shuiend

iTrader: (24)

If I get it, I will be parting out most of it I think. I need a motor for my 99, and then the 6 speed would just be a nice added bonus.

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

I need the door panels if they're black and not proper fucked.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Well, I found it to be quite engaging based largely upon the fact that it was sci-fi that didn't treat itself like sci-fi. No Star Trek-style technobabble, no "let's encounter a different alien race in every episode," no magical technology*, no Deus ex Machina...

It's a very character-driven series that comes off more as a military-themed political drama, without any of the usual fluff. The guns shoot physical bullets, the infirmary is run by a gruff, chainsmoking old military doc who uses a scalpel instead of a Dr. Crusher healing medi-beam, the ships obey the principles of Newtonian physics, maneuvering in space requires fuel for propulsion of which a finite amount exists, large capital ships can't turn on a dime like the Enterprise, but are massive, lumbering beasts controlled by multiple enlisted personnel in a choreographed sequence much like an aircraft carrier, damage and injuries inflicted in one episode don't magically vanish in the next, and most importantly, conflict within the series tends to arise from within (family loyalty vs. moral duty / what happens when an exiled people start to run out basic supplies like toilet paper and antibiotics / how do you justify continuity of government and national identity in the absence of the physical territories which they used to govern and identify / what happens when the military is the only police force available to a democratic government / how do you define "terrorist" in the context of a puppet regime controlled by a hostile occupying force / what happens when the leadership of the military and of the civilian government become too closely intertwined / can a former enemy combatant who genuinely demonstrates a change of loyalty be trusted / do acts which would normally be defined as "war crimes" become justifiable in the face of a genocidal adversary / it turns out that even the most battle-hardened bad-asses struggle with their own devils / is treason ever morally justifiable / etc.)

I liked it. And the missus liked it too, which says a lot.



* = There is one piece of "magical" technology in the show, namely the so-called jump drive which enables the ships to travel faster than light, thus allowing the whole premise for the show to exist in the first place without being scientifically implausible owing to the insanely large distances between stellar bodies. The show, to its credit, does not harp on this. Unlike Star Trek / Star Wars, the jump engine is never a plot element, it's hardly ever spoken of, and in fact the engine room itself appears only once in the entire four-year run of the series, and that's only because the plot required a character to go in there in order to sabotage it so that the ship would be stranded in one place long enough for the storyline to advance. This isn't Star Trek TNG, where half the senior staff lounge around the huge and visually interesting antimatter reactor everyday like it was a water-cooler, waiting for it to do something that creates a crisis for them to deal with.

Spoiler alert: the sentence before the one that referenced Star Trek TNG contained a spoiler.

For the most part, however, the "magical" engine is paid no more attention than the nuclear reactor which drives modern submarines and aircraft carriers in most* cold-war-and-later war films. Back when the movie version of 20,000 Leagues was filmed, the idea of nuclear propulsion was magical, and they treated it as such. But to us, in the late 20th / early 21st centuries, the reactor is just the thing that sits in the back of the ship and makes it go, no more remarkable than the sonar array or the soft-serv ice cream machine in the crews' mess.

Same deal in Galactica. It exists, accept it and move on.



** = Yes, I acknowledge that The Hunt For Red October is a glaring exception to the "pay no attention to the remarkable thing in the back of the ship" rule. I give this one a pass, as that book / film was about the then-extant arms race between the US and USSR, and submarine propulsion was, at the time, one of the very few areas in which it was possible to gain a competitive edge against your adversary in the context of a first-strike nuclear war. And besides, the "magical" engine depicted in that movie was, in fact, based (loosely) upon actual real-world science in the field.




Tigh one on, admiral.

EO2K

iTrader: (37)

A simple "Yes" would have been sufficient, but thank you for the entire awe inspiring narrative. I shall have to queue this up on the netflix, I've got 3 more weeks of couch time in Das Boot and I'm getting close to the end of Breaking Bad.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Couch time in Das Boot?


Anyway, it's a really good show. Drags just a tad in places, but overall very satisfying.



Protip: If an ugly female co-worker in her late 30s shows you a picture of herself from college, saying "Wow, you used to be pretty attractive" is not an appropriate response.

triple88a

iTrader: (2)

EO2K

iTrader: (37)

Jah, dis boot:



Couch time because I'm not supposed to stand or walk on it. As of tomorrow it will have been a month since I injured myself. I've been unable to drive the Miata or the Subaru (becauseleftpedal) so sad panda times. My left leg from the knee down is a shadow of its former self, and my back is ******* killing me from being twisted off balance all the time. I've got another 20 days before my followup when we reevaluate. Based on my consistent 2/10 pain level I have a sneaking suspicion I may be talking to a cutter soon. I'm hoping I don't need to invest in a series of pimp canes for the future.

rleete

iTrader: (21)

Constant pain, even if relatively minor, will wear you out. Makes you feel old and cranky. Three and a half months of sciatica really took it's toll. I am surprised that I didn't kill anyone in that time.

viperormiata

iTrader: (24)

Anyone here have a pair of New Balance 574's? Looking to buy my first pair of sneakers (must be at least 2E)

y8s

iTrader: (8)

probably braineack. And he probably has some professional photos of them.

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

I've had plenty of those.

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

I was thinking Das Boot.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Like SixShooter, I was also thinking Das Boot.



Feel your pain, though. I had that boot on for three months after a metatarsal fracture. For the first few days, I had to drive the Miata without my left foot- raised the idle up and used my right foot on the clutch, then shifted clutchless.

Then three months driving my sister's Camry.

Was a great thing when I was able to get back into my own car.

viperormiata

iTrader: (24)

And?

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

I liked them?

I just buy 80s looking running shoes.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

We had a bunch of people outside the building earlier today protesting the New York Daily News for some article they published recently.

Problem is that, even though it still says "The News Building" on the outside, The News hasn't been located in this building since 1995- they moved downtown.

Somebody didn't get their facts right before staging that protest...



The News Building, where The News was located from 1929 until 1995:





4 New York Plaza, where The News is actually located today:

Doppelgänger

iTrader: (12)

Ugh....be careful in those things. I had to wear one for a looooooong time when I managed to slice all the way thru my left Achilles tendon. I actually found I had less back pain when using crutches because I wasn't walking with a 1"+ height difference between my left and right leg....not mention the arm exercise was nice.

EO2K

iTrader: (37)

Tell me about it. The boot is ******* huge and now when I walk by things or try to go up and down stairs I always end up catching my toe or kicking something. As long as I don't rotate my ankle inside the boot I'm OK. Otherwise ...not so good.

A month ago when the doc offered me pain meds I declined like a dumbass. I wasn't in severe pain so I figured I'd be fine. What I was not prepared for was the epic soreness that has crept in since. I hadn't realized it but I haven't slept for **** in the last month and its made me incredibly cranky. This last Sunday night I was feeling pretty shitty so I popped a singe 325/10 vicoden (I had leftover from something a couple years ago) and I slept like a baby. The soreness has gone down considerably in the last 3 days so there may be hope for me yet. I usually do not like narcos but its hard to argue with the benefits of solid, consistent sleep.

I need to get in a ******* pool or something. I managed to lose about 15lbs since the first of the year just by changing my habits. I've put about 10 of them back on since the boot came into my life and its just depressing as hell. Recovery & physical therapy is probably going to whup my ***.

z31maniac

Have you tried Melatonin, so you don't have to use narcotics?