Member: furdog

Thanks. Here's a link to the first chapter:

http://christophertusa.com/blog/?page_id...

Also, I sent you a friend request on facebook :)

Chris

posted by cmtusa at 8:41 pm (EST) on Aug 13, 2009

Noticed you liked I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in reviewing my new novel and posting your comments here as well as a few other book-related sites. Thought you might like my book since it's also about a disturbed young girl's mental illness and also a bit dark. I could e-mail you the novel in an e-book format if you'd like (I'm out of physical copies at the moment). Let me know if you're interested. Here's a link to a summary in case you're interested:

http://christophertusa.com/

Thanks,

Chris

posted by cmtusa at 1:12 pm (EST) on Aug 13, 2009

Sorry to hear about your pup. Alas, they don't live as long as we do. But you seem to have an excellent CATalog of furry companions.

Facebook can be an enormous time-waster. I've been a member less than a month and have already learned to avoid the "your ____ name" quizzes. But there's a group of former co-workers there and we keep in touch via FB. Someday I'll figure out how it all works.... It's either my age or my bookishness, but LT was much more intuitive when I got started.

Karen

posted by karen5l at 10:01 pm (EST) on May 29, 2009

I've been catching up on the Disaster Buffs group (after too long away) and got curious about "furdog" who started the group and posts regularly.

So imagine my surprise to find that furdog's photo is.... a CAT?

Even more amazing, we both have a rather large number of books tagged as "Disaster" but no overlaps. I am browsing your virtual shelf and, at the very least, a trip to the public library's web catalog is in order. Some might even demand a trip to a book store. I have read "Isaac's Storm," "Sudden Sea" and "Triangle" (borrowed from the library, so not cataloged). Great list!

posted by karen5l at 11:03 am (EST) on May 24, 2009

...I'm so glad to see that you include your movies in your library. I'd been debating whether that was kosher or not, so now I can blame it on you if someone criticizes me for doing it.

Thanks for finding my library interesting. My attitude toward including movies is that anything that I could find in a brick-and-mortar library is OK on LT, and that includes movies and CDs. A lot of recent movies have ISBN numbers, which means at least somebody is thinking of them as "books".

I imagine it's possible that somebody who's looking for bragging rights on having a large library of only books could be offended; I suppsoie that's a perfectly worthwhile objective. I've identified all the movies, CDs, and maps so they could be subtracted out of my totals, just in case someone's OCD enough to care.

posted by setnahkt at 9:39 am (EST) on Feb 6, 2009

I don't have my resources readily available either, so if I say something that is completely incorrect, bear with me.

As I remember it, these were the causes:

For Tacoma Narrows, the harmonic resonance cause turned out to be an incorrect hypothesis that gained way too much recognition because it sounded good and flashy. The structure's natural frequency was far different than what was shown in the footage. Also, in order for harmonic resonance to be the cause, the bridge would require a steady driving force at the required frequency. The wind would have been far too variable to provide that sustained driver.

The case turned out to actually be aeroelastic flutter. The bridge surface acted as an airfoil, and twisted in a rotational way being driven by the wind, building up momentum, until the structure finally broke.

In the case of the Hyatt Regency walkway, I don't believe it was a case of resonance, either. The couples dancing on the boardwalk, though it would have been along with the rhythm of the music, would not have provided enough of a constant driver. If the rhythm of the music really was matching the structure's natural frequency, the sum of all the movements going on would probably provide damping for any concerted oscillations.

The post-collapse study showed that at key points of connection along the walkway's support there were improper fastenings. I don't remember exactly how it was done, but it was done in a workaround fashion that caused it to be structurally weak. The weight and the constant movement caused a great strain on the walkway, but it wasn't a case of driven resonance.

The idea of harmonic resonance is a really colorful hypothesis, but it turns out to be too fanciful for a lot of real world situations. Still, it's a really interesting phenomenon.

posted by blackjack000 at 10:52 pm (EST) on Jan 11, 2009

I know a little about the Hyatt Regency collapse. I'm not sure of similarities between it and the Tacoma Narrows collapse. Tacoma Narrows happened mostly due to factors that were unknown or under-studied at the time. From what I know, the Hyatt collapse happened due to miscommunication and negligence on several different levels.

I'm also sorry for taking so long to respond.

posted by blackjack000 at 10:41 pm (EST) on Jan 10, 2009

Hi I would be happy to join your group, but I am somewhat of an amateur disaster buff. Please disregard the previous message it was intended to accept your invitation but I lost my nerve to send it. The computer seems to have added that invitation.

jbeverage

posted by jbeverage at 10:07 am (EST) on Jan 7, 2009

Hi Furdog,
I saw your posts in the 75 Book Challenge for 09 and realized that you are a disaster buff like I am. I looked over your library and now have added a disastrous amount of books to TBR. I look forward to following your lists and getting more ideas. Happy Reading!

posted by profilerSR at 1:53 pm (EST) on Jan 2, 2009

Great anecdote about the bathroom when you were 16! To be honest I can't stay in mine for too long because one or the other dogs comes looking for me and whines outside the door. Maybe a garden shed might be worth looking into :)

posted by TheBookImp at 1:49 pm (EST) on Dec 28, 2008

Enjoyed your note on the 75 challenge. I too am looking forward to that group. They were quite chatty last year, but I love chatting with different groups. Each one of us has something different to contribute. Anyone who has kitties is my friend--we are going to the shelter next week to pick out a couple to fill our home. We've had so many trips from Maine to DC these past two years, that we haven't had time to replace our last one who left us in Aug 2006. SO IT's TIME. Look forward to seeing your progress during the year. Tina

posted by tututhefirst at 4:55 pm (EST) on Dec 27, 2008

Happy birthday, furdog!

I stopped by to welcome you to the 2009 75 Books Challenge and noticed today is your birthday. I look forward to discussing books with you next year.

posted by MusicMom41 at 11:03 pm (EST) on Dec 26, 2008

Why don't you join usa for the US Presidents Challenge? It fits right in with your interest in Non-fiction.

You've already got one started!

Cheli

posted by cyderry at 10:46 pm (EST) on Dec 26, 2008

I guess Disaster Buffs, is the right name. There's at least 18 of us who dwell on these things. You've had much better luck with recruits than with any of the groups I tried to start. Happy disaster free holidays.

posted by varielle at 5:41 pm (EST) on Dec 21, 2008

Hi furdog, What do you think about a group pic for the Disaster Group?

posted by varielle at 11:01 am (EST) on Nov 19, 2008

"I hope that you will post the uncataloged books and mark them for sale. I'm always looking for out-of-print disaster books and who knows? You might have some!"

I am pretty sure that I don't have any extra copies of disaster books. If I do catalog the extra books, I will probably wait for warmer weather. It is 7 F now.

posted by dhoyt at 6:11 pm (EST) on Feb 5, 2007