C James

Drift all the way to Mauritius? Hmmm, that's a long way... There wouldn't be much left of 'em by the time they got there... Thanks Ieshwar!! Ugh, I hate being inside a plane on the ground when they shut the airpacks off; hot and stuffy can be an understatement. Hrmmmm, Now that's an interesting idea... On an airliner as opposed to an airplane? Only briefly. Once, while in the pattern landing at Dallas one night, I saw the landing lights of another airliner. They weren't moving in my window, just growing further appart (which to a pilot has a single meaning: you are on a collision course). The other plane was under a mile away, and it looked to me like an ATC mistake, and an imminent mid-air collision in a few seconds. That made me think I was about to die, but there wan't anything I could do about it so i just sat back to watch. The other plane puled up and cleared us by about 250 feet (Passing directly above), just in time, but it certainly qualified as a near-miss, and I made darn sure, once on the ground, that ATC was aware of it. (they were, the other pilot had leveled out at the wrong altitude, and somehow not noticed the lit-up 747 at his 2-o-clock) Hrmmm, another time would be on a non-stop from Los Angeles to Paris; passing over greenland, the autopilot malfunctioned, making the plane pitch up and down wildly for a few seconds. That was just a momentary scare. Another would be over the Rockies, hitting CAT (clear air turbulence) of a very severe kind; we lost ten thousand feet, give or take, in about 30 seconds. One other time, over New York (in the holding pattern for JFK) the plane pitched up suddenly, and I heard the engines spooling up to max power. The pilot held a very steep angle of attack, and I felt the plane begin to shudder. That's the warning signes of an impending stall, and suddenly the nose dropped, going from about 30 degrees up angle to 30 degrees down in a couple of seconds. That was a partial stall, not a good thing to be in while close to the ground. That's about it for the bad stuff, which isn't bad considering I've flown over a million miles. (which ads up to a LOT of time in cattle class airline seats, ouch. it also means I've survived a great deal of airline food, LoL) However, for an airplane as opposed to an airliner, I've had a much longer close call. I was a polot of a single-engine small plane, when a massive fuel leak occurred, resulting in fuel (and fuel vapors) within the cabin. I had to shut down both the engine and the electrical system due to fire risk, and that plane had electric flaps. I was at ten thousand feet over the southern California desert, and the only thing I could do was line up for a dead-stick, straight in approach to a nearby airport. I knew I likly had fuel in the wheel cowling area too, so that meant no brakes, and no flaps meant a far higher than normal landing speed. I should mention that I was a student pilot at the time, I'd never even tried a no-flaps landing, and a dead-stick landing means no second chances. If'; i'd had a parachute, I'd have used it. I was almost breathing again when I neared the airport and determined that I didn't have the altitude to make a 90 degree base-to-final turn and line up with the runway. So, I set the damn thing down on a taxiway at half again it's normal landing speed, smoothest damn landing I ever made, oddly enough. For most of the ten miniutes or so I was in the air, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to live. Oddly, I felt pretty detached about that; and just concentrated on doing what I could. I was ninteen at the time, and I'd faced death before, but that had been sudden, over in an instant, no time to think. That emergency landing was my first real encounter with a liklyhood of death for any length of time, and I remember being surprised, in the final seconds of the approach, that I wasn't nervous. I've never really had much of a fear of death, but I've always had a phobia about burning alive, so I was surprised that I wasn't nervous. Of course, any dreams of nerves of steel were soon dispelled; I rolled to a stop right next to the little airport's restaurant, so I hopped out FAST, jumping down off the wing and putting some distance between me and the loose fuel (I feared a spark). Once clear, I turned and walked towards the staring people at the resturnt. At that point, my knees went weak, and I fell down on the runway, skinning my knee in the process. LoL. Yeah, my knees went that weak... But Steve, you are the king of wicked cliffhangers, and I dare you to claim otherwise after LiS 26! Crabbing a plane into a crosswind to land is normal; the danger is if you don't straighten out to roughly parallel with your velocity vector before the gear touches pavement. On a small plane, that can flip you. On a big one, it could overstress the main gear, causing it to fail. Not a good thing.

Glad you weren't hurt in that fall! A lack of balance is never a good thing near big drops... Like I always say, it's not the fall that gets you, it's the bounce. Yes, Blackheart is indeed Evil... He's a real blackhearted scoundrel! Of course, the chapter name might be misleading, and Blackheart might not even be in it. And fear not; unlike the evil writer of Living in Surreality, I never use cliffhangers.

Howdy Steve! (or have you changed it yet, due to what that eeevil other steve did?) The Hana road camping may or may not be allowed, I'm really not sure. Its been a few years since I was in that area, and I've camped out in Hawaii, but not there. From what little I remember, the road is often a fair distance from the shore, and there are plenty of deserted beaches, so maybe they will be ok, allowed or not, if no one sees them. I can't answer the other questions due to spoilers, but as for the eeeevil Blackheart, well, all I'll say is that; FTL Chapter 33, Blackheart, will be posted on Tuesday.

Happy Birthday!!!

Lol, sorry about that... I wanted that character to sound obviously gay, but with Chris and Steve not picking up on it. (they don't have very good Gaydar)

Hi Jan!! The name of that shoe store, "The Shoe Whore's Shoe Store", actually came to me while I was reading this blog entry, entitled "Shoe Whore?". I thought it would be an interesting name for a high-end shoe store (I've seen far stranger names for various stores).

Happy July 4th, everyone!

Hmmm, that may be a good point on the airborne sleeping, especially if one is afraid of flying. I do fall asleep on airplanes, even at that age, BUT, I began flying on airliners when I was a few months old, so I'm very used to it. Glad you liked the puzzle scene. I wanted to show him sticking up for Chris. See? This is something else we can blame shadowgod for. On longer flights, the still serve food. It's just short ones, such as continental US internal flights, that mostly don't anymore. But I'd hate to think of a 15 hour non-stop where they didn't serve food... Thanks Conner! OK, YES, I do have BIG issues with the government and ailine security procedures. The dumb question where they were asked if they have explosives in the trunk happened to ME. So, too, did the bit about letting through a big young guy with a laptop, all kinds of wires and gear, etc, but stopping a little old lady and examining her lipstick in detail. This happened THREE times in a row. The government, regardless of who is in charge, is basically useless when it comes to doing anything right. Airline security is no exception, except for the fact that they seem more inept here than on most anything else. They spent enormous sums of money, yet the only reason airline passengers are safer these days is that airline passengers, unlike pre-911, will fight because it is their only hope. I remember reading about one flight from South America a year or two ago: a passenger tried to break into the cockpit; the other passengers sedated him. With a fireaxe. The the head. One simple way to improve security drastically; motivate the security people manning the checkpoints. Offer a large reward whenever they spot and stop something real OR a planned test. Sure, it would cost a lot of money, probably well under 5% of what the current system costs, and be more effective. Another peeve of mine on airline security idiocy; Suppose a passenger is going on an international flight. The standard procedure is that they have to be there an hour earlier for check-in, supposedly for security reasons. Yet, if this is not a non-stop, passengers ON THE SAME PLANE who will be getting off in a US city. For example, a flight from Phoenix to London with a stop in Chicago (A route I've done many times). The international passengers have to report to the airport an hour earlier to get on the same plane as the passengers going to Chicago. That makes no sense at all, none, and the fun thing is that even the TSA and airline officials can't come up with an explanation in face of the facts (I've put many of 'em to the question myself on this issue). One of their favorite tricks now is paid box lunches. Awfull food, at about $10 a box. (yep, they often charge for in-flight meals now, in shorter flights). But... But... But... I almost never post! I'm a lurker!! But, this brings up an interesting question... Should we bamle BOTH Emoe and Shadowgod for, well, everything? I can't say anything here, except to speculate; What could the FBI do, with only a picture of a playing card in an ad to go on? This is much like a case I got involved in once; someone building a home knew who was stealing their stuff, but without evidence, the cops couldn't do a thing. Once I got the evidence, they had enough for a search warrant and that was that. And, um, a Misery? I thought those were reserved for Shadowgod, when he does something nasty to his characters?

ROFL! That's true, he didn't put a date on there... BTW, FTL 32, Aloha, Maui, is up.

:P I can see it now... Well, Emoe came up with the title, so I suppose we should let him have his way with the Epilogue too? Well, yes, everything! We decided that you were to blame for everything, anywhere, anywhen, so that makes the sinking of the Titanic your fault, the hurricane season of 2005, the crash of the Hindenburg, WW1, and, well, everything! Chapter 32 should be up in an hour... I'm just foing the formatting now. Oh, and BTW, one other thing to blame Shadowgod for; he won't send me the beta for FTL 34. Nw, I predict he'll try and weasil out of this by claiming that I haven't sent it yet (which is technically correct, I'm not done writing it) but it's really no excuse. I'm beginning to think that you don't like Eric much? The renewed interest in killing the good guys? Why, that's Shadowgod's fault, of course... Hrmmm, would that mean I'd have to have him say "Rats! Foiled again..." ? ???? Ummm, I'm not familier with that one... And I'm betting I don't want to know?

Hi Cloud! Welcome to GA, or Welcome back...

And how do you know that Eric doesn't like pool parties? Maybe he does? And this way, we could have a sequel featuring Eric and the Charger.. Hrmmm, this ending seems even less popular then the one where I had Chris and Steve in the Charger, doing a Thelma and Loise into the Grand Canyon... Oh, I dunno... I've heard that you can chage PoV for prologues and epiloges... Or would it really be better to have Chris' ghost as the narrator? Do i take it that you don't like this ending?

I hope you get to see them in concert, and have fun at the movie! (was it any good?)

Now, I have a little epilogue idea I want to bounce off y'all... I think it's pretty powerful, and uses a few neat literary devices. Rubbing hard, he polished the Charger's chrome bumper, taking great care to remove every smudge from the classic chrome; he wanted his car to shine. Walking to the back of his classic car, shirt off and the warm desert sun on his back, he looked at faint marks, all that remained of the bullet holes now that the repairs were completed. He gave the trunk lid a loving pat, thinking of the suitcase stuffed with cash that it contained, his one reward for surviving that dreadful day. That final fiery showdown had nearly been the end for him, and he was thankful for his life. He knew, though, that killing his own brother, in spite of all his brother had done against him, would haunt him more than he cared to admit. Consoling himself that he'd had little choice, he used gentle strokes to clear some tar off the burnt-orange paint, a small smile breaking across his face with the knowledge that his brother at least hadn't had to die alone; the pair had died together, and he suspected that's what they would have wanted. With a few last swipes of a chamois, Eric cleaned the last water spots from the window of the Charger, before firing up the big V-8 and heading off into the sunset.

Get well soon, Luc!!

Well, yes, of course you would... I'm sure you know the ins and outs, and especially the ins, of servers. Tsk, Tsk, hackers... Goats!?!?!?? But, ROFL, that was great!!!! Emoe... Are you admitting that Thaddeus is like you? And now I'm being accused of soul-stealing... What is a poor, innocent goat to do? That's darn near spot-on, and Emoe has never seen my notes... Way to go, Emoe!!! You should... she's gruf, but has a good heart. OK, there were only a few very tiny clues in her speech patterns (probably not done too well by me), but she's supposed to be from Jersey.

Happy Canada Day!!!

I'm picking up some vibes here... You don't like Eric much, do you? Heh, either he has, or he hasn't.. Sorry, but out of fear of becoming a pincushion (the Echidna hates spoilers) I can't comment in speculation or predictions directly. I love reading them, and I usually try and dig up and highlight accurate ones after the chapter posts (and If I fail, post 'em yourself for some ). Thank you Conner!!! She's one of my favorites too. I have a question I'd love some feedback on: does anyone have an opinion on where she comes from? I didn't state it in the text, just the feel of it, and I wanted to see if it worked at all. Thanks!

Hrmmm, here I try and write a sweet, lovable (if slightly precocious) character (Eric) and you don't like him? Ahhh... Well, Eric being the good-natured soul that he is, I suppose he might approve? But, he does have a fondness for money, which, er, might give him some internal conflicts? BTW, there is a clue to Eric's whereabouts in "Six Feet Under".

First off, CONGRATULATIONS on going back to school. This is your route away from bosses like your present one. Just keep that in mind when you need some motivation. Fantastic on the anthology... (and yes, folks, he really did do it in less than a day!) I have had the privalage of seeing said anthology, so I'll do a little leaking.. It's very, very good.

Well, yes, he did try and torture them to death, and Steve being only his half-brother probably isn't a good enough excuse, but at least he was polite about it (He told them to have a nice day). BTW, no cries of outrage that the planned trip to Hawaii is being paid for by looting Eric's college fund?

My best wishes for you both, for a speedy recovery.

Discussion thread for "Category 5" Spoilers below!!! Spoilers below!!! Spoilers below!!!

Ahhh, well, No, it isn't quite an acknowledgement that he needs to mend his ways... But I do admit that Eric has a few foibles.. Nobody's perfect, after all... I mean, yes, he did try and torture his brother and Chris to death, but everybody has a bad day on occasion... And he did set Chris up for a one-way trip to Piedmont with that snatch attempt at the bookstore, but he had his reasons, I'm sure... But I do stand vindicated in one respect; back when everyone was down on Eric for the blackmail, I did say that it was no big deal... I think that more recent events have proven me right... And I'm shocked, shocked I tell you, that no one seems to be concerned over the condition of Eric's nose. This lack of interest is making me seriously reconsider my plans for devoting an entire upcoming chapter to the repair of said proboscis. (You were wondering what I'd find to fill in the remaining chapters.. )