stjohnintelligencer

[stjohnintelligencer]

Real Life First - Always

Click here to listen to the audio of this post: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1DH4Jv7zRFXG9uaAwpjSu6cCUvsccDRLf

There is something I have said to my staff at Radio Riel and to my estate residents since 2007: Real Life First. Always.

I believe this. I always told everyone that if they needed to cut back their time in the virtual world that I would fully support their decision, because as much as I love and respect the platform that I turned into two businesses, I believe in Real Life First. Always.

With all my belief in “Real Life First”, there was one person to whom I never gave compassion or the ability to choose real life first.

Me. And it’s time for that to change. There are serious things that I need to attend to in my real life.

Ladies and gentlemen, friends and residents, I am closing the St John estate and I am semi-retiring from Second Life.

I agonized over this decision through many sleepless nights, but there are things happening in my real life that make this necessary for me. I know this is a shock to many of you. I know that you likely have a lot of questions. Here are the answers to the questions I know that are probably at the forefront of your minds.

Why are you closing the whole estate? Why don’t you just drop a few sims and consolidate?

I am closing the whole estate because my real life demands my full focus now. I am not going to have time to manage any sims, even a few.

What about a fundraiser? Why can’t we set up a GoFundMe and save St John that way?

1. See above. I no longer have time to manage an estate.

2. That’s just not something I am ok with in general. I have fairly strict ethical beliefs when it comes to “fundraisers” for Second Life estates. I don’t think they are cool. That’s just my opinion.

Why won’t you sell St John to someone who would be willing to save it and run it?

St John is mine and ours. It came from a place of pure passion and love from me to all of you. I am not going to give that to someone else, even someone with good intentions. Plus, I know what it’s like to sell an estate to someone else. It’s not something I would recommend.

When is St John going to close?

Here is the St John estate closing schedule. Residents must clear their parcels when their tier expires or by 12:00pm SLT on the dates listed, whichever comes first.

Friday January 5 - Bayou St John

Sunday, January 14 - St John Woods

Tuesday, January 16 - Lake St John

Tuesday, January 23 - St John Parish

Tuesday, January 23 - St John Maurepas

Tuesday, January 23 - St John (Uptown)

Tuesday, January 30 - St John Islands

Are you going to sell the sims?

I am offering some of the sims for sale, although not all of them. I will be putting them on the market in the For Sale by Owner group in Second Life, however if you are interested in purchasing one or more of the sims, feel free to contact me about pricing.

If you, or a group of you would like to purchase one or more of the sims to create a community for former St John residents, I would be happy to sell them to you and to help with design and administrative setup, however keep in mind that I am clearing the sims. I won’t sell any of the sims with the builds or landscaping. The buyers will also need to move and rename the sims.

Are you going to refund our tier?

If you tier is paid past the closure date of your sim, yes I will be giving you a refund.

The only question is when I can give you the refund. I will do my best to provide you with a refund when your sim closes, but I might need to pull refunds from the proceeds of the sales of the sims. This means you might receive your refund a week or two after your sim closes.

I am not sure how many people will be due refunds. Many of your tier balances might expire before your sim closes which means you won’t be due a refund. I’ll be looking at everyone’s tier balances and their sim closure date to determine who has paid past that point.

I will contact you each to let you know if you will have a tier balance after your sim closing date and how much your refund will be. I will also give you an estimated time for the refund.

What about the Riel Estates Residents group and our Facebook page and the St John Intelligencer?

I’ll keep all of those up and open. The Intelligencer will be like an archive.

What about Radio Riel?

Radio Riel will continue. There is nothing changing with Radio Riel.

You said semi-retire. What does that mean?

That means that I’ll be keeping my parcels in Rosehaven and the Radio Riel parcels in New Babbage, but that for the foreseeable future I will just log in to Second Life to play my gigs, which are Songs from The Nightingale on the first Sunday of the month, The Temple on the first Thursday of the month and The Rosehaven Ball on the second Saturday of the month. I will also play gigs for hire according to my availability.

I don’t see myself logging in for any other reasons than that for now. Second Life stopped being social for me over 10 years ago and I don't really have the desire to just log in and be social. Plus, 2017 killed the joy I had in certain types of social interactions in SL. I dealt with too much ugly, too much crazy, too much toxic, too much loss, too much abandonment, too much disappointment and too much grief.

Do you think you’ll ever come back and create an estate again?

I don’t know. But if I do and you would like me to let you know about it, please contact me and tell me that. Who knows, maybe someday you will get an IM from me saying “I’m baaaack!”

If you have more questions than what I listed here, please email me at gabrielle.riel@gmail.com . My logins are so infrequent these days that leaving me a notecard or IM is not an effective way of communicating with me.

The reality is that I have barely been in Second Life since July and I have come to accept the fact that that is just the way things are now due to my real life.

I have detested being an absentee estate owner. I have hated that I have not been able to update builds and landscaping or handle land administration. That might work for some estate owners, but it doesn’t work for me. I feel my residents deserve better.

Maybe this is more of a sabbatical than a retirement. I don’t know. We’ll see.

Change is hard, but just as The Universe hit me over the head in 2013 to tell me it was time to create St John, it hit me over the head, then dropped a ton of bricks on me in 2017 to tell me it was time to let St John go.

It’s time for me to let a lot of things go. It’s time for me to walk a new path. If we are lucky, perhaps someday our paths will cross again.

Thank you. Thank you all so much for being a St Johnian. You are all so wonderful. I have been honored to be your leader for four amazing years. I am grateful beyond words and I wish you all the best.

Love, Gabi

[stjohnintelligencer]

St John Tea Transcripts - November 21, “1917″

[19:00] Gabrielle Riel: Good evening everyone! Thank you so much for joining me for tea tonight!

[19:00] Gabrielle Riel: I don’t really have any major announcements tonight. Tea this evening is more about me telling you what’s been going on with me and to talk a little bit about the season change in St John Woods and Christmas stuff.

[19:00] Kitty (vinje): Hello everyone!

[19:01] Gabrielle Riel: It's been an age since I have had tea like this!

[19:01] ƵƸÐ ℝÅƔƸN (cupcakesnatcher): hi Kitty

[19:01] Gabrielle Riel: Usually I ask you to hold questions until I give the ok, but tonight, feel free to ask questions as we go. The information I will be discussing is different than what I usually talk about at tea.

[19:01] Gabrielle Riel: Ready? I do recommend that you buckle your seatbelts for this. It’s going to go down some paths that you would not expect...

[19:01] Kitty (vinje): ohh

[19:01] Pru (prudencejekyll): Ready

[19:02] Gabrielle Riel tucks Kitty's seatbelt around him

[19:02] Kitty (vinje): gulp

[19:02] Gabrielle Riel: Here we go!

[19:02] Gabrielle Riel: I don’t know if any of you have noticed but I have not been in SL very much over the last three months. I have basically logged in to play gigs and handle the most basic of land administration tasks...and that’s it.

[19:02] Kitty (vinje): looks for my flask

[19:02] Gabrielle Riel passes Kitty 2

[19:02] Kitty (vinje): ty

[19:03] Gabrielle Riel: St John is riddled with vacant parcels that I have simply not had the time to process. We are in pretty rough shape right now in terms of our tenancy levels.

[19:03] Gabrielle Riel: That’s due to several things.

[19:03] Gabrielle Riel: First of all, a lot of long-time residents downsized or left SL altogether this year. This has been an issue everywhere not just in St John.

[19:03] Kitty (vinje): (( whats his ma,e wamts a parcel for his theater again ))

[19:03] Kitty (vinje): Name*

[19:03] Kitty (vinje): but go on

[19:04] Gabrielle Riel: Secondly, the SL economy changes due to the things that happened in 2016 have come home to roost. The fact that I could not afford the sim buy-downs hurt us badly. Also the prim increases on the mainland did cause some residents to leave for that better value.

[19:04] Kitty (vinje): dang

[19:04] Gabrielle Riel: I understand why LL made those changes. They were smart business decisions, but they did hurt us.

[19:04] Gabrielle Riel: Third: some of you might be aware of this and some of you might not, but I, my estate and my residents have been stalked by certain avatars/alts since at least 2009. Well, 2009 in terms of my estate. I have personally been stalked by alts since 2007.

[19:04] Kitty (vinje): oh no is my cold dead body gonna be dragged away?

[19:05] Gabrielle Riel: What do I mean by “stalked”? Well, it manifests in several ways. One is just a general nosiness. There are some people that literally have nothing better to do than to be nosy about what’s happening in St John and what I am doing in general.

[19:05] Gabrielle Riel: Is that weird? Yep. A little pathetic? In my opinion, yes. Sometimes these alts lease land. Sometimes they show up at Tea even though they aren’t St John residents. They come to Tea to know what’s going on or to save the transcripts for someone else, which is incredibly silly as I post unedited transcripts after each tea.

[19:06] Gabrielle Riel: Another type of stalking goes like this: an alt moves to St John and is relatively quiet for the first 2-3 months of residency. This is not too hard to accomplish as the typist(s) is/are running a million other alts all over the Steamlands and in SL in general. It’s not hard to be quiet when you’ve got that many avatars to manage!

[19:06] Kitty (vinje): hi zen

[19:06] ZenMondo Wormser: Hello.

[19:06] Gabrielle Riel: After the initial quiet period, the alt starts to make friendly and social overtures to other residents. They make social connections, which can be somewhat easy to do in here, and especially easy for a manipulative sociopath.

[19:06] Pru (prudencejekyll): waves to Zen

[19:06] ZenMondo Wormser: Sorry I am late I had to make sure no one showed up to my class

[19:07] Kitty (vinje): ahhh

[19:07] Gabrielle Riel: Eventually the alt(s) focus(es) their “friendly” conversations with the other St John residents they have befriended on one thing. Me.

[19:07] Gabrielle Riel: How everything I am doing sucks. How my sim design and landscaping sucks. How I am using the wrong scripts here and there. How I am doing *everything* wrong. All the ways I am such an awful person and horrible estate owner. It turns into a non-stop Gabi-bashing session...all the time.

[19:07] Pru (prudencejekyll): nods

[19:07] Gabrielle Riel: Eventually the alt convinces their “friends” to dump their land. It’s amazing how many people will allow themselves to be manipulated in this way, but sociopaths can always bank on the weakness in so many people.

[19:07] Kitty (vinje): dont forget your sassiness

[19:08] Gabrielle Riel grins - oh just wait

[19:08] Gabrielle Riel: Voila. Vacant parcel(s).

[19:08] Gabrielle Riel: I have always found it to be incredibly ironic that the alt(s) is/are able to manipulate others into dumping their land...and yet they stay on, not only as that functional alt, but as many others in the estate. So, they generate vacancies and at the same time lease parcels. It’s like this obsession to destroy and yet stay connected to me at the same time.

[19:08] Gabrielle Riel: If you are sitting here, you are likely not someone the alt(s) would ever approach. They avoid long time loyal residents and fixate more on quiet ones or less social ones.

[19:09] Gabrielle Riel: I have been dealing with this scenario since 2009. All from the same root(s).

[19:09] Gabrielle Riel: This non-stop, ongoing stalking is one of the reasons we have vacancies at the moment. It’s also one of the reasons I produced this podcast in August: https://archive.org/details/RielConversationsAllAboutAlts . Because I felt it was important to provide information to my residents about alts and how to identify them.

[19:10] Gabrielle Riel moves on from the alt reason

[19:10] Gabrielle Riel: Another reason we are hurting is due to abandons we had in Parish after we had to rebuild the sim. The rebuild was absolutely necessary in order for St John to survive. I knew we’d take a hit and lose some residents, and we did. We just lost more than I had hoped and it made a bad situation worse.

[19:10] Kitty (vinje): oh no

[19:10] Gabrielle Riel: There is one final reason we have so many vacancies and I alluded to it when we started tea: I have not been online much and therefore unable to process parcels for leasing.

[19:11] Gabrielle Riel: Why have I not been online? That’s complicated, so I will try to keep it simple.

[19:11] Gabrielle Riel: 2017 has been one of the worst years of my life, my actual life.

[19:11] Gabrielle Riel: It has also, hands-down been the worst year of my SL in 11.5 years.

[19:12] Gabrielle Riel: That is saying a lot. I’ve had rough patches before. Back in my early years, I was bashed in blogs. Called a c*nt in print and was accused of having multiple personality disorder. However there were also incredible high points during those times. It all balanced out.

[19:12] Gabrielle Riel: There was no balance this year. It has just sucked.

[19:12] Gabrielle Riel: At the beginning of 2017 I was SL-engaged with plans for a massive Mardi Gras SL-wedding. While it’s good that ended up not coming to fruition, it was still very difficult to deal with as it all fell apart.

[19:13] Gabrielle Riel: My close friends here right now can confirm my statement: “it was SO messed up”. Painful. Horrible. Heartbreaking. For me and for him. I wish him well and I wish him happiness. I am fairly sure he does not wish the same for me, but that’s how it goes sometimes when you sever a connection.

[19:13] Kitty (vinje): grrrr

[19:13] Gabrielle Riel scratches Kitty behind the ears

[19:13] Kitty (vinje): k

[19:13] Gabrielle Riel grins

[19:14] Gabrielle Riel: In addition to SL stress, I was also weathering incredible RL stress.

[19:14] JivenKitty: sends the "gentleman" an old furball

[19:14] Gabrielle Riel: Some of you know a little bit about my real life. I think I have mentioned here and there over the years that I have a son and that he has special needs.

[19:14] Gabrielle Riel: While it might seem like I am this active person with a radio station and a Second Life estate, the reality is that 90% of my life is taken up with caring for my son.

[19:15] Gabrielle Riel: The tasks involved in his care are a lot. I mean a lot. That’s all I am going to say about it. Just know that it’s not something most people could handle and I handle it...and I handle it like a damn superwoman.

[19:15] Gabrielle Riel: The need for me to focus on my son’s care has done nothing but increase over the years, so when I hear about someone bitching about “why hasn’t Gabi done this” or “why hasn’t Gabi finished that” or “where the hell has Gabi been” or “look at all those empty parcels”...

[19:15] Gabrielle Riel: I only have one thing to say:

[19:16] Kitty (vinje): who says that?

[19:16] Gabrielle Riel: *Kristin pushes the nice, professional Duchess aside and takes over*

[19:16] Gabrielle Riel: Fuck you. I dare you to walk in my shoes and handle it as well as I have.

[19:16] Gabrielle Riel regains control

[19:16] Gabrielle Riel: Oh LORD! I just swore at tea! Smelling salts all around!

[19:16] Kitty (vinje): haha

[19:16] Pru (prudencejekyll): :)

[19:17] Imon (imon.nightfire): smiles

[19:17] Gabrielle Riel tosses Amelia a bag of smelling salts...can you pass these out please... you're an expert at it  ;-)

[19:17] Kitty (vinje): haha

[19:17] Gabrielle Riel whispers...we used to be Swooners...long story for another time!

[19:18] Gabrielle Riel: I don’t think I have ever cursed in public...oh, save one time in December 2008 when I dropped the F bomb in ISC (Caledon group chat) over something that happened (that could have been prevented) that totally messed up a huge event I was having.

[19:18] Gabrielle Riel: But hey...I’ve been here for almost 12 years and I’m damn tired after 2017! If someone hears/reads that and gets their panties in a wad and leaves St John, oh well!

[19:18] Gabrielle Riel grins - “panties in a wad” is such a Kristin and not a Gabi phrase!

[19:18] Pru (prudencejekyll): :)

[19:18] Gabrielle Riel: My Dad was a cop. I can swear like a cop. I can also kick your ass like a cop.  ;-)  Literally or figuratively!

[19:19] Gabrielle Riel crawls on top of Kristin and shoves her back into the closet

[19:19] Emmanuelle Huntress: or have one do it for her

[19:19] Gabrielle Riel grins at Emma

[19:19] Amelia Smythe quiletly passes the salts around the group

[19:19] Gabrielle Riel: Anyway!

[19:19] Gabrielle Riel: That’s why I have not been around. My son’s care has been all-consuming this year. And that is not likely to change.

[19:19] Gabrielle Riel: 2017 has been the “perfect storm” of horror for me. Hurricane Gabrielle was very appropriately named.

[19:20] Kitty (vinje): takes said smelling salts

[19:20] Gabrielle Riel: So...now...here we are…

[19:20] JivenKitty: looks for opium pipe

[19:20] Gabrielle Riel: I have a hope. That is that I will be able to spend some time working on St John over the coming weeks. I really need to get the estate in better shape. I need to get parcels set up for leasing. I have a lot of work to do.

[19:20] Gabrielle Riel: Just know that I WANT to do it. My RL will dictate my ability to make it happen.

[19:21] Gabrielle Riel: Also, while I do not have any current plans to close any of our sims, know that it IS a possibility. We might be stronger financially if I were to consolidate residents and dump a sim or two.

[19:21] Pru (prudencejekyll): nods

[19:21] Gabrielle Riel: That option is better than the other option which is: Gabi dumps all her sims and leaves SL. And yes, that is also a possibility.

[19:21] Gabrielle Riel hears the gasps of hope from altapalooza land

[19:21] Gabrielle Riel: I said possible. Not likely. So don’t get your hopes up bitch(es)!

[19:21] Pru (prudencejekyll): grins

[19:22] Gabrielle Riel sighs and shoves Kristin back in the closet AGAIN

[19:22] Kitty (vinje): whew

[19:22] Gabrielle Riel: So...what can you do to help? See if you have any friends that would be interested in leasing in St John! It’s that simple.

[19:22] Gabrielle Riel: And, yes, I know I need to process parcels first so they are available for lease! Don’t start marketing St John to your contacts until you see yellow on the map. My hope is to get parcels up for lease in the next week.

[19:22] Pru (prudencejekyll): My alt friends?  ;p

[19:23] Gabrielle Riel: Hey, as long as they don't harass anyone I am FINE with them!

[19:23] Pru (prudencejekyll): :)

[19:23] Gabrielle Riel: That, my dears, is in a nutshell “what the hell has been up with Gabi for months”.

[19:23] Gabrielle Riel: So...

[19:23] Gabrielle Riel: After that refreshing airing of all sorts of stuff, are you all ready to hear about season change and Christmas?

[19:23] Kitty (vinje): Hi Edward!

[19:23] Gabrielle Riel grins

[19:23] Pru (prudencejekyll): Yes!

[19:23] Edward Pearse: Evening all

[19:23] Pru (prudencejekyll): Hi Edward. :)

[19:23] Gabrielle Riel waits for heads to cease spinning

[19:24] Kitty (vinje): yes!

[19:24] Emmanuelle Huntress: Yay winter

[19:24] Gabrielle Riel: All good to go?  ;-)

[19:24] Pru (prudencejekyll): Bring it!

[19:24] Gabrielle Riel: Ok! So most of you probably already know this so I am going to keep it short. As St John is based on New Orleans, we are a sub-tropical climate. We do not have “changing of seasons”.

[19:24] Imon (imon.nightfire): yes :-)

[19:24] Gabrielle Riel: With one exception: St John Woods. We have all 4 seasons there. Woods is in Autumn mode at the moment, but the transition to Winter will start after Dec 1. I don’t go all snowy right away. I do it gradually over the first 2 weeks of the month. We go full snowy by Winter Solstice, which is on December 21.

[19:25] Edward Pearse: Yeah but pretty sure New Orleans doesn't have talking cats either :-P

[19:25] Kitty (vinje): pfffft

[19:25] Kitty (vinje) whispers: do too

[19:25] Gabrielle Riel: Of course it does

[19:25] Gabrielle Riel: It's New Orleans!

[19:25] Imon (imon.nightfire): depends on how much you've had to drink

[19:25] Kitty (vinje): voila!

[19:25] Gabrielle Riel: Winter lasts in Woods until March 1. That is when melt begins and it happens over several weeks, with Spring springing on the Vernal Equinox which is March 20.

[19:25] Gabrielle Riel: We also have a “freak snowstorm” in ALL of the St John sims on December 24, 25 and 26 for Christmas.

[19:26] Gabrielle Riel: And speaking of Christmas…

[19:26] ZenMondo Wormser: I actually date a talking cat from New Orleans in real life, so...

[19:26] ƵƸÐ ℝÅƔƸN (cupcakesnatcher): a fgew

[19:26] Gabrielle Riel: The St John Christmas Ball will be Saturday, December 23 from 7-9pm SLT.

[19:26] Kitty (vinje): hahaha

[19:26] Edward Pearse: I was over in St Oswald last night. They're using the Botanical snow rezz thing. Worth looking at for comparison

[19:26] Gabrielle Riel: And could someone find me a nice date for it? I would be SO grateful because I SO don’t want to get lost in the memories of last year’s Christmas Ball! Thanks a bunch!  ;-)

[19:27] Gabrielle Riel: Speaking more of Christmas…

[19:27] ZenMondo Wormser: (her name is Fidget she is on my facebook)

[19:27] Gabrielle Riel: I need volunteers to help decorate the sims for the holidays. I’ll figure out what I want in each sim and let you know what to do...or just ask Kitty. He’s an expert at holiday decor in St John!

[19:27] Kitty (vinje): haha fidget

[19:27] Kitty (vinje): good cat name

[19:27] Gabrielle Riel: It’s 1917 now, which means it’s totally fine to decorate with electric lights in Parish and Uptown. I do prefer that folks in Bayou and Lake keep their holiday decor more natural as electric service was still not fully out to rural areas 100 years ago.

[19:27] Gabrielle Riel: Folks in Woods: you can do whatever the heck you want. You are magic. Go nuts. If you do something I consider out of theme, I’ll let you know.

[19:28] Gabrielle Riel: I will be putting up a Christmas tree here in Duchess Square in Parish and in Uptown, just like I have for the last 3 years.

[19:28] Gabrielle Riel: If you would like to help with sim Christmas decorating, please just let me know.

[19:28] Gabrielle Riel: Any Christmas questions?

[19:28] Gabrielle Riel: You guys are all long-time residents, you know the drill.

[19:29] Pru (prudencejekyll): nods

[19:29] Kitty (vinje): yeah we're good to go

[19:29] Gabrielle Riel: There is something that Amelia is working on that I would like her to mention.

[19:29] Kitty (vinje): ohhhh claps for Amelia

[19:30] Amelia Smythe: If you haven't noticed there is a huge area in front of my store now.  During the middle of December I'm going to run a small far for st john and other in theme merchants.

[19:30] Kitty (vinje): oops

[19:30] Amelia Smythe: fair that is

[19:31] Kitty (vinje): ohhhhh wow

[19:31] Gabrielle Riel: I am so not going to make out with you cat

[19:31] JivenKitty: nice

[19:31] Amelia Smythe: Right now I just need to collect names of the local merchants.  If you are one, please send me an IM

[19:31] Kitty (vinje): snickers

[19:31] Amelia Smythe: that's all for now

[19:31] Kitty (vinje): i didnt know it moved you, if i moved

[19:31] Edward Pearse: :-)

[19:31] JivenKitty: "right"

[19:31] Kitty (vinje): looks for mint mouth spray

[19:32] Edward Pearse bites tongue

[19:32] Kitty (vinje): i really hate sitting like im going to the bathroom

[19:32] Gabrielle Riel: ty Amelia! We can send a notice about the fair as well.

[19:32] JivenKitty: wear a long gown, bring a chamber pot

[19:32] Gabrielle Riel: This is just the advance notice.

[19:32] Pru (prudencejekyll): wear one of your human costumes, Kitty.

[19:32] Kitty (vinje): i love that idea Amelia!

[19:33] Amelia Smythe: ty gabi

[19:33] Kitty (vinje): pfffft

[19:33] Kitty (vinje): damnit

[19:33] Gabrielle Riel: I have one last quick announcement. This is event-related. Starting this Sunday, my Swing Songs from The Nightingale show will run from 12:30-2pm SLT. This will be its time slot going forward. It will continue to be on the 4th Sunday of every month like it always has been, it will just be at this new, earlier time.

[19:34] Edward Pearse: Can you get me an updated poster sometime soon?

[19:34] Kitty (vinje) whispers: can i make out with Amelia?

[19:34] Gabrielle Riel: I play that at The Serpah Club.

[19:34] Gabrielle Riel: Yep - I made one today

[19:34] Edward Pearse: Cool

[19:34] Gabrielle Riel: It's actually on my FB notice for the event

[19:34] Kitty (vinje) whispers: ohhh did she say yep?

[19:34] Gabrielle Riel hasn't unbuckled your seatbelt yet cat, you can't reach Amelia

[19:35] Edward Pearse: Is there a Vet in St John?

[19:35] Kitty (vinje) whispers: damnit

[19:35] ƵƸÐ ℝÅƔƸN (cupcakesnatcher): Ali is a baby doctor

[19:35] ƵƸÐ ℝÅƔƸN (cupcakesnatcher): best I giot for ya

[19:35] Gabrielle Riel: Any questions? About anything?

[19:35] Pru (prudencejekyll): I know how to do it, Edward... I just need someone to hold him down.

[19:35] Kitty (vinje): gasp

[19:35] Gabrielle Riel: Including:  "Gabi when you are going to say "fuck" again at tea"  ;-)

[19:35] Kitty (vinje) whispers: omg

[19:36] Edward Pearse: Does that count as saying it?

[19:36] Gabrielle Riel: This was the second time I said it tonight.

[19:36] ƵƸÐ ℝÅƔƸN (cupcakesnatcher): not it didnt have the same impact for me

[19:36] Edward Pearse: I'll get you a swear jar

[19:36] Kitty (vinje): i have one in the bar

[19:37] Edward Pearse: Or should that be a "cussing jar" here? :-)

[19:37] Gabrielle Riel: We can stay and be social, however - I hereby declare this tea officially over in regards to important estate information…

[19:37] ƵƸÐ ℝÅƔƸN (cupcakesnatcher): thank you Gabi

[19:37] Gabrielle Riel: ...and damn I can not wait to post these transcripts.  ;-)

[stjohnintelligencer]

Training Videos: Taking & Restoring Objects

St John Parish Residents: here are some training videos to assist you with sim tear-down and set-up. http://gabrielleriel.blogspot.com/2017/09/training-videos-taking-and-restoring.html

[stjohnintelligencer]

Important St John (Parish) Announcement

Dear St John Parish Residents:

I am sending this communication to you directly via notecard in Second Life.

I am also sending it via in-world group notice and I am posting it on The St John Intelligencer and my Songs From The Nightingale blog so all St John residents can see it, however this information is of utmost importance to the residents of the St John Parish region.

First of all, I apologize for the very late notice about this, but something that will benefit St John greatly has come together suddenly and from out of the blue. I had to make a difficult decision to move forward with this in spite of a less-than-ideal timeline.

Please know that I would have made more time for this change if I had been able to. Sadly the logistics have worked out in a way that require us to make some drastic changes in a very short amount of time in the St John Parish sim.

So...what is this change?

I have been offered the opportunity to acquire a grandfathered full sim. Right now I pay $1370 USD per month to Linden Lab for St John’s 7 sims. Acquiring a grandfathered full sim will reduce that total to $1270 per month.

I have said it before: I do not make money on St John. The tier I bring in from residents goes right to Linden Lab. Acquiring the grandfathered sim does not mean I’ll be lining my pockets. It means that St John will be in stronger financial shape. It means St John can continue to exist.

I am going to have to remove one of our existing sims from the estate and then replace it with the new grandfathered sim. I have selected St John Parish as the sim that I will be swapping out.

What this means is that all of the residents of St John Parish are going to need to remove all of their objects from the sim and then put them back down a few days later once the replacement sim is in place.

Believe me, I would not ask you to do this on a whim. I know what a complete pain it is. I am going to have to completely redo the entire sim infrastructure. And my home. And The Nightingale.

But wait, there’s more! I need Parish residents to have everything picked up by Sunday, September 17 at 6pm SLT. Yes, that is less than 48 hours from the moment at which I am writing this note. The current St John Parish sim will be removed from St John at some time on Monday.

As I said above, I am sorry for the late notice, but it’s just the way the logistics with billing worked out. I would love to give you more time, but I have to take this opportunity to get this sim as soon as possible. Opportunities like this are few and far between. I had to make the difficult decision to move on it now.

I also know that there will be residents who will not receive this note by the deadline. I will have to return their objects. I have no choice, otherwise those objects will be lost when the sim goes offline on Monday.

The sales tickets for the grandfathered sim will be submitted Tuesday morning. And then we will have to wait for LL to actually do the transfer, which could take several days. So, this means St John Parish will be offline for days.

What I am going to do is to add two weeks of free tier to all resident meters in St John Parish. This will cover the down time and give a little something in return for the effort that Parish residents are going to have to put in with tear-down and set-up.

This was not an easy decision. I fully understand what this is going to take from Parish residents and myself. But please know that I am doing it in order to keep St John alive.

On Saturday, September 16, I will be creating a training video with helpful tips on how you can pack up your objects in a way that will enable you to set them back up quickly and in the right position. Yes! There ARE ways to do it so you are not stuck with manually removing and then replacing each object!

This change is only affecting the residents of the St John Parish sim, so the rest of you can breathe easy for now….however, if I have an opportunity like this in the future I WILL take it, so just be aware that this could happen in Bayou, Woods or Uptown at some point.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

If you have any questions please let me know!

~ Gabi

[stjohnintelligencer]

Hurricane Gabrielle Event Schedule

Last updated Friday, August 18 at 7:10am SLT.

Friday, August 18

7:00pm - 9:00pm SLT Hurricane Gabrielle Kickoff Party Hosted and played by Zed Raven at The Cajun Queen in St John Parish SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/St%20John%20Parish/108/85/23

Saturday, August 19

7:00am - 7:00pm SLT Music at Sugah’s on the Roof Hosted by Sugah’s and played by their DJs at Sugah’s in St John (Uptown) SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/St%20John/206/124/23

1:00pm - 3:00pm SLT Prudence Jekyll’s 3rd Rezday Hosted by Prudence and played by herself and 3 Guest Presenters at The Conservatory in St John Woods SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/St%20John%20Woods/190/217/56

6:00pm - 8:00pm SLT A Piece of the Action Hosted and played by Edward Pearse at The Seraph Club in St John Islands SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/St%20John%20Islands/122/203/1503

8:00pm - 10:00pm SLT Kitty and Iliana’s Hurricane Party Hosted by Kitty and played by Iliana at The Love Shack in Bayou St John SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bayou%20St%20John/55/145/22

Sunday, August 20

9:00am - 7:00pm SLT Music at Sugah’s on the Roof Hosted by Sugah’s and played by their DJs at Sugah’s in St John (Uptown) SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/St%20John/206/124/23

7:00pm - 8:00pm SLT Listening Party for “Riel Conversations: All About Alts” Special broadcast on Radio Riel by Gabrielle Riel with guests Selena Anansi and Prudence Jekyll Hosted by Gabrielle Riel at The Nightingale in St John Parish SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/St%20John%20Parish/153/115/23

8:00pm - 9:00pm SLT Songs from The Nightingale: Hurricane Gabrielle Hosted and played by Gabrielle Riel at The Nightingale in St John Parish SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/St%20John%20Parish/153/115/23

[stjohnintelligencer]

St John Tea Transcripts - July 25, “1917″

[19:00] Gabrielle Riel: It's 7pm SLT, so I am starting!

[19:01] Gabrielle Riel: Good evening everyone! Thank you so much for taking the time to be here.

[19:01] Gabrielle Riel: I have two topics that I need to cover tonight:

[19:01] Gabrielle Riel: First, a change to the estate and second, this year’s hurricane.

[19:01] Gabrielle Riel: As always, please hold your questions until after I am done with my explanation. It is very likely that I will address your question(s) at some point during my explanation, because it’s long and thorough. I will ask for questions, so just jot yours down as they come to you!

[19:02] Gabrielle Riel: Ready? Here we go!

[19:02] Kylie: Hi Emma

[19:02] Pru: have a seat, Emma. giggles

[19:02] Kitty: ok! im ready!

[19:02] Kylie: *listening*

[19:02] Gabrielle Riel: First topic - change to the estate.

[19:02] Kylie: *hic*

[19:02] Gabrielle Riel: In the next few weeks I will be removing the St John Beach sim from the estate. There are simply not enough tenants to cover its cost.

[19:02] Kylie: (( Hi Scout! ))

[19:03] Scout MacLeod: (hi kylie!!)

[19:03] Kylie: Oh noooo

[19:03] Gabrielle Riel: I am in the process of relocating the few residents in that sim to other parcels in St John. And I will be moving the St John Island sim down into Beach’s current position.

[19:03] Kitty: oh no! no more flying

[19:03] Gabrielle Riel: I mentioned at at Tea a few months ago that we could lose some sims this year, so this should not be a shock.

[19:03] Kylie: I was going to rent a summer place

[19:03] Gabrielle Riel: I have also mentioned before that homestead sims are horrible from a financial standpoint. They add space but generate no revenue at all. They basically break even only when full.

[19:04] Gabrielle Riel: So, if a homestead is not full, it’s a financial drain on the estate overall.

[19:04] Kylie: Hi Kylee!

[19:04] Kylee Gracemount: Hi !

[19:04] Kylie: pulls up my map

[19:04] Gabrielle Riel: St John is currently in the black. Even with St John Beach in the red, St John is still in the black. However, it’s my goal to keep the financial health of the estate strong. And getting rid of a single homestead sim that is in the red is the right decision to keep the estate strong from a financial standpoint.

[19:04] Mari Moonbeam: makes a note to steal a set of St John Beach Hotel china

[19:04] Gabrielle Riel: Don’t stress about it. I am not stressing about it. Second Life communities go through cycles. Last year we were in an “up” cycle. So much so that I sent out a survey to determine land needs.

[19:05] Kylie: hehe  Hi Mari!

[19:05] Kitty: hahah Mare

[19:05] Gabrielle Riel: I added land based on the results of that survey. Then about half of the people who begged me for larger parcels, flaked out within a month or two of me giving them the larger parcels and dumped the land and left the estate.

[19:05] Kylie: Yeah, I totally understand that

[19:05] Gabrielle Riel: This, by the way, is completely normal! Most people in SL are incredibly flaky when it comes to land. They are fickle and want instant gratification. They are also fine with instant land-dumping. I have know this for years and years and I am used to it. I have been an estate owner for 8.5 years and I learned these land lessons in my first 6 months of being an estate owner.

[19:05] Iliana Cerise: Get some of the beach towels too, soooo soft

[19:06] Gabrielle Riel: Those of you here right now? Attending this tea? YOU are the unique ones. You are special in your loyalty and care and interest. You are the minority, in a good way, but know that most people in SL are not like you.

[19:06] Mari Moonbeam: good idea!

[19:06] Kylie: I knew it!

[19:06] Gabrielle Riel: So, we must bid adieu to St John Beach.

[19:06] Scout MacLeod: haha

[19:06] Gabrielle Riel: It was a nice run for a year, but it’s over.

[19:06] Gabrielle Riel stops and looks at that sentence.

[19:07] Kylie: *tries to stay quiet*

[19:07] Gabrielle Riel: Yep, that’s my life in 2017!  ;-)

[19:07] Pru: :)

[19:07] Alas Sturges snickers softly.

[19:07] Gabrielle Riel: Anyway!

[19:07] Iliana Cerise: grins at Gabi

[19:07] Kylie: hehe

[19:07] Iliana Cerise: Water under the bridge!

[19:07] Gabrielle Riel: Does anyone have any questions about the removal of St John Beach?

[19:08] Kitty: i need a pillow under my butt woman!

[19:08] Kylie: Is it immediate?

[19:08] Alas Sturges: No questions.  Sad, but understandable.

[19:08] Pru: Nope

[19:08] Iliana Cerise: lol Kitty

[19:08] Gabrielle Riel: The residents need to be out by this Friday.

[19:08] Alas Sturges: Throws pillow to Kitty.  Ducks in case it comes out.

[19:08] Iliana Cerise: nods with Alas

[19:08] Alas Sturges: *comes back

[19:08] Kylie: Ok, so still time for a picture or two

[19:08] Kitty: ty

[19:08] Gabrielle Riel: Then I will try and sell it, but I have no idea if it will sell.

[19:09] Kylie: What happens if it doesn't sell?

[19:09] Gabrielle Riel: It will go offline in the first few days of August if I don't sell it.

[19:09] Kitty: it will

[19:09] Kitty: oh whats that mean??

[19:09] Gabrielle Riel: I file a ticket with LL for them to remove it.

[19:09] Kitty: so money lost?

[19:09] Gabrielle Riel: Not really

[19:09] Kitty: oh ok whew

[19:10] Gabrielle Riel: I covered the cost of the purchase with parcel purchase fees

[19:10] Gabrielle Riel: Then the damn thing ran in the red for a year. So it's been "losing" money the whole time.

[19:10] Kitty: dang

[19:10] Gabrielle Riel: Part of the reason for that is that my house was there.

[19:10] Gabrielle Riel: And any land I own, is land not leased.

[19:11] Kylie: I looked there last week and didn't see anything open except one cottage

[19:11] Gabrielle Riel: 3 people abandoned there on the same day

[19:11] Kylie: Ugh

[19:11] Kitty: oh wow

[19:11] Gabrielle Riel: And I was considering selling the sim a month ago.

[19:11] Kylie: A sign then

[19:11] Iliana Cerise: whoa

[19:11] Gabrielle Riel: That just sealed the deal.

[19:12] Gabrielle Riel: We will have a hole in the estate for a few days.

[19:12] Gabrielle Riel: I have to pay to move Islands into Beach's position.

[19:12] Gabrielle Riel: And it might take a week or two to scrape money together for that.

[19:12] Iliana Cerise: nods

[19:12] Kylie: wow, they charge you to move things?

[19:13] Gabrielle Riel: Yep

[19:13] Gabrielle Riel: $125 USD

[19:13] Gabrielle Riel: per sim

[19:13] Kylie: SMH

[19:13] Kylee Gracemount: eep

[19:13] Emmanuelle Huntress: they charge for everything

[19:13] Kitty: pfffft

[19:13] Kylie: How hard can it be?

[19:13] Kitty: 125 bucks worth hard!

[19:13] Gabrielle Riel: So it will be on the map for another week or so

[19:13] Gabrielle Riel: then poof!

[19:14] Gabrielle Riel: I am moving my house back here to Parish

[19:14] Kylie: Awwww

[19:14] Kitty: Parish is nice

[19:14] Kylie: dang, I loved your house there

[19:14] Iliana Cerise: As my old friend Blu told me years ago, "It's the way the Lindens keep us poor," lol

[19:14] Gabrielle Riel: And have relocation spots for the others left

[19:14] Kylie: LOL Iliana

[19:14] Gabrielle Riel: Me too Kylie....but there are some memories there that I am ready to let go of

[19:14] Iliana Cerise: grins at Kylie

[19:14] Scout MacLeod: oh good!

[19:15] Scout MacLeod: relocation spots

[19:15] Gabrielle Riel: Any other questions about the demise of St John Beach?

[19:15] Kitty: oh thats true

[19:15] Kylie: Where are the relocations?

[19:15] Kitty: i will sage it before it goes

[19:15] Gabrielle Riel: One resident went to Bayou

[19:15] Kitty: oh nice

[19:15] Kylie: We need a welcome party. ;)

[19:15] Scout MacLeod: yay!

[19:15] Kitty: yeah

[19:15] Gabrielle Riel: The other two I am waiting to hear from but I have spots in Uptown for them if they want them

[19:16] Iliana Cerise: cool

[19:16] Gabrielle Riel: Ok, next topic: it’s hurricane time!

[19:16] Kylie: Well, like RL... our SL is ever changing

[19:16] Pru: Hurricane "G"

[19:16] Gabrielle Riel: So...

[19:16] Kylie: OMG

[19:16] Kylie: <--RL G

[19:16] Gabrielle Riel: I had my usual explanation all typed out

[19:17] Gabrielle Riel: And then I realized

[19:17] Gabrielle Riel: that most likely, tonight, there would be no one new here ar tea

[19:17] Gabrielle Riel: *at tea

[19:17] Gabrielle Riel: And I was right

[19:17] Gabrielle Riel: I don't need to go into my usual background info

[19:17] Gabrielle Riel: You all know it already

[19:18] Kitty: yeah old hat

[19:18] Kylie: We dooooo!

[19:18] Gabrielle Riel: So this will make tea shorter than I expected!

[19:18] Kylie: I'm waiting to hear dates cause.... well... i just want to hear them

[19:18] Gabrielle Riel: So let me pick what pieces of info are pertinent to you oldbies!

[19:19] Alas Sturges gets out her hearing trumpet.

[19:19] Iliana Cerise: Hurricnane! yaaay

[19:19] Gabrielle Riel: The St John hurricane always occurs on the third weekend in August and it lasts for roughly 48 hours, from late afternoon SLT on Friday until late afternoon on Sunday. This year it will be on August 18-20.

[19:19] Iliana Cerise: giggle, Alas

[19:19] Pru: Smiles at the thought of being an "oldbie"

[19:19] Kylie: Yayyyyyy!!!!!!

[19:19] Scout MacLeod: haaha

[19:19] Gabrielle Riel: Last year we had a situation occur that I always knew was a possibility in terms of scheduling. There was a RL destructive flooding situation that happened in Louisiana on the weekend that our hurricane was scheduled.

[19:20] Gabrielle Riel: Because of that, last year’s hurricane was pushed back into mid-September. If there is a RL hurricane or flooding disaster this year on the third weekend in August, I will do the same thing as I did last year. I will push it back into September.

[19:20] Kylie: My 3rd one and I'm an oldbie too!

[19:20] Iliana Cerise: passes Pru some Geritol

[19:20] Scout MacLeod: is this hurricane Gabrielle?

[19:20] Pru: hahaha

[19:20] Gabrielle Riel: Let's hope that all is well this year in August.

[19:20] Kylie: *cries if it's in September and crosses my fingers  for the best*

[19:20] Iliana Cerise: Agreed! Crosses fingers

[19:21] Gabrielle Riel: So you all know that I alternate male and female names every year

[19:21] Scout MacLeod: sits on edge of seat

[19:21] Gabrielle Riel: Hurricane Frédérique was last year, a female name

[19:21] Mari Moonbeam: along came Mari

[19:21] Iliana Cerise: Uh oh...

[19:21] Gabrielle Riel: 2017 should technically be a male name...

[19:21] Scout MacLeod: wrings hands

[19:21] Kylie: Technically being the key word

[19:22] Gabrielle Riel: Howevah...  ;-)

[19:22] Pru: hahaha

[19:22] Gabrielle Riel: This year is G.

[19:22] Kylie: *:-.,_,.-:*'´ `*. HoOoOoO!¸.*´`'*:-.,_,.-:*

[19:22] Gabrielle Riel: Therefore we are having Hurricane Gabrielle.

[19:22] Scout MacLeod: holds breath

[19:22] Scout MacLeod: YAY!!!!!!!!!!

[19:22] Pru: Woot!

[19:22] Kylie: Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!

[19:22] Mari Moonbeam: yay!

[19:22] Kylie: And what could be more perfect this year?

[19:22] Iliana Cerise: ··..•°•··..? Applauds! ? ..··•°•..··

[19:22] Emmanuelle Huntress: woo.

[19:22] Otenth Håkon Paderborn smiles

[19:22] Gabrielle Riel feels Soliel grinning at her - she was SO looking forward to this year!

[19:23] Emmanuelle Huntress is still brooding over E.

[19:23] Pru: hugs Emma

[19:23] Kitty: hahha

[19:23] Kylie: Awwwww

[19:23] ÅL? RÅ??N: So what letter is it

[19:23] Kitty: few more years we get a K

[19:23] Gabrielle Riel: She was SO excited in....was it 2014? That Gabrielle was on the RL list.

[19:23] Gabrielle Riel looks at Kitty

[19:23] Iliana Cerise: was your name bypassed, Emma?

[19:23] Kylie: I'll arm wrestle you for it, Kityt

[19:23] Kitty: looks away

[19:23] Kylie: Kitty...

[19:23] Gabrielle Riel: Yeah and that will be Hurricane Kristin  ;-)

[19:23] Kitty: k

[19:24] Kylie: sorry ... wine typing

[19:24] Kitty: gasp!

[19:24] Gabrielle Riel laughs!

[19:24] Kylie: Hahahahaha

[19:24] Iliana Cerise: hee hee

[19:24] Kylie: Well, that makes sense

[19:24] Gabrielle Riel: I can’t believe we made it to G! That seemed impossibly far off when I started in 2010!

[19:24] Kitty whispers: no it dosnt

[19:24] Alas Sturges: I feel a hurricane season of non-stop puns coming in.

[19:24] Otenth Håkon Paderborn: Hurricane Kristin will have dancing go-go boys swept up in the surf

[19:24] Pru: hahaha

[19:25] Gabrielle Riel: Of course!

[19:25] Kitty: hahaha Otenth

[19:25] Kylie: LOL Otenth!

[19:25] Mari Moonbeam: making next year male H ..... eeps

[19:25] Iliana Cerise: hee hee

[19:25] Gabrielle Riel: I do not know if I will do male next year or not

[19:25] Gabrielle Riel: I will ponder that

[19:25] Mari Moonbeam: Helmut?

[19:25] Iliana Cerise: Boys in bikinis... girls in surfboards...

[19:25] Pru: pass the tanning butter

[19:25] Scout MacLeod: I like helmut

[19:25] Emmanuelle Huntress: Henri

[19:25] Kitty: Hunny buttons?

[19:26] Gabrielle Riel gags

[19:26] Scout MacLeod: oh henri! that's probably more french

[19:26] Gabrielle Riel: Oh hell, did I just do that in public?

[19:26] Emmanuelle Huntress: Mais oui

[19:26] Pru: hahaha, Gabi

[19:26] Gabrielle Riel: Kylie is the one drinking! Not me!

[19:26] Kylie: LOL

[19:26] Iliana Cerise: Oooh, do male so that "I" will be female... nudge nudge wink wink

[19:26] Emmanuelle Huntress crosses myself and hail marys

[19:26] Kylie: I told you I'd be quiet

[19:26] Kylie: LOLOLOL

[19:26] Pru: Hello, Princess!

[19:26] Alas Sturges: You have the right to remain silent.  But can you?

[19:26] Kitty: Hi Pea

[19:27] Mari Moonbeam: that hurricane would miss the land , wimper out in a sand bar

[19:27] Princess Selena waves and is sorry for being so late

[19:27] Alas Sturges nudges Kylie playfully.

[19:27] Kylie: Hi Selena!

[19:27] Kylee Gracemount: Hi Selena

[19:27] Kitty: hahaha Mare

[19:27] Kylie: *passes my flask to Alas*

[19:27] Gabrielle Riel scans all the stuff she wrote that is not needed, looking for the next info

[19:27] Mari Moonbeam: grins

[19:27] Gabrielle Riel: We have one more tea before the hurricane, it will be 3 weeks from tonight, Tuesday, August 15. At that tea I will direct you to the supplies that I will put out. Sandbags and other full perm items you will be able to use to prepare your homes.

[19:27] Iliana Cerise: Is your hurricane spiel long-winded, Gabi?

[19:28] Kitty: not this year

[19:28] Kylie: Hahahah Iliana

[19:28] Otenth Håkon Paderborn slips out to cater to the typist.

[19:28] Iliana Cerise: giggles

[19:28] Gabrielle Riel rolls her eyes

[19:28] Kylie: good one!

[19:28] Pru: hopes her RezDay isn't during the hurricane again

[19:28] Gabrielle Riel: it is

[19:28] Kylie: Oh, I wish mine was!

[19:28] Pru: :(

[19:28] Gabrielle Riel: It's the 19th, right?

[19:28] Alas Sturges takes flask, shrugs, and takes a gulp before handing it back.

[19:28] Pru: yes

[19:28] Kylie: Trade you, Pru

[19:28] Gabrielle Riel: Right in the middle!

[19:29] Pru: I'll work it out

[19:29] Gabrielle Riel: I will, as I always do, be playing the post-hurricane party at The Nightingale on Sunday evening the 20th from 7-8:30pm SLT.

[19:29] Iliana Cerise: We can't have a Hurricane Rezday party?

[19:29] Gabrielle Riel: I am sure Sugah’s will have their usual line-up of events throughout the weekend as well.

[19:29] Kylie: I think it would be fun to have a rez day Hurricane party

[19:29] Pru: We can, but it was done last year. :)

[19:30] Gabrielle Riel: If you would like to host a hurricane party, please let me know! I welcome any and all parties! We’ve got the DJs in the estate, so invite you all to step up and have a party! Just please contact me as soon as you can so I can put you on the schedule.

[19:30] Alas Sturges: Surely you can't have enough hurricane rez-day parties?

[19:30] Gabrielle Riel: We will need a Friday night party that is evening SLT

[19:30] Gabrielle Riel: And we will need the same for Saturday night

[19:31] Gabrielle Riel: If you want to do something during the day, that is fine too!

[19:31] Pru: It looks like my RezDay will be Wednesday

[19:31] Kitty whispers: i think purrrhaps me and Iliana could be purrrrsueded to have a party

[19:31] Kylie: yayyyyy

[19:31] Gabrielle Riel: Sunday night is mine bitches!  ;-)

[19:31] Scout MacLeod: Yay!

[19:31] Iliana Cerise: Yesss!

[19:31] Pru: hahaha

[19:31] ÅL? RÅ??N: Zed and I might be able to do Friday

[19:31] Alas Sturges: A Singing in the Rain party?

[19:32] ÅL? RÅ??N: see how you are

[19:32] Gabrielle Riel: Damn....am I drunk and just not aware of it?

[19:32] Scout MacLeod: hahaa alas

[19:32] Kylie: ROFL gabi

[19:32] Kylie: It's rubbed off

[19:32] Gabrielle Riel: ok Ali! ty!

[19:32] Kitty: hahah G

[19:32] Iliana Cerise: Let us conspire, Kitty...

[19:32] Pru: You had a fun weekend, Gabi. :)

[19:32] Gabrielle Riel must still be drunk from the wine bar in RL on Saturday night

[19:32] Princess Selena: hehe

[19:32] Pru: giggles

[19:32] Kylie: Epic Hurricane in the works!

[19:32] Kitty: okies we will!

[19:33] Gabrielle Riel: So...

[19:33] Kitty: high fives Ili

[19:33] Kylie: It will be epic!

[19:33] Princess Selena: what is this years name?  (sorry I missed it if it was announced already)

[19:33] Kylie: *laughs*

[19:33] Gabrielle Riel: Does anyone have any questions?

[19:33] Kitty: its G Pea

[19:33] Pru: It begins with a "G"

[19:33] Princess Selena: o.O

[19:33] Princess Selena: no!

[19:33] Gabrielle Riel: What name begins with G?  ;-)

[19:33] Mari Moonbeam: Gertrude

[19:33] Princess Selena: NO!

[19:33] Princess Selena laughs

[19:33] Emmanuelle Huntress: Hurricane Gomer

[19:33] Kitty: lemme give you a hint....G!

[19:33] Pru: hahaha

[19:33] Iliana Cerise: Gaston?

[19:33] Scout MacLeod: Gus?

[19:33] Mari Moonbeam: Teutonic north wind

[19:34] Emmanuelle Huntress: Surprise surprise surprise

[19:34] Kylie: LOL

[19:34] Gabrielle Riel: I've been called Hurricane Gabrielle before

[19:34] Kylie: Gus

[19:34] Kylie: LOLOLOL

[19:34] Scout MacLeod: hhahahaa

[19:34] Gabrielle Riel: Now I get to be one

[19:34] ÅL? RÅ??N: Gator

[19:34] Princess Selena: oh.. really?  I was thinking of another G name

[19:34] Gabrielle Riel: and Soliel is freaking laughing - hard

[19:34] Kitty: there goes the neighborhood

[19:34] Princess Selena: heheh

[19:34] Iliana Cerise: Poor old Hurricane Gus... Despised by all

[19:34] Kylie: LOL

[19:34] Mari Moonbeam: and the soup kitchen is Gator-aid?

[19:34] Gabrielle Riel: Like I would do that? Dude, I am not a masochist.

[19:34] Kitty: haha

[19:35] Scout MacLeod: hahaa

[19:35] Kylie: *sits on my hands*

[19:35] Princess Selena is so lost

[19:35] Iliana Cerise: lol Mari

[19:35] Gabrielle Riel: I have enough of a road ahead of me with Mardi Gras posters popping up in my memory feed next year!

[19:35] Emmanuelle Huntress: Shazam!

[19:36] Kitty: omg yeah G

[19:36] Gabrielle Riel: Hurricane Gabrielle

[19:36] ÅL? RÅ??N: Geo

[19:36] Gabrielle Riel: is the name

[19:36] Iliana Cerise: How can we help, Princess?

[19:36] Princess Selena: i think I am beyond help... LOL

[19:36] Iliana Cerise: lol

[19:36] Gabrielle Riel: Not any other G name that you might be thinking of  :-)

[19:36] Emmanuelle Huntress: Gomez?

[19:36] Princess Selena: Gonad?

[19:36] Pru: hahaha

[19:36] Kitty: Gomez

[19:36] Iliana Cerise: It's officially Gabrielle!

[19:36] Emmanuelle Huntress: Nuts.

[19:36] Gabrielle Riel: I think we are all still drunk from Saturday in RL

[19:36] Kitty: Hi Bug man!!

[19:36] Princess Selena: hey there Mr Bug

[19:36] Pru: hahaha

[19:36] ÅL? RÅ??N: Gabriel

[19:36] Gabrielle Riel: Mr. Breitman!

[19:37] Eclectric Breitman: What did I miss?

[19:37] Iliana Cerise: Go Fish?

[19:37] Gabrielle Riel: Hello!

[19:37] Kylee Gracemount: Hi

[19:37] ÅL? RÅ??N: Gunter

[19:37] Gabrielle Riel: The whole tea. You'll need to read the transcripts.

[19:37] Kylie: You missed me, right Eclectric?

[19:37] Scout MacLeod: mr breitman

[19:37] Eclectric Breitman: I sure did!

[19:37] Gabrielle Riel: My spiel is short this year

[19:37] Gabrielle Riel: No new residents at tea tonight

[19:37] Pru: Hello, Mr. Architect

[19:38] Gabrielle Riel: So what that means is that I get to put the info in some other form

[19:38] Gabrielle Riel: and force feed it to the new residents

[19:38] Gabrielle Riel: So that they know about it!

[19:38] Kitty: hahah

[19:38] Kylie: *still sitting on my hands*

[19:38] Gabrielle Riel really does not feel like another "WHAT is this water in my gallery!?" IM situation.

[19:38] Princess Selena: I have a neato machine that might help you, Gabi

[19:39] Princess Selena: you put in a list of people and it will pass on your message to them when they are next online

[19:39] Eclectric Breitman: Ha! That was hilarious.

[19:39] Iliana Cerise: One of those newfangled mimeographs?

[19:39] Eclectric Breitman: Well, for us.

[19:39] Gabrielle Riel: I had an oblivious resident in New Toulouse one year.

[19:39] Princess Selena: I think the Casperlet will do it too

[19:39] Eclectric Breitman: Not so much for the gallery.

[19:39] Gabrielle Riel: As Mr. Breitman remembers!

[19:39] Scout MacLeod: haha what did the oblivious resident say

[19:39] Kylie: Gabi, you will still get those, I fear....

[19:39] Eclectric Breitman: The watercolors were ruined!

[19:39] Gabrielle Riel: *I* was offline when she had her meltdown in group chat.

[19:39] Kylie: *makes a note to IM Gabi about water in my gallery*

[19:40] Gabrielle Riel grins

[19:40] Eclectric Breitman: I raised the waterline to the second floor.

[19:40] Mari Moonbeam: she freaked out like the water would wreck her stuff

[19:40] Gabrielle Riel: I missed the meltdown

[19:40] Kylie: ROFL

[19:40] Gabrielle Riel: But I think a few folks here saw it

[19:40] Gabrielle Riel: Oh the drama!

[19:40] Iliana Cerise: Oh, brother

[19:40] Princess Selena: I had my house built just so it wouldnt flood, so no melt down from me.

[19:40] Mari Moonbeam: I said derender the water ...but she was derendered herself

[19:40] Gabrielle Riel: LOL!

[19:40] Emmanuelle Huntress: I was there

[19:40] Kylie: Dang I missed that drama!

[19:41] Gabrielle Riel: It happened years ago - 5 I think?

[19:41] Kylie: Oh well, that's why then

[19:41] Iliana Cerise: That's totally ridiculous

[19:41] Mari Moonbeam: now if it happened, I'd send in schools of fish

[19:41] Scout MacLeod: omg

[19:41] Gabrielle Riel: It was  :-)

[19:41] Scout MacLeod: i would laugh so hard

[19:41] Iliana Cerise: lol Mari

[19:41] Gabrielle Riel: The residents jumped all over her in chat

[19:41] Emmanuelle Huntress: she wigged the heck out

[19:41] Pru: I think The Conservatory is still the highest ground in St. John Woods, so all are welcome to take refuge there if they wish

[19:42] Kylie: Yayyyy, Pru

[19:42] Iliana Cerise: whoo hoo!

[19:42] Kylie: I spent the night there last year

[19:42] Gabrielle Riel: "Honey, have you not been paying attention to all the notices about this for the last month?"

[19:42] Pru: yes!

[19:42] ÅL? RÅ??N: Hurricane Gershwin

[19:42] Kylie: Pics to prove it!

[19:42] Scout MacLeod: oh ty pru!

[19:42] Pru: :)

[19:42] Eclectric Breitman: GERSHWIN!

[19:42] Gabrielle Riel: I am sure I will get at least one IM this year

[19:42] Iliana Cerise: lol Ali

[19:42] Gabrielle Riel: "whaaaat is this?"

[19:42] Kylie: well, share with us "oldbies"

[19:43] Alas Sturges: Hurricane Greta Garbo

[19:43] Princess Selena is truly surprised that Mr B didnt say Ger-shwing

[19:43] Kylie: so we can laugh too

[19:43] ÅL? RÅ??N: boy

[19:43] Gabrielle Riel: Hurricane God Damned Duchess of Carntaigh

[19:43] Eclectric Breitman: Hurricane Gustav

[19:43] Kylie: Starts with a G

[19:43] Eclectric Breitman: Hurricane Gudanov

[19:43] Gabrielle Riel giggles....Hurricane Gilbert

[19:43] Gabrielle Riel grins at Selena

[19:43] Princess Selena: Gatsby

[19:44] Iliana Cerise: Gustav! That is the hurricane I moost hav!

[19:44] ÅL? RÅ??N: I like Gatsby

[19:44] Iliana Cerise: Guillermo

[19:44] Gabrielle Riel: There are a few G names I could use that would have ALL sorts of meaning!

[19:44] Eclectric Breitman: GATSBY! GATSBY!

[19:44] Kylie: I don't know why but G-string keeps popping into my head.

[19:44] Princess Selena: \o/

[19:44] Iliana Cerise: winks at Gabi...

[19:44] Pru: Galileo

[19:45] Pru: Figaro

[19:45] Princess Selena starts singing

[19:45] Pru: hahaha

[19:45] Princess Selena: :D

[19:45] Gabrielle Riel: It's 1917, we are in the process of becoming The Lost Generation, but we are not there yet, so no Gatsby  ;-)

[19:45] Iliana Cerise: A destructive force that arrives and leaves?  Who might that be?

At this point the chat veered into RL info that I (Gabrielle) do not want to include in this transcript.

[19:49] Gabrielle Riel: Let me say this - official tea end here!

[stjohnintelligencer]

Homestead Available in St John

Would you like to lease a homestead sim in St John? I have one opening in about a week. The one-time purchase price is $14,000 L and weekly tier is $8200 L. That weekly tier amount just covers the $125 USD monthly bill I pay to LL for it. I do not profit from the sim.

Also, we will need to rename the sim and can coordinate that together. If you are interested in leasing it for your home or business, please let me know!

[stjohnintelligencer]

St John Tea Transcripts - March 8, “1917″

[18:00] Gabrielle Riel: It's 6pm SLT! I am going to start.  :-)

[18:00] Gabrielle Riel: Good evening everyone. Thanks for being here tonight!

[18:00] Gabrielle Riel: We made it through Mardi Gras last week.  :-)

[18:01] Pru: :)

[18:01] Gabrielle Riel: And I hope that everyone had a good time. *I* had a good time in spite of being sick.

[18:01] Pru: Yes!

[18:01] Kitty: we did!

[18:01] Diogenes Teufelsdröckh: It was a mighty fine production

[18:02] Gabrielle Riel: If you have not seen it, please take a look at my thank you note AFTER tea tonight. If you get lost in this now, you’ll miss at least half of tea! (http://gabrielleriel.blogspot.com/2017/03/mercredi-des-cendres.html)

[18:03] Gabrielle Riel: I have looked at the calendar for next year, and it’s going to be another early one. Not as early as last year, but darn close!

[18:03] Gabrielle Riel: Next year Mardi Gras is on Tuesday, February 13. Now that I know this, I know that I will need to start our planning meetings around Christmas time this year.

[18:03] Pru can't even think that far ahead

[18:03] Gabrielle Riel: I’ve got about 6 months to recover from Mardi Gras and then it will be hurricane time. In looking at the calendar, I estimate that our hurricane will be on August 18-20. That is a Friday through Sunday.

[18:04] Gabrielle Riel: And you guys know that this year is the letter “G”... hmm...I *wonder* what the name of the hurricane will be! ;-)

[18:04] Pru: :)

[18:04] Zaida Gearbox: gertrude!

[18:04] Zaida Gearbox giggles

[18:04] Gabrielle Riel whispers....Guy, it's totally Guy

[18:04] Kitty: oh jeez no way

[18:04] Kitty: omg

[18:04] Gabrielle Riel laughs

[18:05] Pru: I have an Aunt Gertrude

[18:05] Kitty: hopes im around for K

[18:05] Zaida Gearbox: gizzelle

[18:05] Gabrielle Riel: Anyway, thank you all, those of you that were able to participate in, or come out for, Mardi Gras. I think we can call it a success.

[18:05] Zaida Gearbox: of course you will be kitty

[18:05] Pru: Yes!

[18:05] Gabrielle Riel: My main topic for Tea tonight is a general “State of the Estate”. If you have questions, please hang on to them until I ask for them. I will address your questions, I just want to get through the bulk of the information that I have for you first!

[18:05] Kitty: Hey Pea

[18:06] Princess Selena waves

[18:06] Gabrielle Riel: In order to understand our current State of the Estate, you need to understand what happened last year, both in terms of St John and in terms of the SL economy in general.

[18:06] Pru: waves to Selena

[18:06] Kitty: hi Kylie and Ava

[18:06] Kylie: *sneaks in*

[18:06] Gabrielle Riel: Last year in St John, we had a very odd year. But it was odd in a good way. For some reason, that I still do not fully understand, St John bucked the trend of the rest of SL, which was to lose residents and shrink. Instead, we grew.

[18:06] Ava: Hi all :)

[18:07] Kate Cynster: back...not gonna say brb every time he wants something

[18:07] Kylee Gracemount: Hi !

[18:07] Gabrielle Riel: Many estates shrunk in size or closed altogether. The reality is that while SL sill has an active user base, it’s not growing. It’s staying roughly the same, and even shrinking a bit.

[18:07] Gabrielle Riel: There are not a lot of new people joining SL. The majority of the SL population, in my opinion, is very “old”, both in terms of how long people have been in SL and in terms of their actual age.

[18:08] Gabrielle Riel: Thus. there is a finite pool of potential residents for ALL communities in SL.

[18:08] Gabrielle Riel: All communities have been losing residents, steadily. It’s just the way of things now. It was a surprise to me that last year St John was always full and still had a high demand for land from residents and potential residents.

[18:09] Gabrielle Riel: The demand was high enough that I put out a land needs assessment last Fall in order to determine what exactly that need was. Based on the information in that needs assessment and multiple demands from residents for larger parcels, I added St John Beach, St John Maurepas and St John Islands.

[18:09] Gabrielle Riel: So, by last Fall, St John was 9 sims. Fully occupied and strong.

[18:09] Gabrielle Riel: On a larger level, two things happened last year in regards to land in SL, and when both of these things happened, I told you all that it was a mystery as to how these things would affect St John, and that we would just have to wait and see.

[18:10] Gabrielle Riel: The first thing was the sim buy-down opportunity for private estate owners. I am not going to rehash the whole thing, but if you are interested in the details, look at this AFTER tea: http://stjohnintelligencer.tumblr.com/post/142737588086/st-john-tea-transcripts-april-12-1916

[18:10] Pru: nods

[18:10] Gabrielle Riel: I was able to buy-down our homesteads but NOT our full sims. This means that I am paying $100 a month more on St John Parish, St John Woods, Bayou St John and St John (Uptown) than other estate owners are paying on their full sims.

[18:11] Gabrielle Riel: Many other estate owners were able to buy their sims down, and then lower their tier for their residents. St John went from being the rock bottom cheapest tier in the Steamlands to the second highest in the last 6 months.

[18:11] Gabrielle Riel: and that was with use just staying the same.

[18:11] Gabrielle Riel: *just us

[18:12] Gabrielle Riel: The other change was the larger increase in prims to mainland parcels late last Fall. LL increased the amount of prims by 50% on mainland, while only increasing private estates 33%. Mainland has always been less expensive than private estates, so it’s really an amazing deal now.

[18:12] Gabrielle Riel: So…

[18:12] Kitty: in an ugly kinda way

[18:12] Gabrielle Riel: The wait and see is over.

[18:12] Zaida Gearbox agrees with kitty

[18:13] Gabrielle Riel: In my opinion, the fact that I could not afford the sim buy-down and lower our tier and the fact that mainland is an amazing deal now, St John has seen a non-stop stream of parcel abandons and resident departures in the last three months.

[18:13] Pru: :(

[18:13] Gabrielle Riel: We’ve lost some of our long-time stalker alts.  ;-)  As well as some people who so vocally begged me for larger parcels.

[18:14] Gabrielle Riel: Because of this, and if this trend continues, I want to let you know that I will do what I have to do in order to keep St John financially stable.

[18:14] Gabrielle Riel: And yes, that means dumping homestead sims if I have to.

[18:15] Gabrielle Riel: So enjoy the 9 sims now with sailing and flying! I think that number is on borrowed time.

[18:15] Gabrielle Riel: We are not at that point….yet, but I thought I needed to tell you that this might happen in the coming months, if the abandons continue and not enough new folks move into the vacant parcels.

[18:15] Kitty: nods

[18:16] Gabrielle Riel: While it has not been pleasant, I am also aware that this is just part of life as an estate owner. It’s very cyclical. I have grown, and then shrunk, an estate before. New Toulouse was 2 sims when I bought it in 2009 and I increased it to 8 sims by late 2011...before having to dump sims in 2012 when people left SL in droves.

[18:16] Gabrielle Riel: I don’t want this next part to sound cold, but I don’t know any other way of putting it…

[18:17] Gabrielle Riel: People in Second Life are fickle. And that is NORMAL! SL is made to be “instant gratification” for so many people. I long ago learned to have a level of detachment about residents and land because of the high-turnover I have witnessed over the years.

[18:17] Gabrielle Riel: Also, life is happening for all of our residents. Circumstances change. Budgets change.

[18:17] Pru: nods

[18:18] Gabrielle Riel: As I said, it's always cycling!

[18:18] Gabrielle Riel: And this ain't my first ride!

[18:18] Princess Selena: :)

[18:18] Kitty: fasten your seatbelts!

[18:18] Gabrielle Riel: I’ve also lost count on how many times someone has come to me with grand ideas and waxed rhapsodic about St John (or New Toulouse when I owned it) and how they LOVE it SO much…

[18:18] Gabrielle Riel: ...and they dump their land and poof 2 weeks later. That happens a LOT because of that fickle, fleeting mindset so many people have in here.

[18:19] Gabrielle Riel: Please know that I don’t judge them for that. I don’t take any of it personally. It’s just part of the many, many cycles in here. Cycles of community. Cycles with individuals. I turn 11 in a month and I’ve built up walls and armor and distance when it comes to people and land. Well, when it comes to people in general.  :-)

[18:19] Gabrielle Riel: So…

[18:19] Kitty: notice she didnt say cats

[18:20] Gabrielle Riel: As of right now, nothing is changing. I just wanted to let you all know what has been happening with the abandons and vacancies, so that if they continue and I need to start lopping off sims, you won’t be surprised.

[18:20] Zaida Gearbox hopes st john parish will be ok

[18:20] Kitty: yeah

[18:20] Gabrielle Riel: The economic and land changes of 2016 have come home to roost. I could not afford to buy down our full sims, and so I could not lower your tier. Other estates were able to do that, and now they are cheaper than us. There is nothing I can do about that.

[18:21] Gabrielle Riel: I can’t lower our tier. It’s already rock bottom for the price I have to pay to LL If I lowered our tier, then the entire estate would go into the red. Yes, we’ve ALWAYS lived that close to the edge. I’ve said it a million times and here I go again: I make NO money as an estate owner.

[18:21] Gabrielle Riel: I also have no control over the fact that LL made mainland an amazing deal in terms of price. It was actually a very smart business move on their part.

[18:21] Kitty: the rats

[18:21] Gabrielle Riel: The only thing I have control over is how I manage things moving forward. I might make little changes here and there. I might come up with crazy schemes for events and god knows what else!

[18:22] Kylie: But that sure hasn't changed the look of mainland.:(

[18:22] Kitty: yeah its uglier than ever

[18:22] Gabrielle Riel: It has not been easy, watching the steady stream of exits over the last 3 months, but I had an experience a few days ago that really helped me feel positive about the State of the Estate.

[18:22] Gabrielle Riel: An old friend who has been gone from SL for 6 years came in to visit. She was my librarian for the library that I had in New Toulouse from 2009-2011. She had never seen St John, so I set her off on a self-guided tour.

[18:23] Kitty: ohhhhh

[18:23] Kitty: wonders if i hit on her

[18:23] Gabrielle Riel: As she explored, she kept IMing me. “OMG, Gabi! This place is beautiful!” “Oh Gabi! I love what you did here!” “Oh Gabi, everyone’s houses look so amazing!”

[18:23] Gabrielle Riel: It’s been a long time since I have looked at St John through fresh eyes. Talking to her, getting her feedback was wonderful. It made me remember, yes, I and my residents built this place and it’s stunning! In addition to stunning, the people are SO great!

[18:23] Princess Selena smiles and agrees with the librarian

[18:24] Kitty: yeah!

[18:24] Gabrielle Riel: It was exactly what I needed to hear after these last few months. A needed boost to settle me for whatever the future might bring our way.

[18:24] Gabrielle Riel: So….after ALL that….does anyone have any questions?  :-D

[18:24] Kitty: well this place comes with Community unlike the mainland for the most part

[18:24] Pru: Raises her hand

[18:24] Kitty: fells positive

[18:25] Kitty: feels*

[18:25] Gabrielle Riel: oui Pru?

[18:25] Pru: Are the vacancies happening acroos all the sims?

[18:25] Gabrielle Riel: Yes

[18:25] Zaida Gearbox raises hand

[18:25] Pru: so there is no high concentration in any particular place?

[18:25] Gabrielle Riel: No - it's estate-wide

[18:25] Pru: Thank you

[18:26] Gabrielle Riel: oui zaida?

[18:26] Zaida Gearbox: are there abandoned parcels that aren't showing yellow on the map?

[18:26] Gabrielle Riel: At the moment yes, because I set a bunch for sale this morning, and they won't show until tomorrow.

[18:27] Gabrielle Riel: But you can see all of them listed in my Classifieds tab

[18:27] Ava: Obviously LL is aware of the general, gradual exodus ..... do they have plans to stop the bleeding and reverse the trend in SL?

[18:27] Gabrielle Riel: And I have some I still need to process vacancies in Woods

[18:27] Kitty: wow the woods are usually on a waiting list

[18:28] Gabrielle Riel: So there are more parcels for sale atm than what the map shows

[18:28] Gabrielle Riel: Woods has a lot of vacancies atm

[18:28] Kate Cynster: will not look at the map...will not look at the map...

[18:28] Gabrielle Riel: As for LL Ava, only they know. I *do* think the changes they made last year, the ones that hurt us, are actually good ones in general.

[18:29] Gabrielle Riel: From a pure business perspective, giving estate owners the chance to buy down their sims and lower tier

[18:29] Gabrielle Riel: and making mainland MORE of a deal

[18:29] Gabrielle Riel: these things should increase land ownership in general

[18:30] Kitty whispers: an ugly deal

[18:30] Gabrielle Riel: But not here

[18:30] Gabrielle Riel: I did a whole big presentation last year about the buy downs

[18:30] Gabrielle Riel: I did not have an extra $4000 USD hanging around

[18:31] Gabrielle Riel: So I could not buy us down, the full sims

[18:31] Gabrielle Riel: I WAS able to do the homesteads, except for poor Fox who ordered hers after LL's deadline

[18:31] Kitty: awww

[18:32] Gabrielle Riel: Now, is land ownership increasing in those estates that DID the buy down and lowered tier?

[18:32] Gabrielle Riel: I have no idea.

[18:32] Gabrielle Riel: Is it increasing on mainland? No clue.

[18:32] Gabrielle Riel: But the fact that those two things happened

[18:33] Gabrielle Riel: and then A bunch of people pulled up stakes and left St John - they might be connected - or not

[18:34] Gabrielle Riel: It might just be a bunch of things coming together, party of the cycle of community

[18:35] Gabrielle Riel: I could chase everyone who left down and ask, but I am not really in the mood to do that. That's if anyone would even respond to the question.

[18:35] Princess Selena: they never respond to me

[18:35] Princess Selena: I do hunt them down

[18:35] Princess Selena laughs

[18:35] Gabrielle Riel: That does not surprise me

[18:35] Kitty: hahaha

[18:35] Kylie: hehe

[18:35] Pru: I will tell Chu Chu you'll be calling.  :)

[18:35] Gabrielle Riel: It's that usual, fickle thing

[18:36] Kylie: I would answer, but I'm staying

[18:36] Gabrielle Riel: Out of sight, out of mind, and just part of the general SL culture

[18:37] Gabrielle Riel: I mean this is a place where people build businesses, create relationships, get partnered...

[18:37] Gabrielle Riel: and then one day decide to never log in as that avatar again

[18:37] Kitty: thats sad

[18:37] Gabrielle Riel: I dated a guy once who did that - not to me, but before he met me

[18:38] Gabrielle Riel: I was not surprised when he turned out to be a jerk who dumped me on Christmas Day!

[18:38] Kylie: Well, not everyone is like that... thank goodness.

[18:38] Kitty: that sucks

[18:38] Gabrielle Riel: You have all been around long enough now to know that occurs.

[18:38] Kate Cynster: sounds like the ex of mine who dumped me right after valentine's day

[18:38] Pru: sometimes RL circustances, such as budget, can affect us.  :)

[18:39] Gabrielle Riel: And I am not talking about people who start over, that's different.

[18:39] Kitty: or heartlessness

[18:39] Gabrielle Riel: Some of my closest friends are people who started over!

[18:40] Gabrielle Riel: As I said, things go in cycles

[18:40] Gabrielle Riel: I just want St Johnians to be prepared when sims start poofing off the map.

[18:40] Pru: Speaking on behalf of cousin Chu, she is not making much from her sales and could not justify an inworld store

[18:40] Kitty: digs nails in my precious Bayou

[18:41] Gabrielle Riel: And communities cycle - expand and contract ALL the time

[18:41] Eve Whiterose: So what's your current idea of what is longer term sustainable

[18:41] Kate Cynster: if the beach should have to go...i'll move in with kitty...lol

[18:41] Gabrielle Riel: So please don't see shrinking as a failure, IF we need to shrink.

[18:41] Gabrielle Riel: We are ok as we are for now.

[18:42] Kitty: you might have to deal with a stream of catladies

[18:42] Kate Cynster: lol

[18:42] Gabrielle Riel: The key will be seeing what happens in the next few months, and especially in summer  :-(

[18:42] Gabrielle Riel: if summer abandons hit us,  I see a homestead being dropped

[18:43] Gabrielle Riel: Last year was weird though. We HAD the usual summer abandons and then we filled up.

[18:43] Gabrielle Riel: It was the second Summer of Buck the Trend for me

[18:43] Kylie: It's winter in Australia, when it's summer int he states.

[18:43] Gabrielle Riel: It happened in Summer 2011 in NT too when I owned it

[18:44] Gabrielle Riel: and then the next year I had to dump sims

[18:44] Gabrielle Riel: So I've been down this path before. It's just a roller coaster.

[18:44] Gabrielle Riel: One thing

[18:44] Gabrielle Riel looks around

[18:45] Gabrielle Riel: I think Selena was the only one of you around when I shrunk NT and then sold it

[18:45] Princess Selena: I think I am  *nods*

[18:45] Gabrielle Riel: If sims need to go, EVERYONE in the affected sims are relocated to the best option.

[18:46] Gabrielle Riel: Hell, St John Woods EXISTS because I needed to save it.

[18:46] Gabrielle Riel: So people would not lose their homes

[18:46] Kitty: we need a snow sim in the winter too

[18:47] Gabrielle Riel: I do my utmost to make sure that everyone gets settled - no one just gets told they need to leave

[18:47] Kitty: looks at Pru with visions of snowballs dancing in my head

[18:47] Pru: :)

[18:47] Gabrielle Riel: That is not something that other estate owners do. Many just say "too bad, so sad, find another place to live."

[18:47] Eve Whiterose: Hmm...I read this as meaning I should start shopping. I don't have "homes." Well, other than the tiny cottage.

[18:47] Kitty: well thats awful!

[18:48] Gabrielle Riel: Sims owned by land barons get sold out from under the residents on a regular basis.

[18:48] Kitty: awful!

[18:49] Gabrielle Riel: There are some estates who will go to any length to hang on to sims

[18:49] Gabrielle Riel: Such as having a few people lease all the available parcels

[18:49] Gabrielle Riel: I won't do that either. If we need to shrink, we shrink.

[18:50] Gabrielle Riel: I am not going to put pressure on residents.

[18:51] Gabrielle Riel: There are some estates where if one of those main landholders were to get hit by a bus? Kiss those estates buh-bye.

[18:51] Kitty: egads!

[18:52] Gabrielle Riel: My goal here is to have sims supported as they are now. By a large, diverse group of residents.

[18:53] Gabrielle Riel: Also, at this point, I do NOT see dropping any of our full sims.

[18:53] Gabrielle Riel: If I need to downsize it will be homesteads that go.

[18:53] Kitty: whew

[18:54] Gabrielle Riel: And the only way they will go is if the trend of the last three months continues. For now, we are ok.

[18:54] Gabrielle Riel: But it's a darn roller coaster

[18:54] Gabrielle Riel: And I knew that and know that

[18:54] Pru: Is this a good time for an unrelated question?

[18:54] Gabrielle Riel: I think I even briefly mentioned it in the podcast I did with Selena last Fall

[18:55] Gabrielle Riel: Sure - question?

[18:55] Pru: what is the thaw schedule for The Woods?

[18:55] Eve Whiterose: Spring!

[18:55] Gabrielle Riel: Melting will occur over the next 2 weeks

[18:55] Eve Whiterose: Californians want to know!

[18:56] Pru: :)

[18:56] Gabrielle Riel: and as always, the first green will be out by Spring equinox!

[18:56] Kylie: *laughs*

[18:56] Gabrielle Riel: Although

[18:56] Gabrielle Riel: We might see one LAST snow in Woods

[18:56] Pru: I have a venue opening to plan

[18:56] Gabrielle Riel: at some point in the next few days

[18:56] Gabrielle Riel: But yes, it's a week into March already!

[18:57] Gabrielle Riel: Which means Woods starts to melt!

[18:57] Pru: Huzzah!

[18:57] Gabrielle Riel: Any other questions as we head to the top of the hour?

[18:57] Ava: newp

[18:58] Gabrielle Riel: This was about as fun as the US State of the Union huh?  ;-)

[18:58] Ava: :)

[18:58] Princess Selena: heh

[18:58] Pru: I didn't watch that!

[18:58] Gabrielle Riel: That was worse. SO WAY WORSE!

[18:58] Kylie: hehe

[18:58] Kitty: not as much a circus

[18:59] Eve Whiterose: I didn't start drinking for this one

[18:59] Kylie: LOL Eve

[18:59] Kitty: hahahahhahaha

[18:59] Gabrielle Riel: At least you know I am only half crazy and tend to tell the truth.

[18:59] Kitty: yer not so bad

[18:59] Gabrielle Riel: And only live in this virtual reality, not my own personal delusions!  ;-)

[19:00] Kitty: haha

[19:00] Gabrielle Riel: If you think of any questions, please let me know.

[19:00] Eve Whiterose: Where's your teleprompter?

[19:00] Pru: Thank you, Gabi.

[19:00] Gabrielle Riel: Well my dears, I think we can take our empty cups to the sink, because I hereby declare tonight’s tea officially OVER!

[stjohnintelligencer]

St John Mardi Gras 1917 Schedule

Saturday, February 25

Party All Day at Sugah’s Live DJs and Dancing 9:00am - 7:00pm SLT Sugah’s in the St John Region SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/St%20John/219/146/23

Samedi Gras Soirée Dancing and Party Music by Edward Pearse 7:00pm - 9:00pm SLT The Nightingale in the St John Parish Region SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/St%20John%20Parish/154/112/23

Sunday, February 26

Party All Day at Sugah’s Live DJs and Dancing 9:00am - 5:00pm SLT Sugah’s in the St John Region SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/St%20John/219/146/23

The Cajun Queen Mardi Gras Party Dancing and Party Music by Zed Raven 4:00pm - 6:00pm SLT The Cajun Queen in St John Parish SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/St%20John%20Parish/100/78/24

Mardi Gras by Nacht Dancing, Goth and Alternative Music by Prudence Jekyll 6:00pm - 8:00pm SLT St John By Nacht Region SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/St%20John%20ByNacht/112/130/25

Monday, February 27

Mardi Gras Parade Kick Off Party Dancing and Mardi Gras Music by Gabrielle Riel 7:00pm - 8:00pm SLT St John Region SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/St%20John/128/110/23

Tuesday, February 28

Mardi Gras Parade - All Day Fireworks - All Day Mardi Gras Street Party Live DJs and Dancing 12:00pm - 2:00pm SLT - Gabrielle Riel 2:00pm - 4:00pm SLT - Prudence Jekyll 4:00pm - 6:00pm SLT - Iliana Cerise 6:00pm - 8:00pm SLT - Otenth Paderborn 8:00pm - 10:00pm SLT - Emmanuelle Huntress 10:00pm - 12:00am SLT - Cadence Carolina SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/St%20John/128/104/23

[stjohnintelligencer]

St John Tea Transcripts - January 24, “1917″

[18:02] Gabrielle Riel: I am going to get started, I have a lot of information to cover tonight.  :-)

[18:03] Gabrielle Riel: Tonight’s tea is ALL about Mardi Gras. This includes a general overview as well as specifics about our parade and specs for float-building.

[18:03] Gabrielle Riel: There is a lot of information in this Tea, so buckle up and get ready for Mardi Gras info-dump 2017.

[18:04] Iliana Cerise: buckles

[18:04] cadence Carolina: hi everyone:)

[18:04] Gabrielle Riel: If you have questions PLEASE hold on to them until I ask for questions. I WILL ask for questions once I have made it through the bulk of what I need to tell you.

[18:04] Kylie: Hello everyone!

[18:04] Kitty: CC!!!!!!!!!!!!

[18:04] Kitty: Kylies!!

[18:05] Gabrielle Riel: Ready? As the French, Cajuns and David Tennant’s Dr. Who say: Allons-y!

[18:05] cadence Carolina: Kitty

[18:05] Gabrielle Riel: This year Mardi Gras is on Tuesday, February 28, “1917” for us.

[18:06] Gabrielle Riel: For past Mardi Gras’ in my estates, we have usually made it a 4-day celebration, from Saturday through Tuesday. So this year that would be Saturday the 25th, Sunday the 26th, Monday the 27th and Tuesday the 28th.

[18:06] Gabrielle Riel: As of this moment, I do not have anything “special” scheduled for Saturday or Sunday. If any of you would like to host a party or event on those days, please let me know.

[18:06] Gabrielle Riel: Sugah’s in Uptown has their regular schedule of events that run on the weekends, and I will be talking to Ava and Bliss about including those events on our official Mardi Schedule.

[18:06] Ava puts her hand in the air

[18:07] Ava: We will

[18:07] Kitty: I will always be happy to host

[18:07] Gabrielle Riel: excellent - we will chat after this about details

[18:07] Kitty: k

[18:07] Gabrielle Riel: If any of the rest of you venue owners would like to have an event at your place in honor of Mardi Gras on Saturday or Sunday, just let me know and I will put it on the schedule.

[18:08] Gabrielle Riel: There is a reason that I am being all “y’all handle Saturday and Sunday and just let me know”.

[18:08] Gabrielle Riel: It’s because Guy and I will be partnering on Monday, February 27, and between that and the events on actual Mardi Gras, I have no damn time to worry about the weekend!

[18:08] Iliana Cerise: smiles

[18:08] Fox Nacht: <3

[18:08] cadence Carolina: lol

[18:09] Gabrielle Riel: So, here is what I have tentatively planned so far for the partnering on the 27. The times might be adjusted depending on what Guy and I need to manage in RL on a weeknight.

[18:09] Kylie: :D

[18:09] Gabrielle Riel: The ceremony will be at Eve’s First Ecumenical Church of St John, here in St John Parish, tentatively scheduled for 6-6:30pm SLT.

[18:09] Gabrielle Riel: The reception will be at Edison Hall in St John (Uptown) tentatively scheduled for 6:30-8pm SLT.

[18:10] Gabrielle Riel: Then tentatively scheduled for 8pm SLT, Guy and I will kick off The St John Mardi Gras Parade, which is also in Uptown.

[18:10] Kitty whispers: I'm spiking the punch

[18:10] Iliana Cerise: sweet!

[18:10] Princess Selena: shhh

[18:10] Gabrielle Riel: In all of my years doing Mardi Gras in Second Life, and this will be my 8th, I have never selected a King and Queen of Mardi Gras.

[18:10] Gabrielle Riel: This year will be different. This year it will be me and Guy. We will sit in the lead float, as the King and Queen of Mardi Gras, and get our parade started.

[18:11] cadence Carolina: sweet

[18:11] Fox Nacht: lovely!

[18:11] Kitty whispers: But i thought you said I.....cries

[18:11] Kylie: *giggles*

[18:11] Gabrielle Riel: :-P

[18:11] Gabrielle Riel: Now, if you have never seen our parade, here is some info about it:

[18:11] Iliana Cerise: consoles Kitty

[18:11] Kitty whispers: Waves to Scouty

[18:11] Scout MacLeod: waves!

[18:11] Princess Selena: you can be queen next year, Kitty

[18:11] Kitty: haha  k

[18:11] Gabrielle Riel: We have “the always marching parade” which means the floats are moving at all times during the Mardi Gras celebration.

[18:12] Gabrielle Riel: The parade is tentatively scheduled to start at 8pm SLT on Monday, February 27 and it will run continuously through Tuesday, February 28. I usually shut it down early Wednesday morning my time, around 5:30am SLT.

[18:12] Gabrielle Riel: Our parade is meant for visitor interaction. We encourage people to ride the floats. This keeps the parade active for visitors, no matter their actual time zone.

[18:13] Gabrielle Riel: The parade floats are built by the residents of St John as well as residents of other communities and individual creators.

[18:13] Gabrielle Riel: If you would like to create a team (Krewe) to build or sponsor a float, you are welcome to do so; however you do not have to be in a Krewe in order to create a float. Krewes can be community-based or simply a group of friends.

[18:14] Iliana Cerise: very cool!

[18:14] Gabrielle Riel: Here in St John, we've never really had Krewes. It was something we had in New Toulouse. I still offer the option though.

[18:14] Kitty: Me and...ok well Kylie made us  a float one year!

[18:14] Gabrielle Riel: I have a notecard here with the float-building specifications. Who would like a copy? I am going to pass this out here and NOT put the specs into the transcript of this Tea.

[18:14] Ava: I would

[18:15] Princess Selena raises hand

[18:15] Scout MacLeod: raises hand

[18:15] Princess Selena: Wilhelm said he may like to build one

[18:15] Kitty: ohhhhh Scouty!

[18:15] Kylie: *raises hand*

[18:15] Iliana Cerise: I would please, Gabi!

[18:15] Kitty: ohhh yay Wilhelm

[18:15] Pru: Me too, Gabi.

[18:15] Kitty: Wow ya'll

[18:16] Fox Nacht: yes please Gabi

[18:16] Pru: I'll share my copy with Eve, since she's not here

[18:16] Kitty: wooo hooo

[18:16] Cate Cynster: well with rock not on anymore..and i couldn't build my way out of a paper bag..i'll be watching more this year...

[18:16] Second Life: Select residents to share with.

[18:17] Second Life: Items successfully shared.

[18:17] Scout MacLeod: ty

[18:17] Ava: Thank you Gabi

[18:17] Pru: Thank you!

[18:17] Kylie: Thank youuu

[18:17] Gabrielle Riel: Everyone get  that?

[18:17] Scout MacLeod: yep

[18:17] Fox Nacht: TY

[18:17] Iliana Cerise: got it thanks

[18:17] cadence Carolina: yes ty

[18:17] Kitty: yeah

[18:17] Kylee Gracemount: nods

[18:18] Gabrielle Riel: I recommend that you read the notecard AFTER I end Tea, otherwise you are going to miss much of what I say next.

[18:18] Gabrielle Riel: Additionally, if you have detailed float-building questions, please ask me after Tea or in the next few days and/or weeks. I don’t want to turn this meeting into a float-building Q&A. I need to keep it focused on our overall Mardi Gras.

[18:18] Ava: sorry... what?

[18:18] Ava: LOL

[18:18] Ava: Kidding

[18:18] Gabrielle Riel throws a beignet at Ava

[18:18] Ava: :)

[18:18] Kylie: *catches the beignet*

[18:18] Gabrielle Riel: Keep in mind that we still have at least one more Tea during which we will be discussing more about Mardi Gras, and that will be on February 7.

[18:18] Iliana Cerise: giggle

[18:19] Iliana Cerise: mmmm beignet... nom nom nom

[18:19] Gabrielle Riel: This is JUST the beginning!

[18:19] Gabrielle Riel: Now, on Mardi Gras Day itself, I would like to do what we did last year.

[18:19] Gabrielle Riel: Last year, I set up a dance platform in the middle of Uptown, on Audubon Avenue, just South of Canal Street. That’s the street right between Newchurch and Palette.

[18:19] Kitty: orgy?

[18:19] Gabrielle Riel coughs

[18:19] Kitty whispers: oh my bad

[18:19] Scout MacLeod: haha

[18:20] Gabrielle Riel: no darling, that is THIS year...  ;-)

[18:20] Kitty: hehe

[18:20] Gabrielle Riel grins and continues

[18:20] Gabrielle Riel: It was a 12-hour long street party with a different DJ playing every 2 hours. It was fabulous! We had never done anything like that in St John and I am so glad we did it last year!

[18:20] Iliana Cerise: heh heh

[18:20] Pru: :)

[18:20] Kylie: It was fun!!

[18:20] Gabrielle Riel: because...

[18:20] Iliana Cerise: oh, yes, Pru mentioned that

[18:20] cadence Carolina: it was

[18:21] Ava: Let me know if any DJ's are needed

[18:21] Gabrielle Riel: It was into that massive party that this guy named Guy Holder wandered on his first-ever trip to St John, looking for a decent Mardi Gras event. Ironically, his future fiance was drunk and deep in IM with a friend during that event trying to decide if she should start dating again in SL. Oh the changes a year can bring!  ;-)

[18:21] Iliana Cerise: sounds awesome!

[18:21] Scout MacLeod: wow!

[18:21] Gabrielle Riel: I will Ava - ty

[18:21] Gabrielle Riel: Anyway!

[18:21] Kitty: uh huh

[18:21] Fox Nacht grins

[18:22] Gabrielle Riel: The parade runs the whole time during the street party. Some people would ride the floats and then come dance. Or vice versa!

[18:22] Iliana Cerise: fun!

[18:22] Gabrielle Riel: We also had fireworks on a schedule, provided by Ali. Hopefully I can get her to run those again this year - they were fabulous!

[18:22] Ava: If not, I have good ones....

[18:22] Princess Selena: i do too *nods*

[18:22] Gabrielle Riel: So, DJs in the house! I need you! I need to start putting together a schedule for that day. I am going to try and make the schedule similar to last year’s - we did it from 12:00pm SLT to 12:00am SLT.

[18:23] Pru: ok

[18:23] Gabrielle Riel: IM me in the next day or two to let me know if you are available. To DJ I mean.  :-)

[18:23] Pru: Will do

[18:23] cadence Carolina: will do

[18:23] Iliana Cerise: sweet :)

[18:23] Gabrielle Riel: Now, regarding estate-wide Mardi Gras decorations - I (or my minions) will handle decorations on public land and that will occur the first or second week in February; however YOU all can put up decorations on your homes starting tonight!

[18:23] Pru: :)

[18:24] Gabrielle Riel: The only things you need to keep in mind is that Mardi Gras colors are purple, green and gold and please keep your decorations as vintage, or vintage-looking, as possible.

[18:24] Kitty: that seems late we are already decorated in RL New Orleansz

[18:24] Gabrielle Riel: Those of you in Uptown and Parish CAN use vintage-looking electric lights. I did research this Christmas on when exactly electricity arrived in New Orleans, and it was early. The late 1880s for Uptown.

[18:24] Princess Selena: thats not my block is it?

[18:25] Gabrielle Riel: Yes, you can use them Selena.

[18:25] Gabrielle Riel: Those of you in Bayou and Beach...sorry! You still live in the country! No new-fangled electricity for you!

[18:25] Princess Selena raises her arms and lets out a very unladylike WOOOOOOOO

[18:25] Iliana Cerise: lol

[18:25] Gabrielle Riel: Those of you in Woods, do whatever the heck you want. You live in a Timeless Magical Forest, just keep it Fantasy-themed.

[18:25] Cate Cynster: i can live with it or in this case..without it....grins

[18:25] Kitty: haha

[18:26] Gabrielle Riel: Ok...NOW is the time for questions! What do you need to know that I have not yet covered?

[18:26] Princess Selena: what are the colors again?  *grins and ducks*

[18:26] Pru: hahahaha

[18:26] Princess Selena: :P

[18:26] Kitty: hot pink

[18:26] Iliana Cerise: giggles

[18:26] Princess Selena: i made the damn flag... I know :P

[18:26] Gabrielle Riel throws a beignet at Selena - these are coming in handy tonight

[18:26] Iliana Cerise: are PussyHats allowed?

[18:27] Kitty: hell yeah

[18:27] Kitty: i need one btw

[18:27] Princess Selena noms happily and knew her plan would work to get a beignet

[18:27] Fox Nacht: woot yes pussy hats!

[18:27] Iliana Cerise: giggle Selena

[18:27] Kitty: would fit  my ears just right

[18:27] Princess Selena: there is a place giving them out free... i will have a SLURL in a moment

[18:27] Gabrielle Riel: Even though we are set in 1917, on Mardi Gras day folks come from everywhere. Wearing all sorts of outfits!

[18:28] Kitty: k

[18:28] Pru: will you be making the DJ schedule available like last year?

[18:28] Iliana Cerise: such fun

[18:28] Kitty: stands up for ma cat ladies

[18:28] Princess Selena whispers: free pussy hats - Tableau (169,112,23)

[18:28] Gabrielle Riel: Yes, Pru. I am going to do that exactly like I did last year.

[18:28] Pru: :)

[18:28] Kitty: ohhh ty

[18:28] Fox Nacht: TY Selena!

[18:28] Gabrielle Riel: I even found last year's spreadsheet today.

[18:29] Pru: Excellent

[18:29] Princess Selena loves spreadsheets

[18:29] Gabrielle Riel: I am going to send an invitation to other communities to join our parade, just as I did last year.

[18:29] Iliana Cerise: sweet deal

[18:30] Gabrielle Riel: Those of you that were there last year - tell the new folks what it was like!

[18:30] Pru: It was fun!

[18:30] Gabrielle Riel was exhausted and tipsy as hell

[18:30] Kylie: It was a blast!!!

[18:30] Iliana Cerise: listens eagerly

[18:31] Kylie: Tired of dancing... jump on a float and ride for awhile!

[18:31] cadence Carolina: was a hoot and we had lots of visitors from all ove SL

[18:31] Scout MacLeod: sounds really fun

[18:31] Gabrielle Riel: I had major parade bumps last year. Those will not happen this year.

[18:31] Kylie: My friends thot it was so cool to ride the floats!

[18:31] cadence Carolina: yes that was fun Kitty

[18:31] Gabrielle Riel: Remember, Uptown was brand new last year!

[18:31] Kitty: it was great

[18:31] Pru: It was my "debut" as a DJ, and I was nervous... so I didn't really party until after my set

[18:31] Iliana Cerise: I'm excited!!

[18:32] cadence Carolina: a great variety of music

[18:32] Princess Selena: only a year???

[18:32] Kitty: you did good Pru

[18:32] Princess Selena: it seems so much longer

[18:32] Gabrielle Riel: I have worked out the kinks in sim layout so we won't have a float pileup.

[18:32] Kylie: I remember that, Pru!

[18:32] Pru: I had lessons from Gabi in the weeks before

[18:33] cadence Carolina: oh right I remember the DJ training for passing stream

[18:33] Pru: it was all a bit overwhelming, but fun

[18:33] cadence Carolina: youdid so much last yer Gabi

[18:33] Emmanuelle Huntress: She always does

[18:33] Gabrielle Riel: I do so much EVERY year for Mardi Gras  LOL

[18:33] cadence Carolina: yes

[18:33] Kitty: oh the pile up huh...i wonder who threw those dead rats on the track..guess we'll never know

[18:33] Kylie: I was still kinda new so wanted to see it all, and I did!

[18:33] Pru: the floats were amazing

[18:34] Gabrielle Riel: Mardi Gras and the hurricane

[18:34] Gabrielle Riel: the two times a year that St John kicks my behind!

[18:34] Emmanuelle Huntress: The advantage of the ever marching parade is you can rustle up your friends any time

[18:34] Iliana Cerise: I want to DJ too... I got all my music collected on Winamp  :)

[18:34] Pru: and we only had a couple of griefers

[18:34] Iliana Cerise: griefers... bah

[18:34] Kitty: yeah not bad

[18:34] Iliana Cerise: grrr

[18:34] Kylie: Yes, that makes it perfect, Emma!

[18:34] Gabrielle Riel: That I got rid of in less than 30 seconds

[18:34] Pru: Gabi totally kicked them to the curb

[18:35] Gabrielle Riel: Even while tipsy!

[18:35] Kitty: she did!

[18:35] Kylie: yayyyy Iliana!

[18:35] Iliana Cerise: good

[18:35] Kylie: OMG they landed on the moon!

[18:35] Iliana Cerise: LOL

[18:36] Gabrielle Riel: I have a lot of work to do, with the partnering at the same time.

[18:36] Kitty: its hard?

[18:36] Iliana Cerise: I can only imagine!

[18:36] Gabrielle Riel: But hey, if I am going to go nonstop anyway, might as well toss it in there!

[18:36] Pru: :)

[18:36] Iliana Cerise: umm... that's a rather personal question, Kitty

[18:37] Kitty: huh oh ok

[18:37] Iliana Cerise: heh heh, go Gabi, go!

[18:37] Gabrielle Riel: The biggest "needs" I have at the moment are to get some folks to have events on Saturday and Sunday

[18:37] Fox Nacht: I'm *hoping* to have my new sim build done by then and would love to host a party there... I'd just need some help with organizing and a DJ and... well all the social stuffs :)

[18:37] Kitty: sweet

[18:37] Gabrielle Riel: and then getting enough DJs for Mardi Gras Day

[18:38] Kitty: maybe one day i'll learn

[18:38] Iliana Cerise: count me in :)

[18:38] Gabrielle Riel: I'll play on Mardi Gras day at some point

[18:38] Fox Nacht: you'd be a fabulous DJ Kitty

[18:38] cadence Carolina: me too

[18:38] Pru: Gabi, will you be able to coach new DJs like last year?

[18:38] Kitty: right?!

[18:38] Cate Cynster: i wish i could offer rock's services but he's pretty much out of djing

[18:38] cadence Carolina: omg you would Kitty

[18:39] Kitty: ty

[18:39] Fox Nacht: wanna premiere on Mardi Gras at my place? hmmm?

[18:39] Gabrielle Riel: I will have no choice - they need to learn how to accept and pass the stream

[18:39] Kitty: hehe

[18:39] Pru: ok, I will attend for a refresher course

[18:40] Gabrielle Riel: I should look and see if I wrote anything up for that. I can't remember.

[18:40] Pru: and hold Iliana's hand

[18:40] Pru: hahaha

[18:40] Iliana Cerise: yay, ty Pru!

[18:40] Iliana Cerise: I just need a refresher, hopefully, I dj'd at Simone's for a year

[18:40] Gabrielle Riel: Any other Mardi Gras questions?

[18:40] Pru: :)

[18:41] Princess Selena bites her tongue and will be good

[18:41] Princess Selena: nope, none here

[18:41] Gabrielle Riel: Next Tuesday will be a Tuesday Tunes, we have 5 Tuesdays this month.

[18:41] Gabrielle Riel: Then we will have another Mardi Gras Tea on February 7

[18:41] Pru: Wow, i didn't realize

[18:41] Gabrielle Riel: More details

[18:42] Iliana Cerise: wow, the month is actually FAT with Tuesdays!

[18:42] cadence Carolina: lol

[18:42] Pru: hahaha

[18:42] Gabrielle Riel: We'll have Tuesday Tunes on Valentine's Day

[18:42] Kylee Gracemount: giggles

[18:42] Gabrielle Riel: Ironically my theme for Valentine's Day 2016, was Lust

[18:42] Pru: oh, shoot... Valentine's I won't be around

[18:42] Iliana Cerise: lol

[18:42] Fox Nacht: rraaaawwwrrrr

[18:42] Kylee Gracemount: Hi Guy !

[18:42] Ava: Hi Guy, GTSY

[18:42] Guy Told 'er I'd Holder: but you have to be arond on valentines day! everyone does!

[18:43] Gabrielle Riel: Then we'll have a Tuesday Tunes on the 21st, cause that's my RL birthday

[18:43] Kylie: Hi Guy!

[18:43] Princess Selena: Howdy, Guy!

[18:43] Gabrielle Riel: Hey sweetie  :-)

[18:43] Guy Told 'er I'd Holder: helloooooo St. John et al

[18:43] Pru: that's my RL wedding anniversary

[18:43] Iliana Cerise: little did you know LOVE was sneakin up on you, Gabi!

[18:43] Iliana Cerise: Guy! hugggsssssss  :)))

[18:43] Gabrielle Riel: And then Tuesday, Feb 28 is Mardi Gras!

[18:43] Pru: Hi Guy!

[18:43] Kitty: Hey Guy!

[18:43] Gabrielle Riel: That is what our Tuesdays look like for the next month!

[18:43] Guy Told 'er I'd Holder: wait, what date was that?  seems inmportant

[18:43] Guy Told 'er I'd Holder: Yo Kitty dude

[18:44] Scout MacLeod: Hey Guy!

[18:44] Princess Selena throws a beignet at Guy

[18:44] cadence Carolina: lol

[18:44] cadence Carolina: hi Guy

[18:44] Kylie: LOL

[18:44] Gabrielle Riel: Those are coming in so handy tonight

[18:44] Guy Told 'er I'd Holder: googles a beignet and then ducks

[18:44] Princess Selena laughs!!

[18:44] Fox Nacht: ew... half eaten beignets!

[18:44] cadence Carolina: move Kitty

[18:44] Princess Selena: that is an important StJ vocab word....

[18:44] Pru is getting hungry watching flying beignets

[18:44] Guy Told 'er I'd Holder: yes Kitty got the moves

[18:44] Kitty: oh yeah

[18:44] Iliana Cerise: Guy I think it's the anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt

[18:45] Guy Told 'er I'd Holder: does anyone have a lint roller? tthere's cat fur all over the couch

[18:45] Kitty: haha

[18:45] Iliana Cerise: lol

[18:45] cadence Carolina: lol

[18:45] Fox Nacht: Hahahaha

[18:45] Kylie: LOL

[18:45] Gabrielle Riel laughs

[18:46] Kitty whispers: He's worse than me

[18:46] cadence Carolina: ha

[18:46] Guy Told 'er I'd Holder: now that i've completely disrupted everything, hows everyone doing tonight

[18:46] Gabrielle Riel: I just set out beignets Selena sent me

[18:46] Gabrielle Riel: But I don't see them rezzing

[18:47] Kylie: We ate them already

[18:47] cadence Carolina: lol

[18:47] Iliana Cerise: I don't think that hair was Kitty's, Guy... we had a Bigfoot visiting from the swamp earlier

[18:47] Princess Selena: takes like 5 minutes for things to rez

[18:47] Guy Told 'er I'd Holder: i feel bad.  Kitty you can sit in my lap if you want

[18:47] Kitty: uh huh

[18:47] Kitty: er..huh

[18:47] Kitty: well lemme think on it

[18:47] Kitty: no

[18:47] Guy Told 'er I'd Holder: ok, we can spend the rest of the night avoiding euye contact

[18:47] Pru: awwww

[18:47] Guy Told 'er I'd Holder: eye

[18:47] Kitty: k

[18:47] Kitty: blushes

[18:48] Iliana Cerise: lol

[18:48] Scout MacLeod: haha

[18:48] Princess Selena: (they were under the top of the table)

[18:48] Pru: I see them!

[18:48] Gabrielle Riel: Let's make this the official end of the tea transcript, unless you want the world to see you two flirting Kitty and Guy?

[18:48] Princess Selena: tada beignets!

[18:48] Scout MacLeod: mmm beignets

[18:48] Gabrielle Riel: ty Selena!

[18:48] Princess Selena: welcome

[18:48] Guy Told 'er I'd Holder: ooh, jammy dodgers!

[18:48] Kitty: oh now that its getting juicy she wants to end it

[18:48] Guy Told 'er I'd Holder: Duchess were you saying something about Mardi Gras?

[18:48] Princess Selena: jammy dodgers?

[18:48] Iliana Cerise: giggle

[18:49] Gabrielle Riel: Yes love, you can read the transcript!

[18:49] Emmanuelle Huntress: Wasn't he in a 1940s movie serial?

[18:49] Princess Selena: I got y'all lemon ones cause those are my favs

[18:49] Guy Told 'er I'd Holder: AWWWWWWW

[18:49] Gabrielle Riel: You conveniently arrived after all the "business".

[18:49] Guy Told 'er I'd Holder: and now i'm getting the business

[18:49] Iliana Cerise: love the shoes and argyle socks, Guy!

[18:49] Kitty: wait Lemonaide creme filled Beignets?? thats  sacrilege!!!!!!!!!!!!

[18:50] Kylie: I agree

[18:50] Princess Selena: shut it, cat

[18:50] Guy Told 'er I'd Holder: (whispers) hun you have cat fur on your blouse

[18:50] Fox Nacht: it's a little weird...

[18:50] Kitty: well its true

[18:50] Princess Selena noms happily

[18:50] Kitty: yeah a lot

[18:50] Guy Told 'er I'd Holder: thanks sis

[18:50] Kitty: youd be run outta new Olreans for that

[18:50] Gabrielle Riel: Let's stay and chat! But for the sanity of people reading this transcript, I officially declare this tea finished! Merci à tous!

[stjohnintelligencer]

The Day of Reckoning

http://gabrielleriel.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-day-of-reckoning.html

[stjohnintelligencer]

St John Tea Transcripts - December 6, "1916"

[18:00] Gabrielle Riel: Good evening everyone! Thank you for joining me for tea.

[18:01] Gabrielle Riel: Tonight we will have our usual tea for about 30 minutes, but instead of just heading home when tea is over, I am going to play a special broadcast, a Tuesday Tale, because today is the 10th anniversary of when I became a Duchess, and I wanted to share the story of that.

[18:01] Alas Sturges: I can imagine smelling picadillo and now I'm hungry, Eve :)

[18:01] Eve Whiterose: hahah

[18:01] Alas Sturges: Congrats on the 10th, Duchess.

[18:01] Gabrielle Riel: The first part of the story! Next week will be part two!

[18:02] Gabrielle Riel: ty!

[18:02] Gabrielle Riel: As always I want to address your questions, but please hold on to them until I ask for them. I usually cover a lot of information and it’s possible the answer to your question is addressed in information I have not yet covered. I will let you know when I have disseminated all of the information and when it’s question time.

[18:03] Kate Cynster: father is resting from being so busy at work during the flooding rains or he'd be here

[18:03] Gabrielle Riel: Ready? Ok - here we go.

[18:03] Gabrielle Riel: I have a few topics for tea today. They should all be straightforward.

[18:03] Gabrielle Riel: The first is to pass out prim increase notecards to anyone who did not see them in the notice this weekend.

[18:04] Gabrielle Riel: the second is about the seasonal transition in St John Woods and St John Islands

[18:04] Gabrielle Riel: and the fourth is to solicit volunteers of holiday decorating in the sims.  :-)

[18:04] Gabrielle Riel: the THIRD

[18:04] Gabrielle Riel: not the fourth - jeez!

[18:05] Kitty whispers: did the Bayou

[18:05] Gabrielle Riel: Did all of you receive the notecard this weekend with the notice detailing the new prim counts in St John? Let me know if you did not and I will pass it to you now.

[18:05] marquisdesoire: not me

[18:05] Matilde Boisvert: I did

[18:06] Kate Cynster: i did

[18:06] Gabrielle Riel: I posted the information on this notecard on my personal blog and on the St John Intelligencer, with links provided on the Riel Estates page on Facebook.

[18:06] Kitty: think i did

[18:06] Alas Sturges: I see it.

[18:06] Gabrielle Riel: The URLs for these pages are:

[18:06] Gabrielle Riel: http://gabrielleriel.blogspot.com/

[18:06] Gabrielle Riel: http://stjohnintelligencer.tumblr.com/

[18:07] Gabrielle Riel: https://www.facebook.com/rielestates/

[18:07] Kitty: Hi Janus and Ali

[18:07] Janus Rhiadra: Hi Kitty.

[18:07] Janus Rhiadra: Hi Ali

[18:07] Gabrielle Riel: All good with the notecard info?

[18:07] Matilde Boisvert: nods

[18:07] Kitty: yeppers

[18:08] Ali: Hi Kitty

[18:08] Gabrielle Riel: The next topic is the seasonal change in Woods and Islands

[18:08] marquisdesoire: yep

[18:08] Gabrielle Riel: It IS underway!

[18:08] Matilde Boisvert: (claps)

[18:08] Gabrielle Riel: But it's slow - season transitions are gradual here

[18:08] Gabrielle Riel: You might have noticed some of the trees are bare

[18:08] Gabrielle Riel: There are less leaves on the grounf

[18:09] Gabrielle Riel: *ground

[18:09] Kitty: i did and scotch tape didnt do the trick

[18:09] Janus Rhiadra: I'm stuck in autumn

[18:09] Alas Sturges whispers "Superglue?"

[18:09] Gabrielle Riel: Over the next week Woods and Islands will become more bare and frosty on the groun

[18:09] Gabrielle Riel: *ground - I can't seem to spell ground tonight!

[18:10] Ali: Hi Kylie

[18:10] Kylee Gracemount: Hi Everyone !

[18:10] Janus Rhiadra: Hi Kylee

[18:10] Gabrielle Riel: Snow will start, but it will be light

[18:10] Eve Whiterose: Hi

[18:10] Gabrielle Riel: Until December 20, and at that point it will be a full on blizzard

[18:10] Janus Rhiadra: OMG

[18:10] Gabrielle Riel: Because the Solstice is the 21st

[18:10] Janus Rhiadra: NO!!! Look who's here!

[18:11] Iliana Cerise: Good evening citizens

[18:11] Iliana Cerise: LOL

[18:11] Gabrielle Riel: This is just for Woods and Islands, however....

[18:11] Eve Whiterose: ha

[18:11] Janus Rhiadra: Jumps up and bolts for the door

[18:11] Matilde Boisvert: hehe

[18:11] Gabrielle Riel: Every year, St John has a freak snowstorm estate-wide

[18:11] Janus Rhiadra: In the bayou too?

[18:11] Kitty: looks for my madame president outfit and a knife

[18:11] Gabrielle Riel: Shocking how it happens the same time every year

[18:11] Gabrielle Riel: yes, Bayou too

[18:11] Eve Whiterose: hehehe

[18:11] Janus Rhiadra: God that is hilarious

[18:12] Gabrielle Riel: all fo the sims

[18:12] Iliana Cerise: giggle, Kitty

[18:12] Gabrielle Riel: December 24, 25 and 26

[18:12] Kate Cynster: oh the beach is going to get snow?

[18:12] Gabrielle Riel: We get snow all over.

[18:12] Gabrielle Riel: Yep

[18:12] Gabrielle Riel: And man is it going to be a pain to do that in 9 sims!

[18:12] Janus Rhiadra: searches inventory for snow drifts...

[18:12] Iliana Cerise: awesome... a white christmas?

[18:12] Kate Cynster: well we get it on the gulf coast once in a while...lol

[18:13] Gabrielle Riel: Although Woods and Islands will be settled

[18:13] Kitty: gets comb out and teases Ilianas hair  to make it look real

[18:13] Janus Rhiadra: hahaha

[18:13] Iliana Cerise: giggle

[18:13] Gabrielle Riel: But Woods and Islands are frosting and snowing up soon!

[18:13] Kate Cynster: makes a note to bring in the foxes, raccoon...otters....

[18:14] Gabrielle Riel: And questions about our seasonal change and the impending freak blizzard at Xmas?

[18:14] Gabrielle Riel whispers: *any

[18:14] Gabrielle Riel: I CAN NOT TYPE TONIGHT

[18:14] Kitty: naw were all good Boo

[18:15] Janus Rhiadra: You said something about "decorating"?

[18:15] Gabrielle Riel: That is the next topic  :-)

[18:15] Kitty: with otters i think she said

[18:15] Janus Rhiadra: Uh...

[18:15] Janus Rhiadra: Checks to see if Kitty's ears are shrinking

[18:16] Gabrielle Riel: So the final topic tonight is holiday decorating in the sims

[18:16] Kitty: i distinctly remember something bout otterss

[18:16] Iliana Cerise: brb

[18:16] Janus Rhiadra: Wishful thinking

[18:16] Alas Sturges: Otter remember what was said?

[18:16] Kitty: hehe

[18:16] Janus Rhiadra: Otter lack of understanding

[18:17] Gabrielle Riel: If you are willing to help, please let me know, either now or IM me in the next week or so

[18:17] Matilde Boisvert: I would like to help

[18:17] Kitty: i did the Bayou already

[18:17] Gabrielle Riel: I am going to do what I can, but I am so busy

[18:17] Gabrielle Riel: i saw - thank you Kitty

[18:17] Janus Rhiadra: What would we do?

[18:17] Kitty: put crap up

[18:17] Gabrielle Riel: Yep

[18:17] Janus Rhiadra: Like just decorate our own plots?

[18:18] Kitty: no the sim

[18:18] Gabrielle Riel: I will select items and provide examples

[18:18] Janus Rhiadra: Okay

[18:18] Gabrielle Riel: And buy you the items to put them up around the sims

[18:18] Kitty: illiana slipped into something more comfortable i see

[18:18] Janus Rhiadra: Trump got bored

[18:18] Iliana Cerise: be kind to otters

[18:18] Janus Rhiadra: We weren't talking about him

[18:18] Gabrielle Riel: I have had residents help me for the last two years

[18:19] Kitty: let me know if theres anything else needed in the bayou

[18:19] Gabrielle Riel: Kitty knows the drill and can help too

[18:19] Kitty: yeah

[18:19] Iliana Cerise: I had to change, it was distracting, and I was making myself vomit

[18:19] Janus Rhiadra: I'll help, I love to decorate

[18:19] Kitty: gave me hair balls

[18:19] Janus Rhiadra: Hahaha

[18:19] Matilde Boisvert: hehe

[18:19] Ali: ill help

[18:19] Gabrielle Riel: The thing to keep in mind is that we need to keep it vintage

[18:19] Janus Rhiadra: Yes

[18:19] Gabrielle Riel: Electric lights will be ok in Uptown

[18:19] Matilde Boisvert: nods

[18:19] Gabrielle Riel: But not anywhere else

[18:19] Janus Rhiadra: Awww

[18:20] Gabrielle Riel: Woods is ok because it's timeless

[18:20] Janus Rhiadra: Puts twinkle lights away

[18:20] Matilde Boisvert: has the 3d xmas tree candles

[18:20] Iliana Cerise: the beach huts have lights on them

[18:20] Gabrielle Riel: I will also put up a community tree somewhere like I did last year

[18:20] Kitty: oh cool

[18:20] Kitty: that was fun

[18:21] Ali: Is santa ok on top of my building in the city

[18:21] Gabrielle Riel: And people can put out gifts, if they have some to give

[18:21] Matilde Boisvert: nice :)

[18:21] Gabrielle Riel: He is if he looks 1916ish Ali

[18:21] Janus Rhiadra: Oh nice!

[18:21] Iliana Cerise: I'm guessing my decorations aren't kosher, then, Gabi?

[18:21] Janus Rhiadra: More like St Nicholus

[18:21] Gabrielle Riel: They DID have things like that in Uptown in 1916

[18:21] Janus Rhiadra: Nickolas?

[18:22] Ali: ok not sure he is in a sleigh and its way up there

[18:22] Janus Rhiadra: I can't spell!

[18:22] Gabrielle Riel: They had electric lights and used the hell out of them

[18:22] Gabrielle Riel: They used statues and stuff too

[18:22] Gabrielle Riel: But in the city....not in the middle of the Bayou  :-)

[18:22] Kate Cynster: or the beach...

[18:22] Gabrielle Riel: I have not seen your place yet Iliana!

[18:22] Kitty: which is covered

[18:22] Iliana Cerise: uh oh... lol

[18:23] Kitty whispers: watches Iliana run home to hide crap

[18:23] Janus Rhiadra: lol

[18:23] Matilde Boisvert: hehe

[18:23] marquisdesoire: should I remove the lamppost from the lighthouse? it's electric , but vintage

[18:23] Gabrielle Riel: The thing to keep in mind here is that while we are not historically perfect, we shoot for 100 years ago

[18:23] Iliana Cerise: I'm guessing it may be too over the top... I get a bit silly with my decorations

[18:23] Gabrielle Riel: Woods is different because it's fantasy

[18:23] Gabrielle Riel: Woods has no time frame

[18:23] marquisdesoire: ok

[18:23] Gabrielle Riel: But the New Orleans sims do

[18:24] Janus Rhiadra: And is magic!

[18:24] Gabrielle Riel: "100 years ago"\

[18:24] Janus Rhiadra: Too bad there aren't more vintage ornments on MP

[18:24] Gabrielle Riel: There are a few, but not tons

[18:24] Kate Cynster: it's so hard to find vintage decorations

[18:25] Iliana Cerise: I'll have to see.... My Christmas Story Leg Lamp should be OK, LOL

[18:25] Janus Rhiadra: Looks around hopefully for builders

[18:25] Matilde Boisvert: for?

[18:25] Alas Sturges: Tanenbaum had some nice glass balls in their gachas

[18:25] Gabrielle Riel: Do you have any questions about holiday decor? if you think of questions in the coming days. just IM me and ask me.

[18:25] Alas Sturges: *ornaments, I should have said.

[18:25] Gabrielle Riel: Kitty also knows what we have done in the past.

[18:25] Matilde Boisvert: I have one

[18:25] Janus Rhiadra: Okay. Let me know what you want help with Gabi

[18:26] Gabrielle Riel: Yes?

[18:26] Kate Cynster: i may try to help...have to see what the rl schedule is like

[18:26] Matilde Boisvert: do we need a specific tag to decorate in our region?

[18:26] Kitty: good question!

[18:26] Gabrielle Riel: On public land, if you are a helper, yes you do

[18:26] Kitty: hit it G

[18:26] Gabrielle Riel: And I will assign it to you

[18:26] Gabrielle Riel: What was the tag I used to use

[18:26] Matilde Boisvert: thanks :)

[18:27] Gabrielle Riel: Christmas Cajun

[18:27] Gabrielle Riel: That was it

[18:27] Kitty: yeah

[18:27] Kitty: yup

[18:27] Janus Rhiadra: Not Santa's helper?

[18:27] Gabrielle Riel: Nope! Not in St John!

[18:27] Kate Cynster: lol

[18:27] Gabrielle Riel: We're Christmas Cajuns!

[18:27] Matilde Boisvert: "Yule Tool"

[18:27] Kitty whispers: i'm workin on Georgia... trying to hook her into decor shes good at it

[18:28] Kitty: haha

[18:28] Gabrielle Riel: Any more questions before I wrap this up and this turns into Tuesday Tales?

[18:29] Janus Rhiadra: Are there still waiting lists for the sims?

[18:29] Ali: nope just order me around adn and tell me what you want done

[18:29] Matilde Boisvert: Not at the moment for me...I am assuming this comes with an instruction card and another meeting

[18:29] Gabrielle Riel: No waiting lists. There are a few parcels available.

[18:29] Ali: maybe a one on one meeting quickies

[18:29] Gabrielle Riel: But we're doing pretty good

[18:29] Kate Cynster: can't think of anything at the moment...

[18:29] Iliana Cerise: so we can expect help with our decorations soon?

[18:30] Iliana Cerise: I missed some of the convo

[18:30] Gabrielle Riel: I am the one who needs the help  :-)

[18:30] Gabrielle Riel: For the estate

[18:30] Gabrielle Riel: I *might* be able to get some done, but I just need a team to turn too if I get too busy

[18:30] Iliana Cerise: oh yes... well count me in :)

[18:31] Matilde Boisvert: I am happy to help decorate and someone mentioned builders--I can build if you need anything like that

[18:31] Janus Rhiadra: Can you make vintage decorations?

[18:31] Janus Rhiadra: Low prim?

[18:31] Matilde Boisvert: I am not a creator of meshes but I have a few

[18:31] Matilde Boisvert: and textures

[18:31] Gabrielle Riel: There are quite a few natural decorations out there

[18:31] Janus Rhiadra: That is true

[18:32] Gabrielle Riel: Pine garland

[18:32] Gabrielle Riel: Bows

[18:32] Matilde Boisvert: nods

[18:32] Gabrielle Riel: That all works in 1916 St John!

[18:32] Janus Rhiadra: And was used there

[18:32] Gabrielle Riel: Candles and gas lights work too

[18:32] Gabrielle Riel: Electric lights are ok in Uptown

[18:32] Matilde Boisvert: I have mesh xmas tree candles

[18:32] Iliana Cerise: so my giant hopping 3d electrical Santa Rabbit is not acceptable?

[18:33] Iliana Cerise: heh heh

[18:33] Gabrielle Riel: ah no  ;-)

[18:33] Kate Cynster: poinsettas?

[18:33] Iliana Cerise: kidding ;)

[18:33] Gabrielle Riel: Yep - perfect Kate

[18:33] Kate Cynster: which i never spell right...lol

[18:34] Gabrielle Riel: ok - are we good? (as Marc Maron always says at the end of his interviews)

[18:34] Kate Cynster: yep

[18:34] Janus Rhiadra: yes

[18:34] Alas Sturges: Good.

[18:34] Iliana Cerise: aye aye

[18:34] Kitty: I'm always good...cough

[18:34] Matilde Boisvert: nods

[18:34] Gabrielle Riel: I am going to grab this transcript

[18:34] Iliana Cerise: my rabbit is sad, though

[18:34] Gabrielle Riel: and then if you want to hear Part One of my Duchess story, stay seated and tune in to the stream!

[18:34] Kate Cynster: kitty have you noticed what i'm holding?

[18:35] Gabrielle Riel: I am going to start that at 6:40pm SLT

[stjohnintelligencer]

New Prim Amounts in St John

On Tuesday, November 29, 2016, Linden Lab increased the amount of prims per sim in private estates. There was a 33% increase to all of our full sims and a 30% increase to all of our homesteads.

Here is the list of parcel sizes and prim amounts as they stand today, after this change:

Full Regions - St John Parish, St John Woods, Bayou St John and St John (Uptown)

* 192 sq. m. parcel - 174 prims - $250 L per week

* 256 sq. m. parcel - 234 prims - $340 L per week

* 384 sq. m. parcel - 351 - $510 L per week

* 512 sq. m. parcel - 468 prims - $675 L per week

* 576 sq. m. parcel - 525 prims - $760 L per week

* 608 sq. m. parcel - 555 prims - $805 L per week

* 640 sq. m. parcel - 585 prims - $850 L per week

* 768 sq. m. parcel - 702 prims - $1015 L per week

* 896 sq. m. parcel - 820 prims - $1185 L per week

* 1024 sq. m. parcel - 936 prims - $1350 L per week

* 1152 sq. m. parcel - 1053 prims - $1520 L per week

* 1280 sq. m. parcel - 1170 prims - $1690 L per week

* 1536 sq. m. parcel - 1404 prims - $2025 L per week

* 1792 sq. m. parcel - 1640 prims - $2365 L per week

* 2048 sq. m. parcel - 1875 prims - $2700 L per week

* 2176 sq. m. parcel - 1992 prims - $2870 L per week

* 2304 sq. m. parcel - 2109 prims - $3040 L per week

Homestead Regions - Lake St John and St John Beach

* 384 sq. m. parcel - 234 prims - $340 L per week

* 576 sq. m. parcel - 351 prims - $510 L per week

* 768 sq. m. parcel - 468 prims - $675 L per week

* 1536 sq. m. parcel - 936 prims - $1350 L per week

* 3072 sq. m. parcel - 1875 prims - $2700 L per week

Homestead Region - St John Maurepas

* 16384 sq. m. parcel - 2500 prims - $3600 L per week

Homestead Region - St John Islands

* 8192 sq. m. parcel - 2500 prims - $3600 L per week

Apartments - The St John Pension, The St John River View Guesthouse and the St John Beach Hotel

* Base Room Cost - 155 prims - $225 L per week

* You can lease another amount of prims at $1.45 L per prim per week IF there are prims available

The St John Cemetery

* Plot - 32 sq. m. - 27 prims - $40 L per week

The base price per prim per week in St John is now $1.45 L.

The only tier change estate-wide was to the cemetery parcels. I reduced the weekly tier in the cemetery from $45 L per week to $40 L per week.

I have updated all of the meters in St John to reflect the new parcel prim counts. This was a metadata change and does not affect your tier.

As always, if you have any questions, please contact me. You can reach me in-world or via email at gabrielle.riel@gmail.com .

Enjoy your new prims! Miz Gabi

[stjohnintelligencer]

St John Tea Transcripts - November 15, "1916"

[18:00] Gabrielle Riel: And to one of my favorite songs EVER (West Side Story's Mambo).....

[18:00] Gabrielle Riel: Good evening everyone.  :-)  Thank you for joining me for tea today.

[18:00] Vinje: Kylie!! hey neighbor

[18:01] Kate Cynster: well i've never sat on here with anyone...i own the same set and rock is never on

[18:01] Kate Cynster: hi kylie

[18:01] Kylie: Hi Kitty!

[18:01] Kylie: Hi Everyone!

[18:01] Vinje: ive sat with Rock on that sofa

[18:01] Kate Cynster: ooooh i met my neighbor zoe tonight...very nice

[18:01] Vinje: just saying

[18:01] Gabrielle Riel does her Color Guard routine while she types

[18:01] Emmanuelle Huntress: I'll do it Kate

[18:01] Kate Cynster: lol kitty

[18:01] Gabrielle Riel: Tonight is going to be a little different in that we will have our usual tea, but instead of just heading home when tea is over, I am going to play an hour of Tuesday Tunes music.

[18:01] Vinje: wooooo hoooo

[18:02] Gabrielle Riel: So it’s tea with bonus tunes.  :-)

[18:02] Kate Cynster: lol

[18:02] Vinje: sweet

[18:02] Kylie: Kitty, I saw your twin last night!

[18:02] Emmanuelle Huntress: drink and drive

[18:02] Vinje: you did?

[18:02] Gabrielle Riel takes a moment to complete her choreography

[18:02] Kate Cynster: dad's here but i think on the phone

[18:02] Vinje: a young Elvis was in?

[18:02] Gabrielle Riel: There is just one topic for tea tonight and that is the impending prim increase.

[18:02] Kylie: Yeah, but I don't think he's like that all the time.

[18:02] Kylie: His name was Deadly Creature

[18:03] Vinje whispers: he was here?

[18:03] Gabrielle Riel: As always I want to address your questions, but please hold on to them until I ask for them. I usually cover a lot of information and it’s possible the answer to your question is addressed in information I have not yet covered. I will let you know when I have disseminated all of the information and when it’s question time.

[18:03] Princess Selena tries to locate the source of the clanging

[18:03] Kylie: No, he was at The Willows

[18:03] Vinje: yes maam

[18:03] Vinje: oh ok

[18:03] Vinje: yeah what is all that racket??

[18:03] Gabrielle Riel stretches her lovely leather whip

[18:04] Lucifer Cynster: I wasn't on the phone, pushing a few buttons.  Just glad i don't have to climb flares anymore

[18:04] Vinje: Peas good at finding sounds

[18:04] Vinje: FOxy!!!

[18:04] Gabrielle Riel: Ready to dig into the scones and the topic? Ok - here we go.

[18:04] Fox Nacht: Heya Kitty! 'evening all!

[18:04] Vinje: brb

[18:04] Gabrielle Riel: Two weeks ago at our last tea, I discussed the surprise discovery that there were a LOT more prims on mainland parcels, including my own. 50% more prims to be exact.

[18:05] Vinje whispers: back

[18:05] Gabrielle Riel: For example, my mainland parcel (prior to last Tuesday) had 3750 prims available for use on it. As of last Tuesday it had 5625 prims.

[18:05] Gabrielle Riel: The SL social media sphere was ablaze and SL in-world groups were non stop speculation and chatter.  LL stated they were going to announce the details in a blog post and during a special episode of Designing Worlds on Nov 3.

[18:06] Gabrielle Riel mambos as she types

[18:06] Vinje: hehe

[18:06] Gabrielle Riel: I had my own speculation, which was that the prim increase would also come to the private estates. It turns out that I was both right and wrong.

[18:06] Vinje: hmm

[18:06] Gabrielle Riel: I attended the Designing Worlds episode on Nov 3 and sat through the Q&A session that Saffia had with Patch Linden after the show aired in order to get the exact details. I was right in that LL is also applying the prim increase to private estates...

[18:07] Fox Nacht: but...

[18:07] Vinje: theres always a big but

[18:07] Gabrielle Riel: ...however what I missed was that they are giving us a smaller increase. We will NOT be receiving a 50% increase in prims. We will receive a 33% increase in prims on our full sims. (Parish, Woods, Bayou, Uptown) and a 30% increase on our homestead sims (Lake, Beach, Maurepas, By Nacht and Islands).

[18:07] Kylie: Dang the big buts

[18:07] Vinje: shakes fist at LL

[18:07] Emmanuelle Huntress: i cannot lie

[18:08] Kate Cynster: will still keep my beach house  :)

[18:08] Gabrielle Riel: Here is the breakdown: prior to last week, all full sims, whether they were mainland or private estates, had 15000 prims in a 65536 sq. m. region. (256 X 256 m.)

[18:08] Vinje: packs bags

[18:08] Vinje: jk

[18:08] Gabrielle Riel gives the cat a fish

[18:08] Vinje: k

[18:09] Gabrielle Riel: This has changed. Full mainland sims will now have 22,500 prims. Full private estate sims (like much of St John) will have 20,000 prims.

[18:09] Gabrielle Riel: Homestead sims , whether they were mainland or private estates, had 3750 prims in a 65536 sq. m. region. (256 X 256 m.)

[18:09] Gabrielle Riel: This has changed. All homestead sims, both mainland and private, will have 5000 prims  in a 65536 sq. m. region. (256 X 256 m.)

[18:10] Gabrielle Riel: and now the ultimate question

[18:10] Gabrielle Riel: So, what does this mean for us, St John?

[18:10] Vinje: party?

[18:10] Gabrielle Riel: What it means is that those of you with parcels in the full sims (Parish, Woods, Bayou, Uptown) will receive a 33% increase in prims. I am NOT changing tier. You will continue to pay what you pay now.

[18:11] Vinje: awwww

[18:11] Vinje: snuggles Gabi

[18:11] Gabrielle Riel: duh - always party!

[18:11] Vinje: true dat

[18:11] Fox Nacht nods emphatically to 'party'

[18:11] Vinje: fist bumps Foxy

[18:11] Fox Nacht grins

[18:11] Gabrielle Riel: What it means is that those of you with parcels in the homestead sims (Lake, Beach, Maurepas, By Nacht and Islands) will receive a 30% increase in prims. I am NOT changing tier. You will continue to pay what you pay now.

[18:12] Gabrielle Riel chair dances to the music on the stream

[18:12] Fox Nacht joins Gabi in the chair dancing

[18:12] Gabrielle Riel: Right now, everyone across the estate pays roughly $1.92 L per week per prim in St John. This was a number I published last Spring when discussing the idea of doing the buy-down on our sims.

[18:12] Vinje: gets single lindens out

[18:13] Gabrielle Riel: After the increase, the residents in our full sims will be paying $1.44 L per week per prim in St John.

[18:13] Gabrielle Riel: The residents in our homestead sims will be paying $1.48 L per week per prim in St John.

[18:13] Vinje: whoa

[18:13] Vinje: builds bigger bar

[18:13] Gabrielle Riel grins

[18:13] Vinje: hires Foxy

[18:13] Fox Nacht plants more trees

[18:13] Vinje: sweet

[18:14] Fox Nacht: damn things are primmy

[18:14] Gabrielle Riel: I will admit that I am annoyed that LL has messed with my math! I had the estate set up so that parcels in full sims and parcels in homestead sims cost the same in terms of ratio of prims to weekly tier.

[18:14] Emmanuelle Huntress buys a new car to put up on blocks

[18:14] Vinje: hehe

[18:14] Vinje: we'll survive

[18:15] Kate Cynster: lol father said he'd rather figure stuff at work then lindens prims and tiers....so much easier at a refinery...LOL

[18:15] Gabrielle Riel: Homestead sims are already a horrible scenario from a financial standpoint. Most estate owners take losses on them. I have mine set up to basically break even at 90%+ occupancy. Yes, this means that if ANY of our homesteads are not at 100% occupancy, I am taking a loss on them.

[18:17] Gabrielle Riel: As much as I wish I could make the cost per prim per week the same between full sims and homestead sims, I can’t. I would be taking *more* of a loss on the homesteads than I already am.

[18:17] Gabrielle Riel: I have said this before, many times over my 8 years as an estate owner, and I have even published blog posts about this, but it bears repeating: I do not make money on St John.

[18:18] Gabrielle Riel: I do not take money out of SL and put it into my RL bank account. I keep any “profits” I make in-world. I buy new landscaping. I buy quality prefabs. I buy infrastructure. I also buy gowns and tiaras.  :-)

[18:18] Vinje whispers: I've looked in her purse its true

[18:18] Fox Nacht supports the gowns and tiaras wholeheartedly

[18:19] Vinje: yeah shes gotta look decent right?

[18:19] Kate Cynster: looks at father...holds out my hand for the wallet...speaking of gowns....lol

[18:19] Vinje whispers: Scouty!

[18:19] Gabrielle Riel: If you want to understand the details behind these statements, please read this AFTER Tea and Tunes tonight: http://gabrielleriel.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-economic-truths-of-being-land-baron.html

[18:19] Scout MacLeod: Hi Kitty!

[18:19] Fox Nacht: heya Scout!

[18:20] Lucifer Cynster hands Brat my wallet, you own it anyway

[18:20] Scout MacLeod: hi Fox!

[18:20] Gabrielle Riel: So...

[18:20] Gabrielle Riel: I am going to bring this topic back around to these prim increases and the question on everyone’s mind, including my own:

[18:21] Gabrielle Riel: When will we see the increase?

[18:21] Gabrielle Riel: As of now, and to the best of my knowledge, the entire mainland, including Linden homes, has received the 50% increase.

[18:21] Gabrielle Riel: As of now, and to the best of my knowledge, NO private estates have received the increase.

[18:22] Gabrielle Riel: Patch Linden said that private estates will see the increase “in a few months”.

[18:22] Gabrielle Riel: What does “in a few months” mean?

[18:22] Fox Nacht: read: whenever we get around to it

[18:22] Gabrielle Riel: We have no idea.

[18:22] Gabrielle Riel: I take Patch’s statement as one or two months, but it could be more than that. It would be lovely by Christmas, wouldn’t it? Don’t count on it though.

[18:23] Emmanuelle Huntress: No man knows the hour of it's coming

[18:23] Gabrielle Riel: I am personally guessing late Winter. Early 2017. Perhaps in time for St John Mardi Gras?

[18:23] Vinje: it would be...imagine the christmas trees i can get!

[18:23] Gabrielle Riel: mmhmm

[18:23] Princess Selena: he did say that ideally, by the holidays... thanksgiving is right around the corner... I have my fingers crossed

[18:24] Gabrielle Riel: How fabulous would that be? Mardi Gras is February 28 this year, and I can promise that St John’s Mardi Gras will be *epic* in “1917”.

[18:24] Princess Selena smiles knowingly

[18:24] Gabrielle Riel: One thing that we all need to keep in mind is that all of these changes this year, the buy-downs, this increase in prims, have put the SL economy into a state of flux.

[18:25] Gabrielle Riel: The L$ value has been a hot mess since April, which is when the buy-downs were announced.

[18:25] Gabrielle Riel: I watch the value DAILY because we are in such a state of flux. I am not going to go into the details of what is happening with the SL economy tonight. I will save that for our next tea, barring any grid-changing situations between then and now!

[18:25] Fox Nacht: the buy downs?

[18:26] Gabrielle Riel: Buying down the sims - opportunity I announced last Spring

[18:26] Vinje: which cost her a fortune

[18:26] Gabrielle Riel: Pay a large fee to get the grandfathered pricing for your sims

[18:27] Gabrielle Riel: Which I did not do for any of our full sims because I could not afford it

[18:27] Fox Nacht: ah right.

[18:27] Gabrielle Riel: I just need you all to know that as of today, it is almost impossible to state a fair “Linden-dollar-per-week-per-prim” amount in SL.

[18:28] Gabrielle Riel: The SL economy is all over the place. It’s going to take us 6+ months or more before the market settles.

[18:28] Princess Selena slips out quietly   ((not feeling well, night all))

[18:29] Vinje: awwww night Pea

[18:29] Vinje: poor

[18:29] Fox Nacht: and then Sansar will likely keep the flux going

[18:29] Gabrielle Riel: What I can promise is that I will keep St John a fair market price.

[18:30] Gabrielle Riel: And that I am watching the market daily!

[18:30] Gabrielle Riel: So - with ALL of that information, what questions do you have?

[18:31] Kate Cynster: learned the hard way not to do the best price thing for lindens...it took almost a week...

[18:32] Gabrielle Riel: As of now, we wait

[18:33] Gabrielle Riel: I have no idea when the increase is going to occur.

[18:33] Gabrielle Riel: I am watching all the time and will send a notice the minute I see it.

[18:34] Gabrielle Riel: Questions? Comments?

[18:34] Gabrielle Riel: Concerns?

[18:34] Scout MacLeod: shakes head

[18:34] Vinje: puts faith in you

[18:35] Gabrielle Riel: Well my dears....if we have no questions atm, please contact me!

[18:35] Kate Cynster: so do i...that's why i live in st john...i know gabi is looking out for us  :)

[18:35] Scout MacLeod: yes!

[18:35] Fox Nacht nods

[18:35] marquisdesoire: Thank you very much Gaby!

[18:35] Kate Cynster: looks at ali's big needle...i had my flu shot...lol

[18:36] Gabrielle Riel: Are you all ready for Tuesday Tunes then?

[18:36] marquisdesoire: I have to go back to work, see you all soon! bye for now

[18:36] Scout MacLeod: bye marquis!

[18:36] Vinje: yes

[18:36] Ali: ok well this is for kitty he aint had his shot

[18:36] Fox Nacht: 'night Marquis!

[18:36] Vinje: puts on dancing shoes

[18:36] Kate Cynster: looks at kitty

[18:36] Kylie: It's my dinner time now.  Thank you for the info, Gabi!  Was nice to see everyone. :)

[18:36] Vinje: has um had it

[18:36] Kate Cynster: you look so cute ali

[18:36] Vinje: bye Kylies

[18:36] Scout MacLeod: bye kylie!

[18:36] Vinje: waves

[18:37] Ali: I think he is in shock

[18:37] Emmanuelle Huntress: Bye Kylie

[18:37] Fox Nacht: bon apetit Kylie!

[18:37] Gabrielle Riel: I hereby declare this Tea over.....and let the dancing begin!

[stjohnintelligencer]

2016 Avi Choice Award Nominations

I am pleased to announce that Radio Riel and I are both nominated for 2016 Avi Choice Awards.

Voting is active now at: https://avichoiceawards.com/vote-here-the-arts/ .

Radio Riel is up for Favorite Radio Station. The radio station category is the second from the top of the page.

I am up for Favorite Second Life Radio DJ, as is Radio Riel Presenter Elrik Merlin. The Radio DJ Category is at the bottom of the page.

Vote and help me bring these awards home to St John, The Steamlands, The Aether Chrononauts and the historic Second Life communities!

[stjohnintelligencer]

St John Tea Transcripts - October 18, "1916"

[2016/10/18 18:01]  Gabrielle Riel: Welcome to tea everyone! Thank you so much for taking the time to join me this evening as I bring you all up to date with the latest St John news.

[2016/10/18 18:02]  Kitty: haha both

[2016/10/18 18:02]  Miss Kate: lol

[2016/10/18 18:02]  Gabrielle Riel: Come sit cat  ;-)

[2016/10/18 18:02]  Scout MacLeod: sits up and pays attention

[2016/10/18 18:02]  Kitty: k

[2016/10/18 18:02]  Iliana Cerise: yvw!

[2016/10/18 18:02]  Gabrielle Riel: I have three things I want to discuss tonight. First, a general “state of the estate” overview, then a change I need to make to our covenant and what that means for all of you and finally the St John Streetcar.

[2016/10/18 18:03]  Miss Kate: now if my rl cat will leave me alone...she's sleeping for now

[2016/10/18 18:03]  Gabrielle Riel: I always go over a lot of information, and I do want to answer any questions you have, so please hold on to your questions until I can spit out all of the details and then ask for your questions once I reach a good point in the presentation to do so.

[2016/10/18 18:03]  Emmanuelle Huntress: Yes

[2016/10/18 18:03]  Gabrielle Riel: I WILL answer all questions. It’s just a lot more efficient to do it all at once after I have disseminated all the info I have for you.

[2016/10/18 18:03]  Scout MacLeod: nods

[2016/10/18 18:04]  Gabrielle Riel: Ok! Ready? Here we go!

[2016/10/18 18:04]  Kitty: whispers: ohhhh couples poses in this sofa

[2016/10/18 18:04]  Kitty: go on

[2016/10/18 18:04]  Gabrielle Riel: The State of the Estate - anyone looked at the World map lately?

[2016/10/18 18:04]  Kitty: its huge!

[2016/10/18 18:04]  Miss Kate: yes

[2016/10/18 18:04]  Scout MacLeod: yes

[2016/10/18 18:04]  Miss Kate: we grew

[2016/10/18 18:04]  Gabrielle Riel: If you haven’t, you really should! St John is now 9 sims.

[2016/10/18 18:04]  Scout MacLeod: wow!

[2016/10/18 18:05]  Kitty: whispers: somebody robbed a bank

[2016/10/18 18:05]  Iliana Cerise: claps

[2016/10/18 18:05]  Iliana Cerise: nice!

[2016/10/18 18:05]  Gabrielle Riel: This is due to 2 things, first I had several requests from residents for larger parcels. I actually designed St John to NOT have too many large parcels. Large parcels are a detriment to the estate when residents abandon them, so I keep a relatively low ratio of them.

[2016/10/18 18:06]  Gabrielle Riel: Keeping a low ratio of large parcels, if one large landholder abandons a large parcel, it won’t hurt the estate. That’s what happened to me in New Toulouse in 2012 and 2013 and ultimately resulted in me pouring $500+ USD of my RL savings into the estate at the time.

[2016/10/18 18:06]  Kitty: oh jeeze

[2016/10/18 18:06]  Iliana Cerise: eek

[2016/10/18 18:06]  Scout MacLeod: yikes

[2016/10/18 18:07]  Gabrielle Riel: Lots of small estate owners do that btw

[2016/10/18 18:07]  Emmanuelle Huntress: We want to avoid that one again

[2016/10/18 18:07]  Gabrielle Riel: I am not alone in having had to do that

[2016/10/18 18:07]  Gabrielle Riel: I sent out that land survey a few weeks ago to make sure I knew the actual level of demand for large parcels. The survey was VERY helpful and it helped me target the need exactly. It was clear that there was not enough need to fill a full sim, but that there was enough need that could be filled by homestead sims.

[2016/10/18 18:08]  Gabrielle Riel: At the same time, the buy-down offer from Linden Lab was coming to a close. That ended on October 4. I had to move FAST in order to get the sims and buy them down. That’s why a bunch of sims appeared so suddenly.

[2016/10/18 18:08]  Scout MacLeod: ohhhh

[2016/10/18 18:08]  Kitty: right!

[2016/10/18 18:09]  Princess Selena: I had forgotten when that ended

[2016/10/18 18:09]  Gabrielle Riel: The sims that I added are: St John Maurepas, St John Island and St John ByNacht.

[2016/10/18 18:09]  Gabrielle Riel: *St John Islands

[2016/10/18 18:09]  Kitty: all lovely names

[2016/10/18 18:09]  Scout MacLeod: yes

[2016/10/18 18:09]  Iliana Cerise: :)

[2016/10/18 18:09]  Gabrielle Riel: Maurepas is Bayou themed, and meant to be an extension of Bayou St John. It is fully occupied with only 2 residents, one of which is Noctis.

[2016/10/18 18:10]  Kitty: sweet

[2016/10/18 18:10]  Gabrielle Riel: St John Islands is an extension of the St John Woods theme, so it will have seasons. It currently has one occupant who is taking half of the sim, Weekend Salvage. I need to follow up with some of the large-parcel-request residents to see if the other half will meet their needs.

[2016/10/18 18:10]  Gabrielle Riel: My guess is that it will end up like Maurepas, with 2 residents. Maybe 3, but no more than that.

[2016/10/18 18:11]  Gabrielle Riel: St John ByNacht is leased solely by Fox Nacht for By Nacht and is designed and landscaped by her as a transition between Woods and Bayou.

[2016/10/18 18:11]  Scout MacLeod: ohhh

[2016/10/18 18:11]  Kitty: cant wait to see it!

[2016/10/18 18:11]  Gabrielle Riel: So 2/3 of the new land went to 3 St John content creators

[2016/10/18 18:12]  Gabrielle Riel: So far at least

[2016/10/18 18:12]  Gabrielle Riel: I don’t intend to add any more full sims to St John at this time. I don’t have any plans to add more homesteads, although I would love it if I could have my own personal homestead again some day. That’s not a priority. It would be a luxury.

[2016/10/18 18:12]  Gabrielle Riel: The new sims should make the estate even more boater and flyer friendly. We actually have some room in which to move now.

[2016/10/18 18:12]  Miss Kate: is content with my place...:)

[2016/10/18 18:12]  Kitty: your own Love Shack as it were

[2016/10/18 18:13]  Gabrielle Riel: You know me too well Kitty  ;-)

[2016/10/18 18:13]  Scout MacLeod: haha

[2016/10/18 18:13]  Kitty: hehe

[2016/10/18 18:13]  Miss Kate: lol

[2016/10/18 18:13]  Kitty: whispers: Waves to Pru

[2016/10/18 18:13]  Gabrielle Riel needs some damn privacy! Thank god for my Winterfell parcel!  ;-)

[2016/10/18 18:13]  Scout MacLeod: Hi Pru!

[2016/10/18 18:13]  Scout MacLeod: Hi Kylie!

[2016/10/18 18:13]  Princess Selena waves to Pru and winks at Gabi

[2016/10/18 18:13]  Pru waves hello to everyone

[2016/10/18 18:13]  Iliana Cerise: giggle, Gabi

[2016/10/18 18:13]  Gabrielle Riel: Tenancy is excellent right now. We are 95+% full almost all the time, with a few parcels that open occasionally. The vacancies are usually filled within a week or less. It’s a good balance of having just enough supply to keep up with the demand.

[2016/10/18 18:14]  Kitty: oh we all should chip in on a place in Winterfell then

[2016/10/18 18:14]  Scout MacLeod: hahaah

[2016/10/18 18:14]  Iliana Cerise: blows a kiss to Pru :)

[2016/10/18 18:14]  Gabrielle Riel: That is all I have to say about the “state of the estate”, so does anyone have any questions about this topic?

[2016/10/18 18:15]  Pru: :)

[2016/10/18 18:15]  Iliana Cerise: sounds like we are doing well!

[2016/10/18 18:15]  Kitty: are you good with where i am still?  the bar?

[2016/10/18 18:15]  Kitty: just wondering

[2016/10/18 18:15]  Gabrielle Riel: All is well

[2016/10/18 18:15]  Kitty: k

[2016/10/18 18:15]  Miss Kate: got just the right size parcel for myself...enough prims..and it's affordable...don't want to over extend myself since rock isn't on

[2016/10/18 18:15]  Scout MacLeod: I love my spot too

[2016/10/18 18:15]  Gabrielle Riel: I always keep in mind that anything could change at any time

[2016/10/18 18:16]  Gabrielle Riel: So while I am glad we are in good shape, I remain watchful

[2016/10/18 18:16]  Emmanuelle Huntress nods

[2016/10/18 18:16]  Gabrielle Riel: Right now I am hoping the L$ value returns to what it was before April 4.

[2016/10/18 18:17]  Princess Selena mutters a prayer for that too

[2016/10/18 18:17]  Gabrielle Riel: Because that is hurting estate owners and content creators

[2016/10/18 18:17]  Gabrielle Riel: My guess is that it will take at least 2-3 weeks for us to see the result of the buy-downs ending on Oct 4

[2016/10/18 18:18]  Gabrielle Riel: But I can tell you this, I am watching it daily

[2016/10/18 18:18]  Gabrielle Riel: Ready to move on to topic 2?

[2016/10/18 18:18]  Scout MacLeod: yup

[2016/10/18 18:18]  Kitty: yea

[2016/10/18 18:18]  Gabrielle Riel: Ok! Let's go!

[2016/10/18 18:18]  Iliana Cerise: aye

[2016/10/18 18:18]  Gabrielle Riel: The second topic is about a change I need to make to our covenant. This is the first change I have made to our covenant in over 2 years and it is due to our growth and expanded estate activities.

[2016/10/18 18:19]  Gabrielle Riel: I don’t know if everyone is aware, but we have a beach airfield in St John Beach. It’s for boat launching, or balloon launching, or airship launching or airplane take-offs and landings. It’s nothing fancy, just open space with a sign marking the airfield.

[2016/10/18 18:19]  Iliana Cerise: yes!

[2016/10/18 18:19]  Gabrielle Riel: If you would like to see it, feel free to pop over after tea: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/St%20John%20Beach/158/190/23

[2016/10/18 18:19]  Emmanuelle Huntress: and a backstop

[2016/10/18 18:20]  Kitty: a backstop?

[2016/10/18 18:20]  Gabrielle Riel: Prior to this year, St John was really not big enough for flying. And honestly, it’s still not like what you could do on the Mainland or in other massive estates. But! We are now big enough to handle air travel.

[2016/10/18 18:20]  Miss Kate: adds a crash proof roof to my house...

[2016/10/18 18:20]  Iliana Cerise: hee hee

[2016/10/18 18:20]  Gabrielle Riel: Sand dunes that function as a backstop for landings

[2016/10/18 18:20]  Emmanuelle Huntress fistbumps for Cajun Air

[2016/10/18 18:20]  Kitty: ohhh

[2016/10/18 18:20]  Gabrielle Riel: So people don't slide into the water

[2016/10/18 18:21]  Kitty: ahhhh

[2016/10/18 18:21]  Scout MacLeod: oh good

[2016/10/18 18:21]  Gabrielle Riel: So now folks can fly, but

[2016/10/18 18:21]  Kitty: whispers: falls in enough as it is

[2016/10/18 18:21]  Gabrielle Riel: What this means is that the space between the ground and our skyboxes is now more functional. Pilots usually have their draw distance up pretty high, 256, 512 and 1024 m.

[2016/10/18 18:21]  Gabrielle Riel: The minimum level for St John skyboxes is currently 512 m. Frankly, this is too low for air travel in the estate. Pilots see all of the skyboxes and can sometimes come close to them. I want to ensure more privacy for residents AND to “tidy up” the air space.

[2016/10/18 18:22]  Kitty: oh right right

[2016/10/18 18:22]  Iliana Cerise: ah

[2016/10/18 18:22]  Gabrielle Riel: What this means is that I am raising the minimum level for skyboxes in the estate to 1250 m.

[2016/10/18 18:22]  Kitty: k

[2016/10/18 18:22]  Gabrielle Riel: From now on, all skyboxes and build platforms will need to be at 1250 m. or higher. Skyboxes and platforms can be rezzed easily between 1250 m. and 4096 m. Anything higher than 4096 is rez-at-your-own-peril. That’s roughly the point when things can fall off grid.

[2016/10/18 18:23]  Emmanuelle Huntress: 3800 is actually the highest you can rez

[2016/10/18 18:23]  Kitty: ohhhhh

[2016/10/18 18:23]  Gabrielle Riel: ty Emma - I knew it gets fuzzy up there

[2016/10/18 18:23]  Emmanuelle Huntress: past that it tends to autoreturn

[2016/10/18 18:23]  Kitty: ohhhh

[2016/10/18 18:23]  Gabrielle Riel: No man's land air space over 3800 m. then

[2016/10/18 18:23]  Emmanuelle Huntress: 4096 is the absolute ceiling

[2016/10/18 18:23]  Iliana Cerise: ah, gotcha

[2016/10/18 18:23]  Gabrielle Riel: Too close to the 4096

[2016/10/18 18:24]  Emmanuelle Huntress: I flew too close to the sun and found out ;)

[2016/10/18 18:24]  Gabrielle Riel: I would like to give residents plenty of time to move their skyboxes (and this includes me btw! Mine are currently lower than 1250) so the deadline for this is October 31. That will give us about 2 weeks to move items as necessary.

[2016/10/18 18:24]  Scout MacLeod: ok

[2016/10/18 18:24]  Gabrielle Riel: Before you freak out and think “omg how will I pick up and re-rez all that crap”, I have a helpful hint for you. You actually don’t need to take anything into inventory (unless you prefer to do so).

[2016/10/18 18:25]  Gabrielle Riel: You can move the items by modifying the X, Y, Z values in the Edit Object dialog box. What I recommend doing is picking a new “altitude” and then just edit your objects the amount of the difference in distance between new and current levels.

[2016/10/18 18:25]  Scout MacLeod: ohhhh

[2016/10/18 18:25]  Gabrielle Riel is going to make you do math

[2016/10/18 18:25]  Pru (prudencejekyll): hahaha

[2016/10/18 18:25]  Kitty: oh damn

[2016/10/18 18:25]  Iliana Cerise: heh heh

[2016/10/18 18:25]  Kitty: she lost me at math

[2016/10/18 18:25]  Gabrielle Riel: You DO need to be careful when editing object X, Y, Z values though - a typo can shoot an object 2000 m. across the sim in the wrong direction! Something I have done MANY times! So, if you feel comfortable with this do it, if not, take items into inventory then re-rez...or do a combination of the 2 techniques!

[2016/10/18 18:25]  Miss Kate: keeps my feet on the ground...i tend to fall out of my sky boxes...lol

[2016/10/18 18:26]  Princess Selena: I could write up a note card outlining how I do my mass moves

[2016/10/18 18:26]  Scout MacLeod: oh yes!

[2016/10/18 18:26]  Gabrielle Riel: that would be *fabulous* Selena!

[2016/10/18 18:26]  Princess Selena: Will do it this evening

[2016/10/18 18:26]  Kitty: she just did a mass move hahhaha'

[2016/10/18 18:26]  Gabrielle Riel: yay! ty!

[2016/10/18 18:26]  Princess Selena: Ive been meaning to do it for my tutorials pick

[2016/10/18 18:26]  Kitty: or is doing it

[2016/10/18 18:27]  Gabrielle Riel: The 2 weeks between tonight and the end of the day on October 31 should be plenty of time for everyone to move what they need to move. Yes, it’s a pain, but it’s a growing pain due to the fact that we can do more (fly) in the estate now that we are larger.

[2016/10/18 18:27]  Scout MacLeod: no big deal

[2016/10/18 18:27]  Gabrielle Riel: Getting our skyboxes and build platforms above 1250 m. will make flying more user friendly for the pilots...but more importantly in my eyes, it will provide St Johnians will more privacy in their skyboxes.

[2016/10/18 18:27]  Scout MacLeod: is excited about the air space

[2016/10/18 18:28]  Kitty: yeah

[2016/10/18 18:28]  Gabrielle Riel: St Johnians are so laid back. I know everyone will be fine moving things.

[2016/10/18 18:28]  Iliana Cerise: ultimately a win-win

[2016/10/18 18:28]  Scout MacLeod: yes

[2016/10/18 18:28]  Eve Whiterose: IT will also mean the sky won't be full of boxes seen from the ground by those of us with 1024 draw distance. I'd prefer to look yo and see the sun or moon.

[2016/10/18 18:28]  Emmanuelle Huntress: yes

[2016/10/18 18:29]  Scout MacLeod: oh good point

[2016/10/18 18:29]  Kitty: here here!

[2016/10/18 18:29]  Emmanuelle Huntress: we saw a lot of shadows

[2016/10/18 18:29]  Gabrielle Riel: This is the estate of which 50% was originally built on an entire sim of people saying to me "sure, Gabi, you can change our theme totally and wel'll pick up all our stuff and let you redesign the sim"

[2016/10/18 18:29]  Iliana Cerise: smiles

[2016/10/18 18:29]  Gabrielle Riel: Those were ALL of the residents of the New Toulouse Algiers sim in Jan 2013

[2016/10/18 18:29]  Eve Whiterose: Taking them outside of draw distance also means they don't have to be rendered from the ground. That's lag reducing.

[2016/10/18 18:30]  Scout MacLeod: oh good

[2016/10/18 18:30]  Kitty: oh huh

[2016/10/18 18:30]  Iliana Cerise: good point, Eve!

[2016/10/18 18:30]  Gabrielle Riel: And we need to reduce lag more

[2016/10/18 18:30]  Gabrielle Riel: More people in the sims is good, but we are seeing more lag too

[2016/10/18 18:31]  Kitty: yeah

[2016/10/18 18:31]  Gabrielle Riel: Growing pains!

[2016/10/18 18:31]  Gabrielle Riel: Does anyone have any questions about this covenant change?

[2016/10/18 18:31]  Emmanuelle Huntress: 9 sims :D

[2016/10/18 18:31]  Kitty: im good

[2016/10/18 18:32]  Scout MacLeod: yes, no questions

[2016/10/18 18:32]  Princess Selena: we know, Kitty

[2016/10/18 18:32]  Gabrielle Riel: The other day a friend said to me "Gabi, you told me 2 years ago you were never going to go big."

[2016/10/18 18:32]  Miss Kate: you may want to include the stuff about breeables in the new sim covenents..

[2016/10/18 18:32]  Gabrielle Riel: Ooops  :-)

[2016/10/18 18:32]  Kitty: haha

[2016/10/18 18:32]  Scout MacLeod: haha

[2016/10/18 18:32]  Iliana Cerise: giggle, Selena... do we?

[2016/10/18 18:32]  Kitty: whispers: yeah you do

[2016/10/18 18:32]  Gabrielle Riel: I believe it's in there Kate, but I will check when i make the update

[2016/10/18 18:32]  Princess Selena: we do  *nods*

[2016/10/18 18:33]  Princess Selena: are breed-ables not allowed?

[2016/10/18 18:33]  Gabrielle Riel: I have a limit

[2016/10/18 18:33]  Miss Kate: oh ok...the last time i checked it wasn't in there or i missed it...

[2016/10/18 18:33]  Gabrielle Riel: 2-3 I think

[2016/10/18 18:34]  Gabrielle Riel: It is there

[2016/10/18 18:34]  Gabrielle Riel: Under General Zoning

[2016/10/18 18:34]  Miss Kate: ok

[2016/10/18 18:34]  Gabrielle Riel: * No farms for breedable animals. You can keep 1-3 breedable animals on your parcel, but no more than 3.

[2016/10/18 18:34]  Princess Selena: well there goes my plan to start up a dustbunny farm

[2016/10/18 18:34]  Miss Kate: lol

[2016/10/18 18:35]  Kitty: hahahha

[2016/10/18 18:35]  Scout MacLeod: haha

[2016/10/18 18:35]  Iliana Cerise: hee hee

[2016/10/18 18:35]  Gabrielle Riel: And finally! A relatively short topic as we wrap up - the St John Street Car.

[2016/10/18 18:35]  Princess Selena: those buggers build up so quick!

[2016/10/18 18:35]  Kitty: oh yes

[2016/10/18 18:36]  Gabrielle Riel: I am SURE you have all noticed that the street car has been out of commission for awhile. There are a few reasons for that, and I want to get it up and running.

[2016/10/18 18:36]  Pru: Yay!

[2016/10/18 18:36]  Gabrielle Riel: In order to do this, I am putting out a call for help to all of you.

[2016/10/18 18:36]  Kitty: miss it but dont miss getting run over by it

[2016/10/18 18:36]  Gabrielle Riel: I need decent trolley tracks. Yes, part of the hold up is that I am not happy with the trolley tracks.

[2016/10/18 18:37]  Iliana Cerise: lol

[2016/10/18 18:37]  Iliana Cerise: ah, kk, Gabi

[2016/10/18 18:37]  Gabrielle Riel: So St Johnians that build and St Johnians that like to shop - find me some trolley tracks! Or make them for me if you are able.

[2016/10/18 18:37]  Kitty: will keep an eye out for you

[2016/10/18 18:37]  Gabrielle Riel: I don’t have any parameters other than “trolley tracks”. I want to review options. I want to be able to evaluate what is out there in SL for era-appropriate tracks for us. If you see or find tracks anywhere - in use, in shops or on Marketplace, please send me pics and links so I can review options.

[2016/10/18 18:38]  Gabrielle Riel: If we can find some in mesh, or have some made in mesh, that would make me very happy.

[2016/10/18 18:38]  Kitty: k

[2016/10/18 18:38]  Iliana Cerise: kk!

[2016/10/18 18:38]  Scout MacLeod: ok

[2016/10/18 18:38]  Gabrielle Riel: It would also make me happy to find tracks that are historically appropriate. You can find 1916-1917 pics online at the Digital Historic New Orleans Collection. (http://www.hnoc.org/collections/digital-collections.html)

[2016/10/18 18:38]  Scout MacLeod: Hi Guy!

[2016/10/18 18:38]  Scout MacLeod: oh ty for the link

[2016/10/18 18:38]  Guy Holder: evening all

[2016/10/18 18:38]  Gabrielle Riel: The links to the photograph collections on the right should result in some pics of the actual trolley tracks from our era.

[2016/10/18 18:38]  Iliana Cerise: oh, cool

[2016/10/18 18:38]  Princess Selena: evening!

[2016/10/18 18:38]  Kitty: hi Guy have a sit

[2016/10/18 18:39]  Pru: If someone could make them in mesh, are aesthetics the only parameter?

[2016/10/18 18:39]  Guy Holder: ty Kind Sir Kitty

[2016/10/18 18:39]  Emmanuelle Huntress: I'd hope for low LI and good LOD

[2016/10/18 18:39]  Gabrielle Riel coughs as the cat leaves a cloud of powdered sugar in his wake

[2016/10/18 18:39]  Scout MacLeod: hahahaa

[2016/10/18 18:39]  Kitty: hahaha

[2016/10/18 18:39]  Gabrielle Riel: Yes Pru

[2016/10/18 18:39]  Gabrielle Riel: And what Emma said  :-)

[2016/10/18 18:39]  Guy Holder: Cut the Kitty some slack.... no opposable thumbs

[2016/10/18 18:40]  Pru: ok, I'll ask around.  :)

[2016/10/18 18:40]  Kitty: hahah

[2016/10/18 18:40]  Eve Whiterose: Due to size the LOD should not be a problem, except might need a bit more on the smaller curve pieces

[2016/10/18 18:40]  Scout MacLeod: haha

[2016/10/18 18:40]  Gabrielle Riel: We need some good trolley tracks. Once I have those I will be a much happier Gabi and will be able to design the route fully, which will get us “back on track” to having a functioning street car in St John once again.

[2016/10/18 18:40]  Gabrielle Riel: (yes, I went there)

[2016/10/18 18:40]  Scout MacLeod: haahah

[2016/10/18 18:40]  Emmanuelle Huntress: LOD at a distance might

[2016/10/18 18:40]  Kitty: hehe

[2016/10/18 18:40]  Emmanuelle Huntress: no collapsy mesh

[2016/10/18 18:41]  Gabrielle Riel: Does anyone have any questions about my trolley-track-hunting assignment?

[2016/10/18 18:41]  Kitty: nah

[2016/10/18 18:41]  Scout MacLeod: no

[2016/10/18 18:41]  Gabrielle Riel: Or any other questions that I have not yet addressed?

[2016/10/18 18:41]  Princess Selena: newp

[2016/10/18 18:41]  Gabrielle Riel: Gossip?

[2016/10/18 18:41]  Scout MacLeod: huh uh

[2016/10/18 18:41]  Scout MacLeod: perks up

[2016/10/18 18:41]  Gabrielle Riel: Rumors?

[2016/10/18 18:42]  Gabrielle Riel: Drama?

[2016/10/18 18:42]  Scout MacLeod: sits forward

[2016/10/18 18:42]  Kitty: well you had some

[2016/10/18 18:42]  Kitty: nothng here

[2016/10/18 18:42]  Gabrielle Riel always has some

[2016/10/18 18:42]  Kitty: except Zoe loves to cuddle thats all i got

[2016/10/18 18:42]  Iliana Cerise: heh heh, yes I noticed that on Facebook...

[2016/10/18 18:42]  Eve Whiterose: Still have that reworked trolley script with seating and a walkable interior.

[2016/10/18 18:42]  Gabrielle Riel: I am keeping that in mind Eve  :-)

[2016/10/18 18:43]  Eve Whiterose: If you give me the route, I can do taht part for you too

[2016/10/18 18:43]  Gabrielle Riel: That's what I want to put on our tracks once we have them

[2016/10/18 18:43]  Pru: Eve, you may need to design some tracks!

[2016/10/18 18:43]  Eve Whiterose: hahah

[2016/10/18 18:43]  Eve Whiterose: if nothing is found, maybe

[2016/10/18 18:44]  Kitty: ohhh yeah!

[2016/10/18 18:45]  Eve Whiterose: Would be easiest if I could try working on improving the impact of an example of acceptable aesthetics

[2016/10/18 18:45]  Gabrielle Riel: Well my dears, with no other information or questions, I hereby declare the tea over! Thank you all for coming!