Alex's even longer post thread.

[Alex]

So today marks thirteen years of marriage. Working for it, but we've been giving each other our presents already lol (although I do have an illustrated copy of The Hobbit to give her later).

I still keep wondering how I ended up with this life. By now I was expecting to be a confirmed bachelor living with an increasing stack of unpainted figures, too many dice and a life that purely consisted of living online.

Other than the bachelor bit, all the rest is right. 

The charge against H has been dropped. Not sure about how I feel about it, but I guess I'll go with its good for the rest of her family and hopefully she's had enough of a scare that she'll never do anything anywhere near as stupid again. Not the first time I've thought she was incredibly naive in many ways and I guess getting into trouble like this comes down to that rather than being a bad person.

Managed to catch the flu for my last four days off. Hit the night after I got home from work and wiped me out. Went to sleep on the fourth day convinced I was phoning in sick the next morning only to wake up feeling fine. If I have to be ill, why the hell couldn't it be on days when I was in work? I lost 3 kilos over those 4 days. Normally when I am ill, I prefer to just power through it and get on with life, but this time I was just wiped out. My skin became hyper sensitive. Wearing clothes felt like I was having a cheese grater rubbed all over my skin. Still had to take Ash up to Aberdeen for an early morning hospital appointment (which meant getting a hotel room over there the night before). I rolled onto my back and you'd have thought I'd lay down on barbed wire while someone dragged me over it.

[Alex]

Well for our celebration, we crashed out for the night. Pretty much as soon as Ash went to bed, we went to lie down for a cuddle. Kristi was asleep within minutes and I wasn't far behind her. I did wake up a couple of times and fall back asleep until I got up at midnight, spent a couple of hours doing whatever and then headed back to bed at 2 am for a few more hours of cuddling.

Not the most exciting way we've spent our anniversary, but it was good nonetheless. Working my way through day 2 on shift right now. Tomorrow (Saturday), I'll be on the front desk, but it should be fairly quiet.

Gives me a chance to watch plenty of bad movies though.

[Alex]

Last day at work, off to Glasgow to watch Avatar tomorrow night. I am not especially wanting to go. Although I like the group, I only bought tickets because Kristi said she liked them and I thought it would be a nice anniversary thing to do, but it turned out she'd mistaken them for Avantasia and does not like their music...

Listening to a play-through of a Call of Cthulhu campaign I've been thinking on running (Beyond the Mountains of Madness). They've gone off the rails a bit towards the end with a celestial sheep guiding the group (not something I recall from reading through the adventure). I prefer my cosmic horror without jokes myself.

[Alex]

A couple of crap nights at work. Nothing specific wrong, just lots of stupid people doing stupid crap to deal with. Feeling short-tempered with it all, but managing to keep a pleasant face on and deal with people appropriately.

Still, I get to watch lots of bad movies at work, so it's not all bad. Three hours to go. The Avatar gig was a bust. The friend I was going with messaged me while I was halfway to Glasgow to let me know he couldn't make it. The second time he's done that to me when he's not had the money, and I've bought him a ticket, or given him one I've had spare. If he'd given me more notice, I could have given his ticket to someone else. Anyway, I felt too p**sed off to go to it by myself, figuring I'd end up starting a fight when I was in that much of a foul mood, so I had a couple of beers then spent the night in my hotel room before heading back home the next day. Walking around Glasgow felt odd too. I've never lived anywhere long enough to consider it home, but Glasgow is where I was born. If I have a hometown, then I guess that is it. Walking around it, though this time I just felt out of place and uncomfortable. Several years ago, I determined that once my mum dies, I'd never willingly return to the town I grew up in, as I'd have no reason to go back. Maybe I should just extend that to the whole West Coast area where I grew up.

[Trevor]

A couple of crap nights at work. Nothing specific wrong, just lots of stupid people doing stupid crap to deal with. Feeling short-tempered with it all, but managing to keep a pleasant face on and deal with people appropriately.

Still, I get to watch lots of bad movies at work, so it's not all bad. Three hours to go. The Avatar gig was a bust. The friend I was going with messaged me while I was halfway to Glasgow to let me know he couldn't make it. The second time he's done that to me when he's not had the money, and I've bought him a ticket, or given him one I've had spare. If he'd given me more notice, I could have given his ticket to someone else. Anyway, I felt too p**sed off to go to it by myself, figuring I'd end up starting a fight when I was in that much of a foul mood, so I had a couple of beers then spent the night in my hotel room before heading back home the next day. Walking around Glasgow felt odd too. I've never lived anywhere long enough to consider it home, but Glasgow is where I was born. If I have a hometown, then I guess that is it. Walking around it, though this time I just felt out of place and uncomfortable. Several years ago, I determined that once my mum dies, I'd never willingly return to the town I grew up in, as I'd have no reason to go back. Maybe I should just extend that to the whole West Coast area where I grew up.

I was wondering what it would be like for me to go back to Gweru, Zimbabwe where I grew up. I think that Mugabe and his comrades have largely destroyed the country so.... 😔

[Alex]

A couple of crap nights at work. Nothing specific wrong, just lots of stupid people doing stupid crap to deal with. Feeling short-tempered with it all, but managing to keep a pleasant face on and deal with people appropriately.

Still, I get to watch lots of bad movies at work, so it's not all bad. Three hours to go. The Avatar gig was a bust. The friend I was going with messaged me while I was halfway to Glasgow to let me know he couldn't make it. The second time he's done that to me when he's not had the money, and I've bought him a ticket, or given him one I've had spare. If he'd given me more notice, I could have given his ticket to someone else. Anyway, I felt too p**sed off to go to it by myself, figuring I'd end up starting a fight when I was in that much of a foul mood, so I had a couple of beers then spent the night in my hotel room before heading back home the next day. Walking around Glasgow felt odd too. I've never lived anywhere long enough to consider it home, but Glasgow is where I was born. If I have a hometown, then I guess that is it. Walking around it, though this time I just felt out of place and uncomfortable. Several years ago, I determined that once my mum dies, I'd never willingly return to the town I grew up in, as I'd have no reason to go back. Maybe I should just extend that to the whole West Coast area where I grew up.

I was wondering what it would be like for me to go back to Gweru, Zimbabwe where I grew up. I think that Mugabe and his comrades have largely destroyed the country so.... 😔

I generally feel (with a few exceptions) that where you've been isn't as important as where you are going. We all had to start somewhere and none of us get to choose that place.

[Rev. Powell]

I retuyrned to my birthplace (not really hometown, since I moved away when I was still a baby) of Louisville almost 20 years ago, to be near my family. It's... OK. Not a place I would choose to live if I could select anyplace in the world, but it's nice to have friends and family nearby and it has most of the conveniences of a city.

[Alex]

Night 3 in progress, get this done, one more to go, and it is onto 4 off. I think my sgt here is the first guy who has understood that I really don't want to get promoted. Normally, every year, I have to fill in a brag sheet that lists all my accomplishments in the last year and why I should be promoted. He's said he'll be happy enough just to reuse my one from last year, which, quite frankly, would be a huge relief as what other people think of as things they can use to justify promotion, I tend to see as the basic stuff I should be doing as part of my job. Karl, for example, felt that it didn't matter if I didn't want to be promoted. His job was to write an honest assessment of my years' work, and if that got me an offer of promotion, it was then up to me to turn it down. I mean, that is fair enough and true, but it was still a pain in the butt going through the motions and filling in the paperwork.

Funny, I remember when I joined up I did want to go all the way to Warrent Officer, but when I saw the extra work that I'd be doing in each rank to get there, I just decided the effort wasn't worth the reward. I'd watch sergeants coming in an hour before everyone else, and know that they'd still be working an hour or more after I'd gone home, as well as quite often having to do admin work at home. Not much incentive to go up a rank for the small extra increase in wages and pension for that. Once I met Kristi and got married, whatever chance there was of me changing my mind vanished. Getting to spend time with my family is just too much more important than anything the job could offer me.

One thing I was always keenly aware of was that one day, no matter how much work and effort I put into my job, it would no longer need me. No matter how much you put into any job, you are never irreplaceable and the instant you aren't needed, you are out the door anyway in the vast majority of businesses. Hell, our government cut our numbers while we were involved in two separate wars. If that doesn't tell you that your arse is out the door the instant you are inconvienient I don't know what does.

Watching the whole sending hospital ships thing to Greenland. Yeah, other than the only hospital ships the US has being in dock for rework, and Greenland having free at the point of use healthcare. I bet he has followers who still believe him. Quite frankly, at this point, I can't help feeling that anyone who still supports trump should be banned from going anywhere near schoolkids until they can prove they aren't a danger.

Still, its not an entirely bad concept. I mean if any countries out there have floating asylums, I think the US could surely do with them for help.

I still think it's a shame I won't be able to take Ash over the US for halloween, but it just isn't worth the risk. A grandmother visiting there legally with all the correct paperwork was arrested and held for six weeks. Kids being kept away from their parents... yeah thats just...

Been reading stuff about the Australians in Vietnam. Anyone interested in the Vietnam war should really read about them if they haven't already, and the different way they fought.

Started writing again, working on finishing a story I left off a bit over a year ago. Hopefully I'll get it finished this time.