In the Service of Her Majesty The Queen

[EMIRKOL THE CHAOTIC]

We all go a little crazy, sometimes.

O Queen, your fanboy is always here when you need him. Stressed, but here.

[Scryler]

Originally Posted by EMIRKOL THE CHAOTIC

We all go a little crazy, sometimes.

O Queen, your fanboy is always here when you need him. Stressed, but here.

Hiding a smile behind Her fan, ever cognizant of helmet sizes and not wishing to encourage swelled heads among Her fanboys, the Queen thinks to Herself, "This fanboy may wind up knighted if he keeps that up."

[Scryler]

I hope you had a good day and the night goes well.

My car is doing something strange. The needles on the dashboard gauges wouldn't move until I turned on the lights. And I had to turn the lights off and on a couple of times. After awhile, the problem seemed fixed.

So what would this be from? Can't be a fuse and a loose connection doesn't seem likely either. Only thing I can think of is the battery. So I backed into my driveway in case I have problems starting my car tomorrow. Now, that was interesting. I do not have a straight driveway and backing out is sometimes difficult for me. I don't seem to be able to make much sense out of what the rear view mirror or the side mirrors show me, so usually have to crane my head around and see where I am at out of the corner of my eye. I've never backed into the driveway before. I didn't hit anything, although I did come close to the Loquot tree.

I went to our agency's open house to celebrate our new office (actually not so new now, we've been in the building for close to 4 months I think). We were all given new shirts to wear and I got a separate email from the Executive Director, so I figured that meant I had to go. A lot of people showed up. Many local politicians were there and maybe a couple from Tallahassee. A big deal. Somehow or another, I got caught in a cam shot. I hope it doesn't wind up on tv. Didn't look like a tv camera so I think I'm good there.


To all who sleep tonight on this side of the earth,

The Nightly Mission:

Sleep with a couple
of warm bodies next
to you, even if they
are just the cats.

Wake up when the
cats want to be fed.


May the Lady smile
on me and you too.

G'Night.

[Scryler]

I hope you had a good day and the night went well.

Long drive home from work, almost no traffic and so far nothing more has happened with the car. My fingers are crossed.

No rain today! First time in awhile...a long while I think.

I didn't hear the owl hoot at work, but last night I did hear the one that hangs around the live oaks next to my house hoot and for quite some time, too. I hope it is eating lots and lots of snakes.

I hope all of you have great plans for this long weekend.

And for those in New England, I hope Earl turns out to be just another windy rainy day.

I'm glad to hear Cujo is ok.


To all who sleep tonight on this side of the earth,

The Nightly Mission:

Sleep well
Wake rested

May the Lady smile
on me and you too.

G'Night.

[Scryler]

I hope you had a good day and the night goes well.

Saturday night. YeeHaw! Hope y'all got yur stompin' boots on!

You might be able to tell that I've been listening to country & western music lately.

The dark moon is coming up. I am ready for it. Would like to have days of dark moon, actually. Or nights as it were. I suppose, since it seems that most of the world vastly prefers the full moon, I'd be inflicting grave emotional damage on many people if my wishes had any power (making quite a lot of assumptions there). New thought: wonder if I could make my second life 'island' be in a dark moon state permanently. Something to try. But I wouldn't want the island to be dark, so somehow I'd have to provide illumination. Stars? Shiny water? Since it's fantasy, maybe I could just say it is so and leave it at that...


To all who will sleep tonight on this side of the earth,

The Nightly Mission:

Sleep.
Bring on the dreams.
Wake up and see what
your mind brought you.


May the Lady smile
on me and you too.

G'Night.

[Hugh Manetee]

How about a fireworks display or a shower of shooting stars.

[Sergio Morozov]

During one of recent years in my place there was a long time which had no Sun at all, the sky was covered with clouds for many weeks... This was very depressing. I think constant dark Moon state will be equally sad...

[EMIRKOL THE CHAOTIC]

Originally Posted by Scryler

New thought: wonder if I could make my second life 'island' be in a dark moon state permanently. Something to try. But I wouldn't want the island to be dark, so somehow I'd have to provide illumination. Stars? Shiny water? Since it's fantasy, maybe I could just say it is so and leave it at that...

You could always make the water glow, like the pink oceans of Thoros Beta. That's oughta give you enough light without a full moon.

[EMIRKOL THE CHAOTIC]

Originally Posted by Scryler

Hiding a smile behind Her fan, ever cognizant of helmet sizes and not wishing to encourage swelled heads among Her fanboys, the Queen thinks to Herself, "This fanboy may wind up knighted if he keeps that up."

A knighthood in your service would be most appreciated my Queen.

Please, enlighten your humble protector as to what the bestowment of such an honour would entail. (PM's for this info are OK!)

[Scryler]

Originally Posted by EMIRKOL THE CHAOTIC

A knighthood in your service would be most appreciated my Queen.

Please, enlighten your humble protector as to what the bestowment of such an honour would entail. (PM's for this info are OK!)

Reads and rereads the recent post on pot by this fanboy and shakes her head. Methinks this fan boy is seriously out of date on his information...or perhaps it's just a lingering echo from his hippie days. (Post hippie days?) Nonetheless, a knighthood is out of the question for the nonce.

Sighs. What am I to do with these fanboys. One chases after a certain bulky maiden with green skin and a horrible temper, the other glorifies pot to someone who is trying to quit. Tsk Tsk.

Taps her fan on her knee. Perhaps scrubbing the dungeon floor stones is in order. I will be kind and let him use a regular scrub brush.

[Scryler]

Originally Posted by Sergio Morozov

During one of recent years in my place there was a long time which had no Sun at all, the sky was covered with clouds for many weeks... This was very depressing. I think constant dark Moon state will be equally sad...

I think round the clock darkness would be a bit much. Faintly glowing water and a falling star now and then at night might be nice, though.

[Scryler]

I hope you had a good day and the night went well.

I watched a movie on youtube titled Powder. No, it's not about cocaine, it's about an albino boy with 'powers.' Bawled my head off. I think I have a store of free floating tears that are just waiting for any reason to leap out of my eyes.

It's an older movie, circa 1994ish, and has some hoke parts, but I liked it. A bit disconcerting, though, to see him walking like an old man then suddenly walk like someone his age. It has a spiritual message. And I liked that, too.

On 2nd Life, I was talking to a slave and said something that I think hurt her feelings. And yes, they have people who try out being a slave on 2nd Life. (FYI, I do not have any slaves.) Now, how do you tell if you have hurt someone's feelings or if they are just rping?

If you think life can get complicated, just try out fantasy for awhile.


To all who sleep tonight on this side of the earth,

The Nightly Mission:

Sleep and then wake.
The day will be there.


May the Lady smile
on me and you too.

G'Night.

[GuardianAngel82]

I remember "Powder". The off-beat, corny movies are the best. They still make them regularly.

People who are really crying don't type "Boohoo". I regularly see people type "I'm crying!" on venues that have live chat. They generally are lying about a lot of things.

The lack of human interpersonal feedback is why I don't care to conduct any important business by text.

She's not big, but she is green and strong. And don't forget perky!

[EMIRKOL THE CHAOTIC]

Originally Posted by Scryler

Sighs. What am I to do with these fanboys. One chases after a certain bulky maiden with green skin and a horrible temper, the other glorifies pot to someone who is trying to quit. Tsk Tsk.

Just love us, O Queen, just love us.

I wasn't glorifying pot use, in fact I commended WhN on her quitting. I just cannot stand the hype that pot is addictive or a gateway drug. If you're going to use hard drugs, you're going to use them.

OK, enough of the seriousness. Time to get scrubbing!

Now where's that bloody bucket??

[Scryler]

Sometimes I think semantics is the main problem when talking about addiction. Pot is not normally thought of as being physically addictive. Yet, being fat soluable (unlike many other drugs), it is found heavily concentrated in the brain, which is mostly fat. It changes the chemistry of the brain...and that's a physical process.

Some of the mind altering drugs such as the SSRI's are known to have withdrawal issues and are now believed to be addictive. They change brain chemistry. Cigarettes are considered addictive today...but they weren't once.

Drugs that are inhaled into the lungs have a straight shot into the brain, more or less, get there quicker than those that are injected or ingested. The inhaled drugs seem to be the most difficult to quit, although the immediate physical withdrawal may not be life threatening (like chronic alcoholism or the benzodiazepines). (FYI, I've had heroin users tell me that heroin withdrawal is like having the worst cold of your life, multiplied tenfold. Feels very bad...but won't kill you.)

Most people view addiction as a personality or character problem. I do not agree with that viewpoint, but I guess that's a semantic issue, again. Or a values issue.

So is pot addictive or not? I think it is. But who cares? The reality is that it is difficult to quit...and stay quit.

Is it a gateway drug? Again, who cares? Some people use pot with no problem. Others move on to 'hard' drugs. Cigarette smokers...same deal. And alcohol users. The real issue is how it affects you and your life.

Most people do not recognize drug use (regardless of the drug) as being a problem until they start experiencing loss(es) that they can directly connect to their drug use. Loss of control is generally acknowledged the easiest when one experiences extreme physical withdrawal, so most people only see their use as a problem when they lose jobs...or relationships...or their sanity...or their social status, and this loss is a recognizable pattern and/or spiraling downward.

Did I need to write all this? No. Did it resolve anything? No. But now you have my 'addictions primer 101' for what it's worth.

Also for what it's worth, I think all drugs should be legalized. IMO, the money would be better spent put into treatment rather than law enforcement. But that's just my opinion.

[Sergio Morozov]

What was that about bulky green-skinned maiden? Sounds ultra-luscious, may I see her? Court her?

[GuardianAngel82]

Originally Posted by Sergio Morozov

What was that about bulky green-skinned maiden? Sounds ultra-luscious, may I see her? Court her?

It's Meleny with her strength consoled to 18 and her race to 1/2 orc, then I give her the Unholy Orc Double Axe and she becomes..."Perky Death!"

[Scryler]

I hope you had a good day and the night went well.

Here in the US, it was a long weekend; hope it was a pleasant mini-break for those who didn't have to work.

Tonight, I did work, but it was quiet. Only one phone call.

The drive home was interesting. Pulled over on the other side of the road (narrow 2 lane road) there was a cop car with its flashers on and another regular car. I slowed way down, but a driver in the other lane did not. In the side mirror, I saw the cop running for his cruiser, and another guy just standing there (had thought at first there were 3 men, but maybe not). Couldn't tell if the other guy was a cop or not. The cop's flashers went off for a few seconds, then back on. After that, I couldn't tell what was going on.

Then, about 2 miles away on another street, there were 3 cop cars pulled over onto the meridian (much wider 4 lane road), the last one in line with its flashers on. But no regular cars pulled over.

Couldn't have been much wrong back at the first site, or the other cops would have been rushing en masse to the scene. I don't know how it is in other cities, but here if there is any problem involving a law enforcement officer, every patrol car in town, county, city and state cars, responds. I don't know if they are supposed to, but they do. Someone could easily rob a bank.

But my curiosity just won't shut up.


To all who sleep tonight on this side of the soon to be dark earth,

The Nightly Mission:

Sleep well and be glad
there are no cop car
flashers in your driveway.

Wake up closer to the
dark moon.


May the Lady smile
on me and you too.

G'Night.

[Sergio Morozov]

Originally Posted by GuardianAngel82

It's Meleny with her strength consoled to 18 and her race to 1/2 orc, then I give her the Unholy Orc Double Axe and she becomes..."Perky Death!"

Too bad she does not exist in reality! (And in multiple copies too! )

Scryler, do police officers on patrol duty carry assault rifles or sub-machine guns in US ?

[Scryler]

Originally Posted by Sergio Morozov

Scryler, do police officers on patrol duty carry assault rifles or sub-machine guns in US ?

Others may know the answer to this better than I do. Most of them I think carry a rifle or shotgun, some type of weapon other than their handgun, on a rack in the vehicle, but maybe not.

We have something called 'tac squads' in the US. They look like special armed forces squads to me. Very fearsome. Armed to the hilt, weapons all over them. They may be called something else now.

[GuardianAngel82]

In general, Sergio, no. Scryler has got it right.

An officer will usually carry a pistol. Maybe a baton, a tazer, mace, depending on the local policy.

There was an officer who works off-duty at a restaurant in our patrol area who in May killed a Syrian bank robber armed with a Kaloshnikov using only his 9mm. The perp had shot up four cars and wounded several people. He was hiding in his van and the officer fired a pattern blind into the rear of the van, striking him in the butt, then the forehead. It was later on "America's Most Wanted" as the perp was on the FBI's most wanted.