ReaderPaul

In spite of psychological testing, things can go wrong Someone might have a head injury and personality could change. A stroke can happen. Something might be overheard and misunderstood. Life can be a balancing act. Good story.

Site is working normally for me this morning. Using Chrome browser on HP desktop.

I had some success with the regular format for a couple of stories and then the weird format showed up again. Now it appears to be back to normal. Hope it stays that way.

Hmmmm. The plot and subplots thicken. I will wait and see what happens before i speculate more at this point.

I had much the same problem. Took seemingly forever to navigate to what I wanted to see.

Over my more than 65 years of life, I have seen too many cases where someone who seems unlikely to learn Item A from Person P learns it because Second Person S tells Third Person T who tells Fourth Person F who then knows originator P but also knows Person A and tells them about Item A being told by Person P. The swath of indiscretion from persons who all should have kept their mouth shut caused relational rifts that last anywhere from months to years to permanently. In cases of mistaken identity this may be even more so multiplied. So Patrick should quickly tell Carol about being mistaken for Dante, so his version is the FIRST she could possibly hear. I respectfully agree with @chris191070 in this case. I still hope other previous CWB commentators will comment on this story. Speculation fuels even more interest in the stories of @Wombat Bill and others of our favorite writers.

@Wombat Bill, I think Patrick quickly should tell Carol he was mistaken for Dante. Otherwise, Cook's warning could be taken wrongly and cause unneeded extra drama. Glad to see Edward and Andy on the team, and looks like Juanito will also be working with Thomas and the team. Great! I look forward to seeing what @chris191070 and @Summerabbacat have to say, and hopefully other commenters as well.

@R. Eric, I thought this chapter advanced the plot and set up more possibilities. You did imply that this would be a longer story than many, and an epic normally had a lot of things going almost simultaneously. You have introduced interesting characters which will provide many potential story plots in this. I am looking forward to the future chapters.

The first set of bold print is in my appreciation of your beautiful poetic language, @Summerabbacat. The second set of bolded print is in the humor of referring to @Wombat Bill as a "quadrupedal marsupial." As far as the parents of Dante and Patrick, all of those are possibilities. One other possibility presents itself to my mind. One of the parents could be in a coma in a care institution of some kind. Another possibility just appeared in my mind -- one or both parents could have been married to someone else than each other. Neither possibility seems likely, but they are possibilities. Two more grim possibilities come to mind: their mother might have been raped, or it could have been an incestuous situation similar to or varying from Jared's biological parents (though I hope not). @chris191070 is also right -- "Dinner and drinks round the kitchen table, certainly reveals things."

Wow! Just -- Wow! You have me wondering what comes next, @Wombat Bill.

Interesting speculations in the story, @R. Eric. I am gradually catching up on the chapters. Indeed, while persons may be technically one thing or another, what they consider themselves is often something else. @Sandbear, you are technically right, but feelings sometimes overrule, for practical purposes, technicalities. I look forward to the future chapters.

@R. Eric, I love that you had the Nesmith kids learning to swim at an early age. I feel all kids should be taught the basics of swimming, floating, and some basic water safety rules.

Well, interesting. I was going to point out that a word probably had been left out of the passage @Summerabbacat quoted, but thankfully he beat me too it. It would seem Cook, Thomas, and now even Dante seem protective of Carol. I look forward to Patrick meeting Justin. Good work as usual,, @Wombat Bill.

In three of my jobs before I retired, I met several VIPs. About two out of three were nice, and many of the rest could indeed be APITA. Worse were the ones who THOUGHT they were VIPs, but were not. The worst VIPS I met were a televangelist and his family, and the best VIPS were another televangelist and his wife who were just the opposite, and several wonderful musical performers were excellent VIPs The second televangelist my spouse and I ran into at a shopping mall, and he and his wife came across as a low-key, down-to-earth couple who wanted no special treatment or attention. The really successful musicians also knew they were a success, and were very secure in that, so again demanded nothing special in treatment, no discounts, no attention. @quokka has a way of working pleasant surprises into many of his stories. I am glad they had mostly good weather on the voyage from NZ to Australia, and look forward to seeing the new passengers.

With Carol and her appetite, it seems like "It's Raining Men" by The Weathergirls (available on YouTube) might end up being appropriate. Are Carol and Patrick using condoms? Thanks for the welcome back, @Summerabbacat.

So-- the question occurs to me: Was Carol a sexual virgin when she and Dante had a fling? I don't remember it that was ever stated or not. @Wombat Bill, you keep weaving more and more threads into the plot. I see lots of possibilities opening up. I also look forward to seeing comments from @chris191070 and @Summerabbacat, and anyone else reading this.

I agree, @chris191070. @Summerabbacat, good things you pointed out in the chapter. I am also wondering about the teaser. @Wombat Bill, do you know if we will be seeing Andy and Dean, even briefly, in this? Or even Virginia and Desmond briefly? Even if we don't see any of those, it's gonna be a great story (paraphrasing a character in a story by an author I'm currently not remembering).

I must agree with @Summerabbacat. The dialogue was very well done indeed. I have also read stories where one could not tell for sure who was speaking. You avoided that pitfall, and made the story interesting, as well, @Wombat Bill.

Glad to see this start. I wanted to wait to start until I could have a chance to read every chapter in a timely fashion. Looking forward to seeing what Mrs. Cook, usually just called "Cook", and the rest of the crew, have happen this time! Thanks, @Wombat Bill.

Unexpected passengers! I hope they don't get seasick.

Jordan having the new ship tethered near Zac is probably a very wise move. This is a good story, @quokka. You are getting practiced at using dialogue and description in good balance in your stories. I look forward to seeing them sail from NZ to Australia.

So true, @AlexLittel. Mustard, ketchup, dill pickles, sweet pickles, lime pickles, lettuce, tomato, onion, relish -- but not mayo! Of course, my allergies influence that decision a bit. Yes it does, @Geron Kees. And writers are a very valuable part of the world!

One of the things I really like about GA and two other sites are the forums associated with the sites. While the forum here is really easy to read and use and find things, the other two sites I like with forums are a bit more challenging. I enjoy reading about how authors came up with story ideas, and how authors interact with the readers. My favorite authors here interact with the readers in a happy manner (or at least it so seems) and I tend to shy away from authors who are gruff and brusque with their fans. @Myr and @Cia and the other site admins and moderators do a great job of keeping things going. Sure, from time to time there are glitches, but overall it is quite well done. Do I wish some things were arranged in a slightly different manner? Sometimes, but overall this is a great place to read. I do miss, however, the ability to go directly to a new chapter when I am caught up with the chapters in a particular story. But it is not a deal-breaker. GA staff and authors, thank you!

When in college, a friend who was a vehicle mechanic was looking at a magazine rack in a store, and pointed to a picture of a very "chesty" female supposedly replacing something on a vehicle, and said, "I'd like to see her be able to change out that [whatever it was] with a crescent wrench! She would need at least a [tool whose name I can't remember]!"

Especially Aldi -- in the part of the US where I live, Aldi's in-stock on merchandise is atrocious!