Alex's even longer post thread.

[Alex]

Feeling like crap today. I started feeling ill last night and I am now all sore all over.

Cheers for waiting until the weekend before giving me your virus Ash. He was throwing up in his bed this morning, I'd to run in and grab him out of his bed, then get him in the shower with Kristi coming along behind me cleaning up his vomit. He'd also pooped himself (something he hasn't done before since we moved him out of nappies).

Two of my D&D players had an in-game argument last night that became a real one. One of them threw his teddy out of the pram and stormed off. I chatted to his son a bit, the son chatted to the father, and then the father asked if he could chat with me. I really wasn't feeling well last night, but I sat up as long as I could talking things over with him. He's having a lot of stress in his real life and I think things just spilled over a bit. I told him if he needs to take a break and come back to the game later, that is fine, or if he wants to stop playing that is also fine. Anyway, he's apologised for his behaviour, sent a message to the other guy in the argument and hopefully, things will be fine next week. He did sound better once he'd let things out and got stuff off his chest.

Not just your friendly local Dungeon Master, but also an amateur therapist.

[ER]

Feeling like crap today. I started feeling ill last night and I am now all sore all over.

Cheers for waiting until the weekend before giving me your virus Ash. He was throwing up in his bed this morning, I'd to run in and grab him out of his bed, then get him in the shower with Kristi coming along behind me cleaning up his vomit. He'd also pooped himself (something he hasn't done before since we moved him out of nappies).

Two of my D&D players had an in-game argument last night that became a real one. One of them threw his teddy out of the pram and stormed off. I chatted to his son a bit, the son chatted to the father, and then the father asked if he could chat with me. I really wasn't feeling well last night, but I sat up as long as I could talking things over with him. He's having a lot of stress in his real life and I think things just spilled over a bit. I told him if he needs to take a break and come back to the game later, that is fine, or if he wants to stop playing that is also fine. Anyway, he's apologised for his behaviour, sent a message to the other guy in the argument and hopefully, things will be fine next week. He did sound better once he'd let things out and got stuff off his chest.

Not just your friendly local Dungeon Master, but also an amateur therapist.

I hope you fellas are doing better today. 

[Alex]

Feeling somewhat better thanks. As far as I can tell, everyone else is doing better too.

My knee seems swollen for some reason, but I should be fit enough to do my biannual check that I can shoot things, carry out basic battlefield first aid and all that s**t.

All else being equal it should be the last time I need to do it before retiring.

Retiring. I like the sound of that word.

Even if I still work afterwards, it will be under different terms and conditions and if I don't like what is happening I can say f**k you and quit.

I've got Ash watching The Rescuers. He really seems to like them.

[Trevor]

Feeling somewhat better thanks. As far as I can tell, everyone else is doing better too.

My knee seems swollen for some reason, but I should be fit enough to do my biannual check that I can shoot things, carry out basic battlefield first aid and all that s**t.

All else being equal it should be the last time I need to do it before retiring.

Retiring. I like the sound of that word.

Even if I still work afterwards, it will be under different terms and conditions and if I don't like what is happening I can say f**k you and quit.

I've got Ash watching The Rescuers. He really seems to like them.

Glad to hear that you're feeling better.

Regarding the R word, I'm more and more sure that I want to retire early: my payout will be sizable so I think I am ready.

I just have to sort my medical (and Mom's) aid out: I went here for advice www.hippo.co.za.

[Alex]

Well, that is CCS all done and finished with. Forever. From the sounds of things, I got in there at just the right time as they are bringing nerve agent exposure back in, in a few weeks. Helps make sure you do all your drills right.

So Germany is going to increase its defence budget to a level that is higher than Russia currently has. In truth, the Russians would have struggled to meet an increased level of spending even before the sanctions. A few years back, Putin had to very quietly cut the military budget while the price of oil was low. Since he runs a very corrupt country that I don't even know why it even has the pretence of being a democracy on any level, I can't say I am surprised that his military reforms haven't gone quite as he expected. An army that doesn't want to fight isn't going to win. I suspect Russia is going to have to rely even more on making threats with its nuclear arsenal. After all, who is going to be afraid of their conventional military after this debacle? They have a curious mixture of the ultra-modern right beside cold war relics (not exactly the only military in the world to do that. I mean look at how old some of the planes in service in the USAAF are, and they even have one particular aircraft that might just see a full 100 years of service. That is fine for bombing the hell out of poorly equipped rebels, but I'd hate to be in one for a proper war regardless of what regular life updates the equipment on board may have had). Unusually for the RAF, I think most of our antiques are out of service. At a guess, I'd imagine Chinooks, Hawks or Hercs are our oldest in service airframe (not counting the Battle of Britain Ceremonial flight, which if we ever send into combat means that everything else has gone up in smoke). Odd to think that Sutherlands (or was it Shackletons?), were still in service until not that long before I joined up. Finland is also set to announce in the next few weeks if it is going to formally apply to join NATO and Sweden is also considering joining. Since the end of the Cold War, people have questioned whether NATO still has a role in the world. I wonder how many of those people wondering that also did not understand why new countries were clamouring to join?

Hell, the other day just after it was the RAF's 104th birthday it occurred to me that I'd been in it for roughly 20% of its existence. I've been a member of its most famous combat squadron and I've managed not to get blown up or shot across 5 wars. I'll take that over any amount of medals. I keep thinking back on all the places I've worked, the things I've done, what they've meant to me and the part that has played in larger world events. None of it is enough to make me want to stay. Throughout my career, I've always heard people say "When it is time to leave, you just know." Pretty sure that is where I am right now.

My rifle accuracy was not as good as the last time I did it when I managed a 14mm spread. This time, it was more like 42mm, which is still good enough to pass. I just couldn't make myself care enough though. I got in the right positions, held the weapon correctly and did all the good stuff, but it was all purely mechanical with no particular care behind it for the result. Afterwards, I was putting my NBC kit away and thinking "Not going to need any of this stuff again (unless a major war kicks off). That was a good feeling. I get extra leave and stuff in preparation for exiting. It means that you effectively have two exit dates. Your first is your last working day, which is your last day in uniform and then the day all that extra stuff expires and you are back on civvy street. If I did things in a specific way, my last working day would be roughly 53 weeks away. Gives me time to sort out getting a civilian house, look for a job and so forth, but my first plan is to go on a holiday. It won't be one to the US, just a family trip, somewhere we haven't been before together. We do have a trip to the states planned next year. After all, it has been 5 years since Kristi last saw her family and Ash should get to meet that side of his family.

Yes there are a lot of challenges out in civvy street. Energy prices are rising, food too. Thing is, there is never a good time to leave. There is always some national or international crisis that says "You should stay in". That is all great until the day the powers that be decide that they no longer need you and put you out regardless of what the world situation is. I've been through 3 periods where they have decided to cut our numbers (and we were involved in wars for all of them). Ultimately the reason for me leaving might not make a difference to the world at large, but it feels good to me that I am leaving on my own terms and when I want to.

[indianasmith]

I just want to say, tonight my family and I watched NOAH'S SHARK on your recommendation.
So if you get near my wife or daughters, you might want to keep your Kevlar handy.

[Trevor]

Ultimately the reason for me leaving might not make a difference to the world at large, but it feels good to me that I am leaving on my own terms and when I want to.

I have the same issue:  my bosses (especially my mentor) are begging me to stay but I feel I have to go both for Mom and myself. I have a sizeable fund and I am scared that I will lose it through political shenanigans like Dad did.

[Trevor]

I just want to say, tonight my family and I watched NOAH'S SHARK on your recommendation.
So if you get near my wife or daughters, you might want to keep your Kevlar handy.

+ 

[Alex]

I just want to say, tonight my family and I watched NOAH'S SHARK on your recommendation.
So if you get near my wife or daughters, you might want to keep your Kevlar handy.

Please note, that I have not watched that movie. It just struck me as possibly a good religious movie along the lines of 'The Robe' when I saw it advertised. 

[Alex]

We have having some moderate snow. It is lying on the grassy areas, but the streets themselves are too wet for it to lie there.

Winter is not done with us yet. I've seen snow here in the middle of May (well ok, I didn't actually see it. I was on a course down south at that time and it was a gloriously warm summer there that year, but I heard all about the snow up north).

My upset stomach game back with a vengeance this morning. Six trips to the toilet within an hour first thing this morning. I think the only reason I got to stop sprinting to the toilet was because I have nothing left to give. Still, it means I am off work until Thursday. w00t!

Encouraged by Indy's review, I went to watch Noah's Shark on Amazon, only to discover it wasn't available. I guess I am just going to have to miss out on that cinematic treat for now.

I wasn't able to sort out a tour of the local brewery in time for our visitors coming next week (a work thing), so I've booked them on a tour of a nearby distillery instead.

[indianasmith]

I found it free on Prime, but I think availability may vary in different countries.

[Alex]

Reports put the damage done to the Russian economy by sanctions at about a 15% contraction, which I think more or less puts it back where it was before he came along. That misstep, more than anything else I think is what would put him out of power*. With its size and natural resources, I'd say it was a matter of time before Russia built itself up from its '90s nadir. Putin may have just been lucky enough to be the man at the helm while this happened, or it might have been down to his policies. That is something I'd need to look into more before I could really post an informed comment on. I do know because of his practises, a lot of western companies ended up being very wary of investing money in the region. A number of oil companies for example were encouraged to go into projects in partnership with Russian companies. They'd come up, set up all the infrastructure and then find that they were then squeezed out of the deal by what we could call aggressive business and legal practices.

*Unless the rumours of his ill-health are true.

It must be said though, that even though he did oversee a big improvement in Russia that has to be balanced with the fact that a country the size of the Russian Federation, had an economy roughly equal to that of Italy (subject to variations in the price of oil) prior to the seizing of parts of Ukraine 8 years ago and that I believe that improvement could and should have been a much greater one.

It would be interesting to look back some years in the future and see how his legacy panned out.

[Alex]

Ash has decided to start collecting his own set of dice. The local games store put in a gumball type machine that dispenses them and every time we take him in, he needs to get one.

Anyway, I bought him a dice box in the shape of a Mimic. He absolutely loves it and gets upset if I try to put it away. I was figuring he'd hate it, but use it when he got a bit older.






Still off work ill. Not upset about it though, because well I am off work.

And yes Barri, I deliberately posed the photo so you couldn't get the full title of any of the books.  

Got Mormon missionaries coming around tonight for dinner. I wonder if they will manage not to get lost en route and require rescue. That would make a nice change. You'd think people coming from such a big country wouldn't have a problem getting around a small one, but apparently they do. I am somewhere over 20 American's I've had to go find from wherever they've ended up in Lossiemouth. Kristi is making cheese and potato soup for them along with Yorkshire puddings (although they aren't puddings, more sort of a pasty dish, but not quite).

Oh wow, they just arrived. Congratulations on finding the right path.

[Alex]

While I've been off work sick, Kristi has frequently decided she can pop out without Ash. Now if she takes him and drops him off at nursery, things are fine. If I take Ash out and mummy stays home this is also acceptable. Should however Kristi leave the house without Ash, then I am left with a tiny demon who will constantly scream his lungs out. By Tuesday I was dropping hints (but stopped short of saying it directly), that I needed a break and could she take him out with her the next time, but this didn't happen.

This culminated on Thursday evening with Kristi getting a call from me telling her that I was really struggling to keep my temper in check and that she had to get home right now. I had tried everything I could think of to calm Ash down or cheer him up, but nothing was working. He has a little sportscar bed, and at the back of it, there is a spoiler fin-type thing. He decided to headbutt it, and now has a bruise running across his cheek and up the side of his nose. At least he didn't split his head open this time. I really wish I could get him out of this habit of headbutting things when he gets upset.

Couldn't get the local brewery to do a special tour on a Tuesday (they are normally only available on Thursday and Fridays, something like that). I did manage to get us into a local distillery for a tour and free tasting session, so something special has been arranged for the visiting boss that we like. For the other one who is coming later in the month... well I don't want to do anything with him.

[Alex]

Seem to be feeling physically better today, although mentally I still feel just drained, exhausted, worn out and done.

I just need some space to recharge my batteries and I'll be fine.

Gave my D&D group 4 choices based on what they've been doing so far and asked them which one of the four they'd like to do next:

Dark Alex — Today at 9:41 PM
And I need actual answers there, not just "Go with whatever the rest of the group wants." (edited)

Zayel — Today at 9:42 PM
Can we combine A&C? With the option of finding Bellaq down after

Dark Alex — Today at 9:53 PM
All these options involve going different places. Blind Bob's trail will take you out of the city in one direction. The trading company another direction. Freeing Baldur's Gate keeps you there and Bellaq will take you to the Moonshae Isles.

Well, it is closer to a straight answer than I normally get. That is progress right?