Gavin

[SIZE="1"]My only real annoyance about retail is when you walk into a shop and just look around, someone will always come up to you and ask if they can help you and they hover conspicuously for the next five minutes while you browse. Alternatively when you actually go in with the intention of buying something, there's not a single person around to give you some help in getting what you need, generally I've found this to occur shopping for electronic equipment. Just one of those Murphy's Laws situations I guess. Having working in retail for a while, I know what it feels like to have to deal with ****** mooded customers, which is why I generally attempt to make transactions as pleasant as possible. The worst thing I found was working back in the stock room, when I had to occasionally go and fetch something from the shop, people would stop you and ask where X was and if you didn't know, you were apparently an ******* and explaining that you did not work in the main shop did not help. Is using cheques still common in the States ? Most people over this side of the Atlantic use debit and credit cards way more often, less hassle, fire in the card and a PIN code and you're off in a few seconds.[/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"]I think debating the legality of abortion is a pretty pointless one Crystia, even if it's illegal over here, most people who want them simply nip off into England to have them, sure it's illegal but nobody really stops them. All I meant was that the whole "telling people what to do" sounded a lot like what's legal and illegal according to the letter of the law. As for pro-lifers ignoring the need for contraception, I don't think I've ever objected to it in an argument before, I may be Catholic but I'm a realist as well and know that contraception as a preventative is better than abortion as a "cure", stitch in time sort of analogy. I'm more than well aware for the need for proper Sex Ed as well, we get next to none in Ireland aside from what's taught in junior science and senior biology, so I'm not disagreeing with you in any way there. Education in my mind is definitely one of the most important aspects of preventing unnecessary abortions rather than making them easier. Kids just don't understand how easy it is to get pregnant from unprotected sex. In relation to the Holland argument, well to be honest with all that goes on over there, I'm really rather surprised them have such a low abortion rate. That said you are aware that of their use of mobile clinics boats to have the abortions take place out in international waters rather than in Holland itself ? I know it sounds made up, but check out the article [b][url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9F02E3D7153BF937A15755C0A9659C8B63]Here[/url][/b] and the organisation [b]Woman on Waves[/b] found [b][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_on_Waves]here[/url][/b]. So I wouldn't be utterly convinced by that statistic to be honest. [/SIZE]

[quote name='indifference'][COLOR="Indigo"]I only mention it since the argument that an unborn baby has a soul is part of why people where I live object to abortion and consider it murder. Not to drag the debate into religion per se. I prefer to stick to the more physical aspect and leave religious beliefs out of it. It's more from dealing with people who stick to religion to oppose it. I don't agree with it.[/color][/quote] [SIZE="1"]I can definitely appreciate where you're coming from Crystia, while previously I've brought in religion myself, I've avoided it this time because it never helps the argument but rather blurs it even more. Strictly talking from physical evidence however, I'm going to have to agree with Des' most recent post, scientifically a foetus is just as "alive" as a newborn infant and must continue growing before it reaching maturity as an infant must. As for whether I've misunderstood what you meant by potential, I still feel it's a flawed argument as humans are not truly "complete" physically or mentally once they've exited the womb, only slightly less vulnerable than they were when they were inside it. Again this goes back to Des' last point, but in regard to the vegetative state, a person in one is wholly dependant on others to care for him/her and I really don't see what the difference is there in, they like the foetus are not fully complete and so I think share the position of the foetus. To the technology point, if it could be done, well that's just one other option, but I honestly can't imagine people would be more willing to simply move the child and be potentially responsible for it afterwards rather than terminating it. But hey that's just my take on it. In regard to the making choices for others, we have laws that define what people can and cannot do, I really don't see how this is different, but perhaps that's because abortion is still illegal over here in Ireland.[/SIZE]

[quote name='ChibiHorsewoman'][color=#9933ff][font=lucida calligraphy] So you don't have specific stations for country? My city finally has two different stations but one doesn't come in too well. That is actually one thing I miss about the south- each city had four or five different country stations. So do some of the more rural areas up here.[/color][/font][/QUOTE] [SIZE="1"]Not really, there are three local stations and a few nationally broadcasted ones and each of them don't really have a set genre which they draw music from. The closest one to me is mostly listened to by rural people, hence it's getting more and more country music playing. [/SIZE]

[quote name='Sandy']Hmm, somehow I thought that [I]all[/I] of the jobs would fall into that "adventurer"-category, so it would be a bit pointless to create a different job for that. Trust me, Arena isn't forgotten in this game - the whole game takes place here, so how could it ever be? ;D[/QUOTE] [SIZE="1"]Heh, well so long as I can get the Chewie outfit and a lightsaber I'll be happy. I might take a shot at designing a few new weapons and armours then that might give a little more Arena feel to the game, Auron's Jacket perhaps.[/SIZE] [quote name='Sandy']Yaaaay! You're the first one who has straight-out volunteered to be one! Just remember that you can play a character of your own as well, despite being a Gamemaster. Someone else will just do the battles against your character. ;D[/QUOTE] [SIZE="1"]Seriously ? I'd have thought your fellow staff would have been lining up to be GMs. Oh well, better luck for me. Though I'll have to figure out how to be the Keeper of Oldie Secrets as well as a player character.[/SIZE]

[quote name='Retribution'][size=1]See: [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil%27s_Advocate][b]Devil's Advocate[/b][/url][/size][/QUOTE] [SIZE="1"]Saw it before, decent film, thought Reeves gave one of his better performances IMO. That was a joke by the way. I get where you're going Alex, and to be fair I do understand and even empathise with the reasons people have for abortions, I just don't think it's right.[/SIZE] [quote name='indifference'][COLOR="Indigo"]Note the part [I]grow into[/I]. At that point it's not there yet. ;) It hasn't gotten to the point of possessing the generally accepted characteristics of life you're talking about. The thing here is we're putting human life above the rest as if its inherently more special somehow. When having all the code needed for something to mature into a full version of it's parent doesn't grant it automatic status of being murdered if it doesn't mature to that point due to outside influences halting the process. In the end I agree with A_M. Even if I think abortion should be the absolute last choice, like her I am not comfortable with thinking I am correct in taking that choice away from a total stranger. Especially since some of the arguments around here (in Utah that is) is that upon conception a growing baby has a soul and that is in my opinion unprovable. [/COLOR][/QUOTE] [SIZE="1"]I don't think anyone has mentioned the word "soul" yet Crystia, indeed religion seems to have played a rather minor role in the debate so far, as most people seem to be giving personal beliefs rather than religious beliefs. Indeed if we're to introduce the soul aspect, then most religious people believe souls are gained at conception rather than somewhere in between it and birth. But let's not get into that as it adds unnecessary walls. As for the "potential is not enough" argument, does that mean it's OK to terminate those who do not show all the signs of life as we know it ? People who are in a vegetative state surely don't show the sign of sensitivity and yet we don't just pull the plugs on them left, right and centre. Not the best example I know, but it just highlights the point I think.[/SIZE]

[quote name='Retribution'][size=1]No, I don't think you're understanding. Presumably the woman would want to keep the child but the father would not. What's outstanding about this case is that the man was raped, rather than the other way around.[/size][/QUOTE] [SIZE="1"]Oh right. We'll I guess I'd probably still be against it for the "child's done nothing wrong" line of thought. I know it seems a cop-out Alex but I do genuinely believe that rape abortions shouldn't be special unless the mother is genuinely going to kill or seriously harm herself is she has to carry the child. [/SIZE] [quote name='Retribution'][size=1][IMG]http://myspace.drewpydraws.com/chicks/WH_fat_girls.jpg[/IMG] You decide.[/size][/QUOTE] [SIZE="1"]Dude. Not. Cool. @ Nerdsy: Interesting article, I'd genuinely never heard of a case of a female rapist before.[/SIZE]

[quote name='Retribution'][size=1]It's generally accepted that abortion should be allowed for women in cases of rape. Food for thought: Should a man who was raped be allowed to force said woman into abortion?[/size][/QUOTE] [SIZE="1"]Perhaps it's accepted, but that doesn't make it right. The unborn kids in those cases have done nothing to deserve execution. As for your second point, I think it draws back to the "Pregnancy is punishment" thing, but again I'd be against a termination. Would seem more just that she be forced to carry the child and then have it taken away from her and put up for adoption, hmm that sounded a mite more draconian than I'd intended. Just OOC does rape for males ever occur ? Hetero in this case as it refers to Alex's point.[/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"]Jordan, I know we've been friends for years, but I have to say it is really quite awesome of you to compare my spiritual beliefs with those of Albert Einstein.[/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"]Well Sandy, I have to say, you've got me very interested in this project of yours. My one complaint is that while you've created base classes that represent each of the other categories of OB, you've somehow left out the nearest and dearest to both of us, the Arena itself. Surely we can have an Adventurer class that specialises in combat and loot-sweeping or scouting ? If not for the fact that Bill's already created me an awesome NPC character, who from the description would likely hold knowledge of the Otakupedia with Charles (major skill book anyone ?). I'd be happy to work as a Game Master if you need one, though my skills in HTML are pretty rudimentary.[/SIZE]

[quote name='Premonition'][COLOR="Navy"]I've always wondered what group was bigger, Catholic or Protestants? Sorry if I came off as jerky. I've just been under pressure lately, family troubles. But overreacting is not the word, something more strong would explain my behavior. [/COLOR][/QUOTE] [SIZE="1"]No problem, these threads have a nasty habit of causing people to vent.[/SIZE]

[quote name='Premonition'][COLOR="navy"]Didn't I just apologize for my ignorant statements? Let me explain something. Most of my family is Catholic, I chose to be Methodist because my mother is, my Grandma is Catholic. I don't find your opinion annoying Gavin, for Christ's sake can we just move on with our lives? I said they can get annoying sometimes. I didn't say "I hate Catholics with a passion they all annoy me all the time" now did I? Its just that some of them have over reacted toward things when other Christian groups haven't. from what I remember my friend's parents who are Catholic complained about "The DaVinci Code" and there was even something on the news about how it started to enrage some of the Catholic people. I'm sick of explaining this, why can't you just drop it, becaue your just exacerbating the argument.[/COLOR][/quote] [SIZE="1"]Prem, get a dictionary and look up the word "JOKE" and stop overreacting to every little thing that someone posts in relation to you. I've read the [B]Da Vinci Code[/B] and [B]Angels and Demons[/B] and found them to be decent books of fiction, and nothing more. But I suppose when there's a billion damn Catholics on the planet, a few of us were bound to get a little riled up.[/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"]I have to admit, it amazes me that a country as religiously indoctrinated as Ireland that had the Catholic Church running most if not all of it's schools up until recent times has been teaching "God-free" to use the term, science for decades if not centuries without issue. Sure we've got it in conjunction with mandatory religious education classes which give students a broader understanding of how their faith and the faiths of others have shaped the world, but I must admit I never realised the whole "creationism vs. evolution" argument was this divided in America. Generally I prefer to defer to science where possible to explain things that I do not understand, nothing like the Discovery Channel to make you feel like an ignoramus, and Genesis according to the Bible really does have to be taken with a good dose of salt by all but the most religiously zealous. My own take is God is real and did create the universe, but not according to Genesis which was just a way of explaining something vastly complex to a relatively simply people. Instead I prefer to think that he was responsible for the start of the universe a la the Big Bang and thus everything that came from that came from Him. To me science isn't like the dude who tells you how the magician religious guys tricks work, but the guy who makes you appreciate something vastly more complex than yourself by taking more of the mysticism out of it. [/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"]I suppose rock would be my favourite genre, but given most of the music I listen to is on the radio I don't really get picky with music, except for rap which I've never really got into. Jazz, some metals, classic, even some of that easy listening stuff. Country and western is played way too much on my local radio station, seriously you'd think you were in Texas rather than Ireland.[/SIZE]

[size=1][B]Small Town Hell[/b], coming to the Adventure Square soon.[/size]

[SIZE="1"]Anyone who wants to hum the "Team America" tune while saying "Staff of OB **** YEAH !!" is welcome to join me.[/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"]Prem, you might want to look away now, because I'm Catholic and you might find my opinion annoying... Well personally I'm against abortion in pretty much all cases, as to me from the moment of conception it?s a human life with the same rights anyone else has, and termination is simply a nicer way of saying execution. The only case where I could accept abortion would be if the life of the child and the mother are in serious danger of being lost if the pregnancy comes to full term. Incest pregnancies are kind of undecided for me, because I've got neighbours who're second cousins and happily married with kids and grandkids. If we're talking about immediate family where it's one of the parents and one of the kids, well it's sick, but I still feel it's execution for the unborn for no crime of their own. Abortion in the case of rape has never sounded right either to me to be honest, it sounds a little more like punishing the child for the sins/crimes of the father, which doesn't at all sit well with me as as far as I'm concerned, the child has done nothing wrong and doesn't deserve to die just because the mother doesn't want to keep it. I suppose then we're into a whole different kettle of fish, but that's for another post. Despite the whole "ban" on contraceptives, I think even the Church's highest and most vocal know that people are going to use them, and that if using a condom prevents an abortion further down the line, it's the lesser of two evils. Not to get onto the whole "pregnancy is punishment" thing from earlier, but really I'm pretty sure a few doses of the pill and a couple of condoms are going to work out to be significantly cheaper from a financial and emotional point of view than an abortion. One thing I've found a little weird here is that adoption has only been mentioned in passing once or twice, I mean maybe it's just me, but I know here in Ireland people are having to adopt from abroad because there's not enough Irish kids up for adoption. It seems as valid and secular a decision as abortion, though the obvious financial costs of having the kid and then giving it away must also be taken into consideration. Just out of curiosity, what does an abortion cost ? And a delivery in a hospital for that matter ? I seriously don't know, so I'm just wondering what the difference between the two it. In the end, if people are going to keep getting it done, because criminalising it is just going to lead to back alley abortions which are much worse, then I hope they at least come up with some way of killing an unborn child in as humane a way as possible, rather than as convenient a way as possible. I suppose that gives us about twelve months until the next one. [/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"][B]Right Pocket:[/B] Wallet (with assorted cards) and change, as the wallet doesn't have storage for coins. [b]Left Pocket:[/b] Phone and keys, occasionally a comb for my hair when it gets too fly away to handle, pain in the *** that one. [b]Back Pocket[/b] Unused. Prefer not to keep stuff in it because it's uncomfortable to sit on and I generally keep a thumb in my pockets to prevent them from being picked. As you can see, I don't generally pack a lot going anywhere. It amazes me some people carry around so much.[/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"]Just saw the film, good action flick, but to me it just didn't really feel like a Die Hard film, sort of the "red haired step-child" of the series, like Rocky Balboa. Visuals and explosions were top-notch, the story will keep you mildly interested, as will certain shots of Lucy McClane. Ending is predicable as with all Die Hards.[/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"]The thought of sleeping with a woman half my age when I get to fifty is my anti-drug. As you might imagine, that may or may not be a joke, I've not decided yet, come back at fifty and I'll tell you.[/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"]Getting my Nifty the year before last was pretty cool, and actually ties in with what Alan has posted above me, given that I won it with the help of that little catchphrase he so vehemently detested. ;)[/SIZE] [quote name='DeadSeraphim'][size=1][color=indigo][font=arial]Making Gavin stop using his ****** catchphrase. Unfortunately, all evidence of it got deleted.[/font][/color][/size][/QUOTE] [SIZE="1"]The second I saw this thread and saw you'd posted, I pretty much knew you'd said that. I feel honoured in a weird way that your favourite moment is getting me to stop using that phrase.[/SIZE]

[size=1][url=http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=zmQeIyGPByM][b]Jim Carrey, Night at the Roxbury[/b][/url] If you have even a trace of a sense of humour. You will laugh. The Karate Master one is quite funny as well.[/size]

[SIZE="1"]Ah, so we are going on with that project eh. Well hopefully everyone who's been so glued to this will get in gear, oldies particularly and join and be able to write their own adventures. And no worries Andy, it's a great story, finish it when you get the mood to do it. Writing that way always yields the best results I find.[/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"]Well Vicky and Andy might have become Super Saiyans, but I got my girl and that's more than enough. All joking aside, I'm kinda sad that this is the end of it, or at least the end of the current arc. The final fight with Sella was great, really brought back memories of the old school RPGs we did back in V3 and V4 with Andy, Craig, Neil, Warlock, Flash and everyone else. So what've you got planned next ?[/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"][I]About two minutes before Raiha's post...[/I] Wiping his mouth on his sleeve, and leaving rather large blood stain Gavin returned his attention to the immediate surroundings. Noting of all thing, four greasy-looking, unkempt nerds sat upon four equally greasy-looking unkempt horses. If he didn't know better he'd have sworn it was... "[b]Yep it's them Gavin.[/b]" His expression remained confused, though for a new reason. "[b]How did you know what I was thinking honey ?[/b]" "[b]Because I'm your wife and wives know these things.[/b]" Simple answer, which made sense. "[b]Fair enough.[/b]" "[b]I suppose they want to destroy OB for the umpteenth time ?[/b]" "[b]Probably.[/b]" "[b]And I forgot to pay our house insurance.[/b]"[/SIZE]