Of the interesting ways to wake up.....
Phalcon
techs rule the world, and then BANG "GO GO GO GO" I look out my window in time
to see the State Police SWAT Team entering the house behind me. At first Im
sitting there thinking "Whos gonna die for waking me up this early in the
morning." But Im in my happy place now. I could see the looks on lusers faces
if we had a Support SWAT team that just went to lusers houses to repo thier
PCs. *BANG* "GO GO GO" "Ma'am step away from the PC you've lost your right to
use it." Oh the Dreams I can have now.
--
~Phalcon - Sleepy but Happy
Madi
>Im laying in bed this morning sleeping semi-peacefully. Dreaming of the day the
>techs rule the world, and then BANG "GO GO GO GO" I look out my window in time
>to see the State Police SWAT Team entering the house behind me. At first Im
Someone in my orkplace was once in the middle of a call when the luser said
"I'm sorry - I have to go now. I think the police want to raid the place,"
and then hung up.
They never called back.
-Madi
--
"If you don't know what you need Windows NT for, you don't need it."
- Bill Gates
Dawson Rambo
Madi wrote:
>
> The following forgery has been attributed to pha...@technolust.cx:
> >Im laying in bed this morning sleeping semi-peacefully. Dreaming of the day the
> >techs rule the world, and then BANG "GO GO GO GO" I look out my window in time
> >to see the State Police SWAT Team entering the house behind me. At first Im
>
> Someone in my orkplace was once in the middle of a call when the luser said
> "I'm sorry - I have to go now. I think the police want to raid the place,"
> and then hung up.
>
> They never called back.
Or the time when I was bobbing for a well-known-and-hated national
$ISP and in the middle of a call a Novell popup screen flashed on
my window with the wonderfully worded: "Finish your call and sign
off. Bomb threat."
Me: "Just delete and reinstall." <click> [1]
Dawson
[1] Of course, that was their solution to *everything*.
John A.
>Im laying in bed this morning sleeping semi-peacefully. Dreaming of the day the
>techs rule the world, and then BANG "GO GO GO GO" I look out my window in time
>to see the State Police SWAT Team entering the house behind me. At first Im
Had an interesting wake up myself this morning.
Was having an erotic dream about my dear wife and woke to find the
nurse coming in to check my vitals and take a peek at my appendectomy
dressing.
Those things sure are hard to make go down when you're drowsy.
JA
Nathan T. Christ
<3935A5D8...@airmonitor.com>:
>
>
>Madi wrote:
>>
>> The following forgery has been attributed to pha...@technolust.cx:
>> >Im laying in bed this morning sleeping semi-peacefully. Dreaming of
>> >the day the techs rule the world, and then BANG "GO GO GO GO" I look
>> >out my window in time to see the State Police SWAT Team entering the
>> >house behind me. At first Im
>>
>> Someone in my orkplace was once in the middle of a call when the luser
>> said "I'm sorry - I have to go now. I think the police want to raid
>> the place," and then hung up.
>>
>> They never called back.
>
>Or the time when I was bobbing for a well-known-and-hated national
>$ISP and in the middle of a call a Novell popup screen flashed on
>my window with the wonderfully worded: "Finish your call and sign
>off. Bomb threat."
>
>Me: "Just delete and reinstall." <click> [1]
>
>Dawson
>
>[1] Of course, that was their solution to *everything*.
How humorous...bomb threats. However, in the 1+ year I worked for a local
$ISP(anyone in DFW area, please feel free to tell me how much you hate the
ads. I agree. They are more evil than Crystal Pepsi)...we had something
like 8 or 9 bomb threats...to us...not just the building. We kept a running
tally for a while, so we could see if we rated more threats than the
Greyhound office, also conveniently in our building, and also a nice
target. Ahhh...the thrills of $ISP-bobbing.}:> [1]
[1] ZaQ, feel free to vent and froth here. I'm recalling an especially
colorful evening of bombthreat mania...standing out in the cold, waiting
for the bomb squad. Pity this did not happen to Flu$shnet.
ZaQ
>
>
>[1] ZaQ, feel free to vent and froth here. I'm recalling an especially
>colorful evening of bombthreat mania...standing out in the cold, waiting
>for the bomb squad. Pity this did not happen to Flu$shnet.
Ahhh yes, the infamous bomb threats. the 30+ min smoke breaks are always
nice tho... and school just let out around here, so, we're comming up on
that time again... yay.
--
ZaQ
saint benton of the one-winged dove
.1F01EB36...@lp.airnews.net>, ZaQ wrote:
Someone shot at the front of our call center once. No one is in the front
bit after five, but there were nice bulletholes in the heavy glass that
comprised the front panels.
Oh, and the lady I talked to who didn't get cable because the two way
cable system would enable government agents to spy on her.
Oh, and the nice paranoid who totally threw a shoe when I parrotted his
phone number along with him. Caller ID, I say. Caller ID blocking, he
says. You called an 888 number, I say.[1] Suddenly, I'm a member of a vast
tenticular conspiracy. Finally, I calm him down and he tells me that
they haven't gotten to me yet. I tell him that my life isn't important
enough for anyone but me to be interested in it, and thank you for
calling $CABLECOMPANY.
May the ONe shine on us all, even if we are a government agent.
--
saint benton of the one-winged dove -- ICQ: 32861590
The Blue Citadel: http://www.velvet.net/~benton/
alt.gothic.quotes: http://www.velvet.net/~benton/quotes.html
[1] I'm not even a phreak, and even *I* know that.[2]
[2] For players in other countries. 1-888-XXX-XXXX is a toll
free call.[3]
[3] And even so, once you hit a PBX, or you call a CO, all bets
are off,[6] because Caller ID blocking doesn't magically stealth
you, it just turns on a stop bit, which the reviever can
choose to cheerily ignore.[4][5]
[4] Would you please stop calling it ORWELLIAN? It is just fscking
Caller ID. I have it so I can have your account up fast and
/service/ you better. ~* dripping sarky *~
[5] We're a phone company too.
[6] Or you plug in a modem set to mruphla marple and mibble and
wait for someone to call you.
Chris King
s.net>, ZaQ <vagabond*nospam*@shell.uselessbitch.org> writes
>Ahhh yes, the infamous bomb threats. the 30+ min smoke breaks are always
>nice tho... and school just let out around here, so, we're comming up on
>that time again... yay.
How to tell the difference between a sysadmin and a bean-counter in a
finance office...
The fire alarm goes off - do you:
(a) Head for the nearest exit as quickly as possible ?
OR
(b) Wait for the kettle to boil, then stroll out with a cup of tea to
tide you over whilst the fire brigade do their bit ?
Chris
--
Chris King
ch...@csking.co.uk
>twcny.rr.com
>In article <1149E4666E37E32B.5BC81B6C...@lp.airnew
>s.net>, ZaQ <vagabond*nospam*@shell.uselessbitch.org> writes
>>Ahhh yes, the infamous bomb threats. the 30+ min smoke breaks are always
>>nice tho... and school just let out around here, so, we're comming up on
>>that time again... yay.
>
>How to tell the difference between a sysadmin and a bean-counter in a
>finance office...
>
>The fire alarm goes off - do you:
>
>(a) Head for the nearest exit as quickly as possible ?
>
>OR
>
>(b) Wait for the kettle to boil, then stroll out with a cup of tea to
> tide you over whilst the fire brigade do their bit ?
>
sysadmin
Get rid of the blahs to email me :}
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=67063&a=635208 - 1999 Hancock Airshow
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=67063&a=2618171 - National Warplane Museum
Nathan T. Christ
<slrn8jhfol...@abyss.nethescurial.net>:
>In article <1149E4666E37E32B.5BC81B6C998C457F
>.1F01EB36...@lp.airnews.net>, ZaQ wrote:
>
>>On 2 Jun 2000 23:45:09 GMT, Nathan T. Christ
>><mephist...@airmail.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>[1] ZaQ, feel free to vent and froth here. I'm recalling an especially
>>>colorful evening of bombthreat mania...standing out in the cold,
>>>waiting for the bomb squad. Pity this did not happen to Flu$shnet.
>>
>>Ahhh yes, the infamous bomb threats. the 30+ min smoke breaks are
>>always nice tho... and school just let out around here, so, we're
>>comming up on that time again... yay.
>
>Someone shot at the front of our call center once. No one is in the
>front bit after five, but there were nice bulletholes in the heavy glass
>that comprised the front panels.
>
>Oh, and the lady I talked to who didn't get cable because the two way
>cable system would enable government agents to spy on her.
>
>Oh, and the nice paranoid who totally threw a shoe when I parrotted his
>phone number along with him. Caller ID, I say. Caller ID blocking, he
>says. You called an 888 number, I say.[1] Suddenly, I'm a member of a
>vast tenticular conspiracy. Finally, I calm him down and he tells me
>that they haven't gotten to me yet. I tell him that my life isn't
>important enough for anyone but me to be interested in it, and thank you
>for calling $CABLECOMPANY.
>
>May the ONe shine on us all, even if we are a government agent.
A few words:
ZaQ, you need recovery...in a bad way. As for the conspiracy nuts...
I will never forget working for regional telco/$ISP, and getting THIS call:
Me: "How can I assist you?"
Luser:"I want to cancel."
Me: "Ok, lemme get you to Billing"
Luser:" I want to register a complaint first"
Me:<sighing, cuz being a supervisor means listening to this crap> "Ok"
Luser: "The Innernet is being ruined. It's all full of hacking and smut.
It's the kids doing this. I also know that they[1] are trying to get me off
the Net; they send me pictures of gay black men in lingerie in my email.
They're doing this becuz they think I am crazy, and becuz I have a kid
who's half-Hispanic. I hate black people. They should be stopped from using
the Innernet, since they're helping with all this smut and hacking. It's a
disgrace."
<this goes on for almost 30 mins>
Me:"..."
I seriously contemplated a nice career in the food service industry after
that...esp. after she decided that: Jews are in on this issue too, and that
I am a Jew, and that I am helping out w/ this hacking/smut Cabal. Charming
no?
Anyhow...
I gotta go. Me and the other guns on the grassy knoll have another
President to assasinate.
Nathan T. Christ
1] She never did say just who They were. But..like it matters. She never
did cancel, as far as I know. Ask me for her email address}:>
DaZZa
> >Ahhh yes, the infamous bomb threats. the 30+ min smoke breaks are always
> >nice tho... and school just let out around here, so, we're comming up on
> >that time again... yay.
>
> Someone shot at the front of our call center once. No one is in the front
> bit after five, but there were nice bulletholes in the heavy glass that
> comprised the front panels.
I had a pissed off customer walk into a face-to-face centre and point a
shotgun at me once.
It turned out to be loaded, too.
There was much liquid recovery that afternoon, let me tell you!
DaZZa
ZaQ
<Snipity Snip>
>
>A few words:
>
>ZaQ, you need recovery...in a bad way.
Yes, I Know This.... What Are You Up To This Weekend? *Grin*
>As for the conspiracy nuts...
>I will never forget working for regional telco/$ISP, and getting THIS call:
<More Snippage>
Heh heh heh... Then there's always a certian cust that I've delt with on a
few occasions lately here. He would always call in yelling at the tech on
the phone for us to stop our hackers from getting into his system, and to
stop giving info on him to the FBI/CIA/NSA/etc. Policy enforcement delt
with him, and, with the customer's permission, made a 45 min tape of it to
use in training, and also for a bit of recovery for us....
>
>I seriously contemplated a nice career in the food service industry after
>that...esp. after she decided that: Jews are in on this issue too, and that
>I am a Jew, and that I am helping out w/ this hacking/smut Cabal. Charming
>no?
>
Ummm... ok, food service??? You want to deal with these troglodites(sp.)
*Face to Face*?????
>Anyhow...
>
>I gotta go. Me and the other guns on the grassy knoll have another
>President to assasinate.
>
Need another gun?
--
ZaQ
Justin The Cynical
->In article <DWjKSMCB...@csking.co.uk>, Chris King <ch...@csking.co.uk> wrote:
->>In article <1149E4666E37E32B.5BC81B6C...@lp.airnew
->>s.net>, ZaQ <vagabond*nospam*@shell.uselessbitch.org> writes
->>>Ahhh yes, the infamous bomb threats. the 30+ min smoke breaks are always
->>>nice tho... and school just let out around here, so, we're comming up on
->>>that time again... yay.
->>
->>How to tell the difference between a sysadmin and a bean-counter in a
->>finance office...
->>
->>The fire alarm goes off - do you:
->>
->>(a) Head for the nearest exit as quickly as possible ?
->>
->bean-counter
->
->>OR
->>
->>(b) Wait for the kettle to boil, then stroll out with a cup of tea to
->> tide you over whilst the fire brigade do their bit ?
->>
->sysadmin
You forgot one:
(c) Grab all the good kit you have been setting aside for your own 'orkstation
(You have been doing this and replacing it with crap kit, right?), hide
it somewhere safe (...from everyone else but you...), then claim, when
it is noticed that it's missing, that someone must have tripped the fire
alarm and pinched the kit while everyone was out.
--
When you pirate MP3s, you're downloading COMMUNISM!
- A reminder from the Recording Industry Association of America
http://www.ModernHumorist.com
Justin The Cynical - cyn...@linuxstart.com
John A.
(ZaQ) wrote:
>On 3 Jun 2000 23:09:46 GMT, Nathan T. Christ <mephist...@airmail.net> wrote:
>
><Snipity Snip>
<...and a Snip Snip Snip>
>Ummm... ok, food service??? You want to deal with these troglodites(sp.)
>*Face to Face*?????
I imagine being a chef or cook would be okay, if you like that sort of
thing. No direct contact with the trogs, and plenty of LART
opportunity.
John A.
...who never actually enjoyed making pizza, to tell you the truth.
Nathan T. Christ
<F4436E5A8EFE39F3.FCB55F7E...@lp.airnews.net>:
>On 3 Jun 2000 23:09:46 GMT, Nathan T. Christ
><mephist...@airmail.net> wrote:
>
><Snipity Snip>
>
>>
>>A few words:
>>
>>ZaQ, you need recovery...in a bad way.
>Yes, I Know This.... What Are You Up To This Weekend? *Grin*
w-Orking, what else? And playing UT there as well...ya know, the important
things}:>
>>As for the conspiracy nuts...
>>I will never forget working for regional telco/$ISP, and getting THIS
>>call:
>
><More Snippage>
>
>Heh heh heh... Then there's always a certian cust that I've delt with on
>a few occasions lately here. He would always call in yelling at the
>tech on the phone for us to stop our hackers from getting into his
>system, and to stop giving info on him to the FBI/CIA/NSA/etc. Policy
>enforcement delt with him, and, with the customer's permission, made a
>45 min tape of it to use in training, and also for a bit of recovery for
>us....
"Why, as a matter of fact, sir, we ARE the feds, and yes, we know about all
the kiddie pr0n you look at, you sick fsck"
>>I seriously contemplated a nice career in the food service industry
>>after that...esp. after she decided that: Jews are in on this issue
>>too, and that I am a Jew, and that I am helping out w/ this
>>hacking/smut Cabal. Charming no?
>>
>Ummm... ok, food service??? You want to deal with these
>troglodites(sp.) *Face to Face*?????
No, no...I wanna be manglement, so I could fire the staff, and personally
tell diners evil shite...as well as spit in the food. Duh}:>
>>Anyhow...
>>
>>I gotta go. Me and the other guns on the grassy knoll have another
>>President to assasinate.
>>
>Need another gun?
IA hitsquad to the rescue! Wahhooo! Assassination destination: Corsicana,
baybee...muahahahahah!
Nathan T. Christ.
Madi
>On Sat, 3 Jun 2000, saint benton of the one-winged dove wrote:
>
>>
>> Someone shot at the front of our call center once. No one is in the front
>> bit after five, but there were nice bulletholes in the heavy glass that
>> comprised the front panels.
>
>I had a pissed off customer walk into a face-to-face centre and point a
>shotgun at me once.
>
>It turned out to be loaded, too.
And here I was thinking "thank $DEITY I live in Oz, where this kinda crap
don't happen."
Mebbe I just better append "...anywhere near as often" to that sentiment.
*sigh*
Jeff Shultz
>I'm sorry - but I refuse to accept the words "fair dinkum" in this thread.
>If we're gonna discuss Oz v US then we should stick to non-colloquial
>English - otherwise the foreigners will laugh at us and make derogatory
>comments about shrimps and barbies.
>
Don't worry, if anyone here hasn't read Heinlein's "Moon is a Harsh
Mistress" yet, they need to be forcibly directed to the nearest
library or used bookstore.
--
Jeff Shultz
http://www.shultzinfosystems.com
Lusers: "There's no stopping the invincibly ignorant."
Jeff Shultz
>The following forgery has been attributed to ral...@techie.com:
>>
>>Madi wrote in message ...
>>>The following forgery has been attributed to jbsh...@wvi.com:
>>>
>>>I've read two Heinlein books. They were both crap. I've been told that
>>they
>>>are amongst the worst of his works, but this doesn't alter the fact that
>>what
>>>I've read of his was not only crap but crap enough to prevent me having any
>>>desire to read any of his other stuff, ever.
>>
>> "I Will Fear No Evil" obviously. What was the other one?
>
>That was neither of them. One was "Number of The Beast", the other one I
>can't remember the name of - it was a Lazarus Long prequel.
Sounds like "To sail the sunset"... he got very, um, interested in
alternative lifestyles near the end. Or, to put it bluntly, more than
a little preoccupied with sex.
His juveniles are a lot of fun... Friday was probably his last really
good one.
DaZZa
> >I had a pissed off customer walk into a face-to-face centre and point a
> >shotgun at me once.
> >It turned out to be loaded, too.
>
> And here I was thinking "thank $DEITY I live in Oz, where this kinda crap
> don't happen."
I admit, it was out in the country, not in the city - office out near
Wagga - but it happened, fair dunkum.
> Mebbe I just better append "...anywhere near as often" to that sentiment.
Gives the 4 peopole arrested for shooting someone in Pitt St last night in
Sydney, I don't think even that holds water much these days.
DaZZa
Madi
>On 4 Jun 2000, Madi wrote:
>
>> >I had a pissed off customer walk into a face-to-face centre and point a
>> >shotgun at me once.
>> >It turned out to be loaded, too.
>>
>> And here I was thinking "thank $DEITY I live in Oz, where this kinda crap
>> don't happen."
>
>I admit, it was out in the country, not in the city - office out near
>Wagga - but it happened, fair dunkum.
I'm sorry - but I refuse to accept the words "fair dinkum" in this thread.
If we're gonna discuss Oz v US then we should stick to non-colloquial
English - otherwise the foreigners will laugh at us and make derogatory
comments about shrimps and barbies.
And I just used the word "Oz".
>
>> Mebbe I just better append "...anywhere near as often" to that sentiment.
>
>Gives the 4 peopole arrested for shooting someone in Pitt St last night in
>Sydney, I don't think even that holds water much these days.
Bleck. I keep thinking that Melbourne is boring and wishing I'd never moved
down. But mebbe, in light of that, it was the Right Thing To Do.
Bugger. Too many dreary threads across too many groups. Think I'll go do
something cheerful.
Madi
>On 5 Jun 2000 00:44:21 GMT, Madi wrote:
>
>>If we're gonna discuss Oz v US then we should stick to non-colloquial
>>English - otherwise the foreigners will laugh at us and make derogatory
>>comments about shrimps and barbies.
>>
>Mistress" yet, they need to be forcibly directed to the nearest
>library or used bookstore.
Hmm...time to start a support group for non-Heinlein readers, then.
I've read two Heinlein books. They were both crap. I've been told that they
are amongst the worst of his works, but this doesn't alter the fact that what
I've read of his was not only crap but crap enough to prevent me having any
desire to read any of his other stuff, ever.
-Madi
DaZZa
> >I admit, it was out in the country, not in the city - office out near
> >Wagga - but it happened, fair dunkum.
>
> I'm sorry - but I refuse to accept the words "fair dinkum" in this thread.
> If we're gonna discuss Oz v US then we should stick to non-colloquial
> English - otherwise the foreigners will laugh at us and make derogatory
> comments about shrimps and barbies.
Hmmm. Out takes from crocodile Dundee and heinlein's "The moon is a harsh
Mistress" oughta be enough to disspell that problem for a goodly
percentage of the overseas population - especially the geek population,
which is likely to be reading here.
> And I just used the word "Oz".
Double standards? :-)
> >Gives the 4 peopole arrested for shooting someone in Pitt St last night in
> >Sydney, I don't think even that holds water much these days.
>
> Bleck. I keep thinking that Melbourne is boring and wishing I'd never moved
> down. But mebbe, in light of that, it was the Right Thing To Do.
Yeah - every time I hear something like that I'm more and mroe glad I
moved _away_ from the city. Living in Marrickville, I used to be able to
count the number of ngihts when I _didn't_ hear gunshots in a month on one
hand.
> Bugger. Too many dreary threads across too many groups. Think I'll go do
> something cheerful.
Me too. Like lunch!
DaZZa
Madi
Used to live in Sydenham - but never had that problem. Mind you - it was
difficult to hear *anything* over the noise from the planes. The house that
I lived in was one of the many knocked down as part of the "let's make
airport noise fun" campaign.
>
>> Bugger. Too many dreary threads across too many groups. Think I'll go do
>> something cheerful.
>
>Me too. Like lunch!
Actually - I've discovered a weird form of fun today - I do work. And
every time I do something, I think of how many more times I have to do it
before I never have to do it again 'coz I start my new job.
Only have to do the weekly stats one more time.
Only 8 more work days.
Only 6 more days on-shift with $LUSER_BOB.
Only 2 more manglement meetings.
Only one more conference with $PARENT_COMPANY.
Every time I do one of these things, I get a little glimmer of joy :)
Justin Chandler
Christ) wrote:
>IA hitsquad to the rescue! Wahhooo! Assassination destination: Corsicana,
>baybee...muahahahahah!
Maybe if a/the Narn Bat Squad isn't doing anything that day...
--
-=Justin=-
"On a different note I would certainly advise against playing an album named "songs about fucking" on a first date."
-- Francesco Benvenuto, ASR
Justin Chandler
wrote:
>You forgot one:
>
>(c) Grab all the good kit you have been setting aside for your own 'orkstation
> (You have been doing this and replacing it with crap kit, right?), hide
> it somewhere safe (...from everyone else but you...),
As opposed to everyone else including you?
--
-=Justin=-
Warriors, warriors we call ourselves.
We fight for splendid virtue, for
high endeavour, for sublime wisdom,
therefore we call ourselves warriors.
Aunguttara Nikaya
Ralph Wade Phillips
Jeff Shultz wrote in message ...
>On 5 Jun 2000 00:44:21 GMT, Madi wrote:
>
>>I'm sorry - but I refuse to accept the words "fair dinkum" in this thread.
>>If we're gonna discuss Oz v US then we should stick to non-colloquial
>>English - otherwise the foreigners will laugh at us and make derogatory
>>comments about shrimps and barbies.
>>
>Don't worry, if anyone here hasn't read Heinlein's "Moon is a Harsh
>Mistress" yet, they need to be forcibly directed to the nearest
>library or used bookstore.
'Tis a fair dinkum book, cobber.
Did MUCH to help shape my political philosophy while growing up.
RwP
Ralph Wade Phillips
Madi wrote in message ...
>>On 5 Jun 2000 00:44:21 GMT, Madi wrote:
>>
>>>I'm sorry - but I refuse to accept the words "fair dinkum" in this
thread.
>>>If we're gonna discuss Oz v US then we should stick to non-colloquial
>>>English - otherwise the foreigners will laugh at us and make derogatory
>>>comments about shrimps and barbies.
>>>
>>Don't worry, if anyone here hasn't read Heinlein's "Moon is a Harsh
>>Mistress" yet, they need to be forcibly directed to the nearest
>>library or used bookstore.
>
>
>I've read two Heinlein books. They were both crap. I've been told that
they
>are amongst the worst of his works, but this doesn't alter the fact that
what
>I've read of his was not only crap but crap enough to prevent me having any
>desire to read any of his other stuff, ever.
"I Will Fear No Evil" obviously. What was the other one?
'Tis best to read his earlier works - his later ones tended to
"ramble" on ... and on ... and on ... and <THWACK> Thank you - I tend to
get stuck.
RwP
Madi
>they
>>are amongst the worst of his works, but this doesn't alter the fact that
>what
>>I've read of his was not only crap but crap enough to prevent me having any
>>desire to read any of his other stuff, ever.
>
> "I Will Fear No Evil" obviously. What was the other one?
That was neither of them. One was "Number of The Beast", the other one I
can't remember the name of - it was a Lazarus Long prequel.
-Madi
DaZZa
> >Yeah - every time I hear something like that I'm more and mroe glad I
> >moved _away_ from the city. Living in Marrickville, I used to be able to
> >count the number of ngihts when I _didn't_ hear gunshots in a month on one
> >hand.
>
> Used to live in Sydenham - but never had that problem. Mind you - it was
> difficult to hear *anything* over the noise from the planes. The house that
> I lived in was one of the many knocked down as part of the "let's make
> airport noise fun" campaign.
Oh, I'm talking _after_ the planes finished. Nothing like being woken up
at 3 am by the sound of guns going off outside in the street, or car
windows breaking, or the rending of metal as Yet Another Hoon crashed
himself and his mates into oblivion.
> >> Bugger. Too many dreary threads across too many groups. Think I'll go do
> >> something cheerful.
> >Me too. Like lunch!
>
> Actually - I've discovered a weird form of fun today - I do work. And
> every time I do something, I think of how many more times I have to do it
> before I never have to do it again 'coz I start my new job.
Woo. Radicle concept!
> Only have to do the weekly stats one more time.
> Only 8 more work days.
> Only 6 more days on-shift with $LUSER_BOB.
> Only 2 more manglement meetings.
> Only one more conference with $PARENT_COMPANY.
{sigh} I've got another interview tomorrow. Last one is still pending -
I'm not written off yet, but don't have quite enough design experience to
suit them - forget the fact that I cover _everything_ else they wanted.
Time will tell.
> Every time I do one of these things, I get a little glimmer of joy :)
If it puts a smile on ya dial!
DaZZa
DaZZa
> >I've read two Heinlein books. They were both crap. I've been told that
> >they are amongst the worst of his works, but this doesn't alter the
> >fact that what I've read of his was not only crap but crap enough to
> >prevent me having any desire to read any of his other stuff, ever.
>
> "I Will Fear No Evil" obviously. What was the other one?
"The Number of the Beast" or "The Cat who walked through walls" without
doubt. Those three have to rank as his three _worst_ books.
> 'Tis best to read his earlier works - his later ones tended to
> "ramble" on ... and on ... and on ... and <THWACK> Thank you - I tend to
> get stuck.
So did Heinlein. Especially as he was getting on a bit.
DaZZa
LooseChanj
news:slrn8jm5k...@extro.vurt.net...
> Only have to do the weekly stats one more time.
> Only 8 more work days.
> Only 6 more days on-shift with $LUSER_BOB.
> Only 2 more manglement meetings.
> Only one more conference with $PARENT_COMPANY.
Sounds like people at my last[1] job. 7 more tuesday nights to do the
floors, 14 more trucks to unload, etc.
[1] Non-BOB.
-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
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Red Drag Diva
:On 5 Jun 2000, Madi wrote:
:> Every time I do one of these things, I get a little glimmer of joy :)
:If it puts a smile on ya dial!
*shudder* Don't say that.
--
http://xenu.netizen.com.au/ http://www.caube.org.au/
"You haven't lived 'til you've performed emergency vibrator repair that
required a welding torch." (Ron Parker)
Richard Bos
> How to tell the difference between a sysadmin and a bean-counter in a
> finance office...
>
> The fire alarm goes off - do you:
>
> (a) Head for the nearest exit as quickly as possible ?
Oh, come on, nobody ever does that.
> (b) Wait for the kettle to boil, then stroll out with a cup of tea to
> tide you over whilst the fire brigade do their bit ?
Fire brigade? What's that? Mind you, we've never needed them, so it's
just as well they've never been here either.
(c) Ignore it completely. Remain seated throughout the alarm.
(almost everyone, usually.)
(d) Go check what's up and see whether it's a false alarm or, for once,
for real.
(me, perhaps one or two others, who have been appointed to do this.
Thank heavens I've never had a real one.)
Given option (c) I can't wait, really, until there really is a fire
here; but given option (d), on second thought, maybe rather not, thank
you.
But you can't tell the difference between clued and non-clued this way.
Richard
Jay Mottern
<DWjKSMCB...@csking.co.uk>:
>In article <1149E4666E37E32B.5BC81B6C...@lp.airnew
>s.net>, ZaQ <vagabond*nospam*@shell.uselessbitch.org> writes
>>Ahhh yes, the infamous bomb threats. the 30+ min smoke breaks are always
>>nice tho... and school just let out around here, so, we're comming up on
>>that time again... yay.
>
>How to tell the difference between a sysadmin and a bean-counter in a
>finance office...
>
>The fire alarm goes off - do you:
>
>(a) Head for the nearest exit as quickly as possible ?
>
>OR
>
>(b) Wait for the kettle to boil, then stroll out with a cup of tea to
> tide you over whilst the fire brigade do their bit ?
>
>Chris
OR
(c) Head for the nearest exit, catch the eye of whoever's in charge of the
nose count outside so s/he knows you made it, then head out to a nice cozy
shop for a leisurely cuppa, taking your own sweet time.
--
-----------------------------------
[Standard disclaimer goes here]
Bob code KHOCkB IWN EE!- mB CPEIVc
B-8 Olw Lm Sc+n T+ A5 H6o b7
-----------------------------------
Jeffrey L. Bell
>(c) Ignore it completely. Remain seated throughout the alarm.
> (almost everyone, usually.)
>
>(d) Go check what's up and see whether it's a false alarm or, for once,
> for real.
> (me, perhaps one or two others, who have been appointed to do this.
> Thank heavens I've never had a real one.)
Thos of us with chip fabs in the building tend
to pay a bit more attention.
Last time it went off here, it was the bennial
poison gas explosion. The people in the bunny suits
disabled the alarm to fight the fire, then changed their
mind and decided it might be better to evacuate. Of course,
they were the first ones out the door, having been on their
feet already.
-Jeff Bell
Dawson Rambo
>
> dra...@airmonitor.com (Dawson Rambo) wrote in
> <3935A5D8...@airmonitor.com>:
>
> >
> >
> >Madi wrote:
> >>
> >> The following forgery has been attributed to pha...@technolust.cx:
> >> >Im laying in bed this morning sleeping semi-peacefully. Dreaming of
> >> >the day the techs rule the world, and then BANG "GO GO GO GO" I look
> >> >out my window in time to see the State Police SWAT Team entering the
> >> >house behind me. At first Im
> >>
> >> Someone in my orkplace was once in the middle of a call when the luser
> >> said "I'm sorry - I have to go now. I think the police want to raid
> >> the place," and then hung up.
> >>
> >> They never called back.
> >
> >Or the time when I was bobbing for a well-known-and-hated national
> >$ISP and in the middle of a call a Novell popup screen flashed on
> >my window with the wonderfully worded: "Finish your call and sign
> >off. Bomb threat."
[snip]
> How humorous...bomb threats. However, in the 1+ year I worked for a local
> $ISP(anyone in DFW area, please feel free to tell me how much you hate the
> ads. I agree. They are more evil than Crystal Pepsi)...we had something
> like 8 or 9 bomb threats...to us...not just the building. We kept a running
> tally for a while, so we could see if we rated more threats than the
> Greyhound office, also conveniently in our building, and also a nice
> target. Ahhh...the thrills of $ISP-bobbing.}:> [1]
Hmmm...trying to decide. Which is more annoying? Freezing or burning?
This was Tucson, in the middle of a typical Tucson summer. We waited
for two hours in the parking lot for TPD Bomb Squad to show up,
let the bomb dogs run around and sniff, before being allowed back
to resume Bobbing. IIRC, it was about 110 or so that day.
Then there was the time we had a power loss situation at about 7:30pm,
and the rumor quickly floated that there was a hostage situation at
the Walmart about 200 yards away, and that the TPD had cut the power
to the local grid as per the Hostage Negotiation playbook.
Turned out to be total hogwash, but there was some minor excitement
there for a bit.
Dawson
Dawson Rambo
"Nathan T. Christ" wrote:
[snippery]
> Me: "How can I assist you?"
> Luser:"I want to cancel."
> Me: "Ok, lemme get you to Billing"
> Luser:" I want to register a complaint first"
> Me:<sighing, cuz being a supervisor means listening to this crap>
>"Ok" Luser: "The Innernet is being ruined. It's all full of hacking
> and smut. It's the kids doing this. I also know that they[1] are
> trying to get me off the Net; they send me pictures of gay black
> men in lingerie in my email. They're doing this becuz they think
> I am crazy, and becuz I have a kid who's half-Hispanic. I hate
> black people. They should be stopped from using
> the Innernet, since they're helping with all this smut and hacking.
> It's a disgrace."
> <this goes on for almost 30 mins>
>
> Me:"..."
I remember taking a call for the same national $ISP that I mentioned
earlier wherein the caller asked if he could connect a second
monitor to his wife's computer. My first mistake (and believe me,
not my last,) on this call was asking him how far he wanted the
second monitor from the first machine.
"About sixteen miles," he said. Turns out that he wanted the
second monitor in his office so he could watch what his wife
was doing in the chat rooms. Apparently, she was a little on
the chubby side when they married, and since discovering and
living in the chat rooms for about six months, had slimmed
down considerably. This and some other signs had led my caller
to believe that she was having a cyber affair, and he wanted
to discover if his suspicions were true.
The call lasted over an hour, because at that time, $COMPANY
policy was such that we could only disconnect if they got
hostile and verbally abusive, and we had given three warnings,
and gotten a supervisor to jack in at our stations and
verify that we had a reasonable cause to dump the call.
My supe came over at about the 45-minute mark and made the
"What is taking so long?" expression; I pointed to the Aspect
and invited him to join in. He listened for about five minutes
as the caller was bemoaning his fate in life. I kept repeating
that he *really* needed to talk to his wife about the
matter, and that there was nothing, repeat, underline, bold,
italics, *nothing* I could do to help him.
Egads...I thought I'd forgotten those days Bobbing for ISPs.
Dawson
Kyle Haight
Dawson Rambo <dra...@airmonitor.com> wrote:
>
>Then there was the time we had a power loss situation at about 7:30pm,
>and the rumor quickly floated that there was a hostage situation at
>the Walmart about 200 yards away, and that the TPD had cut the power
>to the local grid as per the Hostage Negotiation playbook.
>
>Turned out to be total hogwash, but there was some minor excitement
>there for a bit.
We had a semi-real case here a couple of years ago. Some guy robbed a
bank in Sunnyvale, shot a cop and fled in a high-speed chase back to
his apartment (!) which was in the complex across the street from the
building where I work. There were heavily-armed police swarming all
over the place; they thought the guy might have hostages. SWAT team
members were spotted. It was just like that scene in T2: "The cops
are here." "How many?" "All of 'em, I think."
After a gunshot was heard, the police came up and evacuated us to the
side of the building opposite the apartment complex. Turned out it
was the bank robber commiting suicide, which wrapped things up pretty
neatly unless you were the cop who got shot in the robbery.
--
Kyle Haight
kha...@netcom.com
"Feeding on the blood of the working classes for fun and profit."
Chris King
<r...@fdhoekstra.nl> writes
>(c) Ignore it completely. Remain seated throughout the alarm.
> (almost everyone, usually.)
That's usually the students.
At $LAST_ORKPLACE, the town was totally blacked out one winter evening
[1]. There were no lights for miles around, and the sun had already set.
Picture the scene...
It's dark outside, and darker inside the labs...
Everything is quiet, bar the bleeping UPSen and battery-backed
fire/intruder alarm systems...
After all the systems have shut down, it seems pretty obvious that the
power is going to be out for some time - to avoid any problems with the
restart, and to keep the students out of my hair [2], I decide to close
the labs....
...and the students are all sat in front of the PC's, like they're
expecting them to suddenly burst into life and carry on exactly where
they left off.
One of the freshers bursts into tears, as I point out that auto-save is
there because power failures like this happen, and if she deliberately
turned it off, that's her problem [3].
Another bright spark asks: "Can't we just wait here ?"
"There's no point. Power's going to be off for a while, and these
labs get chilly - you're better off at home."
"Will we be able to check our mail when the power comes back on ?"
"You'll have a long wait. Don't bother hanging around"
An hour later, power comes back on. I wait 10-15 minutes to be sure it's
stable, then run through the "black start" [4] procedure. 20 minutes
later, the core network and server pool is back in service, traffic is
flowing and the UPSen are recharging nicely.
I should have been home two hours earlier, I was tired, I was hungry and
I had a splitting headache, so as you can guess, I wasn't in the best of
moods [5].
Then somebody made a fatal mistake of making a smart-arse comment...
Her: Well, you took your time re-opening the labs !!
Me: Excuse me ?
Her: You heard me - it shouldn't take this long to sort out a
power problem. I'm a busy woman and need to check my e-mail !!!
Me: One - this situation is beyond my control.
Two - I'm not prepared to restart systems with flat UPS
batteries if there's any danger of another power failure.
Three - everything has to be started in a strict order,
or it takes longer for full service to be restored.
Four - I'm here on my own time.
Five - I don't even know if I'm going to get paid for this.
Six - your personal safety is more important than your e-mail.
And finally - If you EVER make a remark like that again in my
earshot, you won't HAVE an e-mail account to check, missus.
Her: Err... In that case, I think I'll come back in the morning.
I then re-opened the labs, and someone complained "the machines in the
other lab are moo-ing !"
He wasn't kidding - for some reason, the PSU fans were vibrating loudly,
and the damn things did sound like a herd of cows.
Me: Are the machines actually working ?
Him: Yes, but they're really noisy - can't you do something ?
Me: Not really. Apart from the noise, they're otherwise operational.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go off-site and get very
drunk... it's been one of those days...
Chris
[1] No snow, just a clumsy worker from the 'leccy board.
[2] I was ready to tear the next person to ask "when will the system
be back up ?" limb from limb.
[3] Call me a sentimental fool, see if I care.
[4] As I was leaving, I'd been documenting stuff like what to do if
the site suffers a total power failure: Shut down equipment in
this order, then restart it as follows...
[5] Finding out that your building has no emergency lighting is bad
enough. Having to evacuate a potentially unsafe building (dark
enough for people to trip up over furniture they didn't see etc)
using your own torch is quite another matter.
--
Chris King
ch...@csking.co.uk
DaZZa
> On Mon, 05 Jun 2000 04:58:20 GMT, DaZZa <da...@zip.com.au> wrote:
> :On 5 Jun 2000, Madi wrote:
> :> Every time I do one of these things, I get a little glimmer of joy :)
> :If it puts a smile on ya dial!
>
> *shudder* Don't say that.
<fx> Whoosh </fx>
Duh, why not? [1]
DaZZa
[1] Enquiring mind wants to know.
DaZZa
> >Sounds like "To sail the sunset"... he got very, um, interested in
> >alternative lifestyles near the end. Or, to put it bluntly, more than
> >a little preoccupied with sex.
>
> I didn't mind that one, actually. That and _Job_ are all I've
> read of his stuff, and I'm vaguely uncertain about whether _Job_
> was one of his or not...
It was. Not one of the best - but not one of the worst, either.
> He's one of those authors that I always plan to read more of,
> but never get around to.
Heinlein wrote some absolutely brilliant science fiction - and also wrote
some of the biggest pieces of CRAP it's ever been my misfortune to cast my
eyes over.
Win some, lose some.
DaZZa
LooseChanj
news:dhrnjs4eg67e6tafa...@4ax.com...
> ARRRGGGHHHH !!!
>
> Flashback! I used to work for Purolator in their Calgary warehouse.
>
> I hate you.
Glad I could be there for you.
LooseChanj
news:393BED2B...@airmonitor.com...
> Hmmm...trying to decide. Which is more annoying? Freezing or burning?
Burning. You can always put on more clothing, you can only take off so much
till you're clawing at skin.
Dawson Rambo
LooseChanj wrote:
>
> "Dawson Rambo" <dra...@airmonitor.com> wrote in message
> news:393BED2B...@airmonitor.com...
> > Hmmm...trying to decide. Which is more annoying? Freezing or burning?
>
> Burning. You can always put on more clothing, you can only take off so much
> till you're clawing at skin.
*nodnod* I keep trying to explain this to my girlfriend, who insists
on
sleeping under <counting> 2 sheets, a blanket and a comforter with the
window CLOSED in the middle of the summer. It gets nice and cool up
here in NoCal, and I prefer to be a tad chilly rather than a tad
hot when I'm trying to sleep.
I tried, "Sweetie, you can always pile on more blankets. I'm
down to my birthday suit and I'm still hot."
No joy -- because her side of the bed is next to the window,
her face gets cold, and so I'm SOL.[1]
Dawson
[1] Don't even suggest switching sides of the bed. BTDT.
Charles Bryant
saint benton of the one-winged dove <ben...@nethescurial.net> wrote:
>Oh, and the lady I talked to who didn't get cable because the two way
>cable system would enable government agents to spy on her.
You could have asked her why she wass so naive and trusting to think
that they need cable.
--
Eppur si muove
Kyle Haight
Dawson Rambo <dra...@airmonitor.com> wrote:
>
>[1] Don't even suggest switching sides of the bed. BTDT.
Have you tried rotating the bed 180 degrees? Then she can keep her
side and you can still be closer to the window.
Failing that, I find that a Vornado electric fan pointed at the feet
does wonders.
saint benton of the one-winged dove
>In article <393C4578...@airmonitor.com>,
>Dawson Rambo <dra...@airmonitor.com> wrote:
>>
>>[1] Don't even suggest switching sides of the bed. BTDT.
>
>Have you tried rotating the bed 180 degrees? Then she can keep her
>side and you can still be closer to the window.
It is an article of faith that two or more people Involved with
each other will have wildly differing preference for heat and cold.
Having a "side" kind of strikes me as funny.
>Failing that, I find that a Vornado electric fan pointed at the feet
>does wonders.
May the One shine on us all, even if we suggest different apartments.
--
saint benton of the one-winged dove -- ICQ: 32861590
The Blue Citadel: http://www.velvet.net/~benton/
alt.gothic.quotes: http://www.velvet.net/~benton/quotes.html
DaZZa
>>> I didn't mind that one, actually. That and _Job_ are all I've
>>> read of his stuff, and I'm vaguely uncertain about whether _Job_
>>> was one of his or not...
>>It was. Not one of the best - but not one of the worst, either.
>
>I kind of liked it -- I found the premise interesting, and
>although it's not something I'd put in my Top Ten Works of
>Fictional Literature[0] it was plenty of fun to read.
Like I said - not one of his best. TMIAHM _is_ one of his best - by a
long way.
>The idea of Jehwah as an arsehole upstart was also kind of
>amusing -- the scenario seems so much more plausible than
>the mainstream Christian thing.
Oh yes - I bet RAH just _loved_ the furvour this concept inspired in the
more, erm, theoligically minded.
>>Heinlein wrote some absolutely brilliant science fiction - and also wrote
>>some of the biggest pieces of CRAP it's ever been my misfortune to cast my
>>eyes over.
>
>I have the same reaction to Asimov. But that may also just be because
>I devoured a lot of his stuff when I was younger, then read
>_Prelude to Foundation_ a few years ago and was highy unimpressed.
There's a real good reason for that.
"Prelude to Foundation" was, in fact, written mostly by his wife - and if
you read the other pieces of crap she wrote and that he put his name on
to help sales [1] you'll understand completely why PTF was so bad.
>Strangely, I think his autohiography was my favourite of his works...
I haven't read it - yet.
DaZZa
[1] Norby, the lost Robot and Norby's other secret are the titles in
question - truely, absolute crap in its printed form.
Vicky Weimer
<ctrkjsknu162j800f...@4ax.com>:
>>Ummm... ok, food service??? You want to deal with these
>>troglodites(sp.) *Face to Face*?????
HEY! I have a BS in food service! Well, ok, the *quick* food service drones
tend to be troglodytes...
>
>I imagine being a chef or cook would be okay, if you like that sort of
>thing. No direct contact with the trogs, and plenty of LART
>opportunity.
>
I very much enjoyed my time as a chef. I got to watch stupid people self-LART.
One time I was asked to help a cow-orker prepare some hot peppers for a large
batch of chili (for about 750 people). I asked Chef what kind of peppers he
had gotten, while looking around for the rubber gloves. He says oh, not too
hot...I got some Scotch Bonnets. I look at cow-orker, who is preparing said
peppers sans gloves. I mention to cow-orker that she needs to immediately
cease and desist, go wash hands thoroughly with lots of soap, and put on
gloves. She ignores me. I then ask Chef if he is aware of what the other name
of a Scotch Bonnet is. He says no. For those who don't know, it's also that
hot little number, the Habanero. I don gloves and proceed to process ONE
pepper, and immediately have an asthma attack once said pepper is chopped. I
can not work on them, the oil is horrible when inhaled and it's hard NOT to
inhale when working on these devils. Cow-orker grins at me maliciously and
says something snotty. Cow-orkers hands start to burn 30 seconds later (she's
been doing the peppers for 10 minutes, and had chopped about 15 or so.) Cow-
orker ends up going to hospital for a serious allergic reaction and a chemical
burn, on both her hands and her face, since she wiped her brow while preparing
the peppers. Chef is aghast, not knowing that's what those peppers are. Cow-
orker is out for a couple of days recovering from a second-degree chemical
burn.
(DAMMIT! When I say put on gloves, I mean DO IT NOW!)
Needless to say, the 15 peppers she had processed were more than enough to heat
up that chili sufficiently.
>John A.
>...who never actually enjoyed making pizza, to tell you the truth.
>
I hate making the dough. I love making pizza. eh, face it. I'm a food-
obsessed fat chick who loves to cook.
Vicky
Richard Bos
> In article <393b695d....@news.worldonline.nl>, Richard Bos
> <r...@fdhoekstra.nl> writes
> >(c) Ignore it completely. Remain seated throughout the alarm.
> > (almost everyone, usually.)
>
> That's usually the students.
If only. No, I flunked university and got a job in the Real World;
unfortunately, Real People are no wiser than students when it comes to
fire safety. Not here, anyway. I truly believe that they would ignore a
cloud of smoke rolling through the hallways and start moving only when
they could feel the heat. Oh, the temptation...
Richard
Kyle Haight
Matt McLeod <matt+...@netizen.com.au> wrote:
>Yea, it is written in the Book of Cyril
>that DaZZa did write:
>>
>>Oh yes - I bet RAH just _loved_ the furvour this concept inspired in the
>>more, erm, theoligically minded.
>
>and got a bit of a shock almost right away...
There are apparently some people who were a bit _too_ impressed by
_Stranger in a Strange Land_, and thought Heinlein was some kind of
new-age guru. Many of these people are also unaware that he wrote any
other books. Finding these people and giving them copies of _Starship
Troopers_ is often good for a laugh.
Dave the Inverted
>"Prelude to Foundation" was, in fact, written mostly by his wife - and if
>you read the other pieces of crap she wrote and that he put his name on
>to help sales [1] you'll understand completely why PTF was so bad.
>
> [snip]
>
>[1] Norby, the lost Robot and Norby's other secret are the titles in
>question - truely, absolute crap in its printed form.
You just had to remind me of those, didn't you? Horrible, clumsy
prose, hackneyed plots, shallow characters, and yes, Bob help us,
textile dissolver.
As far as I'm concerned, a good test for a juvenile novel is whether
you can enjoy it as an adult. The Heinlein juveniles stand up well
under this test. So do the Harry Potter books. (Hell, my wife and I
will be picking up the new one in hardcover the instant it's
available.) The Norby books...do not.
Dav2.718
inv...@primenet.com
Speaking for myself.
Dawson Rambo
>
> In article <393C4578...@airmonitor.com>,
> Dawson Rambo <dra...@airmonitor.com> wrote:
> >
> >[1] Don't even suggest switching sides of the bed. BTDT.
>
> Have you tried rotating the bed 180 degrees? Then she can keep her
> side and you can still be closer to the window.
It's not so much the side of the bed that's the problem,
but the relationship to the door. Her thinking is, if a
Bad Guy comes in the door the way the room is currently
situated, Dawson has time to reach into drawer, withdraw
suitable LART (in this case a S&W 4516-1 in .45 ACP) and
protect her. If we switch sides, she's more...exposed to
dangers.
> Failing that, I find that a Vornado electric fan pointed at the feet
> does wonders.
She can't stand the noise of the fan.
Daws
Dawson Rambo
>
> In article <8hi2ju$fos$1...@nntp9.atl.mindspring.net>, Kyle Haight wrote:
> >In article <393C4578...@airmonitor.com>,
> >Dawson Rambo <dra...@airmonitor.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>[1] Don't even suggest switching sides of the bed. BTDT.
> >
> >Have you tried rotating the bed 180 degrees? Then she can keep her
> >side and you can still be closer to the window.
>
> each other will have wildly differing preference for heat and cold.
*nodnod* The heating blanket we share during winter[1] months
has seperate controls for just such issues between people.
> Having a "side" kind of strikes me as funny.
Me, too. We start snuggling at Lights Out, and as her body
heat output increases, we pull apart. She's only about as
exothermic as your average supernova.
Dawson
[1] "Winter" in the SFO/Bay Area being defined as
Dec-21 through March 21 24/7, and March 22
through December 20 from 6:00pm to 10:00am.
What did Twain say? "The coldest winter I
ever spent was the summer I spent in SF?"
DaZZa
> (DAMMIT! When I say put on gloves, I mean DO IT NOW!)
Hmmm. Moving that out of context brings the mind to boggling! :-)
DaZZa
DaZZa
> >Many of whom may have picked it up simply because of the title,
> >and got a bit of a shock almost right away...
>
> There are apparently some people who were a bit _too_ impressed by
> _Stranger in a Strange Land_, and thought Heinlein was some kind of
> new-age guru. Many of these people are also unaware that he wrote any
> other books. Finding these people and giving them copies of _Starship
> Troopers_ is often good for a laugh.
Watching the movie was worse. Yuck.
Mind you, Heinlein wasn't as bad as either L Ron Hubbard or John Norman -
the only two authors on the planet to start a religion each as a _joke_.
[1]
DaZZa
[1] Don't know if Norman intended "Gor" to become a religion, but it
certainly has amongst certain members of the community. Hubbard, on the
other hand, did intend it as a joke - in fact, as the result of a bet with
someone or other.[2]
[2] He won, obviously.
DaZZa
> >[1] Norby, the lost Robot and Norby's other secret are the titles in
> >question - truely, absolute crap in its printed form.
>
> You just had to remind me of those, didn't you? Horrible, clumsy
> prose, hackneyed plots, shallow characters, and yes, Bob help us,
> textile dissolver.
I know, I know - I'm a complete and utter literary bastard. :-)
> As far as I'm concerned, a good test for a juvenile novel is whether
> you can enjoy it as an adult. The Heinlein juveniles stand up well
> under this test. So do the Harry Potter books. (Hell, my wife and I
> will be picking up the new one in hardcover the instant it's
> available.) The Norby books...do not.
Harry Harrison walks the middle line - some of his juvenile stuff is great
- I still enjoy it now. Some of it _sucks_.
DaZZa
DaZZa
> > Have you tried rotating the bed 180 degrees? Then she can keep her
> > side and you can still be closer to the window.
>
> It's not so much the side of the bed that's the problem,
> but the relationship to the door. Her thinking is, if a
> Bad Guy comes in the door the way the room is currently
> situated, Dawson has time to reach into drawer, withdraw
> suitable LART (in this case a S&W 4516-1 in .45 ACP) and
> protect her. If we switch sides, she's more...exposed to
> dangers.
Either Dawson has the reflexes of a cat and the reaction instincts of a
highly trained commando, or Dawson's SO has overly unrealistic
expectations!
> > Failing that, I find that a Vornado electric fan pointed at the feet
> > does wonders.
>
> She can't stand the noise of the fan.
Ear plugs, my son. Ear plugs.
Start snoring. She'll either move to another bed, or wear earplugs to shut
you out. The noise of the fan will then be a welcomed addition of white
noise over the top of your exhalations.
DaZZa - speaking from experience
DaZZa
> >Oh yes - I bet RAH just _loved_ the furvour this concept inspired in the
> >more, erm, theoligically minded.
>
> Many of whom may have picked it up simply because of the title,
> and got a bit of a shock almost right away...
I laughed lots through that book - it was recommended to me by a rabid
anti-christian friend of mine - who also recommended it to a just as
rabid pro-christian friend of mine.
The laughter was caused by thinking of the different reactions occuring
while each of the others read it. :-)
> >"Prelude to Foundation" was, in fact, written mostly by his wife - and if
> >you read the other pieces of crap she wrote and that he put his name on
> >to help sales [1] you'll understand completely why PTF was so bad.
>
> Ah. I didn't know that. I had thought that maybe it was just that
> my tastes had changed, as I find most of the Foundation stuff pretty
> childish these days.
I think I mighta gone a bit over the top by saying "mostly". I think she
finished the last third of it after he died - can't recall the exact
details now, unfortunately. Old age does that to you. :-)
> But then I generally like biographies. Even Hawke's biography
> was interesting to me.
Ew! You're a strange man!
DaZZa
--
The biggest mistake Hawke made in his political career was
calling a silly old bugger a silly old bugger.
DaZZa
> > Having a "side" kind of strikes me as funny.
>
> Me, too. We start snuggling at Lights Out, and as her body
> heat output increases, we pull apart. She's only about as
> exothermic as your average supernova.
That's a generic statement which applies to a signifigant percentage of
women on the planet.
Mine is exactly the same. Every serious girlfriend I've had [1] has been
the same. I reckon women are actually from a slightly different dimension
where temperatures are fractionally higher than they are here, so they are
offset just a bit - especially in bed.
DaZZa
[1] Defining "serious" as "we've been sleeping in the same bed for a
while".
Madi
>On Tue, 6 Jun 2000, Dawson Rambo wrote:
>
>> > Having a "side" kind of strikes me as funny.
>>
>> Me, too. We start snuggling at Lights Out, and as her body
>> heat output increases, we pull apart. She's only about as
>> exothermic as your average supernova.
>
>That's a generic statement which applies to a signifigant percentage of
>women on the planet.
>
>Mine is exactly the same. Every serious girlfriend I've had [1] has been
>the same. I reckon women are actually from a slightly different dimension
>where temperatures are fractionally higher than they are here, so they are
>offset just a bit - especially in bed.
Hmm...yeh. And, taking a random example not in any way related to a real-
life person who I might for example live with[0], that would explain firstly
why every time I roll over in bed I get complaints that the cold is pouring
in - apparently through the monomolecular gap I have created between the
three doonas and the pillows, and secondly why it is that often I end up
sleeping partly on the bed and partly on the floor/bedside table as she
snuggles over further and further during the night (often lying partly on
top of me) so that I have to retreat further and further if I want to be
able to move and/or breathe.
Mind you - she's improved. She used to kick me a lot in her sleep. And
one time when she was sprawled over the bed and I wanted to get in, she
reacted to my nudging her over by moaning loudly and punching me twice in
the face - without waking up. It was, all things considered, one of the
most painfully adorable things I've ever experienced.
-Madi
[0] Only the name has been changed to protect the innocent^Wguilty. And
I didn't use the name anywhere. So that's alright.
--
"If you don't know what you need Windows NT for, you don't need it."
- Bill Gates
myth
>Kyle Haight wrote:
>>
>> In article <393C4578...@airmonitor.com>,
>> Dawson Rambo <dra...@airmonitor.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >[1] Don't even suggest switching sides of the bed. BTDT.
>>
>> side and you can still be closer to the window.
>
>It's not so much the side of the bed that's the problem,
>but the relationship to the door. Her thinking is, if a
>Bad Guy comes in the door the way the room is currently
>situated, Dawson has time to reach into drawer, withdraw
>suitable LART (in this case a S&W 4516-1 in .45 ACP) and
>protect her. If we switch sides, she's more...exposed to
>dangers.
But what if a Bad Guy comes in the window? Or are you on too high a floor
for that to happen?
>> Failing that, I find that a Vornado electric fan pointed at the feet
>> does wonders.
>
>She can't stand the noise of the fan.
Ow. Have you thought about a cold water bottle? I sympathize with this
problem, as my SO is a veritable furnace. Fortunately, she doesn't mind
fans.
-myth
(lurker Bob here for a few months, now, from .nc.us. Hi, folks.)
--
myth at smarmalade dot com
Ralph Wade Phillips
DaZZa wrote in message ...
>On 6 Jun 2000, Kyle Haight wrote:
>>
>> There are apparently some people who were a bit _too_ impressed by
>> _Stranger in a Strange Land_, and thought Heinlein was some kind of
>> new-age guru. Many of these people are also unaware that he wrote any
>> other books. Finding these people and giving them copies of _Starship
>> Troopers_ is often good for a laugh.
>
>Watching the movie was worse. Yuck.
Yah. The movie is NOTHING like the book.
I found ST to be a VERY absorbing read. The movie goes along side
"Plan 9 from Outer Space" and my "Killer Tomatoes" as "Really, Really,
REALLY bad Videos" <grins>
>
>Mind you, Heinlein wasn't as bad as either L Ron Hubbard or John Norman -
>the only two authors on the planet to start a religion each as a _joke_.
>[1]
>
>DaZZa
>
>[1] Don't know if Norman intended "Gor" to become a religion, but it
>certainly has amongst certain members of the community. Hubbard, on the
>other hand, did intend it as a joke - in fact, as the result of a bet with
>someone or other.[2]
The "someone" was Robert Anson Heinlein, BTW ... <grins>
RwP
>
>[2] He won, obviously.
>
>
Ralph Wade Phillips
DaZZa wrote in message ...
>On Tue, 6 Jun 2000, Dawson Rambo wrote:
>
>> > Having a "side" kind of strikes me as funny.
>>
>> Me, too. We start snuggling at Lights Out, and as her body
>> heat output increases, we pull apart. She's only about as
>> exothermic as your average supernova.
>
>That's a generic statement which applies to a signifigant percentage of
>women on the planet.
"If men are from Mars, and women are from Venus, there's going to be
a HELL of a fight over the thermostat."
Forget where I read it, but it's TRUE.
Of course, the funny part is when you snuggle up close to your SO
because you're chilly and she's warm, and she says, "Move back! You're too
hot!"
RwP
Kyle Haight
>> > does wonders.
>>
>> She can't stand the noise of the fan.
>
Ear plugs are certainly one possibility. Good relationships do
involve some material give-and-take, and so far your SO seems to be
pretty far on the 'take' side of the equation as far as this issue is
concerned.
Also -- have you actually listened to a Vornado fan? They're
surprisingly quiet, and move a large amount of air at very low
settings. (The one I have has an analog speed adjustor, so you can
tweak the level until it's just right.) Unless your SO is
hypersensitive, there's a chance that she won't be able to hear the
fan over your breathing if it's on the other side of the bed from her.
Of course, there's always the hypochondriac fallback; since she knows
it's there she can always convince herself that it's keeping her awake
even if she can't really hear it.
Kyle Haight
Ralph Wade Phillips <ral...@techie.com> wrote:
>
> I found ST to be a VERY absorbing read. The movie goes along side
>"Plan 9 from Outer Space" and my "Killer Tomatoes" as "Really, Really,
>REALLY bad Videos" <grins>
Hey! I _like_ RETURN OF THE KILLER TOMATOES. It's a four-star
one-star movie, and parts of the script are actually quite clever
(especially considering when it was made). It's not deep, but it's
fun.
I also have a minor weakness for KILLER TOMATOES STRIKE BACK, even
though it's a worse film, because of the brief appearance of the UCSD
Central Library building as a Tomatology Research Institute. The UCSD
Central Library is one of my all-time favorite buildings; it's really
gorgeous.
On the topic of books and movies resembling each other, I always
though it was very interesting that STARSHIP TROOPERS does take a
number of scenes and sections of dialog verbatim from the book while
totally mutilating the theme. Contrast that with the film THE MAN IN
THE IRON MASK. That movie didn't have a single scene or line of
dialog in common with the book, but in my judgement it did faithfully
reproduce the book's theme and feeling. Go figure.
>>Mind you, Heinlein wasn't as bad as either L Ron Hubbard or John Norman -
>>the only two authors on the planet to start a religion each as a _joke_.
You are of course assuming that none of the 'major religions' were
started as jokes, and we just don't remember any more. Jesus was just
as much on the planet as L. Ron Hubbard was, and the way Scientology
is going in another 2000 years Hubbard could very easily wind up on
the short list with him, Budda and Mohammad. <SHUDDER>
LooseChanj
news:8F4B52170prctc...@24.128.44.7...
> HEY! I have a BS in food service! Well, ok, the *quick* food service
drones
> tend to be troglodytes...
We just got a new contractor for the cafeterias. Real, actual, *edeble*
food. Chefs. With hats. But what do the lusers say? "Waaaaah, it's more
expensive!" Please. It's the difference between paying a buck[1] for a cup
o' swill, and a buck and a quarter for 3 star stuff. Now, if I could just
keep the manager from forgetting his password and getting locked out...
> I hate making the dough. I love making pizza. eh, face it. I'm a food-
> obsessed fat chick who loves to cook.
My kinda gal. Wanna get together and do a little of the "white stuff"?[2]
;-)
[1] For $UNITOFCURRENCY.
[2] In the Weird Al sense.
DaZZa
> >> other books. Finding these people and giving them copies of _Starship
> >> Troopers_ is often good for a laugh.
> >Watching the movie was worse. Yuck.
>
> Yah. The movie is NOTHING like the book.
Not true. The character names were the same.
> I found ST to be a VERY absorbing read. The movie goes along side
> "Plan 9 from Outer Space" and my "Killer Tomatoes" as "Really, Really,
> REALLY bad Videos" <grins>
I actually quite enjoy ST - I rank it almost with TMIAHM.
"The Toxic Avenger" is so bad is was screamingly funny. About the best
"bad" SF flick I ever saw - I almost wet myself I was laughing so hard.
> >[1] Don't know if Norman intended "Gor" to become a religion, but it
> >certainly has amongst certain members of the community. Hubbard, on the
> >other hand, did intend it as a joke - in fact, as the result of a bet with
> >someone or other.[2]
>
> The "someone" was Robert Anson Heinlein, BTW ... <grins>
I knew it was someone rather large in the literary world - just couldn't
remember who.
DaZZa
DaZZa
> >That's a generic statement which applies to a signifigant percentage of
> >women on the planet.
>
> "If men are from Mars, and women are from Venus, there's going to be
> a HELL of a fight over the thermostat."
>
> Forget where I read it, but it's TRUE.
No argument from me. The temperature gradient seems to be growing steeper
every day.
> Of course, the funny part is when you snuggle up close to your SO
> because you're chilly and she's warm, and she says, "Move back! You're too
> hot!"
Nothing funny about it. I only do it when I really _am_ cold. :-)
DaZZa
DaZZa
> >> She can't stand the noise of the fan.
> >Ear plugs, my son. Ear plugs.
>
> Ear plugs are certainly one possibility. Good relationships do
> involve some material give-and-take, and so far your SO seems to be
> pretty far on the 'take' side of the equation as far as this issue is
> concerned.
Not really - she snores as loudly as I do - I just fall asleep faster, and
sleep deeper than she does. :-)
> Also -- have you actually listened to a Vornado fan? They're
> surprisingly quiet, and move a large amount of air at very low
> settings. (The one I have has an analog speed adjustor, so you can
> tweak the level until it's just right.) Unless your SO is
> hypersensitive, there's a chance that she won't be able to hear the
> fan over your breathing if it's on the other side of the bed from her.
No such animal on this side of the pond, AFAIK. So no, I've never listened
to one. :-)
> Of course, there's always the hypochondriac fallback; since she knows
> it's there she can always convince herself that it's keeping her awake
> even if she can't really hear it.
My wife suffers from tinnitis - so is actually quite happy to have the
shiet noise of a fan in the background when she's trying to sleep.
DaZZa
DaZZa
> >Mine is exactly the same. Every serious girlfriend I've had [1] has been
> >the same. I reckon women are actually from a slightly different dimension
> >where temperatures are fractionally higher than they are here, so they are
> >offset just a bit - especially in bed.
>
> Hmm...yeh. And, taking a random example not in any way related to a real-
> life person who I might for example live with[0], that would explain firstly
> why every time I roll over in bed I get complaints that the cold is pouring
> in - apparently through the monomolecular gap I have created between the
> three doonas and the pillows, and secondly why it is that often I end up
> sleeping partly on the bed and partly on the floor/bedside table as she
> snuggles over further and further during the night (often lying partly on
> top of me) so that I have to retreat further and further if I want to be
> able to move and/or breathe.
Brother, I feel your pain. Or you wake up in the night with absolutely
_no_ blankets of any form over you because she's rolled up in them like an
insect in chrysallis form. Sheesh. Then get told off for pulling some of
them back.
> Mind you - she's improved. She used to kick me a lot in her sleep. And
> one time when she was sprawled over the bed and I wanted to get in, she
> reacted to my nudging her over by moaning loudly and punching me twice in
> the face - without waking up. It was, all things considered, one of the
> most painfully adorable things I've ever experienced.
Mine isn't _quite_ so violent - but only because all her extremeties are
usually buried under the blankets too far her to get them out to clock me.
DaZZa
Hobbes
>
>I'm sorry - but I refuse to accept the words "fair dinkum" in this thread.
>If we're gonna discuss Oz v US then we should stick to non-colloquial
>English - otherwise the foreigners will laugh at us and make derogatory
>comments about shrimps and barbies.
>
>And I just used the word "Oz".
>
<sings> We're off to see the Wizard</sings>
>>
>>Gives the 4 peopole arrested for shooting someone in Pitt St last night in
>>Sydney, I don't think even that holds water much these days.
>
>Bleck. I keep thinking that Melbourne is boring and wishing I'd never moved
>down. But mebbe, in light of that, it was the Right Thing To Do.
>
Ouch...But of course Sydney is much scarier than Melbourne :) after
all they is excited about the olypmics :)
>Bugger. Too many dreary threads across too many groups. Think I'll go do
>something cheerful.
>
hmmm....bored shitless, main fileserver down and so is the one that
does login authentication, so all the labs are closed to students, I
have nothing at all to do until the server gets fixed. So I'm sitting
here reading news and filing my nails....Occasionally anything is
better than nothing.
Hobbes (you sold me queer giraffes)
--
http://www.vurt.net/ hob...@vurt.net
"Oh it's all too much, too grim, too lovely.
It's general chaos." - Edward Gorey
Hobbes
>The following forgery has been attributed to jbsh...@wvi.com:
>>>
>>Don't worry, if anyone here hasn't read Heinlein's "Moon is a Harsh
>>Mistress" yet, they need to be forcibly directed to the nearest
>>library or used bookstore.
>
>Hmm...time to start a support group for non-Heinlein readers, then.
>
>I've read two Heinlein books. They were both crap. I've been told that they
>are amongst the worst of his works, but this doesn't alter the fact that what
>I've read of his was not only crap but crap enough to prevent me having any
>desire to read any of his other stuff, ever.
>
Admittedly Madi has read two of the absolute worst Heinleins. ANd he
wrote some pretty shocking stuff. But he also wrote some good stuff,
some that was good in an interesting socio-polical kind of way, and
some that was good in a 14 year old boi kind of way.
Hobbes (I'm still trying to convince Madi to read Starship Troopers)
Hobbes
>
>There are apparently some people who were a bit _too_ impressed by
>_Stranger in a Strange Land_, and thought Heinlein was some kind of
>new-age guru. Many of these people are also unaware that he wrote any
>Troopers_ is often good for a laugh.
>
alternative and open sexuality' (dirty old men and red heads with
nipples that go spung) at a time when it was still shocking. It had
some cute concepts in the novel, but they were largely overwhelmed by
Jubal Harshaw and the sexual politics.
Starship Trooper however - well I can discuss this one in great
details. It's as dodgy as all fuck, yet still incredibly persuasive
in its false logic. Because of the time and political climate in
which it was released it was pretty controversial. I'm not going to
go into details - because noone wants to read an essay, but I'm not
ashamed to count ST as one of my favourite books.
The movie however, umm...I kinda liked it, but felt it wasn't very
true to the feel of the book, rather almost a parody and poking fun at
Heinleins ideals (not nessesarily a bad thing)
Hobbes (I got the new Jeff Noon novel yesterday, and I'm in love)
Hobbes
>On Tue, 6 Jun 2000, Ralph Wade Phillips wrote:
>
>> >> Troopers_ is often good for a laugh.
>>
>> Yah. The movie is NOTHING like the book.
>
>Not true. The character names were the same.
>
soldier who buys the farm in the first chapter of the novel :)
To me the movie feels much more like a parody of the book.
Hobbes (am not)
Hobbes
>Chris King <ch...@csking.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> In article <393b695d....@news.worldonline.nl>, Richard Bos
>> <r...@fdhoekstra.nl> writes
>> >(c) Ignore it completely. Remain seated throughout the alarm.
>> > (almost everyone, usually.)
>>
>> That's usually the students.
>
Here the students jsut seem to get stressed around exam times and feel
that it would improve things if they set of that big red button that
says fire alarm.
Of course, then we have to empty all the labs and evacuate the
building. ANd all these students all concerned about last minute
assignments that they should have done weeks ago. Tell em to save and
get out of the labs. If they don't clear out quickly enuff, I have a
big red button that will bring down every machine in the labs - "Well
I told you to save and get out didn't I"
I'm encoraged to be a bastard in this job.
What does worry me slightly is the in case of fire dont use lifts, and
the fact this building has no other way for disabled students to get
out if they cant walk down the stairs. Evacuation Policy is to leave
them at the top of the stairwell....
Hobbes (whoosh!)
Trayce
benton of the one-winged dove) wrote:
<snip>
>says. You called an 888 number, I say.[1] Suddenly, I'm a member of a vast
>tenticular conspiracy. Finally, I calm him down and he tells me that
>they haven't gotten to me yet. I tell him that my life isn't important
>enough for anyone but me to be interested in it, and thank you for
>calling $CABLECOMPANY.
Oh lordy... I parsed that as "a vast testicular conspiracy".
I need a break. Or new glasses. Or new brainmeats =)
Trayce (or I need err.... no. NO! STOP BEING RUDE!!!)
Dances With Crows
<<slrn8jrd6j...@extro.vurt.net>> shouted forth into the ether:
>>> >> other books. Finding these people and giving them copies of _Starship
>>> >> Troopers_ is often good for a laugh.
>>> >Watching the movie was worse. Yuck.
>>>
>>> Yah. The movie is NOTHING like the book.
>>Not true. The character names were the same.
>>
>Not true. Dizzy (the perky Heinlein redhead) Is the name of the
>soldier who buys the farm in the first chapter of the novel :)
>To me the movie feels much more like a parody of the book.
Whatever you do, don't read Joe Haldeman's _The Forever War_ before
reading _Starship Troopers_. Heinlein's book then feels like a rather
poor imitation of Haldeman's, with the crazed politics thrown in being
different but not much better. Then feel free to ignore everything else
Haldeman ever wrote, except possibly _Forever Peace_, which has neat tech,
interesting meditations on insanity/relationships, and decent character
development.
ObBob: PHB on medical leave for 2 months, senior Bobs/one overworked
upper manager assumed her duties. If it weren't summer, we'd all have
been screwed weeks ago. As it is, the evil has been postponed until this
week, with a bunch of senior executives coming in to luse the facilities
and hordes of mooing prospective students following shortly.
--
Matt G / Dances With Crows \###| You have me mixed up with more
There is no Darkness in Eternity \##| creative ways of being stupid?
But only Light too dim for us to see \#| Beer is a vegetable. WinNT
(Unless, of course, you're working with NT)\| is the study of cool. --MegaHAL
Hobbes
>
>Hmm...yeh. And, taking a random example not in any way related to a real-
>life person who I might for example live with[0], that would explain firstly
>why every time I roll over in bed I get complaints that the cold is pouring
>in - apparently through the monomolecular gap I have created between the
>three doonas and the pillows, and secondly why it is that often I end up
>sleeping partly on the bed and partly on the floor/bedside table as she
>snuggles over further and further during the night (often lying partly on
>top of me) so that I have to retreat further and further if I want to be
>able to move and/or breathe.
We wont even begin to mention the little boi complaining about cold
midgets last nite. :)
It's all exxagerattion I tell ya's.
Hobbes (there's always the couch)
--
http://www.vurt.net/ hob...@vurt.net
"if music were a drug, where would it take you?"
"if drugs were music, how would you listen?"
- Jeff Noon
DaZZa
> Ouch...But of course Sydney is much scarier than Melbourne :) after
> all they is excited about the olypmics :)
Crap.
Most of us are just bored with the hype, and wish it was just _over_.
DaZZa
DaZZa
> >> Yah. The movie is NOTHING like the book.
> >Not true. The character names were the same.
>
> Not true. Dizzy (the perky Heinlein redhead) Is the name of the
> soldier who buys the farm in the first chapter of the novel :)
Pedant. So _most_ of the character names are the same. Happy now?
> To me the movie feels much more like a parody of the book.
To me it felt like a blatent attempt to cash in on SF fans by assuming
we're as stupid as movie executives.
The only good thing it had in it was Denise Richards. Fwoah!
DaZZa
saint benton of the one-winged dove
<slrn8jrq1j....@fleabag.nullhouse.org>, Dances With Crows wrote:
>On 7 Jun 2000 02:34:58 GMT, Hobbes
><<slrn8jrd6j...@extro.vurt.net>> shouted forth into the ether:
>>>> >> other books. Finding these people and giving them copies of _Starship
>>>> >> Troopers_ is often good for a laugh.
>>>> >Watching the movie was worse. Yuck.
>>>>
>>>> Yah. The movie is NOTHING like the book.
>>>Not true. The character names were the same.
>>>
>>Not true. Dizzy (the perky Heinlein redhead) Is the name of the
>>soldier who buys the farm in the first chapter of the novel :)
>>To me the movie feels much more like a parody of the book.
>
>Whatever you do, don't read Joe Haldeman's _The Forever War_ before
>reading _Starship Troopers_. Heinlein's book then feels like a rather
>poor imitation of Haldeman's, with the crazed politics thrown in being
>different but not much better.i
Haldeman wrote it is a rebuttle to Starship Troopers and a few other
things in that ilk.
> Then feel free to ignore everything else
>Haldeman ever wrote, except possibly _Forever Peace_, which has neat tech,
>interesting meditations on insanity/relationships, and decent character
>development.
I've never read anything else by him. The er... unflattering portrayal
of My People in THE FOREVER WAR made me have quite enough of him.
>ObBob: PHB on medical leave for 2 months, senior Bobs/one overworked
>upper manager assumed her duties. If it weren't summer, we'd all have
>been screwed weeks ago. As it is, the evil has been postponed until this
>week, with a bunch of senior executives coming in to luse the facilities
>and hordes of mooing prospective students following shortly.
ObOrk: I'm going to get paid about half again as more now.
I'm also going have to deal with half again as much shit. Oh well.
May the One shine on us all, even if phones just add to the fun!
--
saint benton of the one-winged dove -- ICQ: 32861590
The Blue Citadel: http://www.velvet.net/~benton/
alt.gothic.quotes: http://www.velvet.net/~benton/quotes.html
Me
100...@zipperii.zip.com.au>:
>On 6 Jun 2000, Kyle Haight wrote:
>
>> >Many of whom may have picked it up simply because of the title,
>> >and got a bit of a shock almost right away...
>>
>> There are apparently some people who were a bit _too_ impressed by
>> _Stranger in a Strange Land_, and thought Heinlein was some kind of
>> new-age guru. Many of these people are also unaware that he wrote any
>> other books. Finding these people and giving them copies of _Starship
>> Troopers_ is often good for a laugh.
>
>Watching the movie was worse. Yuck.
That movie was *easily* the worst book/movie 'adaptation' I've ever seen.
I sat through the whole thing thinking "R.A.H. must be doing at least
10,000 RPM in his grave right now."
I gotta believe that he'd signed a contract with a movie studio years ago
but couldn't come to an agreement before he died so the studio took a title
and did whatever they pleased with it. The title is about the only thing
that made the move from book to movie.
Sure wish Ginny[0] could have stopped it.
Mark
[0] Ginny = Heinlein's wife.
Ivan Reid
wrote in <slrn8jsh72.ti...@megumi.wibble.cx>:
>Yea, it is written in the Book of Cyril
>I didn't know much about the guy at the time. It was vaguely
>interestng to realise that our PM used to be quite the pisspot.
I was once, ca. 1972, elbowed aside from the Garran/Burton Hall
bar because Hawke wanted to get a drink before a Labor Party meeting
started (the Hall manager was active in the LP). Also came around a
corner once in Hall to find myself staring at some woman's midriff.
Looked up to find Margaret Whitlam staring down at me... We got 'em
back eventually by inviting Ian Sinclair to a SCR dinner.
--
Ivan Reid, Physics & Astronomy, University College London. i...@hep.ucl.ac.uk
GSX600F, RG250WD. SI=2.66 "You Porsche. Me pass!" DoD #484
JKLO# 003, 005 WP7# 3000 UKMC#00009 BOTAFOT#16
KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".
mlo...@area51.bcgsystems.com
>> >> Troopers_ is often good for a laugh.
>> >Watching the movie was worse. Yuck.
>>
>
> Not true. The character names were the same.
>
Yeah, but they changed the sex of one of them, for ghods sake...
My wife was rather pissed at me, when, as soon as who "Diz" was registerd
in my mind (well before boot camp, IIRC) I said "She's going to die, in
Rico's arms during a pick up." I, of course, was right.
--
Silliness is the last refuge of the doomed. P. Opus
-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.1
GAT d-- s:- a40 UL+++$ P++$ L+++$ E- W+++$ N++ K++ w---(++)$ O- M- V-- PS+
PE++ Y PGP t++ 5 X R+++$ tv+ b++++ DI+++ D G+ e+ h--- r+++ y+++(**)$
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------
Bob Code
KHCPkpdh- lWdHo ECs-++ m4 CPEIVWc B-18 Ol LS SsC++ Tx A7T H9o b8 D1
Jay Mottern
<8F4B52170prctc...@24.128.44.7>:
(entire hot pepper story snipped)
I made that mistake once with some pickled Serranos. Once. I must have
washed my hands two dozen times afterwards, and they still had that
chemical-burn sting. Boy, the next morning when I put in my contact lenses
I didn't need any additional moisturizing drops, that's for sure. Good
thing I only chopped up three or four of 'em.
From now on, with anything stronger than a big Anaheim chili pepper, I wear
surgical-style rubber gloves. When I'm through with cutting up the peppers
I wash my hands, with the gloves still on, then very carefully remove the
gloves letting themturn inside-out as I do, then I throw them away, and
wash my hands once or twice afterwards.
Two tricks to eating hot peppers- 1. wash them down with milk, pop or beer-
not water, and 2. pop a roll of toilet paper in the freezer before you go
to bed. You'll be glad of it next morning.
-Jay
--
-----------------------------------
[Standard disclaimer goes here]
Bob code KHOCkB IWN EE!- mB CPEIVc
B-8 Olw Lm Sc+n T+ A5 H6o b7
-----------------------------------
Jay Mottern
<slrn8jrc2t...@extro.vurt.net>:
>Hobbes (I'm still trying to convince Madi to read Starship Troopers)
Great book! One of the very few Heinlein books I've read, but a great read!
By comparison the television show should be hung, drawn, quartered, burnt,
revivified from the ashes then tortured all over again. They don't even
have powered suits!
Jay Mottern
<jmrnjso7969f087kb...@4ax.com>:
>
>Shop? Cuppa? PAH!
>
>Pub. Pint. More. Sorry, didn't hear the "all clear".
>
>-marc
>
Yeah! That is better. But it depends on whether it's morning or
afternoon(1) doesn't it?
1. For values of noon starting at around 10AM
Kyle Haight
>
>Sure wish Ginny could have stopped [the Starship Troopers movie].
ISTR that she did make an attempt, and was able to get Heinlein's name
removed from the film. I think they had been planning on marketing it
as "Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers" or somesuch, which would
have been an even greater insult than the movie as-is.
Dawson Rambo
>
> On Tue, 6 Jun 2000, Dawson Rambo wrote:
>
> > > Have you tried rotating the bed 180 degrees? Then she can keep her
> > > side and you can still be closer to the window.
> >
> > It's not so much the side of the bed that's the problem,
> > but the relationship to the door. Her thinking is, if a
> > Bad Guy comes in the door the way the room is currently
> > situated, Dawson has time to reach into drawer, withdraw
> > suitable LART (in this case a S&W 4516-1 in .45 ACP) and
> > protect her. If we switch sides, she's more...exposed to
> > dangers.
>
> Either Dawson has the reflexes of a cat and the reaction instincts of a
> highly trained commando, or Dawson's SO has overly unrealistic
> expectations!
No, more like the reaction instincts of a sloth and the reflexes
of a snail. But I am a very light sleeper, and have reached for
that selfsame LART at least twice since we moved in together.
But I agree that her expectations on that issue are a tad...
unrealistic. Not that I wouldn't defend her life with my
own in a heartbeat, but that I'd be sufficiently un-groggy
enough to be able to point and shoot in the middle of the
night and not kill myself, her, or a neighbor. The thinking
is that most Bad Guys of the burgular variety will be
scared off by the not-so-subtle sound of the slide
coming back and my 6"4, 310lb frame coming down the
hallway in Full Rambo Mode.
> > > Failing that, I find that a Vornado electric fan pointed at the feet
> > > does wonders.
> >
> > She can't stand the noise of the fan.
>
> Ear plugs, my son. Ear plugs.
It's just a mess, really. As I said, I'm a really light sleeper,
and sounds like crickets, far-off barking dogs and so forth
can drive me up the wall in a heartbeat. So *I* wear the
earplugs, and according to her, that makes me snore loud
enough to peel paint off the houses six blocks away. So now
we're into an experiment to see how to make D stop snoring.
The hot/cool issue has been tabled, because now I'm keeping
her up with the sawing of the wood and so forth.
> Start snoring. She'll either move to another bed, or wear earplugs to shut
> you out. The noise of the fan will then be a welcomed addition of white
> noise over the top of your exhalations.
Missing the point, my man -- I don't *want* her to move to
another bed. I just want input on the temperature variance
of the bedroom.
Daws
Dawson Rambo
> >It's not so much the side of the bed that's the problem,
> >but the relationship to the door. Her thinking is, if a
> >Bad Guy comes in the door the way the room is currently
> >situated, Dawson has time to reach into drawer, withdraw
> >suitable LART (in this case a S&W 4516-1 in .45 ACP) and
> >protect her. If we switch sides, she's more...exposed to
> >dangers.
>
> But what if a Bad Guy comes in the window? Or are you on too high a floor
> for that to happen?
No, there's really no way a BG could climb in the window,
even though we are on the ground floor. Sure, it's possible,
but they'd make so much racket that I'd have enough forwarning
to *build* a pistol from scratch. And she would tell me that
something was up as she goes flying past me to hide in
the closet.
Plus, they'd have to deal with Luna.[1]
> >> Failing that, I find that a Vornado electric fan pointed at the feet
> >> does wonders.
> >
> >She can't stand the noise of the fan.
>
> Ow. Have you thought about a cold water bottle? I sympathize with this
> problem, as my SO is a veritable furnace. Fortunately, she doesn't mind
> fans.
Hm. Cold water bottle will be an interesting concept come the
summertime.
The bedroom has a nasty western exposure, so come the hot hours of
the day in SFO, it's pointed directly at the sun and tends to get a
tad *warm*. By 2100 or so, it's cooled down, but I do like taking
naps when I get home from a day of Bobbing. (Ah, sleep -- blessed
escape.)
Thanks for the tip.
Dawson
Dawson Rambo
Hobbes wrote:
> Of course, then we have to empty all the labs and evacuate the
> building. ANd all these students all concerned about last minute
> assignments that they should have done weeks ago. Tell em to save and
> get out of the labs. If they don't clear out quickly enuff, I have a
> big red button that will bring down every machine in the labs - "Well
> I told you to save and get out didn't I"
>
> I'm encoraged to be a bastard in this job.
>
> What does worry me slightly is the in case of fire dont use lifts, and
> the fact this building has no other way for disabled students to get
> out if they cant walk down the stairs. Evacuation Policy is to leave
> them at the top of the stairwell....
Wouldn't that be an "abandonment" policy? The mind boggles at the
kind of thinking that would say, "Fine, leave 'em there so the
Fire Department can: a) trip over them, b) accidentially push
them down the staircase, or c) treat them for smoke inhalation,
seared lungs, and whatever other injuries they might sustain
in a real fire."
Dawson
Ralph Wade Phillips
Jay Mottern wrote in message
<8F4C5DB9Bjaymo...@209.210.46.218>...
>hob...@vurt.net (Hobbes) scratched on the cave wall in
><slrn8jrc2t...@extro.vurt.net>:
>
>>Hobbes (I'm still trying to convince Madi to read Starship Troopers)
>
>Great book! One of the very few Heinlein books I've read, but a great read!
>By comparison the television show should be hung, drawn, quartered, burnt,
>revivified from the ashes then tortured all over again. They don't even
>have powered suits!
Erm - TV show? You mean that thrice-cursed hermaphroditic abortion
of a movie by Van<spit><spit><spit> (can't even get his name out now!)?
RwP
Justin Chandler
>
>Either Dawson has the reflexes of a cat and the reaction instincts of a
>highly trained commando, or Dawson's SO has overly unrealistic
>expectations!
Third option: Dawson lives in a football stadium.
--
-=Justin=-
Virgo
All Virgos are extremely friendly and intelligent - except for you
Expect a big surprise today when you wind up with your head impaled on a stick
Kyle Haight
Dawson Rambo <dra...@airmonitor.com> wrote:
>
>But I agree that her expectations on that issue are a tad...
>unrealistic. Not that I wouldn't defend her life with my
>own in a heartbeat, but that I'd be sufficiently un-groggy
>enough to be able to point and shoot in the middle of the
>night and not kill myself, her, or a neighbor. The thinking
>is that most Bad Guys of the burgular variety will be
>scared off by the not-so-subtle sound of the slide
>coming back and my 6"4, 310lb frame coming down the
>hallway in Full Rambo Mode.
That's why I prefer a shotgun for those kinds of situations. The
noise is much more distinctive, and louder. Loaded with shot, you
also don't have to aim as accurately (a plus when half-asleep), and
if you live in an apartment or duplex you're much less likely to
penetrate a wall, ceiling or floor with a miss. It's also much harder
to confuse a shotgun with a telephone handset and blow yer own face
off.
(Incidentally, FWIW, most everybody I've talked to about home defense
says that the best tactic to follow if someone has broken into your
home is to hole up in one room with a gun and a phone. Call the
police and shoot anyone who opens the door until they arrive. Unless
you're a trained soldier, running around stalking criminals in the
dark is much more likely to get you killed than them. Sure, they may
steal your stereo while you're holed up in the bedroom, but it's
better to lose physical property than to suffer serious injury or
death.)
I'm not sure what implications this has for dealing with lusers,
however.
Dawson Rambo
> No, there's really no way a BG could climb in the window,
> even though we are on the ground floor. Sure, it's possible,
> but they'd make so much racket that I'd have enough forwarning
> to *build* a pistol from scratch. And she would tell me that
> something was up as she goes flying past me to hide in
> the closet.
>
> Plus, they'd have to deal with Luna.[1]
[1] Luna is one of the five cats we have, and the one I
brought with me from Tucson to SR. Luna is an
attack kitty. I pity the man/woman/child that
disturbs her while she's sleeping.
Dawson Rambo
>
> In article <393E8C64...@airmonitor.com>,
> Dawson Rambo <dra...@airmonitor.com> wrote:
> >
> >But I agree that her expectations on that issue are a tad...
> >unrealistic. Not that I wouldn't defend her life with my
> >own in a heartbeat, but that I'd be sufficiently un-groggy
> >enough to be able to point and shoot in the middle of the
> >night and not kill myself, her, or a neighbor. The thinking
> >is that most Bad Guys of the burgular variety will be
> >scared off by the not-so-subtle sound of the slide
> >coming back and my 6"4, 310lb frame coming down the
> >hallway in Full Rambo Mode.
>
> That's why I prefer a shotgun for those kinds of situations. The
> noise is much more distinctive, and louder. Loaded with shot, you
> also don't have to aim as accurately (a plus when half-asleep), and
> if you live in an apartment or duplex you're much less likely to
> penetrate a wall, ceiling or floor with a miss. It's also much harder
> to confuse a shotgun with a telephone handset and blow yer own face
> off.
This is true, but the layout of the bedroom precludes the
use of a shotgun because 1) no place to hide it that's not
in plain site, and she would have issues with that for a
lot of reasons. 2) I could hide it in the closet, but the
sound of the closet door opening could wake the dead, and
I prefer not to tip off any potential BGs in such a way.
> (Incidentally, FWIW, most everybody I've talked to about home defense
> says that the best tactic to follow if someone has broken into your
> home is to hole up in one room with a gun and a phone. Call the
Problem #1: Layout of house precludes that because there is no way
to get from the bedroom to another "secure" room without entering
the hallway I mentioned charging down like Rambo.
The thinking on my part is that SO doesn't respond to such
stress in any kind of productive manner. Better to put me
in between the Threat and her. And with the layout of the
house, I can cover the rest of the house from a reasonably
secured position that doesn't expose me to fire, but
gives me a nice field of fire for the remaining 70%
of the house.
> police and shoot anyone who opens the door until they arrive. Unless
> you're a trained soldier, running around stalking criminals in the
Not necessarily a solider, but someone who has had tactical
breach, bang and clear experience? <cough, cough> Well, I
could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you. ;)
Generally, however, your comments are spot-on. The best
thing to do is get a large Remington LART in 12-guage,
hole up, dial 911 and wait. Anything that doesn't have
a badge coming through the door gets an additional
orifice added. But the tactics of my specific situation
dictate a more proactive role. Believe me, all possible
responses have been thought of, discussed, and tabled.
> I'm not sure what implications this has for dealing with lusers,
> however.
It's just that a burglar, by definition, is a Luser. They usually
case the places they're going to rob, and if someone sees me
gardening, all 6"4 and 310lb of me, and decides to rob THAT
place, I'm 1just helping Darwin along -- that's how I see it,
anyway. <G>
Dawson
Dawson Rambo
>
> On Tue, 06 Jun 2000 22:14:47 GMT, DaZZa <da...@zip.com.au> wrote:
>
> >
> >Either Dawson has the reflexes of a cat and the reaction instincts of a
> >highly trained commando, or Dawson's SO has overly unrealistic
> >expectations!
>
> Third option: Dawson lives in a football stadium.
No. Teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeny little house. I'm reminded of Robin
Williams
in Alladin. "AWSOME POWERS! Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiny little living space."
Dawson
Chris King
<jay.m...@ci.seattle.wa.us> writes
>Two tricks to eating hot peppers- 1. wash them down with milk, pop or beer-
>not water, and 2. pop a roll of toilet paper in the freezer before you go
>to bed. You'll be glad of it next morning.
As a friend of mine once said after a particularly hot curry...
<impersonation voice=Apu>
This is very hot - if you have haemorroids, it will cure them.
If you haven't got them now, you will have tomorrow morning.
</impersonation>
Chris
--
Chris King
ch...@csking.co.uk
Dawson Rambo
Down, not across.
Rats.
D