mmike1969

I am with B1ue on Stef's b-day being Bastille Day. Ever notice when we come to that day in the stories, JP always manages to call Stef to tell him "Happy Bastille Day!". Seriously, does ANY American call each other and tell them "happy president's day!"... And I am shocked at the negative attitute of the chance that Aaron/Steven being alive. With one more chapter left, I give hope that they are alive. Sure, they can't come back to the US without causing big problems for themselves, but it will fill a big hole that Stef has had over the years.

Sorry, I read your stories when I am high on caffeine while wearing the tin-foil hat. And I said Philippines because of "Negros" is the 3rd largest Island in the Philippines. Pick up a damn phone and ASK him Robbie! Maybe she stopped reading the diary after she got to the part where Steven caught his mom having sex with another woman? BTW Mark, what is the "1." at the end of Ch 19 supposed to mean?

... Travel much to the Philippines much Mark? And no, I have not finished reading Ch 18... -- Okay, I have finished reading the chapter. Very nice and yes, you captured exactly how 2nd Lt's are treated by experienced combat troops . Hell, most people (including jr enlisted) treat 2nd Lt's pretty poorly! Most take it in stride though. I can hardly wait until the end of this story and then the real drama starts with the next Story on who is trying to screw over Stef!

Here's a good conspiracy theory!: I read in an earlier post that Mark loves a happy ending and loves a good cliffhanger... Brad spoke of his new home in Oahu. Robbie did not know about his uncle Aaron (although we still don't know why he just doesn't pick up a phone, call his dad and ask him...) Tonto's letter to Steven (don't you think it's odd writing a letter to a dead person?) does not actually STATE that he is dead, only implies that he's 'gone'. If you think about it for a second, if Steven and Aaron did run off, they are going to have to change their ID's and have no contact with their families. That's why Tonto hid his diary and letters. Steven wrote in his diary that Aaron spoke about running off to an island in the Pacific. So my theory is: 1) Tonto and Frank was/is aware of Steven and Aaron. 2) They might still be alive (in Hawaii now) 3) Kind of too much of a soap opera (even for me) but it would give a happy ending that Mark loves so much () while giving us the cliffhanger that will move us into the next story. Three more Chapters left and so many more questions that needs to be answered!

what can I say abou ch 17 except WTF and wow...

I am re-reading Be Rad again and I am wondering if you are posting edited chapters since there are some lines in the story that I do not remember being in there the first time...

don't forget to add Mr. Bill H! (JP's and Brian's...and a bunch of others maybe...dad!)

By sleeping with another Hayes Brother?

Well there you have it Mark! A real graduate of OCS So now the more important question is when Chapter 15 of "The Box" is coming out? Yeah, I do remember my last few days in Basic @ Jackson when we had OCS Candidates visiting (or doing something), visiting Drill Instructors from the Reserves/National Guard units, West Point Cadets, and a whole crapload of 'dignitaries' from DC, Generals from all over the freaking planet and Officers from many visiting countries... My Drill Instructors politely asked us "Please, please, PLEASE do NOT laugh at them..." Them referring to the West Point Cadets, Reserve DI's and OCS candidates... Have no idea what he was talking about...

Actually, that does not sound right. I am almost positive you needed a degree BEFORE going into OCS. I know in the Civil War, the rich bought their way out of serving or bought their commissions... As for the ex-pres, he had already graduated from Yale with his BA in cheer-leading (History), before buying receiving his commission... Of course, if you did make Steven an officer, I would be surprised to find out that his parents used their connections to help him since they objected to him joining in the first place.

Well I don't think Steven is qualified for OCS since it requires a 4 yr degree going in ( if that is what you were planning ) And yes, officers are treated differently then enlisted. Enlisted are trained to follow orders while officers are trained to give orders. other points that were brought up: more confident? Yes. I was out of shape going in and had a 6-pack entering my first unit (and I don't mean beer). change political views? No, tree hugging Lib going in, tree hugging Lib now. personality change? No, I STILL think most of humanity sucks and thinks earth could use 5 billion less people. personal items? Yes. Preferred being a top going in. horny? Well duh! But out of the 50 in my class, only about 10 I would count as hot. Most did NOT count even as cute...So all the idiots crying "I don't want to shower with a gay guy" falls under the not cute category. And yes, I managed to take care of myself on more then once without getting caught. any inner-self change? Yes. I was an anti-smoker and NEVER drank. You want to see a personality change? Try a case of cheap beer. Stuff scares me even today. need to know anything else? Just ask.

hmmm... OCS is a LOT different then basic training for Enlisted soldiers.

Well I was hoping for a longer story but I loved it like any other DK story that has already been posted Thanks Dan for all the hard work you put into these stories!

Big difference between Boot Camp from war-time 1940's and me going to Fort "Relaxing" Jackson, SC in 1989 just for Basic Training... Then after 8 weeks Boot Camp, there is also AIT (Advanced Individual Training) for specific jobs in the Army (not sure what they called it in the 40's). I went to Ft. Gordon (Signal School) and that place was obviously more so relaxed since we were allowed off-post on our off time. But as for me coming home after about 6-7 months... I felt indifferent with my friends and uneasy with my family. It's amazing how much I was cussing and not even realizing it. Indifferent with my friends because I felt I was growing up and they were not. Yeah, some might call it a superiority complex . I'm not really sure if these were the answers you were looking for...

hmm.. 1999 The Rise of AOL and the AOL Chat Rooms! And we all know the bad things that came out of that! And then shortly, we have the introduction of the Xbox (nov 2001), Playstation 2 (July 2000), and whatever handheld Nintendo had at the time. And I am surprised that Mark has not addressed the irrational panic called Y2k Scare!:wacko: I have my guns, ammo, food, water and fuel STILL in my bunker... Along with the duct tape and plastic sheeting! Shortly into 2000, Feb 13, U.S. Male Figure Skating championship... Does JJ win?

Perhaps they looked up his future College on the Internet Or maybe he Darius decided to take a year off and do the Travel the World thing before deciding what he wants to do. You know, visit Europe before 9/11 and then afterward decide to skip College for now and join in the military much like Aaron and Steven did.

... You know, the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of JJ being straight and Will being gay. JJ: "Hi mom, dad, dad! I would you all like to meet my girlfriend Buffy! She's part of the Canadian female hockey team!" Brad: "um..." Robbie: "...crap... Now we have to have the OTHER talk with him..." Jean: Looks to the men before saying something..."HI!" Later that night they catch Will in a similar position Casey's mom caught him in with a member of the baseball team

Of course you are just giving Mark an idea on how to get another "King/Queen of Cliffhangers" award... Chapter XX -- Matt, Wade, Darius, Will, JJ in NYC visiting the WTC (an excuse since Darius went to NYU)... First plane crashes into North Tower... Scene cuts to DC and switch to Steph's POV, inside the Pentagon... Something is very wrong and everyone knows it by now. Third Plane Crashes into Pentagon, Steph is knocked out and... Story ends at this point forcing everyone to wait until Mark writes the Next story. That way it gives Mark some more time to decide if he is going to kill someone. But I am surprised that no one selected Brian to die yet... Maybe he could be out in the field in Shanksville, PA when a large plane lands on his head?

I went for the simple vote and made Everyone Gay/bi-sexual.

You know, there is a very simple solution to the mysteries about Uncle Aaron. It just takes a little effort on Robbie's part... Personal Short Story A few years ago, going through a box filled with my dad's old books I was going to sell at the used book store, the buyer handed me back a picture she found in one of the books. It's a picture of a baby in an incubator dated in 1963 inside one of the books... Tubes sticking in/out of him with my parents looking through a glass window. I know it was NOT my oldest brother since he was born in 1964. I was 36 then and I have NEVER heard of this person. Mysteries of a hidden brother? Did my mother have an affair? WTF, Who the hell and more importantly was Where the hell was this person... My solution was to pick up a phone and call my dad. Me: "Hi dad! How are you!... I am doing fine... By the way, who the HELL is ..." Dad: "..." Sadly, he died shortly after birth and I am guessing it was a traumatic event that my parents never bothered to mention him. At the same time, even NOW my parents leave me out in the cold. The oldest of the living brothers got engaged in Sept 2009... I didn't know he was getting married until Jan 2010... And only after my dad asked me if I needed a new suit... As for JP being nervous, I am re-reading Bloodlines yet again and something in Chapter 19 caught my eye that I missed before. JP:

Chapter 15 and 16 are up... And I was wondering if changing the present would change the future. And now we know. Not good. Of course, if you are changing the present, how does those in the future know about the changes?

So I have this Dallas-Dynasty like Conspiracy Theory about Amphion... Brian called Max's dad (the Grangers, who is a stockbroker, along with Max's sort-of-str8-non-boyfriend boyfriend Lark) to form a VC firm and gave him info on what companies what Steph was looking at. (With Max going to UCLA at the end of Bloodlines, that is going to be an interesting sub-plot since his parents live close by) Amphion need funding... So they get Professor Whilst, Nick Schluter and Bruno (who's out of jail by now) to put up capital. If Nick got involved, he can get Brenda Hayes with idiot husband #2 what-his-face involved... Of course, I just can't figure out where real $$$ was coming from though...Most VC firms are not like a mutual fund where small investors can pool their money... Neil's parents? No, he lived in a trailer park... Neil's mysterious BF in Paris? Who was he? Wade's mom? She was the one with the $$$ Cole's parents? (that is coming out of left field I know...) Brian does not have cash because that's why he went to JP in Feb 1999... About the time Amphion started to interfere with Steph's firm. I think it would be messed up if Brian did somehow managed to get $$$ from JP and then used it to invest with Amphion. Like by blackmailing JP by saying something to the lines of "JP? Does your brother Jim know about me?" I say that because nothing from If It Fits to Bloodlines indicate that Jim even knows about JP's half-brother, let alone anyone else with the Crampton name in Ohio. Well I am off to read some more and I will come back with more wacko conspiracy theories!

Not the first to sell crap to the unsuspecting public. Take Fry's electronics... When you go buy a new laptop, they will insist on selling you a laptop bag, even though you already have one because this one is 'guaranteed" to fit your NEW laptop... Or try to sell you MS Office 2k7... Even though you already HAVE MS Office 2k7 and you have to tell the idiot 10 times! Or perhaps it's more like them selling you a USB cable or a spindle of CD-R's because they are on sale... It's irrelevant that you don't need that USB cable or the CD-R's... Or way back in the AOL days, the pushy sales people are always trying to shove those drink coaster AOL CD's into your hands, while trying to explain to the earthlink sales people handing out THEIR CD's that you are already an earthlink customer and you don't need another god-dammed drink coaster! Heavens forbid you exit that store (or staples, or office max, or most anywhere else...) with ONLY the items you intended to buy in the first place.

Meh, getting arrested for 'trespassing' usually will get dropped unless they broke something or spray painted something. So technically, he's not a criminal yet...

um, I thought JJ was biologically a Crampton...