First off, I'd like to explain my absence thus far. I had a truly horrible personal situation. The accommodations that I had been living in burned to the ground... Taking with it, my main PC and my backup. I lost all the games I had with me as well as all my taboo DVD collection.

My son lost all his consoles and games as well.

I also lost 2 cats and a dog.

Apart from that, I am just peachy.

On the bright side, my new computer should be here soonish. I hope, soonish anyway as I have a bit more cash to make before I actually send off for it. Currently I am on a pieced together jobber that I made out of older spare parts from my storage building. It took most/all of my savings but I managed to move finally (as if I had a choice :rolleyes: ) and I got a sort of broadband connection. Its supposed to speed up a bit but tonight its pretty slow. (about 325kbps)

I want you all to know that posting via a truck stop terminal is nearly impossible. Thats the main reason for my long periods without a post. The library has pretty good net connections but the 8 comps they have are always tied up whenever I arrive so they were not an option.

Lastly.. The main reason that I haven't posted this news till tonight is two fold.
1) I hated to think that an entire thread would take place, without my being here to participate. Hell, its been so long, it would have been forgotten by now. :sad:
2) I truly felt badly for beginning a competition thread, and then being forced to have no access to the net. I truly didn't want to derail that thread with my fire news.

Anywho's. I'm glad to be back and I have a far bit of catching up to do.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Genuinely sorry to hear about it, Orph - and yes, we did miss you.

Thanx Cass.

More bad news.. I have been offline to long. My msn email account was canceled.. cries

I lost all my contacts... Odd really, I've had it for... years.

Anywho's.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Wow, I'm glad that you and your family are okay though.

Wait, you were gone?
(because someone was going to say it.)

I'm sorry to hear about that as well, but it's good to have you back.

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Also change the texture of the dock. Docks are rarely tile. -Facepunch
As I Lay Dying

I got a sort of broadband connection.

I guess that means that the first map comments do not consist of complaints about screenshot sizes anymore!

:wink: welcome back!

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Why snark works.

I'm sorry to hear about your cats and dog. :sad: But I'm glad you're back in business. :smile:

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''Everyone wades in s**t until they're competent enough to walk on it. Jesus style.''
Dystopia - Empires

Gruesome, especially the cat and dog part.

I appreciate it guys, truly.

As for bodily injury, my Wife, Son and I happen to be away at the time. I guess you could call that lucky as one of us would most likely have done something stupid in an attempt to rescue stuff.

Also, no heirlooms were lost due to the fact that virtually everything I own was in storage at the time. Sadly, I had most of my entertainment with me. Most was lost to the fire. What wasn't burnt, drowned.

As to the screenshot size... Nope, its still a priority for moi. Having had to endure 56k only reinforced my concerns that this site needs a champion for speaking out against this self-centeredness. If nothing else, I shall keep an awareness to the plight of the 56k users here. And yes, I do believe that they could defend themselves but that they are also much to polite to do so. Polite has never been one of my shortfalls so, I feel its incumbent of me to exploit that skill.

The dollars and cents of my situation however remains a concern. Anyone whom has moved can appreciate the gravity of "Deposits"... In Arkansas, they are based on the previous Tennant's. If they were slackards and left bills, your deposit is much worse for it. I managed to scrape up the required fees but it has placed my computer situation in a desperate situation. However, it has now become #1 in priority. All my next spare change is dedicated to it. I have decided though to concentrate on video instead of machine power since I had yet to exceed my 3500+'s capabilities. In this way I hope to get a machine a bit faster at a minimum of expense. I can later get a bigger machine...

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Sorry to hear about your situation Orp, all the best luck you need.

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RUST Gamedesign
pepper design

The strength of the turbulence is directly proportional to the temperature of your coffee.

Oh man, me and my hasty reading...

The accommodations that I had been living in burned to the ground...

I somehow skipped the sentence in the first paragraph, expecting a less important introduction. That sounds terrible. I hope you get all back to normal asap. Glad to hear you and your family weren't hurt.

And, again, welcome back. :smile:

PS: I'm on your side with the screenshots. I was a 56k user until 2 years ago and still prefere split second loads that fit on the screen over pictures you have to scroll to see the rest of it and wait half a minute because it's a BMP. The only difference is, I can view them anyway :wink:

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Why snark works.

Well orph, I kinda know how you feel, my router burned out yesterday and I was also without internet access, and the snarkpit. :smile:

Sucks when everything burns down though, glad your safe at least. Good luck on finding a new place/fixing up the old one.

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Dark_Kilauea
DVS Administration
http://www.dvstudio-production.com/

Dark_Kilauea said:
Good luck on finding a new place/fixing up the old one.

Old one. Tis gonzo. I can't honestly say that I'll miss it. If it weren't for losing all my game related items, I'd be on cloud nine.

I have a new house. Its a rental but I like it. The burning forced my hand and made me move a bit sooner than I would otherwise have done.

I live in Fort Smith now. About 20 miles from the old site. Albeit, its within the city. I am boarding the horses still at the old place.

As I said, I now have a type of broadband. I am hoping that it ends up the 1.5 Mbps I am paying for. Currently its only around 340kbps... Up a bit from last night.

In the end, I am here for at least the next 6 months as thats how long I signed the lease for.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Sorry to hear about your cats and dog and games, but I'm glad you and your family are alright. Good luck with the new house.

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http://maze5.net

Thanx Nick.

I am still befuddled as to how/why I lost my email account. I have had it at least since 2000, prolly even 1999.

Funny thing is, they let me have it back, its just empty.

shrugs

I suppose I'll just have to look them all up again... Years worth.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

I'm sorry to hear about what happened. Glad no one was hurt and that more wasn't lost.

Bad news indeed, what a bummer for the material. Good to hear you're all alive and well. :smile:

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Create-ivity - a game development blog

Glad you and your family are unscathed, hope the insurance pays up so you can get everything together sooner.

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

Sadly, it was a motor home. The insurance covered the vehicle, not the contents. It wasn't designed to be lived in I suppose and the contents are not covered by the insurance needed to drive it.

No, its my loss. I will just bite the bullet and start over.

Thanx everyone for your concern and well wishes.

/me is off to Wisconsin... /me hopes that Andrew got his email in time.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

I don't think many/any of us can really picture what it would be like to have our home burned to the ground -- you have my deepest sympathies.

I hope the inssurance companies aren't too much of a pain in the butt -- I realize that a small fender bender/car accidents that my parents have had can't tally up to losing a home, but I think we all have a pretty good idea of how stingy they can be sometimes :x

wow that sucks, good luck on the recovery process
and don't worry i'm still here and i still have dialup 44kps on a good day

yeah, i read yer post jon man, and felt guilty there wasnt much i could do....im sorry ....glad yer troop is ok though....and like i said before....the number is the same, and collect works too... :wink:

Doc B... :dodgy:

Wow, Orph... I'm sorry about your animals and your stuff. I'm glad nobody was hurt.

There seems to be a small trend of Snarkpitters' houses being burned. DrGlass' house burned last year...

Also, you missed it. I agreed with you while you were gone.

Let me know if i can help with rebuilding your digital life that was lost. I have every episode of Ren and Stimpy, EVER. Yours gratis, tell me where to send if you wanna start your taboo collection again.

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

I think it's all been said, but you have my empathy as well.

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Some people are like slinkys...

They aren?t really good for anything, but you can't help but laugh when one tumbles down the stairs.

Sorry to hear...Especially the animals...

<span style="color: white;">Sorry to hear it, glad you and your family are alright. Everything else I could say has already been said, so I'll leave it at that.</span>

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o

Damn, I've been reading this way too late.

I can't put it any other way, Orph: it's totally s**t for you. Really, that's a lot of bad luck, losing your house, pets and ... well, mostly everything. Keep that optimism up, and the only thing left to do is start over again.

I really wish the very best to you and your family.

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:: Forceflow.be :: Nuclear Dawn developer

Just remember, usually after any large low, there is a large good that follows :smile:

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Dark_Kilauea
DVS Administration
http://www.dvstudio-production.com/

Unless that 'low' is death. I guess that's the "usually" clause? :razz:

I hope you can get back to a comfortable standing soon. I understand you were 'strapped' for cash before, I imagine you'll be struggling even more now. You have my condolences for your situation.

Do you know what caused the fire?

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Well, some people do believe in a heaven too :smile:

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Dark_Kilauea
DVS Administration
http://www.dvstudio-production.com/

Nickelplate said:
Also, you missed it. I agreed with you while you were gone.

I'd be very interested in reading that. :heee:

Crono said:
Do you know what caused the fire?

The location was rural, so the fire guys were volunteers. It was inconclusive but, I fear it was my own doing. The wiring wasn't meant to be used fulltime. I bet, I had quite a few watts going through there.

shrugs

I'd sleep better knowing that I didn't do it to myself, but I am not so dumb as to discount it either.

My cash flow is hurt, but I am in no worse shape for the fire. This is the busiest time of the year. The rush just before the last two major holidays, then work slacks off. I suppose you could consider that a blessing. I have plenty of opportunity to make runs.

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The best things in life, aren't things.