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Garnoopy

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About Garnoopy

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    One of Many
  • Birthday 11/06/2002

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    The Garnoopy
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    Atlanta, GA
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    Name: Commander Garnoopy<br />Marital Status: Single<br />Age: 34 Earth Years<br />Height: 190.5 cm (6'3")<br />Weight: 82 kg (180 lbs)<br />Hair: Blonde<br />Eyes: Blue<br />Rank: Commander<br />Ship Assignment: USS Manticore, NCC-5852<br />Post Assignment: Chief Engineer

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  1. Meritorious Achievement Award Commander Garnoopy Chief Engineering Officer USS Manticore, NCC-5852 Stardate 50903.01 “The Baseball Game” “Why, Ms. Murray how are you this evening?” Garnoopy asked. Janet turned and looked at Garn, “I’m doing quite delightful Commander Garnoopy. I dare say though this wine is beginning to go to my head.” Garn chuckled, “Yes, well, they certainly outdid themselves at this fundraiser didn’t they? Not one thing seems to be out of place. The wine is especially excellent.” “Well you know how the counsel likes to put on a show. A little wine here, some appetizers there and some good music” she replied. He smiled at that, and was about to say something when a tap on his shoulder startled him. “Garn! How the bloody heck are you?” the man said in a thick Scottish accent. Trying to avoid seeming foolish at not knowing this man’s name, Garnoopy stuck out his hand, “I’m doing quite well! How have you been good sir?” The Scot laughed heavily, “Quite well. Quite well. Keeping busy as usual.” “Yes, I know that feeling” Garn responded and then not forgetting Janet standing by him, he turned to introduce this man to her, hoping that he might be able to figure out his name, only to find that Janet had disappeared. “That’s very odd” Garn said. “I could have sworn she was standing right here.” He turned to look at the unknown man to find him missing. Garn’s head swiveled, looking around for the two missing guests, but realizing suddenly that even the entire crowd had vanished. A crash resounded across the room and Garnoopy turned, startled, only to find that the room was gone. He was standing in what appeared to be a large field. His tuxedo had changed into a pair of overalls. He quickly moved across the field, knowing that a storm was brewing and he had to get home before the lightning started up. Just last week a boy in his 6th grade class had been struck by lightning and nearly died. The entire town had been on high alert – fearful that their children would be hit again. But the storm was brewing faster than he could move and the wind began to pick up, starting to howl across the large open field. Trees in the distance could be seen starting to sway and a crash was heard in the distance as the first bolt made contact with the ground. He began to run as quickly as he could. Droplets of rain could be felt on his forehead as he moved. Despite his best efforts, though, he could tell in this battle of man versus nature, he was losing as the storm was rolling across the sky. A crash resounded and a light blinded Garn. The bolt of lightning had struck just three meters in front of him. He fell backwards, heart pumping and tried to stand, turning, when a tingling went through his body. The lightning, using him as a ground pole, impacting the top of his head and traveled quickly downwards. Each cell in his body accelerated and sent what felt as though a thousand tiny pinpricks through his nervous system. Garn didn’t even have time to scream. He gasped for air and shouted, “Lieutenant Betty, seal the breach now!” The response was quick, “I can’t seem to sir! The plasma is leaking too quickly!” The plasma was filling engineering and Garn knew they were losing. “Alright, everyone out! Now!” he shouted. Without warning the plasma conduit erupted and screams could be heard as engineers were burned, their bodies singed with the several thousand-degree temperature liquid. People ran from the room with skin missing from entire sides of their bodies. Garn tapped a panel and activated the emergency containment seals for engineering but it was too late. The plasma had flowed out of engineering down several conduits and was filling sections of the ship. Alarms were sounding as evacuation was beginning across dozens of sections. The heat was rising and Garn was sweating as he tried to stop the plasma flow before everyone ended up dead. Turning, he went to open a Jeffries tube in an attempt to get back into the sealed section to shut off a valve, but before he could Dr. Mele grabbed him by the shoulders and shouted, “No Garn! I won’t let you go! It’s too dangerous!” Garn tried to shove Kyle away, “I have to shut the valve! You know that’s my job Kyle!” “I won’t let you do it! I won’t let you go in!” Kyle shouted. Trying to writhe out of Kyle’s grasp, Garn could see a hint of desperation the doctor's eyes. Could the man be more afraid of Garn dying than of losing the ship? Garn tried twisting away, feeling Mele’s strong, powerful grip. But Kyle was too quick for Garn and as the sedative filled his body, he could hear him talking from what seemed like someplace far off in the distance. “It’ll be ok Garn. You have radiation poising. This will help the pain.” And Garn drifted back to sleep.
  2. I did the PC to Apple switch a little over two years ago. My PC died and I had always wanted to try a Mac. I bought the top of the line MacBook that was available at the time. I have had no compatibility issues with any file. I can open anything, re-write anything, and save anything. There has only ever been two issues I've had with a mac: 1. Does not have internet explorer. My work website requires IE. 2. Will not run some of the really old games I have for PC Both of these issues were resolved by using Parallels and installing Windows XP. Windows XP runs great as a program inside of my mac and I can do anything I need to do. As for your questions: 1. Mac's just work. You will know how to use it within an hour. The way you *think* a computer should work, they do. 2. I use my Mac to play the Manticore every Monday. Not one issue using either Safari (Apple's browser) or Firefox (which is what I use) At the end of the day - Mac's just work. They look cool. And they are really reliable. I have never had one issue with my Mac in over two years now. Do your research and if you can, find someone with a Mac that you can play with. Go to an Apple store and say "Hey, can you show me what's so great about a Mac?" Yeah, they're going to show off, but you'll see why we love Mac's and some of the really cool features that you have. Try going into a PC store and saying "Hey, can you show me why I should buy a PC over a Mac?" See what you get. Seriously. Hands on experience that you can have personally is your best bet over what we PC or Mac fans can give you.
  3. Commander Garnoopy Chief Engineering Officer USS Manticore, NCC-5852 Personal Log Stardate 50901.24 "Repairs and Paperwork" Garnoopy went over the reports from engineering. The INDIA team had caused mass chaos onboard the ship while conducting repairs and complaints had filed in from as high as bridge command staff to as low as the mess hall cook. Of course, given that Garnoopy didn't care what the ship's crew thought as long as things got fixed, he quickly filed all these complains in his top priority pile: the shredder. Despite their seeming incompetence - ranging from simple power outages to two of the INDIA members being found in a rather compromising position in a storage closet - the ships systems were repaired. Power had been restored and even the bulkheads were polished . . . not to mention a litany of upgrades that had been installed. Of course, Garnoopy was already inspecting each upgrade for the second time to ensure that not only did it work, but that there wasn't some hole in it that would allow someone to compromise their engineering systems. Although not a security agent, Garnoopy knew he had the most knowledge regarding what should be in a system file and what shouldn't. He had also received several reports from Hilee who was cross that the INDIA team had not observed the proper 'respect' Hilee thought he was so duly entitled to as a Lieutenant. These reports were quickly dropped in the priority pile - that is, the shredder, for those who didn't clearly read the beginning of this log - and Hilee received a stern warning not to interfere with the INDIA team. Their methods may not have been the same as the Manticore's, but they were the best engineers in the fleet. Garn sipped his coffee and leaned back in his chair. The whole situation that had led them to this disaster was ridiculous. They had been very lucky the entire ship hadn't simply exploded. Of course, the death count had climbed into the dozens and Garn remembered his conversation with Escher, who said you couldn't take a risk if it meant people would die. No one onboard the Manticore would have died had they simply used the subspace corridor. Hindsight was twenty-twenty, though, and Garn finished his report regarding engineering systems and forwarded it to Operations, Commander Farrington and Captain Sovak. Garn's opinions regarding what they 'should' have done would remain silent. Too many people had died to point fingers any more. It was a time to reflect, mourn and move on. This was simply the Manticore way. As for the moment, Garnoopy went back to studying the new systems onboard. Soon there would be a new influx of bright faces filled with hope. Just how many would end up dead was the question.
  4. I believe the original question was has anyone switched from PC to Mac and survived... that would be me. I was a die hard Dell fan who would tell anyone to buy Dell whenever they got the chance cause of the excellent customer support. I still believe that. However, after 2 years of beating the heck out of my laptop using it 8+ hours a day in school, it died on me... and Dell (great company) sent me a brand new laptop. I sold that laptop on ebay and bought a mac. People now ask why I rave about Mac's... They simply work. That's the big difference. The way you think it should be, it is. The way you think it should act, it does. Compatibility? No lies, I have issues. My former work and current work both have websites that require IE to run which I cannot get on mac. I use parallels and Windows XP. This is a 4GB program to simply surf my work website, but, it works. Shockingly, running XP on my MacBook as a program while still having my OS X running works better than it used to on my state of the art PC. If I have computer games I want to play, I use them in Parallels. Now, keep in mind... I am not a die hard gamer. I use my computer for internet, pictures, videos, chatting, and general word processing. Sometimes I do some video editing, but mac software is better for that. I do NOT use my computer for hardcore gaming. I have no idea how mac's fare in that field as the only game I play is Monday night at 10 PM. Microsoft Office works great. I use that. So, never had any problems with any office documents. I find Mac's easier to use and make more sense. I could go on and on and on about all the amazing things I've discovered how to do on my mac I couldn't do on my PC. Don't get me wrong, I like PC's... but mac's just seem friendlier to me. Again... it comes down to this. I've always known something is my best option when I don't think about it. When it just works. When I never complain about it. I always was working my way through issues on a PC... but never on a mac. It just works. I would suggest you go hang out with someone who owns a mac and ask them to show things to you. Play with it. Maybe if they are a really good friend... borrow it for a day or two and see what you think. (Make sure they show you how it works first! Lol). Hands on experience is much better than anything anyone can tell you.
  5. Lieutenant Commander Garnoopy Chief Engineering Officer USS Manticore, NCC-5852 Stardate 50809.19 “Tick, Tock” So rhythmic. The clock counted off the seconds marching into the future. The one unstoppable force in the galaxy: the future. Garn sat on the floor of the shuttle with his back to the wall. Eyes closed but unable to sleep. There was an eerie silence that had passed over the crew. Each one sat with their own thoughts wondering what was next. Tick, tock. He wondered how much time had passed. Minutes, hours, days could have gone by. It would have all been the same. This crew had been through so much together. Time had passed and they had gone on. He couldn’t remember how many lives had been lost. And now two more may be gone. Ensign Redshirt and Lieutenant Rowan may be gone for good. Their lives given up for no reason. Tick, tock. Each beat the clock made pushed them into the future. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. What had Atragon expected? Here they were again on a planet they couldn’t scan with limited power supplies. Now two people may be dead. He had wondered before what would become of these orders to explore this planet. He had protested, loudly, that death and heartache would be their only discovery. A wash of sadness was seeping into his skin as he realized his prediction was coming true. No one had heeded his warnings. Why wouldn’t they listen? Tick, tock. Home wasn’t any treat either. Romulans, Borg and half a dozen other hostile species. But at least there they knew what they were up against. Here was a place that was a pure example of the unknown. Unfortunately, the unknown was biting back and it was winning. Now more lives might be lost as they went out searching in the morning for the two missing crew members. They were venturing into the unknown again. Despite what careful protection measures there was no guarantee any of them would come out alive. Tick, tock. At what point did they draw the line. The measure of a mission can’t always be taken in lives lost verses information gained. At some point you have to say any life lost isn’t worth the information. How far were they going to go? Their grave was growing larger and if not careful they might all end up climbing in. Death was just around the bend and they were rounding it quickly. The clock went tick, tock.
  6. Lieutenant Commander Garnoopy Chief Engineering Officer USS Manticore, NCC-5952 Stardate 50806.19 “Absolute Wrongs, Absolute Rights” The padd made a clattering as it landed on top of the desk. Garn stood up and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. The data contained in the padd was infuriating, it all was infuriating. There was a time in his life when his enemy was obvious. Fight the Romulans, fight the Cardassians, fight the Borg, fight Atragon. But not anymore, oh no, now the lines had been blurred. Gray was becoming the new most prominent shade of their lives. In the vast empire that we call the Federation, and it is an empire, there are obviously people who wish to do others harm. It is human nature, greed and power eat at the soul and cause it to bend the morals that we as ‘advanced’ creatures claim to abide by. Of course none of this helped the anger boiling up in Garn. He was tired of dealing with people who stepped out of line. People who thought that they knew better than everyone else. Death, destruction, when had it become so commonplace in his life that he no longer was surprised by it? The notion that the Federation may have been behind possibly hundreds of meaningless deaths hadn’t even shocked Garn. That was what was bothering him. When he had seen the data that showed Federation weapon signatures he had cataloged the data in his brain and moved on, not even giving it a second thought that the all mighty Federation might be behind this. His hand swept across the desk, sending a dozen padds flying to the floor with a loud crash. He sat down and closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair. Whatever was going on here probably has a reason, but that probably doesn’t justify what may have been done on this planet. There comes a day when there is an absolute wrong and an absolute right, but those days almost always come with body counts. An empire as large as the Federation has to be able to deal with the gray areas that come almost every other day. That was the task of the Manticore though, deal with these gray issues. Garn sat straighter and opened his eyes. A thought had occurred to him. If this was a gray issue, and the Federation had done it, then why wouldn’t they tell their gray ship? Why would they let us fly around and possibly discover it was the Federation? Something was very wrong here, but the question was what?
  7. Lieutenant Commander Garnoopy Chief of Engineering, USS Manticore Stardate 50805.17 “What in the…?” The sunlight was so bright Garnoopy could hardly see around the field. He brought his hand to his head in an attempt to shield some of the light but it didn’t prove to be all that effective. Blinking rapidly, his pupil quickly shrunk, attempting to decrease the amount of light being reflected to his cones and rods. A push came from behind and he stumbled forward, nearly falling face first into the tall grass. After quickly righting himself he turned around, only to see a cow looking at him. “Moooooooo” went the cow and Garn’s mouth fell open, unbelieving of what he was seeing. “What,” Garn stuttered, “What is going on?” The cow simply took a bite of grass, then turned and wandered away from Garn. Garn let out a sigh, then, as his eyes were adjusting, looked around the wide open green field. A lone tree stood only a few hundred feet away in the distance. Muttering to himself about how strange this situation seemed to be, Garn began to walk towards it. Something began to happen though. With each step towards the tree things began to change. The grass began to turn brown. The leaves on the tree began to change shades. The cow began to shrink, as if it was losing weight. Shades of dark gray began to color the sky instead of the crystal blue that had been before. His hair ruffled as the wind picked up. A bolt of lightning crashed to the ground and Garn jumped, startled by the blinding light and the earth rattling explosion of sound waves all around him. Garn turned, looking around with wide eyes at the changing scene. The cow stood off in the distance, shriveled and nasty looking, with bright red eyes that cut through the rapidly darkening light. With their own will Garn’s feet began to pick up pace, moving into a jog, then a run towards the tree, towards safety as the rolling in clouds began to splatter droplets across his face. Arriving at the tree Garn put his back to it and looked out the menacing world that surrounded him. The wind tore at the branches, tore at his clothes, and attempted to push him away from what little safety he could find. What change had occurred that this idyllic scene had become a place from hell? There was no warning and Garn hung on for dear life as the sky attempted to tear him from the tree and into the open field where mother nature was baring her wrath. A crack sounded above his head and Garn looked up, only to see the tree split into two. It began to fall, towards him, and he stepped forward, attempting to get out of its way. The weight pressed against his upper body, forcing him to stumbled back onto the ground. It came down on him. He sucked in some air, realizing the inevitable, and suddenly… Garn sat up, soaked in sweat, breathing hard, “Computer, lights!” The room became illuminated and he realized he was in his quarters onboard the Manticore. But something was wrong. Something had changed. Something was coming. But what?
  8. Dell is an excellent company. If for no other reason than the support, go with Dell. My comp got the blue screen of death three weeks ago - they overnighted new RAM and a new hard drive. When that didn't fix it, the next day a technician came out and replaced the motherboard. When that didn't work, they mailed me a new computer, upgraded to their current equipment. I promptly sold it and bought a mac book, however, I still have high respect for Dell's tech support office. So far this MacBook has been the best buy I've ever done. It runs wayyyy better than any PC I've ever used. Looks nicer just works, well, the way a computer should. However, I do agree mac's are expensive. This is the MacBook with only a 13" screen. Now, I wanted the smallest full sized keyboard computer I could find since I carry mind everywhere, so, this computer is perfect for what I do. I have an external monitor when I'm at home. It wasn't badly priced with a student discount which is easy enough to get. I'd recommend Dell or a MacBook.
  9. You could always name your computer "Deep Thought" - after the computer in the Hitchikers Guide that gave you the answer to life, the universe, and everything.
  10. I just this week purchased a MacBook after my formally trusty Dell Latitude D610 went to blue screen heaven. Having become fed up with Windows and noting that I can still run windows on a mac (should I be insane) I decided to go with the new Mac. The computer asked for a name, and as usual, I just put my first name in. However, I have an external hard drive and it got me to thinking, do you give names to your computers and hard drives? I used to have a friend who called his external hard drive Hal 9000. Other people have called their computer with names, giving them personalities that suit them. Do you name your computers and if so, what and why?
  11. Good, you needed it! :P
  12. Actually, that's nothing. Two years ago I drove from Chicago, IL to Las Vegas. That was a 24 hour non-stop drive in a 38 MPG Honda Civic with two other people. Now, this seems insane (yes... it was... and I will never do it again...) but the trip only cost each person around $50 to go there and back. Then we split the hotel (we stayed at the Klondike... not bad really and right next to the "Welcome to Vegas" sign) which was $60 a night. Souvenirs constituted lots of pictures. So, the budget broke down to: Travel: $50 Hotel: $60 total Meals: Up to you... ST Experience: $50 Souvenirs: Way too many pictures Total: $160 + Meals We spent the weekend at the MGM with everyone else, walked around Vegas, paid for the ST Experience (which was $50... my only treat for the weekend) and had a blast. The trip was around $300 total per person and we had a blast. My point is, you can do this for cheap, the question becomes how much you're willing to sacrifice. I personally will never drive that far again for just a weekend, the extra cost of a flight is justifiable, but, you can do it and we still had a blast. The drive was part of the adventure, I've never seen so much of the US in one sitting.
  13. I'm with you Dac. Society has become a bit to germaphobic. Being exposed to germs is a way of building up your immune system. Weight trainers are a prime example, they purposely create tears in their muscle by lifting heavier weights than they should so it'll grow back stronger. Germs are the same way, you're exposed to stuff you're not used to and your immune system comes out stronger. We're not talking about getting cancer from a keyboard, we're talking about a possible cold. My desk gets cleaned once a week. Otherwise, I call it "organized chaos." You know those pictures of stacks of papers at least 6 inches tall? I usually have one of those. It's scary.
  14. I just was in Best Buy the other day and some some interesting trek sets I had never seen before, they were labeled like "Star Trek Klingons" or "Star Trek Borg" or "Q" or "Tme Travel" and contained like, 90% of the episodes regarding each of those topics in the sets. It looked kinda cool.
  15. Happy bday babe!