Alex's even longer post thread.

[chefzombie]

Your house is full of more junk than mine! 

ftr, i'm still and will always be obsessed with the baby demon!

[Alex]

Nikki has decided to join in on my next D&D campaign, so she came over today to create a character. She's went with a half orc barbarian who isn't very intelligent. We also played a game of Blood Bowl, her Chaos team versus my Dark Elfs. I absolutely kicked her arse.  Her poor Chaos Beastmen and Warriors were just no match for the ultraviolence I tend to unleash. No one expects Dark Elfs to go toe to toe with the heavier armoured teams out there and I've found when I do it, I win. Of course Nikki puts it down to her bad dice rolls, but to be honest I didn't think she was doing that bad luck wise.

Yup, it was superior talent all the way. 

Kristi managed to get her training started. She is in for a few hours tomorrow and then a full day on Friday. After that she'll have a couple of weeks shadowing other workers and then she starts her regular hours. It is only supposed to be 25 hours a week but with plenty of room for overtime should she wish it.

[Alex]

I did have things planned to get done today. I had not long started them when I got a message from a friend telling me they had an urgent problem and I was the only one who could possibly help them.

Anyway, I did what any good friend would do and sent them a list of detailed instructions on how to remove fingerprint evidence and bloodstains, gave them a list of things to pick up so we could dispose of a body and hasten its decomposition, best ways to dismember the body for easy disposal and where to meet me so we could get rid of the body somewhere that it would never be found. All that kind of stuff. Turns out though that this wasn't the problem they needed a hand with. It was just transferring money around between accounts.

Some people just have no appreciation.

Anyway, I had to head into Elgin to help them out which threw all my plans off. The dishes aren't done, the laundry still needs cleaning, I didn't get any writing done and I certainly didn't get the forms completed that I had intended to do. That will have to go on tomorrow's to-do list. Still, my friend really did need help. If I hadn't gone out there, they'd have ended up with bank charges that they simply couldn't afford to pay. I am starting to notice the cost of living crisis we are currently having myself. Thus far the benefits of my job and the lack of owning a car have meant it hasn't really impacted too much on our lifestyle. Still, as long as I get the job I am going for, with that wage, Kristi's wage, and my pension on top of it all we should be back to the previous status quo.

While I was in town I decided to buy myself a tank (for some reason if my day gets thrown off, I buy a tank to relax. Kristi tends to buy shoes when she is upset). They didn't have any that I didn't already have, so I improvised. I bought a German 88, and some Soviet log cabins. I figure I can put the gun inside the house and that counts as an armoured vehicle  .

[Trevor]

I did have things planned to get done today. I had not long started them when I got a message from a friend telling me they had an urgent problem and I was the only one who could possibly help them.

Anyway, I did what any good friend would do and sent them a list of detailed instructions on how to remove fingerprint evidence and bloodstains, gave them a list of things to pick up so we could dispose of a body and hasten its decomposition, best ways to dismember the body for easy disposal and where to meet me so we could get rid of the body somewhere that it would never be found. All that kind of stuff. Turns out though that this wasn't the problem they needed a hand with. It was just transferring money around between accounts.

Some people just have no appreciation.

Anyway, I had to head into Elgin to help them out which threw all my plans off. The dishes aren't done, the laundry still needs cleaning, I didn't get any writing done and I certainly didn't get the forms completed that I had intended to do. That will have to go on tomorrow's to-do list. Still, my friend really did need help. If I hadn't gone out there, they'd have ended up with bank charges that they simply couldn't afford to pay. I am starting to notice the cost of living crisis we are currently having myself. Thus far the benefits of my job and the lack of owning a car have meant it hasn't really impacted too much on our lifestyle. Still, as long as I get the job I am going for, with that wage, Kristi's wage, and my pension on top of it all we should be back to the previous status quo.

While I was in town I decided to buy myself a tank (for some reason if my day gets thrown off, I buy a tank to relax. Kristi tends to buy shoes when she is upset). They didn't have any that I didn't already have, so I improvised. I bought a German 88, and some Soviet log cabins. I figure I can put the gun inside the house and that counts as an armoured vehicle  .

Call me if you need some assistance 😉😉

[chefzombie]

I did have things planned to get done today. I had not long started them when I got a message from a friend telling me they had an urgent problem and I was the only one who could possibly help them.

Anyway, I did what any good friend would do and sent them a list of detailed instructions on how to remove fingerprint evidence and bloodstains, gave them a list of things to pick up so we could dispose of a body and hasten its decomposition, best ways to dismember the body for easy disposal and where to meet me so we could get rid of the body somewhere that it would never be found. All that kind of stuff. Turns out though that this wasn't the problem they needed a hand with. It was just transferring money around between accounts.

Some people just have no appreciation.

Anyway, I had to head into Elgin to help them out which threw all my plans off. The dishes aren't done, the laundry still needs cleaning, I didn't get any writing done and I certainly didn't get the forms completed that I had intended to do. That will have to go on tomorrow's to-do list. Still, my friend really did need help. If I hadn't gone out there, they'd have ended up with bank charges that they simply couldn't afford to pay. I am starting to notice the cost of living crisis we are currently having myself. Thus far the benefits of my job and the lack of owning a car have meant it hasn't really impacted too much on our lifestyle. Still, as long as I get the job I am going for, with that wage, Kristi's wage, and my pension on top of it all we should be back to the previous status quo.

While I was in town I decided to buy myself a tank (for some reason if my day gets thrown off, I buy a tank to relax. Kristi tends to buy shoes when she is upset). They didn't have any that I didn't already have, so I improvised. I bought a German 88, and some Soviet log cabins. I figure I can put the gun inside the house and that counts as an armoured vehicle  .

 i bought an immersion blender today. i don't need an immersion blender at all. BUT. i can check it out and then send it to sid vicious, who DOES need one. i have to get past the " buy" need when i'm depressed.

[Alex]

Sat downstairs today working on the laptop rather than upstairs in the mancave. Felt like spending more time with Kristi and Ash. I needed to do some work on the laptop anyway since it was taking too long to start up, shut down and just generally running too slow. Turned out the thing that improved its performance the most was ripping WhatsApp off of it.

Yeah, people will just have to contact me some other way, like phone, text, email, skype, facebook, facebook messenger, discord and so on and on.

Really, why do people think they need so many different chat programs? Just pick one people!

Also pulled all the programs off that I'd been using for work. Don't need to program in Python any more. I tried to get interested in programming, but it just really wasn't ever going to happen for me as something I'd enjoy.

Sitting with Ash, introducing him to some of my music. He gets to listen to a lot of Kristi's stuff, but I think its a good time to broaden his horizons. We are listening to some Blue Oyster Cult at the moment (Godzilla). Warm but very wet day outside. Kristi did her first full days work in a job for 10 years on Friday. It has left her
rather tired. Well, she is going to have to get used to that.

I am noticing a pattern in the movies I've been watching recently. By the time they finish I am generally thinking "Yeah, that was ok but it could easily have been so much better." It feels like they are just almost all underdone. I wonder what has brought on this mood?

I started a new D&D campaign last night. I've started a new tradition that I just decided on about 10 minutes before the game started. I'll drink a toast to the group from my D&D-themed glass and say "To those who are about to cry, I will bathe in the tears of your pain and frustration!" That should help manage their expectations. They surprised me a lot by not getting arrested and entering the arena games voluntarily. I gave them a fairly easy first fight and of course Matt almost died (the first hit of the first combat was a critical that rolled maximum damage. This happens a lot more often than the odds say it should), going in one hit from undamaged to instantly lying on the ground fighting off unconsciousness.

That man has the survival instincts of something that went extinct a very long ago.

Looks like a "big" scandal is breaking in the world of board games. Some YouTubers running a channel that I've never heard of before appear to have been caught out demanding $7500 from a games company to give one of their products a good review. Doubtless, further details will be rolled out soon. I did some googling about the channel and it seems to give a lot of people "bad vibes".

[chefzombie]

i've never understood that either. i get" don't you have?", no, i don't. you can call me, don't bet on an answer so leave a voicemail. you can text me, and i might see it within 24 hours, but don't hold your breath. or you can send me a facebook message and THAT, i'll notice. no, you aren't going to convince me to a livestream " see my face"  chat, ever, so don't try. no, i'm not putting more crap on my phone or laptop, so deal with it. if all else fails, write me a damned letter!

[Alex]

Binging out on horror films that I've not seen before this week. I just finished Studio 666 and followed it up with Titanic 666 (just by coincidence. No planning was involved there).

Working on D&D stuff while I watch. Decided to throw in a little bit of a movie reference just to see if the players notice or not.



This is just a break area the players hang around in, in between gladiatorial combats. Having keyboard issues on my PC so I am using my laptop at the moment. I'll pick up a new keyboard tomorrow. I was going to get one today, but events overtook me and by the time I'd dealt with everything I needed to do it was too late. Kristi is currently being exhausted. Her new job is wearing her out. She's gotten used to not working for the past 10 years, so having to do so now is being a bit of a shock to her system. The party are the group in the middle of the picture.

Really not enjoying the Tuesday night game I am playing in. It is a new system to our group and I'd just leveled up after the last session. Ended up telling the GM just to pick some abilities at random to give me as what they have in the book as choices were rather uninspiring to say the least. I don't feel like I am leveling up some one-day epic hero. Mentioned to the DM that I'll be trying to get my character a custom-made suit of armour. He started talking about magic gear and I explained I wasn't looking for magical gear, more something custom-made and designed in such a way as to intimidate my enemies (my character has the ability to potentially defuse a fight or frighten his opponents with his stare), and I wanted armour that would go along with this. Took half an hour or so to get him to understand I didn't want something magical, but we got there in the end. Imagine a medieval Batman.

I took Ash up to the school he'll be starting after the summer. They were doing an assembly for the incoming kids. Since the nursery teachers were short of one person to help walk the kids back I offered to help out. We are having him assessed for autism. The doctor has said she could see signs of it, but it was that he is very high functioning. I know lots of parents who have been in similar situations but decided against finding out what was wrong. They all said the same thing. They didn't want a label put on their children. Sometimes I wonder if it was more that they didn't want to admit that their children had some kind of condition that they needed help with. In later years all of them have said that they wished they had gotten their kid help when they were young. I've always learned a lot from watching other parents, even before I had my own. Sometimes I see things and think "That is really good. I should use that one myself" (although this was more in regards to watching other people's kids when babysitting), and sometimes it is more "Yeah, that is stupid. You are going to pay for that one when your kid is older."

Do you know which single human activity is the most productive things we can do? A clue is that Edwin Starr was very wrong. Got it? If not, it is warfare. Technology never moves as far as it does during wartime. Millions of people will come together to work towards a single aim, even if not all of them agree with it. Going to war is so built into our very being, that not doing it causes an imbalance in the number of male-to-female-humans. Look at how much aircraft progressed between 1918 and 1939. Then have a look a how much they changed from 1939 to 1945. Huge advances in the treatment of injuries were made during the whole Afghanistan debacle.

What a damn shame we couldn't put all that effort into something more productive.

During my years in the military, I noticed several things. One of them was that soldiers will fight when they are short of food, they will hunt and scavenge for themselves. They will find a way. If they are short of equipment (indeed the best soldiers are the ones that learn how to improvise and how to deal with getting things done when they don't have what they need), they will make do with what they have. If they don't have weapons, they will improvise and make new ones. Leave them without ammo though, and they will surrender. The Afgan army was a prime example of this. Units fought against the Taliban until they ran out of ammunition, and then were left with no choice but to surrender. Lots of reasons as to why they ran out. They'd been given a hideously complicated supply procedure that would work well with an advanced nation, but in the rough terrain of that country was completely unsuited and inadequate for their military needs. Teaching them to rely on airpower and then pulling it all away from them didn't help either. I hope the US learns from its mistakes there in future conflicts. I think it's 50/50 though whether they do or people who said that it wasn't a defeat for them and it was the Afghan's fault for not being willing to fight. Afghans were willing to fight for their country. In the end, they just lacked the means. Still, I would not say either that the Afghan government was innocent. A bit more focus on their country and less on lining their own pockets wouldn't have gone amiss. The only way you can really improve your nation is to admit its mistakes and work on fixing them. Patriotism is all well and good, but it really is just papering over the cracks. It rarely fixes anything, certainly not in the long term.

Still, I doubt that country will ever fully be at peace. Even if no other countries are involved they will still fight each other. Oh well, time to go do some more writing.

[Alex]

Decided almost on a whim to look up how an actor who had been in a show I'd liked in the late 80s/ early 90s was doing. It was a surprise to discover he'd died over 20 years previously from a heart attack brought on by his alcohol problem. He'd tried multiple times to clean up, but could never quite manage it and it had cost him roles.

You just never know what is happening behind the screen.

Lovely day outside. Quickly popped into town, bought a new keyboard, and then had to head home. Went into work to say hi to my old boss. Had word he is getting promoted. Frankly, it is deserved and about time. I've seen to many idiots promoted past their ability. I bet one other person on the forum knows exactly the kind of person I am talking about. The replacement for me will arrive on the 10th of July, a week after my last day in employment. I guess that marks the end of my legacy. Heh. I did my best in my time. I left most of my postings in a better place than I found them. No regrets about leaving.

The news has some stuff about some US politician really messing up the launch of his election campaign. I wonder how much coverage overall this campaign will get. The last one, international coverage seemed limited to "the clown is out, we don't care who has replaced him we are just glad he is gone". He was the most mocked and least liked US president I've seen since Bush jnr.

I still think that in 100 years, he'll be remembered as a worse president than trump. Still, I am a lot less likely to be dragged into other nations' wars now and I care less each day about who they put in charge of themselves. For 16 years, whoever was in the top job in the US had a bigger effect on my life than it did for a good chunk of its own population.

Got asked to donate to a charity raising funds for survivors of the Syrian/Turkish earthquake. That one I refused to donate to. Not because I disapprove of raising funds for that cause, but I just don't trust the rulers of those two countries to actually spend the money on and use the aid effort in any way that it is meant for. I don't feel like contributing to having to bribe government officials to allow aid to be delivered. A co-worker who had worked in international aid told me that only a small percentage of what is sent actually makes it through to who needs it, but the little that does get through does so much good. What if all the money that gets diverted en route though only goes to people who make things worse? I wonder if we refused to give aid to countries that demand a slice of the money on the way to those that would need it, if the greedy people would back off any and let it get through?

[Alex]

Kristi had volunteered to work an extra shift today, so I decided to take Ash into Elgin for the day. We met up with Nikki late on in the day and went for lunch. She told me she had a dark secret to confess to me. It turns out I have killed 5th edition D&D for her. She much prefers the 3.5 that we play.

Yeah, I know where your mind went with that. She is nearly 20 years younger than me and not interested in men so behave.

After we got home I was upstairs and heard the front door opening. I'd left it unlocked because Kristi was due home anytime. I ran downstairs and asked Ash if he'd opened the front door and he told me no. Guess I've just caught him in his first lie to me. Proud dad moment?

[ER]

Kristi had volunteered to work an extra shift today, so I decided to take Ash into Elgin for the day. We met up with Nikki late on in the day and went for lunch. She told me she had a dark secret to confess to me. It turns out I have killed 5th edition D&D for her. She much prefers the 3.5 that we play.

Yeah, I know where your mind went with that. She is nearly 20 years younger than me and not interested in men so behave.

After we got home I was upstairs and heard the front door opening. I'd left it unlocked because Kristi was due home anytime. I ran downstairs and asked Ash if he'd opened the front door and he told me no. Guess I've just caught him in his first lie to me. Proud dad moment?

Well it is a new skill he'll use his entire life, especially around women.... 

[Alex]

Kristi had volunteered to work an extra shift today, so I decided to take Ash into Elgin for the day. We met up with Nikki late on in the day and went for lunch. She told me she had a dark secret to confess to me. It turns out I have killed 5th edition D&D for her. She much prefers the 3.5 that we play.

Yeah, I know where your mind went with that. She is nearly 20 years younger than me and not interested in men so behave.

After we got home I was upstairs and heard the front door opening. I'd left it unlocked because Kristi was due home anytime. I ran downstairs and asked Ash if he'd opened the front door and he told me no. Guess I've just caught him in his first lie to me. Proud dad moment?

Well it is a new skill he'll use his entire life, especially around women.... 

You know when I was younger I wanted to be all romantic with women and treat them with respect. Learning that this isn't actually what women wanted took a long, painful time.

So just spoke with a friend who was in tears. She is going for a pre-op for an operation and is worried because of the sheer number of operations she's had to have previously. Each time they need to increase the strength of the anesthetic slightly and she is worried about how much they have to give her. She's had multiple major surgeries each year since she was a teenager. Not the only person I've known who has had that number of operations and is terrified of going in for an op and not coming out again. I spoke with her for a bit, made her feel loved. Kristi is now speaking to her and letting her know about the different options she has when it comes to anesthetics.

She is housesitting today or one of us would have went over to keep her company, but she is going to come over tomorrow after the pre-op. She asked if I could give her some figures to paint as it helps calm her down. Fair enough, I can most certainly help out there. I'll set up a painting station for her, put on some wrestling and we'll keep her fed.

The job application was officially submitted today. I then got a stream of requests asking for further details. When it came to qualifications, well I just listed the main ones and said more details are available on request. Or you could look on your own computer system where I have 13 pages worth of qualifications listed.

Went to pick up Ash. Lovely day outside.

[Alex]

Had a meeting with the educational support people this morning for Ash. They seem to be generally happy with his progress. He saw me though and thought that meant daddy was here to play with him, so he was a bit upset that I didn't. I am going to try and organise a stay-and-play day. Straight after that I'd to head into Elgin. A friend who is on sickness benefits found the doctors had put the wrong date on when their benefits end and it will take around 5 days to get it fixed. In the meantime the friend is supposed to survive with no money. I bought them breakfast since they clearly hadn't eaten and spent the day chatting with them, before bringing them home to have a meal with us. Kristi put her in touch with another friend who will be able to sort out getting them some additional help. By the end of one phonecall, they were getting £100 worth of food and £50 towards their electricity and heating. We are trying to sort out getting them free bus travel which they are supposed to have already and discovered there are loads of benefits they are entitled to, but aren't getting. Trying to help sort these out and get their lives back on track.

We have another friend with similiar problems, but who is much more whiny and needy about it. I just can't bring myself to invest the same amount of energy in solving his problems. Do something to help yourself and I can help a lot more. Still, he doesn't seem to have financial problems, just health and time. Those there is less I can do to help anyway.

Considering going out to Elgin tomorrow to get them some shopping just to tide them over until all the help stuff is in (expected Thursday).

[Alex]

Dropped off Ash at nursery, went into Elgin to pick up groceries, and also picked up Nikki and Nichole while we were there. They had run out of electricity so hadn't eaten (they have a pay-as-you-go meter). I put some money on their account so their freezer and fridge wouldn't defrost and ruin all their food. Brought them back to the house, fed them, and got the voucher that would get them shopping (the vouchers can only be spent on food, you can't use them for things like cigarettes or alcohol). The one for gas and electricity will take slightly longer but should have it for the weekend. I am feeling that we've done what we can to help them for the moment and they need to take it themselves from here. I don't want people relying on us every time things go wrong for them.

Currently, I am chatting online with 3 separate people all with assorted life problems. One is a uni student who feels gipped on his final project score. Another is having severe health issues and I am just checking on where he is mentally... So many people, so many problems. Just got Ash settled down to bed, Kristi is working this evening and I am sitting down for a bit. Really need to go do some housework. Does ER still have her to-do list post? I think I need to try slipping in doing my housework again.

Tomorrow I am going to go into the nursery with Ash and do what they call a stay-and-play day. He is only there for 2 hours. I want to see how he interacts with other children. I also want the nursery teachers to see how he plays. After that, maybe we'll go out somewhere together. I am loving getting this father/son time that I just couldn't get when I was working full-time. I wish every parent could get that chance.

[Alex]

Spent the day playing with Ash at his daycare. Since Fridays are a half day afterward we spent some time playing on the beach before heading home. Kristi is working until 5 today so it is just us boys for the moment. He is in the shower at the moment getting the sand out of his hair.

Because it is course, gritty and gets everywhere. Although also because I am knackered from climbing all those sand dunes and chasing him.   I take lots of photos of him for his family over in the US since they don't get to see him very often.

Us at playschool.


The river Lossiemouth with high tide coming up.


Ash getting his shoes filled with sand. He'll stop every 10 minutes or so and empty them out.


The North Sea. A few paddleboarders and surfers out today.


Towards the sea wall and marina.


Running through the dunes. These are artificial dunes formed by burying old railway carriages under the sand, a technique that is fairly common. Since the carriages were made from iron I doubt ther is much, if anything left of them beneath.


That smile gets him out of so much trouble.


I am chasing after him here, playing one of his favourite games. It is called "Make Daddy Feel Old".


Time for a snack.


He is so getting a bath when we get home.


Last one of the day.