Former Member

Thank you to the Kiwis too! From around the US, firefighters have come to California from as far away as Maine and Florida. It’s part of the Mutual Aid that sees teams of California Emergency Workers assisting after disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods. ;–)

I’m seeing a map of Sunnyvale (Silicon Valley). My younger brother works for Chevron (CITC). My ex-boyfriend also used to work there until he went on Disability (he was an early member of their LGBT employee association). And I live a few miles away from their original refinery in Richmond. ;–)

Whatever happened to that? Are they still doing them? Don’t the hangovers get in the way? ;–)

I thought Chevron uses the Texaco brand in Texas. ;–) Seatbelt and airbags save lives! I can remember back in the ‘60s when few people wore seatbelts at all. Those were the days before there were chimes or buzzers to remind you to wear them – or ignition interlocks to force you to put them on. People would load a dozen kids into station wagons and we’d go sliding around loose in the cargo area! ;–)

A great set of Q&As! I read the whole thing eagerly and learned a lot in the process. Thanks to all who participated, and to Carlos for organizing! And yes, let's all encourage Defiance19 to spread her wings a bit more It'd be our gain.

California is getting Mutual Aid coming from out of state as well as Australia to help fight our devastating wildfires! Thanks Mates! ;–) If you pronounce that last word authentically, it sounds like ‘mites!’ ;–)

I love James Thurber. I'm also reminded he said: “Behind every great man is a thoroughly surprised woman.”

I’m sorry to hear about your family member. Take all the time you need to recover. Your needs come first. We’ll wait patiently for the next chapter whenever it arrives. We all knew it was going to happen with Brody. It was just a matter of time before his father attacked him again. But at least you restrained yourself and Brody still lives! ;–)

It seems like Scott has same-sex attractions, but is very conflicted about them. He certainly doesn’t identify as Gay and is struggling with internal homophobia.He’s a very dangerous person because he appears to have very good Gaydar and uses it to entrap victims. With a little of the wrong kind of pressure, he could turn out to be a very vicious Gay basher!

Happy Birthday, Exxo!

As I reread this, I started to wonder why Helga and Eric don’t talk to the Dowager Queen about what it’s like to be a foreigner marrying into the Makarovian Royal Family. She did it before either one of them. She’d have much more experience to share… ;–)

So Declan finally put the pieces together and figured out that Bailey was cutting. Hopefully, he won’t feel compelled to cut now that he has an alternative! Declan’s inclusion of Justin and his teammates also provides more support. Reaching out to Justin and the rest of the gymnastics team will also bring the whole team closer. ;–) I’m still smiling over the image of Bailey vaulting effortlessly over the fence while Declan the football player can’t leap that high (or stop in time) and just lumbers into the barrier! ;–) An extremely emotional chapter!

At the time, I didn’t realize the contrast between the SD Zoo/SD Wild Animal Park and Sea World. The Zoo and Wild Animal Park had/have enclosures that resemble the animals’ natural habitat with the only very large cages for the monkeys, birds, and butterflies (to keep them from escaping). At the SD Zoo, nearly all the enclosures had very tall walls and moats to keep the animals contained. At the SD Wild Animal Park, many of the enclosures are acres in size with multiple species mingling together as they would in nature – only predators are missing! The underlying purpose between the two institutions is also a study in contrasts with one focused on preservation and the other on profit. The SD Zoo was one of the first zoos to follow the example of a German zoo with their cageless enclosures. The SD Zoo’s plant collection is actually larger and more valuable than the animal collection! The SD Zoo and the LA Zoo collaborated to rescue and breed the very endangered California Condor – they were successful enough to be able to release breeding pairs back into the wild. ;–)

That’s right, he does do magic IRL. ;–)

There are actually at least two other authors who read this story who have blamed his or her muses for the paucity of updates of their long-running stories. ;–)

My father was pretty conservative Protestant minister with very little disposable income, but family friends and relatives made sure that we got to experience Disneyland, Magic Mountain, and Knott’s Berry Farm (Legoland was decades in the future). We also went to the now long-closed Frontier Village in San José. San Diego Zoo, San Diego Wild Animal Park (renamed San Diego Zoo Safari Park), and Sea World were staples when tourists visited us, so much so that my parents were members of the SD Zoo. ;–) Back in the ‘60s, they kept ‘Shamu’ in a little pool with just a poor dolphin for companionship. I remember it was an oval, above-ground pool that didn’t seem much larger than some backyard pools to a preteen child. If keeping any Orca captive is immoral, I don’t know what words to use to describe the despicable things they did to both the whale and the dolphin! They also had a petting pool with dolphins trapped in shallow pools that barely allowed them to get their dorsal fin underwater and nowhere to escape hands touching them!

He’s explained why he hasn’t updated in a while – it’s his muse’s fault! ;–)

I thought you’d abandoned your stories… ;–)

As a Risk Averse, shy, introvert, I have no problem making acquaintances. I got lots of experience while working retail. I just have a difficult time making actual friends… :–|

@Ivor Slipper couldn't not have given Adam an appendicitis! After all, the ‘doctors’ here in the Comments section diagnosed it beginning several chapters ago! We couldn’t all have misdiagnosed it! ;–) Will Tom go pick up Carlos so they can all see Adam after the surgery? ;–) Maybe they can arrange to have the surgeon send Adam’s genetic donor a gift of the removed organ… ;–)

I thought she was trying to be neighborly and friendly with Eric even while failing miserably because she’s just as bad at social niceties as Eric, just in the opposite direction! ;–)

Eric needs to meet an old widower who married only because society demanded that he should. Someone else who worked with his hands all his life, but somehow managed to put away more money to retire on. Maybe a man whose kids accepted his Coming Out after their mother died… ;–)

You know me well! ;–)

Does Hugh have any redheaded EMT brothers? ;–)

There are several stories I still haven’t gotten around to reading including Valkyrie’s and Cole Matthews’ prompt stories…