jglei701

First off, it's great to see a Fox CJ! It's been way too long! (... I know, I showed up late, but I haven't been around much myself over the last few years). As always, it's great to see your custom take on some great looking buildings. Speaking of... I don't think I've ever seen that first one before. Is that pic doctored so I can't recognize the building... or is it just something new? Keep up the great work!

Here are some Chicago area updates!! (In many cases, turning pathetic highways into good ones!) I was actually just on the Amstutz on Friday. What a strange stretch of road! It could have been useful if it had been extended and connected to 94, but it's not even close. The Elgin-O'Hare eastern end is currently in planning stages. That, along with a western-bypass of O'Hare will serve to make far western Cook County a whole mess of tollways! There have been plans for 60 years to expand 53 north from its terminus at Lake-Cook Rd north into Lake County. It has been stalled by environmentalists and NIMBY folks for decades, but they've tentatively agreed to extend it north to a new 120 east-west bypass, but it won't be the 6 lane highway that it is south of Lake-Cook... they want to make it a 4-lane boulevard-type road, with pretty high tolls and 45 mph. They've also talked about extending the tolls south onto the current section of 53 in Cook County, but there has been public outrage at this. I've got to be honest, if they do anything but a full-blown highway into Lake County, it will be a complete waste of time and a gigantic waste of money. Lake County is a parking lot right now. It has grown up for the better part of 40 years with little-to-no improvement in the infrastructure, while the population has grown to nearly 1 million. Here's some commentary on the 53 situation: http://blueopen.word...nsion-volume-2/ Part of the issue is the desire of many of these communities (and they've even marketed themselves as this!) wanting to be rural enclaves in an urban area. They've specifically prevented improvement to keep their towns the same way they've been for decades and decades, their neighbors be... darned. It doesn't help that many of these communities are incredibly wealthy (I'm thinking of Bannockburn here, median house price $1.2 million, and that's AFTER the housing downturn! and Long Grove). Moving to Chicago proper, 90/94 (the Kennedy expressway) north of the Eisenhower has undergone some changes in the last few years. They've taken out a few of the left-hand entrances and simplified the right-hand exits, extending the acceleration/deceleration lanes. More importantly, they've recently been discussing a revamp of the Circle Interchange (where the Kennedy, Dan Ryan, and Eisenhower all come together in one of the US's worst bottlenecks). This will cost several hundred million dollars to redo, but, as we've seen in the Marquette interchange in Milwaukee, it can be done and done well. Since this thread started, IDOT has widened the full expanse of the Tri-State tollway (bi-passes Chicago from Wisconsin to Indiana, thus the tri- states!) to 4 lanes in each direction. This has helped to clean up several backups throughout Chicago by increasing the capacity. There are still backups at times (especially from right near O'Hare, the Bensenville Bridge, where the Tri-State goes from a South to slightly Southwest direction to a Westerly direction for about a mile-and-a-half, then cuts south again. Invariably, this section (and up to 15 miles north) gets backed up, especially on Fridays. There's a slight chance that this section might be straightened out a bit with the Western Bypass/Elgin O'Hare extension... but I'm not holding my breathe Speaking of Milwaukee from a couple paragraphs ago... The state of Wisconsin has been working hard for years to widen their stretch of 94 to 8 lanes from the Illinois border north to Milwaukee and to modernize the interchanges. They're taking a piece-wise approach with this... certain sections are being finished while the other sections are remaining with their same 6 lane way it has been for decades. Illinois has a sliver of 94 that is still 6 lanes... about a mile and a half, I think, and they've announced that they will finally be widening this last piece to match the rest of 94/294 (i.e. the tri-state) in IL and the widened stretch in Wisconsin. When to add that to the fact that IL has jacked up the tolls in recent years (true, they hadn't increased them expect for non-IPass for years), it makes the tollway system a little less desirable. I live north of Chicago and every time I go north into Wisconsin (usually at least once a month, if not more frequently) I take non-toll roads. It may cost a few minutes, but this is better than spending several extra dollars per trip! And someone previously mentioned Wisconsin's gas tax, which is pretty high, but that this is how WI pays for the roads. This may be true, but WI is still cheaper than IL, what with the gas tax and the sales tax together! Back to Wisconsin... they've actually slowed down the progress of the 94 expansion because the Zoo interchange (where EW I-94 meets the junction of US-45 to the north and the 894 bypass to the south) is slated to be replaced in the coming years. Like the Marquette interchange of the early-to-mid 2000's, this will take several years to complete, but when it is finished, it will be modern construction, with enough capacity for future traffic increases, and community sensitive aesthetic. They've done a pretty good job making their roads and bridges look decent, rather than simply being gargantuan cement monstrosities. Elsewhere in Wisconsin, the state has been working to widen US 41 from just south of Oshkosh all the way to Green Bay. This is moving toward a future interstate designation in the foreseeable future. Another road that may soon be looking for a similar designation is US 29, that goes from Green Bay west to Menomonie. This still has several stretches of at-grade crossings... so I'm not sure if they need to limit these or eliminate them altogether until this could join the interstate system, but Wisconsin has been working for about 20 years to take 29 from a rural highway to a major east-west corridor in the northern part of the state. And finally, the state is close to finishing the rerouting/widening of US 10 between Stevens Point and Marshfield. I used to live in Point and would regularly chart their progress and my in-laws live west of Marshfield a ways, so I'll be able to take this route once it is finished! One last thing about Illinois. In recent weeks, IDOT has stopped pursuing the Prairie Parkway, a far-west north-south road between I-88 and I-80 (also previously known as the Fox Valley Expressway). Much like how Lake County has grown without infrastructure growing as well, Kane, Kendall, Grundy, and Will have all grown in a similar manner. The Prairie Parkway was an effort to decrease congestion, especially on north-south roads that don't have enough capacity. With the scrapping the the Prairie Parkway (which, honestly, could have gone from 80 all the way to 90 to be truly effective), IDOT is going to pursue expansion of current roads, such as 47. The final major project on the drawing board is the so-called Illiana Expressway. This is a roughly 50 mile expressway (or perhaps toll, I'm not sure) between I-55 in Illinois and I-65 in Indiana. It would travel near Peotone, which was once slated for a third major airport in Chicago (a plan that has on and off the books since the late 60's). The Illiana will provide congestion relief for the very congested section of northwest Indiana, that has to be traversed if going from Chicago to any point west that isn't in the deep south (there are other options farther south). For example, anyone going to Indianapolis would have to go through northwest Indiana to get there. The preferred route for most in the Chicago area would become the Illiana, taking either 55 or 57 south to then cut over to 65 and take the direct route to Indianapolis. Interestingly, if the Prairie Parkway had been constructed along with the Illiana, there would have been a gap of about 20-30 miles would have not connected the two... but the Des Plaines river (with prairie and wetlands) stands in the way. And while they did push through the 355 extension south. Who knows what will ultimately happen? Oo, in my searching for info about Wisconsin, it looks like WI is going to widen 90/39 from the Illinois State line to the 12/18 interchange just south of Madison. http://www.dot.state...br-overview.pdf They're going to be redoing that completely, a la the Marquette interchange, over the next several years, starting sometime between 2013 and 2015, if my memory serves correctly. Though the Marquette is gigantic and is a bit daunting, it's far easier to maneuver than its predecessor, which was falling down anyway. Wisconsin has to be given props for this design that is ultra-modern and takes into account local aesthetics too. The entire construction maintains local artwork as themes and the concrete is dyed in a similar manner throughout the project. This is a great improvement upon the normal bland concrete (see the Illinois Tri-State expansion that was finished in 2008). The Marquette does have character, which is laudable for such a large project.

And I know that you're putting the effort into the Daley Center... but do you think you could release the Picasso as its own stand-alone sculpture as well? I think it would make a nice centerpiece for some Sim park somewhere...!

Wow, you can see Lake Superior from the Lake Point Towers?! (Odd... after 9 years on this site, I finally get to 1000 posts and I chose THAT for it...) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Superior Max depth: 1332 ft http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Michigan Max depth: 923 ft

My absolute favorite Chicago building is 35 E Wacker. Known for years as the Jewelers Building, it has (or had, I'm not sure if it is still functional) an elevator where the workers could drive their car right into the building and be taken up to the different parking levels. http://www.35eastwackerdrive.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/35_East_Wacker http://www.flickr.com/photos/chiski/7489133738/lightbox/ It reminds me a bit of the Administration Building from the 1893 Columbian Exposition: (By the way, there are a ton of buildings from the exposition that would be tremendous to have in SC4 too, most notably the Administration building, but there are lots of others as well!!) Finally, I don't think any Chicago BAT set would be complete without The Bean (properly known as Cloudgate, but only the architecture buffs in Chicago know/mention the real name!)

Yes, I just tried and all seemed to download fine. You do need to use Internet Explorer if you're not. When I tried Firefox, it gave me a similar error that you posted. If you are using Internet Explorer, it may depend on your settings. The EA site does need to install an ActiveX file. Thanks, I'll have to try it again. I just tried in on my laptop, but b/c I don't have SC4 installed here, it wouldn't let me... guess I'll have to try on my desktop again or install SC4 just to get 'em on my laptop!

Has anyone else tried to download these items to see if they're just corrupted, or if they are viable and I just can't download them?

I have a strange request.... I'm wondering if anybody knows anywhere ELSE I can download these lots... or if they have copies, or if they are able to download them from the Maxis site: http://simcity.ea.com/exchange/lots/lotdetails.php?lotID=4113&skiprows=&maxrows=20&next_x=20&next_y=12&startrow=31&maxrows_previous=20&keywords=garden&keyword_search=true This is, unfortunately, the largest picture I have of the actual lot. Actually, I just found an old larger picture I found somewhere... the lot is here twice: I'm interested in using the inner portion of the lot... like this: Unfortunately, I lost that file in a HD crash about 4 years ago. While looking for the one above, I found this one I liked too... http://simcity.ea.com/exchange/lots/lotdetails.php?lotID=4869&skiprows=&maxrows=20&next_x=15&next_y=14&startrow=11&maxrows_previous=20&keywords=garden&keyword_search=true I've been looking for the top one for over 4 years... I thought I had gotten it at Simtrop, but apparently I didn't! Unfortunately, though, when I try to download the lots, I get an error. Can anybody help me out with this? By the way, this is the message that I'm getting: It could be that the site is just 8 years old and not intended to be used by my type of computer... I dunno! EDIT: I found another one I like too: http://simcity.ea.com/exchange/lots/lotdetails.php?lotID=966&skiprows=&maxrows=20&next_x=17&next_y=13&startrow=671&maxrows_previous=20&keywords=park&keyword_search=true ... You might think it would be easier to just try to recreate it... but I've tried and it's really not easy!

I think it looks good! One thing I always look for when I'm deciding how realistic my canals are... is this. Can the boats actually get in and out of where I have them? If you look at your top pic: The two large ships on the left side... can't get out! I also look at places where the canal turns... could the boats I have in the canals actually make that turn, or do I need to cut off the inner corner to make the turn more realistic? I like what you have... keep up the good work!

:-) Sounds good!

Originally posted by: N_O_Body The Roman Church splits hairs on the quality of sin. Sin is divided into two categories, venial sin which can be expurgated by a time in purgatory, and mortal sin which sends you directly to hell. Venial sins are those transgressions made thoughtlessly, or without strong intention. Mortal sin is like murder in the first degree. It has to be intentional, planned, and with full knowledge of the results (death of the soul). In either case, an ordained priest can give absolution in the sacrament of confession provided that there is true remorse and a penance or restitution is made. In theory, you are not relieved of the burden of sin until the penance is complete. Many other Christian sects seem to believe that being "saved" is sufficient. What naiveté. All this is one of the things that removed me from organized religions. quote> I just typed out an extended reply... that got lost when I submitted it. I don't have time to retype it right now, but I will reply.

That's fair, Meg, because it seems like one is worse than the other... But we're not talking in human terms, we're talking in God's terms. It just shows how much God abhors sin. It doesn't matter the severity, it's still sin, and because of that, it's as bad as it gets in God's eyes. It's disobedience, plain and simple. There isn't any way to disobey more or less... one either obeys, or disobeys. It's black and white, there is no gray. I'll certainly agree, like I said above, that there may be more serious consequences from one sin versus another here on earth. That's just plain and true. But both grieve God the same because, consequences or not, they both are disobedience. That's the 12:45 AM answer to the "How can one sin not be worse than another." If I have time tomorrow, I might try to revisit it more fully.

Someone wouldn't go to hell because they were gay, or a murderer, or a drunk. They would go to hell because they were an unrepentant sinner. And it wouldn't be the drunkenness or the murders or the sexual orientation (or whatever the most visible, outward sin would be) that would make them a sinner. We're all sinners. It's our nature, like being curious about the world around us or not having natural survival instincts. And in terms of sexual sin, Jesus talks about this in Mathew 5:27-30. As much as the actual act is a sin, the giving over of the heart to the desire of the sin is just as much of a sin: 27"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.'[e] 28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. Here Jesus isn't talking about homosexuals, he's talking about heterosexuals, but the point is the same. I don't want to get into a discussion of one sin being worse than another... in the eyes of God, one is as bad as the next. Now, one may have many more consequences here on earth than others, but that's another discussion altogether. The point above is that, outside the context of marriage, acting on sexual urges is a sin, whether it be heterosexual or homosexual. If someone, as a heterosexual, can have a relationship with the opposite sex without giving into their sexual urges, then they don't sin. The same could be said for someone who is a homosexual (with the same sex). Concerning works based salvation... If you look at the tenants of Christianity (most notably that Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, came to the earth and was crucified and resurrected from the dead, and through this resurrection only does man have the ability to attain eternal life in heaven), if something more than grace is needed for salvation, then by definition, that means the death and resurrection of Christ wasn't enough to perform the saving act. If Christ dying wasn't enough, then that means that God's plan didn't work and consequently, is proof God is not omnipotent. Suddenly, all of creation comes crashing and crumbing down, and everything as we know it would cease to be. Of course, this hasn't happened... Logically, that isn't proof for the previous statement (the one about Christ's death and resurrection), because other than the option of it being true, there's the option of it being not true (and having some other answer to account for creation, as Darwin attempted to do). But, if it is true and the resurrection isn't enough, then creation would, by definition, cease. Another answer against works is this... if you can disprove the resurrection, then you can shoot down Christianity. There really is no way to shoot down works... because even non-Christians do "good works" especially as judged by the world. Ephesians 2:8 says "it is by grace you have been saved, through faith. This is not of yourself, it is the gift of God. Some try to use James 2:20b "Faith without works is dead" to prove that works are necessary for salvation, but this is not the case. Think of works as fruit. Galatians 5:22-23 says talks about the fruits of the spirit: "22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control." And Jesus himself talked about this in Matthew 7:17-20: "17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them." And again talked about fruit in Matthew 21:43 when addressing the Jews who were about to put him to death: 43"Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit." Fruit comes from a healthy tree. It is an outward sign that the tree is functioning the way that trees are supposed to function. A tree that doesn't bear good fruit doesn't have what is necessary to sustain "fruit bearability" if you will. And so while the outward sign of the tree not producing fruit (at all, or good fruit, either way), it is only indicative of other deep seeded problems. The same can be said for people. If they're "right" on the inside, then they bear good fruit. If they are not, then they won't. The old vacation bible school song "And you'll know that they're Christians by their love" song really is true. Now, that being said, it should be fairly obvious that there are some, or many, who are claiming to be Christians who are not bearing good fruit. They give Christianity a bad name, and it is a shame that those are the people who are focused on in the media, etc, but even true believers are still sinners. I get upset and frustrated when I hear about Christians who are denouncing such and such a group for whatever reason (because they're gay, because they've had an abortion/performed abortions, because they... (fill in the blank)). As I mentioned above, for those people who are involved in whatever the hot button issue is, that isn't their biggest problem. You can put an alcoholic through and 11 step process and get them off the drink... but they still haven't accounted for their sins. Someone who was (fill in the blank) can become un(fill in the blank)... but they, as well, don't have a right relationship with God, so fixing that "broken" part of themselves doesn't fix them wholly.

Originally posted by: Crackdtoothgrin Originally posted by: jglei701 And suddenly this is a snipe fest. Thanks for ruining a good things guys.quote> Can atheists/agnostics/etc. not express a common solidarity without being accused of persecution? Rather than attempting to refute any of the points I expressed, you just claim that this is now a 'snipe fest.' How is it any different when theists express commonality? And if it is different, is that not elitist? quote> I didn't have an opportunity to address it before the snipe fest ensued. I didn't say that it came from you. I can certainly disagree with people without bringing in insinuations like the one that was made.

Originally posted by: Meg Originally posted by: jglei701 I, for one, can attest to God working in my own life and in the lives of several people I know. This flies in the face of a deistic belief that God made the world then took off like a deadbeat dad. If this leads to your insinuation that the tale I sing signifies nothing, then I don't appreciate being called an idiot. quote> Where did anyone call you an idiot? quote> Originally posted by: N_O_Body "... full of sound and fury "signifying nothing." All this talk fails to persuade me or anyone for that matter. I'll stick to my deism. quote> Originally posted by: jglei701 Originally posted by: N_O_Body "... full of sound and fury "signifying nothing." All this talk fails to persuade me or anyone for that matter. I'll stick to my deism. quote> You can't convince someone who is dead set against being convinced... but that's not necessarily the point. I was addressing questions and challenges to my beliefs. But I also don't know that you can speak for everyone. I, for one, can attest to God working in my own life and in the lives of several people I know. This flies in the face of a deistic belief that God made the world then took off like a deadbeat dad. If this leads to your insinuation that the tale I sing signifies nothing, then I don't appreciate being called an idiot. quote> Originally posted by: N_O_Body jglei701: One displays a general garment. If some one claims it fits, so be it. quote> (for some reason, the quote didn't format right) Here is the original quote in some context (From Shakespeare's MacBeth): Act 5, Scene 5: "To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,Creeps in this petty pace from day to dayTo the last syllable of recorded time,And all our yesterdays have lighted foolsThe way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!Life's but a walking shadow, a poor playerThat struts and frets his hour upon the stageAnd then is heard no more: it is a taleTold by an idiot, full of sound and fury,Signifying nothing." This was the implication. If something else was intended, then it should have been clarified. That quote is well-known, as is the implication.