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Alex's even longer post thread.

Started by Alex, March 19, 2020, 10:14:15 AM

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Alex

And the world continues its mass silence. Funny to think how much good everyone staying home is doing the rest of the world, just not us. Still, not to worry. Won't take us long to catch up on messing everything up again. Apparently, across the rest of the country, people aren't following the shut-in rules enough and tightening the rules is on the cards. I would imagine the cities are the problem.

Working on stuff for tonights game. Bandits, cultists, ghosts and families may (or may not) turn up tonight depending on where they go and how far they get. Hoping they will reach the lair of the next mini-big bad. It is always possible however that the group will run off on some completely random tangent. From talking with Ross I think he has finally figured out that going for a super high armour class will just cause him problems, but we shall see. I have no doubt he will be looking for some other way to make himself invulnerable.

Kristi and Ash are both sleeping. All is still. All is quiet. I am not going to complain. Alone time must be the hardest thing for people to get right now. I hate to think what this whole thing is going to do to the divorce rate worldwide. Or the murder rate.

Such is the world today.


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Still, it is important to take your pleasures and breaks when you can. I wonder how much more people will appreciate their everyday freedoms when they get them back? Keeping your mental health up matters just as much as your physical health. One can seriously affect the other.

To keep my spirits flying high, I am currently watching the conspiracy theories on the web, something I watch now and again when I am in the mood. They take one slim strand of proof, which can vary in quality from being a proven fact to just plucked out of thin air and then build this entire belief system around it. It really is quite fascinating to watch it grow and develop it, pulling in extra strands that add to the mythology and reinforce their pre-existing belief until... well it is almost like a religion. Indeed, I could imagine the start of a religion growing in very much the same way. Some of them I think start off knowing they are talking bollocks but they keep talking it for so long and so in-depth that they come to accept it as fact and only occasionally remember it is all just a hoax. Others fall for it straight off. You have a few random assertations, back them up with a weak fact base and off you go.

What an odd species humans really are. With so much in the world to discover and believe in, so many choose to believe in any old pile of crap.

Oh well, catch you all later. I am off to do some spelunking in the Hollow Earth.
Hail to thyself
For I am my own master
I am my own god
I require no shepherd
For I am no sheep.

Alex

#46
Yesterday Kristi told me she wants some more tanks for her US army. Since she already has 4 Sherman's including one with a Calliope mount I figured I'd look at the lesser-known tanks like the Grant, Lee & Stuart. Maybe a Pershing for late war fun.

Going to get me a squadron of Chi-Ha's first though. Then I can get some transports and we can play the Tank Wars rules.

We are going to venture outside today for a walk around town. It is a nice day. Just a shame we can't do the things we would normally do, like take Ash to the swings. While he is still generally his usual happy self,we are seeing bouts of frustration from him which might be regular two-year-old stuff or might be him reacting to this sudden change in his lifestyle. Going to at least let him out of his buggy so he can walk around a bit. People around here are pretty good at maintaining a bit of social distancing, although heaven help anyone who in our current climes tries to randomly touch him. I hate that at the best of times never mind right now.

Thought I'd take some pictures of the east beach, so if you've been missing the out doors, just imagine yourself there.














When this whole Covid-19 thing first hit the headlines at the tail end of last year, I watched its progress carefully. I saw it spread tentatively at first, and then growing like wildfire. And I waited. I waited to see what would be done. I looked for orders, for volunteer lists. I waited for signs that we were going to be ready to deal with it. I watched as some people declared that this was nothing, that the flu killed more people per year than this and with that they also declared they did not understand why this would be more of a problem. I saw those who thought this would all somehow magically disappear, not be a problem at all (well done there folks, you really hit that one out there park by the way). I watched for signs that plans had been put in place to deal with what was coming.

And I saw nothing. Not until after it had hit. Then all of a sudden there is movement, calls for volunteers, for people with 3D printers to make equipment, people to make protective clothing for hospitals. For over a month we sat there and did nothing. There were measures that could have been taken to limit its spread. Inconvenient ones to be sure, but ones that would have meant there was a lesser effect later on. Maybe behind the scenes, extra supplies were being bought in, but if they were nothing was being said publically. I am waiting on hearing the first "Lessons need to be learned," a phrase I have grown weary of hearing over the past twenty-odd years. It seems to mean yeah, this sounds a good thing to say while we don't actually do anything.

Perhaps it will be another 100 years before we see another pandemic like this one hits. Perhaps another will start next week. In either case, I do not see us preparing any more for the next one than we have for this one. I mentioned in a previous post that there had been a clap for the NHS event recently to say thanks. Tomorrow some people want to organise a clap for Boris Johnson, our sickly Prime Minister. The man who sat on his arse and did nothing and is now struck down with this virus. It isn't an evil thing looking to take down the bad people in the world. It isn't karma, it isn't justice. It is simply a thing and it doesn't care who it does or doesn't affect, but of all the people I could show my appreciation for, or give sympathy to he is pretty godsdamned far down my list. Yes, he has done some pretty good things now to help the country deal with it, yes I accept he isn't perfect and no-one is going to get everything right. I might go out for the clap for boris thing though. Not to clap, but to see who does. Maybe I'll glower at them when I pass them on the street. I am good at glowering.

Going to watch more Tiger King tonight. I am so disappointed that it wasn't a show about German WW2 tanks. Finally got Kristi's US jungle fighters painted up and the bases all sorted. Made up the hedges for our terrain collection today and am just waiting on them all drying.

Funny, I keep going to do a post without discussing Covid, but right now it just seems to be dominating everything in a way past events have not.
Hail to thyself
For I am my own master
I am my own god
I require no shepherd
For I am no sheep.

Alex

Got outside of Lossiemouth for the first time in weeks.

All the way to the town 5 miles away.

Most of the shops (as expected) were closed. I went to one of the supermarkets to pick up some stuff. Outside the shop, they'd made walls out of shopping trollies to control access to the store. Didn't get much, but then again I wasn't looking for much either. In one of the shops I went into, one of the workers commented that nothing I'd picked up was exactly essential supplies. I shrugged my shoulders and said, "I can in for essential stuff, but you didn't have anything important."

They didn't reply to that. What I'd really been looking for was some PJ's for Ash. He's been taking his top off while he is in his cot and then waking up in the middle of the night because he is cold. I was hoping to find him a sleeping suit, or bodysuit that would clip at the bottom, but they had nothing in his size anywhere.

Think I have picked up too many eggs for Ash. Every time I've been to the local shop I've bought him one and he now has a substantial collection. Eostre has indeed blessed him this year with extra chocolate to make up for being stuck inside lol. I am so looking forward to being able to take him to the park again and take him to the swings.

Finally getting around to catching up on Supernatural. Running through season 14, although in truth I can't remember what the last episode I watched was.
Hail to thyself
For I am my own master
I am my own god
I require no shepherd
For I am no sheep.

Alex

Do you have somewhere you consider to be your home? Regardless of where you go, it always feels special to return to this place?

I believe many people do, but it isn't something I've ever really felt myself. Throughout my life, I've moved an average of every 3 years. Going to see certain people feels like home, but a place not so much. Maybe this is just an extension of my inability to connect to vague symbols like flags or countries, or even something as nebulous as a religion. The other things I can at least prove exist, even if I feel no connection to them.

I've been posting a lot of videos and photos of Ash on facebook recently. People keep telling me that this cheers them up. I have no idea why my particular crotch Goblin should help the moods of others, but hey if it works then I am willing to participate. As long as no one requests anything weird like photos of him in the shower or something. I have the strange feeling that might actually get me angry.

I was picking out my daily selection of pills earlier. I no longer need to take my Allopurinol, but I have several months of supply. Metformin I am hoping to be coming off soon as my blood sugar has been heading in the right direction. Presumably the same applies to my Atorvastatin. Funny to think that I can turn up at a pharmacy say I need them and I get a three month supply that would cost people in the States hundreds if not thousands of dollars. You'd think as a species we'd have figured out looking after each other by now. I mean we've been kicking around 200,000 years. Yes, I know there are people who disagree on that, but tough. The proof is out there. Oh, and evolution is a thing. It is has been proven enough to no longer be a theory. If you want proof of it, just look at why so many people worldwide are staying indoors right now.

Intelligent design my f**king arse! The butthole is way too close to the VJ for that to have ever been a smart choice.

I was looking back through memories of the past years. Seven years ago today I was manually moving stuff into this house. That got me thinking about where I'd be right now if me and Kristi had gone with our original plan where I was going to quit my job and move to the US. Would I have been able to find a good job? Would we be struggling and panicking in case one of us fell ill and couldn't afford the basic healthcare? At work right now between P8's and Lightning II, we have a lot of people who have been over there recently and generally the opinion I've heard the most runs along the lines of "Thank f**k I don't have to go through the US health care system. I went through X experience over there and it was brutal." When I last over there (and oh does that feel so many years ago right now), my mother in law had gone in for a double knee replacement. I didn't think the system seemed bad (but then again I wasn't going through it personally), although I did get quite angry when Kristi had to go in for a bunch of tests and they couldn't find anything wrong and we got charged $1000 dollars for the privilege. She went to see a doctor when she got back to the UK and he identified what the problem was within 30 seconds. It took 2 to 3 years to sort out the payment. Not because the insurance company tried to avoid paying, but because the hospital just wouldn't take the damn money.

I think that fiasco has been sorted out, but I never received anything to say "Yup, money has been collected and all is sorted." For all I know they could just have decided it wasn't worth the effort to collect. Or they had an attack of a guilty conscience and decided since they had given such a p**s poor performance that they shouldn't charge for it. I have to admit though I consider that a fairly unlikely result.

Do you remember your first love? I doubt I will ever forget mine. I still remember exactly where I buried her.
Hail to thyself
For I am my own master
I am my own god
I require no shepherd
For I am no sheep.

Alex

Got up with Ash this morning. I had hoped the whole family would get up together, but Kristi had a rough night so I'd gotten up about 7 and heard Ash singing in his cot an hour later. Got him out of bed, cooked breakfast (eggs seemed appropriate) and by the time they were ready Kristi was getting up anyway. Gave Ash his first chocolate egg (a pagan one, natch), which being a chocoholic he devoured in short order. I did decide to be semi-responsible though and limit him to one egg a day.

He has about a weeks supply if we stick to that. I remember having a lot more eggs than that as a kid, but since he is only two I am going to limit him and not let him gorge himself until he feels sick. He did crash quite quickly tonight and before his usual bedtime. I'd prepped him a bottle and he saw it, grabbed a dummy (he only gets them when he is going to bed now), and headed upstairs. I followed and he was trying to climb into his bed, so I put him in and checked on his 5 minutes later. Poor kid was passed out already. He had slept longer this morning than he usually does, but he didn't get a nap either.

I see Boris is out of the hospital. Part of me was hoping he'd die, more to see how the situation would play out rather than particularly wishing he was dead because I don't like him. Not that I do like him or anything. I definitely don't like how he was being made out to be some kind of hero given that his earlier inaction cost lives and nearly his own. You could argue he has paid for that, but I don't think so as we fast approach 10,000 deaths. Sadly no one will ever know how many people have really died from this as not everyone is being autopsied. I can't imagine there are the facilities to do everyone. We will also never know how many people have caught it since not everyone is being tested.

With Kristi not feeling great and Ander's reporting in that he was sick too, I've called off tonights game. Wouldn't be fair on Mary and Val, given what they are getting close to facing. They are about to encounter one of the more minor league bad guy groups, one of the fringe crazy groups, equivalent to the more right-wing conspiracy nut jobs I like to read posts from. On the one hand, it makes me laugh, but on the other it makes me despair a bit for the species.

If she is feeling better tomorrow Kristi wants to do our next Bolt Action game. Her marine force consists of:

1*1st lieutenant (veteran).
2*US Marine squads (5 men each, regular experience).
1*Medic (regular).
1*Forward Observer (regular).
1*Engineer Team (8 men, regular plus Flame Thrower).
1*Bazooka Team (regular).
1*MMG (regular).
1*Medium Mortar (regular plus spotter).
1*Sniper Team (regular).
1* M7 Priest (regular).
1*US Marine squad  (8 men, one submachine gun for the NCO).

The M7 is pretty much a tank with a howitzer instead of a cannon. That will be a big threat to my infantry, but my anti-tank rifle might be able to take care of it, and if not... well I have my grenade squad. The bazooka and the Engineer squad are the threats to what the Japanese laughingly called a tank. The Forward Observer will be an issue. He is my snipers priority target. The two five men squads shouldn't be hard to suppress with my larger infantry squads and my mortar unit. Fairly confident I can wheedle any units out of cover if they are being a problem.

QuoteManiacs of World War 2

Simo Häyhä - The White Death.


Simo Häyhä's involvement in the Winter War was very extraordinary. With his Mosin-Nagant M91 rifle, he would dress in white winter camouflage, and carry with him only a day's worth of supplies and ammunition. While hiding out in the snow, he would then take out any Russian who entered his killing zone. Hayha preferred to use iron sights on his gun instead of scopes, as scopes had a tendency to glare in the sunlight and reveal his position. He would put snow in his mouth to hide his breath from being seen in the cold air. While he may sound like an ordinary sniper, this was far from the case: over the course of 100 days during the winter he racked up over 500 kills, earning him the nickname "The White Death". The Soviets feared him so much that they mounted numerous counter-sniper and artillery attacks to get rid of him, all of which failed miserably. However, on March 6th, 1940, he was hit in the jaw by an explosive round from a counter-sniper. He fell into an 11-day coma, awakening on the day that the war ended.

Simo's kills were believed to have been split roughly evenly between those from his sniper rifle and his submachine gun. Estimates place his total number of kills at 542, although he himself said it was somewhere around 500. On one day he managed 25 kills, his highest total for a single day.
Hail to thyself
For I am my own master
I am my own god
I require no shepherd
For I am no sheep.

Alex

You'd think that being mostly stuck in the house would make me glad to get out, even just to go to work, but no. The less I have to go there, the less I want to go there. It's a shame because years ago I used to love my job. Well, either way, I'll be heading in, in an hour or so. Letting Ash have a sleep just now and watching 'The Gingerdead Man' between now and leaving though.

Well, work was fun. Ended up working a bit later than usual to get everything cleared. One of the problems with us working half days every second week. If they keep giving me my full pay though I am not going to complain. Phoned one of the guys from work this morning just to check something and afterwards, my screen just went black. I couldn't get anything to come up. It was fully charged etc but was for all intents dead. Eventually, we tried calling it from another phone and it sprang back to life. I guess it is a software bug or something. Meh. I hate having mobile phones anyway. Maybe I should join the anti 5G mob and go destroy some mobile phone masts? I suspect there are several conditions the number of signals we have going through the air could be causing, but somehow I don't think Covid-19 is one of them. Got a friend of Kristi's who has made a post about how Covid-19 must be a bio-weapon designed to reduce the population. I have thus far resisted the urge to point out that it isn't very good at that, having a low death rate, plus the people it is killing are mostly the elderly who don't generally breed that much, so it won't don't do much to lower the growth rate for the population.

Besides, 9 months time I am thinking there is going to be a pretty substantial population boost. All those people stuck at home are going to find something to do to keep themselves amused...

Hopefully, the hospitals are getting some extra resources now that they can use to plan for that. I suspect not though. Right now I can't imagine there is much spare capacity to take on things like that.

We got a whole string of words at various times during the day from Ash. Wondering if he has decided he is going to start talking? My favourite is when he copies my impression of Randy Savage saying "OH YEAH!"
Hail to thyself
For I am my own master
I am my own god
I require no shepherd
For I am no sheep.

chefzombie

oh yay! i'm so looking forward to finding out what sort of accent he has!  :cheers:
don't EVEN...EVER!

Alex

12 weeks of staying at home. Work is going to try and figure out a way to get me a work laptop so I can do some working from home. The trouble is that all the laptops assigned to my section have already been given out and I need access to a system that I can't get to from home. I need to be at work to get into it and 99% of what I do involves this other system.

Kinda limits what I can do.

Time to spend some quality time with Ash, make a dent in my to be read pile and put my feet up then.  :smile:

I can also get the garden done and the garage sorted. Or at least tell the person who messed it up that they will be sorting it out.
Hail to thyself
For I am my own master
I am my own god
I require no shepherd
For I am no sheep.

Alex

So I got a phone call today saying that I might have been misinformed about having to stay home for twelve weeks, so I called the med-centre up and they said: "No, you are supposed to stay home, however, you can make the decision to come into work but it is then on your own head." I've made an appointment for a telephone call appointment with one of the base doctors and I'll get some professional advice before making a decision.

That's kind of a big one. First off my immediate thought is that no job is more important than my family, ergo I stay at home, but part of me wants to go back in and do the damn job they are paying me for.

Not a decision anyone else can make for me but it is a big one and requires a requisite amount of thought and consideration.
Hail to thyself
For I am my own master
I am my own god
I require no shepherd
For I am no sheep.

chefzombie

i know i can't make the decision for you, little brother. but i CAN BEG  . PLEASE STAY HOME!!!
don't EVEN...EVER!

Alex

#55
I'll wait and see what the doctor says, Barri. Most of all what I want to find out right now is what it is they think I have that puts me at a higher risk of a more severe case of this, as I know other people with the same conditions as me who aren't on this list. Then based on what he tells me I'll sit down and think about the odds and take it from there.

If it's a case of they say "We are advising you not to work, but if you choose to and get sick then it's all on your own head" then I'll be staying home for the duration.
Hail to thyself
For I am my own master
I am my own god
I require no shepherd
For I am no sheep.

chefzombie

don't be offended, buti hope they DO tell you at least that. and that you DO stay home. :cheers:
don't EVEN...EVER!

Alex

Not posted about this for a little while as I was letting my temper cool down a bit. After being told that I had to stay at home (which hey, I was making the best of and trying to make light of, although I was worried about Kristi having to be the one going out all the time), I got told oops, that was a mistake. You are fine to go outside. Now, I accept people are under pressure, they have a lot to consider and this is just me blowing off a bit of steam, but telling me I had to stay at home put my wife at extra risk and she does have a number of health conditions which come down to her home state of Utah having air that at certain times of the year can best be described as crunchy.

I was also looking at spending a few hundred pounds on exercise gear that to be honest we don't really have the room for, not to mention the wasted money that would have involved.

Anyway, as soon as I was told I was ok to go outside we took a walk. It was for some essential stuff (Kristi's medications). Was a really nice, sunny day too.

Still thinking about getting a stand for my bike so I can go for a ride without having to leave the back door.

Anyway, here are some of the pictures from the walk.









The 2 to 3 group charity that Kristi is on the board for has expanded its operations from a daycare to sorting out food packages and help for vulnerable people who can't get out to the shops. The community centre closed its doors as part of the social distancing and whatnot. Alas, that is where they kept their supplies, but luckily they were able to persuade one of the local churches (baptist) to let them use their building while they can't hold services. It has been a bit of an eyeopener for the churchgoers, some of whom were shocked to discover the level of poverty in the village, even in some cases amongst its own congregation. Indeed some of them are still in a bit of denial about the whole thing. That to me though is what religion should be about. Helping each other. All the bollocks about praising Jebus and so on can come later. Look after people first. Who knows, you might actually make more converts that way too than their current recruiting methods. Start earning the moral authority you claim but have rarely earned. Anyway, it is refreshing to see them helping out and I hope it leads to a change in ways.
Hail to thyself
For I am my own master
I am my own god
I require no shepherd
For I am no sheep.

Alex

Kristi decided she wanted to watch a charity fundraising show combining two of the annual fundraisers, Children in Need and Comic Relief. Both of them are for worthy causes, but as she was to find out they sadly lack in actual entertainment value. I did make a donation to them but I normally do that anyway without undergoing the torture that is watching their show. Apparently in the US these shows have higher production values.

Anyway, she was watching it because Alfie Boe was going to be on it and she loves his singing. Turned out he was on screen for maybe 30 seconds.

Got a nice long walk in yesterday. Ash brought Kristi his jacket, and then he brought his reins through so we figured he was dropping enough of a subtle hint.



That used to be the site of one of the local bars until it burned down. Supposed to be getting rebuilt, but as with all construction projects it has been delayed.














Hail to thyself
For I am my own master
I am my own god
I require no shepherd
For I am no sheep.

chefzombie

little man ash, and you 2, you spark my joy and gladden my heart. i hope you all know that. :cheers:
don't EVEN...EVER!