OvS

OK... I'll tell you what... here is a very cryptic riddle of what might be and might not be in P4. The sunrise in the eastern sky will be brighter, with more bands of colors. The western sunset will finally be correct. The theater will have more patrons watching the movie even if it's not the movie they want to see. A balloon made of lead will never fly, it will drop like a rock. The breadmaker will have to work harder to earn his dough. You will think twice about choosing what side you're on because it won't be based on loyalty anymore. Take your guess as to what the hell I am talking about... or simply have paitence (your best option). Believe me, Winder is commited to amazing you and seeing this to the highest level we can. OvS

I don't know how many of you take your little ones out to fly kites, but if you do, you'll find some 'cute' humor in this story. My daughter and I spend a lot of time together. We're like best friends more than Father/Daughter. So we went to Toys R' Us and picked out some nice kites to fly. She picked a standard diamod kite with a really nice Geko on it, mine was a colorful box kite, shaped like a star. We wait for a nice, breezy day and head for the beach to fly them. Well, up they go. I notice right away that my kite pretty much sucks. It reminds me of 'Bit' from TRON... it's a star that is literally all over the sky. It's high, it's low, it's over here, it's over there... everywhere. I have no control over this thing... while my daughters Geko kite is flying true and straight, high and colorful. Well, I am really struggling with this kite... which is making her laugh hysterically. I FINALLY get it up and straight, about 50 feet up, and about 20 feet from hers, however down lower. All is good. About 5 minutes later, out of nowhere, her kite suddenly dives down on mine, and rams it, then pulls back up and flies true again, as if nothing happened. We both look at each other... she's really balling now, and getting a thrill out of this. Now the odds of two kites hitting each other are slim, let alone a recovery... wow. No sooner do I stablize my 'Bit', her Geko does it again, however, more viloently... you could hear the kites hit each other.... mine goes down again, hers goes back up. I assume not statisfied with the results, her kite sees mine starting to recover again and attacks it once more, ramming it hard and wrapping around it, taking it down to the ground for the kill. In total shock, my mouth open, I look at my daughter, who is now bent over, in a knee-slapping hysteric at the whole situation... I can only say... 'I.. I... wha... man, you're kite really hates mine.' I credited her with 1 combat kill, and awarder her her favorite ice cream from the local Mr. Softie truck. I hope I didn't bore you, and you did find humor in this story... take your kids out and fly some kites... it really is a lot of fun. OvS

I agree, and we're certainly no where near being or feeling paranoid as what it might look like. Let's just say we're a lot smarter now. There are things that we notice, that you guys simply won't becuase you're playing it, we're building it. So, when you notice too many things becoming parallel, and the other party starts to recieve credit for it all as if it was their idea and an all new concept, you learn fast it's best to keep the hangar doors closed until it's ready to fly. Another one of my many famous cryptic analogies.... OvS

No. Like uncleal said... we are being watched, and we know it. Sorry... those days are over, but it was fun while it lasted. OvS

Congrats Creaghorn! That's fantastic news! ' Don't worry... girls are wonderful! Next thing you know, you'll be playing dress-up, learning all about horses, and sewing on Girl Scout patches to her vest too. And let me tell you, I do it because I don't want anyone else to. Keep us posted... @ Olham... yep... you're 100% right. I've lost many a game, been decimated, and humbled on purpose just so she can have a good laugh. OvS

See... you do have a big loving heart! You sound like my wife (mother)!! We were at Robert Moses beach... no power lines within 10 miles of that place. But all in all, it really is fun enjoying the finer aspects of flight with kids. But like ZoomZoom said, I was schooled!!! I have to escalate this... as we speak, I am surfing the net, looking for my next kite... something bigger, stronger, faster... with more control. She hasn't heard the last from Baron von Fart!!! I'm going to take that Geko down!!! PS... She is thoroughly kicking my ass at the 'Punch Buggie' game by about 300 - 20. All I keep hearing from her when I am driving, walking, standing... whatever.. on the phone.. green one <pop>, blue one <pop> ... white one <pop> ... etc...etc... The Black Baron's ultimate nemesis.... The White Angel of West Islip. Kids.

I've had a very rough March-April... work is my get-away from it all. March - April 1. After a Noreaster (North Eastern winter Hurricane, something new... global warming?) a very large Oak tree fell on my car - completely destroying it... had to scramble through the new car buying annoyance. New Sante Fe in driveway now. 2. Before that happened, I was in the middle of remodeling my daughter's throughly hand printed and scuffed, old play-room into a nice, clean 'artifact' room/home theater for the wife and me. HELLLLLLLOOOOO NFL SEASON!!!! So that was a total teardown and remake including new moldings, spackling, sanding, painting, yelling... screaming... you know.. the usual. 3. My daughter is recieving Communion next month, so tie that into #2 and I've been all a$$ and elbow around the house painting, replacing, fixing, cleaning, raking, trimming... etc.. etc.. 4. I am working on a 50th Anniversary DVD for my parents (1 year late already) and that NEEDS to be done the same time as #3 is taking place, while I am still doing #2. 5. My daughter seems to have an ENDLESS amount of homework and tests for a 4th grader... I think it's time I paid an 'old skool' Sicilian visit to her teacher, you know... while the kids are at recess, have a little 'discussion' and maybe 'bring up' that she just give my daughter an 'A' for the rest of the year... so that the teacher can go home tonight in her own car, and not in the back of an ambulance. 6. Back to #3... still working.. WIP. 7. Arto, Makai and I are hoplessly trying to keep up with Shreds new additions to P4.. whoops... did I say that? But I won't tell you what they are. 8. and to add to this insanity... my new work schedule is 5am - 1 pm... so I get up at 0340 and to bed at 2130 EST the LATEST. I am in a constant state of zombitization... I have approximately 45 min of 'Me' time before my daughter gets home from school... then it's Daddy.. Daddy... Daddy time. No complaints here.. I do love it, but it wears you down. I'm not 20 anymore. Whew.... there you go... any questions... OvS

As we keep expanding, and expanding our much needed, high priced Mc Mansion gated communities into areas that are spreading all over, they are finding more and more what our history is for illegal dumping of old war materials. Like Long Island deals with Brookhaven Labs and the Manhattan Project, France deals with unexploded shells... outside Washington DC deals with this... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_dc_munitions_dig No doubt there is a huge difference in 100 years, and a less populated earth. OvS

No problem Lou, we'll leave out the smudge pots until you come back. All the best, OvS

Lou, any reason why? You were never banned, questioned, asked to leave... nothing... in fact, I don't remember anyone ever having any issue with anything you've ever posted. Sorry to see you go, please come back now and then and check in with the boys. And remember... P4 is out there, floating around. One never knows when it will come ashore. All the best to you. OvS

In Florida, they run across this all the time with old ordinance testing grounds. Seems the real estate gets put back on the market after what some official considers a safe amount of time, only to discover the amount of un-exploded ordnance is all over the place. But still, folks that live in European areas like France, Germany seem to have a better understanding of what to do with this stuff, and where it is. Maybe because the only testing they did was right on the battlefields? But either way, it's proof that any war leaves more than the scars on the battlefields. Not only the un-accounted graves, but all the stuff we keep churning up. OvS

I agree... why the heck does everything have to turn political here... please keep the politics to a bare minimum. The hint of it is OK, but the outright diving into is really weighing down on the conversations. OvS

Good way to put it... "Desensitization" There is plenty of evidence out there to prove it, and you don't even have to go very far to find it. OvS

I don't think so, you can see it all over the news now. These games have become so realistic that you can litterly walk away from playing them with a sense and BASIC understanding of how to use weapons, creep into shadows, stalking tactics, what weapons do... etc. When we were kids, we used wood rifles and played 'Army'. Now kids the same age are wired into headsets all over the world and violently flogging each other to death on COD5. Tell me that's not some form of training. The US Army actually commisioned America's Army for just that purpose, so you can see if you have the basic interest in soldiering as a career. But straight to the root... "1. Checked out parents that don't do thier job raising thier children properly and instilling in them the proper values. (note, I didnt say perfect parents, cause they don't exist)." this statement says it all. We have to raise our kids, not let a XBox, PS3 or Wii teach them about life. I mean, I watched WWII movies on Sundays. Played Intellivision games, and blew a life savings on Robotron. It was innocent, there was very little violence in my life (until the Deer Hunter came on HBO). But in comparison, the same age today, it's a world of difference. We can't be checked-out when it comes to our kids. I don't have a big house, but I built a room in my basement, well 2 really... a Craft Room, and a mini-Arcade. The Craft Room has everything from Michaels and other craft stores you need to have a full scale art class for 10+ kids at once. Paints, glue stuff... wood, you name it... the kids LOVE it, even at 14 years old, my older nieces and nephews love it. It's a room dedicated to being creative. I even nailed white wall board to one wall so they can draw all over the wall with dry erase markers... anything goes! Sloppy and all. The Mini-arcade holds my 3 MAME machines, and now an old TV and stand. On the arcade machines, there are NO fighting games like Mortal Kombat, Kind Of Fighters, etc... nothing... all 80's and 70's classics. The TV has no signal to wath TV, but has an Intellivision, Atari 2600, and Colecovision. On top of it, is the Wii. Nothing violent... all sports, and exploring games. You have to raise them this way, and keep the crap out... YOU buy it for them... YOU should know what the hell you're buying. This is like all those people that want to sue MickeyD's for using Ronald McDonald as an kids icon.... what the hell... you're driving them to the place... say NO more often than yes. We only have ourselves to blame for the violent tendencies of our kids... pull the plugs, disconnect the computers... etc. Get them out of the house... and I don't mean just on organized sports... jeeze.. there's now too much of that as well. I mean, get them out in the yard digging holes, picking up worms, pulling off bark on trees, picking up slabs to see the ants... there is no reason on this earth that a 12 year old CHILD should have a cell-phone, texting and know how to snipe an enemy at 400yds. Want to really have fun... go on eBay and look-up some of those old Coleco and Mattel Electronics hand-held sports games, you know... the little red lights (get the originals, the newer reproduction ones suck). Give one two your son/daughter, and tell them to try it out. I let my 11 year old nephew play my Baseball game... he dumped his PSP for it. He could not stop playing it all night. It was fun to see him use a little imagination with the "players" and such. OvS

Fantastic!! Wishing you and the future parents well.

Definitely depends on the game. You can learn a lot about history, weapons, tactics, strategies, etc... but you can also learn alot about death, carnage, destruction, and violence. I think the best over-all FPS depicting the truths of WWII was BIA: Hell's Highway. The worst was the COD series, where it looks great, feels great, but its straight on carnage without much regard for thinking. OvS

Good God man... 1200 Watts?!?!? Does your neighborhood take a brown-out when you turn that mother on??? WOW.... I thought my 750W was pushing it. OvS

Unless you were Ernst Udet....

I've still got my Frye square toes and wear them now and again... they're 22 years old now. Yikes!! OvS

Hmmm.... what was the name of that Pet supply company that had the commercials with the puppet made of a sock? They had no value, no stock, very little inventory... yet the stock was jumping $100's by the week. Then they collapsed... with the rest of them. That describes about 90% of the NASDAQ stocks, doesn't it. OvS

We don't know Olham... it's the core of what your question is all about. We're only told what we're meant to hear. Next thing you know, the business is folding because it can't survive, and years later, you're watching a documentary on the History channel about how Big Businesses are toppled by poor management. I hope that's not the case for BA, but by the looks of it... it might very well be. As for PM Brown, he's not well liked by the Labor Party as of now. Unite forked up a lot of money to help fund his election campaign. OvS

Then you guys need to get your point out louder... over here, it's not being portrayed that way. I support the Cabin, not Willie. And you're 100% right... he destroyed Aer Lingus, why in hell BA hired him no one knows, but he's really working the email, intranet, and other BA media sources to make the cabin crew look really bad. Meanwhile, you hear nothing from the Cabin other than they're on strike, and don't care. I constantly argue with fellow employees about the point that he's pushing us into the gutter, but for whatever reason my 16 years with the company doesn't seem to convince people enough that this is the WORST BA I've ever seen. Worst than Ayling... which many considered to be the beginning of the end. From a fellow laborist's point of view, stick it to him. If we go down, at least we fought to the end. After this, BA will never be the same anyway... I think what really make me and many of the Brits I work with angry is the turn-face attitude of PM Brown, who was supported by Unite and the Labor Party. He's backing Willie. I just hope in the end, somehow, Willie is ousted by the Board. I love BA, and have since I started 16 years ago. It was a lot of fun, I've seen the world, I've met a ton of wonderful people... but now it's being compared to Pan Am, which was lost due to poor management. I hope the fate of BA is not the same. OvS

For added fun... to laugh at... imagine me, 18 years old... long hair (well, a classic Mullet)... driving this.... listening to Judas Priest!

I agree... greed is killing everything. Right now, the cabin crew of BA (my employer) is on strike, basically for reasons of greed... the company is not giving in, and wants to take from the union for reasons of greed. It really sad to see this. The whole airline will suffer, and many will loose their job, possibly yours truly as well... for greed. Obama just signed a bill into law that gives 'free' governmental health insurance to all... derived from the greed of insurance companies, and companies not willing to give their employees proper health beneifts... all based on reasons of greed. How is it a CEO can haul in 700% more than the average employee he has working for him? Greed. The bonuses of many of these CEO's would easily afford the average employee of that company a very fair and equitable amount of health insurance... like it used to be back in the 70's and 80's. We wouldn't need all of these governmental programs at all. Every employee of every company around the world should have the basics to survive. It's what we are there for, to not only make a living, but to provide a life for our familes and ourselves. The others that are out of work can then have government backed insurance, and the elderly can fend for themselves... errr.. sorry... just kidding... they should automatically be covered.... not matter what is wrong with them... period. Not any more. OvS

1987 Subaru GL. It was beat to hell, falling apart, over 200K miles on it... but I got it for free... it drove great and I loved it!! 2nd choice... My first car... a 73 Plymouth Fury Wagon. Banana yellow with wood paneling (same as picture). It was HUGE... and a lot of fun. I love wagons, and have owned 5 (including Vans and SUV's). http://fuselage.de/index.html?http://www.fuselage.de/ply73/station.html OvS