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.

[Alex]

Got woken up this morning sometime between 4 and 5 am to get told my sister-in-law had been arrested. My first thought was "What has K___ done now?", but it turned out to be H___, who is one of the more sane and centred people I know from the US. I was even more shocked when I heard exactly what she had been arrested for. Her older son's were both out of the house at the time, but the two younger daughters were at home when it happened. I can't imagine what kind of effects that is going to have on them short term.

She's been released. I understand the offence is being treated as a misdemeanour with additional bits stuck on (I was told the exact term, but my brain didn't choose to retain that particular piece of information). Anyway, I've suggested the family completely lock down their social media. I hate to think what's going to happen when the kids go back to school though.

It's been snowing for two days now. It isn't deep, but with Kristi's condition, I have to make sure she is as safe as possible. Normally, when it starts snowing, I'll go out and grit our paths and the street outside our house, as well as any neighbours who can't do it for themselves (at the end of our street for example we have a couple with a disabled child in a wheelchair. Her husband is out on a deployment. I did leave a bit of a trail of grit behind me, so my route to and from the streets grit bin is very obvious.

The long-expected US strike on Venezuela has finally taken place. Hmm. That is going to force a lot of countries to reconsider much and not just in either of the first two ways you'd think. Glad all that s**t isn't my kind of problem right now.

Hopefully the path I've cleared is still clear when I get home. The grit bins are good until you get down to about minus 5, then its too cold for it to work (partially why I like to get it down while the snow is still falling and before the temperature plummets).

[Alex]

Had to ditch one of the Autism groups I've had started following. 90% of its posts were about autistic kids that had wandered off by themselves and died. I understand the need to raise awareness, but this was relentless. These acknowledgements might be for someone who had died recently or had done so years or decades ago. I don't know if it was friends or family sending the details or what, but reading these obituaries every day wasn't helping me in any way and I don't think their are any words that I could say that would make anyone who did know the victim any.

Six days of snow now. I've seen heavier falls in other areas, but for Lossie this is a lot. I wonder if its part of climate change or just an off year. Our street isn't too bad, but the main one running through the estate was basically a sheet of ice from one side to the other. Guess I'll be doing to penguin waddle getting home in that. Schools were closed yesterday. Today they are opening late (the high school is only opening because volunteers gritted the long path from the road down to the school.

[Trevor]

Had to ditch one of the Autism groups I've had started following. 90% of its posts were about autistic kids that had wandered off by themselves and died. I understand the need to raise awareness, but this was relentless. These acknowledgements might be for someone who had died recently or had done so years or decades ago. I don't know if it was friends or family sending the details or what, but reading these obituaries every day wasn't helping me in any way and I don't think their are any words that I could say that would make anyone who did know the victim any.

Six days of snow now. I've seen heavier falls in other areas, but for Lossie this is a lot. I wonder if its part of climate change or just an off year. Our street isn't too bad, but the main one running through the estate was basically a sheet of ice from one side to the other. Guess I'll be doing to penguin waddle getting home in that. Schools were closed yesterday. Today they are opening late (the high school is only opening because volunteers gritted the long path from the road down to the school.

Hugs to Kirsty and Ash 🤗😊🐢

[Alex]

Normally when people say "Oh they are only attacking country X because of its oil" I have a quiet chuckle inside. It's a simplistic answer, often said about countries that don't actually have any significant oil reserves either. In this case they might be right, although perhaps not in the way most people think. Until recently, if you traded in oil, you used the $. It was a pretty powerful and subtle form of soft power, but in the last few years nations have been switching to other currencies (in particular the Chinese yuan). In particular Venezuela and Nigeria. Personally, I know almost nothing about the ruler of Venezuela. From what I've heard he's a dictator who has ignored the results of democratic elections so on that basis I don't have any particular issues with removing him from power in whatever fashion. Then again, perhaps I am giving someone too much credit there and the reason it all happened is more to do with something he saw on fox news or what someone whispered to him.

Still laughing about the machine gun charge. I mean pot, kettle, colour check there. In a sane world those charges would be thrown out with the US having no jurisdiction there. I wonder if the judge for this trial will be specially hand picked or not?

I don't believe it has anything to do with drug running though and I doubt people are going to find their fuel getting any cheaper. It does look the world is descending back into zones of influence and trump has selected all of the America's for his playground.

If that continues, my guess is that it will lead to another September 11th-style attack, or some other form of asymmetrical warfare and again they won't understand why it happened to them. Certainly, if you go around claiming that being made American is the greatest gift you can give to someone, then yeah. The hard truth is no one else is the world is asking to join that union; those countries that are being mentioned are very firmly rejecting such a notion. When I was looking at moving to the states, one of the many things that surprised me was just how many rights I'd be giving up if I moved there and the only thing I'd really be gaining was the right to have a gun, which is something I can take or leave. There is a lot happening in my own country that I don't agree with, and something on the horizon that is deeply worrying me, but I'd still take what I have over what I'd get over there. Pleasantly surprised to see Starmer standing with Denmark publically over Greenland. Too much of what he's been doing has reminded me of appeasement.

What a stupid, pointless situation.

[Alex]

In the end, we had eight days of snowfall. It wasn't overly deep (well, not in Lossiemouth anyway), but it is unusual to have it coming down for that long.

Still can't believe about H being arrested. She did lose her job over it, but she's gotten a new one, somewhere she used to work before she got married. She's spoken with her lawyer, and he doesn't expect much to come of the charges. She's admitted the offence. I think it took her quite a while to realise she'd done something wrong and messed up. I don't know if that is partly down to shock or what. While I've had a fair bit of experience dealing with criminals, I've never really been involved with anything that happens after they get caught. Never been called as a witness or anything. I put that down to them admitting their guilt. Only been called for jury service once and I didn't have to do that because I already had a holiday booked. Anyway, for as little as I know about that far side of the law, I know even less about how it operates day to day in the US. Mind you I'd be lying if I said it was something I wanted to learn more about either.

So trump isn't happy with Europe not supporting him getting Greenland and is imposing more tariffs. I wonder if he's noticed that countries are simply dropping tariffs with other nations, trading more with them instead, like Canada dropping its EV car tariffs from 100% (which supported the US industry) to 6%. I guess the coming years will show if the US was essential to the world order or just merely convenient. I dislike seeing China getting to spread its influence further, but maybe this was inevitable and the current administration is merely making it happen sooner rather than later. I am still surprised that our government is standing with Denmark. I wonder if they'll do some kind of tax that specifically hits his UK business interests in retaliation for the tariffs. Something that will hit him personally in the pocket. I doubt it, but it is something I would seriously think about if I were in that position. I've seen other times when the reputation of the US has been low, although never as low as it seems to be right now and this doesn't feel quite the same. It feels like things are changing on a much larger and more permanent scale. I'd say the last geopolitical event that seemed to be this big was the fall of the Soviet Union. They also stood up against the threats on extra tariffs when they said either stop Grok creating child porn or we will ban it. Interesting and totally expected given the whole epstein files thing that trump would try and force it to be allowed to continue.

Watching a show at the moment that I've been meaning to catch for a while. It takes the rules for life on earht and applies it to potential alien worlds and how it might evolve there. A bit of a limiting premise, unfortunately. I mean, all life on earth is based on left-handed DNA (science hasn't quite figured out why that is yet,). What if things evolved elsewhere using right-handed DNA though just as the most basic question. After that you could consider life forms based on elements other than carbon, or more radically, a life-form literally completely alien to how we understand life. Imagine a sentient gas. Would we even be capable of recognising it? Even something like an alien plant or fungus might be beyond our ability to recognise if it were different enough.

With the sheer amount of other worlds out there, I can't believe that the miracle of life hasn't taken root anywhere else. It may or may not be intelligent in the same way as we are (have a look at the news and that might not be such a bad thing), but I am sure it is out there somewhere.

Thanks to what is happening in the world, the age at which retired soldiers can be recalled in the UK is being increased from 55 to 65. Yeah, best of luck getting guys that age keeping fit enough for a battlefield. I'd imagine if they are doing that, then they will also increase the age we can serve to. Currently, there is a soft cutoff at 60 (you can apply to do a 2 or 3 years longer than that if you want). If I were able to serve up to 69 and a few months, that'd mean I'd be leaving with two full military pensions.

Kristi is responding well to her treatment, but it is really kicking her arse. She's mostly been sick and unable to leave the house. Our one attempt to get out for a walk had her throwing up before we'd made it to the end of the street.

Using pipe cleaners to attempt a recreation of a proton pack stream for the Ghostbusters diorama. I've twinned a bright orange along with a white with a quite tight spiral, then a much looser green one (since I couldn't get electric blue ones, I am improvising).