Alex's even longer post thread.

[Alex]

I was thinking about a tv show I used to watch as a kid. I'd come on after Dr. Who and I thought even though I watched it every week,I couldn't think what the theme song was like, so I looked it up, listened to it and thought "Well, that doesn't strike any memory chords at all". I listened to several different versions of the theme across the various decades the show had ran for, but nada.

Funny how the mind works, or in this case doesn't.

Listening to a free CD from a band that fled Russia and are now based in the UK after criticising the putin regime. They do symphonic power metal (what a s**t name for a genre. I mean I don't care for nu-metal but at least it was a short title) and well, it was free.

My brother is home from the gulf for a few weeks. He was asking when are next going back to the US. Both of us burst out laughing at that one. We then told him all the requirements to get in about letting them see all your social media, the last 5 years' worth of email addresses, and DNA samples and said fair enough, they can ask for that stuff, but I can equally raise a middle finger and say hell no. and spend my holiday money in less draconian places. I do think it is a shame that Kristi would not feel comfortable returning to the country of her birth. Then again, we heard noises are being made about forcing people from the US with duel citizenship to give up one or the other and I am pretty sure I know which one she'd choose if the issue is forced on her. Friends have been asking for advice on stuff to do when travelling to see the world cup. Our honest advice has been go see the games in Mexico and Canada. Football fans are pretty fanatical though and I can't see them being put off by the new rules.

A lot of people who haven't been there are in for a nasty shock when they try the domestic beers though lol. After my last conversation with the Rev about US beers I did do a little research and found several articles linking the problems with American beer with prohibition, but really it seems to go way back before even that and there was basically a decades long push for blander beer. I found quite a few articles talking about it, but if you are interested, here is one of them. Most of the other articles were pretty much the same with very little variation: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/06/12/why-americans-have-such-bad-taste-in-beer/. One thing I didn't realise was just how small the craft beer industry over there is (Bud Lite it seems outsells the entire craft beer industry). I'd assumed it was much larger than this indicates just from how available it was. This one has a slightly more technical aspect to it https://cookindocs.com/why-is-american-beer-so-bad/ The second article there was more what I was expecting, that it comes down to a difference in how they are brewed.

On a vaguely related note, I was sorry to hear about Jim Bean having to close its main distillery for the next year. I don't drink it often, but I do like it. I hope all the employees are able to be gainfully employed at another site or find other jobs. I understand why their exports are being boycotted, but I do prefer spirits from the USA over their beers and hope that they continue on for many years.

The free album turned out to be average at best. I'll give it another listen another time and see if it grows on me, but if I had to base things on my first listen I wouldn't say I am about to become a fan or go see them live.

New years is not far away. Not expecting to be up for the bells as Kristi has chemo earlier that day and I doubt she'll be feeling very well, so when 2026 comes I suspect I'll be cuddled up in bed with her.

[Alex]

So it is the last day of the year, and tomorrow is a brand new one full of fresh new beginnings.

What a load of old bollocks. Time continues on regardless of how we perceive it. If you want a new beginning, then make one, don't go by some pre-determined time set arbitrarily by someone you'll never meet and who died long before you were ever born. The amount of people who hit the gym in January and by March you never see them again.

Not until next January, anyway.

Kristi had chemo today. We hit the supermarket for a few things afterwards, but she was starting to fade so we headed home right after. Besides Ash was being very full on and demanding all my attention. I don't like having to shout at him, but he wouldn't stop acting up in the taxi on the way home. I do have to be careful how I give him into trouble due to his autism. I can tell him off, but I also still have to reassure him that he is still loved (normally, he'll ask for hugs. Autistic kids have 3 ways of dealing with being in trouble: coming towards you (hugs), going away from you (overwhelmed and needing solitude to process) or having a meltdown. Ash tends to come towards you, and if he doesn't get that, then he gets overwhelmed by emotion, thinking you are completely rejecting him and goes into a downward spiral where he'll struggle to keep control emotionally.

Hmm. I see trump is displaying his usual level of class.

Just over 90 minutes left in this year. Well, in advance, happy new year to everyone, and may you receive back what you have given out to others in the world.