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Grippe

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Everything posted by Grippe

  1. WoT is a rite of passage for many fantasy readers. It is long, and incredibly well written - with one caveat: RJ self-admittedly became too-detail oriented around book 8 and it slogs on for about 4 books (into book 12). But you'll have to forgive him, it was during this period when the disease that eventually forced him to stop writing and ask Brandon Sanderson to finish the last books began taking over every facet of his life. Would definitely recommend. Even more strongly - start reading this thread at page one, there are a metric shit-tonne amounts of recommendations and comments on this series and others that will get you up to speed. And saying TL;DR is a no-go in this forum, it's about reading!
  2. Have you watched the Netflix series yet?
  3. Bumping this thread - wife and I visiting my dad (who's going to outlive Willie and Keith Richards, but definitely not AB) the second week of September. We defintely plan on Wrights BBQ (drive thru) and Whitaker Point, just wondering if there's anything more to do up there for 2.5 days?
  4. Following up more on Rob J. Hayes - 100% endorse everyone here giving his works a read. Finishing up City of Thorns and all I can say is wow, what a delight. Especially having read all his books in a row, to be able to experience his technical and artistic writing evolution.
  5. Solid rec, will piggy back and say to start with Old Man's War (although it is a series the first book is great as a stand-alone). Or try The Forever War by Haldeman (he added 2 more books a few decades later to make it a series, but it's fine if you just read the first).
  6. Been stabbed (accidentally), shot (shotgun accident, was only a little bit of shot), have had roken ribs (the sneezing pain ain't no joke), broken bones in all my limbs (including compound fracture in my leg on a skiing accident), cracked skull as an infant, etc., but my top 3 painful are: 3. Herniated disc (5 surgeries): As others on here can attest, it awful in a burning knife cutting it's way down the back of your leg kind of way 2. Acute diverticulitis (the killing kind): Feels like someone has stabbed you multiple times in your lower gut and there's no remedy other than waiting for the antibiotics to work (finally had my intestines re-sectioned) 1. Testicular Torsion: When your nut spins inside the sac and cuts off the blood flow to the testi - fast ramp pain (less than 5 minutes) that left me curled up on the floor unable to unlock from a fetal position while throwing up, shitting and pissing myself all while my young kids (2 and 3) were sitting there screaming and crying because they didn't know what was happening to daddy
  7. Putting in a recommendation for Rob J. Hayes, starting with "The Ties that Bind" series. Very Abercrombie -ish.
  8. One note about the USAA (et al.) youth accounts - once the child turns 18 they will reach out to the person and require that documentation or close the account.
  9. Have the Margaritaville and do recommend. I don't drink them much but it has paid nice dividends with the wife when she's wanting a tequila drink.
  10. Coyote piss. Apply it every month from now, into summer through the fall.
  11. This shit right here, is magic, be sure to spray in your attic space and do everything ROFL tells you to.
  12. I really don't think there is a more iconic race car than this - the livery and prominence are familiar and beloved worldwide.
  13. Grippe

    Everquest

    Not going to address the issue of Brad. I'm fairly drunk again tonight, playing P99 and simply wanted to say - this is still the best MMO ever created. It's ugly, clunky and hard - and dammit if despite all of the gaffe's it still isn't as close to perfection as anything offered.
  14. Looks like a Weiand: https://www.jegs.com/i/Weiand/925/77-174FSB-1/10002/-1?gclid=CjwKCAiA44LzBRB-EiwA-jJipOhC-tPD7Yjs8ZGEId6ctwcQwTaOUgFQPyEY135Ddd7AbEaHzuq8VRoCWt4QAvD_BwE
  15. kk, extending an olive branch here and providing a deeper description - please skip over the gov't purchasing if you're already aware of it. Huge oversimplification: Any purchasing for the DoD isn't performed by the uniform service end-user. The purchasing is done through an OSD PEO - civilian agents who control the funds, and who are audited by the GAO (see below). In the last few years, in an effort to better understand (and compete for) DoD contracts, several large companies have shifted their "understand the customer" focus to include how PEO's make their decisions - even going so far as to host senior PEO officers under government-to-corporate Fellowship programs for 1-year. Microsoft had done a phenomenal job of learning PEO business and establishing relationships in those offices - and they aren't the only one to do so. The central point of my original post - Amazon, who led the industry in so many ways, has not kept up with other companies (such as Microsoft) in trying to fully understand the PEO's. Additional point - PEO selections such as this are 'typically' audited by the GAO, which reports it's findings directly to Congress. I've worked with many of the PEO executives who are part of the Fellowship where I am fortunate enough to be employed, they are VERY conscientious about being as apolitical as possible and simply make the best decision they can for the end users and the taxpayers.
  16. Ha, you so funny - if only I wasn't working on the contracting solution for this exact same program for an IT corporation headquartered in Round Rock. Suck it Marie, you're clearly talking out of your ass because you cannot help yourself from going full CR. Next time you want to internet pontificate you might want to consider that some of the posters here have considerable experience with the subject matter they're discussing (obviously not Hugo but he's our retard and we love him for all his faults). SMMFH at the hubris...
  17. There's more to this: Gov't acquisition through contracting has changed dramatically in the last few years where "Lowest cost, commercially available" isn't as straight forward as it used to be. 10 years ago, hell even 5 in some cases (GSA, ITES, etc.), the old rule of the cost-of-commodity (hardware/software) was still the primary consideration for awarding contracts - these days with the complexity of solutions (which have to be NIST 800-171 compliant (now including CMMC!!)) the PEO for the Gov't agency must look at the total solution - hardware, software, deployment, education, configuration, support, CUI Security, redeployment/recycling, etc. etc.. The real story isn't politics (/no cr, gasp!), it's that M$ is better at understanding PEO evaluations during contract awards than Amazon. I find it hilarious that Bezos is crying 'unfair' and launching legal action, when for years he was the pontiff of beating the other guy by a better business model, and fighting so many lawsuits himself.
  18. Owning a ton of Dunkin' Donuts franchises is going to keep him busy - not a bad gig if you ask me.
  19. Rotgut spiced rum and cheepo ginger ale (2 liter bottle to save $) on ice is nice.
  20. Fucking sonofabitch - it was a hoax to emphasize safety. Rassa Frassa....
  21. I'm going to laugh my ass off when the cliffhanger for season 1 of 'The Royals' is him taking a paternity test and finding out Charles isn't his real dad.
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