Hi, it's me.

[Doktor Howl]

Hi, it's me.  This is more complicated than it sounds...I am not the me I was when you first met me (especially you old timers), and believe me when I say that this can be uncomfortable.  I am not the me that raced cars on Book Road back in the day.  I am not the me that stood horrified in a pumphouse under the streets in Panama.  I am not the me that worked for a dodgy cargo airline when some of you met me for the first time.  Let's skip a bit...I am not even the me that wrote Little Orange and Hell in a Dry Place.  I have changed, as you have changed, as everyone changes.  To expect a person to react the same way to a given stimuli over a half-century isn't realistic.

The hard part, the part that took that entire half-century, is to understand that yourself.  That you aren't the same person you used to be.  Maybe you're better, maybe you're worse, maybe you're neither, just different.  But once you DO realize that, you remove an enormous burden of false expectations from yourself, and the affect that has is some pretty strong mojo.

I am not Shaky, Mozart of the M16.
I am not The Good Reverend Roger, screaming out rants.
I am not Padre Dolor, delivering the hurt.
I am not Little Billy, taunting the Pagans.
I am not Doktor Howl, explaining your doom to you in terms you understand.

I am a mish-mash of all of these people, and "we" are stronger for realizing that.  I am a ball of aggregate Horror™, and I am not impressed by the puny villains we have today.  Trump and his hordes of waterhead Nazis may be dangerous to some degree, but they have no opera.  They are banal.  Boring.  This should change.

On the other hand, this entire future is kind of banal and boring.  It is a flimsy thing, built on shaky foundations by drunks who never even bothered to look at the blueprint.  It is the intensely monotonous accumulation of wealth into the hands of a tiny group of people while the rest of the world starves - or is facing the specter of starvation - and drinks filthy water.

And I think maybe that needs to change, as well.

Or Kill Us. 

[LMNO]

...you learned how to use Arrays in Excel, didn't you?

[Doktor Howl]

...you learned how to use Arrays in Excel, didn't you?

I wrote script to move it all over to the SQL database.

Oh my God, it's full of stars.
- David Bowman,
Inventer of the relational database.

[LMNO]

...you learned how to use Arrays in Excel, didn't you?

I wrote script to move it all over to the SQL database.

Oh my God, it's full of stars.
- David Bowman,
Inventer of the relational database.

[hooplala]

Hi, it's me.  This is more complicated than it sounds...I am not the me I was when you first met me (especially you old timers), and believe me when I say that this can be uncomfortable.  I am not the me that raced cars on Book Road back in the day.  I am not the me that stood horrified in a pumphouse under the streets in Panama.  I am not the me that worked for a dodgy cargo airline when some of you met me for the first time.  Let's skip a bit...I am not even the me that wrote Little Orange and Hell in a Dry Place.  I have changed, as you have changed, as everyone changes.  To expect a person to react the same way to a given stimuli over a half-century isn't realistic.

The hard part, the part that took that entire half-century, is to understand that yourself.  That you aren't the same person you used to be.  Maybe you're better, maybe you're worse, maybe you're neither, just different.  But once you DO realize that, you remove an enormous burden of false expectations from yourself, and the affect that has is some pretty strong mojo.

I am not Shaky, Mozart of the M16.
I am not The Good Reverend Roger, screaming out rants.
I am not Padre Dolor, delivering the hurt.
I am not Little Billy, taunting the Pagans.
I am not Doktor Howl, explaining your doom to you in terms you understand.

I am a mish-mash of all of these people, and "we" are stronger for realizing that.  I am a ball of aggregate Horror™, and I am not impressed by the puny villains we have today.  Trump and his hordes of waterhead Nazis may be dangerous to some degree, but they have no opera.  They are banal.  Boring.  This should change.

On the other hand, this entire future is kind of banal and boring.  It is a flimsy thing, built on shaky foundations by drunks who never even bothered to look at the blueprint.  It is the intensely monotonous accumulation of wealth into the hands of a tiny group of people while the rest of the world starves - or is facing the specter of starvation - and drinks filthy water.

And I think maybe that needs to change, as well.

Or Kill Us.

I too am coming to realization I am not the same person I once was, but I am in a position where I still find too much of the old me for my own liking. This is definitely a time of change. All times are times of change, but I am actively seeking this change.

I'm rambling.

I have always liked how you are willing to change Roger, something your psycho stalker fans never give you credit for.

I hope the new you is one you enjoy.

[Doktor Howl]

Hi, it's me.  This is more complicated than it sounds...I am not the me I was when you first met me (especially you old timers), and believe me when I say that this can be uncomfortable.  I am not the me that raced cars on Book Road back in the day.  I am not the me that stood horrified in a pumphouse under the streets in Panama.  I am not the me that worked for a dodgy cargo airline when some of you met me for the first time.  Let's skip a bit...I am not even the me that wrote Little Orange and Hell in a Dry Place.  I have changed, as you have changed, as everyone changes.  To expect a person to react the same way to a given stimuli over a half-century isn't realistic.

The hard part, the part that took that entire half-century, is to understand that yourself.  That you aren't the same person you used to be.  Maybe you're better, maybe you're worse, maybe you're neither, just different.  But once you DO realize that, you remove an enormous burden of false expectations from yourself, and the affect that has is some pretty strong mojo.

I am not Shaky, Mozart of the M16.
I am not The Good Reverend Roger, screaming out rants.
I am not Padre Dolor, delivering the hurt.
I am not Little Billy, taunting the Pagans.
I am not Doktor Howl, explaining your doom to you in terms you understand.

I am a mish-mash of all of these people, and "we" are stronger for realizing that.  I am a ball of aggregate Horror™, and I am not impressed by the puny villains we have today.  Trump and his hordes of waterhead Nazis may be dangerous to some degree, but they have no opera.  They are banal.  Boring.  This should change.

On the other hand, this entire future is kind of banal and boring.  It is a flimsy thing, built on shaky foundations by drunks who never even bothered to look at the blueprint.  It is the intensely monotonous accumulation of wealth into the hands of a tiny group of people while the rest of the world starves - or is facing the specter of starvation - and drinks filthy water.

And I think maybe that needs to change, as well.

Or Kill Us.

I too am coming to realization I am not the same person I once was, but I am in a position where I still find too much of the old me for my own liking. This is definitely a time of change. All times are times of change, but I am actively seeking this change.

I'm rambling.

I have always liked how you are willing to change Roger, something your psycho stalker fans never give you credit for.

I hope the new you is one you enjoy.

I like it a lot more than last year's model, anyway.  The AC works and the brakes hardly ever fail, even if it gets less miles per gallon (kg per hectare in metric, obviously).  It has the pickup of a stick shift and the ease of an automatic, and it dances on autopilot.  The autopilot isn't very good and the collosion-avoidance software never works, but you can't have everything in a jalopy that will be 50 on halloween.

[minuspace]

...you learned how to use Arrays in Excel, didn't you?

I wrote script to move it all over to the SQL database.

Oh my God, it's full of stars.
- David Bowman,
Inventer of the relational database.

Hi there Shaky!

—Abraham

[Cramulus]

Roger is dead, long live Roger

[Doktor Howl]

Roger is dead, long live Roger

I am like Payne only it doesn't hurt as much.  It hurts when you're a different person, but only like it hurts when you're broke and only have one cigar left.


Or so I remember it from when I smoked.

[Doktor Howl]

...you learned how to use Arrays in Excel, didn't you?

I wrote script to move it all over to the SQL database.

Oh my God, it's full of stars.
- David Bowman,
Inventer of the relational database.

Hi there Shaky!

—Abraham

Shaky has been gone for 22 years.  Old grunts aren't grunts, they're pogues (sometimes misspelled POG).  The moment you leave the line you're not a grunt.  So I am not Shaky.

[minuspace]

...you learned how to use Arrays in Excel, didn't you?

I wrote script to move it all over to the SQL database.

Oh my God, it's full of stars.
- David Bowman,
Inventer of the relational database.

Hi there Shaky!

—Abraham

Shaky has been gone for 22 years.  Old grunts aren't grunts, they're pogues (sometimes misspelled POG).  The moment you leave the line you're not a grunt.  So I am not Shaky.

Cool. I also was not implying that I know Abrahams from Adam, just for the record Someone did try to mow my hæir with an M16 once during a Tell bit, but my relational database buffer overflows.

[chaotic neutral observer]

If I'm not the person I used to be, it seems unfair that I have to deal with the memories of all his stupid mistakes.  Especially the ones I can't learn from.

Hi, it's me.  I am not the me I was when you first met me (especially you old timers),

Hi, new guy!  I'm new here, too.

I am not impressed by the puny villains we have today.  Trump and his hordes of waterhead Nazis may be dangerous to some degree, but they have no opera.  They are banal.  Boring.  This should change.

A well-written villain should have an interesting flaw or weakness.  Stupidity is not an interesting trait.  Henchmen are portrayed as mooks, not only for comedic effect, but also to make it clear that they're not in the same class as the main villain.  So, Trump must be someone's henchman.  But whose?  Putin?  Or some shadowy puppet-master, yet to be revealed?  But that would be stupid.  I hate it when characters are dropped into the plot out of nowhere.

Someone needs to fire the writing staff and hire new people, before we all get written into a corner.

[Doktor Howl]

If I'm not the person I used to be, it seems unfair that I have to deal with the memories of all his stupid mistakes.  Especially the ones I can't learn from.

Hi, it's me.  I am not the me I was when you first met me (especially you old timers),

Hi, new guy!  I'm new here, too.

I am not impressed by the puny villains we have today.  Trump and his hordes of waterhead Nazis may be dangerous to some degree, but they have no opera.  They are banal.  Boring.  This should change.

A well-written villain should have an interesting flaw or weakness.  Stupidity is not an interesting trait.  Henchmen are portrayed as mooks, not only for comedic effect, but also to make it clear that they're not in the same class as the main villain.  So, Trump must be someone's henchman.  But whose?  Putin?  Or some shadowy puppet-master, yet to be revealed?  But that would be stupid.  I hate it when characters are dropped into the plot out of nowhere.

Someone needs to fire the writing staff and hire new people, before we all get written into a corner.

You're certainly not wrong.