Alex's even longer post thread.

[Alex]

Three words for you:  noise-cancelling headphones.

Unfortunately when you are accompanying a 6 year old, as much as they might be nice I am not convinced they would work.

Had an unusual today. Got a phone call asking from a friend telling me she was trapped on her boat and could I rescue her. She'd been climbing up her ladder and it had split beneath her leaving her stranded. Luckily I have my telescopic ladders which I was able to take down and save her. There is a wedding on camp today/tonight with the service in the base chapel before having the reception in the mess. Not how I'd ever choose to get married but diifrent strokes and all that. Hopefully when the drunken guests are staggering home they won't be difficult. I'd hate to have to do all the required paperwork if I end up shooting some of them.

[Alex]

Building the Nostromo.

Got my first short corridor and the computer room 75% done. I figured with he shape of the room, it would be a lot easier to show what it looks like before completing it.



The chair isn't the finished model, it is just a placeholder from a failed print. It does help hold the two sections together though until then.

[Alex]

Spent two days in a field in a RAF base guarding US navy assets as a member of the British army. Seemed odd that they (USN) would allow their crews to drive up to their aircraft in their civilian vehicles but I guess that's their choice. If I ever finally get round to buying a car I certainly wouldn't bring it into a military base as your insurance is invalid there for a start, not to mention what would happen if you crash your car into a plane.

Having a bad enough day myself today. Somehow I managed to leave the house with all the doors locked and my keys on the inside. Since the only open windows were upstairs I must have jumped out of one of them, landed safely on the concrete then completely forgot I'd done so. Then I managed to get some very minor burns on my hand while dealing with my 3D printer and some hot plastic spraying out. I am starting to suspect I should just retreat to my bed and spend the rest of the day in there.

I guess it is going to be one of those days where everything just goes wrong.

Anyway, work is continuing on my Nostromo model. Finished the cryo chambers and I am now working on the walls of the room. I am currently filling in the gaps in the joins where I'd to cut the template up, but I think it is coming along ok.



Off to an outdoor theatre tonight to see The Hound of the Baskervilles performed in the grounds of Elgin Cathedral. Hopefully that won't go as badly wrong as everything else has thus far today.

[Alex]

Someone mentioned about serving in the navy and picking up a tri-service medal. Hah, no thanks. If the damn boat sinks I am not swimming all the way home.

One more night to go and then blessed time off is mine once more. Winning at a game of Total War: Warhammer 3 at the moment. This has been happening a lot less recently since a major patch. I think the problem might have been that I was playing good races, while they've put in so many evil ones that you just get overwhelmed. Anyway, this empire is evil and has now spread across most of the world.

Spain and Japan are complaining about the number of tourists they get each year. Been to Spain, it was ok but nothing special. Other than the sunshine I am not sure why people would want to go there specifically. My most vivid memory was that it didn't matter what food we had in the hotel, it all tasted the same. Everything I could do there though was stuff I could do elsewhere, other than the bullfighting and I spent that cheering for the bulls. Japan is one of the few countries that I'd like to visit that isn't in a war, or under a totalitarian regime.

[Rev. Powell]

Spain is one of the countries I've been considering retiring to because of the climate, cost of living, relative proximity to other tourist destinations, and stable political environment.

[Trevor]

Three words for you:  noise-cancelling headphones.

Hopefully when the drunken guests are staggering home they won't be difficult. I'd hate to have to do all the required paperwork if I end up shooting some of them.

😳😳😂🤣😅😅🤣😂🐢

[Alex]

Spain is one of the countries I've been considering retiring to because of the climate, cost of living, relative proximity to other tourist destinations, and stable political environment.

I don't remember the full details, but I do remember a few years back migrants were having problems with the government seizing houses off them in Spain.

It is indeed easy to get around Europe. I'd advice looking for a place outside of the tourist regions, but then again it depends what you are looking for.

Oh, and I believe Spain also doesn't extrade people to countries if they will face the death penalty.  You never know when random bits of info like that can come in handy.

[Alex]

A woman Kristi knows from work is moving away. Her husband is in the airforce and is being posted on promotion. She is one of those people who is constantly whining about everything in her life and no matter what solutions are presented will only seek to come up with ways why those won't work rather than trying anything. I am quite glad to see her going. She invivted herself round to dinner one night. I was upstairs at the time when I heard Kristi letting her in the house. I started to count to see how long it would be before she started complaining about her life. I got to 3. She's been asking about borrowing some of our boardgames and we've been trying to come up with a polite way to say no.

I guess that is no longer a problem.

A few days ago she came over to speak to me while I was picking up Ash from school (I've successfully managed to discourage most parents from bothering me with their idle chit chat just by wearing my leather jacket covered in heavy metal patches, but some are more persistant than others). She was telling me how while this move takes them closer to where they want to be it isn't exactly what they want. I gave her some suggestions that if they act on them will allow them to move away 3 months sooner.

Having a child might have softened me a lot, but it hasn't made me feel any better about people in general.

[Alex]

Mum went home today. She seemed to enjoy her trip and the concert. I guess that was a win. I am glad I was able to give them a fun experience and good memories. Several times I saw my mum singing along and I got her up to dance (the band were trying to get people up to dance, the venue security not so much. Eventually they gave up and just let people have fun). Myself and Kristi weren't quite the youngest ones there, but there weren't many. I am willing to bet no one in the current line up was actually alive when The Drifters first started out. What the difference is between a band with no original members left, or even anyone from the height of their fame who only do old music and a cover band I do not know. They were good singers though either way. Kristi did a bit of googling and discovered they'd have over 60 members over the years.

I really should remember to book this week off work. Every year I mean to, but I very rarely get around to booking it off. I went up to the cemetary and put down a couple of fresh bunches of flowers. Saw my mum and sister off just before then, before heading back home.

No preachers managed to p**s me off on the way home by suggesting I beg forgiveness from Jesus. Its been a while since any of the street preachers tried that one. Then again these days they tend to cling more to doorways and hope that people come to them. Its better that way. Only the mormons still seem to go door to door. Funny that I feel that connecting Kristi to her church as a way of giving her an independant social circle from me would turn out to be a terrible decision and be a major step in moving her away from her religion. Evidently the judgemental attitudes and general self rightousness that was a factor in me rejecting christianity was not a localised thing or even confined to the churches I was brought up in. I met some nice people there, but the infighting and snobbery just made me not want to be a part of it. Of course, that was all secondary compared to the sheer boredom I felt at every service.

Boy did that boredom shape my future in many ways. I can track my need to multitask and be doing as many things as possible to keep me interested back to those Sunday mornings. Not being bored drove much of my career choices, although not in the ways you might think. It was always all about ways I could entertain myself, not about work that would interest me. That was more of a bonus. Then again, the long term goal was always to get the pension. How I got there was less important than the destination for a change. I could afford to take jobs others wouldn't as long as it aimed me towards that end.

Shame I couldn't get an embassay role somewhere. I think I'd have enjoyed that. Still all things considered I didn't do too badly. I never wanted to work in the same type of job twice and mostly avoided that.

If the exploding pagers is a move by Israel I would almost have to take my hat off to them, were it not for the untargetted nature of the attack. Still, if you hit first you can't really complain about being hit back harder.

[Alex]

Managed to finish up this years diorama for Kristi. It took about 2 months of work to make it, but over a year of collecting up the bits and pieces to go into it. I do have a couple of things I might add to it later on. I kind of want it to be like a Derek Riggs album cover where the more you look at it, the more things you find it in (peaking I feel with Stranger In A Strange Land). Two of the things I am thinking about adding are skulls falling from the back, lining the tracks behind the wheels and a mob of undead following the coach. Might wrap some vines around the trees.

Back view.


Front view.


Rear view.


Hidden cat.




Had a friend come round. We chatted a bit, talked about whatever and somewhere during the conversation asked if he could listen to The Ramones. Got their greatest hits kicking around somewhere. I never quite understood the affection for that band. They weren't punk, weren't rock. I'd describe them as soft pop with influences from other genres. Most of their tunes I find unlistenable, so I just said I didn't have any of their stuff. Since Ash was watching train stuff on tv, I didn't bother streaming it either. He can listen to wannabe's on his own time.

Joining the list of companies going out of business, it seems Tupperware is unable to compete with companies copying it and has filed for bankrupcy. They should have came up with some way of stopping the lids from going missing.

[Alex]

Looks like a nice day outside. Of course, spending it in a windowless room means we don't get to appreciate it any. One of the wargames (Bolt Action) I play is releasing a new edition today. I've preordered mine. I was hoping like some other people my boxed set would arrive early as I'd have been able to spend yesterday and today building the figures, but alas it isn't due to arrive until after I'd left for work.

One of the guys at work and who is the butt of many a joke made at his expense told me that he was getting a bit tired of it. I've not been joining in with the those ones, but I did have a word with the main instigator and mention that he'd told me he was getting a bit tired of it all the time. Hopefully he'll back off a bit, give the guy some room to breath. It does get fairly constant from the moment he arrives until everyone else leaves and then sometimes continues on social media. While its mostly been good natured (and funny), I think the sheer amount of stuff happening might qualify as bullying. I'd hate to see a complaint go in and someone be forced to move, or someone quit over it since we generally have a tolerable bunch here.

Six more shifts to do until I go on holiday. Looking forward to that. We'll be taking in 3 different countries and 5 states according to the current plan, although I am hoping for a surprise 6th one. We shall have to see how it goes though. I don't think we will ever beat our three European capitals in one day trip though.

Spent the day doing some writing and watching dubbed Italian horror movies from the pre-80s. The dubbing does not add to the performances I do have to say, but the writing was productive at least.

[Alex]

Got some good news today. When I joined MPGS I assumed that it would have a neglible effect on my current pension as I was already being paid a full one. Turns out I get an entirely seperate second pension out of the job. That is making me reconsider my plans about leaving at 55. I am seriously considering staying on until I am 60 now. Its actually making me feel quite cheerful.

Managed to seriously wind up Paddy today which has restored my faith in my ability to get to anyone no matter how normally unflappable they are. He was talking about how he is supposed to be going camping but the weather is going to be terrible. He is going to try and persuade his kid to go for a caravan instead. I told him he better watch out going all soft like that. People will start to think he is RAF instead of army.

Yeah that was enough to trigger him. He physically threw me out of his office. 

Now I need to get a photo of him without him noticing and photoshop it onto a RAF uniform, then plaster the place in printouts.

[Alex]

Another 4 days done and on to my time off. Grim and gray day outside. Autumn has arrived and winter is on its coattails. Or Storm Season pt 1 as I prefer to think of it. I am still hoping for gentler storms this year. The dunes on the west beach will need years to recover from last years damage. The local council sure as s**t isn't going to do anything to help matters until it is too late and the whole thing is biting them on the ass. Maybe we will get lucky again and central government will step in, but I'd hate to rely on that kind of intervention. That is the problem with elected officials. They don't have to have any competance, just win a popularity contest.

[Alex]

Decided to watch Farscape. Watched part of the first season when it first aired and then only the occasional episode after that. Didn't know that the actress who played the plant woman was the same one who played the warrior woman in Mad Max 2. Autumn is certainly here, although everyone is grumbling and claiming its winter already. Yeah right. What you going to do when the real bad weather arrives? Wasn't the finest example of a summer I've ever experienced, but I've seen a lot worse.

Poor Tony. He has started playing an online WW2 tank game and is discovering that early war German tanks are not very good against Soviet T34s and KV-2s. Right now his choices are between a Panzer III or a Stug 3. I've suggested the Stug, but either will struggle. Shame he can't take an 88 AA. He's decided to take my recommendation of switching sides and playing as the Soviets and is now sitting in a T-34/76.

Got the last of the plans in place for our next holiday. Going to visit a couple of places I've not been before. Got some other special stuff I am really looking forward too, but more of that later on.