JamesSavik

Happy Birthday Drew! 21 is a very good year. Now you can do all those things that used to require sneaking around.

Cats definitely have minds of their own.

Happy Birthday Redlight! 17 is a great year- have lots of fun and enjoy

Hard drugs are no damned good. Crystal, Coke and the like destroy lives and hungry junkies create serious crime problems. That being said, Pot isn't in the same league. Sure- some people smoke too much of it but it isn't as harmful as alcohol. OD on Pot and you go to sleep. You are a danger only to junk food and are too mellow to be fuss or fight. The worst thing about Pot is that it exposes kids to the real criminals- cops, dealers and the games that they both play. The sad truth is that the money in drugs has corupted way too many cops. In many places, small towns and rural counties in particular, they run the drug business. They decide who can deal, who can't and they profit from it. They also have a bunch of "useful idiots" that they bust to keep up appearences- people who get sloppy, know too much or can't come up with the cash. Don't panic! A lot of teens go through a "Pot Phase". It doesn't really make them junkies. Unless they have underlying issues, the vast majority of them quit on their own because it is boring and a lot more trouble than its worth. A kid in trouble with Pot needs to sit down with a shrink. Kids that DO have underlying problems like PTSD, ADD/ADHD, bipolar disorder, family problems, abuse, etc are very much at risk of graduating from Pot to something that really is harmful and dangerous. Most REAL addicts start out by doing what is called "Self-medicating". They have some problem and they discover that drugs make them feel better. You see this a lot with kids with ADHD smoking Pot: it mellows them out and they get along better with parents and peers. It works the same way with PTSD, bipolar disorder, etc. The drug makes the symptoms better so they need the drug to "feel normal". Makes addiction sound more like a mental health issue than something you need to declare war on doesn't it? JS

I've always enjoyed watching the pros. Where a lot of people play fantasy football, I like to look at the teams and how they match up. While a lot of people watch the QBs, receivers and running backs, I'm watching the linebacker and secondary play.

Booo! Cheesy effects distracted from Shatners bad acting.

AFC 2006 Preview/Predictions AFC North Steelers- if there is a weakness in the defending super bowl champions, I don

NFC 2006 Preview/Predictions NFC North Bears- the Bears have improved steadily over the last 3 years. With a draft that improved their depth on both sides of the ball and 22 starters back from their division winning team of last season, I expect them to continue this trend. If they can add some punch to their passing game, they could make some noise in the playoffs. They are the team to beat in the North. Vikings- the Vikes have made some major moves bringing in Brad Johnson, a lot of help on defense and Ryan Longwell to give them a steady kicker. How well it goes for the Vikings depends on chemistry but they

I've been a Systems Administrator for 20 years. As such, I was in charge of buying equipment, software, installing it on my network and taking care of it. Equipment that was reliable and didn't give me a lot of trouble was always my favorite. That is what I looked for when I bought stuff. My favorite vendors for laptops are HP and Toshiba. I may have a few gray hairs but those two companies aren't responsible for any of them.

I really dread the ending of this story. LB has created some very unique characters and I will really miss them when its done. Of course that is the mark of a good story. Maybe we can talk the enlightened one into a sequel staring Toby and Cody?

Your Linguistic Profile: 50% General American English 40% Dixie 5% Midwestern 0% Upper Midwestern 0% Yankee

Coming up Oct. 1st, I'll have been clean and sober for two years. At first it was really hard passing up the sleezy bars and liquor stores. I really missed going to meet dangerous characters in dangerous allies to buy weed. Being drunk and stoned was for a while.. liberating. I do something stupid my friends would laugh it off. I was really drunk at the time was like a get out of trouble free card. Sorry I screwed your boyfriend at the party. I was so drunk I can barely remember it. Yeah- I hung out with some real winners. ...and woke in some interesting places- like Arkansas. Being sober takes some getting used too. It was really difficult at first. Breaking old habits is hard. Late on Sunday nights I just didn't feel right and I couldn't figure it out. This went on for a couple of months before I figured it out: it felt so strange to go all weekend without barfing. Kicking weed is difficult but its different from smoking ciggerettes or drinking. Those tasty treats from 7-11s you pick up at 2:00am just don't taste the same. Watching TV for hours on end didn't hold the same charm. Before I knew it, I had ditched my junk food for vegatables. I still like Taco Bell but we're talking about progress, not perfection. I stayed stoned for months at a time. I didn't stop to ask myself why. I was too busy looking for just the right brand of microwave buritos. Weed comes on slowly and quietly. First its just holidays like New Years, the Superbowl or the 4th of July. Then its weekends. Then its for a headache or a bad day and then its not just a hobby anymore. When I cleaned up, I had searing headaches. They were so bad they blurred my vision. I got diagnosed with glaucoma and figured it out- it was taking being high just to make me feel normal. Sadder and wiser I look back and feel embarrassed. How could I have been such an idiot? Things happened for me fast and furious. I graduated in '86 with a hot degree and moved up in the business effortlessly. By the time I was 32, I had a house and was a member of senior management. I made my career goals. My problem: What's next? No shit, that's a killer. I was no longer the hot-shot kid. I felt like my best work was behind me. I was in an empty and soul-less place; a circular prison of expectations. Looking in the mirror and seeing myself going stale- becoming a middle aged burn out and feeling useless. Keeping the yard mowed and the house painted but behind the shades, the inside was empty and silently rotting away. Thankfully I'm not in that place anymore. Part of recovery is figuring out how f-ed up you really are. It motivates you to work towards something better. After a long time of wandering around without purpose and in the dark, I'm back. I'm smart, strong and frankly pretty tough. I'm seeing a great guy. Despite the pain, I would not go back to the way it was. I'm the same person but not the same guy. Some things inside me that were broken are repaired and bad programming has been... upgraded. I've still got a lot of work to do but for some reason, it seems possible. Dare I say it? I believe that I've found some hope. Now when I do something silly, as I'm apt to do a couple of times a day, I no longer have the I was drunk at the time excuse. I say, Pardon me. I was having a blond moment. JS

Where is the forget that punk-bitch Pluto petetion?

LB- Haven't heard from you for a while- how is it going? Looking forward to the last chapter of SOOTB. James

I use both IE & Firefox. If one has a problem with a site, then the other will probably work. Both have lots of neat add on goodies. My favorite of all is iespell. Firefox doesn't have a similar plug in yet [hint, hint]. JS

This took me by surprise. I thought that they would go with the definition that made 12 "bodies" major planets. I understand why they went the other way. There may well be dozens of Kuiper Belt objects in the same general size class as Pluto. I think the dominate body in an orbital zone was the tipping point. OH well... I sincerely doubt that this is the last we have heard about this issue. JS

Oh! Oh! Another orange tabby!

Most adults know this but many kids are very sheltered- espically in religious homes that go to extreems like not having TV and home schooling. This is the most typical demographic of a home that would kick out a kid because of his orientation. Many of the religions that bill themselves as the most family centered are the worst in this regard- the LDS immediatly comes to mind. Apparently Focus on the Family should focus on thier own families. You are right- it is a crime to throw a kid out for this very reason but it's one of the many laws that isn't uniformly enforced.

It's a really hard thing to write or talk about. The street is a meat grinder that does awful things to kids. Screw the internet: the streets are where the real predators are. Internet predators are scared pussies hiding behind their computers- they are amatuers. To street predators, it's their profession. Street predators look for homeless kids- the fresher, the better for their purposes. For their games to work, they need a toxic mixture of innocence, naievity and desperation. They'll come on like a long-lost pal or Mother Teresa. They'll feed you, put you up- maybe give you some bucks. To a scared kid on the street, a friendly, helpful face appears to be just what they were praying for. This is the seduction- this is how they get in the door. Once they get to know you and gain a modicum of trust, that's when they set the hook. They will use your needs against you- your need for food, a place to stay or money. They'll use one or several tactics to get at you: a) they'll try to get you in their debt, they will provide something that you need or c) they'll try to get you addicted to something that they can use to control you. Once they've got their hooks in you, they own you. If you've got a safe place to be, stay there. Even if you have to swallow your pride, bite your tounge, whatever. The alternative is something that you don't won't to know about and may not survive.

Through out the story, Trent has been an intractable, unappologetic bastard. As big a homophobe as he appears to be, getting his ass kicked by "the piano fag" has got to be really making him crazy. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he didn't try to kill Conner for humiliating him. ------------------------------------------------- BTW Little Buddah: this is a great story and I've really enjoyed it.

Kitty- All the early scientests were heretics. The church decreed that all the science that was necessary had been revealed by Plato. Anyone that questioned Plato science or better yet discovered something that refuted it was subject to being branded a heretic and executed. It's a miricle that humans ever made it out of feudalism. Red Light- Welcome to the Beast's Lair. It's not all that scary- just keep a few Scooby snacks in your pocket to distract the Beast. Don't worry about Pluto- I think it's all hype to sell a bunch of new textbooks. There will probably be more rather than fewer planets when the dust settles. My favorite planet is Jupiter. It's an interesting planet from a science standpoint being a brown dwarf and you can see it rather well with binoculars. A glimpse of Pluto takes either the Hubble or Long exposure CCD images on a telescope 20 inches or bigger. JS

The crucial change in "draft c" is that a planet must be the dominant body in its orbital zone, clearing out any little neighbours. Pluto does not qualify because its orbit crosses that of the vastly larger Neptune. This arguement makes the most sense to me. You're right of course. It has become a comedy of semantics. I think a lot of these guys WANT to write the new books.

A good friend of mine used to have a cockatoo that could talk. His little brother taught the bird to say eat *** & die. The bird got so much attention when he said it, he said it over and over again. Paulie soon got the name Rude Paulie and picked up quite the colorful vocabulary- one that would make a sailor blush. He would sit on his stand swearing at everything- us, the cat, the mail man.

Astronomers lean toward eight planets August 22, 2006 Stephen Battersby, Prague NewScientist.com Source Link Finally, astronomers could be homing in on a definition of the word planet. After a day of public bickering in Prague, followed by negotiations behind closed doors, the latest draft resolution was greeted with a broadly friendly reception. If accepted on Thursday, it would be bad news for Pluto, which would no longer be a full-fledged planet. The crucial change in "draft c" is that a planet must be the dominant body in its orbital zone, clearing out any little neighbours. Pluto does not qualify because its orbit crosses that of the vastly larger Neptune. The planet definition committee is also stepping back from trying to define all planets in the universe, and sticking to our solar system

Flames are not feedback, they are personal attacks aimed to injure, not instruct. A FLAME:> What is your major malfunction numbnutz? Are you retarded or did a teradactyl take a s*** on your head!? I tried to read the excretia that you called a story but it reeked so badly, I finally had to flush it. Do youself a favor and set your computer on fire. Constructive Criticism:> What is your major malfunction numbnutz!? Did they have a sale on adverbs or were yours reaching their expiration date and you decided use them before you had to throw them out. Rewrite your story and delete every adverb! Then your story will just be bad instead of terribly wretched. See the difference?