purposes.
*/


#include <stdio.h>
#include <stddef.h>
#include <stdlib.h>


int main( int argc, char * argv[] )
{
   if ( argc < 2 
        || ( ( argv[ 1 ][ 0 ] == '-' ) && ( argv[ 1 ][ 1 ] == '?' ) ) )
   {
      printf( "usage: %s { <24hr-time> | -x <hextime> }\n", argv[ 0 ] );
      return EXIT_SUCCESS;
   }
   else if ( argv[ 1 ][ 0 ] == '-' && argv[ 1 ][ 1 ] == 'x' )
   { /* from hex time to 24 hour time */
      double dayfrac = 0.0;
      double minutes = 0.0;
      long time = 0;
      char * parse = NULL;

      if ( argc > 2 )
      {
         time = strtol( argv[ 2 ], &parse, 16 );
         if ( parse > argv[ 2 ] && * parse == ':' )
         {
            char * parse2 = NULL;

            dayfrac += time / 16.0;
            time = strtol( ++parse, &parse2, 16 );
            if ( parse2 > parse )
            {
               dayfrac += time / ( 16.0 * 256.0 );
            }
         }
      }
      dayfrac *= 24.0;
      time = (long) ( dayfrac + 1.0 / 120.0 );
      dayfrac -= time;
      minutes = dayfrac * 60.0;
      printf( "%ld:%02ld\n", time, (long) ( minutes + 0.5 ) );
      printf( "minutes: %g\n", minutes );
   }
   else 
   {
      double dayfrac = 0.0;
      double xminutes = 0.0;
      long time = 0;
      char * parse = NULL;

      if ( argc > 1 )
      {
         time = strtol( argv[ 1 ], &parse, 10 );
         if ( parse > argv[ 1 ] && * parse == ':' )
         {
            char * parse2 = NULL;

            dayfrac += time / 24.0;
            time = strtol( ++parse, &parse2, 10 );
            if ( parse2 > parse )
            {
               dayfrac += time / ( 24.0 * 60.0 );
            }
         }
      }
      dayfrac *= 16.0;
      time = (long) ( dayfrac + 1.0 / 512.0 );
      dayfrac -= time;
      xminutes = dayfrac * 256.0;
      printf( "%lX:%02lX\n", time, (long) ( xminutes + 0.5 ) );
      printf( "hexadecimal minutes (decimal): %g\n", xminutes );
   }
}

----------

Select the source and copy it, paste it into a text editor, save it as something like "hextime.c", and compile it with something like

$ cc -Wall -o hextime hextime.c

I parse the time from the command-line parameters, so use the colon in the clock time parameter when calling the program.

Use the -x option to convert from hexadecimal time to 24 hour time:

$ ./hextime 8:34
5:B6
hexadecimal minutes (decimal): 182.044
$ ./hextime -x 5:B6
8:34
minutes: 33.9844
$ ./hextime 17:00
B:55
hexadecimal minutes (decimal): 85.3333
$ ./hextime -x B:55
17:00
minutes: -0.117188
$ ./hextime 23:59
F:FD
hexadecimal minutes (decimal): 253.156
$ ./hextime -x F:FD
23:59
minutes: 58.9453

*****

Okay, here's a C program using integer math, just because I could. Some people say I waste my time, but it helps me gain confidence that the programs here are more-or-less correct.

Structurally, the calculations follow the Forth code, while the argument parsing follows the floating point C version.

It may also help you follow the formulae being used. If so, it was doubly worth it:

----------

/* A q&d C program for converting between hexadecimal time and 24:60 time
** using integer math:
** Joel Matthew Rees, May 2021, Amagasaki, Japan
** Copyright claimed, all rights reserved.
** Permission granted to use this source code for personal
** or small-group educational purposes.
*/


#include <stdio.h>
#include <stddef.h>
#include <stdlib.h>


#define M60perDAY 	( 24 * 60 )
#define HalfM60perDAY 	( M60perDAY / 2 )
#define M256perDAY	( 16 * 256 )
#define HalfM256perDAY	( M256perDAY / 2 )


long tohexminutes( long hours, long minutes )
{
   long dminutes = hours * 60 + minutes;
   long minprod = dminutes * M256perDAY;
   long xminutes = minprod / M60perDAY;
   long remainder = minprod % M60perDAY;
   if ( remainder >= HalfM60perDAY )
   {
      ++xminutes;
   }
   return xminutes;
}


long to60minutes( int xhours, int xminutes )
{
   long dminutes = xhours * 256 + xminutes;
   long minprod = dminutes * M60perDAY;
   long minutes = minprod / M256perDAY;
   long remainder = minprod % M256perDAY;
   if ( remainder >= HalfM256perDAY )
   {
      ++minutes;
   }
   return minutes;
}


int main( int argc, char * argv[] )
{
   if ( argc < 2 
        || ( ( argv[ 1 ][ 0 ] == '-' ) && ( argv[ 1 ][ 1 ] == '?' ) ) )
   {
      printf( "usage: %s { <24hr-time> | -x <hextime> }\n", argv[ 0 ] );
      return EXIT_SUCCESS;
   }
   else if ( argv[ 1 ][ 0 ] == '-' && argv[ 1 ][ 1 ] == 'x' )
   { /* from hex time to 24 hour time */
      long xhours = 0;
      long xminutes = 0;
      char * parse = NULL;
      long hours = 0;
      long minutes = 0;

      if ( argc > 2 )
      {
         xhours = strtol( argv[ 2 ], &parse, 16 );
         if ( parse > argv[ 2 ] && * parse == ':' )
         {
            char * parse2 = NULL;

            xminutes = strtol( ++parse, &parse2, 16 );
         }
      }
      minutes = to60minutes( xhours, xminutes );
      hours = minutes / 60;
      minutes %= 60;
      printf( "%ld:%02ld\n", hours, minutes );
   }
   else 
   {
      long hours = 0;
      long minutes = 0;
      char * parse = NULL;
      long xhours = 0;
      long xminutes = 0;

      if ( argc > 1 )
      {
         hours = strtol( argv[ 1 ], &parse, 10 );
         if ( parse > argv[ 1 ] && * parse == ':' )
         {
            char * parse2 = NULL;

            minutes = strtol( ++parse, &parse2, 10 );
         }
      }
      xminutes = tohexminutes( hours, minutes );
      xhours = xminutes / 256;
      xminutes %= 256;
      printf( "%lX:%02lX\n", xhours, xminutes );
   }
}

-----------

To use it, copy and paste it into a text editor document, save, compile, and run it in a similar fashion as the floating point C version, above.

*****

I have not thoroughly tested all the above, but they are accurate enough for my use in this story. If I needed accuracy to the seconds, it would be fairly straightforward to extend the accuracy that far on modern hardware, but would require implementing full 32-bit math on older 16-bit Forth interpreters. (Modern is 64-bit, but 32-bit Forths would have no problem.)

This is a service chapter -- a freebie.

We now return you to the story.

Table of Contents

Next: Talking about Missions

You can find more discussion of hexadecimal math in my Math and English blog, here: https://math-and-english.blogspot.com/2018/03/games-with-time-units.html.

Economics 101, a Novel, ch 1 pt 4a -- Letters Home

Previous: Going by Four

Table of Contents

Dear Mom,

(Dad, too, of course.)

I'm getting settled in, got my schedule arranged, getting started with classes.

The part time job at the hospital is going to work out okay, at least for this semester. I've told them I can't let it interfere with studies, and they seem to understand, as much as management can. The bank is set up okay, there's a decent store within walking distance, and I've got room in my money and time budgets for a little socializing.

I told you about my roommate Kristie already. She's going to be a good friend, just as I thought she would be. She's in my education topics class.

The rest of my roommates are okay, too. I can understand them, and they seem to understand me okay, so far.

The guy I met eight months ago in the department office is in a couple of my classes, including the education topics class. His name is Karel Pratt. You'll remember, Mom, from the newspaper article you showed me.

He's a bit of a klutz, but not as much a klutz as he seems at first. And he's sweet. It looks like knows how to take care of his responsibilities.

He has a friend, Dan Claymount, who is also a really nice guy. A bit more socially forward. They were teammates on the football squad here about five years ago. Both of them are pretty decent looking. And Dan's in the education topics class, too. All four of us in that class. Fun stuff, huh?

Kristie, Dan, Karel, and I have signed up for a ballroom dance class together. Can you believe it? Me, in a ballroom class? The four of us will be studying together, a lot.

Dad, don't read what follows. Only Mom. It's girl stuff. (I know you'll read it anyway, but I take no responsibility for anything you misunderstand by it.)

I'm a little bit confused. I like both Dan and Karel. A lot. Kristie does, too. (Read between the lines.) I'm just going to have to trust God on this one, I guess.

Love to both of you, and to Rick and Gary, too. I guess they can read this, too, even though I'm sure they'll tease me about it. (Guys?)

Bobs

**********

Mother, Father,

I'm really excited about classes. It is all coming together quite nicely.

I know you wanted me to do the Master's degree closer to home, and I know you're worried about me finding good companionship among these Ehyephoottu, now that I'm an older student. I don't think there's anything to worry about. I've made three special friends who don't care at all about my social standing, at church or anywhere, and we will be studying together. I'm sure I will be able to rely on them if I get into trouble, either with school or with my social life.

Roberta is my roommate. She's a bit older, but she's steady. She is a nurse, and a student of dance. She's doing PhD work in anthropology. She has also been what the Church calls a service missionary -- not just a missionary like I was, she spent three years in an island country, teaching about health, hygiene, as well as about Jesus, and being a nurse where they needed more nurses. She's teaching me a lot.

Daniel is a football player. He's just a little older than I. He was on the team here five years ago, and he played professionally after college. But he's a good Ehyephoot boy, no drinking, no womanizing, responsible about his money. And he cares about people.

I will admit, he didn't particularly hide his appreciation of my looks when we met, but he no longer makes an issue of it. He really knows how to behave himself like a gentleman. He is as much of a gentleman as any of the men you have arranged for me to meet in the past, far more than some.

Karel is a bit of a riddle. He's about five years older than I am, about the same age as Roberta. He is also a former football player. Daniel and he were teammates, and they have remained friends.

I met Karel once, a long time ago. Maybe you remember me mentioning him, Mother? He stepped in when a group of boys were misbehaving towards me.

He's a little socially backwards, but he is no less a gentleman than Daniel, and no less solid, even more responsible than Daniel.

I have met my professors and arranged to meet with them regularly to discuss my academic progress. The department head has agreed to report to you, should I fall behind in my classes, per your requests.

I have full confidence you will be pleased with my work in the graduate program here.

Your faithful daughter,

Kristine

**********

Hey, guys, it's me!

I'm here safely. Karel is on campus, for some reason, but we are hanging out together. And some. Blame it on Karel, but we've met the two most wonderful women in the world. Besides Mom and Shel and Debs, of course. We're studying together and taking a ballroom dance class together and, just maybe, Karel has met someone as cool as you, Sheliah. Maybe me, too. I'll keep you posted.

love you guys,

Dan

PS -- They're names are Bobbie and Kristie. They both dance. I do mean dance. And they are beautiful, as well as cool, but more important, they understand the Gospel.

**********

Hi.

Just letting you all know that the semester has had a good start.

Not much to report, except that Dan and I have made friends with two of the nicest women I've ever met. Bobbie, Roberta, that is, is in the pre-PhD track in anthropology with me, also working in island culture, coincidentally. The professors are encouraging us to work together. Kristine, who goes by Kristie, is her roommate, working on a Master's in education like Dan.

They are both returned missionaries, and we seem to be able to talk about the doctrines of the Gospel with them.

We have some classes together, and have arranged to study together. Not to mention taking a ballroom dance class together.

Maybe too much to report.

The car is running fine, Dad. I don't yet have any place to tear it down, but, the way it's running, I won't need to.

The dorm laundry and cafeteria are just fine, too, Mom.

No engineering classes, Dad.

The dorm phone number is (elided).

Dad, the next time I see you, I want a father's blessing. I'm may be facing some wonderful choices that I'll want God to help me with.

Love you all,
K

Table of Contents

Optional: Hexadecimal Time
Next: Talking about Missions

You can find the original first draft of this chapter and various approaches I have tried with it here: https://free-is-not-free.blogspot.com/2016/05/economics-101-novel-ch04-going-by-four-letters-home.html.