Phantom

Don't think I forgot to wish you a Happy Birthday Eric

I got the same invite too, cept i've been to busy to set it up. Let me know how it goes, so I know if it's worth the headache

I have a massive toothache coming in, called my wisdom tooth. It's the last one, but the most painful one, thankfully it's coming in normally (and being a pain). I would've had my wisdom teeth taken out awhile ago, but since I was suffering from seizures, my dentist didn't want to risk the pain and such to yank them then. By the time they were under control, I lost my dental coverage and have no way to pay for them to be taken out. FOr now, all I can do is just take a vicoden when the pain gets to be like today (to the point I can't get out of bed) and hope that I can land a job or something soon taht'll at least let me pay out of pocket to get them taken out. Eric

CJ.... all I can say is you are one devious quadruped!!! In the book 1984, they had a term that fits you, doublespeak... which is what goes on a lot in your stories Now... do I need to remind you to be nice to Eric? The whole FBI's Most Wanted list isn't really a nice thing

PD... all I can say is Werk. Werk it all ova the floor hunny! Eric (AKA Miss Thing)

Well, here's a simple and easy physics lessons when dealing with nuclear weapons. Alpha Rays - They cannot penetrate simple paper or clothing. Beta Rays - They have a hard time penetrating metallic objects and such Gamma Rays - They cannot penetrate anything that is lead lined or very thick concrete. When a nuclear weapons explodes (CJ did an amazing job describing it) the force of the explosion comes in three waves. First, the light. Depending on the yeild and proximity you are to it, it can possibly blind you. Also, the flash is the release of Radiation in the forms of the three waves which can cause anything from a sunburn to a heavy dose leading to cancer and worse. The second wave is a pressure wave which causes the most immediate destruction. The sudden increase in pressure can destroy/damage buildings or even obliterate them depending on how close it is. Third wave is radioactive fallout. This is the most dangerous because it contains not only radioactive particeles that land on the skin, but can also be breathed in and digested, leading to cancer and other diseases. Also, when an Atomic is deatonated on the ground, it looses a lot of it's momentum and destructive abilities, and when detonated underground, the earth can act as a bunker, keeping in most of the crud that comes from it. That's why when nukes are used, they're set off as an airburst, so that the energy caused by the weapon has more room to expand and destroy. This all comes from memory so I could be wrong, but I thought it might help people get a quick background on what a nuke can do Eric

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!! Hope it's a great one bro!

Will everyone stop picking on poor MikeL? Cides... frog legs are high in fat

If I remember right from my science class, we talked about this particular instance. The island itself won't crack in half and dump into the ocean. In previous chapters it was mentioned that the resort where everyone was overlooked a cliff(hanger) meaning that the resort was above sea level. So what could happen is that yes the resort does fall, but not as much as everyone thinks. Meanwhile the pyroclastic flow that is heading down from the volcano is moving at a high speed so the sudden drop of the resort area will mean that the flow will overshoot the resort or graze the top of it. Remember the physics lessons. You have an object rolling down a hill. It gathers momentum which can (if the force is right) send it over a space or where a sudden drop is. Pyroclastic flows (to my memory) follow the same principal so it would mean that it overshoots the resorts. Yes ash ans such will still be an issue but the super heated stuff will graze the top of the resort or shoot over it. That's my theory Eric

Well, I have a job interview Monday with a program that deals with developmentally disabled people. If I get it (and I hope I do) I'll be working as a substitute and work with these people at various group homes. It'll be challenging and a lot of fun, better pay, and hopefully better hours then I get now at my old job. On another note, I also have an appointment with my rehabilitation job coach to start looking at different programs I can get in and basically go back to school. It'll be fun there mainly because I do want to go back to school, but little bit at a time. When I go in, she's going to show me what grants I can get and for what vocational program and then go from there. Later on today, I'll be in Red Bank, getting my writing thing on and then heading to Matt's where we're gonna spend the night together then off for work tomorrow. Basically for the next few weeks, I'm gonna be busy as hell Oh and if I get the job at the program, I'm gonna quit my other one. I hate it of late Eric

I finally saw this and all I can say is WOW. I remember being somewhat flexible when I was more in shape (I can still do various yoga poses... just takes some streching and such beforehand) but he takes the cake. And David is right, you can do those poses, it just takes practice and being in shape. Eric

I agree with Connor, next Tuesday is prolly gonna set another record with the amount of people going to read the chapter. I even set my calendar to remind me that it comes out Oh and CJ, I had a question. Would the heat from the Magma/Lava melt the Nuke before it exploded or had time to chain react? If my memory serves me right, Nukes are very sensitive and the smallest jostle could render them unusable. Also wouldn't the head melt through the protective casing before the chain reaction went through? Just curious Eric

Well... I caught up on what's going on and all I can say is... Oh boy. There's nothing else I can say i'm just that... well... speechless... Oh boy. Eric

I love this topic!!!!! If I was a character from a story here on GA, you could cast me as Eric from C James' Let the Music Play and Changing Lanes. Reason why is that I see a lot of similar personality traits in me that I do with the character. Also, we like to have a *little* bit of fun when drinking tequila (hush you all from the peanut gallery!). Like Eric, I can be hyper and fun loving, yet I can also be calculating and thoughtful. Oh and we have the same name. Eric

There seems to be a lot of what if and biased reporting here, so I can't make a good statement on this. I've seen reports on this, but all from gay sources (I don't remember seeing anything picked up by the mainstream media yet) which is going to be slanted/biased because that's what happens. If they were detained and told to leave for kissing while on church property, then it's within the power of the LDS to say leave and bring up the whole trespassing point. HOWEVER if they were on a sidewalk (which if I remember right is public property, not private) then the LDS church is wrong. Now, I'm gonna go and try to find some more articles on this and give my real opinion on the matter, not just a broad observation. Eric

Both of you need a big hug <hug> It sucks when a loved one is in the hospital or sick because you feel like there's nothing you can do. But take it from me, someone who's been in and out of the hospital over the past few years (and sick to boot). Nothing cheered me up more or made me feel better then the love and comfort my friends and family gave me when they would visit me. So the next time you see your loved ones, give them a big hug and hold their hand. Don't go on about how sorry you are for them, but tell them your glad that they're doing okay. Eric

Oh... just a quick update... I got a letter from DVR and I qualify for state grants to go back to school... In other words... I can go get medical training for free!!!!! WEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

The BF went last night to see it with friends while I was at work *sigh* He told me it was the worst movie ever... and he thinks that his IQ dropped a few points seeing it... Sooooooooooooooo.... I'm not gonna see it (cides the fact that I think it's really offensive and would probably end up protesting it in someway...) Eric the Activist

Well... be aware everyone... well mainly those in New Jersey.... I got my license back! It's been two years since it was taken away from me due to a medical condition but after a struggle to get it back, I have it again! I'm really happy with it because I finally have the ability to drive (with a car and insurance that is lol) and can start making headway on becoming more independent. A lot of job's that I was seeking required someone to have a license, and now that I have it I will be going forward with my job hunt and leave this god damn garage! The first job that I applied for was at Monmouth Arc, which is a residential group-home program in my county that deals with the mentally handicapped people. I applied to work as a substitute to see if I like it and mainly to get the experience I need to become a social worker. I also applied to a few other places (tech support, etc.) and I'm waiting to hear back from them. I'm also waiting for DVR to get back to me and see if I qualify for a state grant to go back to school for medical training. Once I have that down, I'm going to start working on my savings and start reducing my debt that way I won't have much hanging over my head when I do move out. But the first thing that I NEED and I mean NEED, is a car. What I'll probably do is go out to PA and go to the auctions there or grab the resident car Guru here on GA, Robbie, and take him along with me. Why? Cus I suck at buying cars and don't know what to ask. He does... he's good with that. Oh and Robbie, I forgot to ask before I wrote this in my blog so if you don't read this now, expect a call from me soon. Also. We need to hang out soon... I miss your tall ass and I promise... no tequila On the medical front, my doctor switched the medicine I've been taking for awhile to something that's less harsh on the liver. The reason why is that because of all the drugs I was taking to control my seizures when I didn't need to (long story short, I have an anxiety condition, not epilepsy but because they didn't know that, they had me take close to 2,000mg a day of heavy duty anti-epileptic medications) it did damage my liver, but not seriously. It's still functioning within normal limits, but the doc who ordered the blood tests told me to stay away from drugs and alcohol that can impact my liver for the next few years. Meaning, I have to be a good boy and no drinking to excess. Just a glass of wine now and then and no aspirin. My home life is getting better, somewhat. Mom knows that I'm not gonna take her shit anymore, and she's been off my back. While we do have the flare up, she's been better about things. In fact, she's been helpful of late. She used some of her connections to Arc (family friends and the like) to get me the job interview and she's also been teaching me a few things that she learned while she worked there. She's also been helpful with other things as well (like when I needed money to get my license and such back, she made me work for it, but ultimately gave me $200 bucks for some tech support that she needed). While I did miss pride, I ended up seeing that it was worth it in the end. Missing that one day did kinda tick me off, and the way she made it sound did as well, but really, it ended up getting me my license, a good job interview, and helped open a lot of doors for me. Yes. While my mother can be an overbearing sonofabitch, I still love her, though there are time where I wanna kill her, but I think that's the way with all parents LOL. Finally, after 9 months with Matt, there are still things that I'm learning with him and things that he's learning from me. We continue to grow strong together and hate being apart. In fact, we'll be taking our first small vacation alone together in two-three weeks, and that'll provide us some quality time together, and some time away from our nutty parents. So that's it. That's everything that's been going on lately, and why I've been so busy and away from here (that and writing and research on things). So wish me luck... i'm gonna need it lol. Peace! Eric

I'm gonna make it quick... I hate the idea of windows but since I do use it for work and need to use specific MS applications, I'm stuck with it. When they released Windows 7 RC1 and beta, I ditched windows xp for it. I have to say I love it a lot. Now, on my netbook I use Windows XP, but that is until Google Chrome OS is released that or I get off my lazy butt and go and compile Android (a different Google OS). But out of all OS's that I've used, I prefer Kubuntu (KDE GUI running on Ubuntu). It's a really nice system and very stable, but unfortunately for me, my desktop and netbook doesn't have the support that I need for NVIDIA drivers (I use an Nvidia motherboard) and linux is very 'special' when it comes to non-opensource hardware and drivers. The next system I'm going to build when I have the time and money is going to probably be a media center PC that is compatible with Linux. If not I'll probably go with a Mac-Mini because I actually liked using Mac. Until then I'll stick with windows 7 PS: Forgot to mention, I've used Mac OSX before and while it was new, I liked it. It was a nice change of pace and very Unix similar. I liked it mainly for the graphics aspect of it, but it was also a nice clean system to use and very innovative, but something that I can chalk up to the would be nice ideas.

He better be taking things slowly... otherwise I'm buying a plane ticket, flying out there and thwaping him upside the head Seriously though... I'm glad your home Take it easy, and enjoy being home. :Hugs:

I like to think of it as revenge.... hehe... dad was out of town and I usually never call for a ride... but it was midnight... she was asleep... and I made her come and pick me up

Enter Eric... your typical average guy who love to have fun in his home away from home... Red Bank... I got to Red Bank, and while the train was crowded, it was normal for holiday traffic. I ended up going to my job and see what was going on, and to hang around with the people I work with (the area manager and my manager). They asked why I was there and I said I don't do well with small places and large amounts of people, and I rather hang here if that's okay. They both said sure, and I ended up treating them to some coffee and iced tea (go me! ) Later that night Matt came down after work and we watched the fireworks from the building next door to the garage (Hello A/C!) While there were no lights in it (it was an unfinished part of the building), we got an amazing birds eye view of the fireworks on the Navisink river. Now starts the chaos. Location: Red Bank Train Station Time: 11:00pm *Cue 24 Countdown Music* I waited on line with about 1,000 other people to board the next train. MEanwhile I had a drunk guy spill his beer on my shirt. Me being nice did nothing and continued to wait to board. The train station looked like something out of a neo-apocalyptic movie, there were police all over in riot gear, carrying Uzi's. There was orange barricades all over, hearding everyone like cattle, and best of all, there was fights breaking out all over the place. Location: Train to Hell Time 11:45pm *Cue 24 Countdown Music* Once I managed to get on the train, and it started moving. I grabbed a bottle of water and took my anti-anxiety pill because, like I said, I don't do well with small spaces and large crowds of people. That helped a bit, until someone decides to start another fight which almost led to a riot. That wasn't fun. I ran into the next train in order to escape it and took another xanax (I can take two at a time according to the doc). So I ended up standing in the vestibule and doing some relaxation techniques that my doctors taught me. So now we're in between stations where ANOTHER damn fight breaks out. This time they pulled the emergency brake which kills the train. So we're sitting there dead on the tracks. The conductor is racing up and down the aisles telling people to remain calm that they'll get us moving again. Location: Train to Hell Time: 12:00am *Cue 24 Countdown Music* We finally get moving again, and continue on the journey. We arrive at the next station where NJTransit police pull three people off the train and I assume arrest them. Ten minutes later I arrive at my station where every drnk 15-16 year old that was annoying the PISS outta me gets off as well. I end up calling my mom and telling her to get down to the station now. She does, ten minutes later where we go home. Location: Home Time: 12:20am *Cue 24 Countdown Music* I get home and I'm shaking. I end up getting a shower and calming down, and with the help of my sleeping medicine, I finally fall asleep... the journey to hell was over. Authors Note: While this journey literally took close to an hour, it normally takes 20-25 minutes seeing as I take the same journey five times a week. Holidays suck in Joisy!

I meant to comment on this a few days ago. I saw a similar article on Slashdot.org and it reminded me of this. I have to say... it really is amazing... and I hope one day I can see something like that if space flight ever becomes possible for the average person... Eric

Bravo Myr! It was an amazing job to get all of this done in just one day (not even). As for the bugs, you'll work them out and take your time. You've done so much already, that you do deserve a break! Oh and... I promise not to break anything Now what does this button do.... Edit to add: Found another bug... it won't update the about me picture I didn't do it!!!!