Seeker

I've read a few of these over the years - a "passenger" who took over after an incapacitation and saved the day.  Always turns out to be another pilot or someone who had flying lessons.  

To be clear, my dog did not kill the neighbor's chicken.  I'm just playing around with ChatGPT, throwing odd situations at it to see what it comes up with.  Still amazed at the generally high quality results.

Input - Write letter to neighbor because my dog killed their chicken.

Output - 

Subject: Apology and Compensation for Dog's Actions

Dear [Neighbor's Name],

I hope this letter reaches you in good health. I am writing to you with a heavy heart and deep regret regarding an unfortunate incident that occurred recently involving my dog.

It has come to my attention that my dog, [Dog's Name], was responsible for the unfortunate incident in which it killed one of your chickens. I cannot express how truly sorry I am for the distress and inconvenience this must have caused you and your family. I take full responsibility for my dog's actions, and I understand the impact it can have on your livelihood and the emotional toll it may bring.

I assure you that I am taking immediate measures to prevent any such incidents in the future. I will be implementing stricter containment measures for my dog, and I am exploring additional training to address its behavior.

In addition to my sincere apology, I would like to discuss appropriate compensation for the loss of your chicken. I understand the value of livestock and the impact it can have on your daily life. Please let me know the cost of the chicken, and I will ensure that you are promptly reimbursed.

I understand that this incident may have strained our neighborly relations, and I am committed to making amends. If there are any further steps or actions you would like me to take to rectify this situation, please do not hesitate to let me know. I am more than willing to work together to find a resolution that is fair and satisfactory for both parties.

Once again, I am truly sorry for the distress this incident has caused, and I appreciate your understanding in this matter. I value our relationship as neighbors, and I am committed to taking the necessary steps to prevent any future occurrences.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

[Your Name] [Your Address] [Your Contact Information]

6 hours ago, Kip Powick said:

Well, as you know, not everything yoiu read on the Internet is true, (quote by Abraham Lincoln), so I will give you a bit of now "unclassified"info.....

There is no public information about the two C172s that were converted through The Agency  back in  1986 as all upgrades were done in Area 51. The cost of using the U2 was becoming extremely expensive so these aircraft, (one other built in France), were put in three locations where NORAD and The Agency wanted  continuous intelligence.

One was stationed at  Wake Island for Asian operations, and  one was located in Aruba for Caribbean and South America operations.

Two of the modified aircraft were  rebuilt to Cessna specs after the "cold war" and sold to private individuals. One was destroyed while attempting to land, in adverse weather conditions, on the USS Kitty Hawk , (carrier), about 400nm miles west of Wake island.

The one in the photo was operating out of France, covering Europe,  and was returning to the manufacturing plant in Reims France , and had a dual seat Dassault Mirage F1 as an escort. The back seater took the photo. Apparently the Cessna had a plugged urination tube.

 

Very interesting story Kip, thanks for posting it.

A little known historical footnote is the story of Jimmy (nickname "Flash") Gibbons.  He worked in the Advanced Materials lab at Area 51.  Shortly after leaving there he set a landspeed record at Bonneville on a 1960 Vespa. 

The record was subsequently denied when the post-run tech inspection revealed a small football-shaped device that emitted a green glow powering the scooter rather than a 50cc 2-stroke.  All mention of the scooter, and Flash, have removed from the public record.

On 11/20/2023 at 9:59 PM, boestar said:

If someone had a false waybill with all the appropriate information on it, then it was likely an inside job. You dont just print up a waybill 

That's exactly what I was thinking.  I expect the investigators are playing the long-game watching possible suspects for unusual activity while telling the public they have no clue where it went.

For those who don't subscribe to Netflix take a look at this site.  Free, full length documentaries with no signup or account required.  It's basically an index site which links to videos on other video sharing platforms such as youtube but useful because it's sorted everything in nice neat categories.

https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/

The following is an independent commenter on the worldwide auto industry.  He can be a little difficult to listen to since he's Australian (accent) and uses a lot of idiom and slang but the content is excellent.  Great analysis and high level view of the societal, government and industry implications of various decisions in the EV industry.  The following regards EVs and is worth the 20 minutes.  I guess I should mention that it's NSFW due to a very few bits of profanity (very few, but they are there).

Wow, zero diversity and no plus-size models.  What's up with that?  Also, no tattoos, nose piercings or blue hair.

I only got 3/10 but did much better the second time through!  Would have been better (easier) if the pictures were larger.

1 minute ago, deicer said:

 

Probably a lot better than most of the youtube and tiktok videos out there

 

You got that right!  And it's ad-free.  I like the old stuff so I found that simply putting a year in the search box will get films made in that year or about that year.  Putting 1943 in the search gets lots of WW2 results like this one about the women's division of the RCAF: https://www.nfb.ca/film/wings_on_her_shoulder/

A lot of people don't know that The National Film Board of Canada has digitized their entire collection and it's available for free streaming. Just use the easy search box

Here is a 1949 film about how to build an igloo that I remember watching as a kid in elementary school.

https://www.nfb.ca/film/how_to_build_an_igloo/ 

Test pilot and archival footage of DHC-2 and DHC-3;

https://www.nfb.ca/film/test-pilot/

I've actually been to Grindavik during my Iceland vacation a few years ago.

Not everyone accesses the site from the same point.  Some people have bookmarked the particular forum they regularly visit and might not see the announcement.

18 minutes ago, st27 said:

We will never know what some have seen and experienced as veterans….

This is true but in a larger sense, we will never know what anyone has seen or experienced.  The random homeless dude, the odd guy on the subway, the homeless woman on the corner - we will never know what they have seen or experienced.

15 hours ago, Jaydee said:

Seeker has a message under  “Announcements”.
 

I can only guess someone was giving him some heat about REAL topics or opinions that must have “offended” him/her/they/them/zer/zee etc etc etc.

Take your own guess as to who. I think I know and it isn't your first guess either.

This is incorrect.  The change was no due to any specific complaint from any member but for other reasons.

54 minutes ago, Kip Powick said:

Will pass on the desire for those books to my kids as a Christmas present to me ....

.

The Farley Mowat book is good but the Caroline Alexander book is excellent.  I would say try the library first for the Mowat book.  Here is the Amazon link for the Alexander book:

Caroline Alexander

A word of advice - take a good look at the cover since there all lots of similar titled books about the same events - easy to get confused.

Another book you might be interested in is this one: The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder  I have not read it (yet, on my list) but it comes highly recommended to me and has 4.5 stars on Amazon with almost 16,000 reviews.  

4 hours ago, Kip Powick said:

It is unfortunate that there is no video of the actual removal of the vessel.

Attempting to remove the boat in the condictions as depicted in the video was a futile venture. ,Yes the boat was quite safe on the beach but the constant pounding on the hull would be detrimental to all the, below  waterline, running gear and I would assume the owner requested it be removed ASAP. The bottom of the hull would slowly be rubbed "raw" by the constant "sanding" on the fibre glass as well, so again, if it was possible, it should have been removed as soon as possible but the weather conditions were certainly unfavourable. 

As well I would assume that the tow company wanted to cover their butt by showing that they attempted to remove the boat but it was just too dangerous and their policy  "out" is "Act of God" (weather totally untenable and risk to personnel too great).  

That's what I was thinking too - the tow company wanted to be able to show they made a serious effort to hold up their end of the contract.

Talking about this brings to mind a couple of reading recommendations;

The first is The Grey Seas Under by Farley Mowat.  Non-fiction telling of the history of the steam powered rescue tug the Franklin Foundation which operated on the east coast in the 30s and 40s.  Gripping stories of rescues and recoveries in fierce storm and weather conditions.  Well worth hunting down at your library or online.

The second is Caroline Alexander's book on Ernest Shackleton.  I have bought and gifted probably a dozen of these and I read my copy once every year or so.  There aren't enough adjectives in the book to describe the events.  Of course there are many books about The Endurance and the Imperial Trans Antarctic Expedition but this particular book is large and has many hi-res glossy photos that really puts you in the story.

Shackleton is widely acknowledged to have demonstrated some of the best leadership ever recorded in his handling of the crisis.  

On 11/5/2023 at 12:31 PM, Kip Powick said:

Re The Boat Ashore.

TOW BOAT USA is a very reputable firm and I even had a policy with them if something went wrong with my boat while I was in US waters. I find it hard to believe that the crews thought they would get that boat off the shore in that weather.

That vessel  running gear would be so buried in that sand  and would be acting like two anchors, (twin egines), and considering the weight of the boat and pounding surf, and  attempting to turn the boat  broadside  while in the sand  would be a futile exercise.

I guess they thought connecting the tow line to the bow would allow them to pivot the boat and drag it off the shore  and of course the line snapped. Had they had a chain and had the power in the tow boat, the chain would have probably pulled the bow apart ...there was no way that boat, at that weight was going to move off the shore with a tow line connected to the bow, in that kind of weather.

Will be a gigantic insurance claim and I bet all the running gear will have to be replaced.

Obviously we don't know when and where they had complete engine failure but rule #1...... when you lose all steering control is to DROP THE ANCHOR...

IDK as I have no experience with this sort of thing but the boat looked to relatively safe beached on a sandy shore, no?  I could see if it was washed up against rocks and was grinding away on every wave that a rescue might be worth a shot.

I've decided on a slight change to the forum structure.  All political discussion will now be in a "requested access" sub-forum.  Those who wish to participate in political discussion can send a PM and will be given access.  Future political posts in other forums will be moved or deleted.  

Maybe so but still 1000% better than I could do.  Give me a topic and I'll plug it in.

I'm sure most people have heard about this.  I did too but, honestly, didn't pay it much attention.  Today I finally got around to creating an account and tried it out.  Wow!  Basically you can just enter a phase, goal, task, whatever and it spits out (almost instantly) a very credible response.  Here's a few poetry attempts.  I searched for pieces of the poems and they are, apparently, unique.

Write a poem about flying:

1 hour ago, deicer said:

Following second amendment logic, this could have all been avoided only if the Captain had a gun.

What if it was the Capt that had a mental breakdown and the FO saved the day with his handgun?  It's not what happened here but not impossible either.  What is a hijacker had entered the flightdeck and the FO saved the aircraft and everyone on it?  How many potential hijackings have been prevented by the knowledge that program exists?

This is obviously a biased article but I don't think any rational person would argue that sometimes being armed is beneficial: https://fee.org/articles/guns-prevent-thousands-of-crimes-every-day-research-show/

The question, which is probably unanswerable, is;  Do the number of violent crimes prevented by armed civilians outweigh the number committed by them?  Even the potential that a person might have a gun must surely have an effect on reducing crime without them ever pulling it out or using it.

1 hour ago, deicer said:

Well, the reason I post things like that is to engage my friends on AEF and to allow them to contribute some humour in these interesting times.

Good plan.  

7 hours ago, conehead said:

The infamous Shoe Bomber.

https://www.fbi.gov/history/artifacts/richard-reids-shoes#:~:text=A judge sentenced him to,10 ounces of explosive material.

You're going to have to explain that one.