S70

Line 1: I'm running a Mac OS X.3.9 using Safari as my browser. Line 2: I think it runs on a UNIX kernel, so mayormot's UNIX thoughts seem logical. EDIT 1: Yep, I think the < b r > without spaces tip should be mentioned lots (thanks beebs!), for dummies like me that don't join a lot of things and have no idea about all this new-fangled html codewords y'all have.

After turning a few pages... @defcon pilot: My personal stance is that it's easier in the long run to just be yourself. It sucks when somebody likes you for not being you, because eventually that's what you have to turn back into... and if you like them for them and they like you because you're somebody else... envision a period of angst in the future... All that's my opinion, of course, and depends on what you want. @sloppet: I would never steal another man's dinner.

And after promising to stay quiet while I had a chance to read stuff over... @Fairlane500: I agree whole-heartedly with N_O_Body's legal opinion and MsD's gender-perspective... but may I add that it's ultimately really out of your hands, and I think you should try not to stress yourself too much over it. (I know, easier said than done!) You can't make her want you over the other fella (assuming that's what you want), so you're kind of tilting at windmills, if you don't mind the expression. My personal passerby-guy opinion is to keep on keeping on, be yourself, and give her the time and space to make up her own mind as to what she wants, without pressure. She might be unconsciously looking for you to put pressure on her and cause some sort of drama, thus making the decision "justifiable" in her mind... @TheTerminator: Can't say I got all the in-jokes in that post (does vidioman do music?), I still wish that last mail-order flux-limiter would come in for the time machine I'm building in the garage, because I'd love to see DK, Clash, Iggy, Lou in '85. Saw Jello Biafra on tv with the Melvins a few weeks ago with Nardwuar... the boys are looking rough here in the 21st century... Apologies, don't know what came over me... adjusting light above and returning to my monster Moose readings...

And I'm sure with all the virtual chicken soup, backrub offers and goodwill that he'll be feeling in top form soon! One wierd thng I've been experiencing is that I use my return key and it ends up not recognizing it... so even though I see a break in the "reply to message" pop-up, when it posts it's all just one paragraph. I think I read a post saying others were having the same issue, and it was suggested to use "br" inside the angle-brackets until it's resolved. I've been doing that, but not in this message... so if it's all one paragraph it's still not resolved. (No hurry, no worry, just testing.)

The mayor's estate is posh! Nice!

@djrules5454_simtropolisedition: whew that's a handful to type! Thank you so much for the welcome! @MsD: I will, and thanks again for the invite! @Voar Tok: Thank you! Before I joined I really enjoyed wandering about the CJs and thought-provoking discussions regarding city design, so it's nice to be able to have a voice to express my thanks. The community seems very welcoming and nice, and Dirk et al keeps everything well-managed, and obviously loves doing this for the love of doing it, which can only strengthen the community and attract good people, in my opinion. So I'm already enjoying myself! @N_O_Body: "Steered" looked funny when I read it, and the more I looked at it I was wondering if my mind was playing tricks on itself... again... I did actually grow up on a ranch in a small town in the interior of B.C., but never really had any part of farm work. I was an urban-kid's head stuck in a farm-kid's body. I've been on a horse about three times in my life (those suckers are BIG and scare me! ), and after a couple of seasons with my pathetic performance during cattle-driving and branding seasons, I was thankfully allowed to stay home and read, write, whatever... just not get in the way. (As I will try to do here until I get a chance to read the logs... and I've noticed one of the ST-upgrade-bunnies had worked in my favour: yesterday there were 161 pages, today it says 108... if I wait to tomorrow I may only have 52...! )

At 82, with an obvious sweet tooth, and under doctor's orders to get more walking in... it's sad what's the media can blow it up into, but anyone reasonable can tell Mayor Middle had Ms. Graces best interest at heart... and sometimes old people die. Still sucks, though, and I'm sure he'll feel bad for a while. Please offer my condolences. Nice job!

Wow! The original is beautiful! I can hardly wait!

I've been excited to see what the home page will look like when it rolls out, new to here as I am... and I think the forums look and work GREAT (despite all the "bugs" and supposed "inconveniences" to personal preferences regarding past use work patterns that I keep reading about)... but it'll happen in its time and one's health is obviously the most important consideration. Great job so far on everything, Dirk, you've got an amazing community here and I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the goodies as the sections are unveiled. Get well soon!

@MsD: I look up, startled, then smile. I saw MsD when I first came in, but also noted the plethora of drinks and happy revellers surrounding her and guessed she had only recently arrived after an absence of her own. I stand and extend my hand in greeting. It's so nice to see you, I say. Thank you, again, for the invitation, and for the drink! I would have never so quickly found such an elegent establishment wandering about the streets of Simtropolis myself! Anyways... I don't want to keep you, I actually haven't been here long enough to really know what anyone is talking about, so I figured I would just sit back and listen for a few moments to get more of a feel for the place. I pat the book on the table. Quite the history to get through! But I'm looking forward to chatting more! @N_O_Body: Thank you so much for your kind welcome, it's good to be here. I met MsD over at the New Member Introductions and she recommended dropping by here for a drink and meal. Always a good idea to listen to the locals when travelling, I figure, and I can tell I've been steered in the right direction. ("Steered"? I have no idea what tense I pretended to use right there, but I'll let it stand because it sounds very funny.) As for the avatar, I can't say I know much about it, unfortunately. I wanted to change the generic one but don't really know how to make one of my own yet. So I found this on a "free avatar pics" site, and it looked cool. (I bought an anhk when I was about 16, at a shop downtown here in Vancouver, and it sort of became my talisman when I spent a rough year in the southern Philippines (mostly trying not to get kidnapped or shot) when I was 18-19. Tore me up when the chain broke a few years ago while I was out for a walk and I lost it.) Did I say "cool" above? I meant "elegant", all gold and everything. I'm looking forward to reading the printout. I look at the book again and go just a little paler. I have no idea what the autosystem is or TT's robot servers... but that's why I'm just going to sit quietly in the corner for a bit! Thanks again for the kind welcome, you have a lovely establishment!

The stonework on the back "rock wall" looks amazing.

I pull a chair up to a quiet table in the corner and prepare to myself to read through 160 pages of a rough-bound pamphlet I found on the ground just outside the entrance... "Moose Factory Flyer" is handwritten across the front. I can't tell if it's an official publication or not. But I am thankful the table is well-lit. When the proprietor notices my presence I smile upon his approach and say A chocolate llama-milk-shake with a shot of irish creme, please, if it's not too much trouble. I make sure to thank him before flipping into the first few pages, the spot I reached while reading outside.

That looks great so far!

I've lurked around ST for a while but was compelled finally to join yesterday because I wanted to offer thanks to a few people. I've said this in a few places already, but I think it's important to give thanks to Dirk for creating an amazing venue and all the work that has gone into the ST revision, to the admin team and all the members that contribute to the strength and vitality of this community. (For some reason I can't seem to get the "topic reply" popup to recognize when I hit my return key, so I apologize if this is just one big paragraph. Hopefully I'll figure it out, but I'm a $%&^!, after all...) As far as an introduction: My name is Scott. I'm in my thirties. I'm in Vancouver, Canada. I'm a musician (drums), producer, writer, and whatever other artsy-fartsy diversion that captures my attention. I work part-time in a private library to augment my bill-paying abilities. I'm on an iMac G5, married without kids (and none planned), and am happy and content with my life. I got back into SC4 after not playing for a while, and am just playing SimCity Vanilla at the moment... I want to remember the joy of the basic game before I get overwhelmed exploring the STEX...! It's good to be here!

I'm just a brand new stranger around here, having just joined, and noticed your post in the "hot topics" section while exploring all the features of this great community that Dirk and the admins have grown, so I apologize for intruding. I just wanted to express my condolences for your loss, Alkaola. My mom passed away about 10 years ago, and it's not an easy life event to go through, at any age. When it happened to me, my dad told me about losing his mom. He said that at first he cried and cried, and thought of her all the time. Then the crying came in bursts every so often but eventually stopped, but he still thought of her every day. Then one day he realized he hadn't thought about her at all, and he cried about that. And then, after a while, he was ok... he still loved her, and missed her, and remembered her, but that it was ok. That was pretty much how it went for me, as well, and my dad telling me about his mom helped me recognize what I was going through and realize both that I wasn't alone and that it was normal. I think the point that has stuck with me is that eventually it gets better, and to just allow the process the time. Again, my condolences for your loss. --scott

I've been lurking for a bit and was propelled to join today for a number of reasons. One of those was to say great job and thanks to Dirk and everyone that's helped with the upgrade of ST. I think it looks great, and you're implementing some amazing features for this community. I've noticed a lot of kind, intelligent, friendly and imaginative individuals as I've slipped like the shadow of a hobo from alleyway to alleyway, and I think it's indicative of the generosity and energy that the leadership of this community displays and attracts. Give me a benevolent dirktatorship any day!

I've been lurking a bit and finally got around to joining. A few different reasons pushed me into doing it now, and one of them was to say thanks to you for the extensive research you've put into studying the Grid. I read it a few days ago and it's been very helpful. Your thoughts and experimentation have helped me improve my cities, and have gotten me thinking along directions I hadn't before. And one of the best tips I've ever seen was in regards to eliminating the bus/ambulance expenses and allowing the residual effect radius of education and medical facilities to come into play. (I'm not sure if that was your eureka or if I should be thanking you and whomever you found that one out from... but thanks to everyone up the line!) Great work!

I was getting around to joining Simtropolis, but your CJ pushed me into doing it today. I had to get on here to say you've done an amazing job. Beautiful city, lovely scenery and pictures, and an engaging storyline! (I'm a huge Radiohead fan as well, so that's just icing.) Can't wait to see more!