And You're Here, Because?

Source

Bruh, I'm on the road, heading for the Mason-Dixon Line. Go read those folks on the sidebar.

No, really ...

Is this what hiatus looks like?

Hell, I don't know.

Be seeing you.

Gotta maintain "the streak" dontcha know?

Monday was Blah, So Tuesday is Kinda Empty ...

Source

Yes boys and girls (and all you other genders out there - heh), your beloved Sarge has naught to offer in the way of a new episode of Uprising. (That's the working title for the potential book it could turn into.) Though we drove back on Saturday and I had the Biblical day of rest on Sunday, getting up at 0600 was painful on Monday.

At the paying gig I was busy as a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest, so I expended a lot of energy doing that as well on what was otherwise a very nice Monday.

I see some Brit top cop has declared that he will extradict Americans to the UK if they post stuff on the internet that he doesn't like.

Next thing ya know, the buggers will want to tax our tea.

I've come to the conclusion that most young voters are abysmally stupid. They wouldn't vote for the old fart (Slo Jo) but seem to prefer the Ho over DJT. That's right, little Miss "iIf elected I'll do something." Uh, what have you been doing for the last few years, you idiot?

I suppose we get the government the bulk of the populace votes for, 'tis a shame the rest of us have to live under it. I won't say we get the government we deserve, we get the government they deserve. How about we ship them all off to someplace else, someplace vast and empty, where they can only screw each other.

I'd say Antarctica, but I like penguins, they don't deserve such a shite-show as we're seeing these days. Sigh ...

That's all for now, I'm depressing myself. Have at it in the comments, but be nice and if you're making claims for some historical event, I want sources. Some folks have only a fleeting grasp of history. Probably blame the public schools for that. I don't want a bibliography, just a "I read this here ..." sort of thing.

Alright, I'm off now. Play nice ...

I'm Tired ...

Apollo and the Muses on Mount Helicon
Claude Lorrain (PD)

Once again the Muse has gone missing. She has apparently decided to take a longer break than usual and honestly, I can't say I blame her.

After weeks of telling myself how much I enjoy my job and "I'm not ready to retire yet ..."

I kinda wish I was retired right now.

But uncertainty in the world, especially in the United States, gives me pause. What happens in November? Will we seriously become a banana republic as some people claim we already are? (No, I don't believe that, neither should you, yet.)

But as I approach 71, I grow tired of getting up four days a week to grind it out at my desk. Sure, I only work 32 hours a week. Sure, I get a three day weekend every week. But ...

I ran into a guy at work that I haven't had the chance to talk to in quite some time. He's a fairly senior guy, young to be in such a position, but he's so damn smart that it's not a surprise. He gets stuff done and, as he is an engineer, he understands engineering. Unlike many senior folk who are most certainly not engineers.

It started with a simple, "Hey, how's it going?"

"I'm good. You?"

"One day closer to retirement." (Which seems to be my mantra these days.)

"Oh, have you picked a date yet?"

"No later than the end of the year." (FWIW, I used to say, "the end of the year.")

Rather than just the two of us having a little chat then moving on, we started talking about retirement. (His father retired some years back, but he worked longer than most. He too was a talented engineer.)

The thing is, while I do have those three day weekends, every week, it always seems that once I do the things which need doing, I always think of starting up some hobby-related activity, but I always say, "Well, by the time I get going on that, I'll have to go to work." In other words, I'm greedy. I want all my time to be just that, my time.

We chatted about that, he gets it and he really helped me to "get it" as well. It was a good conversation.

Some seriously crappy weather on Saturday, heavy rain, high winds and rather cool. Though it was in the 50s the wet causes the cold to go right through you,

The Missus Herself and I had a nice meal at a new-ish place in town. It's Peruvian themed, I'm guessing it's a theme rather than straight Peruvian fare, I could be wrong. But the food was pretty good. We both agreed that we'll go back.

But at dinner I looked at my wife of forty-six years and said "I wish I was retired."

She got something of an alarmed look at that statement as I've said many times, "End of the year."

Not only do I want myself to think hard about this, I want her to do so as well. After all, without her I have serious doubts as to where I'd be these days. Whatever success I've had in life is because of her. So, it's something that involves both of us. So, we should both start thinking about it. Seriously.

There are days that I feel like Danny Glover's character in Lethal Weapon.

Seriously.

The Fly (Not the One With Jeff Goldblum)

PxHere

It was one of those nights where I was confident that sleep would come quickly and easily.

Boy, was I wrong.

Had leftovers for dinner, good, but not great. The meal was a bit heavier than expected, as I don't like to eat anything really substantial after a certain time, I knew I might be in trouble.

But no, my stomach was fine.

The first call of nature (normally there are at least two, comes with the territory, age and a small bladder) occurred at 23:10 local. No biggie, I thought, we've been here before.

However ...

In the throne room I espied a fly, yes, an insect probably recently hatched, that was nearly the size of a C-17 Globemaster, and far louder.

Now normally I'm a real "live and let live" kind of guy. Lady bugs, spiders, and the like will be shown the door rather than being swatted on sight. Not so with flies. Disease carriers who serve a very useful function in the wild. The interior of Chez Sarge is not the wild.

So I endeavored to end this buzzing annoyance before returning to bed. Thing is, the upstairs throne room at Chez Sarge has lots of nice things which don't take kindly to being hit with a fly swatter. I couldn't destroy the village to save the village¹, it would be expensive and no doubt incur the wrath of The Missus Herself. (Something I try to avoid, though both daughters tell me I need to try "harder.")

So there I was (nope, not the start of a war story) trying to down this fly without destroying various things in the bathroom. Said things being the things the gorram fly chose to land on to take breaks, I guess. He was pretty quick for a big old fly in the cold of a mid-March evening.

Little bastard fought hard, after about fifteen minutes I no longer heard his buzzing. Little fire-trucker had gone to ground he had. I waited, quiet-like, for the wee beastie to re-appear. After a good five minutes, nada, nichts, nothing. So back to bed I went.

"Damn! It's nearly midnight!" I cried out, though softly so as not to wake The Missus Herself.

Yes, my Precious, it was late, I scored perhaps five and a half hours of sleep, fitful at best. I kept having a recurring bizarre dream in which I was arguing with Sir Winston Churchill about Gallipoli.

Maybe it was something I ate ...

¹ An apocryphal "quote" from Vietnam by a left-leaning "journalist." Is there any other kind?

There Is No Time For This ...

What's in today's post ...
(Source)

As to the title, I mean that literally.

"This" being the blog, between work, shopping for a new laptop, and going out to eat with friends (the only good thing I have planned on Tuesday) I am at a deficit for ticks on the clock to give you anything meaningful or interesting.

Laptop shopping: The Naviguesser recommended one after I asked him "What do you think of this one?" Sort of an offer/counter-offer kind of thing.

I liked my suggestion as it had a nice big hard drive, solid state as a matter of fact, very fast, very big. Son didn't like it as it had a lesser quality graphics card.

I looked into his, many poor reviews, mostly along the lines of the thing overheats too fast.

So I thought I'd made my choice ...

Upon further review, the one I selected also had a lot of bad reviews for overheating.

Mind you, my last laptop died because of, you guessed it, overheating. So yeah, once burned, twice shy. (Almost literally, the heat fried the motherboard.)

Work was frustrating beyond relief on Tuesday, so thoughts are straying to retiring early. So "the three bad days in a row" rule must be invoked.

Any suggestions for a good gaming laptop? Asking for a friend. 🙄

See you tomorrow.

Maybe ...¹

¹ We'll see how dinner with our friends went on Tuesday night.

Still in the Doldrums

So that photo shows how I feel Saturday night, pretty beat up, pretty tired, but game. I don't plan on striking my colors any time soon ...

But Lord, let this malady pass quickly.

Other than a Roman legionary wearing spectacles, I like this one (before I forget, go here to "build your own". I hope to feel this good on Sunday, which will be another day of mostly sleep. (2200 to 1000 over Friday night, a fairly solid 12 hours, which is why I don't nap, not enough time in the day.)

Monday I'm aiming for that Viking look ...

Look out world.

If you haven't glommed onto the central theme of today's post ... Yeah, not feeling it. Thanks to my mate down in New Zealand for finding that website. I love playing with that sort of thing.

What? No Post?

Chez Sarge à la nuit
OAFS Photo

Oops.

Got caught out with nothing in the hopper.

Was over on the Cape yesterday visiting family. Lost track of the time.

Ah well, go read the folks on the sidebar.

I'll be back.

So I Had Had This Idea ...

(Hat tip to wirecutter)

Yup.

That's all I have for today.

Wirecutter finds some good ones.

I guess I should link to him or something.

😎

Editor's Note: I was going to whine about a bunch of stuff, but ain't nobody got time for that. Me included.

We Interrupt This Program ...

Soldiers of the 100th Infantry Division
(U.S. Army Signal Corps Photo - Source)

The Muse (and I) have decided to take a breather. Which means that the current fictional endeavor will be paused for a bit. A day, a week, a month? I'm not sure. Truth be told, I'm exhausted, out of PTO, out of ideas, and out of patience - all of the above really.

A couple (or three) of very busy weeks: his and her colonoscopies (normal results all around, I'm happy to say), a trip up north to visit my Mom for her 93rd birthday, and just far too many days of not enough sleep because I am unable to turn my freaking brain off long enough to really go under.

It is nothing for me to wake up at 0300 and seriously think about getting up and starting the day. Then I realize just how groggy I'll be come 1600 and I go back to sleep. To lay there thinking about things:

• work
• the book (which one? - we'll get to that)
• what to do come the weekend?
• gee, shouldn't I be practicing the drums?
• hey, when am I going to read  the five books in my backlog
  
• wait, what was that ...

Had a very bizarre dream the other night where someone had redesigned the human-machine interface on the ship. (Yes, I do dream of such things.) Toss and turned the entire night wondering:

• Why did they move that button?
• Why do I have to go to three separate displays (on three different workstations) to perform a single action?
• What idiot designed this mess?
• How did I get stuck testing this?

Und so weiter ...

As for "the book," what do I mean by that? Well there are four in the "haven't finished those yet" category:

• There's this, which is a modern day horror story of the US government inviting the UN in to help govern the people who are pissed off that their rights are being violated, or just plain ignored. That was meant to be a short "rant" of sorts, which escalated into ... I don't know what it is, as I didn't finish it, I don't really have any plans to finish it either. I got it off my chest so there, I'm done.
• There's this, my tale of life on the frontier during the early days of the French and Indian War. Which I wanted to expand to a full book, but which just sort of fizzled out. I thought the last couple of episodes in the series were half-hearted and poorly written, so I dropped it. I might, mind you "might," finish that someday.
• Then there's this one. This is Part One of the Prequel to Almost a Lifetime, The latter is mostly edited but finding the time to finish the editing and push it out for publication requires a lot more time than I have available right now. Part One, the writing of the story that is, is finished, now it needs editing. Lots and lots of editing, but first I need to go through the blog and capture each and every episode of that tale in a single place (MS Word is the standard pour moi) before the editing can really begin.
• There's also Part Two of the Prequel to Almost a Lifetime, which I stopped working on earlier this year (I think) and needs to be finished. Not sure where I'm going with that one. I feel like I'm writing a semi-fictional novel of WWII in four, no five, maybe six, parts. Keeps me off the streets but ... (Note that I was too lazy to search out the link for the first post in that series.)

So yeah, there's lots going on plus I have an actual life (sort of) and a job which requires my presence four days a week and which pays the bills. (Pays rather well actually, gives me lots of disposable income for fun things.)

Confession-time: I'm not getting enough rest, which makes me cranky, I've been snapping at people (uncharacteristically) lately. But hey, it is what it is ...

So that's what's going on. I've sent the Muse off on an all-expenses paid vacation, told her "come back when you feel like it." Mistake? Perhaps.

Anyhoo, that's where we're at.

We'll see where this goes.

I'm at my wit's end.

Dry as a Bone ...

View of the Martian desert seen by the robotic rover Spirit in 2004
(Source)

Oh, look at all the brilliant ideas I had this week!

No, wait, that's the surface of Mars.

There's a lot more going on there than in my head right now.

Yup, the well done run dry. But rain is in the forecast. I expect to be introducing an Australian contingent into the North African part of the book. 9th Division to be exact.

Did some quick research, based on Sgt 73rd Regt's comment, his uncle was in the 9th Division at the siege of Tobruk, and decided the 9th was just the thing. If I ever do a Pacific theater account, there's a natural lead in right there.

While in the book it's too late to cover the 1st Siege of Tobruk, it's not to late to cover the Battles of El Alamein, in which the 9th paid a key role.

My research showed the Australian 9th Division was withdrawn from Tobruk in October/November of 1941, leaving a single battalion behind, at the request of the Australian government. Those of you who know your history will realize that that government was growing more concerned with every passing day at the actions of the Japanese.

War hadn't broken out yet, but would, and soon.

The 9th was redeployed to Syria, to keep an eye on the Turks. In 1942, after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the fall of the Philippines, the Aussies wanted their army back home. Quite rightly.

So most of the army was sent back home, the 9th Division was left behind at the request of the British. An American division being promised to head Down Under to backstop the Aussies.

So the 9th stayed in North Africa until January of 1943, they took heavy casualties in the decisive fighting around El Alamein. We will meet some of them in the not-too-distant future. So at least that's one good idea from this week, wasn't mine, props to Sgt 73rd Regt, I'm going to run with your idea. I just hope I can do the Diggers¹ justice! (And get some of this lingo into the story!)

Well, I guess the well wasn't that dry!

Tuna should be along, maybe this weekend, with tales of the Emerald Isle. Yep, him and his Missus visited the Auld Sod recently and it's apparently sparked the urge to write in him. He's our peripatetic political correspondent and has done tales of travel before as well.

So that's upcoming. Juvat might be out of pocket for a bit, so we shall have to see who's got Monday.

I'm hoping my writing slump ends this weekend. A bit o' sleep would be helpful.

It's in the plan ...

Kein Operationsplan reicht mit einiger Sicherheit über das erste Zusammentreffen mit der feindlichen Hauptmacht hinaus.²

Be seeing you.

¹ What's a Digger? Glad you asked, mate, it's a military slang term for primarily infantry soldiers from Australia and New Zealand. You can read about it here, fair Dinkum!

² That's your homework, give me a translation. Should be easy for a clever lot such as you.

Complete Lack of Enthusiasm ...

French reserves crossing a river on the way to Verdun
(Source)

My doldrums continue. I cannot, for the life of me, generate the energy to write something of any value.

Haven't been sleeping well, my mind is far too busy thinking about work (my job is very interesting but there are times I wish it wasn't so, then I could leave it all at work) and also future plot trajectories in the book.

A comment the other day from Sgt 73rd Regt got me to thinking. He reminded me not to forget the Australians. Which, I realize, I had, sort of, the Diggers made a brief appearance here, but no major characters to speak of. I need to rectify that. So yeah, more characters. (But unless I head out to the Pacific, they won't be around long after the war in North Africa comes to an end, we shall see.)

If you really, really need to read about an interesting guy, can't go wrong with "Wully" ...

Field Marshal Sir William "Wully" Robert Robertson, 1st Baronet, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, DSO
(29 January 1860 – 12 February 1933)
(Read Me)

Enlisted in the British Army as a private, retired as a field marshal. The British Army wasn't really known for its egalitarian impulses, Napoléon's army was (in theory). So going that far is quite an accomplishment.

You should read about him, seriously, because Lord knows, I got nothin' ...

Maybe inspiration will strike after a good night's sleep.

Who knows?

Busy, Busy, Busy ...

OAFS Photo

No, this is not Your Humble Scribe being reprimanded by my Muse. But, she has a point.

Monday 1 and Monday 2 were very busy at the paying gig. Monday 3 and Monday 4 look to be no better.

Or worse?

Because yes, I love my job.

I mean someone has to do the necessaries in the la-bo-ra-to-ry before the stuff goes to sea. Right?

Man, I love my job.

But it does get busy at times ...

Yup, it's my crazy time of year.

Not really, but I like the clip.

Busy, busy, busy. Talk quietly among yourselves ...

... not driving a car through the front of a building but, well, maybe, we'll see.

Ciao!

And yes, it was time to change the header ...

Rough Day

Imperial War Museum

Okay, not as bad as those guys above but, I've been busy.

Spent some time over the weekend going through the old "chapters" of the original book and the 1st Prequel (right now we're in the 2nd Prequel). After laboriously noting names and what units they belonged to, I realized something. I don't need to record the "one off" characters, you know, the guys who show up briefly then get killed. Nope just the main characters who stick around for a few posts.

That's four hours of my life gone, but at least I learned something. That's how problem solving goes sometimes, you eliminate the stuff that doesn't work, keep the stuff that does.

At one point in Almost A Lifetime I mention that Bill Brandt and Jack Wilson were in Sicily with the Big Red One. I need to go back and change that, these two guys landed as green privates on D-Day and went on from there. As they were both pretty good soldiers and caught on fast, they would not have been in Sicily. If they had been, they probably would NOT have been privates on the 6th of June 1944.

In Almost A Lifetime the character Billy Wallace made his first appearance. He was in the 1st Prequel as well. I chose his unit based on the unit my Great-Uncle Robert had been in during the Great War. (He died of his wounds in the Middle East and is buried at a Commonwealth Military Cemetery in Gaza.) The Royal Scots Fusiliers has a very good unit diary online, which is what I used to track that unit's movements and actions in Almost A Lifetime. The battalion which Wallace served in was also in France in 1940.

Apparently that battalion spent 1940 to 1944 in the UK, which is why Billy Wallace hasn't made an appearance in a while. (In case you were wondering, if you remembered him at all.)

I also need to catch up with our Polish friend, Jan Kołodziej. He was last heard of being with a German unit on the Eastern Front. We need to catch up with him, and soon.

There are a lot of characters in my scribblings, each of them chosen to illustrate certain aspects of the war. I've touched upon the Battle of Britain, North Africa, Malta, the Eastern Front, even Greece and Crete (briefly).

Norway was covered (I have a bunch of Norwegian commandoes I need to get back to) and then there are the French partisans, still active, somewhere in France.

We'll get there. But ...

The paying gig, while remunerative and enjoyable, does take up a lot of time.

So bear¹ with me.

¹ Yes, that's your cue, a bear.

Hard At Work

Not my chart of characters and story lines
(It's more complicated!)
(Source)

Perhaps "Hardly At Work" would be a better (at least more honest) title for this post.

I am going to hopefully go through what's been published and get all the characters lined up for roll call. (And perhaps a new page on the blog which I'll call "Who's Who In Sarge's WWII Epic." Not too grandiose a title, is it?)

But I've got other irons in the fire, mostly work related, which will take up some time. I actually think about this stuff at home and at work. I'm a consummate professional. (Whaddaya mean I spelled "idiot" wrong?)

My work is fascinating (to me at any rate), otherwise I wouldn't keep doing it. Interesting things are afoot and I need to stay abreast of those things. (Heh. "Afoot" and "abreast," l'anglais est une langue tellement étrange! - and yes, I'll let y'all work that one out, I know you're a clever lot, you are.)

Anyhoo, rather than being productive, I might also be playing Sniper Elite 5, or watching a movie, or perhaps even reading! (I still try and do that, don't have as much time as I used to for that, but I work it in.)

So talk quietly among yourselves, read the folks on the sidebar, and send Your Humble Scribe good thoughts. I'll get back at it soon. I promise.

Besides, this will give juvat time to read a bunch of posts all at once. I know he likes doing that, feels more like a book that way.

Right?

I thought as much ...

Ciao!

Saturday Night¹, No Fun, No Fiction

OAFS Photo

I decided to give the Muse and the many characters of my ever-expanding fictional series the night off. Of course, given that juvat handles Mondays, that's really two nights off.

Yesterday's background on Manfred Sauer really has been percolating for some time. Boat Guy sparked an idea, which led to the post in question. Nothing really super dramatic, just an avaricious politician not getting his "10% for the Big Guy" so making sure that Sauer's exemption from the draft is lost.

Happens all the time in the real world. (Don't take this as an invitation to discuss politics. No, really.)

In other news, I've decided to keep on working. That is, I shan't be retiring at the end of the year. While trying to convince myself that I wasn't going to be a lazy slug who just plays video games all "day" long, (day beginning around noon and lasting until 2 A.M. or so) it struck me that that was the plan.

I realized too that I really enjoy the people I work with and work is really the only place I get to hang out with them. (While actually, ya know, working.) I'd miss that.

Yes, I was awfully browned-off upon my return from my recent sojourn in Sandy Eggo, I really was ready to hang up my cleats (?) and move on. But I'm not ready to be this guy ...

(Source)

FWIW, my co-workers thought it would be amusing to print that out and post it behind my desk at work. I guess I already am that guy.

Sigh ...

Anyhoo, the way I look at it, I can still be productive, useful, etc., etc., and actually get paid for it. But I will be reducing my hours by another four per week. I'm working four 9-hour days now, in the new year they will be 8-hour days.

As a co-worker quipped, "Gee, stay until you're 80 and you'll probably come in Wednesday at 1000, take an hour for lunch, and leave at 1400. With a brisk, "Have a nice weekend!" on my way out the door.

Yeah, I can see me doing that.

Anyhoo, see you on Tuesday.

Ciao!

¹ And yes, I know today is Sunday. But not when I wrote this.

Movie Night

Screen capture from the video below

I'm taking a break from the fictional series, it was a long, busy week so I gave the Muse the night off. I did want to take this opportunity to recommend a movie I found very entertaining, The Great War of Archimedes (アルキメデスの大戦, Arukimedesu no taisen).

I watched it on Amazon Prime last weekend and was enthralled from the opening scene (which may have been lifted from another film about the battleship Yamato, I'm not sure). I thought for sure that I'd found a movie I'd been hunting for (the aforementioned Yamato) but instead found a gem involving mathematics and a fictionalized telling of the tale of how the mighty Yamato came to be.

For those of you lost at this point, here's a bit of background -

Yamato during sea trials

Yamato (大和) was the lead ship of her class of battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) shortly before World War II. She and her sister ship, Musashi (武蔵), were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed, displacing nearly 72,000 tonnes (71,000 long tons) at full load and armed with nine 46 cm (18.1 in) Type 94 main guns, which were the largest guns ever mounted on a warship. (Source)

I've always found battleships amazing, I've been aboard two, USS Alabama (BB-60) and USS Massachusetts (BB-59), Yamato, being the biggest of her kind (though her sister ship Musashi was slightly bigger) of course got my attention as a kid. I even had a model of her.

So the film's subject matter, ...

(which) is a 2019 Japanese historical film about the building of the battleship Yamato. Based on a manga by Norifusa Mita, the movie is a fictionalized telling of the political maneuvers, specifically around budget and cost issues, that led to the decision to build the Yamato. The movie was dubbed into various languages and distributed worldwide. (Source)

... really got my attention. I was entertained throughout. The machinations of the Japanese admirals (battleship guys versus carrier guys) and the math involved was far different from my usual fare. Here's the trailer -

I highly recommend it!

(Available on YouTube as well, here. The quality is very good, be sure to turn on the subtitles, the movie is in Japanese.)

Go, enjoy.

Be back tomorrow and we'll see if the Muse has anything for us.

Ciao!

A Brief Side Trip (Non-Fiction Warning) - Odds and Ends

OAFS Photo

On my way to Sandy Eggo last month, I had a layover at Newark. Got some chow, talked to The Missus Herself, then boarded another aircraft for the long haul out to the coast. As we taxied, I spotted the aircraft depicted in that opening photo. Puzzled, I snapped a photo for later analysis.

And promptly forgot all about it.

So, on Friday (after a follow-up visit to one of my eye doctors, more on that in a moment) I was looking over my photos. Why, you ask? Well, the Muse had decided to take Friday night off. So I went in search of photographic inspiration, and there was that jet, all Soviet-looking, dontcha know?

I had done a perfunctory search a couple of weeks ago, but the action in North Africa was flaring up (not for real, in my head, sort of) and I quickly lost interest. Until Friday.

Ya know what? After perusing photos of jet trainers, I fell across this one ...

L-39ZA Albatros
(Source)

That's gotta be an Albatros in the opening photo, right? If you have a better idea of what it is, let me know in the comments.

In Other News ...

As mentioned above, I visited one of my eye docs on Friday (this one is the glaucoma guy, also does laser stuff) for a follow-up from last Friday's laser procedure. While waiting in the, ahem, waiting room, I was surfing the blogosphere on my trusty smart phone. Beats hauling a book around, I suppose.

Anyhoo, among the many gems (and some duds) I ran across was something by Daddy Hawk over at Preachers and Horse Thieves (I love that title) that really caught my attention.

I've been following him for quite some time, I was happy to see my name mentioned in one of his posts. (It's always nice to be noticed.) He likes my fictional efforts and mentioned trying his hand at same. After all, we bloggers are really writers at heart, the semi-serious (and serious) ones all want, someday, to write a book. (Least-ways I do.)

On Friday he offered, this.

I sat there in the doctor's waiting room enthralled. Great story telling and it filled a need in me, something that's been bothering me as of late (I might get into that later, I might not). This piece of brilliant writing filled that need.

Do read the whole thing, and encourage Daddy Hawk to keep writing, I can't wait to read the final product!

Oh yeah, the eye appointment, how did that go?

Very well, the left eye is healing nicely. Over the past year it's been driving me nuts, vision was cloudy and out of focus, it was like looking through cracked, frosted glass.

Now?

The glass is still cracked but it's not frosted anymore. The retina in that eye was badly damaged some time ago. But as the eye got cloudy (which can happen after cataract surgery, weird huh?) the right eye was struggling to keep things in focus. Didn't really get headaches but my eyes would get tired, really tired.

But damn, now I'm almost back to my old self, the right eye is better supported by the left and my vision is much better. Corrected, it was always 20-15, the last few months, I'd put it at around 20-60. The left eye, before the procedure, was 20-400, i.e. really bad. Now it's at 20-60 which really helps the right eye. Doc says it's 20-15 again. Of course, that's what the eye charts say, my vision isn't what it used to be, but it's better than it's been in a long while.

OAFS' word to the wise? Take care of your eyes, there are things that can be fixed and things that can't. The things that can't really mess up one's quality of life. (I still thank the the Good Lord every day that I'm not blind!)

Music and Stuff ...

So there are guys at work who recommend bands to me to listen too. They know I like rock and roll, which is what led me to Plush. From a Plush video on the Tube of You, I chased a link and gave these ladies a listen ...

The Villarreal Vélez sisters from Mexico: Daniela (guitar, lead vocals, piano), Paulina (drums, lead and backing vocals, piano), and Alejandra (bass guitar, piano, backing vocals). (Source)

When they were in the age range 9 to 14, they covered the above song in a more traditional style (i.e. Metallica-style). Well, I was going to post just a link, but I'll post the video instead ... (Just how lazy am I?)

Those ladies rock!

Give them a listen, and head over to Preachers and Horse Thieves, good stuff I tell you.

Let's see if the Muse comes back sober, we've been working her too hard lately I think. And she saw a video of Tuna pouring a Guinness, in Ireland. Maybe that's where she went?

Anyhoo, I'll be back.

Shláinte!

Worn Out

(Source)

Well, so much for the Muse being back.

This living the bachelor's life sucks, not to put too fine a point on it.

The Missus Herself is still down in Maryland helping out with the grandkids. I had planned to head down that way for a short week (long weekend?) but events have conspired to prevent that.

So she's flying back on the 19th. We'll head down later, depending on many things.

I have a bunch of annual medical type stuff which is all happening in the last two weeks of February so that's one thing that put the kibosh on me driving down to Maryland. The other is that our cat Anya isn't so young anymore, I fear that being away from her humans for more than a few hours might not be good for her.

She's old, 19 and a half years more or less, which puts her in her 90s in human terms. She's kinda deaf, kinda frail, and has separation issues. She will wake up in the middle of the night and come poke me to get attention.

I really don't mind, she's been a faithful companion for a very long time. But when mama is home, at least she splits her time between waking me up and waking up mama. Right now it's just me. Needless to say, I don't get a whole lot of sleep these days.

The three day weekends help, I recover then. I still don't sleep more than two hours at a time but there is no "have to get up by X o'clock" factor, so I can sleep longer. Well, stay in bed longer.

Essentially I eat, work, sleep, and provide companionship to an old cat. I don't mind, not really, but it tends to wear a fellow out. I also worry about said cat. I can't imagine life without her, but that day is not that far off I fear.

I also haven't worked on the book at all, just don't have the energy. There's a need to get it finished but I haven't moved any closer to that goal.

Something's gotta give.

Time will tell.

What?

Actually it is, but I decided to take the day off.

Just my way of saying, "I got nothin' ..."

Stay tuned for juvat tomorrow, I'll be back on Tuesday.

I'll be watching the playoffs ...

The Muse is back, but she wants Sundays off.

Who am I to argue?

Sunday Monday Tuesday WTF? Saturday

Google Doodle from 01 Dec 21

Okay, so I use Google a lot, don't judge. Folks who tell me "you should use Duck Duck Go, it doesn't track you ..." just assume that I don't want to be tracked. I always ask what browser they use it on, does it have it's own browser, does it have it's own blogging tool, can I search for where an image came from so I can cite a source?

Okay, Duck Duck Go may not track you, how about the underlying browser? AFAIK, it doesn't have it's own blogging tool and you can't do an image search like you can with Google. Google may be intrusive, a pain in the ass, far too woke for my tastes, etc., etc. But you know what?

I could give a flying act of sexual congress.

Yea, though I walk through the Valley of Death ...

No, really. If the government wants me, they know where I live. They can figure out my political leanings by the way I vote. Hell, they mail me a paycheck once a month. (Okay, they deposit it in my checking account but you get the idea.) Who am I supposed to be hiding from? I hide from no one, you want me? Well then ...

(Source)

Anyhoo, I've been cranky as f**k lately.

Maybe it's being back to work in the lab after four weeks of relative freedom. Two weeks on the ship being a "Subject Matter Expert" (think Yoda without the power of the Force and having to expend very little effort at all) and then two weeks (almost) of not having to go in at all. It's an adjustment.

It's also almost Christmas, er, I mean "Seasonal Holidays 2021."

Sigh, their zeal to be inclusive/diverse/work/non-confrontational/what-the-f**k-ever is pathetic. I'm sure they mean well. (See road to Hell and how it is paved.)

Which reminded me of this gem on the Tube o' You ...

Which gave me the title for today's post which works well with that Google Doodle which I just had to grab. So in the future I can look back and say, "Yes, they really did that."

On another front, you should go read this, I found it very interesting. Though I have (allegedly) a bit of First Peoples/Native American/American Indian blood in me (see here), I understand that the people who were here before the whites arrived were not peace-loving, tree-hugging, nature lovers.

No, they were human, through and through, with all the blood, violence, and foul behavior which our species practices on a sickeningly continuous basis. I mean it's in the DNA as far as I know. It's a survival thing which we have yet to outgrow. Perhaps we never will. After all, the Universe is a very big place, someday we might venture beyond this wee planet we call home, no doubt there are a number of other, equally violent and aggressive species out there which we might encounter.

I mean it's one thing to be peace loving, it's quite another to be stupid.

Anyhoo, enjoy your day. I'm hoping my Thursday isn't as grumpy as my Wednesday. But I will still be in the midst of the WTF portion of the week, but Friday looms, in a good way.