I have had my Catalina 27 for 3 years now, and it is the most stressful thing in my life. I love sailing, but I can not calmly undock. It is so bad that I look for excuses to not go sailing, but if we do make it off the dock, once I'm under way, it is amazing and we do great. So here's the background, undocking is always me in the cockpit on the tiller and my girlfriend on the dock with the lines. It is usually just the two of us. We constantly blow immediately towards my neighbor and it becomes a stressful event.
Legend to the Pictures:
Black are cleats, the cleats on my boat are rather small unfortunately, so it is hard to loop through.
Red are lines
Silver is a winch they have a line looped around
Other boat is my neighbor with a beautiful boat that I am deathly afraid of giving a love tap to.
Here is my current set up This set up was completed by the winter storage delivery captain, so if it is not the best, do not blame me! All of the lines are "permanently" fixed on the boat cleats, with the tie off occurring on the dock.
Here is a template if you are so kind as to draw a diagram and help! I am totally open to going out and buying new lines if I need one bigger or what not. But if you all could please help me out and draw a proper diagram for this type of dock I would greatly appreciate it! If there are any sailing instructors in the Chicago area who would be willing to be hired for a a few hours to just practice undocking with my girlfriend and I, please let me know! I desperately want to enjoy this hobby, but every year I think about just selling the boat and getting out of the game, and it all comes down to undocking.
Thank you!
edit: copying a reply to another poster because I forgot some good information. No pilings at all, back out into an alley and turn towards the right. Drawings are with the nose pointed west perfect 270 heading, I turn to the north when exiting. Prevailing winds are westerly but anywhere from 210-310 degrees are common. Current, if there is one usually flows from the north, to the south, so pushing me into the other boat.

Many moons ago I fell deeply in love with Twin Peaks, David Lynch, and everything surrounding it. Presented today on the 7^th anniversary of the premiere date of Twin Peaks: The Return, is an interview with the actress and homeowner of the Palmer house who graciously gave her time to answer some fan questions that have been haunting us for years.
Journey with me to find out some answers you wanted, some you didn’t know you wanted, and some you can’t believe you lived without knowing including how to tour the Palmer home yourself!
Questions by Luke Sweeting
Luke: How were you approached to be an actress in The Return?
Mary: I was standing in the kitchen making sure there were enough donuts and coffee for the few key people DL (David Lynch) brought with him on 2nd of 3 visits before filming, which was the 4th visit. DL came into the kitchen by himself and said, Mary, are you an actress, and I said No. He then said, “Have you ever acted?” I said I hadn't. He then asked, would you like to have a small part in the movie? I said, “Sure”, but was nervous and excited at the thought. He said that it wasn't for sure but that if it did move forward, I would be in my own home and to act naturally, in other words, just be me. He has been watching me interact with some of the people he had brought. I heard he does like to observe people and get a feel for how they interact, look and sound. It is key to him that the person fit the character he is trying to create. He said if it did happen, I would get my script and go to hair and make up with the other actors. He was already trying to make me feel comfortable right there on the spot which I found very empathetic of him.


Luke: Had you ever acted before?
Mary: I really had not acted before other than a few commercials for the local TV station I worked for back in the day, but never a speaking part. I looked at it as definitely out of my comfort zone but who would turn down this opportunity? It was also therapeutic as I was going through a very trying time in life, so it was good to channel those feelings into doing something fun.

Luke: Has anyone recognized you in public yet? If so, do they call you Mrs. Tremond or Chalfont?
Mary: I have been recognized a few times which is funny but kind of cool at the same time. I was called Mrs. Tremond, which made me laugh. That is also on my license plate; I had to take advantage of that:)

Luke: (I know this answer, but I feel people would love to know the answer too) Was being a David Lynch fan the reason you bought the house, or was this just a happy accident?
Mary: I knew about Twin Peaks and about DL before buying the house. It is not why my ex, and I purchased the house in September 2014. It needed a lot of work at the time. The previous owner we purchased it from was the woman who lived here the first time around when Twin Peaks was filmed here. That is quite a story in itself, and I really wanted to sit with her afterward and chat with her about it, but she passed a few months after purchase.

Luke: Was there ever a culture shock moment of realizing you bought THE Palmer house, or did that happen after The Return finished airing?
Mary: This house was our first home purchase and we moved to Everett because of the history, great old historic homes and how much more house we could get up here. This area of Rucker Hill has some great history and amazing houses. The man who built this house was one of the first pitchers for Seattle baseball. We heard rumblings of Twin Peaks returning but it was around 2 months after moving in that we were away for a bit and came home to a notice at the door from the location scout asking us to call him right away as they wanted to do a film here. It was a mystery as to what it would be, but we felt it was going to be Twin Peaks. The whole filming process, when our parts were going to be aired and everything about the Return was a mystery. They actually filmed the Finale at the very beginning, so I had no clue where it was going to fit into the whole Film. Filming was an amazing experience. They were here for approximately 2 weeks preparing the home for both the Hawk/Sarah scene and the Finale. It wasn't until the Finale was aired that I realized how cool this experience was in the whole scheme of things and the impact in the Return itself. I wish I could relax a bit more and soak it in again, just to relive the experience and really study the process. Each person here was so professional and fun to watch do their work with such expertise. I couldn't have asked for friendlier people.

Luke: How has the fandom treated you?
Mary: The fans are incredible. They have been extremely kind to me. They are great gift givers and just very authentic and genuine folks in love with Twin Peaks. I didn't realize how intense these fans were, but I truly get it. There is nothing like this ever made before and it set the stage for a lot of other great TV and film. The fans have been awesome and I have many great friends from this experience.

Luke: Is there anything you wish fans wouldn’t do?
Mary: The only thing I wish for fans is that they don't just walk up to the door at various hours of the day and night. It is private property and not a public place for people to peek in windows and walk the grounds. There have only been a few that have done this; the majority is very respectful to me and my home.

Luke: Is it ever scary to sleep in the proverbial Palmer house? Are there ever guests who stay over and become a little nervous?
Mary: I am not afraid in the least to stay here. I was a tad apprehensive when we first bought it, but like the lady who lived here before would say, "this is just my house." Now a few of the guests who have stayed, they were a bit nervous to sleep in Laura's room, but that may be because I have a life-sized Bob mannequin in the closet:)

Luke: I know that you’re gracious enough to let guests visit this mecca of ours, could you tell me and anyone interested about how and when to properly ask to visit? (You could also mention your favorite flowers or favorite wine? I know I’d feel bad showing up empty handed)

Mary: I prefer people get a hold of me on Messenger or IG or Twitter and ask to see the house, so I can make an appointment for them, especially since Everett is not that close to North Bend and Snoqualmie. I do now charge $25 for a 30-45 minute tour as I have done quite a few. I do love flowers and red wine. I have received some very incredible gifts from some fans which I am forever grateful for. The fans are so very thoughtful, and I have a little spot in my Palmer dining room where I proudly display some of the gifts and artwork.

Luke: I understand if you don’t want to answer this one. What does your role in Twin Peaks mean to you? To us fans I feel like it was the perfect subversion of expectations while also being incredibly meta.
Mary: There are 2 questions I can't answer and one of them is expanding on my character. I do, however, think it is cool to be an infamous Tremond!

Luke: How does it feel to be appreciated as a part of a now 30-year-old piece of media that will last forever and has influenced kids like me to make careers in film?
Mary: It is very humbling to be part of the TP mystique and genre. I am blessed and love being able to share a piece of it with fans who have never been able to see the Palmer House. The responses of people who visit is my gift. I love seeing their excitement and joy at walking through my door and each and every person is a joy for me. I have made great friends, learned wonderful theories and have listed to some reveal trauma in their own lives, which invites me into some very private parts of their lives. It has been a life changing experience for me, and I hope it has been for them as well.

Luke: Finally, what was it like working with David? Are there any fun tidbits or stories of how he directed you / that wonderfully haunting scene burned into our memories forever?


Mary: Working with DL was an incredible experience to say the least and very humbling and rewarding. He is a master filmmaker and director. The gift he gives is what we as individual viewers choose to take away from his art.

He is a wonderful director in that he ceases to tell you how to act, rather use your raw and organic natural emotions to drive the performance. I believe he knew I was going to be a bit anxious and guarded and most of all a bit nervous, which worked well for answering the door at night to 2 strangers. He tweaked a bit but left us to the scene and frankly Kyle and Sheryl would make most people look good. We only had 2 takes which was great. We practiced a bit outside before the scene which helped. Also meeting Kyle and Sheryl in hair and makeup was an introduction to them both that was organic and for me very helpful. I felt like I was acting already with 2 friends. DL and Kyle and Sheryl were very encouraging. DL knows what he wants and how to transfer his ideas out in the scene with great kindness and finesse and humor.

Luke: I’m sorry but I have to ask. Any hints to what was being spoken to you behind that menacing white door?
Mary: There were no hints of who was behind door other than me calling him Honey. He was supposedly answering my questions and then I was relaying answers to Kyle and Sheryl.

You see, South Korea is currently going through controversies regarding "direct overseas purchase". Most of these are in Korean and/or Chinese, but:
https://namu.wiki/w/%ED%95%B4%EC%99%B8%EC%A7%81%EA%B5%AC%20%EA%B8%89%EC%A6%9D%EC%97%90%20%EB%94%B0%EB%A5%B8%20%EC%86%8C%EB%B9%84%EC%9E%90%20%EC%95%88%EC%A0%84%20%EA%B0%95%ED%99%94%20%EB%B0%8F%20%EA%B8%B0%EC%97%85%20%EA%B2%BD%EC%9F%81%EB%A0%A5%20%EC%A0%9C%EA%B3%A0%20%EB%B0%A9%EC%95%88
https://namu.wiki/w/%ED%95%B4%EC%99%B8%EC%A7%81%EA%B5%AC%20%EA%B8%89%EC%A6%9D%EC%97%90%20%EB%94%B0%EB%A5%B8%20%EC%86%8C%EB%B9%84%EC%9E%90%20%EC%95%88%EC%A0%84%20%EA%B0%95%ED%99%94%20%EB%B0%8F%20%EA%B8%B0%EC%97%85%20%EA%B2%BD%EC%9F%81%EB%A0%A5%20%EC%A0%9C%EA%B3%A0%20%EB%B0%A9%EC%95%88/%EC%A0%84%EA%B0%9C
https://namu.wiki/w/%ED%95%B4%EC%99%B8%EC%A7%81%EA%B5%AC%20%EA%B8%89%EC%A6%9D%EC%97%90%20%EB%94%B0%EB%A5%B8%20%EC%86%8C%EB%B9%84%EC%9E%90%20%EC%95%88%EC%A0%84%20%EA%B0%95%ED%99%94%20%EB%B0%8F%20%EA%B8%B0%EC%97%85%20%EA%B2%BD%EC%9F%81%EB%A0%A5%20%EC%A0%9C%EA%B3%A0%20%EB%B0%A9%EC%95%88/%EB%B9%84%ED%8C%90%20%EB%B0%8F%20%EB%85%BC%EB%9E%80
https://www.reddit.com/korea/comments/1cu7kw3/after_banning_direct_overseas_purchases/
https://ac-o.namu.la/20240520sac/aa46cec73a07a4e10811dc2c8d75a4ec08e56d9e6bfa6d626e41bae63ba6bc0c.jpg?expires=1716333331&key=qbXJoJRuEPg7cbM4IbJ-ng&type=orig
https://ac-o.namu.la/20240520sac/47cea5f6196403974e3f7914a752a5a620860444fe33c2b712465feef17a378f.jpg?expires=1716333331&key=9zxm8tousCzrFJSdmpxXyQ&type=orig
As such, at least some people are expecting that South Korea will:

1. Have its entire economy collapse like how Venezuela and North Korea did at least partly due to extreme hyperinflation resulting from such situation.
   
2. Turn into a country with the worst crime rate in the world similar to Haiti and Venezuela due to skyrocketing growth of smuggling businesses and organized crimes.
   
3. Get banned from SWIFT similar to how Russia got kicked out from.
   
4. Be completely thrown out from the United States as it decides to side with Japan completely.
   
5. Get trade embargoed(?) and travel ban imposed just about every single countries in the world as a retaliation, resulting in K-Pop, K-dramas, Korean films, Korean food products, Korean electronic goods, and so on to get completelyl banned from every single countries in the world as they use J-Pop, J-dramas, Japanese films (live-action and animated alike), Japanese food products, Japanese electronic goods, and so on as substitutes.
   
6. Be kicked out from the United Nation and be designated(?) as an illegitimate country as North Korea is recognized as the sole legitimate government/country of Korean Peninsula while any signs of South Korea will be erased from pop culture including D.Va from Overwatch getting completely deleted without any trace and replaced with North Korean female villain character.
   
7. Get invaded and absored by North Korea in a matter of hours as a result.
   

In that regard, if any of you guys are still in South Korea, when are you guys plan to evacuate to Japan, Taiwan, Mongolia, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, or France in order to survive? And which of you guys are even planning to change your name to fit one of those said countries?

I've noticed this case has not been written about on here before, so I'd like to bring attention to an unsolved murder from Simcoe County in Ontario, Canada.
17-year old Cindy Halliday was born and raised in Waverley, ON, a small town about 35 km away from Barrie, ON. According to her family, she often hitchhiked to Barrie or Midland when she had to travel. On Easter Monday 1992, she was visiting a friend in Barrie, ON at a halfway house. She left at about 5:30 pm and planned to hitchhike the 35 km home back to Waverley down Highway 27. She was last seen hitchhiking near Midhurst ON. Witnesses reported seeing a teen fitting Cindy's description getting into a 1979-1981 light-coloured Chrysler LeBaron or Dodge Diplomat by the Hasty Market in Midhurst between 5:30 pm and 6:30 pm. However, she never made it home. A day later, she was reported missing by her mother, Jackie. A search ensued and hundreds of missing pamphlets were handed out, but there was initially no luck.
However, 2 weeks after her disappearance, Cindy's wallet was found in a wooded area off the Old Second Line or Concession Road 2 in Vespra Township, near Horseshoe Valley Road on May 3rd by a man collecting bottles. A subsequent K9 search by the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) in the area turned up nothing. Later, on May 16th, a man collecting mushrooms found Cindy's red, blue, and white jacket further north up the same road. Significantly, police noted that it must have been placed there after the search as it was not found before during the search. On June 16th, everyone's worst fears were confirmed. Almost 2 months after she first disappeared, partial skeletal remains were found by a man walking his dog in a reforestation area near Springwater Township where her wallet was previously found, and 2 km northwest of where her jacket had been found. They were later identified as belonging to Cindy. Unfortunately, only her skull was recovered as animals and weather had destroyed the rest of the body and any other evidence. From the state of the partial remains, it was determined that she had been stabbed to death. On June 21st, more of Cindy's clothes, a watch, a ring, and shoes were discovered near where her jacket was found.
In September 1992, OPP made a profile of the killer, stating that the perpetrator was likely a male, in his 20s or 30s who may have known Halliday. The profiler suspected that the killer would have exhibited severe physical and emotional indicators leading to changes in his personality and demeanor after the homicide.
There was some speculation that Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka could have been involved as Kristen French's disappearance happened to occur 4 days before. However, this possible connection was eventually ruled out by investigators. No other suspects have been officially considered. Detectives believe Cindy was killed on or around the day she went missing, and that the suspect may have shown odd behaviour or appearance on the Monday or Tuesday after the 1992 Easter weekend. The OPP offered a $50,000 reward in 2006, but this did not lead to any new information. In 2006, some evidence was also re-examined using new DNA technology, but again, no luck.
As of today, 32 years have passed since Cindy first disappeared. Unfortunately, it is now a cold case, but remains part of the OPP's caseload. Cindy is remembered by family and friends as a girl who loved hockey and had dreams of becoming a social worker. Anyone with information is asked to call the OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers.
Some sources:
https://www.collingwoodtoday.ca/local-news/cindy-halliday-was-hitchhiking-home-from-barrie-when-she-vanished-in-1992-later-found-dead-3559600
https://www.blueline.ca/out-of-the-cold-file-no-3the-stabbing-of-cindy-halliday-28-years-ago/
https://www.muskokaregion.com/news/cindy-s-murder-remains-unsolved-15-years-latearticle_a53ab2b3-d758-57bb-bed6-866e95091018.html

Okay so, a little bit of a convoluted background on this one.
I work for a retail company that has a few hundred stores in my country. Let's say (total estimate) that 20% of these stores are attached to restaurant/bars. We have nothing really to do with these restaurants as team members, but because of this people who work at the 20% of stores are paid under the hospitality pay grade, while the 80% are under the retail pay grade. It's the same store, we do the same job- the only difference is you can go outside and walk to the pub at some and not at others. Obviously this is ridiculous but some time in the next financial year this will change.
Because we are under different grades, break times differ between these stores too. There are a lot of nuances but to cut a long story short basically you're entitled to more breaks (and breaks with less hours worked) under the retail grade. That is, until last year when they decided to bring break times more or less in line with our counterparts, save a few minor differences.
I have worked at this company for three years at various stores, but mostly at the retail stores, and at the end of last year I moved to one of the 'hospitality' stores. At the time, changes to breaks were new. I had a run in with a supervisor over this Christmas period when I asked her when she'd like me to take my 15 minute break. She told me we really didn't have time for 15 minute breaks that day. I basically said something like, "wow, that sucks for you. How does 3pm work?"
The next day I bought it up with my assistant store manager and said I don't think people know that they're now entitled to their shorter rest breaks and aren't taking them. She said "They definitely know about them, they're just choosing not to take them" (lmao).
At this time, I had just come back to work after an extended mental health break. There was a well meaning but condescending tone about how I was talked to about this at the time. The general sentiment being "if you're too overwhelmed, you're welcome to just go get some air!"
Guys, I wasn't having a panic attack lol. I just don't work for free.
After that, I let everyone know they're entitled to their extra break and people are taking them now. But I started to wonder if maybe we were getting screwed here, in terms of not getting a break when you 'only' work X hours, or not getting all your short rest breaks when you work more than Y hours.
However when I looked it up, due to their being so many changes, I could really only find the break expectations for our retail homies.
So when my boss asked me if I had anything I'd like her to put in her weekly update to the work group chat (she asks all us duty managers) I said yes please, can you post the exact amount of breaks we are supposed to take and after how many hours worked? She said NP.
Then, she posted something kind of ridiculous that I immediately knew was wrong. That we only get those 'extra' rest breaks after 10 hours worked (nobody here works 10 hour shifts lol) and that basically any extra breaks were up to management to decide.
So I said hmm and called my union rep and sent a screen shot to my old store manager to ask if this was correct.
It was not.
While I was contemplating whether to just respond with the correct info in the gc and have her be furious with me, the store manager I had messaged called my current store manager and said a team member contacted him and did he know this was completely incorrect?
Well, it turns out the ASM got this info from our store manager, who got the info from a different store manager.
As it turns out, at least three stores in my area have been operating off this incorrect model. So they got an email informing them of the correct break expectations they need to adhere too.
And that's it... for now. I haven't posted the correct times in the group chat because I'm expecting to hear it from my boss first and am not trying to undercut them (publicly lol). I'm off work for the week, but if a correction is not posted by the end of that time I will be blasting it everywhere. I am expecting them to be salty about it in general but I really don't care ;)
Side note- join your union folks. Fees are tax deductible in some countries too.

Hi all,
Current North Carolinian but Indy-native here with 3 extra PRINT tickets right now. In my past experience you cannot re-sell physical tickets on the apps.
My questions are:

• What is the best avenue of selling physical tickets? Are there still scalpers/ “resellers” that will buy them outside of IMS? Or is my best bet to post on Reddit/Facebook groups?
  
• anyone looking for 2 or 3 tickets?
  

North Vista Section 43 Row M [Turn 3-4]
Looking for $70 a ticket. Able to deliver anywhere in Indianapolis area Friday night or Saturday morning!
Looking forward to being Back Home Again!

Good morning sisters and brothers, fellow Saints of our aspirational Zion. I was asked to speak and allowed to decide what the topic would be. After a lot of consideration I felt inspired to speak about being Actively Engaged in a Good Cause and how that relates to the full name of the church.
I was glad when President Nelson decided to put more emphasis on the full name of the church. Not that I mind using the term Mormon, but because I do find the full name of the church to be significant. When the church was organized in 1830 it was called the Church of Christ. In 1834 the members voted to change the name of the church to the Church of the Latter-day Saints. Then in 1838 Joseph had a revelation for the name to be The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While this effectively combined the two previous names, it also highlights something that I think most people overlook. Namely that the church is not only Jesus’s church, but that the church also belongs to us, the Latter-day Saints. We too have ownership of the church. While this may sound strange at first, it actually also fits very well with another concept that Joseph Smith taught: Theodemocracy.
Joseph spoke of this most actively the year before his death when running for President of the United States and when the Council of Fifty was created. The idea also holds in it that while God is in charge, we also have ownership and must have a say, actively vote, propose new ideas, and generally be actively engaged in moving things forward. It is not a theocracy with a fake voting system attached like that of North Korea. However, we have largely seen our own tradition move from one in which we do things by common consent including adding to our canon or as in 1834 voting to change the name of the church, towards something much more akin to voting in North Korea. This has coincided with other shifts in which we have taken less and less ownership of our church and as a result failed to properly sustain and support our leaders.
It is unfair to our leaders for us to sit back and wait for them to do frankly most of the heavy lifting when it comes to the running and functioning of our church, stake, and ward. In the past when I’ve been in callings that required me to be overseeing the assignments of home teaching or really any other church assignments, my experience has been that occasionally some inspiration will strike for some of the assignments, but that for the majority, I felt like I was left to figure out myself what assignments seemed to make the most sense. I know that many leaders that I have spoken to on this topic have also had such experiences. When we as members speak with our leaders, share information with them, it makes it much easier to make the best decisions. Without that feedback much more is left to guesswork.
We need to support and sustain our leaders, but this becomes difficult or challenging if we bring some assumptions to the table when considering how we do this. A major one as I see it is when we put too much trust in the arm of the flesh and grant our leaders infallibility or the lesser but largely equivalent functional infallibility.
As the saying goes: “Catholics say that the Pope is infallible, but none of them believe it. Mormons say that the Prophet is fallible, but none of them believe it.” Brigham Young recognized the potential for harm in this setting and said:
"I am fearful [the Saints will] settle down in a state of blind self-security, trusting their eternal destiny in the hands of their leaders with a reckless confidence that in itself would thwart the purposes of God in their salvation, and weaken the influence they could give to their leaders, did they know for themselves, by the revelations of Jesus, that they are led in the right way.” – Brigham Young 1862 General Conference (quoted in General Conference of the church in 1963 and in 1989)
And this one is also important:
"And none are required to tamely and blindly submit to a man because he has a portion of the priesthood. We have heard men who hold the priesthood remark, that they would do anything they were told to do by those who presided over them, if they knew it was wrong; but such obedience as this is worse than folly to us; it is slavery in the extreme; and the man who would thus willingly degrade himself should not claim a rank among intelligent beings, until he turns from his folly. A man of God… would despise the idea. Others, in the extreme exercise of their almighty authority have taught that such obedience was necessary, and that no matter what the saints were told to do by their presidents, they should do it without asking any questions. When Elders of Israel will so far indulge in these extreme notions of obedience as to teach them to the people, it is generally because they have it in their minds to do wrong themselves.” – Millennial Star, vol.14 #38, pp. 593-95
Yet does this functionally happen in the church? Do we follow this council to find out for ourselves instead of simply assuming everything from our leaders is divine? Apostle Charles W. Penrose, who would later serve as counselor to President Smith, declared:
"President Wilford Woodruff is a man of wisdom and experience, and we respect him, but we do not believe his personal views or utterances are revelations from God; and when ‘Thus saith the Lord’, comes from him, the saints investigate it: they do not shut their eyes and take it down like a pill.” – Millennial Star 54:191
Do we do this? When the prophet says “Thus saith the Lord” do we take the time to investigate it? Do we remember President Kimball’s reaction to Elder Benson’s talk on the “14 fundamentals of following the prophet”?
"Spencer felt concern about the talk, wanting to protect the Church against being misunderstood as espousing ultraconservative politics or an unthinking “follow the leader” mentality. The First Presidency again called Elder Benson in to discuss what he had said and asked him to make explanation to the full Quorum of the Twelve and other General Authorities… A First Presidency spokesman Don LeFevre reiterated to the press the day after the speech that it is “simply not true” that the Church President’s “word is law on all issues—including politics.” – Lengthen Your Stride – Working Draft, by Edward Kimball
I’ve had the opportunity to know some great Mormons who do take this approach, but I’ve also known many who treat quotes from church leaders like downloaded messages from God (no human filters involved).
If we can believe that God is capable of inspiring our leaders, surely we can believe God is capable of letting us know when they’re wrong. If instead we assume that their judgment is always superior to our own, perhaps we’re helping to put up a massive iron gate.
"How often has the Holy Spirit tried to tell us something we needed to know but couldn’t get past the massive iron gate of what we thought we already knew?" – Dieter Uchtdorf 2012 Worldwide Leadership Training
Moses once opined “Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” We have all been confirmed members of the church and in that confirmation told to receive the Holy Ghost. It is easy to forget that when the spirit tells us something, that is a member of the Godhead speaking to us. If we can believe that God can give guidance to our leaders surely we can also believe God can give us guidance.
Another important and often overlooked point is the context to this oft quoted verse:
"We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion." -D&C 121:39
This statement wasn’t given in a vacuum. It is in the middle of a long discussion of priesthood and priesthood authority. This is talking specifically about priesthood leaders. When we read that “many are called but few are chosen,” we’re reading that many priesthood leaders abuse their power and only few truly honor it. The saints in Joseph’s day understood this. I think we’ve sanitized it over the years to make it seem like an aside, an intermission on the discussion of priesthood. This statement is as true now as ever. This verse, with its proper context, needs to be a lesson for us as members. We need to sustain and support our leaders. This doesn’t mean following them blindly. This doesn’t mean we must become “yes-men” to them. This does mean pray for them to be chosen instead of just called. This does mean to influence our leaders to do God’s will. Remember, one of Brigham’s concerns about us acting as if all our leaders decisions were divine is that it will “weaken the influence [we] could give to [our] leaders.”
What questions our church leaders will take to the Lord are impacted by our own openness to those things. In 1977 President Kimball expressed concern that if the Race-ban on priesthood was removed that there would be pushback from members in the American South and from some in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. When President Hinckley was asked in an interview about the Gender-ban on priesthood his response was that “there’s no agitation for it.” Until we better engage in our own history and understand how we got to where we are now it will be very difficult if not impossible for us as members to be prepared for the removal of the current gender-ban on priesthood.
Sometimes we might justify our own spiritual laziness by saying that while our leaders are fallible that God will never let them lead us astray, granting them a sort of functional infallibility. Nevermind that this was first said when my 3rd-great-grandpa President Woodruff was trying to convince members not to leave over the Manifesto. Nevermind that it means that we’re denying our leaders their agency by assuming that God removes their ability to make mistakes in their callings. Maybe some make such a statement more nuanced. Maybe they think that our leaders can make mistakes, but they won’t be majosignificant mistakes. Well, what is and isn’t significant depends a lot on who you are and how you’re being affected by it. I’m thinking that the women and children who were slaughtered in prophet-sanctioned genocide in the Bible considered that a significant mistake. I’m thinking that the thousands denied temple blessings their entire lives because of the color of their skin might consider that significant.
Let’s just recognize that few are chosen and that we need to give our leaders constructive/interactive support. We place a lot of responsibility on our leaders and they are very likely to make mistakes. Because they are human and doing their best, but as humans we all err from time to time. Recognizing the mistakes of our leaders is essential to giving them true support; it is vital to sustaining them. I would hope that we would avoid enabling or cheerleading bad decisions that friends or family are about to make. Pointing out why a decision will be or was problematic is what we expect of people who we truly love and support us, because it helps us to avoid pain and pitfalls and enables us to be our best.
Here’s a story from our little section of Salt Lake City in which members recognized the potential for mistakes and took ownership of our church. On August 23rd, 1896 Stake President Angus M. Cannon proposed a man to be the bishop of a new ward which was to be divided from the Sugar House Ward. The congregation voted against the proposed new bishop. President Angus M. Cannon then purportedly shouted "Sit down! and shut your mouths, you have no right to speak!" When Cannon engaged in a shouting match with the dissenting congregation, a ward member and policeman threatened to arrest the stake president for disturbing the peace. President Cannon more calmly repeated his attempt but was voted down "again several times." The Secretary of the First Council of the Seventy was in attendance and wrote in his journal: "I have been taught that the appointing power comes from the priesthood and the sustaining power from the people and that they have the right of sustaining or not sustaining appointees.
When it comes to being actively engaged in church endeavors our neighborhood and the general Sugar House area has done a lot. The "stake missionary program" began in the Granite Stake under President Frank Taylor in the early 1900s. It was an idea presented to President Taylor who then prayerfully considered trying it out as a stake. It proved successful and was later picked up by the General Authorities who made it a church-wide program.
The seminary program was also started in our stake after Joseph Merrill (a newly called member of the Granite Stake Presidency) felt inspired to start it and worked out agreements with the school board and got it going at the very new (at the time) Granite High School.
Also, in 1909 the Granite Stake started a monthly family home evening program. After counseling with many sisters and brothers in the stake, the Stake Presidency asked each family to spend Tuesday evening home together. All of these were local things which were eventually picked up and run at the church-wide level. We have a history in our area of being anxiously engaged and pioneering with new ideas.
While those are all instances of members, wards, and stakes starting programs for good causes in our area of Salt Lake City, they are just a few examples of Saints starting inspired efforts which were eventually accepted and promoted by the top church leaders. The relief society started when women in Nauvoo came together to do some good. The Primary program, Sunday school, Mutual Improvement Association, welfare/farming, organized genealogy efforts, and Young Adult programs all also started as members and local leaders were anxiously engaged and thereby gave influence to the top church leaders.
So as we consider how we can more actively engage in the church and look at what we can do now that would help to further the kingdom of God, I’d like to share a few things that have been on my mind which I feel would be steps which we can do now and which doesn’t require any new doctrines, revelations, or organizational adjustments from our leadership.

1. Give leaders their agency and remove the false idol of functional infallibility

I’ve already said a lot about this. The only thing I’ll add is to encourage everyone to read and learn about our history. The church history department has been putting out a lot of new, well-researched material, and there is a very high chance that it will be different than how you learned about things over the last several decades. Interestingly, most historically thorny topics become vastly easier to deal with when we stop denying leaders agency and ability to get things wrong.

1. Stop turning into a time capsule of the 1950s

This is really a small thing, but sometimes small things can have an outsized impact. Assuming someone comes into church for the first time, they will likely be a little weirded out because in dress and culture they walked into a time capsule of the 1950s. The Amish did this with mid-1800s, some Mennonites have as well. FLDS have with when they split in the 1930s/40s. These groups that have followed this pattern of freezing time and culture because they have been integrated into their religious practice are generally ones that are not really growing and have little-to-no impact or relevance in society. If we want to do the most good and build the most bridges, it is easier to do if we don’t continue falling into this pattern. Any efforts on our part to make our meetings look like a place that people in the public could come into and not feel out of place are steps in this direction. Dresses, suits and ties aren’t part of Christ’s gospel. Missionary clothing is changing for similar reasons. New guidelines for missionaries include allowing sisters to wear pants and Elders to go without jackets, so surely we can extend the same to our church attendance.

1. Always speak at church as though the audience is the general public

I have many times felt like I didn’t fit in or belong at church, and many times this has been because people speaking at church have done so with the assumption that everyone in the building must share their views on a given topic. Simply imagining that a gay couple, an ex-mormon, an investigator, some in the midst of a faith crisis, and others who live in our neighborhood are in the audience will help us to make sure that as we teach our lessons, give our talks, etc. that we will do so in the most open and welcoming way possible, which frankly is how i believe Jesus would have spoken. I truly believe that if we try to do this it will drastically improve our lessons and dialogue and help to make church a place that more people want to be. It is a change that (to borrow imagery from Jesus’s parable of the sower) will be akin to tilling and prepping the soil to improve the likelihood of allowing seeds to take root.
There are near infinite ways that we can innovate and get engaged in good causes. Awake and arise, join in the cause of Zion. The aspiration of Zion is to be of one heart and one mind and have no poor among us. I think it is worth noting that being of one mind doesn’t mean agreeing on everything. It means that we are united in love; love for God and for all persons. When this is our top priority, when we worry about how our actions impact others and whether our words and actions are conveying love, we become united. I’ve been a long-time fan of Eugene England’s essay “The church is as true as the gospel.” In it he makes the case that the church is true because it is a vehicle in which we are able to actually try to put the gospel into practice. In doing so we encounter difficulties as we interact with other fallible mortals and try to navigate our interactions in a Christ-like way. We all try and this mix of imperfect people who unite in love and service can help to bring each other and others to Christ. It is my prayer that we can find ways to engage with love, and humble ourselves like little children, to change our ways as needed to come closer to Christ. I leave this with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

How do intersections with red light cameras work? Can it be used, manned or automated, to identify an ticket vehicle taking U-turns illegally when the camera faces these vehicles easily. I see many doing those illegal U-Turns east to west at Eglinton & Martin Grove. That dampens the already slow moving traffic taking left (going north) at Martin Grove.

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"You should go to Hallett. We went last year and it was fun. A good track for Miata's"
My friend Gerry the Texan who along with his team brings several Miata's to races all over from Road America to Houston to Seibring. It's a great bunch of people who are having a blast racing Lemons. He told me that and it got me to thinking. We wanted to go to a new track this year and after the disappointment at Barber going somewhere and having some fun sounded good. Also Hallett is noted for having a smaller field so we could be competitive. I always say that Barber is more like a pro level Lemons race in that it attracts the faster and better prepped teams. Road America was like that too.
But first we have to fix the car. As typical, we wait until the race is almost upon us to start. There's the matter of how bad the car is bent from the last race where Manny hit the wall. They thought it was good but we need to check this.
After pulling the rear sub frame in hopes of replacing it we learn that a 90 is a bit different than a 91 subframe or a 2001 subframe. Supposedly it all interchanges but after looking over the differences, Youngest adds a few reinforcements at places the internet gurus say are the weak points and we put the rear end together and put it back in the car. Then we check the alignment. To my great surprise the rear camber and caster is spot on. I was shocked, but the crew did a great job that night fixing the car while it was up on jack stands. Using just a tape measure they got the car really close. Toe was out but the borrowed porta powers got the bent subframe where it needed to be.
We changed the oil and brake fluid, bled the system where we took the rear apart to drop the subframe.
Another project we attempted was to swap in a larger fuel tank. Manny who has been helping with the repairs found a article on the internet that said you could bolt in a NB fuel tank out of a 2001 or so Miata and gain a gallon of fuel capacity. Yeah, that is not possible. The tank has a hump where the car does not and would involve cutting a hole in the car which would be a bit noticeable. Not worth it for such a little gain. Good news is I now have two extra NB tanks if anyone needs one. A gallon would not seem to be that much but we are still dreaming of two stopping the car at certain tracks, stretching our mileage to only stop every two hours and 25 minutes and make a seven hour day with one less stop. It's not all about raw speed, strategy can make a difference. One less stop per day could potentially add ten laps in a weekend of racing at certain tracks.
After we got the subframe in and the car aligned Youngest pulled it all apart again. He was not happy with the bushings holding the rear differential in place. The rear has to move a bit so it is not solid mounted, it actually can pivot a slight bit. He felt the bushings holding it were letting it move too freely.
Once again we put the car back together.
All during this time Manny and FabGuy have been working hard on a new car. Manny got a little crazy on Co-part. First one Miata shows up at our shop. Then another. Then another. I started joking with the guys "Hi I'm Manny, I might have a Miata addiction". Yeah. So after a lot of looking we have three wrecked cars, one being a automatic that was absolutely destroyed. It had zero good body panels and even the front subframe was pushed back where it had got up on something in a wreck. I think the only things we saved off that car was a rear axle, engine, transmission and the hard top which was cracked but usable.
We then robbed enough body parts off of one to put on the other so we ended up with a mostly maroon car with a drivers side red fender, red door and silver hardtop. I say we but all we did at the shop was to take the cars apart, everything else went to Manny's garage where he and FabGuy installed the cage and built the car. They did bring it over a time or two to put in the air to install a few parts or when we aligned it. The build and fitment were top notch on the car, lots of nice parts went in, like a better seat and belts than we use on our Miata. Like most builds they were literally bolting parts to it the night before we loaded the car to head west.
Finally both cars are prepped and it's time to get on the road. Manny has a business where he uses two rollbacks and moves cars mostly to and from car lots and auction lots. So he gets the newer one of the two trucks and shows up at the shop Thursday morning. RacerGuy and I are already there and have hooked our camper to RacerGuys truck. I am leaving my trucks at home, but taking our race trailer and our camper. The plan is to hook the camper to RacerGuys diesel F250 and hook the race trailer to Manny's newish Chevy 4500.
The plan nearly goes off the rails when Manny shows up and I get to looking at his truck. Being in the business I can't not help but look at tires. His drives are terrible, two are bald, one is soft and one showing wire. I go to air up one of the bald ones and it's not having it. Air is leaking out as fast as it was going in. In Manny's defense his employee was driving this truck and Manny had not seen it in weeks. I had already loaded tire tools and extra spare tires for every truck and trailer in the caravan except RacerGuy's truck and I would have got a spare for it too if I had thought about it. With nothing else to do, we all jump in and start busting tires. Forty five minutes later we have four new drives on the truck and we are in a much better spot to make the long drive. I hadn't done any big truck tires for a long time, sold that part of the business. Still got it, just like riding a bike.
We find I40 and start clicking off miles. Manny has already told us the limiting factor which is that GM put a really tiny fuel tank in his truck so we are forced to stop every 160-180 miles for fuel. It slows us down but it's not all bad, we find a roadside BBQ joint that looks like a camper up on blocks that has a huge parking lot and a ton of customers lining up. Of course we try it out, the best BBQ comes from little places like that, not the ones with massive buildings.
We cross Arkansas and I think it was the first time I ever went that way westbound on 40. Came back the other side when we brought the box truck back where we bought it in California. We finally make Oklahoma and bent north to go to Tulsa. Did not see the Tulsa King anywhere, stopped in a Super Walmart and stocked up on groceries for the weekend. Hallett is in the middle of nowhere, so we are planning on eating at the track.
We get there and make our way into the paddock. This will be the first time we have every camped inside the track. They have a cross over with gates that close during when the track is hot and a tunnel for access when the gates are closed. The tunnel looks kind of tight, I'm happy to not test the posted height limits. It says our trailers should fit. Yeah we will wait.
We hustle to get the camper leveled and the generator cranked up. For the next three days it will run non-stop to keep the fridge cold and our lights on. We run the a/c but for the most part temps are very nice.
The next morning we are up and on the road after the drivers meeting. We go to Pawnee, take in some sights then hit Stillwater for some parts and pieces at a hardware store. We also gas up all our empty gas cans so we are ready for race day.
Back at the track Manny and Fabguy are unloading their car off the back of the rollback. It was nice carrying one and towing one car. They go out and practice a bit, come in and make some changes then go out again. It's a new build and everyone has realistic expectations about the car. We are all expecting issues as it takes a while to find the weak spots and fix them.
We get our car out and practice. We send three of the four drivers out and have them run a few laps. I'm about to get ready and go out when RacerGuy comes in and says he felt something pop. We get to looking and the adjuster is gone off the alternator. Look a little more and the bolt has broken off in the alternator. So we have a spare motor in the trailer but it is missing the adjuster. Looks like we need the adjuster, the bolt and the alternator. We make a few visits around the paddock to look for parts but none of the other Miata teams have what we need. Youngest goes into the trailer and in a small miracle finds the adjuster laying under the spare motor loose. He and Coach head into Tulsa on a parts run while Manny agrees to put me into their car for a few laps so I can get a feel for the track. I've watched a hundred laps on Youtube but nothing is like actually driving the track. I go out and don't push things too hard. It is a very worn surface with some patches, particularly in the groove of turn two. Manny's car drives a lot different than ours, you can really tell you have more power and grip. Their tires are a lot wider as well as having 30-40 more hp. They have been working on the car all day and just finished taking off the lines where they installed a remote oil filter, they were not Lemons grade and were leaking.
Just before dark Youngest gets the parts on the car. We also install a helmet blower, we are going to try to use the air to defrost the windshield. All reports indicate rain is coming Sunday.
Then it's dinner time. Our friends from Minnesota have brought pure Lemons art down in the form of a Chrysler Magnum wagon powered by a slant 6 that is mid mounted. It is a engineering feat and runs out nicely. Adam the team leader and I have been planning and they are cooking for us for tonight and we are cooking for them Saturday night. They show us up by putting on a feed with steaks and salad. I'm feeling bad about the fact we are serving hamburgers, coleslaw and potato salad the next night. It was great.
Saturday morning dawns and we are up and moving around. I give up waiting on a shower as the line is too long inside and try the outdoor shower. It has no roof, just walls. It was ok. The next morning I tried it again and it was freezing, no hot water!
I skip breakfast and get ready to get in the car. I want to get on the grid early as I still am not feeling great about the track. The laps in Manny's car did not give me much to make me feel really attuned to the track as I was learning both the car and the track at the same time. I want all the practice laps I can get in our car. The line up is me, Youngest, Coach and then RacerGuy bringing up the finish for the day. FabGuy is gridded about ten cars behind us and he is under team orders to take it easy to start the race.
We get out and start doing pace laps. Soon enough it's green and the race is on. A few laps in Fabguy blasts by me. So much for taking it easy. Going into turn 2 I see a car off track. I mean he's not a little off the racing surface, he's 150 feet off the corner and just about in the tree line. I wonder what happened there. I am starting to get the hang of the track and pick up some speed. Then I mess up early on and miss the line completely going into turn 9 from 8 and run off the track. I fire the car back up and quickly exit and head to the penalty box.
"what happened?'
"I missed the line and ran out of asphalt and talent all about the same time"
The judge kind of laughs, "keep it on the track" and sends me back out. Youngest has made it to penalty and looks the car over from my adventure in the dirt and grass and gives the go ahead. If you are going to mess up do it right at the entrance to pit road, it really cuts down your time off track!
I run clean the rest of the stint. I tiptoe around the corner I went off but run hard the rest of the track without pushing so hard I get off again. Then Youngest, then Coach. We are having one of the best days we have ever had at the track. Besides my adventure off track no one else has messed up. Our stops are clean and quick. Our times top to bottom are very similar and consistent. Something strange is happening. We are in the top 15 overall and since we managed to get put in B class we are doing very well. Only 50 cars at Hallett this weekend, the smallest Lemons field we have ever competed against.
Fabguy pulls off to go to the gas pumps. We are fueling on pit road but they are going to just fuel at the pumps this race. They aren't planning on winning anything so why go to all the trouble of getting all your gear on and doing hot pit stops? Fabguy comes off a little hot and the officials come over to tell them they were over the ten mph paddock limit. Manyy drives the car up to the penalty and Fabguy comes up and they are told they are good to go. Later Manny gets off the track and goes to penalty. They start in on him not serving the penalty for going too fast in the pits. "we served that penalty" The judge goes off "do you really want to argue about this" Later when they realize the team was right and the previous judge had not marked it off the offenders list before going on break. In a first the judge apologizes to them.
With about two hours left in the day their Miata is towed off. The engine is super hot and will not crank. All signs look bad. Later it cools off and will crank, but cranks with ease, signs of a engine that has lost all compression. Their weekend is done and Fabguy heads out to get a headstart on getting to work early Monday. The rest of us will pull an all nighter after the race Sunday.
I start doing the math and realize it's going to be very tight. We make our calcuations based on a normal 7 hour race day. Today is a 7.5 hour day which is a bit longer than normal when racing Lemons. I figured out the stints and got it wrong. We realize our mistake and run Coach a bit longer before we put in RacerGuy. It's going to come right down to the limit of our fuel mileage. We start planning dinner and cleaning up the paddock with about ten minutes to go when all the sudden we realize the car is not out there. We run to the pumps and find Racerguy there. He ran out and limped the car to the pumps but could not get all the way there. By the time we get the car pushed around to get fuel the race is over for the day. I feel like a total idiot, I could have ran another five minutes easily in the car in the morning and not had this problem.
But the good news is that somehow even after I went off the track and and then we ran out of gas was that we were still very good on the day. We had enough of a lead on the car behind us in Class B that we still had a 7 lap lead even after running out of gas. Even better our paddock mates in the Chrysler are putting a shellacking on Class C as well. Their Magnum wagon is running a Richard Petty scheme, they all have uniforms and the requisite trademark Petty cowboy hat and STP logos, only this time it means "Slow Through Paddock" signs and all. They actually shouted this out when doing the morning driving meeting when they were going over the rules. "STP, Slow through Paddock!" every time the officials discussed that rule in the drivers meeting.
We put everything away, rain is moving in. We are in shock about how well everything is going. Surely we will find a way to loose this race tomorrow. Will other cars be faster in the rain? Will we shoot ourselves in the foot and have poor driving and get multiple black flags? Will something break on the car which has been running great all day long? And who the heck is this Coach guy? All that and more when we wrap up this in the next part of this story. Stay tuned!

1989-1990 (Jul. 31, 1991-Dec. 31, 1990):

1. Alleyway (Launch Title)
2. Baseball (Launch Title)
3. Super Mario Land (Launch Title)
4. Tennis (Launch Title)
5. Tetris (Launch Title)
6. Castlevania: The Adventure
7. Motocross Maniacs
8. Wizards & Warriors X: The Fortress of Fear
9. Boxxle
10. Golf
11. Hyper Lode Runner
12. Solar Striker
13. Kwirk
14. Malibu Beach Volleyball
15. Revenge of the 'Gator
16. The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle
17. Boomer's Adventure in ASMIK World
18. Fist of the North Star: 10 Big Brawls for the King of the Universe
19. Flipull
20. Heiankyo Alien
21. Nemesis
22. NFL Football
23. QBillion
24. World Bowling
25. Qix
26. Batman
27. Shanghai
28. Bases Loaded
29. Daedalian Opus
30. Dexterity
31. Gargoyle's Quest
32. Lock 'n' Chase
33. Paperboy
34. Penguin Wars
35. The Amazing Spider-Man
36. Double Dragon
37. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan
38. Catrap
39. Cosmo Tank
40. Heavyweight Championship Boxing
41. Pipe Dream
42. Skate or Die: Bad 'N Rad
43. The Final Fantasy Legend
44. Wheel of Fortune
45. Balloon Kid
46. Godzilla
47. Mercenary Force
48. Mr. Chin's Gourmet Paradise
49. Snoopy's Magic Show
50. Bubble Ghost
51. Disney's DuckTales
52. Ishido: The Way of Stones
53. Ninja Boy
54. Serpent
55. Side Pocket
56. Amazing Penguin
57. Chase H.Q.
58. Dead Heat Scramble
59. Dr. Mario
60. Ghostbusters II
61. Hal Wrestling
62. In Your Face
63. Play Action Football
64. Power Racer
65. Quarth
66. RoboCop
67. Torpedo Range

1991 (Jan. 1, 1991-Dec. 31, 1991):

1. Battle Bull
2. Burai Fighter Deluxe
3. Dragon's Lair: The Legend
4. Gremlins 2: The New Batch
5. Power Mission
6. Rolan's Curse
7. The Chessmaster (GB Version)
8. F-1 Race
9. Kung Fu Master
10. NBA All-Star Challenge
11. Operation C
12. Radar Mission
13. The Game of Harmony
14. Bubble Bobble
15. BurgerTime Deluxe
16. Cyraid
17. Jeopardy!
18. Loopz
19. Maru's Mission
20. Nobunaga's Ambition
21. Super Scrabble
22. Extra Bases
23. Fish Dude
24. Pac-Man
25. Solomon's Club
26. Tasmania Story
27. WWF Superstars
28. Castelian
29. Go! Go! Tank
30. Hatris
31. Marble Madness
32. Mickey's Dangerous Chase
33. R-Type
34. The Hunt for Red October
35. The Rescue of Princess Blobette
36. Bo Jackson: Two Games in One
37. Caesars Palace
38. Nintendo World Cup
39. Skate or Die: Tour de Thrash
40. Sneaky Snakes
41. Spud's Adventure
42. Tail 'Gator
43. The Sword of Hope
44. Battle Unit Zeoth
45. Klax
46. Mysterium
47. The Punisher: The Ultimate Payback!
48. Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge
49. Bill & Ted's Excellent Game Boy Adventure: A Bogus Journey!
50. Blades of Steel
51. Aerostar
52. Altered Space: A 3-D Alien Adventure
53. Choplifter II
54. Crystal Quest
55. Fortified Zone
56. Gauntlet II
57. InfoGenius Productivity Pak: Berlitz French Translator
58. InfoGenius Productivity Pak: Berlitz Spanish Translator
59. InfoGenius Productivity Pak: Frommer's Travel Guide
60. InfoGenius Productivity Pak: Personal Organizer and Phone Book
61. InfoGenius Productivity Pak: Spell Checker and Calculator
62. Navy SEALs
63. Spot: The Video Game
64. Tecmo Bowl
65. The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 2
66. Trax
67. Atomic Punk
68. Super R.C. Pro-Am
69. Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly
70. Battletoads
71. Brain Bender
72. Final Fantasy Adventure
73. Final Fantasy Legend II
74. Home Alone
75. Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters
76. Metroid II: Return of Samus
77. RoboCop 2
78. Turrican
79. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
80. Bill Elliott's NASCAR Fast Tracks
81. Dick Tracy
82. Double Dragon II
83. Double Dribble: 5 on 5
84. Elevator Action
85. Faceball 2000
86. Hudson Hawk
87. Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge
88. Monopoly
89. Ninja Gaiden Shadow
90. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers
91. Super Kick Off
92. Track Meet
93. Aerostar

1992 (Jan. 1, 1992-Dec. 31, 1992):

1. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
2. Beetlejuice
3. Gradius: The Interstellar Assault
4. Prince of Persia
5. Snow Brothers Jr.
6. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
7. The Addams Family
8. Adventure Island
9. Amazing Tater
10. Asteroids
11. Blaster Master Boy
12. Boggle Plus
13. Days of Thunder
14. Fastest Lap
15. Jordan vs. Bird: One on One
16. Mega Man II
17. Q*bert
18. Star Trek: 25th Anniversary
19. Tiny Toon Adventures: Babs' Big Break
20. Missile Command
21. Soccer Mania
22. The Adventures of Star Saver
23. The Flash
24. Ultra Golf
25. World Circuit Series
26. Fighting Simulator: 2-in-1 Flying Warriors
27. Hook
28. Nail 'n Scale
29. Paperboy 2
30. Square Deal: The Game of Two Dimensional Poker
31. Super Hunchback
32. Batman: Return of the Joker
33. Jack Nicklaus Golf
34. NBA All-Star Challenge 2
35. Turn and Burn: The F-14 Dogfight Simulator
36. Boxxle II
37. High Stakes Gambling
38. Pit-Fighter
39. The Blues Brothers
40. Jeep Jamboree: Off Road Adventure
41. Knight Quest
42. Prophecy: The Viking Child
43. Spanky's QuestNatsume
44. Ultima: Runes of Virtue
45. Wave Race
46. Yoshi
47. Double Dragon 3: The Arcade Game
48. Kirby's Dream Land
49. The Amazing Spider-Man 2
50. WWF Superstars 2
51. 4-in-1 Funpak
52. Dig Dug
53. Ferrari Grand Prix Challenge
54. George Foreman's KO Boxing
55. Ninja Taro
56. Roger Clemens' MVP Baseball
57. Spy vs. Spy
58. The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Juggernauts
59. Toxic Crusaders
60. Track & Field
61. WordZap
62. Barbie: Game Girl
63. Bionic Commando
64. Hit the Ice
65. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
66. Lazlos' Leap
67. Looney Tunes (GB Version)
68. Miner 2049er
69. Mouse Trap Hotel
70. Out of Gas
71. Rolan's Curse 2
72. Speedball 2
73. Swamp Thing
74. The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends
75. The Jetsons: Robot Panic
76. Tom and Jerry
77. Xenon 2
78. Bionic Battler
79. Kingdom Crusade
80. Mr. Do!
81. Star Wars
82. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
83. Super Off Road
84. Terminator 2: The Arcade Game
85. The Incredible Crash Dummies
86. The Ren & Stimpy Show: Space Cadet Adventures
87. Wordtris
88. Avenging Spirit
89. Battleship
90. Best of the Best: Championship Karate
91. Bonk's Adventure
92. Centipede
93. Darkman
94. Dr. Franken
95. Mega Man III
96. Megalit
97. Disney's TaleSpin
98. The Humans
99. Universal Soldier
100. Exodus: Journey to the Promised Land
101. Joshua & the Battle of Jericho
102. Spiritual Warfare

1993 (Jan. 1, 1993-Dec. 31, 1993):

1. Alien³
2. Krusty's Fun House
3. Race Drivin'
4. Spot: The Cool Adventure
5. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
6. Top Gun: Guts and Glory
7. Adventure Island II: Aliens in Paradise
8. Disney's Darkwing Duck
9. The Flintstones: King Rock Treasure Island
10. Disney's The Little Mermaid
11. Kid Dracula
12. Milon's Secret Castle
13. Sumo Fighter
14. Tumblepop
15. Great Greed
16. Lethal Weapon
17. Ninja Boy 2
18. Pyramids of RaMatchbox
19. The New Chessmaster
20. Top Rank Tennis
21. Battletoads in Ragnarok's World
22. Cool World
23. F-15 Strike Eagle
24. Joe & Mac
25. Raging Fighter
26. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
27. Star Trek: The Next Generation
28. Titus the Fox
29. Bubble Bobble Part 2
30. Felix the Cat
31. Muhammad Ali: Heavyweight Boxing
32. Speedy Gonzales
33. Spider-Man 3: Invasion of the Spider-Slayers
34. The Addams Family: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt
35. Goal!
36. Jurassic Park
37. Nigel Mansell's World Championship Racing
38. Pinball Dreams
39. Tesserae
40. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (GB Version)
41. Mortal Kombat
42. Final Fantasy Legend III
43. Bram Stoker's Dracula
44. WWF King of the Ring
45. Buster Bros.
46. Gear Works
47. Last Action Hero
48. Ms. Pac-Man
49. Popeye 2
50. Sports Illustrated: Championship Football & Baseball
51. The Real Ghostbusters
52. The Ren & Stimpy Show: Veediots!
53. Tom and Jerry: Frantic Antics!
54. We're Back!
55. Alien vs. Predator: The Last of His Clan
56. Batman: The Animated Series
57. Championship Pool
58. Disney's DuckTales 2
59. Kirby's Pinball Land
60. NFL Quarterback Club
61. Panel Action Bingo
62. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue
63. Tiny Toon Adventures 2: Montana's Movie Madness
64. Wayne's World
65. Battletoads & Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team
66. Chuck Rock
67. Cliffhanger
68. F1 Pole Position
69. Mega Man IV
70. Metal Masters
71. Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge
72. Tetris 2
73. Rampart
74. Yoshi's Cookie
75. Zen: Intergalactic Ninja
76. Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension

1994 (Jan. 1, 1994-Dec. 31, 1994):

1. Black Bass: Lure Fishing
2. Riddick Bowe Boxing
3. Super Chase H.Q.
4. Winter Olympic Games: Lillehammer '94
5. Alfred Chicken
6. Captain America and the Avengers
7. Dennis the Menace
8. The Simpsons: Bart & the Beanstalk
9. Total Carnage
10. WCW World Championship Wrestling: The Main Event
11. Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3
12. Ultima: Runes of Virtue II
13. Sports Illustrated for Kids: The Ultimate Triple Dare
14. Super Battletank
15. Jeopardy! Sports Edition
16. Lamborghini American Challenge
17. Mickey's Ultimate Challenge
18. Donkey Kong
19. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
20. Stop That Roach!
21. Cool Ball
22. Elite Soccer
23. Disney's The Jungle Book
24. Lemmings
25. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
26. RoboCop Versus The Terminator
27. Mega Man V
28. Mortal Kombat II
29. Taz-Mania
30. WildSnake
31. Contra: The Alien Wars
32. Cool Spot
33. Space Invaders
34. Sports Illustrated: Golf Classic
35. Tarzan: Lord of the Jungle
36. Yogi Bear's Gold Rush
37. Bonk's Revenge
38. Madden '95
39. Monster Truck Wars
40. NBA Jam
41. Race Days
42. Samurai Shodown
43. seaQuest DSV
44. Solitaire FunPak
45. Star Trek Generations: Beyond the Nexus
46. The Pagemaster
47. The Simpsons: Itchy & Scratchy in Miniature Golf Madness
48. Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!
49. The Blues Brothers: Jukebox Adventure
50. Jurassic Park Part 2: The Chaos Continues
51. Pac-Attack
52. Stargate
53. The Flintstones: The Movie
54. Tiny Toon Adventures: Wacky Sports
55. WWF Raw
56. King James Bible
57. The Smurfs (GB Version)

1995-1996 (Jan. 1, 1995-Dec. 31, 1996):

1. BreakThru!
2. Casino FunPak
3. Daffy Duck
4. Micro Machines
5. Desert Strike
6. FIFA International Soccer
7. Pac-In-Time
8. Pinball Fantasies
9. True Lies
10. Mario's Picross
11. NFL Quarterback Club II
12. PGA European Tour
13. Disney's The Lion King
14. Kirby's Dream Land 2
15. Donkey Kong Land
16. Judge Dredd
17. Jungle Strike
18. NBA Jam: Tournament Edition
19. NHL Hockey '95
20. Animaniacs
21. Arcade Classic: Asteroids / Missile Command
22. Primal Rage
23. Arcade Classic 2: Centipede / Milipede
24. Batman Forever
25. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie
26. World Heroes 2 Jet
27. Arcade Classic 3: Galaga / Galaxian
28. Earthworm Jim
29. Foreman For Real
30. Street Fighter II
31. Disney's Aladdin
32. Arcade Classic 4: Defender / Joust
33. Madden '96
34. NFL Quarterback Club 96
35. Shaq-Fu
36. Zoop
37. Killer Instinct
38. Mortal Kombat 3
39. PGA Tour '96
40. Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
41. FIFA Soccer '96
42. Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball
43. The Getaway: High Speed II
44. Vegas Stakes
45. Cutthroat Island
46. Prehistorik Man
47. Tetris Blast
48. College Slam
49. NBA Live 96
50. Disney's Pocahontas
51. DragonHeart
52. Kirby's Block Ball
53. Disney's Toy Story
54. Olympic Summer Games: Atlanta 1996
55. NHL '96
56. Iron Man and X-O Manowar in Heavy Metal
57. Tetris Attack
58. Donkey Kong Land 2
59. Sword of Hope II
60. Arcade Classics: Super Breakout / Battlezone
61. Disney's Pinocchio
62. Road Rash
63. Battle Arena Toshinden
64. Casper
65. FIFA Soccer '97
66. Madden '97
67. Urban Strike
68. Jeopardy! Platinum Edition
69. Jeopardy! Teen Tournament
70. Street Racer
71. NIV Bible & the 20 Lost Levels of Joshua

1997-1999 (Jan. 1, 1997-Dec. 31, 1999):

1. Taz-Mania 2
2. Mole Mania
3. The King of Fighters '95
4. Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame
5. Kirby's Star Stacker
6. Game & Watch Gallery
7. Disney's Hercules
8. Tetris Plus
9. Donkey Kong Land III
10. Dr. Franken II
11. Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball
12. Tamagotchi
13. The Fidgetts
14. Turok: Battle of the Bionosaurs
15. FIFA: Road to World Cup '98
16. Superman: The Animated Seris
17. The Lost World: Jurassic Park
18. .James Bond 007
19. Bust-A-Move 2: Arcade Edition
20. Wario Land II
21. Castlevania Legends
22. Brain Drain
23. Bomberman GB
24. Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon
25. Ring Rage
26. All-Star Baseball 99
27. Jimmy Connors Tennis
28. Mickey Mouse: Magic Wands!
29. Game Boy Camera (If counts)
30. World Cup 98
31. WWF War Zone
32. Bubsy II
33. Frogger
34. Harvest Moon GB
35. Legend of the River King
36. Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow
37. Pokémon Blue Version
38. Pokémon Red Version
39. International Superstar Soccer
40. Disney's Mulan
41. Small Soldiers
42. Super Black Bass
43. Oddworld Adventures
44. The Rugrats Movie (GB Version)
45. Beavis and Butt-Head
46. Pokémon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition

Plus, there are 516 Original Game Boy video games in North America.

Let’s just say I live in a north east state in america and I just got my first job 10 days ago. I’ve been enjoying it and actually like all of my co workers except for one. Fast forward to today and my goddamn mother is talking about “oh I want to move states again” down to florida, obviously meaning I’d have to quit my first job not even 2/3 weeks in. It fucking pisses me off that all she’s considering is herself, and my 2 sisters and I clearly have no damn say in anything. It’s difficult as hell to even find work so now that I found a place that took me in despite it being a part time job made me want to stay and commit to doing all I can to do my best in the work I was given. Fucking Florida dude. Forced to move there before and then came back up north and now have to go back down to that shit state again that’s turning into mayhem. Great. Looks like I’ll be out of work and jobless yet again until I submit another 100 applications and 20 interviews just to find something else. Seriously what’s so great about a state known for having a hurricane every single year without fail. Fucking Disney? Piss off.

On vacation at a Delaware Bay beach and there are five oil tankers just sitting in the water not moving (When we arrived on Sunday, it was just three). So 1) why aren't they going anywhere and 2) the ships will move to face north and then, maybe a half a day later, they'll turn around and face south and they keep doing that but stay in the same relative area...WHY?!?!
Edit: I believe two of the three ships haven't gone anywhere in, at the very least, two full days.

I'm on the lookout for clothing that doesn't scream 'cyclist' the moment you wear it (btw, nothing against lycra clothing!). I've tried searching a couple of sources, but I'm running into two challenges:

• Location: Many brands are based in the US (expensive for me since I'm in Ireland).
• Style: The other option seems to be mountain bike (MTB) clothing, but that's not really my style.

Ideally, I'd like to find something that's breathable, looks cool, and allows me to pop into any bar or restaurant without getting turned away during longer distances or overnight rides. Any help with finding brands or styles would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

My wife, Mia, and I were driving cross-country. It was our first attempt at the “Great American Roadtrip.”
Mia and I rented a small RV; more of a camper than a full blown RV. We packed up a couple suitcases with plenty of room for any souvenirs and we hit the dusty trail.
We started our journey on the “Mother Road”-- Route 66-- driving south from Chicago until we connected to i-70 and shot straight west through Missouri.
The goal was to see those parts of the country we had never seen before, stopping anywhere that seemed interesting. From the plains of Kansas up through the badlands of Wyoming and South Dakota.
In Missouri we saw the world’s largest cap gun. In Kansas we visited the Evel Knievel Museum and the World’s Largest Belt Buckle.
We love all those kitschy, tourist trap places.
Eventually, we made it to Colorado and after a few hours more of driving through amber waves of grain, we saw them... the Rocky Mountains.
We made an exit and headed north through the winding mountain highways.
The Rockies were gorgeous. Snow capped in the middle of summer, some of the peaks pierced through the white fluffy clouds.
We saw a sign that read “Traffic Tunnel - 3 Miles.”
A little further and sure enough, there it was, a large tunnel bored directly through the mountain in front of us.
A large sign read, “Pike Tunnel - Longest Traffic Tunnel in the Nation! - Please turn your headlights on now.”
“How long is it?” asked Mia.
“That’s what she said,” I quipped.
But she was right, there was no information beyond the detail that this was the longest tunnel in the nation.
“Can’t be more than a mile or two,” I said as I watched the little white car ahead of us slip into the darkness. A moment later we joined it.
The tunnel was lit by fluorescents that gave everything a greenish yellow tinge. On the left hand side was a raised walkway behind a railing for maintenance access.
Initially I was struck by the incredible amount of work that went into the construction of this man- made marvel.
“We’re under a million tons of rocky mountain right now,” I said.
“How many years before this caves in?” Mia responded.
I shot her a look--
“Let’s save the cave-in talk until we’re out on the other side.”
“I’m just saying, nature will take this back eventually,” she continued.
I scanned the empty road ahead of us.
“Where did the other car go?” I asked.
We were now alone in the tunnel, no cars ahead of us nor behind us.
“Huh... they must have sped off ahead. Maybe they’re scared of a cave-in?”
My Spotify playlist had stopped playing. Mia looked at the phone.
“No cell service.”
She turned on the radio and spun the dial only to find static.
“You’re not going to be able to pick up a station in here,” I said.
She turned the volume down.
“Just wanted to check... If only we had some CDs. This tunnel really keeps going.”
“I would have thought we’d be through it by now,” I replied.
I looked at the RV’s odometer, 45,600 miles. I picked up speed. I wanted to try and catch up to the little white car.
Up until this point, the tunnel was a straight shot, but now the tunnel started to curve to the right. It may have been my imagination but it also felt as though we were descending…
Mia felt it too and she started to get antsy.
“Where did that other car go? How long is this tunnel?”
There was an urgency in her voice.
I was getting nervous, claustrophobia was not usually a problem for me but when I looked down at the odometer and I saw that it had gone up by 3 miles, my mind began to wander to unsettling places.
We were descending in altitude. I could feel it. I could see a slope in the lights on the ceiling and the railing of the maintenance walkway. I could feel a pressure in my head, and I was getting cold.
“Could you grab me a coke from the back, Mia?”
I couldn’t have Mia getting anxious, that would only start a chain reaction and make me freak out which would then make her freak out.
She unbuckled and ducked into the back of the RV to where we had a cooler stocked with drinks and food.
Just as she stepped into the back, I saw something.
There standing on the side of the road was a MAN wearing a reflective safety vest and a hard hat. He was WAVING to me as I passed him by.
Something about him looked... strange…
I watched him in the side-view mirror as we passed and he was still watching the RV, still waving at the back of our vehicle as he faded into the distance.
Mia reappeared from the back of the RV, Coke in hand. She popped it and handed it to me.
“You look worried.”
“I’m fine,” I smiled and took a sip of the Coke.
“Eric, slow down!”
I slammed on the breaks as I saw what made Mia scream. In the road in front of us was a roadblock.
Two reflective traffic sawhorses blocked both lanes of the tunnel. Beyond the roadblock, the lights of the tunnel were dark. There was nothing but a void of blackness.
Standing in front of the roadblock was another man wearing a reflective vest and a hard hat, only this time his hard hat had a light on top which obscured his face.
We came to a jolting stop.
I turned to Mia
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I’m fine,” she replied. “It’s a cave-in isn’t it?”
“God, I hope not.”
I rolled down the window, leaned out and yelled to the man in the hard hat.
“Hey! What’s going on?!”
The man was about 5 yards away. He took two steps towards us and then raised a hand to his mouth and yelled.
“Just doing some maintenance!”
“How long is it going to take?!” I yelled back.
The man made a hand gesture as if he didn’t hear me.
“How long is it going to take?!” I called again.
He made the same gesture. I unbuckled my seat belt and grabbed the door release.
“What are you doing?” Mia asked.
“I gotta know what’s going on.”
“Eric, just stay here, it might not be safe.”
“I’ll be just a second,” I said.
I pushed the door open and stepped down from the RV.
“Stay in your vehicle!” the man yelled.
He took a couple steps towards me with his hand out telling me to stop.
“What’s the hold up?!” I shouted.
The man was a bit closer now but I still couldn’t see his face through the shining light on his helmet.
“Please stay in your vehicle!” he shouted.
There was something off about him.
Then I heard it–
“EEEAAAUUUUUUGHHHHHHHH!!!”
A scream, or something, rolled from deep in the tunnel. The worker turned and looked into the darkness. Then he ran past the barricades and soon all we could see of him was the light on his helmet.
The light disappeared a moment later.
“What the hell was that?! Is someone hurt?” Mia asked.
“I have no idea,” I said.
“Should we do something?” Mia asked.
I just sat there and watched the pitch black tunnel in front of me. I had no idea what to tell her. I checked the sideview mirrors. There was still nobody behind us.
“Where are the other cars?” I asked.
“They must have gotten through before the roadblock... Or maybe they caused the roadblock?” Mia replied.
“I saw another worker a little ways back. We could try to go back and talk to him.”
“We’d be going straight into any oncoming cars.”
“There’s a maintenance walkway. We didn’t pass him that long ago. We can probably catch him on foot.”
“Maybe we should just wait for the guy to come back.”
She reached over and grabbed my arm. I squeezed her hand.
She was right.
I looked out at the tunnel ahead of us. I turned on the RV’s high beams but all I could see beyond the roadblock was more tunnel and more road.
I checked my phone. Unsurprisingly, there was no service still.
We waited, but the man never came back.
“It’s been twenty minutes,” Mia said, “How come there hasn’t been another car behind us?
I was having the same thought. I rolled down my window and stuck my head out. I looked back at the road behind us. It went back about 200 yards before curving out of sight.
There was no sign of that first worker I saw on the maintenance walk way. I looked at the roadblock ahead of us and clicked on the RV’s high beams. There was nothing beyond the roadblock but more tunnel. It didn’t look like it was under construction, just very dark.
“I think we should keep going,” I said.
“What about the roadblock?”
“We’ll move those sawhorses out of the way and just drive past,” I said as I opened my door.
Mia looked at me, then she cast her eyes to the dark tunnel ahead of us. I knew she was processing the same limited options that I was.
Driving backwards would be a huge risk in the instance of another car finally coming along.
Getting out and walking would take God knows how long, we could have driven 10 miles at this point.
Forward was our best option.
“Let’s do it,” Mia said.
We jumped out and quickly pulled the two sawhorses out of the right lane. I pulled the RV up past the barriers, then we jumped out again and put the sawhorses back where they were. We didn't need another car to come barreling through.
We were finally moving again, slowly. It was pitch black save for the high beams of the RV.
We crept forward at around 15 miles per hour. As the tunnel turned and twisted, my eyes started to play tricks on me. I kept seeing shapes at the furthest point of the tunnel.
I kept seeing something standing just at the end of the next bend but as we roll forward, there was nothing there.
“Where are the workers?” Mia asked.
“I don’t know.”
I was done rationalizing. This was all wrong. Traffic tunnels are never this long.
My mind started to wander to all the road trip urban legends I’d read about; The Killer in the Backseat, The Disappearing Gas Station, The Pale Man In The Corn Field.
Did we stumble into some strange outlier location? An in-between point on the endless roads that cross this country?
Then I saw it–
“Look! A person! Thank god!” Mia shouted.
As we rounded a curve in the tunnel, a group of maintenance workers entered our view.
The three of them stood on the left side of the road behind two more sawhorses topped with flashing lights.
Two of them faced towards us, the third was facing the other two.
The one with his back to us wore a light on his hard hat. Was this the same guy we saw earlier? How did he get this far away?
I approached slowly and rolled down the window.
“Hey! You left us waiting back there!” I yelled.
There was no response.
In fact, all three men were completely silent, and it was hard to tell in the flashing light of the sawhorses, but they looked to be standing COMPLETELY STILL.
“Hello?!” I yelled again.
I pushed open my door and stepped out onto the pavement.
“Eric wait--”
I held up a finger to Mia.
“Just a second.”
I slowly stepped towards the 3 men.
“Hello?”
No response… What the fuck?
The bright lights of the sawhorses obscured their faces.
I kept moving closer.
“Hey, what’s going on--”
Then I saw it.
Their faces... They were plastic.
In front of me stood three mannequins.
I backed away toward the RV, then I turned and walked hurriedly to the vehicle.
I was seriously freaked out but I didn’t want to alarm Mia. I climbed into the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut.
“They’re mannequins.” I said.
“What?”
“They’re mannequins.”
”Why?... What?...”
“I don’t know…”
I looked back over at the three figures and my blood ran cold…
The Hard Hat Mannequin had somehow TURNED AROUND to face us. All three figures appeared to be watching us now.
Then we heard it--
A loud resonant banging on the side, and then the roof of the RV.
“What the hell was that?” Mia whispered.
We listened, holding our breath. Then--
A shuffling sound--
Something was moving ON or IN the RV.
“Stay here.” I said.
I got up.
“Eric, wait!”
I moved to the back of the RV.
It was dark. I went for a drawer in the kitchenette space and pulled out a flashlight.
I moved to the rear of the RV, the bedroom. My flashlight illuminated an empty room.
“Whoever is back here, I have a gun…”
A shitty bluff. But I didn’t see anything.
I shone the light out of the windows of each side of the RV. Nothing.
Then I heard it–
A shuffling sound, from right above me.
I looked up and screamed–
“Fuck!”
On the roof of the RV, staring through the skylight was a woman with vacuous black eyes and a dead smile.
Her stringy black hair dangled down towards me casting thing black shadows across her horrible pale face.
“Mia, drive! Fast!” I screamed.
Mia JUMPED over to the driver’s seat, shifted into gear and STOMPED on the gas. The RV was clunky but it could move when it needed to.
We lurched forward and I fell back.
I trained my flashlight up onto the skylight again and the woman was gone.
I scrambled to my feet and looked out of the side windows.
Did Mia shake her off? There was no sign of the woman. I moved to the passenger seat, breathing heavily and sweating.
“What happened?” She asked, keeping the RV at a steady 50 mph.
“There was a woman on the roof,” I said flatly.
I realize now that I was in a kind of shock.
“A woman?”
“Her eyes were black.”
Mia just looked at me, then back at the tunnel ahead of us.
“There’s something wrong with this tunnel.” I whispered.
Mia pointed at the road ahead, “Look.”
I looked out at the tunnel. There were more mannequins. A LOT more mannequins. They were positioned on both sides of the road.
They were all facing us and even though I never saw them move, when I looked in the side-view mirror, they were somehow STILL facing us, turning to watch us as we drove past. Watching without eyes.
“Just keep driving.” I said.
As we drove on, the mannequins crowded the sides of the road more and more. There were thousands of them. Eventually they were so close that some of their outstretched arms hit the side of the RV.
They were closing in on us. Squeezing our path forward. One stood in the middle of the road.
“I don’t think i can get around it.”
“Run it over. Don’t stop.”
The RV smashed into the mannequin. Its head shot forward and bounced against the windshield and the vehicle shuddered as it rolled over the body.
Soon there were two in the road. Then three.
I could see where this was going. Pretty soon there would be too many for the RV to ram through, but goddammit we were going to get through as many as we could.
“Speed up, Mia.”
CRASH!
The sound was surreal, smashing into mannequin after mannequin at nearly 60 miles per hour.
Hands, legs, heads and torsos flew.
The windshield cracked, the RV shuddered and screamed and eventually slowed down, despite the screaming engine.
I’m certain the axle was jammed up with lifeless, plastic body parts. Eventually we came to a stop.
“She won’t move,” Mia said.
She pressed on the gas but it was no use, the RV just rocked a little bit.
“Try reverse.”
She shifted and pressed on the gas, we got some decent movement before running into another jam.
“Fuck.”
“Should we get out and look?” Mia asked.
“I’ll go,” I said as I grabbed the flashlight and popped the passenger door. Mia unbuckled her seatbelt.
“We’ll go together.”
We stumbled out of the RV on the passenger side. It was like stepping into Hell.
Countless, lifeless faces stared out at us from the darkness. The only light came from the headlights of the RV and my flashlight.
We clumsily made our way along the side of the RV. The ground was littered with mannequin pieces.
I thought to myself, if we could get a couple yards cleared out behind the rear tires, we might be able to back out and get enough momentum to reverse all the way back out of here.
Instead, when we got to the back of the RV, my stomach flipped and my heart sank.
I was expecting to see a trail of flattened mannequins, instead the RV was now surrounded by thousands of perfectly intact mannequins standing at attention. As if their ranks had some how been replenished after our vehicular assault.
“This is impossible.”
She started to cry. I held her close.
“We’ll keep moving.” I said.
“It will never end. The tunnel makes no sense. It only curves one direction.”
I looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“This whole time the tunnel has only been curving to the right. it would sometimes straighten out or go left for a few yards but before too long we were curving to the right again. We’ve either been driving in circles or spiraling downwards.”
“So we’ll go back the way we came and hope we’re not going in circles.” I said.
We had been driving for hours at this point. Walking back out the way we came would take days. But now that I thought about it, Mia was right, we’d only been curving to the right.
This tunnel seemed to be very gradually taking us downwards into the earth.
Going forward would not get us any closer to escape.
“We’ll need food from the RV,” Mia said.
I nodded and we stumbled our way back to the front of the RV, the mannequins’ lifeless faces watching us the whole time.
I stepped up to the passenger door and nearly fell back when I looked through the window.
“What the fuck?” I breathed.
What I saw were two mannequins sitting in the driver’s and passenger’s seat.
How they got in there? I have no idea, but what really made my blood run cold was that they were dressed EXACTLY like MIA and I.
They wore identical sets of clothes. The one in the passenger seat had my same New Order T-shirt and black jeans. The one in the driver’s seat had Mia’s green striped sweater and denim shorts.
Their plastic faces stared out through the shattered windshield at the endless crowd of mannequins staring back at them.
Mia stepped up and saw the uncanny display.
“What the fuck?” Mia echoed.
I pulled myself up into the RV and slowly stepped around my mannequin doppelgänger. I avoided looking into its face but I swear i could feel it watching me as I stumbled around it.
Mia followed and we made our way into the back of our dark RV. Luckily we had just stocked our cooler full of deli meat and water not long after crossing the Colorado state line.
I handed Mia the flashlight and pulled open the cooler. I filled a backpack full of food and water.
I turned and saw them–
My mannequin double had somehow moved. It was standing in the aisle watching us.
Mia’s doppelgänger was still seated in the driver’s seat but had turned to peer back at us with its eyeless gaze.
Mia saw the look in my eyes and turned. She screamed when she saw them and backed into me. I put my arm around her and we stood there a moment, letting our skyrocketing heart rates return to Earth.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said.
I slid the backpack onto my shoulders.
Mia joined me at the door. I looked into her eyes. “Are you ready?” She nodded. I kissed her.
“I love you,” I said.
“I love you,” she said.
The look on her face killed me. She was terrified. I’m sure the look on my face was similar.
I opened the door and we stepped out…
We again stumbled to the back of the RV. Once we were clear of the RV and all the crushed mannequin body parts, it became easier to find footing, though weaving through an endless crowd of lifeless people was a slow process.
It was pitch black. Without the flashlight we wouldn’t be able to see a foot in front of us.
As I walked, the beam of light created the illusion of movement in the crowd. At least I hoped it was an illusion.
The limbs of the mannequins seemed to stretch and turn, but the only sound was that of Mia and I shuffling our way through the crowded tunnel.
Things went on like this for what felt like hours. Mia and I were sweating and aching. I was about to suggest we stop and rest, but then I saw it and I froze…
Out in the crowd, beyond rows of blank faces I saw a pale face, black hair and a dead smile.
I saw two vacuous eyes staring right at me.
“Mia, do you see her?” I whispered.
“See who?”
I slowly raised my arm and pointed.
It was the woman, or whatever it was, that stared back at me through the skylight on the roof of the RV.
“Oh my god!” Mia squeaked.
I could see now that the Pale Faced Woman was tall. A few inches taller than the mannequins.
As I pointed, she stared back at me with that terrible grin.
“What do we do?” Mia whispered.
I raised the flashlight and pointed it right at the Pale Faced Woman. I thought maybe this would scare her off.
I was wrong.
The light only made her appear more unsettling as she stared back, unflinchingly.
“What do you want?!” I yelled.
She only stared back at me. She was as still as the mannequins.
“We have to keep going.” I whispered.
Mia didn’t respond. Her body was tense as she held onto me.
“We’ve come this far, we can’t turn back again,” I continued.
I pulled Mia’s hand and we continued on our way through the mannequins, keeping the distance between us and her as wide as possible.
As we moved past, she kept watching us. Though her movements were imperceptible to us, her eyes never left us. Like one of those portraits whose eyes appear to watch you no matter where you stand.
Finally, we got far enough that she was out of sight. But the thought of her being somewhere behind us only unsettled me further and I quickened our pace.
As the hours wore on, there was no sign of the Pale Faced Woman and the crowd of mannequins began to thin out. They still populated the tunnel from one end to the other, but there was more space between them, allowing Mia and I to walk more freely.
The mannequins on the maintenance walkway on the side of the tunnel seemed to thin out as well and I decided it would give us a better vantage if we were walking up there.
I helped Mia climb up the railing that bordered the walkway, then I climbed up behind her. The walkway was elevated 3 or 4 feet above the roadway. We could easily see over the heads of the mannequins in both directions.
There was, of course, no end to the tunnel in sight.
We kept walking.
The mannequins continued to thin out, but they were different now.
There were mannequins dressed as maintenance workers again, but also mannequins dressed as families and businessmen. There was even a group of mannequin nuns standing in a single file line, heads bowed in prayer.
Needless to say, we passed none of this on the way in to the tunnel. I was feeling very hopeless that we were going to be able to find our way out.
I was far beyond speculating how this was at all possible. It’s NOT possible. And even if it were, there is no good reason for someone to do this to us.
The only explanation was the supernatural. Then I saw Her. Rather, I saw THEM.
Arranged in the middle of the tunnel was a circle of mannequins with long black hair and tattered cloth.
They looked exactly like the Pale Faced Woman, minus any facial features. I kept a close watch on them as we passed to make sure they didn’t start following us.
“A door!” Mia shouted.
Mia pointed a few paces ahead of her. There was a door leading into the wall of the tunnel.
We ran towards it. Mia grabbed the handle, turned it and pulled. It was heavy and Mia had to brace her foot on the wall to get it moving.
The metal door groaned as if it hadn’t been opened in years.
Finally, it was open enough to see past.
It was a hallway. It went out about 5 yards then turned right at a 90 degree angle.
The strangest part was the design of the hallway.
It wasn’t cement or pavement like the tunnel.
The walls were wood paneled and the floor was covered in a thick carpet, like a house from the 1970s.
“I say we see where this takes us.” Mia said.
There was no reason to disagree, but I wasn’t going to get us trapped in there.
I opened up my backpack and took out a water bottle. I opened it and handed it to Mia. She drank half, then I drank the other half.
I slowly closed the door, shoving the empty water bottle in the crack to keep it from closing all the way.
I turned to Mia-- “Okay, let’s go.”
We slowly made our way down the quiet hallway. We got down to where the hallway cornered to the right and that’s when we heard it–
KA-CHUNK!!!--
I whipped around. The door had closed behind us. I ran back to it and tried to push it open, but it was no use. There was no way it closed on its own.
Someone had to have removed the water bottle. Our path had been chosen for us.
There was no turning back.
We continued down the hallway. We turned right. The hallway continued, then turned right again. That should have led us right back to the tunnel. But it didn’t. This part of the hallway went on far longer than was possible without running into the tunnel. Then it turned right again.
It went on like this. Sometimes a section of the hallway was 20 feet long, sometimes it was 20 yards long, sometimes it was 3 feet long. But it always turned to the right.
At first it was a relief to be somewhere other than the cold, dark tunnel. But the hallway very quickly became claustrophobic and before too long, I heard someone walking behind us.
We had stopped to take a break and I heard a third pair of footsteps on the carpet coming from behind us. I backtracked to the last corner.
I was terrified as I slowly peeked around the corner, tense and waiting to see the vacuous eyes and inky black hair of the Pale Faced Woman... but there was nothing there. I wasn’t about to backtrack any further.
“There was no one there.” I whispered.
Mia slumped against the wall and slid down to the carpet.
“I think I need to rest.” She said.
I put my backpack down on the ground for Mia to use as a pillow. She laid her head down and was passed out in seconds.
I had no idea how long we had been walking at this point. I stood leaning against the wall. My body was telling me to rest but I couldn’t risk falling asleep. I had to keep watch. I knew SHE was following us.
I took in the details of the hallway for the first time. The carpet was a dull brown and the walls a cheap wood paneling. The hanging lighting fixtures were shaded by stained glass, something you might see in an old diner.
Who built this place? Did someone pick out the carpet and the lighting fixtures? Did a team of workers blast these tunnels into the Earth? Or has this place always existed? Was this Purgatory?
I began to feel dizzy. I was panicking. My heart felt like it was trying to escape my chest. I slumped to the floor and tried to slow my breathing.
I closed my eyes... –
I SHOT up in a panic. I had fallen asleep while I was meant to be keeping watch.
I snapped to my feet and looked around.
Mia was still asleep on my backpack.
Then I noticed that the hallway had changed. A few paces away there was now a plain wooden door in the wall.
I slowly approached it. I put my ear to the door and I could hear what sounded like TV static and the low murmur of voices.
I discreetly grabbed the door handle and turned it slowly. I felt the latch bolt clear and I carefully cracked the door just enough to peek inside.
It was dark, so it took a second for me to register what I was seeing. I saw a small board room. A long table in the center was surrounded by seated men in suits.
At the end of the table stood another man next to an old CRT TV that was playing static. This was the only source of light in the room and all the men around the table were turned towards the tv.
Suddenly the screen flickered from static to a solid dark background. And some warped new age style muzak began playing.
Then the words appeared on the screen that terrified me like nothing else before. In plain text the words read–
“YOU WILL LOSE HER.”
I froze as I knew these words were meant for me I watched with terror as the men seated around the table slowly turned toward me in unison.
They were mannequins.
The TV screen then clicked off and they continued staring at me as I could barely make out their forms through the near pitch darkness.
I quickly pulled the door shut. And whipped around to look at Mia, I had a horrible feeling of dread that when I turned around she would be gone, like the message on the TV promised–
“Eric? What are you doing?” Mia was leaning up and staring at me.
Thank God. There was Mia, right where I left her.
I pointed at the door and said, “This door appeared and I--”
“What door?” she interrupted.
I turned and sure enough, the door was now gone.
I explained what happened to her, but I left out the message that appeared on the screen.
-- YOU WILL LOSE HER –
Those words still burned in my brain. I tried to force them out.
We drank water, ate granola and then got moving again.
Hallways. Endless hallways.
After a couple hours of walking we started to hear music. There were small speakers in the corners of the ceiling.
I recognized it as the same new-age muzak that played on the TV in the board room. The melody drilled into our minds. Combined with the dull aesthetics of the quiet hallways and the endless right turns, the music had a hypnotizing effect.
The lengths of the halls became more uniform. That is to say, the straight section of hallway was about 7 paces, then a right turn, then 7 paces and a right turn.
“I think we’re walking in circles... or a square,” Mia said.
I looked at her and took out a bottle of water. I peeled off the plastic label and dropped it on the floor.
Then we kept walking.
7 paces, right turn. 7 paces, right turn. 7 paces, right turn. And there it was... Mia was right.
The label from my water bottle lay in the middle of the hallway. Somehow we had been led into a loop. I lost it.
“FUUUCK!”
I kicked the wall repeatedly and screamed. Mia just leaned her back against the wall.
This was our dynamic. If one of us lost it, the other became zen and thought of a solution. More often than not, I was the one to lose it.
I finally stopped freaking out
“There has to be a way out. A door,” Mia said.
“We would have seen it,” I replied.
“A hidden door,” she said.
She turned around and ran her hands along the cracks of the wood paneling.
“Most likely on the outer wall,” she said.
She beat her fist on the wall, listening for a change in the sound. I exhaled heavily, sweating and tired, and I started searching the wall as well.
We checked the whole first wall, nothing. We checked the second wall, nothing. The third, nothing.
The final wall... Nothing. I gave up and slumped on the floor. Mia immediately went over to the other side of the hall and started checking the inner wall.
“What are you doing? I thought you said it would be on the outer wall?” I asked.
Then we heard it.
Mia beat the wall and instead of the dead thud, we heard a resonate BOOM –
A door…
I shot up and started tapping the wall with Mia until we found where the door ended. It was the width of about 4 wooden panels. I lined myself up in the center, lowered my shoulder and pushed–
IT MOVED! It barely moved but it was enough to confirm this actually was a door! I re-centered and tried again, lowering my center of gravity, I pushed as hard as I could. The door pushed inward about 3 inches, then Mia joined in. We slowly moved the door, 5 inches, then 10, then 15, then 20.
Then Mia slipped inside.
I had a moment of panic as she disappeared into the darkness and those haunting words came back into my mind, “YOU WILL LOSE HER.”
I darted past the doorway, falling through the threshold and hitting the concrete floor.
I looked up and there was Mia, thank God. I promised myself I’d never let her out of my sight again.
“The exit...” Mia said.
She looked and sounded as if she were a thousand miles away. I got to my feet and followed her gaze. What I saw nearly brought me to tears.
We were back in the tunnel, but there was light. About a mile down was the mouth of the tunnel, and daylight pouring in. Beautiful daylight. I grabbed Mia tight and kissed her.
“Thank God...” she cried.
We started moving. Nothing was going to slow us down this time. We sped up into a RUN down the maintenance walkway towards that beautiful sunlight.
As we approached, something else came into view. Parked in the middle of the roadway was a large vehicle…
It couldn’t be…
It was!
Our RV sat in the road waiting for us. We ran all the way to it, pulled open the passenger side door and climbed in. There were no mannequins to be seen.
I fell into the driver’s seat and Mia handed me the keys. I turned over the engine, the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard. I shifted into gear and floored it towards the sunlight.
As we got closer, I could see the green of trees and the blue of the sky. We were maybe one hundred yards away.
I turned to Mia, tears in my eyes…
And what I saw turned my blood to ice.
Just beyond Mia’s window, that horrifying pale face grinned at me.
The Pale Faced Woman was somehow floating outside of the RV.
Before I could say anything, her hand smashed through the window and gripped Mia by the throat, then in one horrible motion the thing PULLED MIA SCREAMING THROUGH THE WINDOW AND…
Disappeared…
I SLAMMED on the breaks just as the RV passed through the exit of the tunnel and sunlight flooded the cab of the RV. I threw it in park and shot out of the door screaming.
“Mia!? Mia??!!”
I screamed over and over. I rounded the front of the RV and looked back at the tunnel –
-- and what I saw shattered my mind…
The tunnel was gone.
There was only open road.
I had lost her.

I already have Mother North.
CTP and still a decently new player. I got lucky early on and have the following 5*s:
Blue: Starwalker*, Frida, Master Lepus (no costume), Loki, Magni
Red: Arcadia*, Neema, Gefjon (costumes), Marjana (all costumes)
Purple: Alfrike (4/80), Turgruk*
Green: Ginger*, Frigg (3/70), Leadria, Mother North, Kadilen
Yellow: Nemesis*
Asterisk (*) = Slowly leveling up this character. Note: I throw all Trainers at my 5 stars. If they don't have any info, they are unleveled and waiting their turn as I work on my 4 stars.
MY THOUGHTS: I am tempted to select Santa, as then I would have 3 different Xmas 5 stars (Santa/M. North/Ginger) and one day they could work together for that fam bonus. And I do have 3 star Frosty all leveled up.
Since I only have one single Yellow 5 star, Guinevere catches my eye but also, meh.
G.Panther is probably the best one in the mix...and I am lighter on Purples.
So: G.Panther or Santa (for the fam bonus one day)?

Again......the ancient weapon turns the world upside down by shifting the poles so no one knows where anything is.
It was to prevent IMU from locating islands to destroy. As a result, Joy Boy (Oars) went the wrong way and froze to death and died in the north having left his GIANT ONE PIECE LONG JOHN THERMAL UNDERWEAR on Laughtale.
They would have prevented him from freezing to death. Its why Roger Laughed. https://youtu.be/e223w4W41kM?si=sYtqhJ_g__H5B2gs&t=220