Garnoopy

Some of my favorite quotes come from listening to ATC (Air Traffic Controlers). ATC operators are the people that make sure planes taxi, take off, and land without coming into conflict with other aircraft. One of my favorite things to do while at AirVenture is to sit on the side of the runway with a handheld and listen to the ATC operators work, they are amazing people. Oshkosh, WI is the busiest airport in the world for one week starting this Monday. I have a particular fondness for some of the quotes I've heard over Chicago O'Hare International's frequencies by the ATC operators. Below are some of my favorites that were actually transmitted. "Air Force one, I told you to expedite." "DAL1176, say speed." "DAL1176, we slowed it down to two-twenty." "DAL1176 pick it back up to two-fifty...this ain't Atlanta, and them ain't grits on the ground." "Air Force Four-Five, it appears your engine has...oh, disregard...I see you've already ejected." "If you want more room Captain, push your seat back." "Sure you can have eight miles behind the heavy...there'll be a United tri-jet between you and him." "Approach UAL525 what's this aircraft doing at my altitude?" "UAL525, what makes you think it's YOUR altitude, Captain?"

I wondered what you were talking about. ::chuckles:: As the book came out this weekend (I think), I would like to see a picture of Harry Potter, but not in english.

It took a little work, and a little searching, (I had no idea that he was in any western), but I found it. Although I do admit it's a bit blurry, he's on the far right in a white cowboy hat. Lesse, something I'm interested in... how about a picture of the new double decker Airbus (the specific name escapes me, I'd have to look it up which would defy the point of having someone else look it up ;) ).

Perfect! You can even see my plane and tent. Can anyone guess which one? ;)

Mayon Volcano, 1999 Since in less than two weeks I'll be flying up in Oshkosh, WI, I would love to see a picture of the North 40 where I'll be camping.

NASA TV has been broadcasting images of the shuttle all day; unfortunately, it appears that we will not get to watch the liftoff of Discovery. Following is the press release I found on their web page. Post-Scrub Press Briefing NASA managers are currently meeting to evaluate the sensor issue. More information will be released at a press conference scheduled for no earlier than 4:30 p.m. EDT this afternoon from Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The press conference will be broadcast on NASA TV. Today's Return to Flight launch of Space Shuttle Discovery has been postponed due to an issue with a low-level fuel cutoff sensor onboard the vehicle. The sensor protects an orbiter's main engines by triggering them to shut down in the event fuel runs unexpectedly low.

It's interesting that you mention that, because one of those showed up at SLW.

Ohh, and bonus points to those cities with good seafood.

Lieutenant Commander Garnoopy Chief Engineering Officer USS Manticore, NCC-5852 Personal Log Stardate 50506.22 “Back and Forth, Over and Over” The carpet seemed to groan under Garnoopy as he paced back and forth in this private room. The infirmary was large enough on this station to allow that luxury; on the Manticore it would have been much more open. Step, step, step, step, turn, step, step, step, step, turn, and so forth. Back and forth. Over and over again. “Computer, identify and define the human brain stem.” “The brain stem is the stalk of the brain below the cerebral hemispheres. It is the major route for communication between the forebrain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves.” He frowned, remembering that bit of information from the anatomy classes he had taken years ago at the academy. Physiology had never been a strong point, tending to lean more towards advanced warp theory. From what he did remember though, the brain stem was, like the brain, a still largely unknown human organ. Repairing it was almost an unheard of procedure. Since no one knew how it functioned, trying to locate the specific origin of damage was nearly impossible. Back and forth, he paced, thinking. “So, my brain stem is damaged” he said to the empty room. “Dr. Mele doesn’t know how to fix it, but he will. That’s for sure. Mele has something like 300 years of life behind him, surely in that time he’s learned something that will help me. Of course he has. He’s just trying to sort through all of those confusing memories, so many lifetimes after all.” This went on for quite some time. The notion that the damage to his brain stem was permanent, well, that thought never occurred to him. When it attempted to surface it was quickly squashed by the knowledge that the medical staff would simply solve the problem, it would just take a little time. The pacing continued for a good hour while Garn tried to burn off the energy that was pumping through him. Being cooped up with little mental or physical activity was getting to him and the itchy feeling that he had to get out was beginning to burn through his body. Where could he go though? Without being able to discern the difference from the emergency warp core ejection systems and a common replicator there was little he could do without help. Help was the last thing he wanted though. Independence was a commodity that one rarely wants to give up after having lived with it an entire lifetime. Back and forth. Over and over. He just kept walking back and forth, over and over.

To quote Huff, "speak for yourself." I just got my pictures back. ::grin::

I also plead the 5th to this. However, when I got home (2 hours ago) and counted the rolls of film, I realized I have 7 of them. I have no clue how I managed to take 7 rolls of film, amounting to 168 pictures, but I dearsay that those will remain classified for the rest of my life considering what shocking photo's could possibly be contained within. As for the clearence though, if you remember Atragon, there were quite a few other things on clearence. A lot of the stuffed animals were like $7, marked down from $20.

Happy Bday!

I would have to vote for Sovak.

61% General Grievous 53% Clone Trouper 53% Yoda 53% Chewbaca 50% Emperor Palpatine 44% Mace Windu 44% Obi Wan Kenobi 42% Anikin Skywalker 42% C-3PO 39% R2-D2 36% Padme Amidala 36% Darth Vader

::thwaps Vanroy::

So do I. Gotta practice your aim with a phaser, right?

Yeah, I need something more portable since my laptop will be for on-the-go work. I, unfortunetly, need something that is top of the line for some advanced software I will be running in the next few months. Thanks for the info.

It's interesting you've just bought this kind of laptop Fred, I was considering getting the Inspiron 6000 for a while until the new Latitude D810 came out that has caught my eye. (I need a new laptop within the next two months). What do you think of the 6000? It seemed a little bulky to me but I haven't handled one so I wasn't sure. How heavy does it seem?

Although I never have hidden my livid interest in Trek, I don't use it as a first liner for meeting people, can you imagine? "Hi, my name is Bob." "My name is Garn, and I'm an obsessive trekkie. Qa'pla!" Although I have recieved many of what I would describe as "are you crazy?" looks when people have found out I'm a trekkie, I've never had anyone who ever would have guessed or attempted to poke fun at this fact of my life. I suppose the rest of my life is just funnier in itself. I do agree with Fred, although my 100+ WPM typing skills came from way back when in an early elementary class that decided typing would be offered for one semester. Not only did I pass up my fellow students, I completed the typing program twice and left the teacher scrambling for something for me to do. Actually, in all honesty, I've found most people are highly entertained and love the fact that I'm a trekkie. When a Haloween party comes around in whcih I haven't met anyone before, lemme tell you, my comm badge that actually makes noise is highly entertaining to everyone else. I've won many prizes for "most realistic" or "most entertaining" costume as people go around through the evening tapping my chest. ;)

Happy bday Fred!

Happy bday!

Happy bday y'alls!

Lieutenant Commander Garnoopy Chief Engineering Officer USS Manticore, NCC-5852 Personal Log Stardate 50503.11 “A Few Feet” It’s the classics that make you chuckle. Sitting on screen is a reportedly Starfleet vessel ship that is now currently acting under the principles of a ‘hired gun’. The captain has gone astray to whatever political adversity or private entrepreneur that has managed to pull the latinum to fund his quest to plunge the Federation into a war. The only question I suppose to ask is how many sticks, strips, slips, or bars he’s being paid. He’s a Starfleet officer. Duty and honor are supposed to be listed at the top of his resume yet here he is firing on ships that cannot possible defend themselves against his arsenal of weaponry. Instead of defending the Federation in legitimate terms as we state by our moral codes he has turned to undercover scheming. Why? Does he think he’s right? At what point do we break and realize that the Federation cannot be maintained nor protected by our so-called ‘moral’ procedures that dictate we use politics and ambassadors to ensure we never go head to head. He has gone to using methods that are not approved of for attaining the safety of his Federation. Yet our ship transverses the quadrant searching out threats to the Federation and eliminating them in less than conventional methods. At what point did this captain cross from the line of so called legitimate behind the scenes protection of the Federation to turning into a hired gun who on the basis of his intent to save his land and country turned to what we now call illegal? As illegitimate as we would be seen if our ship was to decloak to the revealed eyes of the fleet of Federation captains sitting at Wolf 359 do we even have the right to state that this man has crossed the line? If we believed that the only way to ensure the safety of that sacred Federation we so readily jump to arms to protect was to hurdle it into the thorn bushes of the enemy would we do it? And if so, how would the rest of the Federation fleet look upon our ship? Most likely as the ship with a crew that didn’t know when to quit. A crew that didn’t realize that the consequences were too high. That is the difference between the Manticore and that captain sitting out there. Our crew knows that there is a line that cannot be crossed. We must always remember that we only stand a few feet from stepping from protecting the Federation to attacking it.

Actually, the episode "Message in a Bottle", episode 181, Season 4, contained two Defiant class starships and one Akira class starship. If you check the ship that could be confused at Norway you will note a rounded saucer section which is not characteristic of the Norway class vessel. The Norway class was not featured in Voyager unless it is somewhere among the mix featured in "Endgame".

Lieutenant Commander Garnoopy Chief Engineering Officer USS Manticore, NCC-5852 Personal Log Stardate 50501.09 “Phase Cloak” =/\= STARFLEET DATABASE =/\= CLASSIFIED Item: Phase Cloak, PC Status: Field Testing Purpose: To alter a ships atomical structure allowing it to be undetectable and pass through normal matter in space. Current Location: USS Manticore, NCC-5852 Current Developer: Engineering Department, Headed by Lieutenant Commander Garnoopy History: In violation of the Treaty of Algeron, set in 2311 between the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire, a group of Federation engineers began developing a cloak in a top-secret research facility. However, it was not enough for it to simply cloak a ship for they might risk the Romulan Empire discovering the Federation’s misdeeds. The cloak had to be completely impenetrable. Engineers at the research facility believed it possible to alter the atomic structure of a starship such that it could pass through normal matter, giving it the ability to not only be undetectable by any form of sensor but to be able to pass through torpedoes, ships, and even hide in the center of a planet where conventional weapons could not reach. After developing a prototype the Federation Counsel approved its testing onboard the USS Pegasus, a Galaxy class starship. After a mutiny and a cloaking failure the Pegasus was lost with most of its crew. The Counsel decided to abandon the project due to the high risk of discovery by the Romulan Empire. Black Ops took a different route, salvaging the project and putting it to use. The project was then set onboard a black ops ship to be studied, repaired, and put into use. The USS Manticore was selected for the assignment of repairing the PC and developing it for shipboard use. Technical Details: The PC draws power directly from the plasma transfer conduits leading from the warp core. The plasma is then routed directly into the primary EPS systems in the PC. The plasma does not undergo any temperature change when entering the conduits. This has required that the EPS relays be reinforced to handle the additional stress. Once the PC has the plasma its systems activate and a special computer operating system handles the cloaking device. Traditional operating systems were unable to handle the unique nature of the PC. After being activated the PC creates a field layer by running the energy through a special chip. The layers expand rapidly to encompass the ship. Once encompassed the PC alters the atomic structure every so slightly and the ship is effectively phase cloaked. The limitations of the device are numerous. Speed and power are both limited during the cloaking stage due to the plasma requirements of the cloak. Weapons are useless in firing against any enemy. The full limitations created by the PC are unknown at this time. However the benefits do exceed the shortcomings. Once cloaked a ship can fly right through other vessels, torpedoes, weapons fires, sensors, planets, and any other object of matter in space. Field Testing Notes made by Chief Engineer, USS Pegasus, The PC has been successfully integrated with our systems and we have completed all diagnostics to ensure that the systems work. To prevent possible sabotage from crewmembers who are against us violating the Treaty of Algeron the PC has been carefully secured in a section of engineering with around the clock protection. Concern over the possible overheating of plasma into the PC systems has been expressed which might cause the system to fail, however, our simulations and diagnostics show all systems can handle the additional temperature stress. Testing will proceed on schedule. Note: No further entries were made by the chief engineer due to the PC failure and destruction of the USS Pegasus. Field Testing Notes made by Lieutenant Commander Garnoopy, USS Manticore: After receiving the device it was set in a secure lab to be repaired. Several months of modifications followed by several months of testing have ensued at the hands of the Manticore’s top engineers. With further study I noted it was required to upgrade several of the systems to handle the immense power flow from the plasma. These modifications were made. A vacant lab test was successful however a failed test ensued next which resulted in the temporary insanity of an engineer onboard the Manticore. It was discovered the atomic shift of matter wasn’t in sync and modifications were made to prevent this. A follow up test with modifications did not reveal the same atomic problems. Several months of final adjustments, modifications, and diagnostics have shown the PC is ready for testing on a live vessel with a live crew. The PC has been installed on a shuttle and is awaiting the final field tests. Project Status: 49604.05 – Project Proposed to Starfleet 49605.15 – Project Approval 49708.24 – Testing of PC Failed 49801.05 – Testing of PC Succeeded 49803.26 – Starfleet Approval for Field Testing, USS Pegasus selected 49902.21 – PC Failure Onboard USS Pegasus 49903.01 – Project Abandoned by Starfleet 49907.05 – Black Ops General Counsel Salvages PC Components 49909.22 – PC Shelved 50201.06 – Black Ops General Counsel renews interest in PC 50307.10 – USS Manticore receives PC for development 50404.19 – Testing of PC Succeeded 50404.25 – Testing of PC Failed 50405.15 – Modifications to PC made 50405.29 – Testing of PC Succeeded 50412.04 – Modifications to PC completed 50501.03 – PC Installed on shuttle for test