Cate Foulsbane

I think of animals that look like they are suffering, look like they are terrified, and wonder...do they really feel this or do I just think they do? I prefer to believe they really are scared and terrified and, if I can, I do something about it. I think of dogs, in particular, who are terrified of men or of sticks (or other objects that might be used as weapons) and wonder if maybe that dog was once abused by a man or beaten with a stick. I don't know, but I choose to believe that the animal remembers abuse and quite consciously puts the "blame" on men with weapons.

Claim? Hmm. Is that a value judgement about what somebody else says they feel? As for feelings in a virtual world, we ARE talking about human beings, aren't we? Don't human beings have feelings no matter where they are? Maybe you see SL as a game and this forum as part of the game. Maybe human feelings are not supposed to enter into the play, might spoil the fun, or something. I am mystified.

I just don't get this business of counting how many posts a person makes and I REALLY don't get how counting "likes" matters at all. Is this middle school? Does anybody remember Slam Books? Gah!

I didn't know that. But I also don't know how anybody can tell who is or is not an alt. I have two alts, one female and one male. I created the female so I could do landscaping, etc., without constant interruptions. That didn't work as the alt didn't have the necessary inventory. Duh... The male was created to test how people would react to me depending on my gender and appearance. That didn't work, either. Long story. Anyway, I bring out the alts when I am in the mood, but it's rare. And I never ever use them around people I know without making sure everybody knows it's me. Not really an issue as they can figure me out pretty quickly even if I look like a man. I'm just not good at pretending to be somebody else. Anyway, I am, as Cate, as close to the RL me as possible...though Cate looks way better and younger. If I post here or am chatting in SL, I am me...always. I assume, because I don't give it much thought usually, that everybody who encounters me accepts me as "real"....and I do the same with others. I live in a bubble I guess. So, it always amazes me to discover that Sally is not really Sally but is Bill.....or that my new friend Margaret is actually the old friend Patty who left SL last year. In some cases, I can understand that sort of change or pretense. In other cases, I feel betrayed, pissed off, played for a fool, etc. I can accept Bill and understand his/her story. I can NOT accept being played...that person goes byebye from my life right away. As far as alts posing in this forum..so far, it's not an issue for me. If it turns out to be one in future, I will decide what to do...ignore or block or whatever.

I entered SL in early 08 and I can promise you that plenty were rude and nasty back then, too. Remember griefers? They are still around..perhaps a bit more sophisticated, but still getting their jollies by causing trouble for others. Yes, there were a lot of good folks around...creative, artistic,, friendly, warm and cuddly. And those sorts are still around if you go to the right places and do the right things. What I have experienced is that there some who come here to explore, to escape from something in RL that is painful, restrictive, boring, whatever. Some come for sex. Some, once here, realize what an opportunity the place can be for artistic expression, for creativity, and they blossom. Some come here to "play" SL as if it is nothing but another video game. The latter, in my opinion, are usually the rudest, the most unfriendly, and the most apt to cause trouble. In other words, yeah, things are different...but the potential for personal growth, artistic expression, and damned good fun still abounds. Pick your places and your people and things will seem a lot better..betcha!

Even I, a hulking expensive human avatar, have played bingo with tinies or at least squatted on a pad and watched when I was fortunate enough to remember when and where!

Update! My accountant set me straight on all this....it was of course my own bad addition and difficulty understanding any number of things having to with land and numbers and such. Everything is, and was, fine. Whew! I thank each and every one of you for patience and advice and help!

Do it! The only "rent" I pay now is for that little plot on a friend's private region...it's about love and support. But I sure do prefer owning mainland and paying for it. If I pick the right spot, and have terraforming rights, etc., I can turn a flat lot into anything my heart desires more or less and within reason. I just unloaded a big place that I created and maintained in bits and pieces for nine years..all open to everybody, blah blah. I am SO tired of owning and maintaining public places..phooey...leave me alone now and get off my lawn!

I crunched them with an earth moving machine and came up with 1024 and it should have been 11 something. I can't add or subtract...without help from a calculator, but I'm the one who operates the calculator so good luck with that!

I finally got to talk to my accountant and, among other things,, he pointed out that my addition was off...it's 11 something,,not 1024. He could feel a high blood pressure moment approaching so told me to take screen shots of everything..every thing!..and send to him. He will devote part of his vacation time figuring it out and then explaining to me. He did threaten to call on Saint Linden to help him, but that is NOT a good idea. Anyway, you have made such good clear sense..and for me that is a miracle!..that I can probably figure it out on my own. Not snotty at all..wonderfully well put. Thank you! Eventually, after abandoning, you do pay less...but, between abandoment time and your next tier payment, you are charged tier for the MOST land you owned during that previous period. If my tier is due on April 10, I don't pay less because I abandoned land on the 1st of April..I pay whatever was highest sq m up to Apr 10.

Yeah, i know...they have been so good to me re: land stuff I mangle. I could tell stories..but I wont. Last time my brain shorted, and I accidentally dumped a ton of land, I used that route and ended up with a helpful LL who spent a good half hour with me trying his best..and never once seemed about to shoot me. My partner now calls him Saint Linden. I will wait a bit before I bother those folks yet again. I REALLY APPRECIATE THE HELP AND ADVICE..THANK YOU ALL! i AM NOW TAKING MY HEADACHE TO BED.

Uh....I don't know how to answer that question. My current cost includes land I have dumped or sold and will remain that way til next month. I am currently in change mode which is why I looked at my tier level in the first place...praying I can see it go down, downer, downest.

I bother those people so much. I'm afraid they will get fed up and toss me out! I think it's best I have a good talk with my accountant (my partner) and have HIM figure out what is going on with either billing or my brain. I appreciate all the advice, folks!

Yes, the private parcel is 1024. I have my 1024 Linden neat and tidy ticky tacky suburban house and also a ramshackle joint on a bayou with some bugs and chickens and weeds and stuff which, thankfully, no gators have had for dinner...yet. Somehow all of that is on a 1024. Two parcels, each 1024..one is free and one I pay rent/tier for on a monthly basis.

I get that...rent versus tier...but am used to it being referred to that way and got really confused when a mysterious 1024 showed up.

That's what I assume. But it sure seems screwy. Has to be ME and the way I figure out numbers. Arg!

I just checked again. My land page shows two places I own,. the one freebee 1024. and the private A place but shows no billable size for that one. It adds up to 15,440. I then go to the tier levels page and it says I have 16464 sq m's. When I subtract 15, 440 from 16464, I get 1024. Ok Ok I am horrible with maths. But does this make sense? I don't have a lot of hair so I don't want to start ripping out even a few strands.

I don't want to put the name/location into such a public place....but it is private region. My landlord pays a company for the A land and then he divides the A land into B parcels. I pay my landlord monthly tier for my B parcel. I also have quite a bit of mainland land and pay LL tier for the sq m's. I get 1024 free (Linden home) from LL but that isn't counted in my total mainland tier. What IS counted, and which boggles my mind, is my B parcel on PRIVATE land for which I pay a monthly tier. I pay tier to LL for mainland sq m's and I pay LL for PRIVATE sq m's. I don't get it.

Something I just noticed today. Maybe it was there all along, but it didn't sink in until today. I pay tier to the region owner for a 1024 parcel in a private region. That particular 1024 is also added to my mainland sq m's...so I am paying LL tier on that, too. If this is fair, that I should pay twice for one parcel, then I wish somebody would explain WHY. Thanks ahead of time.

Then you haven't read very many posts. Perhaps you should read the entire thread and maybe then you will see that this is about one particular person copying or mirroring everything about one other particular person. I think what's going on is creepy and sad, too. How empty the copier must feel, how invisible. When I was younger in SL, I probably would have reacted in a different way to something like this. But, now that I've been around a while and recognize that not all of us in SL are "healthy" and that the rest of us are not obliged to function as caregivers or therapists, I would simply mute, block,, and walk away.

Been there, screamed and pulled my hair out over it,, too. But I ended up really happy with a Lelutka Evox head and Skinnery skins. Before you fully commit, look at skins, too. You might see your old self on a modern skin that works well with a particular mesh head. Slow down, take your time, it WILL happen.

Interesting thread. I've been around for almost 15 years and I still don't get scripting. No worries, I leave that to those who do. They script and I buy. As for random talking in SL, I generally don't attempt to start a conversation in IM. If I am in a club, which I am two or three times a week, I talk with anybody and everybody in local but prefer not to use IM unless necessary. IM's disturb my focus on local chat and my dance hud stuff. When I am not at a club, I'm usually working on a project by myself or spending time with my partner or shopping. Not too many occasions where I feel the impulse to get a conversation going with somebody I don't know. If a total stranger speaks to me in IM, and it doesn't happen very often, it's usually when I am shopping and the person is attempting to hit on me (usually a male but not always) or it's somebody young and new to SL and trying to make friends (usually but not always a female). I swat the irritating pesky mosquito predators with a block. And I usually am polite with noobs, offer help if they seem to need that, and then let them know that I am busy and have to move on. I have no desire to "make friends" with people. Friendships, for me, come with time spent together...in clubs, sailing, activities that we share. If I am at one of the places my partner and have for sailing activities, and someone arrives and starts to talk in local, I'm all for it. I ask if they need help, am friendly, sometimes a good chat can come out of that..who knows, perhaps eventually a friendship. Maybe we older SL residents seem unfriendly because we are generally involved in something, focused on something rather than sitting out somewhere with a cuppa making ourselves available for potential conversations and or friendships.

And some of us are in our seventies or eighties and find it hard as hades to read teeny tiny fonts.

This seems odd to me. In RL I might be hesitant at times and in certain places, but not talking to anybody anytime that you have never met before? How do you meet people in the first place? I can't imagine myself in a line at the grocery store NOT babbling to whomever seems willing. But back to SL, are you in SL strictly to meet people that you can later meet in RL for projects? You are searching for employees or adventure buddies or what?

Ok, that makes sense sorta kinda. It's a miracle I can add and subtract at a grammar school level so trying to understand the subtle bits is making my headache worse. If I had thought, ever in my wildest projections, that anybody would ever pay 20K for a 1024, I might have bid that...which wouldn't have worked anyway. Good grief, I needed a vacation....so I went to A....F... and spent a bunch of money there...helped.. And then I changed my hair and clothes and my mood got even better. Now all I need is some ibuprophen, some dinner, and mindless movie entertainment...and some of your cookies!