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  • Author Author: e14megan
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Happy Birthday, element14!

The Best Thing to Ever Happen to June 14th. image

So, in the style of our Raspberry Pi celebration, I was going to kick-off this post talking about other really cool things that happened on June 14th. However, after looking at the Wikipedia Page dedicated to this date... I was honestly coming up a bit short. Yes, things happened, but a lot of them weren't great. For example, Albert II became the first monkey in space... before dying on impact. Yikes. So instead, myself and decided that element14 is probably the best thing to ever happen on June 14th. Go us!

 

Happy "First" Birthday!

And while this is the eighth birthday for the community, this is a "first" for a couple members of the element14 team, so wanted to give a quick shout out to , Mindi and of course... yours truly (though it's a bit depressing to wish "happy birthday" to oneself). But I digress. Here's to a happy "first birthday" to the newest members of the element14 team, and what will hopefully be many more years to come.

 

Birthday Presents! image

To help commemorate the occasion, every member who logs in between now and June 28th, 12PM CDT will receive the "element14 8th Birthday Badge". This is a limited time only badge, and once the day and time has passed you will no longer be able to receive it (even if you ask really, really nicely). In addition to this, we'll be giving away eight birthday presents to various members of the community. You heard (read) that correctly - we'll be giving presents to you!

 

How to Win

Comment below with where you were or what you were doing when the element14 community launched. While some of you were probably diligently working to ensure a smooth and successful launch (looking at you, ), many of us didn't join until weeks, months or years later. We'll choose eight members who reply, and send them their choice of the following presents:

 

For example: On June 14th, 2009 I was likely celebrating the finish of Finals Week at my University. Since DePaul is on a quarter system, we generally went a bit latter into the year than other schools, with Finals Week usually the first or second week of June. And by celebrating, I was probably catching up after a few all nighters and trying really, really, really hard to not stress about my pending grades (I graduated with a 3.445, so I think I did fairly well, even if I missed *** Laude by .005).

 

You have until June 30th, 11:59AM (noon) CDT to enter.

 

Going Green

Looking for another cool way to celebrate June 14th and potentially win some prizes? Be sure to check out Going Green, the newest Project14 competition that's launching today! This is the first theme that was chosen by members of the community, so we're all very excited to see what cool projects you come up with.

Parents

  • Ah, June 14th 2009. I remember it like it was yesterday.

     

    The day started out like any other, but given that it was a Sunday, I awoke to the tantalizing smell of bacon in the air. Normally I would get up and start the Sunday breakfast for the family, but my wife and children got up before me and this time prepared breakfast for me. After breakfast, as I was cleaning up the dishes, my wife asked if I would go to town for her and pick up a few things. This is more of a chore than you would expect, as we live in a rural area and ‘going to town’ is a good 25 mile jaunt through back roads, some paved, some not, but I enjoy it.

     

    I got into my pick up and started the drive to town, as I approached an intersection and was slowing down for the stop, I saw something I had never seen before. An array of military vehicles, in my hometown. There were busy men running around some with automatic weapons, some were m4’s, some were HK 416’s,  some were more compact, like the MP5, some simply had the Beretta M9 standard issue pistol. As I rolled to a stop I was approached by a young man in uniform, carrying the M4, he motioned for me to roll down my window and he said, “I’m sorry sir, this area is off limits until further notice”.

    I asked if my wife and children just down the road were in any danger. He said, “Not unless they live within this perimeter we’ve established.”

    I told him that they were back a few miles in the other direction, but told him I was going to town and this was the route I take. I asked how far the perimeter extended, and what alternative roads I could take. After he explained the boundaries of the perimeter, I asked what was going on. He told me, “I’m sorry sir, you know all you need to know, you’ll need to turn around now and find an alternative route.”

    I smiled at the young man and said thank you, knowing that he was just following orders, I had been in that same situation many years ago, a soldier just following orders, and having to keep things on a need to know basis. It really made me reminisce about my time after leaving the service. It probably wouldn’t have made a difference to him if he had known I become an intelligence operative for one of the nation's premier intelligence agencies right outside of Washington D.C., because again, I had no need to know.

     

    Lost in thought and thinking about the old days, I weaved my way around the back roads, I approached a flashing yellow light, and while I slowed down, I wasn't as diligent as I should have been, a car plowed through the adjacent flashing red light and caught the tail end of my pick up as if the driver were performing a PIT maneuver. My truck spun and went into the ditch, rolled several times and came to rest on it’s roof. The driver’s side door was crushed, and there was not enough room to get out of the window. Dazed and bruised, I released my seatbelt and fell to the roof, landing on my neck. Great I thought, one more bruise to heal. I looked to my right and saw that the passenger side window had been shattered, but the hole where the window once was was intact, and I crawled out through the opening.

     

    Once I was safely out of the truck, I laid on the ground for a few moments to reflect on what had just happened and to let my sore body relax from the trauma. I thought of the people in the other vehicle and decided I needed to get up and check on them. Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a figure come around the back of the truck. I thought I must be confused from the impact of the accident, and the fact that I was reminiscing about my days in intel, but I swore that person was Vladimir Yugovich, a cold war KGB agent that had been assigned to the Soviet embassy in Washington D.C. He was there posing as a diplomat, but my team and I were responsible for proving that he was a spy. His crimes were so heinous and despicable, the U.S. government didn’t even offer to trade him for one of our own. He was going away for life. He must have escaped. That explained the military presence. Fortunately, I knew him, but he had no idea who I was. I had watched his deeds from afar and built the case against him. But it was a prosecutor who had put him away. He had a gun in his hand, I had no doubt that he would have taken my life. I had the element of surprise though. I grabbed a rock that was lying next to me and launched it at his head. As it left my hand I leapt to my feet i reached for the gun just as the rock connected with his forehead. As I jerked the pistol from his hand we both lost our grip and it went flying into the bushes. I looked up and I couldn't believe my eyes as I saw his long time fellow agent Aleksandr Ivanov. He was carrying a pistol, but fortunately, due to the scuffle, he could not get off a shot without risking a hit to his partner. As he got close enough, I spun off of Vlad and delivered a roundhouse kick to Alek’s gun hand, which launched his pistol into the bushes. There we were, all unarmed, but it was 2 against one. I had a choice to make, I figured Vlad was stunned enough from the rock to the head, the several punches I threw, and the fact that someone he thought was a hick local from small town rural America would come at him like that. I went after Alec, and after a few good punches and kicks, I had him on the ground unconscious. It was then that I felt Vlad’s arms reaching around me from behind attempting to get my arms pinned to my side. Quickly, I threw my elbow back, and caught him in the solar plexus. I felt his hot breath as I heard the air being forced from his lungs. I spun quickly and caught him with a fist to the chin. I kicked him, hard, he went down. I jumped on him and hit him several times to make sure he stayed down. I ran to the bushes and retrieved the two firearms, checked to ensure there was a round in the chamber, and I held them at gunpoint as I sidled over to my mangled truck to see if I could find my cell phone and call the police. Fortunately, it was just outside the passenger window, I must have dragged it out when I was crawling to safety.  I called the police, who relayed me to the military officers in charge of the manhunt. As I was being checked out by the paramedics, the young man who had stopped me at the beginning of the story walked up, handed me a Coke, and extended his hand for a handshake. Someone had told him who I was, and he just sheepishly told me he had no idea. I looked at him and said, “Son, you were doing your job. This is not a task for an old man like me. But I sure wish y’all had kept that perimeter secure.”

    He smiled, and walked away. I never saw any of those guys again.

     

    Now there are some of you that will doubt the veracity of this tale, but I assure you, it’s true. Don’t bother looking for it though. It has been erased from the public record.

     

    Happy birthday, Element 14.

     

    Mike

  • in reply to mconners

    Glad you survived your ordeal ...

     

    If it isn't true then it seems we have a very good fiction writer in our group ... image

     

     

    Mark

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