Re: Story

[ABLE1 <somebody@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 11/5/2022 7:23 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
> On 11/5/2022 3:18 PM, ABLE1 wrote:
>> On 11/5/2022 3:47 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>>> On 11/5/2022 12:13 PM, ABLE1 wrote:
>>>> On 11/5/2022 2:17 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>>>>> On 11/5/2022 10:46 AM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>>>>>> On 11/4/2022 7:53 PM, ABLE1 wrote:
>>>>>>> On 11/4/2022 8:44 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>>>>>>>> On 11/4/2022 4:38 PM, ABLE1 wrote:
>>>>>>>>> On 11/4/2022 6:19 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> On 10/31/2022 5:57 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>> On 10/31/2022 4:34 PM, ABLE1 wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>> On 10/24/2022 2:40 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 10/22/2022 10:18 AM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 10/21/2022 7:47 PM, Jim Davis wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Friday, October 21, 2022 at 4:37:12 PM UTC-4, Bob La
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Londe wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 10/18/2022 8:20 AM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Get creative.  Stop rehashing old themes or...
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> It was either that or ransoming the planet with a giant
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> space laser.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Bob La Londe
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> CNC Molds N Stuff
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> WELL ! ....... YOU'RE the one who said to be creative    ;-)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I guess my idea of creative is different than other folks.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Maybe I should have said creative and ORIGINAL.  LOL.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Now you have a whole new premise to try and do something
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> with/to.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Flash Point was stolen from _________, where as ransoming
>>>>>>>>>>>>> the earth with a space laser was stolen from ____________.
>>>>>>>>>>>>> A totally different universe or franchise depending on your
>>>>>>>>>>>>> level of suspension of disbelief.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> My other premise was NOT stolen from ___ _____ ______
>>>>>>>>>>>>> _________, but I can see where you might think that.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> LOL It would seem that the Story is getting deeper by many many
>>>>>>>>>>>> fathoms!!   I hope nobody drowns!!!
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> I'm not sure which way I want to go next.  I guess that
>>>>>>>>>>> depends on what I find next time I log on.  Whether I want to
>>>>>>>>>>> do damage control or just go with the flow in whatever new
>>>>>>>>>>> direction its gone.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> I've already over used the Achilles Segue.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> (I think I just coined that phrase.)
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Remember our new demi-hero Agent Bean may not yet have seen
>>>>>>>>>>> John's video clip at the end of the recording.  Certainly
>>>>>>>>>>> Bennie Bean hasn't seen it. Â Â I suspect if Agent Bean had
>>>>>>>>>>> seen John defame the Secret Service his suspicion level about
>>>>>>>>>>> the whole thing might be a bit higher, well, and he wouldn't
>>>>>>>>>>> have needed his ten year old son to tell him what he was
>>>>>>>>>>> listening to.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> When I started down this path I was originally thinking very
>>>>>>>>>> fast paced hacker-centric action adventure.  Motor cycle
>>>>>>>>>> chases. Brutal police tactics.  Fleeing for you life in the
>>>>>>>>>> face of overwhelming odds, and seeking a way to turn the
>>>>>>>>>> tables in a grand unstoppable manner.  It has slowed down.
>>>>>>>>>> Become more procedural. With one of our protagonists now being
>>>>>>>>>> a ten year old I'm not sure the brutality of a modern high
>>>>>>>>>> impact action thriller tells well. Its not like I can retell
>>>>>>>>>> Treasure Island after all.  Maybe Bennie Bean needs to become
>>>>>>>>>> superfluous soon. Identify some key points, and leave it to
>>>>>>>>>> his dad and the hackers. Obviously Agent Bean needs to learn
>>>>>>>>>> more before kicking it upstairs since his own agency has now
>>>>>>>>>> been implicated in who knows what.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Hi Bob,
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> It is my humble opinion that you should consider writing a
>>>>>>>>> book, get it published, and sell a boat load.  Like Donald
>>>>>>>>> Hamilton's Matt Helm
>>>>>>>>> books, or Ian Fleming's James Bond.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> They did it, why not Bob La Londe's Agent Bean??
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> You will never know if it will work, until you try.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Honestly with all typing you do in the newsgroups your typing
>>>>>>>>> skill
>>>>>>>>> could are certainly good enough.  You can't be a "Hunt n'
>>>>>>>>> Pecker"!!
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> What is the worst that could happen??
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> You got my VOTE!!!
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Les
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I am published for article length work in motorcycling and
>>>>>>>> fishing in newspaper and magazines.  (Maybe half a dozen pieces
>>>>>>>> or so.) Years ago I had a web page dedicated to motorcycle
>>>>>>>> games, and White Horse Press contacted me to say, "Let us know
>>>>>>>> when you are ready to publish your book."Â  I also chat with
>>>>>>>> George Burliss from time to time (publisher editor?) with Home
>>>>>>>> Shop Machinist Magazine.  My latest bigger project is a video
>>>>>>>> series on manual machining with a piece of shit desktop manual
>>>>>>>> mini mill.  I was hoping to sell George on a pairing it with a
>>>>>>>> monthly article, but he seemed to want to dumb it down to much
>>>>>>>> for my taste. That might just be my perception.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I actually am a hunt and peck typist.  I took typing in high
>>>>>>>> school (somehow I passed), and lots of computer programming in
>>>>>>>> college, but I never felt comfortable with classical home row
>>>>>>>> typing.  I developed my own system that uses some classic
>>>>>>>> typing, and about seven fingers most of the rest of the time.
>>>>>>>> In high school at one point we were told we could type anything
>>>>>>>> we wanted as long as we were typing. When I realized the
>>>>>>>> instructor wasn't even collecting it I started writing porn.  I
>>>>>>>> left a few copies on the bus, and pretty soon I had guys bidding
>>>>>>>> to be the first to get my next fantasy adventure.  I burned out
>>>>>>>> on that quick. There are only so many ways to say Joe got the
>>>>>>>> girl, and I was never into the weird stuff.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> In college I wrote a story about show of force vs outbreak of
>>>>>>>> violence. It was a western short fiction piece.  The college
>>>>>>>> magazine editor loved it as did several of the other magazine
>>>>>>>> staff, but their academic advisor refused to let them publish
>>>>>>>> it. He was the classic left wing liberal academic before we
>>>>>>>> called them left wing liberal academics. Considering some the
>>>>>>>> really creepy stuff they did publish I was still surprised.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I always wanted to write science fiction, but everything I wrote
>>>>>>>> in that genre was basically juvenile wish fulfillment.  Joe
>>>>>>>> space hero gets the girl, and the whole universe gives him
>>>>>>>> ultimate power over everything. I never understood the social
>>>>>>>> commentary of science fiction well enough to write truly good
>>>>>>>> work like Heinlein (he also wrote some juvenile wish
>>>>>>>> fulfillment) or Asimov.  I could read and understand it.  I just
>>>>>>>> didn't understand that often that is more important than the
>>>>>>>> science fiction adventure.  Of course there is the fantasy
>>>>>>>> science meets real science like Larry Niven with Ring World or
>>>>>>>> Neutron star, but I never had a good enough grasp of the science
>>>>>>>> for that.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Several years back I wrote an article for an outdoor magazine
>>>>>>>> (that has since gone bankrupt), and it was a fiasco of brutal
>>>>>>>> rewrites even after I cut out half the real content to meet
>>>>>>>> their maximum word count.  Then they stiffed me.  They didn't
>>>>>>>> even want to give me a copy of the issue with my article.  They
>>>>>>>> said I could buy a subscription. That took all the wind out of
>>>>>>>> my sails for a while.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Writing is like a lot of things.  Its a lot of fun when you
>>>>>>>> don't have to meet a deadline and pay the bills with it, or
>>>>>>>> butcher it to fit somebody else's preconceived format.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> ... and I have to remind myself.  Just because I have published
>>>>>>>> a few small things that doesn't make me a writer.  What skills I
>>>>>>>> do have I have to credit to Sarah Sneed.  I had to take two
>>>>>>>> semesters of English Composition in college.  I had dropped my
>>>>>>>> second semester twice because I got instructors that hit you
>>>>>>>> with a ton of writing assignments, but didn't teach anything.  I
>>>>>>>> had steeled myself to slogging through it when I signed up for
>>>>>>>> Ms Sneed's class.  She taught.  She taught about research,
>>>>>>>> style, and readability.  I don't always use what she taught, but
>>>>>>>> I when I don't its a conscious choice.  She taught about that
>>>>>>>> too. When to break the rules. (anecdote below)Â  She is probably
>>>>>>>> the primary reason I have any writing skills at all.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> For the final assignment of the semester I had to write a
>>>>>>>> research paper on a classic novel.  (not a survey piece)  I took
>>>>>>>> it seriously and did it right.  We were told if we turned it in
>>>>>>>> before the end of class during final exams it was on time.  I
>>>>>>>> was working on it until the last minute doing rewrites, editing,
>>>>>>>> and proof reading.  When I printed the final copy I knew I could
>>>>>>>> make it to class before the end of the exam period if I
>>>>>>>> hurried.  When I arrived I didn't even bother to park.  I just
>>>>>>>> rode my motorcycle right up to the door of the classroom,
>>>>>>>> grabbed my saddlebags and headed in to be stopped up short when
>>>>>>>> the door wouldn't open.  I turned and saw her walking down the
>>>>>>>> sidewalk next to the parking lot.  Afraid she might get away I
>>>>>>>> chased her down the sidewalk on my motorcycle, and pulled up
>>>>>>>> short in front of her. Probably a little stress leaked out in my
>>>>>>>> tone when I complained she had said we had until the END of the
>>>>>>>> period to turn in our paper.  I got an A.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> V-E-R-Y IMPRESSIVE Bob!!
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Good read and Thanks for the history!!!
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Les
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I hesitate to write things like this that could be interpreted as
>>>>>> a brag.  To often in recent years I've shared anecdotes from my
>>>>>> life and been told I was a full of shit bullshit piece of shit
>>>>>> lying sack of shit.  **
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Honestly though I don't consider this to be all that impressive.
>>>>>> I can't ten finger type.  I never published a book, and I never
>>>>>> really got paid to be a writer.  Its just a hap hazard group of
>>>>>> secondary fumblings throughout my life over the course of 40ish
>>>>>> years that paired with a little imagination allow me to
>>>>>> occasionally crank out three consecutive sentences that are readable.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> However, thank you.  I appreciate the recognition for them.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Example: **
>>>>>> One of my favorite actual brags used to be that I have been in
>>>>>> business literally my entire life since I was four years old.  My
>>>>>> mom explained to me the concept of profit.  She told me that if I
>>>>>> bought candy bars and put them on the shelf in the family store it
>>>>>> wouldn't be to long before I could buy more boxes to replace them,
>>>>>> and have money left over. Â Â I used the money my grandmother sent
>>>>>> me for Christmas to put merchandise on the shelves of our store.
>>>>>> I was in business at age four. Â Â That was a bit of a brag, but it
>>>>>> really wasn't intended to indicate I was a business mogul at such
>>>>>> a young age.  Just that I have spent my entire life learning small
>>>>>> business concepts.  I shared this in a machining group not to long
>>>>>> ago.  I was accused of being a liar, taking credit for my mom's
>>>>>> hard work, and that there was no chance at age four I was anything
>>>>>> more than a pants shitting drooling blob.  That I was totally full
>>>>>> of shit that had to totally be lying through my teeth. (Unless you
>>>>>> were toothless how else would one lie?)Â  I tried to explain, but
>>>>>> soon there were dozens of people piling on.  The shear mass of
>>>>>> derision made it impossible for me to take the time to refute it
>>>>>> all.  I just left the group. The reality is its true.  I did
>>>>>> understand, but how can I prove that.  I can't.  Just that I have
>>>>>> always done better as an entrepreneur than as an employee.  I
>>>>>> never thought of it as exceptional until I was attacked for it.  I
>>>>>> just thought it was a choice based on opportunity and education
>>>>>> from a caring mother.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I have other anecdotal memories, no doubt colored by time, that
>>>>>> might be met with similar disbelief.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> However, I have never flown an airplane of any kind inverted, nor
>>>>> was I ever a passenger in an inverted airplane of any size.
>>>>
>>>> Well Bob, now you went and did it...................
>>>>
>>>> I have flown inverted, jumped out of a perfectly good plane at 3000
>>>> feet, flown a glider, flown a helicopter, flown a Cessna 152 backwards
>>>> on a runway, flown a Cessna 152 in freezing rain until at full throttle
>>>> just above stall speed then landed, flown a (part owner) Ultra Lite,
>>>> and many other experiences that would take a long time to read.
>>>>
>>>> Les
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> My father in law was a WW2 bomber pilot.  He claims he was taught to
>>> land those big bombers by stalling them at just above ground level.
>>> He claims getting his civilian pilots license he scared every one of
>>> his civilian instructors because he did the same thing by "feel" with
>>> small commuter planes.  Given the fact that he truly did remarkable
>>> things including bringing back airplanes with gaping holes I tend to
>>> believe him.  He also was the chief engineer in charge of building
>>> the M16 production line at General Motors Hydramatic, and claims a
>>> higher acceptance rate than any other manufacturer at the time
>>> including Colt. There is always the chance you might have carried one.
>>>
>>> P.S.  Mattel NEVER made M16s or parts for M16s.  That's just a myth
>>> perpetuated by soldiers and marines who had an aversion to the
>>> plastic furniture on M16s.
>>
>>
>> Those guys and gals did some rather amazing things in WW2.
>> Makes sense for a plane that size to land them by stalling just
>> above the ground.  First it won't fly below stall speed and second
>> braking at a higher speed will take longer to stop.  I can see doing
>> that with a smaller plane to be a different story.  Especially for an
>> instructor that never flew a bomber!!!
>>
>> I haven't flow for a number of years at this point.  My license is still
>> valid but it is my physical that is needed along with a check ride.
>> Did that some time ago after not flying for maybe 15 years and the
>> flight instructor said after being up for 15 minutes and having me do
>> this or that.  "Put me on the ground, you don't need me up here. Go have
>> some fun!!"
>>
>> It was great until I ran short on money and stopped.  Present day I
>> would not pass the physical due to my hearing loss.  I just go to an
>> occasional air show and drool!!!
>>
>> Les
>>
>>
>
>
> I never felt like spending the money to be a real flyer.  I have looked
> at experimental, but its still a bit much for essentially joy riding. A
> buddy of mine (now deceased) bought an ultralight and kept it at a
> private field owned buy a farmer we know.  He would take that bird out
> of the hanger, and do "hot taxis" all day long, but as far as I knew he
> never flew it before he sold it. Seemed so weird to me at the time.  It
> was an interesting place where a handful of guys worked on various
> projects.  Hanging from the ceiling of the hanger/barn was a delta wing
> one of the guys started to build, but never finished.  Another guy I
> knew looked it over with thought to finishing it, but in the end he
> passed saying the frame material was to heavy.  Looked like rusted steel
> tube to me.
>

There was a local dealer of Ultra Lites that started a club.  The club
members (12 ea.) for a sign up fee of (I think) $375 became a part owner
of a Ultra Lite.  The guy then offered some instruction on how to fly
the thing.  I was only one in the club that had a Pilot License.  Any
damages that would happen were the responsibility of the member that
caused it.  The fuel tank held enough to fly for 2 hours.  However,
one guy kept giving full throttle to go up and then idle down and
actually ran out of gas after about 90 minutes.  He ended up in a
cornfield and did $2000 in damages.  There were other crashes.
I never had one. We had one member that was I think 80 years or so
old. He told the story that he was on the ground crew for a Ford
Tri-Motor endurance flight.  They filled the plane up with barrels
of gas.  There were two pilots and a mechanic.  Every 4-6 hours they
shut down one of the engines and the mechanic would climb out and
replace the spark plugs because they would foul out.  After he did
one he would come back in and they start that one back up and then
they would shut down another and he would do it again until all three
were done.  I don't recall the length of the flight but I am guessing
maybe 48 hours of so.  His name was Mr. Tripp.  We called him Trippy.

Anyhow he always wanted to fly.  Never had the opportunity.  This was
his chance.  He took a lot of lessons but for one reason or another he
never got permission or allowed to do a solo.  This went on for maybe
6 to 8 months.  The one day the weather was great and he was feeling
good and got to go on his first solo flight.  I wasn't there, I only
heard the story after.  He taxied up the grass strip runway.  Turned
around and did a radio check. All good.  Power up and started takeoff
roll.  Left the ground and climbed out.  Went up to maybe 500' and
started to go around the pattern.  He was up for maybe 10 - 15 minutes
and then they lost radio contact.  He kept circling the field in a
very slight turn but slowly descending.  On the north side of the
runway was sloped hill with wheat growing.  Each time he went around
and lost altitude he would get closer to the top of the hill.  Still
no radio response. The guys on site could only watch and wait.  He ended
up crashing on the hill and totaled the Ultra Lite.  They got him
off the hill and to a hospital.  Ended up he broke an arm and some
ribs.  No one knows for sure but he had passed out during the flight.
Maybe due to his excitement of actually flying or something else.
He ended up buying a new Ultra Lite for the club but never flew again.

It was about that time I decided that there was far to much danger with
the club members not knowing how to fly safely.  So, I cancelled my
membership and received a total of $125 refund.  About 2 months later
the business owner took on a partner and they just finished building
another Ultra Lite.  The partner took it up for a test flight and
decided to do some Chandelle's. At the bottom of the maneuver the wings
folded and he died.  A Chandelle is a extreme maneuver that you drop
one wing and dive down and then pull up climb to a stall and then drop
the other wing and do it again.  Too much load on the wing spar and the
tips will touch.  The whole Ultra Lite business folded very quickly
after that.  Don't know what the club did with the Ultra Lite.  I guess
they sold it!  I didn't care since I was no longer a partner.

Ok, end of another story!!!

Later,

Les