Hmm... I just checked again and it really does look like nicola is not trying to fool me. I'm a bit stunned. I did think when I saw this topic, 'This might suit me,' but I never thought I'd win...
I really had no idea how the judges would pick this one... as I commented at some stage, it's possibly even harder to pick what people will find funny than what they'll find hot. I thought the stories listed 2nd, 3rd and 4th might take the podium spots.
Anyway... firstly, I wanted to say thanks to nicola for running the comps, which are always fun, and thanks to the judges.
And a big congrats to all those who made the top 10 and to all those who didn't but who still wrote some great stories.
I was having this exact problem last night (ie about 12 hours ago). I've just logged out and logged back in again, and the forums are back to normal now (this didn't work last night... i suspect there was some issue with passing credentials to the forum site so people who had stayed logged in were okay but anyone who'd logged out couldn't get back in again).
Anyway, if anyone's having issues still... try logging out and then logging in again...
My boss might let me work from home more often. ("Hey, you managed it okay for months, so tomorrow should be fine.") But hopefully not all the time. ("Since you've got your home office set up, we've thought of a way to save on the cost of having an office at all.")
And maybe some people will realize that, if you vote for an idiot because he's not part of 'the system', or he promises you something, or he just appeals to your prejudices, and he wins, then you end up with an idiot in charge... Not holding my breath on that one, though.
I'm a bit sad to say that my first story here was not rejected (since that seems to have happened to the best writers). But it should have been - I feel bad about wasting a mod's time fixing up my dialogue punctuation and silly typoes.
I spent at least a minute thinking, 'How dare you touch my masterpiece. I know how to right gooder than any won.' Then I remembered that I'm a complete amateur and checked a couple of books on my shelf. I quickly realized that, actually, my punctuation was wrong, sent a thank you email, and I didn't make the same mistakes again (I made different ones, that other mods have taken the time to fix up).
The end result was something easier to read and less likely to drop the reader out of their suspension of disbelief while they think, 'What the fuck is that even supposed to mean?' But it's still definitely all my thoughts - any errors, boring bits, two-dimensional characters, stupid plots, depravity or bad jokes remaining are all my fault...
It's a good question, but ultimately I'll have to say, "Still too early to call."
Somewhat to my surprise (I'm not a fan of our Prime Minister, or our state Premier), Australia has done remarkably well at going from confirmed cases increasing at a similar rate to Italy or the US to having fewer than 20 new cases per day for almost two weeks now. Some of that was that probably that our confirmed cases were closer to the actual number of cases in the country than for either Italy or the US, some was the natural advantage of being an island, and some was Aussies being very aware of what had happened in China and Italy leading people mostly pushing the PM to go harder on lockdowns rather than rioting on the street about the idea. And some may have been pure luck.
So I'd say a solid B+ so far. Some marks off for mixed messages, a massive cock-up in letting people wander off a cruise ship before tests came back on a number of staff and passengers (several were positive), and a large cluster at an aged care facility which hasn't been handled well... I do realize that much of the rest of the world would wish that they were the biggest problems...
BUT... this things got a long time to play out yet. A vaccine is at least several months away, people are trying to figure out how to ease restrictions and the virus is still out there. Oh, and winter is coming (that's a nice, ominous line... I wonder if anyone's used it before??) Obviously, this virus can be transmitted in hot weather, and no one really knows yet if it's more easily spread in winter, but it's definitely a possibility.
I try to reply to anyone who takes the time to comment on any of my stories. But I'd hope that that didn't influence whether they choose to read more of my stories... hopefully if they enjoyed that story, they might look at others of mine. If they didn't, then they should probably try some other authors...
And when I comment, it's usually to say, "Hey, I enjoyed that." I don't need any promise of thanks to say that - although I won't bother if the author hasn't logged on in a year or more. And I'll read more of their stories if I think I'll enjoy them... oh, and if I find the time and energy (sooo many stories to catch up on).
I just returned from Wuhan...