Sam_SemaJ

"Laid Up - Fed Up (Part II)" Personal Log - S.K. Sema'J SD 10809.16 <begin> Sam had time to think while he lay there under the skeletal regenerator. But he was sick of thinking...he was ready for acting. The situation he found himself in just wasn't good. He was chief of a department that besides not peaking his interest 100% had him at a disadvantage to his seemingly maverick staff. Thankfully they were all good team players and this problem wasn't causing many problems outside Sam's own worries. But this wasn't the only thing vexing him. The physical demands of his post, always running around fixing and maintaining things, required physical endurance and agility. Because of his injury almost a year ago, he did not exactly have an abundance of these things. The job was keeping him from gaining any kind of upper hand with physical therapy, both because the hard labor was counteractive to his healing, and his schedule did not leave room for the therapy anyway. He had been over this with Dr. Tynte a few times. Ty had tried to convince him to work with him to adapt a program around Sam's work...but Sam was convinced it just couldn't be done. So he was at the alternative. Sam could no longer maintain his post as Chief Engineer and simultaneously maintain his physical and mental health. And because he felt this way, he was currently writing a letter to his mother. This letter was not from a son, it was from a colleague. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Sam, of course sought sympathy, advice and caring from his mother, but he also sought a recommendation. Sam's mother was Dr. Anna Griggs-Sema'J, professor of psychology at Starfleet Academy. He had studied with her and her department colleagues at the academy to receive a minor in Psychology. This was to supplement his main focus, helm/navigation studies. It had started as a side interest, really. A slight interest in his mother's work, and an opportunity to have something stable under his helm certification and broaden his posting opportunities. Sam had decided to pursue it more, though, completing all of the coursework while on active duty on Arcadia, then on his medical leave to become fully certified...and with his mother's recommendation and his misgivings about his current post, it was time for all that work to come in handy. Once Sam received confirmation that the recommendation was in his file, he filed a formal transfer request to Captain Lo'Ami and Commander Alces. This of course was not attended to until the situation on Nevulez was settled and Arcadia was on it's way out of that confused system. The ship now had some downtime, and Lt. Sema'J was asked in to see his commanding officers. He plainly explained how he felt about his situation, he offered notes from Dr. Tynte about the necessity and conditions of his physical therapy, and the recommendation from Dr. Griggs-Sema'J about his professional qualifications for the position he now desired. Sam also spoke of his observations about Lt. Black from his engineering team. He had been putting her into the "fire" increasingly in the last couple missions, partly because it allowed for less strain on his condition, but it also allowed him to see her in action. Sam observed her to have high academic qualification, keen senses, even keener sensibilities, and a certain spunk that he could see effectively rounding a staff together. Sam reported this all to the Captain and Commander, and to his satisfaction (and relief) they granted him the position of Ship's Counselor. He was somewhat excited to have this "department" to himself. It had kind of been passed around the medical staff for a while and he knew how much the crew could benefit from having a dedicated crewman to see to those matters. Sam now had a month to cozy into a new office and then it was a whole new terrain. Sam's mood almost immediately lifted to the dissatisfaction he had been feeling to a curious optimism for what was now in store for him...this was of course until Lt. Samantha Kent walked into his office... <end>

<<this log gets placed a few sims back, when I was in sickbay (oh, which time, sam?) getting my broken ankle repaired>> "Laid Up....Fed Up" Personal Log - S.K. Sema'J SD 10809.03 <begin> Sam lay on the bio bed, his leg in the bone regeneration device...this was what...hour...3? He didn't care, the snide desire to count his time there had passed. So had his usefulness apparently. The expectation was to provide expert leadership for the crew in the area of engineering...he couldn't even do so in the area of walking. And here's the funny part...this time it wasn't even because of his neural lapse point...he had just fallen...how lame...like that pun. He was not cut out to be galavanting about fixing this and that, analyzing that thing over there, predicting the outcome of this such modification...well maybe that one he was good at. Because it involved him just focusing, by himself, on an abstract concept. Like flying...he didn't have to rely on other people, or figure out how to work with them...he had to focus on his own abilities and perceptions, and find his own way from point A to point B. And he usually got to do this from the comforts of his own chair, not a bad thing by any measure. A bit funny that trying to fit himself into the engineering groove had just ended him up by himself anyway. That's ok...it gave him time to think. Time to think about the political ravings happening around him. He didn't really like political to-do...but it seemed he couldn't get away from it, with axrekrav, and now this. But there were grey areas and clear areas...a grey area was what business the federation had accepting an invitation to mediate planetary land rights...moreso to curb the threat of annihilation. It made Sam's skin crawl, just the thought of being given such power of decision, and the federation clearly had laws...one law, that said Arcadia probably shouldn't be placed there. But the Prime Directive doesn't always jive with rightness does it? There had to be a right solution to this problem without one race blowing it's enemy off the face of the Nevulez. The question was whether the Federation, a neutral bystander with a desire for peace, should be held for that "right" conclusion. This was all making Sam woozy. As soon as he got off this blasted thing, it was straight to the bridge, to find out what had come to pass since he (once again) got knocked out of the loop...and more importantly, he desperately needed to know the captain's thoughts on all this. <end>

Are you talking about New Horizons being convincingly good enough to get corporate sponsorship?

alrighty. so you're serving this fun drink in sim, but did you actually in real life start a small business brewing a root beer? cause that's pretty sweet.

time for a change... "Just a nice guy with poor balance" thanks webbie

Plane Pilot: Alright, Landing Gear is out, we're ready Chopper Pilot: Copy, releasing tow cable now.

"Doubt" Personal Log - S.K. Sema'J SD 10807.09 <begin> Sam Sema'J caned his way out of sick bay. He neglected to shake his head in frustration because he was carefully watching where he was going. But the frustration existed no matter how much he showed it. Working with the ships computer core seemed to not be a very rigorous exercise. It had had a small fault while manipulating the specifications for the laser drill, now sitting half constructed in an engineering lab. Sam had stood on a ledge, maintaining his balance fairly well he thought, while he rewrote a subroutine using a console that he thought was very inconspicuously placed. Unfortunately, all the fancy lights in the core tripped up on his faulty visual acuity, causing him to lose his balance and fall. Thus proving that even boring computer work was too difficult a task for him. Sam again resisted the urge to shake his head as he arrived at main engineering. He went into his office and sat down at his desk. While flipping through padds and filing them on a storage shelf, one caught his eye, at the back of the shelf. It was his personnel file, stored on a pad for quick reference with those of the other staff members. He pulled it out and scrolled down to his certifications and specialties. The first, and least on the list was his engineering certification. He was not an outstanding or experienced officer in this field, he had simply passed all his qualifying exams before returning from medical leave. Below this certification were the things he actually excelled at (and maybe even cared about more). His extensive experience in piloting, having specialized in this at the academy *after* having considerable education and experience in the area before even joining Starfleet. Additionally was his extensive education in psychology, a field which he had pursued quite actively all through the different stages of his starfleet service. Sam looked at this. It was just kind of a side interest he'd decided to study, and had ended up going quite far with...but he was particularly intrigued by it, despite having always focused mainly on being a pilot. Sam took the opportunity to shake his head while sitting down. "Chief Engineer", he scoffed. He felt he had been thrust into this position in a 'right place right time' sort of way. Not only did he feel somewhat unqualified, its high activity level was keeping him from completing the healing process from his injuries. Sam would never think of betraying his responsibility to the crew in his capacity as a department head, but he was really starting to doubt if it was the right place for him. Sam sighed as he pushed himself up and made his way, slowly, into main engineering to see what needed tending to. <end>

Oops...sorry. Refer to the last part of that post. I just checked out this topic and didn't even remember that I had posted in it...maybe I was even drunk last time....

Hola! Acad sims where nothing happens are invaluable! They teach you how to keep yourself busy. When you are on an advanced sim, you will run into this constantly. Think about a star trek episode. Let's say our episode's plot mainly deals with engineering. It's possible that you will not see any of the medical staff for the entire episode. Or...its possible that in between the engineering cuts, we will see the CMO in ten forward talking with someone about personal issues. the CMO is not accomplishing anything, but the viewer is learning about that character. Sims or "real time" is even worse...because while the eng staff is accomplishing something, the med staff and sci staff and bridge staff are all still sitting there. They have to keep themselves busy, either with mundane department stuff, or with personal development. This is where the "Soap" stuff happens. Also, rest assured, you won't encounter as much death in the advanced sims. NPC's die once in a while. But (as you can read in a few topics buried in this forum), the death of an actual character involves tons of work and great care. Afterall, you are ending something you have spent a great deal of time creating and growing. Death in the academies does not matter because the character only really exists for that one hour, self contained plot. So if the GM is just observing players simming abilities and not concerned with the plot...why not end with a bang? Glad to have you back!!

Hi There, Glad to have you with us! It's not really about who you are. It's more about how you write your character. We all must realize that we are RL people with important real lives and cannot get wrapped up into an imagined world. As for your character, As Grom said, a GM will have to approve it before allowing you to be part of one of our advanced sim crews. You can refuse to change your bio, but that may result in not being given a position. Your story is a very interesting one, and it may indeed be agreed that you absolutely do not play your character with any Q abilities in sim, and simply explore the Q side in your own writings and back logs. But I would hesitate to be so adamant about your character writing at this point. A lot of people come here with ideas of themselves in the Star Trek universe already established (myself included). But I, and I think a lot of people, would recommend simply playing the academy games as your john/jane doe human character and learning your way around, and then taking it to the next level when you've graduated. All that said, welcome! Hope to see you around, we're truly glad you're here!

Brian, this may be an opportune time to jump in...

"Burned Out" Personal Log - S.K. Sema'J SD 10806.08 <begin> Sam trudged into his quarters, drained. He usually had a three step plan for after rough shifts... 1. Uniform off 2. Sonic Shower 3. Sleep He was thankful that he was able to sleep when he wanted to. Months of therapy with an Alpha Wave Generator had helped him develop the ability to get into bed and fall asleep, curing the insomnia problems that had haunted him following his wife's death. His last shift had been rough, to say the least. But he didn't feel like tucking in tonight, something was irking him. He walked over to his desk, sat down, and slid the chair back to put his forehead right on the edge of the desk. This was Sam's way of quieting his mind. It not only allowed him to relax his body, it allowed him to keep his eyes open (keeping thoughts out) and stare at the floor (keeping distractions out). He had been shipboard for months now since returning from medical leave. Starfleet obviously considered him fit for duty, or they would not have sent him back to Arcadia. But he felt his condition was worsening, his activity was limited, everyday functions caused him physical and mental strain...it was, if anything, extremely aggravating. Equally as aggravating was his relationship with his engineering staff. He didn't mind them personally. Archie was quite a jumpy and anxious young officer, but who could really find that as a fault? Sam knew he had left a mark when he snapped in sickbay, and planned to address his outburst during the next shift. Jordan was easy to get along with, a little snarky, but Sam liked that. And she was a talented engineer, as was Archie....and therein lay the problem. Sam had come back as an engineer because it was closest to his former post, which had been filled. Oh yeah, and there was that little bit about being flight grounded. Though he was qualified, his *expertise* in the broad field of starship engineering lay in the very narrow area of piloting and navigation. Because of a staffing fluke, Sam had been dropped into the position of engineering chief. Not that he minded being trusted with a leadership position...he just felt that he was the least qualified and talented engineer in the entire department. If this complex mission had shown anything...it was the exemplary skills of the other engineers. Sam picked his head up from the desk and shook away negative feelings. It was truly time for sleep, he had to go back and play his part as fearless leader for the next shift. Hopefully there wouldn't be any conundrums this shift that would clearly display the balance of knowledge that was *not* in his favor. He shook away the negative thought again and then carefully stood. As he slowly made his way to his bed he sighed...his condition was clearly in dire straights, he wanted make a dirty sarcastic look at the fact that it was so difficult for him to move around...but that probably would have made him dizzy. <end>

....You browse your star trek forum on your computer while having a star trek episode playing in a different window behind your browser, listening to the audio but not needing to watch because you've seen that one enough times. Man this is hilarious. I do all this stuff. I've sent email from my character email address by accident before. I totally drive a shuttle craft. The dashboard in my girlfriend's car on the passenger side is shaped JUST like a console, it's great. I also struggle with my devotion to Stargate. So I think it's pretty clear that we're all die hard trekkies.

Adam West is the bomb. Both in real life and on Family Guy

Aw man! who's 42?!

So...I don't really know what's going on here, since Galen changed his original post to "*"...but I figure that it's a survey. so I'll play along. Favorite Non-Trek Television Show: OMG hard question...I really love Stargate...Law and Order is great...CSI Favorite Non-Trek Movie: The Hunt for Red October Favorite Book: H2G2 for SURE! Favorite Actor: Morgan Freeman, Richard Dryfuss....Liam Neeson Favorite Actress: I guess I don't really have one... Favorite Musician: (I copied this list from Marx' and want to talk to him about Glenn Miller...bah!) Um...Reich, Glass, Saariaho, Madeski/Martin/Wood, Scofield, Metheny, Cage, Beethoven, Hovhanness, Saint-Saens, Resphigi, Bartok, Buxtehude, Brubeck, Penderecki, Ligeti, Schneider (Maria), Messiaen, Coleman...Ok, I'm getting carried away. Favorite Food: Meatloaf...mmm (or steak) Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Favorite Hero: Don't really like hero/comic stuff Favorite Politician, Journalist, or Activist: Jonathan Kozol Favorite Quote: "Don't try to be a great man...." you know the rest. Favorite Occupation: Favorite Job? people like jobs? Favorite Car: 67 Shelby GT 500 Favorite Vacation Spot: Carolina Coast Favorite Academic Subject: Music (had you guessed that?) Favorite Quirky Interests: I dunno. I'm quirky Who would you most like to meet? John Cage

haha. what a funny topic. So what IS the number 6 reference?? Is it something like Javert always calling Jean Valjean "24601", i.e. prisoner numbers or something like that.

Lo'Ami's point about imagination is a VERY valid one. What we do now is write essentially a play or movie script in realtime, the changes are completely fluid. When we're just talking about it, that is completely doable. The limitations of a preordained set and characters limits that significantly. I also think that the amount of time and dedication required to set up such an elaborate experience might be beyond a lot of people in our community (technological barriers notwithstanding!!!). I think a consideration like this may be best saved till we see how technology, and people's online lifestyles change.

so remember that short little annoying voiced kid type character from TOS? He's Ron Howards brother. Has a cameo in all movies directed by Ron Howard. Cool Hey?

So...I was going to say Janeway. Something about how she never fails to do the right thing and such. But then I was reminded of Troi's command training, her last exercise involved sacrificing the life of a crew member for the best outcome. In this scenario, we are all Starfleet officers, and the citizens of the Federation have put THEIR lives in OUR hands. So we really shouldn't be worrying about if our crew is going to save our butts, but how we're serving the UFP. For example, am I trying my hardest to make diplomatic trust a reality with the Axrekravians, or am I blowing up a cargo bay?? Is Arcadia going to save my butt? B) Sorry for the little inside joke there, the point is that i don't think that this topic is centered on what it means to be part of a SF crew.

Yes! Now HE has the right mindset...

To owner: I told you before, I'm a hunting dog...not a fishing dog....ok...so I have to clip this barb off...then pull it through...right?

So I'm surprised that TNG didn't win. Alright...I think if you dig in the archives you'll find this to maybe be the third time I've laid out my opinion in the....3.5 years I've been around here. So that means that this topic roughly comes up once a year, interesting. I really do enjoy DS9, but I have not seen a lot of it, I'm just getting into it, rewatching the whole series in order to actually get into the plot arcs of the war. But my vote is Voyager, first for a very simple reason that I think usually applies to trekkies. Voyager was the first star trek I ever watched. So it's what my mind Identifies as "star trek". Anybody else feel this way, the first cast and ship you watched are the ones that stick close to your heart. Now here are some real reasons. Janeway is a steely, pragmatic, get-it-done sort of woman/captain, which is admirable...and sorta attractive. And I see the arc of the series focusing on the fact that despite crazy odds and being far away from home and all that jazz, Janeway boldly led her crew (and another one!) home in a way that closely followed the ideals of Starfleet, which are chiefly the ideals of Star Trek as a whole. And that's awesome. Her resolve was amazing and it served to get the crew home, bring them close together and do the Federation Charter good justice. So yeah...I think Voyager's awesome, and voted thus.

Wow Kansas. That was THE definition of an inside joke. Not only did those not on excal not understand the tone of the joke...they misunderstood the words. Hey, you should come get high with us on Arcadia as we discuss the moral ambiguities of drug trafficking.

does beyond mean behind, will? I'm just trying to read into what you're saying, that's all.