Ah, yes, of course. The gypsies, they gave you your soul. The gypsies are filthy people. Ptui! We shall speak of them no more.

Ilona Costa Bianchi ,'The Girl in Question'


Natter 71: Someone is wrong on the Internet  

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


tommyrot - Nov 09, 2012 7:26:34 am PST #82 of 30001
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.

I have to say, in a lot of ways that reminds me of what working for the government is like.

You'd think Romney would know the government is the problem, not something to be emulated.


Consuela - Nov 09, 2012 8:11:35 am PST #83 of 30001
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix

I have to say, in a lot of ways that reminds me of what working for the government is like.

Heh. Except IME nothing gets put into implementation until it's been tested to death. That's why my computer is so slow and behind the curve (still on IE 7, oh yes): they are extremely conservative with big implementation projects, and it takes forever to get through the design/contract/build process.

I'm not saying the system, once implemented, is all that awesome, but it's at least been tested.


Jessica - Nov 09, 2012 8:22:05 am PST #84 of 30001
If I want to become a cloud of bats, does each bat need a separate vaccination?

IME nothing gets put into implementation until it's been tested to death. That's why my computer is so slow and behind the curve (still on IE 7, oh yes)

My company prides itself on having "military-grade" security, which is apparently why we are still running WinXP and IE 8.

Fortunately our local IT team is very understanding, which is why I'm also running Chrome.


Jesse - Nov 09, 2012 8:24:06 am PST #85 of 30001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.

Motherfucker -- the UPS website says they tried to deliver my coffee table, but of course no one rang my bell, and there is no note on my door. I'm on the phone with them now, but COME ON.


Ginger - Nov 09, 2012 8:44:23 am PST #86 of 30001
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda

Amy, I've been doing considerable research on the subject, since I've come to believe I could write a better post- apocalypse novel (without zombies)than many other there now. Most of them don't think through the subject on so many levels, and they so often act as if we went back to 18th century technology, we'd also go back to 18th century social norms. Fat chance.

The peak oil people has worked out some scenarios, although the argument for the end of oil is laughable. The Long Emergency by peak-old guru James Howard Kunstler includes some possibilities, but are unnecessarily pessimistic.

There are a few novels that deal with survival for ordinary families, sans zombies and sadistic warlords. The best recent ones I know are Susan Beth Pfeffer's Life As We Knew It trilogy. There are a million survivalist sites that touch on aspects of this. Maybe someone more accounting-oriented can come up with possible ways for the economy to collapse. There are a lot of crazy conspiracy theories about how it could happen, but I haven't found many sane ones.

I'd be happy to kick so ideas around, since I'm doing it anyway.


Ginger - Nov 09, 2012 8:45:12 am PST #87 of 30001
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda

My company prides itself on having "military-grade" security, which is apparently why we are still running WinXP and IE 8.

Perhaps CPM would be safer still.


§ ita § - Nov 09, 2012 8:55:05 am PST #88 of 30001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

I am trying to remember a comment I read on the election, and can't remember the state--they said it was like Obama's golden snitch--he didn't need it to win, but if he got it, the game was over. Would that have been Florida?


tommyrot - Nov 09, 2012 8:56:11 am PST #89 of 30001
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.

Sounds like Ohio.


le nubian - Nov 09, 2012 8:57:15 am PST #90 of 30001
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."

Ohio. For sure.

Obama's strategy had been to attempt re-election without OH. They thought OH might be dead to them after 2010 elections. Then the economy started coming back and the auto industry bailout and they saw an opportunity and grabbed it.


Amy - Nov 09, 2012 8:57:43 am PST #91 of 30001
Because books.

Ginger, that sounds great. I'll email your profile address later, if that's good.