C James

Thanks Conner!!! I figured that after FTL, everyone would be expecting Brandon and Chase to keep getting interrupted. What? Me? A cliffhanger? Never... BTW, their plans for a few more "encores" that night is half the reason I named the chapter "Encores". The other half being the first paragraph. I don't know why y'all keep assuming that The Scar and Dimitri are bad people... How hard would it be to smuggle a large object from Queensland to Victoria?

I had trouble on past trips at Amsterdam's airport; very crowded, lines for everything, and slow. Madrid International wasn't crowded, but they sure as heck are slow. HAd to go through passport control just to change planes, and there was a line that took over an hour. That much I could understand, but the passport officers were just glancing at the passports and were so slow becuase they were busy chatting with one another. My favorite airport on this trip has to be Dallas; everything was smooth and efficient, and its a beautiful airport too. Gatwick (London's other international airport) is more of a pain than ever; THREE hours check-in time. Ugh, and crowded too. Rome (Fumencio/Da Vinci) was actually pretty good. Yep, though many do allow auto traffic in some areas, parking is nearly impossible, so parking outside the gates is easier. Yep, no auto traffic allowed in Dubrovnik at all, from what I could see. I'll post a pic of the marble streets soon; it was really amazing to me.

Now, now, Steve, surely you don't want to jeopardize your prise; that lovely job offer down under? (a tad further down under than one might otherwise imagine, at that...)

I do have something in the works...

Why, yes... That's an idea! Hrmmm, and of course, titles for Kevin and Graeme too; they could be the King and Queen of Postaholics! Why yes, I think that will do very nicely indeed. :devil:

Hrmmm, we must not leave out our favorite Echidna, Graeme! Surely he is deserving of a title, especially after leaving his central character in danger of being hacked limb from limb for most of his most recent novel, which made almost every chapter a cliffhanger. So, how shall we honer Graeme for his cliffhanger prowess?

Eating the can sounds good.. plenty of minerals... BTW, the chapter is up.

Ouch... Having just spent a month with my relatives, including some who are decidedly reason-challenged, I fully sympathize.

ROFL!!!!!!! Well, that's an interesting theory, guys, but I can disprove it by the fact that I never use cliffhangers in any form.

ROFL! Nope, never found the Monastery. But, I did see some parts of Croatia (and a bit of Bosnia) that was literally off the beaten track. That';s what I like about renting cars overseas; seeing places that aren't "touristy". Rome was hectic, but as always there the main problem was finding parking. I ended up parking at the baths of Caracala (ruins of ancient baths that stretched over about 30 acres, well worth seeing!) , where there was plenty. In many of the hill towns, etc, you park outside and walk in. I've traveled by train and other public means before, but I keep coming back to driving; you see so much more, and actually save money (especially if not traveling alone): The hotels, etc, that are in the city centers (where you'll usually be stuck becuase that's where the train station is) charge a premium for being near public transport. Same goes for resturants in many places. So, with a car, you can get away from the cities and it doesn't actually cost any more in the long run, and it is a heck of a lot more fun.

I voted "No difference" becuase to me, cheating is cheating. Vic, I think you've coined a new euphemism! However, Joe hasn't, that I know of, said what he meant by "whatever", so one could assume it meant "changing the oil on a car" or "Playing Backgammon" etc.

This is Lithium-ion, supposedly non-memory, so I thin you're right; it must have a short somewhere. It's had very little use (I only use the laptop while traveling) but it's old... I got it in either early 2001 or late 2000. Thanks!! I checked the power supply with a multi-meter, and it seems fine. I am thinking of a new laptop; this one has other problems (like intermitant HD read problems and crashes) I found the battery online, $172!! Ouch!! This laptop isn't worth it. New software isn't the problem; I use the laptop for traveling mainly, so all I need is microsoft office, and it has an older version of that on it. However, even with very little software, it is incredibly slow. It is also very heavy by modern standards. I'll bite the bullit and get a new one after Xmas... then I can get onboard wireless, etc, too. Thanks everyone!

ACK! A Cliffhanger?!?!? But, but, but, y'all know I never use those... BTW, I don't know when this will be posted, but it's in Joe's inbox.

Hi! I figured I

Thanks for the well-wishes! I'm feeling better today, just a little low. BTW, I'm not sure when LTMP 16 will get posted, but it's in Joe's inbox. Heh, I should count myself lucky; I hate airline food so I'm fortunate that all I got was a stomach flu. LoL.

I have a bad battery on my laptop; when charging, the transformer brick now gets very hot, and also the battery might show 100% charge, but I get either (it varies) a sudden shutdown or a low-power warning by the time its down to 85% charged (usually about ten miniutes after booting). The battery and laptop are about seven years old. Any way to cycle the battery and get some more life out of it? I hate to buy a new one for such an old clunker; laptop batteries can be expensive. Thanks!

It's not up yet; I'm still making some final changes, but I should have it in to Joe by tonight, so that means y'all should have it by tomorrow at the latest. Sorry for the delay; I've been bugged by the flu. So, I figured I'd make this a dual-purpose post; an update to let everyone know what is happening, and the start of the chapter thread. (See, I'm a lurker, striving to keep my post count down). Edit to add: Joe has posted the chapter. Thanks Joe! The chapter is here:

Yes. yes, I think we do... Hrmmm, now we need a title for Wildone, too. He doesn't, so far as I know, write, so it can't be a cliffhanger title, but we need something...

Given Mr. Stalker's choice in names, I figured I'd better highlight that bit. Joe, all I can say is.. ouch. That stinks. The guy sure does sound like he's a few bricks short of a full load. He was IMHO going WAY too fast; if I read that right, you'd known him less than a week and he is pressing you to move in? Yipes. Then that huge volume of messages.. Whoa, and the rest is just icing on the cake. I agree with Trebs; Gay men in their late teens and early twenties, especially the recently-closeted, have zero dating skills. However, i think this guy goes way beyond that problem. Just be careful, and don't you dare turn straight Speaking of being careful; please watch out around this guy; sometimes people like him can get really weird when they feel they've been rejected. Don't take anything for granted. CJ (the crazy one, but not the stalker...).

Pssst, Jack, those are sheep.

Yes, you did.

And Shadowgod's title was confirmed by a vote of the GA general membership. So he has two sources for his title.

ACK!!! But I never use cliffhangers!!! And, um, a note to Wildone; I'll get you for this, Steve!

Now now, my dear King of eeevil Cliffhangers; the gaping flaw in your logic is that I, unlike you, never use cliffhangers... Though there might be an odd one or two in my stories, though if so they were certainly placed there by you during the beta... So therefor, I can't be the queen (or anything else) of evil cliffhangers.. I've done been hornswaggled! (That's Western, y'all, for "I done been framed")

Yep, "Howdy" is a pretty common way to say "hello" in the rural US west. It might be a bit more common amongst rednecks... And, well, I do sorta live a kind of redneck lifestyle. LoL. And yup, i really so say "howdy" in real life, too.