njc wrote:

For the connoisseur of calamities: A car driven into the second story of an office building: https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/285946/

From the Darwin Awards website:

The Arizona Highway Patrol were mystified when they came upon a pile of smoldering wreckage embedded in the side of a cliff rising above the road at the apex of a curve. The metal debris resembled the site of an airplane crash, but it turned out to be the vaporized remains of an automobile. The make of the vehicle was unidentifiable at the scene.

The folks in the lab finally figured out what it was, and pieced together the events that led up to its demise.

It seems that a former Air Force sergeant had somehow got hold of a JATO (Jet Assisted Take-Off) unit. JATO units are solid fuel rockets used to give heavy military transport airplanes an extra push for take-off from short airfields.

Dried desert lakebeds are the location of choice for breaking the world ground vehicle speed record. The sergeant took the JATO unit into the Arizona desert and found a long, straight stretch of road. He attached the JATO unit to his car, jumped in, accelerated to a high speed, and fired off the rocket.

The facts, as best as could be determined, are as follows:

The operator was driving a 1967 Chevy Impala. He ignited the JATO unit approximately 3.9 miles from the crash site. This was established by the location of a prominently scorched and melted strip of asphalt. The vehicle quickly reached a speed of between 250 and 300 mph and continued at that speed, under full power, for an additional 20-25 seconds. The soon-to-be pilot experienced G-forces usually reserved for dog-fighting F-14 jocks under full afterburners.

The Chevy remained on the straight highway for approximately 2.6 miles (15-20 seconds) before the driver applied the brakes, completely melting them, blowing the tires, and leaving thick rubber marks on the road surface. The vehicle then became airborne for an additional 1.3 miles, impacted the cliff face at a height of 125 feet, and left a blackened crater 3 feet deep in the rock.

Most of the driver's remains were not recovered; however, small fragments of bone, teeth, and hair were extracted from the crater, and fingernail and bone shards were removed from a piece of debris believed to be a portion of the steering wheel.

Ironically a still-legible bumper sticker was found, reading
"How do you like my driving? Dial 1-800-EAT-SHIT."

Fortunately for the sergeant, this story is listed as an urban legend, although it lives on among conspiracy theorists.

Force projection.

2,403

(44 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Sol, I've suggested this before: post a release note on a regular basis (doesn't need to be detailed) about what you're working on or have implemented. It helps to know you're actively working on the site. Makes it feel less lonely since barely anyone is posting in the forums right now. I was really surprised to see that the Mysteries & Thrillers forum has never been used. I talk up the site on Facebook when I can in the writing groups. A short post from you per week would raise interest. You could also elicit feedback about what your plans/priorities are.

Did anyone take any pictures?

2,405

(2 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

eynarawolf wrote:

...so here I am, contemplating reviewing and posting my own work again.

Do or do not. There is no contemplate. :-)

Welcome back.

2,406

(5 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Thank you both.

2,407

(52 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

"teach" should have been "reach" - I should have taken typing 20 and 30 in high school, rather than henpecking keystrokes in my old age.

2,408

(52 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Cool. Now I can reach my whole audience of three remaining reviewers when I post in this forum. :-)

2,409

(5 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Thanks, Bill. Do you use Pro Writing Aid with MS-Word?

2,410

(5 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I'm considering signing up for premium grammarly. However, I can't pay $30/mo - $140/yr for an ongoing subscription. Does anyone use this on a short-term basis (e.g., pay $30 for 1 month to polish a complete draft of a novel, then allow it to lapse until the next time I need to polish another book)? Can I download the report(s) it creates to continue to edit offline after my subscription lapses?

Thanks
Dirk

Janet (AJ) Reid wrote:

I'm on my way at the moment tongue

Be sure to wear your robopilot outfit, Aussie. Available at any Acme, Inc. location near you. Mama's Little Shipping can have it at Dr. Ess's house by the time you get there.

2,412

(10 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Christine, at the top of this forum page is a subscribe link. Clink on that and you will receive an email when someone posts to this thread.

Welcome to the site.
Dirk

2,413

(2 replies, posted in Science Fiction, Steampunk, and Space Opera)

Hi. You'll get a broader response if you post this message in the Premium forum as well. A lot of potential readers aren't necessarily in the smaller groups.

2,414

(11 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Amateurs. :-) Try -40 in Calgary.  I've lived through -50 with windchill.
Why did I move back here again?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRI-A3vakVg

2,415

(6 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Basic)

I just had a look at your story. It's well-written, but huge. I would split it into parts and definitely post in Premium.

2,416

(6 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Basic)

Welcome to the site. I suggest posting your hello message to the Premium forum as well, since not everyone is a member of Basic. Also, you'll get more feedback if you post your story in the Premium group if you haven't already. Premium requires that you have points to post, but it also pays points to your reviewers, which is the local currency. Specify if you want inline or just regular reviews. Inline will get you better reviews, but if you're on the site for your free initial week, you'll only be able to give/receive inline reviews for that week.

2,417

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Amazon routinely recommends Catholicism for Dummies for me. smile

2,418

(6 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Ah, but when the Sun returns to its normal output, we're screwed. Hopefully, I'll be dead by then. Y'all can deal with the fact that the Middle East will become uninhabitable. That'll make the Syrian refugee crises look like a minor migration.

Most of Canada is setting records this week, with various cities colder than Mars, the North Pole, and the South Pole. Ottawa is colder than the capital of Mongolia, Ulan Bator.

I read a science story the other day that the Sun is entering a recurring cooling period, where it gives off less heat than usual. The last time was in the 1700's, which led to a mini ice age.

O the weather outside is frightful, and the fire is so delightful...

And a (hic) happy new year.

A handful of us set up shop in the Medieval group so we can help each other flesh out ideas, or just chat. Each person creates a single running forum thread for their book(s) that the others read and respond to. Simultaneously, we review each other's chapters. Two of us are actually writing science fiction, but since Medieval is where most of my reviewers hang out, that's where I put my thread.

My next book is going to be a supernatural thriller, but the group for that has zero posts in the forum since the site went live, so I'll probably just continue with a thread in Medieval.

Naturally, when it comes time to post chapters, I include them in Premium and Science Fiction as well. I have a couple of long term readers who don't hang out in the forums.

If I need help beyond what our little clique can provide, I ask in the Premium forum.

This is not really how the site/groups were meant to be used, but it's an acceptable workaround.

2,422

(32 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I just voted for all of the above. Good luck to you all.

I can't recall if Disney is going to release The Last Jedi on Netflix or limit it to their own upcoming streaming service. I know future Star Wars films will no longer run on Netflix. Just what I need. Every entertainment company charging $10 a month for streaming. I have enough monthly expenses paying for Wi-Fi, Netflix, and Spotify.

K, is there a service in Canada like Amazon Video that allows you to rent videos for a few days and stream them? I don't mind paying $4 occasionally to see a film that I don't want to own.

That's 72 degrees below the freezing temperature of water! Reminds me of that Star Trek episode where the away team was freezing to death on a planet and the transporters were out of commission. A few dozen episodes later it turns out the Enterprise carries a shuttlecraft. That's the kind of error that would turn Star Wars fans rabid. Fortunately, they're currently busy despising The Last Jedi. It rates worse than the prequel trilogy, but will still easily top $1B before everyone realizes it sucks and stops going. And then J.J. Abrams, who never saw a movie franchise he didn't want to reboot, will destroy the final episode in the new trilogy.

2,425

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Just bought my sixth ($%?&*!) book on Revelation. The first was Protestant and I need a Catholic interpretation. The second gives four major viewpoints for interpreting Revelation, but is too generic (neither entirely Catholic or Protestant). The next two are Catholic, but are incomplete and confusing. Book number five is also Catholic, is beautifully written and researched, but comes at Revelation from a less common point of view (i.e., that most of Revelation was already fulfilled in the 1st century after Christ's death and the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. Only events surrounding the Second Coming are left to be fulfilled. Unfortunately, many Catholic scholars think this point of view, while not incorrect, isn't mainstream. Finally (last try), I bought another highly rated book that I'm going to read over Christmas. It's no wonder there is mostly Protestant information about Revelation on the internet. Catholics can't agree on a particular interpretation. Anyway, my new novel will be based on either book five or the new one, if it's any good.