JamesSavik

One of the dirty little secrets of aviation that has been discovered after everything tightened up after 9/11 is how many pilots are heavy drinkers. A large number of US pilots have been suspended or fired for being in the cockpit with a snoot-full. Pilots needing to dry out have started Alcoholics Anonymous groups that meet at airports called the Birds of a Feather Groups. [No disrespect to our Birdie intended].

Tower: "Delta 351, you have traffic at 10 o'clock, 6 miles!" Delta 351: "Give us another hint! We have digital watches!" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tower: "TWA 2341, for noise abatement turn right 45 Degrees." TWA 2341: "Centre, we are at 35,000 feet. How much noise can we make up here?" Tower: "Sir, have you ever heard the noise a 747 makes when it hits a 727?" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From an unknown aircraft waiting in a very long takeoff queue: "I'm f...ing bored!" Ground Traffic Control: "Last aircraft transmitting, identify yourself immediately!" Unknown aircraft: "I said I was f...ing bored, not f...ing stupid!" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- O'Hare Approach Control to a 747: "United 329 heavy, your traffic is a Fokker, one o'clock, three miles, Eastbound." United 329: "Approach, I've always wanted to say this... I've got the little Fokker in sight." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A student became lost during a solo cross-country flight. While attempting to locate the aircraft on radar, ATC asked: "What was your last known position?" Student: "When I was number one for takeoff." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A DC-10 had come in a little hot and thus had an exceedingly long roll out after touching down. San Jose Tower noted: "American 751, make a hard right turn at the end of the runway, if you are able. If you are not able, take the Guadeloupe exit off Highway 101, make a right at the lights and return to the airport." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There's a story about the military pilot calling for a priority landing because his single-engine jet fighter was running "a bit peaked". Air Traffic Control told the fighter jock that he was number two, behind a B-52 that had one engine shut down. "Ah," the fighter pilot remarked, "The dreaded seven-engine approach." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Pan Am 727 flight, waiting for start clearance in Munich, overheard the following: Lufthansa (in German): "Ground, what is our start clearance time?" Ground (in English): "If you want an answer you must speak in English." Lufthansa (in English): "I am a German, flying a German airplane, in Germany. Why must I speak English?" Unknown voice from another plane (in a beautiful British accent): "Because you lost the bloody war!" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tower: "Eastern 702, cleared for takeoff, contact Departure on frequency 124.7" Eastern 702: "Tower, Eastern 702 switching to Departure. By the way, after we lifted off we saw some kind of dead animal on the far end of the runway." Tower: "Continental 635, cleared for takeoff behind Eastern 702, contact Departure on frequency 124.7. Did you copy that report from Eastern 702?" BR Continental 635: "Continental 635, cleared for takeoff, roger; and yes, we copied Eastern... we've already notified our caterers." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One day the pilot of a Cherokee 180 was told by the tower to hold short of the active runway while a DC-8 landed. The DC-8 landed, rolled out, turned around, and taxied back past the Cherokee. Some quick-witted comedian in the DC-8 crew got on the radio and said, "What a cute little plane. Did you make it all by yourself?" The Cherokee pilot, not about to let the insult go by, came back with a real zinger: "I made it out of DC-8 parts. Another landing like yours and I'll have enough parts for another one." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The German air controllers at Frankfurt Airport are renowned as a short-tempered lot. They not only expect one to know one's gate parking location, but how to get there without any assistance from them. So it was with some amusement that we (a Pan Am 747) listened to the following exchange between Frankfurt ground control and a British Airways 747, call sign Speedbird 206. Speedbird 206: "Frankfurt, Speedbird 206 clear of active runway." Ground: "Speedbird 206. Taxi to gate Alpha One-Seven." The BA 747 pulled onto the main taxiway and slowed to a stop. Ground: "Speedbird, do you not know where you are going?" Speedbird 206: "Stand by, Ground, I'm looking up our gate location now." Ground (with quite arrogant impatience): "Speedbird 206, have you not been to Frankfurt before?" Speedbird 206 (coolly): "Yes, twice in 1944, but it was dark, and I didn't land." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While taxiing at London's Gatwick Airport, the crew of a US Air flight departing for Ft. Lauderdale made a wrong turn and came nose to nose with a United 727. An irate female ground controller lashed out at the US Air crew, screaming: "US Air 2771, where the hell are you going?! I told you to turn right onto Charlie taxiway! You turned right on Delta! Stop right there. I know it's difficult for you to tell the difference between C and D, but get it right!" Continuing her rage to the embarrassed crew, she was now shouting hysterically: "God! Now you've screwed everything up! It'll take forever to sort this out! You stay right there and don't move till I tell you to! You can expect progressive taxi instructions in about half an hour, and I want you to go exactly where I tell you, when I tell you, and how I tell you! You got that, US Air 2771?" "Yes, ma'am," the humbled crew responded. Naturally, the ground control communications frequency fell terribly silent after the verbal bashing of US Air 2771. Nobody wanted to chance engaging the irate ground controller in her current state of mind. Tension in every cockpit out around Gatwick was definitely running high. Just then an unknown pilot broke the silence and keyed his microphone, asking: "Wasn't I married to you once?"

Redneck comedian Bill Engvall has a whole slew of jokes that make fun of the oblivious. So... In this thread, let's rip off Bill and explore mocking the oblivious. __________________________________________________________ I decided to try another brand of cat food. Tuna & whitefish... sounds good to me, or it sounds like something my cat might like. Well... I gave him a can. He ate 2/3rds of it. Second can- 1/3rd. Third can he didn't eat any of it and pissed on the remaing cans. My Mom had the nerve to say I guess he doesn't like the new stuff. Oh really? Whatever gave you that idea? There's your sign...

I've had two problems with ebay: people selling pirated software and people selling upgrade editions of software as "full editions". In both cases PayPal refunded my money and the sellers were banned. Otherwise I've had no difficulties and my feedback rating is 100%. Many people talk smack about PayPal but I've had nothing but good experiences with it. Always buy ebay stuff with PayPal. They are closely integrated to ebay and add a layer of online protection to your credit cards. Whenever you buy from an e-bay seller look at three things: his feedback rating, how long he has been on ebay and the amount of feedback received. If a person is an ebay powerseller, he's been around quite a while and ebay is his business. Someone like that probably isn't going to rip you off. If you buy from someone with little or no feedback- an ebay rookie, then you take your chances. Just remember- if it looks too good to be true, it probably isn't. You CAN find some excellent values on ebay- just keep your wits about you and trust your instincts. I especially love ebay for books. You can find all sorts of computer and technical books, which usually cost a pretty penny, for a mere fraction of their list price. I've found books on ebay that you just plain can't find anywhere else. JS

Kindness is one of several behaviors that people often confuse. In its most basic definition, kindness is a tendency toward gentle behavior in dealing with others. People who display this behavior are said to be thoughtful, considerate, warmhearted, agreeable, tolerant and forgiving. Kindness is often mistaken for common courtesy as people that practice one are usually more apt to practice the other. They are not exactly the same but are both rare and exceptional to find. Kindness does NOT automatically equal charity. While a kind person may be chairitable, the definition and motives for chairity can be quite different given the situation. For instance, a person who would never be considered kind may give to chairity for tax purposes, recognition or entirely pragmatic reasons. example: People were surprised to discover that Mr. LeGree, a notorious misanthrope, had donated 100,000 a year to the Beat Cancer Now Foundation for decades. The act only made sense when his papers were published and we find out that his mother died of breast cancer and how deeply it affected him.

I second that. They are cute as two speckled puppies.

I remember seeing a cartoon in an old Penthouse: it had 2 panals panal 1: 18 year old muscle head with the tattoo on chest: STUD panal 2: old, wrinkled 90 year old with teeth in glass beside chair. The tat is faded and wrinkles cause it to read: DUD

Vance- That's not an excuse. It's a reason. Since I can't help in either case, other than to wish you and your feline friend a speedy recovery, I'll just say take care, your friends here at GA will be here when you are ready. James

What is your favorite type of story? Why a good one, of course. Genre doesn't matter much as long as the elements of the story are solid and well done. It doesn't matter if its a western, sci-fi, romance or vampire story as long as the reader can connect with the characters, the plot is interesting and the dialogue works. In fact, a lot of very successful stories have elements of several genres. Think about the movie Star Wars and consider how many different genre lines are crossed. JS

Nick- With blue eyes like that, I mean like wow. Cooky = Andy? I agree Nate- he is pretty cute. I bet you're even cuter when you smile Andy! OH and isn't Birdie a hunk in the making!?

>>melancholia If melancholia were good for you, there wouldn't be a multi-billion dollar market for anti-depressants.

The guys with guns are usually wrong. So much about our system is back-assward at the moment. Our laws have gone far afield from their original purpose, to protect the public and maintain order. Now they infringe on everyones private lives, constutional liberties that were once sacrosanct now just plain don't exist. I won't tell you NOT to fight this state of affairs. Just pick your battles carefully.

Actually- the Constitution does NOT read that way. You are required to follow any law, local, state or federal, no matter how bogus, until it is overturned by a superior court or appealed by the legislature. You don't have the right to do anything to stop it other than lobby local, state or federal officials or sue and bring the law to court. Even if the law is bad, you do have to follow it or they will send little men with guns to take you away. I do however agree with you on this particular law. It goes too far. The purpose of law is to protect the public and maintain order. It is NOT meant to regulate a fashion trend that some people might find objectionable. If the statute of limitations on baggy britches is the one big problem that lawmakers must address in this town, apparently they don't have a whole lot to do.

Our tomato plants are in full production mode so we've got fresh tomatoes on the counter, in the window, over the sink... I made fresh tomato sauce tonight: man did it smell good. Spaghetti tomorrow. Tonight: home made pizza. Made flower with yeast crust- let it rise for 20 minutes. Toast in oven at 350 for 10 minutes. Fresh tomato sauce, garlic, Italian seasoning. Top with cooked sausage, onions, pepperoni and mozzarella cheese. Stick in the oven at 400 for 10 minutes. Done.

No need to be ashamed. Ben's cute. He just got cooties from hanging with Jennifer Lopez. yeah, there's no bigger turn off than a killing spree

The sad thing about a lot of cops is that they are too dumb to do anything else and they get off on having power and enjoy throwing their weight around. This sort is pretty good at giving crackheads and drunk drivers the hook but they can't even spell mastermind.

Anxiety is the state of fear or dread that something bad is going to happen. In that state, powerful things are going on with your body chemistry. In that state of fear and dread, the body reacts with the "fight or flight" response in which the body makes itself ready to or do battle or run away. From wiki: These catecholamine hormones facilitate immediate physical reactions associated with a preparation for violent muscular action. (Gleitman, et al, 2004) These include the following: Acceleration of heart and lung action Inhibition of stomach and intestinal action Constriction of blood vessels in many parts of the body Liberation of nutrients for muscular action Dilation of blood vessels for muscles Inhibition of lacrimal glands (responsible for tear production) and salivation Dilation of pupil In people with anxiety disorders, they get stuck in this state for days, weeks, even years at a time.

You are absolutely right about prozac. It sometimes causes strange reactions in teens. There is quite a squabble in medical circles about prescribing anti-depressants to adolescents. Some doctors want to ban the use of anti-depressants in teens except in in-patient situations where patients can be carefully monitored. Adolescent brains are wired differently from adult brains and it is only logical to conclude when you toss a powerful, mood altering chemical into the hormone soup that teens use for blood that odd things may likely occur. There have been far too many suicides and psychotic episodes associated with Prozac in teens to simply be a coincidence. I am not against anti-depressants per see but I am against the rather haphazard way in which they are prescribed. Often the medication that you are prescribed is determined more by what your insurance will pay for than your medical condition. There is a very good reason that there are dozens of anti-depressants: ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL. They are all different compounds and act in different ways. I don't think that doctors should automatically write a script for Prozac or Zoloft. MDs (Medical Doctors) should never just write a prescription for an anti-depressant without referring the patient to a psychiatrist. Psychiatrists are better suited to following how a patient is coping and is much more familiar with psychiatric medications that a general practitioner or M.D. We are in complete agreement.

Canada's space telescope cracks open a massive star UNIVERSITE DE MONTREAL NEWS RELEASE Source Link Posted: May 18, 2005 The MOST space telescope has given astronomers new clues about an exotic star, at least ten times more massive than our Sun, spewing gas into space at a rate of more than 100 trillion tonnes per second. And according to results presented at the Canadian Astronomical Society meeting in Montreal, Canada, the star - with the misleadingly bland name of WR123(*) - is even weirder than astronomers ever suspected. The new findings, by Laure Lefevre and Anthony Moffat (Universite de Montreal), Sergey Marchenko (Western Kentucky University) and the international MOST science team, are based on over five weeks of non-stop monitoring of the light variations of WR123. WR123 is a member of the relatively rare class of Wolf-Rayet stars (named after two French astronomers who discovered their telltale strong plasma winds using a simple spectroscope in the Paris suburbs in 1867, ironically the same year Canada became a nation). Wolf-Rayet stars like WR 123 have long been known to exhibit complex - seemingly chaotic - brightness variations associated with the turbulent high-speed winds they eject into space. But the nearly continuous coverage possible with the MOST (Microvariability & Oscillations of STars) satellite has revealed a clock in the chaos - a stable variation repeating every 10 hours (see figure illustrating WR123 variations). "Finding a clock in a star like WR123 is like finding the Rosetta stone for astronomers studying massive stars," explained Ms. Lefevre, a PhD student at the Universite de Montreal. "However, although WR123 may vary like clockwork, it must be a very strange mechanism indeed." The only theories to explain the 10-hour clock in WR123 would be: (1) the rotation of the star itself, (2) the orbit of another small star around WR123, or (3) vibrations in the structure of WR123 that are transmitted to its dense enveloping wind. All of these ideas are equally strange. If WR123 is spinning at that rate, the surface would be moving so fast (about 2000 kilometres per *second*, or over 7 million kph) that the star should throw itself apart, unless that is the actual source of the wind! If the star is in a tight binary system, it's so tight that its companion would be orbiting *inside* the star itself. If pulsations are the right answer, theoreticians will have to completely revise their current understanding of this class of massive stars. The same period was hinted at in spectroscopic data obtained from an Earthbound observatory a year earlier, but the MOST results leave little doubt as to the bizarre timing of this stellar clock. One hundred times fainter than what the unaided eye can see, WR123 is located about 19,000 light-years from Earth, in the direction of the constellation Aquila ("the Eagle"). WR123 and other similar Wolf-Rayets (see the Hubble image of WR124) are believed to have had very violent births, ejected by a supernova explosion in a binary system, or by a gravitational slingshot from a dense star cluster. "Either way, WR123 was probably kicked out from the nest rather abruptly," jokes Dr. Moffat, who helped develop these formation theories in the late 1970's. Stars that start off their lives with ten or more times the Sun's mass are capable of "burning" hydrogen into helium, helium into carbon, and so on up to the final nuclear ash, iron, before the iron-rich core collapses on itself in less than a second and produces the greatest of all stellar explosions, a supernova. Since H-burning lasts by far the longest, some 90% of stars that shine are actually consuming hydrogen in their cores at a prodigious rate. Then, somewhat under 10% of stars are in the next stage, that of He-burning, while only a miniscule fraction occurs in the subsequent, ever-faster evolving stages. WR123 represents the fleeting final stages of helium-burning, before the rapid death-spiral to supernova. The gases ejected from stars like WR123 will enrich the interstellar medium, and contribute to future generations of stars. Understanding such stars is vital if we are to properly understand the evolution of the Milky Way and other galaxies. "We may be seeing an example of one of the key stages in the stellar lifecycle that led to the Sun, Earth, and us, being here," noted Ms. Lefevre. The MOST mission was financed by the Canadian Space Agency and supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. __________________________________ *- WR stars are so rare that less than 200 of them have been cataloged. The current theory is that WR stars are not a specific class of star as much as they are a later stage in the evolution of the hot, massive O and B class stars. In fact, WR stars are only found in clusters called OB associations. WR stars are so powerful (luminious) that a mere sprinkling of them can influence the spectra of an entire galaxy. In fact the phenemenon that astronomers called Wolf-Rayet galaxies are spiral galaxies which show emission spectra. This is interperted as active star formation since O and B class stars from which WR stars evolve have relatively short lifespans- between 10-60 million years. WR123 indicates that this star is listed in van der Hutch's 7th General Catalog of Wolf Rayet Stars.

That's not really true. Hate crimes have a specific signature that I described in the blacked out part of my post above. Hate crimes differ from other crimes in ways that betray their motive and constitute an ongoing terrorist threat against a gay people. The REAL problem, as I see it, is that law enforcement (police, sheriffs offices) are often less than diligent in investigating and prosecuting crimes against gay people. Honestly- I don't care if you call it a hate crime or not. I would settle for a federal law that would prosecute local law enforcement officials who "file 13" criminal complaints involving bias crimes against gay people as a violation of the equal protection clause.

I am a right brained guy for whom logic, reason and empirical evidence are what I look for in making a conclusion. After studying string theory and its many dimensions, quantum mechanics/the uncertainty principle and theories concerning the multi verse, I am of the opinion that we are, in our understanding, like amoeba contemplating the space shuttle. While the body of knowledge that humanity has amassed is respectable, we don't know nearly as much as we think that we do.

Razor G&L people have more anxiety problems than the general population. The reasons for it are pretty clear. When you've got a bunch of religious kooks damning you and psychos bashing other gay people, there is a basis in reality for that fear. Talk therapy is usually pretty good about easing anxiety but it can escalate to panic or anxiety attacks. Anxiety disorders are tricky. Plain Jane anxiety is as common as rain. Everyone suffers from it at some point. It usually goes with depression and is often treated with the same drugs. The problem is that anxiety problems can become layered. If you were to experience serious trauma like an assault, you could possibly develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which is a real booger to diagnose and treat. In many people, PTSD is often mistaken for situational anxiety- or that you are worried about something specific. PTSD is at the extreme end of the spectra of anxiety disorders. It is state of extreme anxiety that doesn't go away. It is characterized by a state called hyperviligence which is like expecting an attack at any moment. People might call a person suffering from hyperviligence as jumpy or twitchy. People with PTSD have all their defenses "turned on". PTSD sufferers usually have sleep problems and chemical dependency is almost to be expected. PTSD is classified as simple or complex. Simple PTSD is precipitated by a single traumatic event like an assault, accident or disaster. A good example is the thousands of New Yorkers still suffer from PTSD as a result of the 9/11 attacks. Many people locally have Katrina related PTSD. Complex PTSD is caused by a series of traumatic events that occur over an extended period of time. You see this in soldiers who have been in combat for extended periods, prison inmates or people who were emotionally, physically or sexually abused as children for some time. Many gay people end up with PTSD that they acquire because of abuse that they suffer in primary and middle school. Anxiety disorders are almost always at the root of chemical dependency problems. People that suffer from PTSD often self-medicate with drugs or alcohol in an effort to "feel normal". PTSD sufferers are high on their own Adrenalin- sometimes for years at a time. The only time that they can "turn-off", their only relief from that state, is to be drunk or high. In PTSD sufferers, drug and alcohol use very quickly becomes chronic. Typically we see addicted PTSD sufferers who get smashed at night to "turn off" so that they can sleep. Otherwise, some PTSD sufferers go for days at a time without sleep until they collapse of exhaustion. PTSD can become dangerous. In most cases the victim will have flashbacks of the trauma that triggered their condition. Sometimes with sleep deprivation and other cumulative effects of the disorder, PTSD sufferers can experience visual and auditory hallucinations. If the original trauma had the victim fighting for their life, they will be fighting for their life with the same gusto in the flashback. Perhaps that's more than you wanted to know about anxiety problems but you see, I'm kind of an expert in them. I was outed in 7th grade and my whole high school experience was a constant battle. I picked up a hard drug habit that lasted until I was 21 when I kicked coke. The drugs were gone but PTSD was still there. In the eighties and nineties, I watched helplessly as so many of the people I grew up with, including the love of my life, died horribly of AIDS. I started drinking and using soft drugs ~97 to cope. I've been clean now 3 years in October. Putting myself back together again hasn't been at all easy. I'm working hard with my shrink but its a given, I'll probably never be completely be free of PTSD. I still have long sleepless nights. I grieve over who and what was lost. I seethe in anger. I wonder if I can ever come back and fight the urge just to quit. This place that I'm in is purgatory- just on the outskirts of hell. All gray, all day, everyday. Not quite dead, not exactly alive. Crazy enough to want to forget, too sane to remember. Fighting to remove the curse. Praying that it isn't replaced with something worse.

What are the union dues in California like?

I agree Dio.

Honestly- most readers don't CARE about the author. In real estate, it is ALL about location, location, location. In writing, it is ALL about STORY, STORY, STORY. The author being a nice personable sort that gives a good interview and has an interesting past is just a bonus for the publisher. Authors come in all sorts- compair Ernest Hemmingway with Truman Capote. There is no "type", no standard motivation or formula.