Former Member

@wenmale64 is certainly very human, and is friendly! ;–)

There might not be any cell service out there… ;–)

Was Sam monitoring Finn’s mother or her obsequious maid? Or did he happen upon a hiker who just couldn’t leave his technology behind when he was out camping in the National Park? (Probably a pale, pasty suburban teen or preteen whose parents forced him to spend time in the Great Outdoors instead of being glued to a screen in his bedroom.) ;–)

I was thinking in the near future, not something that’s currently there. Sam is the reason, not anyone or anything else. Finn and Christian could build it for him. I’m sure the local Home Depot or Lowe’s staff could help them put together the right equipment – just tell them they need to power lighting or a stereo in the garden. Depending on how far away the cairn is from the house, it might be more difficult and expensive to get WiFi out there. Close in, you might be able to use ethernet (up to 100 meters) to physically connect a WiFi basestation to the network. You can buy 100 meter length Cat6 ethernet cables on Amazon easily. Beyond that, you have to start looking at fiberoptic cable or something – very expensive. A WiFi repeater with a directional semi-parabolic antenna is probably the best solution. It might have a range up to 20 miles. Clearly, Finn isn’t hiking 20 miles to get to the cairn from the house. Note: you don’t me designing your network if there’s even the slightest bit of complexity. ;–)

I worked in a computer store for several years (the best job I ever had – until the holding company shut us down). We tried to figure out the best solutions for the situations presented. It wasn’t owned by Apple, but we only sold Macs. (This was back in the mid-‘90s until 2001, so initially it was a confusing mess of Performas, PowerMacs, and PowerBooks. It became iMacs, iBooks, PowerBooks, and PowerMacs. The iPod was still very new and iPhones were still a twinkle in Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ive's eyes!) ;–)

Finn and Sam can’t just run a long extension cord out for power since it would have to pass under water. But maybe they could build a small enclosure near the signal rocks with a power outlet and a WiFi repeater. That would make it easier for Sam to recharge his tablet and download new stories (from GA?). Do they make tablets with wireless recharging? If they do maybe Finn can get one with a waterproof case and Sam wouldn’t need to unwrap it to use the tablet. Or maybe Tequkwan can eventually get one of those models! ;–)

Poor Tequkwan. Too bad he’s not learning an easier language with fewer phonemes – like Spanish or Hawaiian. One that’s more consistent would be easier too. ;–)

I’ve read a few that are as long as the chapters that follow! ;–)

I read Prologues because they often set up the story and make things easier to understand. I glance at the quotes some writers add above each chapter too. But I rarely check links – especially if it’s for a video. I don’t have unlimited bandwidth and don’t want to waste it on things like that! Some of us are very poor! ;–) I block autoplay of all videos. It offends me when some people refuse to describe what their video is (I see a large blank space). It only takes a few seconds to type in the title of the song or the name of the company in the ad or whatever. Gif avatars are annoying too because I can’t block them and their constant motion is distracting.

I’ve told this story many times. Probably here on GA too. Maybe even in Comments to “Rereic’s” stories… ;–) When I was working at Target, a group of college-aged men came through my line together. One of the bought a box of condoms. The next one bought a box of plastic bags. I pointedly looked at the bag with the condoms, then back at the box of plastic bags. “Those aren’t big enough for you?” I asked. There was a pause and then they all started laughing! (I could have gotten in sooooo much trouble if they’d complained.) ;–)

There are some weird and interesting parallels between Australia and California that our shared Mediterranean climate only partially explains. But it does mean that many of the same plants grow both places so you could be fooled into thinking you were in the other country. But we don’t have any of those sad, saggy christmas trees like they were shopping for in The Sum of Us (too bad Russell Crowe is such a homophobe). ;–)

How will I sleep until then? ;–)

I cannot imagine any of my straight (male) friends snuggling under a quilt with me, no matter how cold it is! I have Gay friends who’d shy away from snuggling! Maybe you’ve just been so intimidating due to your incredible beauty and intellect that he could never express how he feels about you (when you’ve been available)! ;–)

Maybe he’s Page Scrawler-sexual! ;–)

Not just repressed due to religion or a conservative family or ethnic culture?

And after knowing him for15 years, you’ve never seen him paying attention to any particular boys or girls?

She did lose her husband, a man she apparently loved… ;–)

It was intended to be a joke, but I now see it was in poor taste. A few years ago, I walked out on a director during a Q&A session after having seen his movie. When I saw the movie, I thought his cat bit his finger and he reacted to the bite. But the director said there was no bite and that the protagonist just decided to do what he did (which I won’t mention here). The director went to a psychologist claiming symptoms that he did not actually have. The psychologist came up with a diagnosis as they would do no matter how wild the symptoms presented. It bothered me so much that he would abuse the mental health system like that I could not remain in the theater. I won’t mention the title of the movie because I do not want anyone to watch it if I can help at all. The friend I only see at the Festival still doesn’t understand why I was so bothered by his admission. I have been seeing psychology therapists and psychiatrists off and on for about a decade. I am on Disability for Clinical Depression and Anxiety. I understand how serious mental health issues are. I am sorry to have made light of such a serious subject.

There are many, many men of all sorts of orientations who just do not get that! There is still so much resistance to the concept of needing to get actual and unimpaired consent before having sex! It wasn’t that long ago that courts in the US accepted the defense that it was ‘her fault because of the way she dressed.’ And there are still places around the world where that claim is accepted. Opponents of the concept label it ‘political correctness’ as a way to marginalize and trivialize it, just as they do with many other serious issues that they don’t agree with. Some men think you should feel extremely complimented that they are attracted to you. I can assure you that there are many men whose attraction to me made me feel violated and dirty. Much of it is related to how they express their feelings. Just because the feeling isn’t mutual doesn’t mean I’m going to automatically be offended. Semi-related, just because I compliment someone doesn’t necessarily mean I’m attracted to them. I compliment women all the time, but I’m certainly not interested in being with them. Most women get that, but most men would think I’m hitting on them (in most cases, they only wish!) so I avoid mentioning what I’m thinking. ;–)

Churches can refuse to admit people they don’t like. They aren’t a business even if many of them run businesses. They are exempted from many laws and with few exceptions they can express their religion in pretty much any way that they like. I believe there were cases in the past where boyfriends or partners of the deceased were forbidden from attending their funerals by the very family who rejected them for being LGBTQ.

Oh, I almost forgot! You were very sneaky there! Trying to mislead us about whose house Ember woke up in! We were all right! It was Cameron's house, but Brady took him home and Brady left him on the couch with the bucket, water, and ibuprofen. Brady even set Ember’s alarm and arranged for the cab! No wonder Ember didn’t recognize the house! Lots of misdirection since you didn’t tell us until this chapter that Brady and Novy had moved in with Cameron!

Those single-cup coffee machines are not at all environmentally-friendly. The little pods are not recyclable. There are companies that make reusable pods, but the manufacturers of the machines do everything they can to prevent them from functioning. People get irrationally angry about the cost of inkjet printer cartridges, but few seem to notice that coffee machine manufacturers are trying to replicate that model. I don’t get the appeal of the stuff. I hate its smell and refuse to taste it. Coffee is yet another addictive substance that I've never used. ;–)

“John” is just “Joh” with one extra letter. “Joh” is just “John” minus one letter. Coincidence? ;–)

I agree. Adam should go to get a sense of closure. But he shouldn’t go alone. If Adam wants to honor his surviving genetic donor’s request, he should take a bunch of GSA friends with him instead. Would 60 friends be too much? ;–)

Lots of people use Photoshop to… exaggerate things. ;–)