Dark Alex's Really Long Post Thread.

[Alex]

Found out why my soldiers lack the Tam O'Shanter heads. They sent me a box of Commonwealth troops rather than 8th Army. Oh well, they will still do the same job.

Went from being a normal day at work to ending up volunteering to help run the cinema on camp. I'll be showing the new Dumbo movie on Sunday morning.

Go me then. Never liked the original cartoon (pretty sure it is my least favourite Disney cartoon), didn't plan on going to see the remake).

Cliffy at work hasn't booked tomorrow off to spend his daughters first birthday at home. We have been tormenting him over this, for example calling him a soulless monstrosity and pointing out that even for an engineer that is cold. He is starting to feel guilty. Printed out a picture of a plain white canvas hanging in a gallery and wrote above it "At the center of the universe is a place where nothing exists. No matter, thought or emotion can exist in such a negative plain. Scientists have come to call this place: CLIFFY's SOUL!" and stuck it above his desk.

In between philosophical debates this kind of thing keeps me amused.

[Alex]

Been trying to think of something a bit different for part of the D&D groups upcoming trip into the Underdark. Was trying to come up with something that they hadn't seen before. It's in the manner of a puzzle they'll have to solve. I asked for suggestions at work and got one that, well I've heard of before but I might just go with it. Because of the nature of the encounter, it couldn't just be a fight and I didn't want to go with another magical trap.

Spent most of the last two days tormenting Cliffy at work as he didn't take Friday off for his daughter's first birthday. Words like soulless monster have been flowing freely. Anyway, we have to have someone on callout at weekends and it is Swimboys turn to have the callout mobile phone. It was on 50% charge and we couldn't find the charger. I suggested he divert it to his own mobile phone and then if it ran out of power he'd still get any emergency calls. Cliffy thought it might not work, so the phone was diverted, and the work mobile powered down and then called. It rang fine. Cliffy (being a mech rather than a 'leckie), didn't understand how this would work. How could the phone forward a call if the power was off to it? I guess he's never set an alarm on his phone and then switched it off and had the phone power itself back on to sound the alarm. Anyway, I decided to torment him some more and told him that it was possibly done by the network and that the phone didn't have a tiny little man living inside who would divert calls and whatnot, and when he took photos it wasn't this tiny man quickly painting a picture. At this point, Cliffy told me he was going to ignore me.

Replied, well I guess I know exactly how your daughter will be feeling.

Kristi is out shopping today, leaving me and Ash. He threw a temper tantrum over not getting to play with his mum's laptop so he is currently 'enjoying' a time out. I put him in his cot until he stops screaming. I know he is a bit young, but I figure the quicker he starts learning tantrums won't get him his own way the easier it will be for us later on.

Watching Batman Vs The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Bit darker than you might expect. People actually die in it.

Anyway, Ash has quit crying so I am going to go get him out of his cot. Have a fun Saturday all.

[316zombie]

what are the odds of BOTH twin nieces hitting deer on their way home from their birthday party? no major bodily injuries, both SUVs are considered totaled.  so in a way, it was a good thing, they both need bigger soccermom-mobiles anyway. the weirdest stuff happens to my family!

[Alex]

Glad they are both are ok. Did fate decide to give them both venison for a birthday meal?

[Alex]

Leaving shortly to go try my hand at being a projectionist. The plan is that for kids movies this will be something the three of us can go to, although since no one really seems to fancy watching 'Dumbo' I am on my own for this one. The little cinema on camp gets films about 5 weeks after release. Hopefully it will turn out to be more enjoyable than the theatre club where I felt people took themselves way too seriously. Some people took that show far more seriously than any West End or Broadway production. I've been asked if I will put on a show ala Hale and Pace's 'Da Management', with the theatre club for the bosses mess summer ball, but we have guests from the US visiting that week so I'll be otherwise occupied.

Oh well, time to get moving.

[Alex]

Having a good day so far. Had a good sleep last night, fun morning and even managed to get a shower in peace. Ash has figured out how to open the doors to the shower so when he is awake it is a bit more difficult. Dark and heavy looking clouds hanging over us outside though. It stayed dry for my walk into work and hey, I'll take what I can get.

Got to role play last night which is always a enjoyable change. I don't quite have the need to be the centre of attention that people who enjoy being a Games Master seem to require to get the fun out of that role, but I am willing to take a turn at it now and again. This turn has lasted for almost two years now though.

With different things going on, we are discussing delaying our holiday to the US later this year, or just cancelling it and having a European holiday instead. Tempting to avoid the long flight with a toddler who does not like to sit still.

Cliffy is on nights this week so I can't taunt him more about not taking the day off for his daughters birthday. Unless of course I make up a poster. Cliffy has been getting called Clifford the Big Red Dog recently (an extension of Stresshead Jim calling him Cliffdog), so I'll just grab of picture of the dog looking sad, and write 'Clifford and the missed first birthday' and leave that on his notice board.

Got to do something to keep myself occupied when the Mongolian hordes aren't invading. Or whoever the big threat to western civilisation is this week. Funny how we never seem to run out of enemies. Indeed,  I have noticed how we normally prep the next big enemy a generation in advance. Wanna know who your kids will be fighting? Have a look at what countries your nation is interfering with / helping out (depending on your point of view) today. Maybe some Syrians will be p**sed off that we got involved in their civil war, or that we didn't interfere enough. Some country where the economy is tanking due to sanctions with some grudge holding citizens maybe? Experts don't seem to expect China to remain the big bad long and India's economy looks set to overtake their neighbours so it could be them, but India is more of a democracy. Still room for an argument on religious differences I guess. Trump's trade tarrifs are a vague possibility, but I don't think they are enough to set off the kind of bitter hatred between nations. More of a stepping stone on a path leading there than a big engine driving it.

Of course it will help if them and Pakistan don't decide to nuke each other.

Still, there is always the possibility that all the nations will decide to come together and work to solve the problems caused by climate change.

Let's not hold our breath for that one though.

[Alex]

what are the odds of BOTH twin nieces hitting deer on their way home from their birthday party? no major bodily injuries, both SUVs are considered totaled.  so in a way, it was a good thing, they both need bigger soccermom-mobiles anyway. the weirdest stuff happens to my family!

Oh, are you impressed that I avoided saying "Oh dear"?

[Alex]

1491 days left and we are by the half past year point according to the way some people track such things. Me, I am waiting for the end of the month, but hey xmas is coming and you only have so many days to get all your presents bought.

So what happened in 1491?

The ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo, Nkuwu Nzinga, is baptised by Portuguese missionaries, adopting the baptismal name of João I. Battle of Vrpile Gulch in southern Croatia: Forces of the Ottoman Empire are defeated by those of the Kingdom of Croatia. The pretender Perkin Warbeck begins a campaign to take the English throne, with a landing in Ireland. Seriously, who the hell follows someone called Perkin to war?  Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary sign the Peace of Pressburg, formally ending the Austrian–Hungarian War. An auto-da-fé (i.e burnt at the stake) held in Brasero de la Dehesa (outside Ávila) concludes the case of the Holy Child of La Guardia, with the execution of several Jewish and converso suspects. Reconquista: The Granada War is effectively brought to an end (and the Siege of Granada extended for two months) with the signing of the Treaty of Granada between the Catholic Monarchs of Spain and the Moorish Emirate of Granada. King Charles VIII of France marries Anne of Brittany, forcing her to break her marriage with Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, thus incorporating Brittany into the kingdom of France. The Truce of Coldstream secures a five-year peace, between Scotland and England. The Bread and Cheese Revolt breaks out in North Holland. A major fire breaks out in Dresden.

In the Russian territory of Komi (now the Komi Republic), annexed by Russia in 1478, copper and silver ores are discovered, and the territory gains importance as a mining and metallurgical center. Nicolaus Copernicus enters the University of Kraków.

And unknown to a lot of people this year would be the last before a chain of events lead to an invasion of immigrants that would violently depopulate two continents, end civilisations, start a multinational land grab and lead to the first true world wars (although they were not called such).

[Trevor]

The Bread and Cheese Revolt breaks out in North Holland.

That normally happens in my place two days before pay day 

[Alex]

Got woken up this morning by a headbutt.

Always good to set a positive tone for the start of the day.

Discussing Lego and Technic Lego with the new boss (Barry, Inhumanly Tall Dave's replacement) and the problems of getting enough time to rebuild sets after children and or pets have broken them. The joys of first world problems.

So trump is happy with how his state visit is going. Usual half arsed tweets going off before his visit that no doubt play well to his home support. I wonder what he'll do to provide some shock value during his trip. Can't imagine him not saying something controversial. While his visit might be getting plenty of media coverage, it seems the average person could care less. No one is mentioning it in casual conversation, not even the protests (normally you'd hear about the funniest ones). Sort of as if everyone has seen this circus for the past few years, the novelty has worn off and no one cares anymore. Even the tone of the media reports I would say is amused condescension.

With what the US has said it wants out of any trade deal with the UK I suspect that is an attitude many will come to regret.

1490 days left. Looking forward to the point where I am counting down from 1000 days.

In 1490 Anne of Brittany announces that all those who would ally with the King of France will be considered guilty of the crime of Lese-majesty. John of Kastav finishes a cycle of frescoes in the Holy Trinity Church in Hrastovlje (now southwestern Slovenia. No doubt as part of a move to secure her province Anne, Duchess of Brittany, is married to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor by proxy. The Ch'ing-yang event took place which is believed to have been a meteor shower or airburst that caused some casualties in China. Ashikaga Yos**tane becomes shōgun of Japan.
Perkin Warbeck claims to be the son of King Edward IV of England, at the court of Burgundy. Traditional date of the Battle of Glendale (Skye) between the Scottish clans MacDonald and MacLeod (the MacLeod's won but it was a Pyrrhic victory and they never truly recovered). Catholic missionaries arrive in the African Kingdom of Kongo. Pêro da Covilhã arrives in Ethiopia. Regular postal service connects the Habsburg residences of Mechelen and Innsbruck, the first in Germany. Leonardo da Vinci observes capillary action, in small-bore tubes and develops an oil lamp: the flame is enclosed in a glass tube, placed inside a water-filled glass globe. All Saints' Church, the Schlosskirche in Wittenberg, is begun. Chinese scholar and printer Hua Sui invents bronze-metal movable type printing in China, although the earlier Wang Zhen had experimented with tin movable type in 1298, and the Koreans had separately innovated bronze movable type. Tirant lo Blanch, by Joanot Martorell and Martí Joan de Galba, is published. Aldus Manutius moves to Venice. John Colet receives his M.A. from Magdalen College, Oxford. Johann Reuchlin meets Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. Merchants carry coffee from Yemen to Mecca. Battle of Chocontá: The northern (zaque) tribes of the pre-Columbian Muisca Confederation (central Colombia) are beaten by the southern (zipa) tribes.

[Alex]

Got Kristi to come onto camp today. Decided to cheat for lunch and we had a Subway each and then took Ash to the station barbers for his first haircut.

Bear in mind that Ash is a child who does not like to be confined or stay still. When he was a new born, even though we'd already discovered this and warned her about it, a nurse decided to try and swaddle Ash insisting that all babies like to be wrapped up that way.

Her attempt to keep him wrapped up lasted less than a minute when she realised he was strong enough to win that argument.

I've given it some thought, and I think the only way I could hold Ash still is by using a Greco-Roman* wrestling holds. Lot of muscle in that tiny frame.

After writing my post about men waiting for the D-Day landing earlier I was thinking about both my grandfathers and wither or not they were involved in that part of the war. Given their jobs, I doubt either took part in the initial landing but I could be wrong. I know one of them was evacuated from Dunkirk. My dad (spit) used to tell us a story about how my granddad had joined up, he had done so with his best friend from school. His friends mother had made him promise to look after her son. They were heading to the evacuation zone and his friend got shot. My grandfather stopped to pick his friend up and his sergeant pointed his weapon at him, telling him to leave him because he would slow them down. I never heard if his friend was picked up by the German's and given medical attention or if he died. Both of them died long before I really understood anything about what they'd been through and my own father had swapped his old man's medals for marbles or some such kids toys so I couldn't even find out what campaigns he'd been involved in from that.

*I was so tempted to spell this as Greeko-Roman just because I figure that kind of thing would set Indy's teeth on edge.

[justme2013]

Your mother's father was involved in the liberation of at least one concentration camp, I have not heard if he was involved in D-Day though.

[316zombie]

what are the odds of BOTH twin nieces hitting deer on their way home from their birthday party? no major bodily injuries, both SUVs are considered totaled.  so in a way, it was a good thing, they both need bigger soccermom-mobiles anyway. the weirdest stuff happens to my family!

Oh, are you impressed that I avoided saying "Oh dear"?

VERY! and yes, btw, they DID take the deer with them, got it butchered and kept some, donated the rest to the food bank. practical  people, my family, lol!

[316zombie]

btw, how was the projectionist experience?

[Alex]

I was just learning how to start it all up on Sunday. Tomorrow night I'll be showing Pet Semetery.