Truckin' Comments Section

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Atomic
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Re: Truckin' Comments Section

Post by Atomic »

Just Old Al wrote:Have to be honest I've never had a problem with the alcohol fumes - but then again I'm the same idiot who TIG welds in a basement workshop.
Just crank up the Argon. You'll never notice.
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Just Old Al
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Re: Truckin' Comments Section

Post by Just Old Al »

Atomic wrote:
Just Old Al wrote:Have to be honest I've never had a problem with the alcohol fumes - but then again I'm the same idiot who TIG welds in a basement workshop.
Just crank up the Argon. You'll never notice.
Not at the same time... :)
"The Empire was founded on cups of tea, mate, and if you think I am going to war without one you are sadly mistaken."
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Dave
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Re: Truckin' Comments Section

Post by Dave »

Ooogh. The lady is flirting with suspension syndrome, or possibly even compartment syndrome. Not good at all. She may need more, and more urgent healing than even a couple of shots of single-malt can provide.

Gotta say, I'm enjoying the plot a lot, the characterizations even more, and the lyricism of the writing style most of all. :) This is a very fine read indeed.
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Just Old Al
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Re: Truckin' Comments Section

Post by Just Old Al »

Dave wrote:Ooogh. The lady is flirting with suspension syndrome, or possibly even compartment syndrome. Not good at all. She may need more, and more urgent healing than even a couple of shots of single-malt can provide.

Gotta say, I'm enjoying the plot a lot, the characterizations even more, and the lyricism of the writing style most of all. :) This is a very fine read indeed.
No, and this is why Al was basically saying "You are going INSIDE, and I am going to check you for issues of that nature." The statement of a couple of drinks is simply 'you need to relax after this - it's not a joke.' That is ungood and not at all funny. Hanging from a harness (or a pair of trousers) for any length of time can cause serious issues. Now, admittedly, she wasn't there all that long, but better safe than sorry.

Many thanks on the kudos. I for one was very nervous that this wouldn't be accepted well simply because it's not action-adventure. This is Sterling reaching out for help, and Al in his fumbling way doing what he can to help her.
"The Empire was founded on cups of tea, mate, and if you think I am going to war without one you are sadly mistaken."
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Re: Truckin' Comments Section

Post by Sgt. Howard »

I was about to request a print of her as a hood ornament.. then I realized that's MY department...
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jwhouk
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Re: Truckin' Comments Section

Post by jwhouk »

Observation: For a gearhead, she's a bit of a klutz, considering the work on Cindy's machine and now Olaidh.
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Re: Truckin' Comments Section

Post by GlytchMeister »

jwhouk wrote:Observation: For a gearhead, she's a bit of a klutz, considering the work on Cindy's machine and now Olaidh.
You think she’s a klutz... imagine a stressed-out, unmedicated ADHD kid cobbling together a FrankenStratus on a very tight budget in his abusive father’s garage.

I barked my knuckles, tweaked my shoulders, and ended up upside down, head and shoulders in the engine compartment and feet waving above. Also got pinned and covered in used motor oil while attempting to change the oil with insufficient equipment because my damn father refused to let me buy proper jack stands and a low profile oil pan.
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Just Old Al
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Re: Truckin' Comments Section

Post by Just Old Al »

jwhouk wrote:Observation: For a gearhead, she's a bit of a klutz, considering the work on Cindy's machine and now Olaidh.
On CIndy's machine she was preoccupied and slowed down by the need to keep shields up around Al. Not her fault other than the breach in safety procedures. In this case, yeah - she owns it. Old packing crate is not a safe workstand - and she's NEVER gonna hear the end of it. Admittedly Al's got the old girl up high - mostly so when it's time to weld and such that he's not going to be too cramped. Boy's not exactly svelte.

I have no doubt Al is wishing he'd gotten a photo or two simply for blackmail purposes with Kay and Tal - not to mention her cousins.
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Re: Truckin' Comments Section

Post by Warrl »

Just Old Al wrote:Boy's not exactly svelte.
Hey, he doesn't take that from Sterling, what makes you think he'll take it from you?

:lol:
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Re: Truckin' Comments Section

Post by Warrl »

Oh, I just got an idea for a real "small world" moment... now I *gotta* write something for the holiday interludes!
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Re: Truckin' Comments Section

Post by DinkyInky »

Just Old Al wrote:
jwhouk wrote:Observation: For a gearhead, she's a bit of a klutz, considering the work on Cindy's machine and now Olaidh.
On Cindy's machine she was preoccupied and slowed down by the need to keep shields up around Al. Not her fault other than the breach in safety procedures. In this case, yeah - she owns it. Old packing crate is not a safe workstand - and she's NEVER gonna hear the end of it. Admittedly Al's got the old girl up high - mostly so when it's time to weld and such that he's not going to be too cramped. Boy's not exactly svelte.

I have no doubt Al is wishing he'd gotten a photo or two simply for blackmail purposes with Kay and Tal - not to mention her cousins.
Big issue with both scenarios wasn't being a clutz, it was carelessness. The first time she was occupied with Al and his emergence, and protecting him so he could finish his project, and this time was disctraction from severe depression stemming from PTSD. She's a very competent mechanic otherwise. Her garage that her daily driver is in has a very smart setup. The barn has been converted to house all the cars she has in storage. Some day she ought to challenge the Sassanach to Musical chairs...er Radio Stations Mobile edition.
Yanno how some people have Angels/Devils for a conscience? I have a Dark Elf ShadowKnight and a Half Elf Ranger for mine. The really bad part is when they agree on something.

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jwhouk
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Re: Truckin' Comments Section

Post by jwhouk »

It just seems like she's been failing her Wisdom rolls as of late...
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Just Old Al
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Re: Truckin' Comments Section

Post by Just Old Al »

jwhouk wrote:It just seems like she's been failing her Wisdom rolls as of late...
And speaking as a more than competent mechanic myself I will say that I've done EXACTLY what she's done - failed Wisdom rolls as you put it. One of them collected me burn scars on my body from coveralls catching fire (never again poly/cotton!) and one nearly lost me a fingertip when a jig setup on the milling machine failed. I still have funky sensation in that fingertip.

Every good mechanic has lapses. The only ones who don't are the ones who don't do anything at all except pose about in coveralls.

This is why Al is a fanatic about safety - so that when those lapses of intelligence happen that the consequences are minimal. The big lapse in judgement in AA was the moron who put substandard hardware in the crane rail, not Sterling. Hers was a venial sin if you care to express it that way. If Al had seen her he'd have yelled at her, but no more.
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Re: Truckin' Comments Section

Post by FreeFlier »

And this, kiddies, is why you never do heavy mechanical work alone.

I've hired a ten-year-old to sit "over there" and run call for help when directed or if I'm unconscious.


Helped rescue someone who forgot about that while cutting trees . . . the current tree spun on the stump, came back at a weird angle and knocked him backwards over a couple of the previous trees into a position where he couldn't get out without help.

He was there about two or three hours before one of his kids went looking for him to ask permission to go to a friend's house.

I happened to be at the garage sale his wife was helping run when the kid called mom . . . having my first-aid card and knowing about logging, I went to help.

He was very lucky . . . once we remove the last tree and gave him something to pull himself up, he wasn't hurt, just trapped on his back like a turtle. (Of course, the fire department showed up about then . . . his wife had called when we were on the way.)

--FreeFlier
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Just Old Al
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Re: Truckin' Comments Section

Post by Just Old Al »

FreeFlier wrote:And this, kiddies, is why you never do heavy mechanical work alone.

--FreeFlier
From your mouth to the Gods' ears. SO true, and a rule unfortunately I break on an occasional basis.
"The Empire was founded on cups of tea, mate, and if you think I am going to war without one you are sadly mistaken."
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Re: Truckin' Comments Section

Post by DinkyInky »

Just Old Al wrote:
FreeFlier wrote:And this, kiddies, is why you never do heavy mechanical work alone.

--FreeFlier
From your mouth to the Gods' ears. SO true, and a rule unfortunately I break on an occasional basis.
Yes, this. Learned from my Daddy about cars, and his Pa and Grandpa about carpentry, and I can't tell you the amount of times I had to butterfly Daddy up because he refused to tell the kiddos in the neighbourhood to either stand still and watch, or get out. That's when he'd take the hurt to keep the littles safe, and I'd have to patch him up before Mother got back. After about the fourth time, the Doc at the hospital had me do a CPR class, and I got a 'minor' first aid cert(His attempt at a joke, as I was ten.), and CPR cert.

(For some weird reason, during crisis time, my brain doesn't switch off at the sight of blood, when normally I faint. Drove Mother spare.)

Distraction is the mother of all screwups--right there with his kissing cousin Assumption. Don't do either, and you'll get hurt a helluva lot less.
Yanno how some people have Angels/Devils for a conscience? I have a Dark Elf ShadowKnight and a Half Elf Ranger for mine. The really bad part is when they agree on something.

Aphyon chu kissa whol l'jaed.
--Safyr Drathmir
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Re: Truckin' Comments Section

Post by ShneekeyTheLost »

GlytchMeister wrote:Ya. It’s no fun. Both in terms of personal experience and in terms of helping someone else deal with theirs.

Actually had a small episode a week or so ago, triggered by some words from a friend of my girlfriend. It’s good to have someone there. For a couple hours, I wondered if I really was the “pathological liar, sociopath/psychopath, antisocial guy just like all those school shooters on the news” that he told me I was.

My girlfriend got me through that one. I’ve had others get me through other ones. Dealing with it on your own is... one of the hardest, most unpleasant, most depressing, and most mindbreaking experiences I can think of. It’s torture, self-inflicted, without your conscious knowledge.
If you are troubled by the thought that you might be... then you aren't there. Because if you really were, it wouldn't bother you at all.

As far as PTSD, it's something I am... rather experienced with, both personally and within my immediate family. My brother did two tours out in FOB Warhorse in Bagdhad back in '04, then got six months off before being stations out in 'I'm not at liberty to say', Afghanistan. He came back with his wing in a sling, but he did come back to us, which was the important part. But yea... the PTSD was pretty bad.
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Dave
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Re: Truckin' Comments Section

Post by Dave »

I've been through CERT training a couple of times (community and corporate). Something one of my instructors said was along the line of "If you're involved in responding to a serious incident that involved injuries or death, then afterwards, your sponsoring agency may offer you the opportunity to speak with a trauma counselor about your experience. If they do, say 'Yes'."

Combat trauma has got to be a hundred times worse. It sucks that Sterling (and so many others) didn't get the help and support they needed at the time. Although the medical community knows more today about the causes than they did decades ago (e.g. WWI "shell shock" theory) I'm not sure that our society has gotten much better at actually dealing with it effectively.
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GlytchMeister
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Re: Truckin' Comments Section

Post by GlytchMeister »

Medically, improvements have been made in leaps and bounds since WWI. Societally, as in the widespread public understanding, acceptance, non-shaming and non-ostracizing people with any mental illness, including PTSD, has been moving along at a snail’s pace. It’s still very common for people to tell people with chronic depression to “just get over it” or “go outside” and whatnot as opposed to actually getting a psychologist, psychiatrist, and/or a counselor, and getting medicine. There’s a huge stigma against “seeing a shrink” and going on antidepressants. I’ve heard it’s even worse in the military, due to strength being so valued and any sign of weakness being something to be ashamed of.
He's mister GlytchMeister, he's mister code
He's mister exploiter, he's mister ones and zeros
They call me GlytchMeister, whatever I touch
Starts to glitch in my clutch!
I'm too much!
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DinkyInky
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Re: Truckin' Comments Section

Post by DinkyInky »

GlytchMeister wrote:Medically, improvements have been made in leaps and bounds since WWI. Societally, as in the widespread public understanding, acceptance, non-shaming and non-ostracizing people with any mental illness, including PTSD, has been moving along at a snail’s pace. It’s still very common for people to tell people with chronic depression to “just get over it” or “go outside” and whatnot as opposed to actually getting a psychologist, psychiatrist, and/or a counselor, and getting medicine. There’s a huge stigma against “seeing a shrink” and going on antidepressants. I’ve heard it’s even worse in the military, due to strength being so valued and any sign of weakness being something to be ashamed of.
Or the brilliant PsyDoc that told me it was all in my head.

Like NO FUCKING DUH DOC! It's why I chose you instead of a bullet! Now help me fix it!(he didn't, I moved on until I found a decent one. That lasted until I moved. Searching for a not lunatic now.).

Took Daddy until my son was born to find credible help for his PTSD(related to M*A*S*H Unit service in Seoul, and other related service during Vietnam). When he retired, and the insurance changed, he was upset that the doc couldn't see him anymore. He recommended the VFW for military veteran referrals to clinics.
My Uncle(also a Vietnam era Veteran), then helped me find a way for him to get help from the VA/VFW, and be seen by docs who actually served. He's not even upset at the long wait because they won't sugarcoat with unnecessary things, and it's inexpensive. He still wishes his doc was there too though, and that guy was amazing.

Not all are that lucky.
Yanno how some people have Angels/Devils for a conscience? I have a Dark Elf ShadowKnight and a Half Elf Ranger for mine. The really bad part is when they agree on something.

Aphyon chu kissa whol l'jaed.
--Safyr Drathmir
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