Information I'd love to know

cthia wrote:Has textev given the type of tree the treecats prefer to live in?

House of Steel wrote:Male treecats are universally gray in color, although there are gradations from ’cat to ’cat within that color range. This coloring allows them to blend well with the various colors of picketwood bark. Males also tend to be about fifteen to twenty percent larger than females and, unlike females, grow darker bands around their tails as they age. These “tail rings” make it possible to estimate a male’s age with a fair degree of accuracy. The first ring appears at about four Sphinxian years of age and a new band appears every Sphinxian year thereafter.

In addition to being smaller than males and possessing no tail rings, females have dappled coats patterned in brown and white. This coloring allows them to blend in with the leaf-and-sunlight patterns of the upper branch level of the picketwood.

cthia wrote:

SWM wrote:
Cthia, I don't think the effect of being told one was unplanned is as great as you fear. I know, for instance, that I was unplanned, as were my siblings. It really is no big deal, since we all agree that unplanned is not the same as unwanted. Now, it certainly could be spun in a malicious fashion, but only if one did not already know about it. So I think it is perfectly reasonable for Raoul to be told at some point, if for no other reason than to head off any future attempt by malicious persons to blindside him with it later.

I totally agree. But don't miss the important distinction in semantics. IMO, telling a kid he was an accident carries more of a negative social connotation than telling him he was unplanned. Unplanned may even slip by an unattenive child, whereas the sound of accident would immediately raise his radar. And I would assume that a resentful parent would consciously choose to use "accident" as the preferred description instead of "unplanned" if malicious intent is desired.

If you are specifically trying to hurt your child, you wouldn't elect to scream "YOU WERE UNPLANNED." Rather, you would scream "YOU WERE AN ACCIDENT!"

Also, SWM, I don't necessarily think it would hurt either. What I'm saying is it isn't something one should say to a child because of possible emotional trauma. A parent just shouldn't use the term accident. Unplanned is more ... muted. IMO.

Edit:
Of course I could be wrong, but Hollywood and society seems to have specifically turned "accident" into a euphemism for unwanted. And you should never tell a child they were/are unwanted. MHO

cthia wrote:

SWM wrote:Cthia, I don't think the effect of being told one was unplanned is as great as you fear. I know, for instance, that I was unplanned, as were my siblings. It really is no big deal, since we all agree that unplanned is not the same as unwanted. Now, it certainly could be spun in a malicious fashion, but only if one did not already know about it. So I think it is perfectly reasonable for Raoul to be told at some point, if for no other reason than to head off any future attempt by malicious persons to blindside him with it later.

I totally agree. But don't miss the important distinction in semantics. IMO, telling a kid he was an accident carries more of a negative social connotation than telling him he was unplanned. Unplanned may even slip by an unattenive child, whereas the sound of accident would immediately raise his radar. And I would assume that a resentful parent would consciously choose to use "accident" as the preferred description instead of "unplanned" if malicious intent is desired.

If you are specifically trying to hurt your child, you wouldn't elect to scream "YOU WERE UNPLANNED." Rather, you would scream "YOU WERE AN ACCIDENT!"

Also, SWM, I don't necessarily think it would hurt either. What I'm saying is it isn't something one should say to a child because of possible emotional trauma. A parent just shouldn't use the term accident. Unplanned is more ... muted. IMO.

Edit:
Of course I could be wrong, but Hollywood and society seems to have specifically turned "accident" into a euphemism for unwanted. And you should never tell a child they were/are unwanted. MHO

Caseyorourke wrote:My wife and I are actually old enough to be grandparents, but after 8 years of marriage and neither of us having previous children, in March 2012 the we realized we were going to become parents come November (ended up with a beautiful little girl).

Looking back at the last three years of raising this little person, neither of us look at at her as an accident or unplanned. Instead we look at her as an unexpected gift from both God & Buddha (I'm Christian & wife is Buddhist), which has become a huge influence and has filled a big hole in our lives.

cthia wrote:Does anyone know who both Sonja Hemphill and Shannon Foraker replaced in their fields?

cthia wrote:Does anyone know who both Sonja Hemphill and Shannon Foraker replaced in their fields?

cthia wrote:Does anyone know who both Sonja Hemphill and Shannon Foraker replaced in their fields?

SWM wrote:

cthia wrote:Does anyone know who both Sonja Hemphill and Shannon Foraker replaced in their fields?

It depends on when you mean, and what you mean by "replaced".

I'm not sure I would agree that either one "replaced" anyone in their fields. In Haven, there simply wasn't anyone doing the kind of innovative work that Shannon does. Shannon did replace someone as head of Bolthole, but I wouldn't call that replacing someone in her field. Bolthole was just a construction site before Shannon got there, not an R&D site.

And if you are talking about Sonja's early work, she didn't replace anyone in her field either. She was one of the first people King Harold brought in for Project Gram. (You really need to read House of Steel.) There was no one to replace because, again, no one was doing that kind of work before. Subsequently, Sonja did replace several people in various positions, such as Head of BuWeaps and Commander of Grendelsbane. But I wouldn't call that replacing someone in her field, only in a position.

Both Shannon and Sonja created their fields in their respective navies.