C James

The problem, especially in very low population density areas such as Australia, is that there are many miles of seldom-traveled road. Also, lowering the speed limit for such long distances is impractical abnd puts human lives at greater risk; differences between vehicle speed are far more likely to cause accidents than most anything else, and when you have artificially low speed limits, you get a lot of speeders. A fence is a good idea, but one argument against would be (and I have no clue if it would apply) are they can do more harm than good; if they block wildlife from migrating or relocating, they can cause more deaths than traffic. Another thing to beware of is deceptively easy "legislative fixes". One example is deer whistles for cars. These airflow-driven whistles are supposed to scare deer out of the way by generating a whistling noise. Every so often, after a human fatality, someone proposes making them mandatory. The only problem is, they don't work. The other thing to consider is that Kangaroo populations have exploded since the advent of farming in Australia. So much so, as I recall, that Kangaroos need to be thinned out ever so often. In fact, as I recall, they were once (and might still be) officially designated as a pest species. Also, with runaway numbers, starvation becomes an issue. What's my point? The heck if I know... :wacko: Just raising some issues that IMHO need to be thought through. However, for both humans and critters, I do agree that reducing the car-critter impact rate would be a good idea.

Steve! I'm shocked that you could twist my words so... Here I write a sweet, lovable vignette about a Goat named Scarp, and give it the moral of "A goat would never go anywhere near a cliff". and then you try and claim it's a cliffhanger, and twist my words... Shame on you!

It's dark becuase it's part of the Eeevil Antipodean Plot! I'm a lurker, I tell ya, I lurker! Why won't you believe me?? And sorry, but it's still Monday here. For another two hours anyway. But yes, if Joe is able, there will be a Ch 12 on Tuesday, thanks (as always) to our wonderful team. But Bondwriter! You can;'t count the story threads.. thos are pat of my author's duties! Please go have another look... And maybe a 10% raise will help clear your mind of these horrible manipulations that certain antipodeans (and Canadians, amongst others... ) are using? Of course I lurk, that's what lurkers do... It's the posting that I almost never do...

Hi LC! The one thing that worries me here is your comment of "he wants to move a little fast". I hate to be a downer, but online dating, from what I've seen, rarely works well as so many guys who do online dating seem to be wanting just a quick hook up. (caveat; I've never tried online dating myself, and I do know of exceptions to what I'm saying). I'm just worried about that in combination with the "move fast", you and he might have very different agendas. I will say this; don't do anything unless YOU want to. If you feel like you "have to", then its wrong, period. Just be cautious... CJ

Now, I will point out that my story has a moral; it's proving that a goat won't have anything to do with a cliff, or, of course, a cliffhanger. :pickaxe:

But BK, that's just a statistical glitch! An unexplained anomaly with the post counter! And of course I come before Myr on the top posters list... C comes before M, so I'm ahead of him there, due to alphabetical order. But Ieshwar... It's just a statistical hiccup! Well, yes, NSNP was my very first story, and I was indeed very excited, as well as EXTREEMLY nervous. It was in the summer anthology last year, and, well, let's just say that nervous is an inderstatment. I was so releived to be getting comments that didn't say "it sucked" that of course I replied... Now, as for the story threads, I really don't think y'all can count those.. Remember, it's part of my duties as an author to participate, and also as an author I need to acknowledge and thank all the thread participants. So of course the story threads should be disregarded for this... Please, Bondwriter, return to the light, remember the dark and horrible secret Mauritius hides... It's actually south of the equator! That's right, Ieshwar is an ANTIPODEAN! Don't let the antipodean conspiracy pull you under!

Ahhh, but surely you can't expect a goat to count? And currently, all members of GA with over 4000 posts are lurkers. A GA admin even said so. That makes it official, right? Hi Shadowfire!! That's true.. And dang, are they fast! I remember a walaby running up from the side of the road, and then paralleling the car I was in, which was doing about 30 mph... Wow, are they fast... And Kangaroos, well, they are sure big, I was astounded. In my area, we have deer and elk, and both cause fatal accidents. The deer are actually pretty large, and then a car hits them, they are often in mid-leap, and impact on the windshield. When that happens at speed, its often fatal to the occupants, becuase the deer comes through the windshield. I imagine it is much the same for kangaroos, given their leaping. From what I remember, the roo guards were often mounted on windshields for that reason. They won't protect the vehicle much, but might save the occupants. Yep, but Graeme has those spines too! Plus, Echidnas are sneaky...

Yay Bondwriter!!! I'm so glad that someone believes me!!! And Bondwriter is quite right; the chapter threads are part of my author's duties. So Ieshwar, I hereby declare you our official resident postaholic!

Ieshwar! You are sadly mistaken! I do not have 5 times as many posts as you; 5 times 950 would be 4750, and I do not have 4750 posts! Besides, anyone with between 400 and 4000 posts is a POSTAHOLIC! Absolutely 100% certified... And I'm no post-whore! I'm a lurker, i tell ya!

Our weekend tradition! Sooo, for some activities, we could have another round of Shadowgod-blaming, or maybe some Emoe-teasing? Or we could discuss why, exactly, someone with almost a thousand posts chooses the title of "Certified: Not Postaholic"?? Hrmmm, very suspicious that... Certified how? And by whom? I suspect denial...

Just as long as you think twice about such things in the future... this my smelly friend was but a warning shot across your bow, next my friends wont't be as forgiving. Steve ACK! Now what have I ever done to deserve such a thing? You should go get Graeme... He's the one trying to steal your title... ACK! A real stinker! However, the scent is fading today, so before its gone, I feel I must take advantage of the situation to lay claim to a tile, however temporary, of my own; I'm the most aromatic writer on GA!

I wrote this in response to Ieshwar's writing prompt in the writing prompts forum Ieshwar and Graeme wrote too, and they were so good I wanted to post a link here. Ieshwar, though, seems to be under a misaphrenesion that I use cliffhangers. Graeme, the Aussie rules football isn't so bad.. Now, Cricket, that would have been terrifying. BTW, I'd very much welcome anyone writing on that topic to add theirs to this thread. Now for my own little short (very short) story, entitled "A goat wouldn't have anything to do with a cliff." Stumbling up the precipitous path, the wizened old goatherd cried out out again, "Scarp! Where are you, Scarp?" as he pressed onwards and upwards, in search of his missing goat. Mumbling to himself "Where has that Damn goat gotten to now?" he fought for his breath, tired from the long climb, struggling to trudge the last few yards to the top of the windswept crag. Upon reaching the small, flat expanse, he cursed what he did not see; no black goat, instead, all he could see was rocks, and sky. Stumbling towards the overlook, buffeted by the roaring wind, he cursed his folly; the goat wasn't on the crag after all. But, it must be somewhere... "Scarp!" he bellowed again... Resolving to gain sone use from his climb, he edged towards the line between rock and sky, knowing that it was the edge of a vertical drop to his pasture land, several hundred feet below. Dropping to a crawl, he edged closer, ignoring the loose dirt and gravel and the downward slope as he neared the edge. Finally able to inch his head forward far enough to look over the dizzying precipice, the old goatherd laid eyes on a familiar black shape far below. "Scarp," he muttered, seeing the black goat looking up at him, "I've climbed up all this way, and there you are, right back where I started." Inching backwards up the incline, or attempting to, the old goatherd struggled for purchase, the wind buffeting him, fear gripping his heart as he began to slide towards the drop, the looming abyss seeming to reach out and pull him over the edge. Scrambling for a handhold that wasn't there, he spun around, sending his legs over the edge, as his wizened fingers tried in vain to stop his fall. Hanging by one hand from the final lip of rock, his body dangling, his grip failing, he glanced down at the recalcitrant goat, and heard himself say, "I should have known Scarp wouldn't come up here... a goat won't have anything to do with a cliff..."

But Emoe, when we first met, can you possibly deny that I was a a lurker? I'm still learning, and have a long ways to go... Thank you Bondwriter!!!! Yay! My true lurkish nature, recognized at last!

Ishewar, I hadn't seen the writing prompt, but I'll give it a try... And that brightened my (otherwise smelly) day, thank you!!! (I'll go try my hand at the prompt and comment sometime tonight) But, what? Cliffhangers? Surely not I! I never use cliffhangers... Thank Coley! I soaked in darn near everything, yesterday and today. Smelling like a skunk sure gets old fast. LoL Yeah, It's fading slowly, but based on past experience I'll be rather aromatic for a few days. Ugh, smelly things.. LoL :lmao: Yes indeed; in which case, I'm serving well, because I still stink... LoL Lol, well, I haven't gotten used to it yet.. But I suspect I'll have a few days to do so. LoL Lol, I think I did startle him; he was between my SUV and a wall, and the tailgate hatch swings, right over where he likely was, and there's no way forward, he was kind of cornered. The last time I got sprayed was similar; I'd cornered one and didn't know it. Rofl, well, it could have been worse; I also have mountain lion and bear in my area, and rattlesnakes too. It was pitch black outside, just the light from my porch, and the skunk was in the shadows... Shadows? AHHA!!! Shadowgod, I knew it!!! I hereby blame Shadowgod for this smelly situation!

The title is quite literal... I really stink right now. Earlier this evening, I went outside to get something out of my SUV, and it was dark. That's fairly normal at night, so they say. As I opened the rear hatch, I noticed something moving out of the corner of my eye, between the rear of the SUV and the corner of my house, just a couple of feet away. All I could see was a flash of white. Then the smell hit... Ugh... I quickly figured out that what I'd seen was a skunk. It got me, not too heavily, on my side, and I'm just glad I didn't get any in my eyes. I ditched the clothes which helped, and grabbed a gallon bottle of vinegar and poured it into the bath, and soaked a while, then rinsed with hydrogen peroxide and baking soda, and then some dishwasher detergent. These helped a lot, but I still stink a little... Ugh... Mangy polecat... Lucky for me, my clothes got most of it (I was wearing jeans and a jacket). Those are outside, and might be a total loss. I sure as heck ain't bringing 'em inside to wash. I've been sprayed once before (also from startling a skunk accidentally when I'd inadvertently cornered it) and that time was worse. This seems to be a light dose, but I can't get rid of all the oder (going by past experience, I'll stink for a few days) euuuwww... CJ, who stinketh....

Those are some very good points! One of the reasons I went with "promiscuous" was that's what he'd used before, so I was thinking he'd likely use it again. I know that when I've had too much to drink, my vocabulary doesn't change, just my pronunciation. LoL The next chapter should be out sometime on Tuesday. Tuesday is my normal posting day, though delays sometimes occur. Ahhh, this reminds me! I usually release the chapter title right about now... Sometimes my chapter titles can be a tad ominous. If that was the case, this one would be called something like "Hiting the Fan". That would be a bit ominous after the "Wild Wild Night" events, so its a good thing that's not the title! The title is actually "Hitting the Fan".

Wasn't there a CPU that had math problems? One of the early Pentiums, as I recall. Hrmm, maybe that's the CPU for the GA servers? And what? Me, campaign via PM? Now would I do such a thing at that?

Thank you!!! It's my favorite chapter of those posted, too. It was fun to write, and oddly enough, probably the easiest to write. ROFL! Jon and Eric do have their wild moments. It is even entirely possible that this is not the last time they have a wild time. Poor misunderstood Dimitri... And yes, you have known a few guys like that... why, in fact, while we're still thinking of Chase's costume, I can think of one in particular. On the subject of Eric, I probably did goof in using the name in both FTL and LTMP. I just liked the name, and the draft of the early chapters of LTMP was written long before FTL, so Eric was already Eric in my head. "Gays sleep around" would have worked, and would have been easier for hungover guys to pronounce.

Emoe!!! Surely you don't still doubt me, do ya buddy?

Yes, it is likely a glitch, totally agreed. I see my name there on a thread or two, and it's probably alphabetical, and because my name begins with a single letter, that probably bumps it to the top. Ah well, no software is perfect...

:king: :king: :king: Happy 17th Birthday, Beastkid!!!!! :king: :king: :king: I hope you have a GREAT day, and an even better year!

But, but, but... It's just a statistical hiccup! I mean, I'm sure it's possible that I've posted on occasion here and there, (even lurkers post on occasion). I'm a lurker! You even said so yourself!

Good point! or "Loose and easy". LoL, that's true; they were hungover, but still, a complicated word would not have been easy. LoL Thanks Steve! See? I kept saying, over and over, "Poor, misunderstood Eric," but did anyone believe me? Noooo... There it was, the answer to the whole finale, and no one ever believed me.. (Lucky for me, or the Echidna would have turned me into a pincushion for giving spoilers...) It's not as if I ever fib or anything... Poor, misunderstood Dimitri...

Thanks! I figured it out while you were typing that, but only becuase I knew it had to be there somewhere, thanks to you. Ummm, I'm probably just listed on those lists becuase my name is on the forum.

A statistical glitch! I gotta ask, how did you get that list? Apparently there's another feature here that I'm unaware of... Edit to add: I figured it out; you click on the number of posts from the main forum page. Wow, handy, but, ummmm, beware of statistical glitches!