Author: laughingwolf_qh33q8

Full Power Restored?

Well, the impulse engines are online at least. Time will tell about the mains and hitting warp speed. The number 4 shield is still iffy, but it’s not covering a critical area so we will limp along with it.

I will say this, I was pleasantly surprised by one thing in regards Nexcess: they did indeed honor their 30-day guarantee. I really didn’t expect them to do so given how hard they push the upsell. But, they ended service and refunded my money in a couple of hours as it worked out. PayPal already has the funds and they are working their way back to my account. If their service and customer service had been as advertised, it would have been a very different situation.

Waiting a bit before I say anything about the new host as I don’t want to jinx it. I also want to see how they handle an Instalanche or two as well. I’m fully expecting to have to do some upgrading or additional payments, but that’s not because of anything they have said. Rather, it is because even with the plan I opted for, an Instalanche may tax the resources a bit. Besides, I’m also willing to pay for help in/on some of the behind the scenes work dealing with various things that were not a factor 20 years ago when blogging was new.

We have power. We are back in operation. More soon.

*****

If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, feel free to hit the tip jar in the upper right or the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo. Getting hit by lightning is not fun, and it is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Testing, Again

Going to see how things go, and if all goes well back to regular blogging soon.

*****

If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, feel free to hit the tip jar in the upper right or the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo. Getting hit by lightning is not fun, and it is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Brace — Again

With your kind help, and if all goes to plan, I will start the process of moving to a new hosting provider on Monday. Once that is complete, I will see if Nexcess honors their guarantee and try to get my money back.

Meantime, I may not be posting much here until the move is complete. I will be snarking, er, commenting and sharing a bit on twitter as LaughingWolfOne. I’m hoping that things will stay calm for a bit, and really don’t expect much in regards Vladimir until after the Duma votes.

For everyone who is helping, via the tip jar, fundraiser, and prayers, THANK YOU! Your gifts have kept me going and are very, very much appreciated!

*****

If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, feel free to hit the tip jar in the upper right or the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo. Getting hit by lightning is not fun, and it is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Well, Shit

NOTE: Welcome Instapundit Readers and others. Apologies for the slow loading and such, but “new” host has issues too. As fast as I can come up with an additional $175, am switching to a different provider. And, yes, plan to get my money back from the “new” provider and use it to upgrade the new new provider. Thank you for your patience, and your gifts!

Just finished watching Vladimir’s rambling speech. A few things, other than rambling and what appear to be some interesting word choices/phrasing, pop out immediately.

First, it was a recitation of the justifications for Russkiy Mir, how everyone has been mean to Russia, done it bad, and otherwise behaved like a guy in a Crystal Gayle song towards the Rodina throughout its history. For all that the US was the focus of his bitching, Great Britain comes in for a lot of oblique criticism too. In fact, it might could be argued that more was directed at them than most may realize — it depends on how well one knows Russian history and Russian culture.

Two, it was — as expected — staking a position that any attempt to liberate/assault/etc. any of the territories they were claiming was an attack on Russia. That any attack on Russia would be responded to with overwhelming force including special weapons/nuclear weapons at need. I really want to go back and listen to him on this point, as I think the translation may have missed a bit. Again, as with another recent statement, it seemed to push special (chemical) ahead of nuclear but with some of the rambling…

Three, he pretty much accused the US of attacking the Nordstream pipelines, and in the process effectively denied that Russia had deliberately sabotaged them. Given some interesting info that is coming out from those knowledgeable, one has to wonder if Russian incompetence may have resulted in the explosions, which makes the wording used by Vladimir potentially very interesting.

Four, his attack on Western values including references to transitioning children and other hot-button topics in the West (including family values which may have included an indirect swipe at the new Italian PM) was IMO a touch of brilliance that reflects the old Vladimir rather than the current. I expect to see any attempt to go after such efforts in the West now resulting in accusations of being a Russian stooge/proxy/agent/etc. Yet more Gramscian damage to the West. Well played.

Five, I really want to go back and re-listen to his words and phrasing, but I believe Vladimir may have just repudiated every arms treaty, strategic or otherwise, in effect. That Russia would not be bound by efforts to reduce her defense by other powers who were already in violation of said treaties and using them to keep the Rodina down. Huge, and I suspect this is going to get overlooked in the short term. Oh, it was also the reason for my “Oh. Shit.” twitter post.

Six, in his rambling, Vladimir made plain that Russia was great; Russian culture was far superior to Western (or Eastern) culture; Russia would resume its proper place on the world stage; and that all true Russian people would flock to Russia’s banner. Again, Russkiy Mir.

The stage is set. Now, we wait to see what happens.

For those interested, the best way to prevent the use of nukes and escalation is to emphasize preparedness. Not on the Federal level, but to show that State and local governments have taken steps to ensure continuity of government and services. That individuals have taken steps and are prepared to deal with what comes. That works, and yes there are substantive reasons for saying this. Along with other preparations, a remarkable amount of deterence can be achieved.

Final note: cut the sound off and watch him. In fact, do it several times and each time focus on a different area: head, right arm, left arm, torso, feet. Then, watch the reactions in the audience. Some of them are quite interesting. Then, cut the sound on and listen just to him, no translators or talking heads, while watching him and the audience. Yes, I’m thinking there are some things you might should be catching. Far more than just the rambling and stumbling.

While we wait, prepare. Now’s the time, make the most of it.

*****

If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, feel free to hit the tip jar in the upper right or the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo. Getting hit by lightning is not fun, and it is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Preparedness: BugOut!

In the ideal situation, before projection onto the wall of Plato’s cave, we would all live in areas removed from potential disturbance. Our homes would be our castles ready to stand against all of nature and man at need. All our preparations would be at hand, our stocks updated as we used things in day-to-day life, and we would have not a care in the world.

For all that I find it pretty good, and in fact in some ways much better than deserved, the fact is that life is not ideal. Storms can and will hit. The earth will rock upon occasion (even in areas not normally known for that). Trains can and will derail, even as trucks will crash. Politicians will do stupid things and we bear the brunt of it.

The net result is that you need to be prepared to do the bugout boogie at need. The enemy may be in greater numbers than expected; the water is coming in higher than expected; the train that derailed not far from your home was carrying nasty stuff; and, any number of other things make your best option that of leaving your well-prepared abode.

You really should have bugout bags ready to go, though few seem to truly do so. Even my own bugout bags right now could stand some updating, I admit. These bags should have everything you need to get by for a while: clothing, gear, supplies, and yes weapons. At least two of my bags are packed so I can literally sweep my medicines and supplements into one of them, get one or both to the car, and take off in about five minutes time. Give me ten minutes, and I’m even better off.

Your main (and any secondary) bugout bags should all have copies (in waterproof containers) of your driver’s license, important papers, etc. These need to be kept updated (I need to check mine as my medical has oddly updated a few times since getting hit by lightning). I also recommend keeping originals on you, again in waterproof wrappings.

Any cash is distributed and hidden, and where I can I have some redundancy in my packing. I include a fair bit of camping gear in my bugout prep: shelters can be interesting and in some cases governments have taken/tried to take food and more away from those coming in. There may not be shelters set up for the emergency, and motels may or may not be an option. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. Thus, I have my camping gear either ready to go or in some cases parts of it in the car already.

Things, generally, are not worth your life. If there is time and if there is room, I would grab a photo album or two, and any other small extremely sentimental items and take with me. They would also be one of the first things I leave behind if I have to stage down.

Staging is the part of bugout that far too many seem to miss. As I’ve noted before, I want to start out motorized if it all possible. That said, you may find roads blocked or impassable, something may happen to the vehicle, etc. The best staging I’ve ever heard about (think I’ve discussed this before) involved an RV towing a car that had off road motorcycles on a trailer behind it. There were bicycles attached to the RV as well. The idea was to take the RV as far as possible (hopefully all the way to safety). If there were issues, drop to the car and tow the motorcycles, bicycles, and max supplies. Car can’t get anywhere, use the motorcycles and have one of them tow the trailer with the bikes and other supplies pulled from the RV. If problems came up with the motorcycles, drop to the bikes. Last resort is always shanks mare.

The thing is, every time you stage down, you are losing mobility and supplies. You plan for it, but you also try to keep from having to stage down if at all possible. Keep the maximum options open to you.

Watching Ian, and thinking about a couple of situations here, I need to step up my own bugout plans. While the ideal is to stay in place, that may not be an option in any number of circumstances. So, I’m going to be working on that as I can in the coming days. The last thing you want to be doing is trying to prepare to bugout as the disaster is hitting.

Just a quick thought for the morning.

BTW, before I forget: kudos to the disaster preparedness people in Florida! From the reports I’m getting the county offices really hit the ground running, did what they could, asked for what they needed, pre-positioned what they could, and otherwise were as set as they could be for Ian. In turn, the state-level operations responded to requests quickly, efficiently, and otherwise made sure yet more people and supplies were in pre-po for the aftermath. Real problem is going to be that you can’t plan for everything, and it is quite likely some who should have bugged out didn’t for any number of reasons. One being economics and just not even able to afford the gas to get out. Meantime, with what I have right now, it looks like one heck of an effort led by the counties — which is how it should be done. Pay attention, as good or bad there are going to be a LOT of lessons for learning courtesy of Ian.

*****

If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, feel free to hit the tip jar in the upper right or the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo. Getting hit by lightning is not fun, and it is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Ian

If you were told to evacuate, I hope you did. Being prepared to bugout is a cornerstone of practical preparedness. In this case, a cornerstone of being smart enough to live.

For those who did not face evacuation, but will be riding it out, my prayers are out for you. May your preparations be good, tasty, and secure.

Just please take care of yourselves, as those I follow who are experts are all saying it is going to be a bad one. When all of them agree on anything, I pay attention. I hope you have done so as well.

Hang in, hang on, and God bless!

*****

If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, feel free to hit the tip jar in the upper right or the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo. Getting hit by lightning is not fun, and it is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Winter Is Coming

I want to write more, but between Nexcess telling me I’m out of resources and they will make me pay, pay, pay (all from two links by Instapundit) and some housework being done, writing may be a bit sparse. On the former, feel free to hit the tip jar as someone has pointed me in an interesting direction for hosting, and given who they work with… Seriously, as soon as I have the money I’m outa here. Literally and figuratively.

The housework is something else. Long story short, a couple of years ago my landlord bought a duplex in a historical area from a relative, without getting an inspection. My thoughts on that and some of the issues that have cropped up are why you ALWAYS get an inspection. While not on the level of some of the other $$$ issues, the windows were all original to the house, which was built either in the late 1930s or 40s.

The upstairs windows on our side were replaced last year. The basement windows have been interesting. I’m sure up until the 1960s they could be opened. By the time he bought the house, they had not been capable of being opened (as in rusted shut) for decades. Given that the windows were one of my ways out in case of fire, I hid a sledge hammer near one of them and was prepared to take it out at need. Before the lightning strike and all with it, bust out, push my armor duffle through to take out any remaining glass or other, then go out. May be getting back to the point I can lift and shove the duffle through at need.

After some discussion, we now have new windows in my bedroom (installed yesterday) and the bathroom (installed a week or so ago). Attractive glass block inserts with a central sealable vent for airflow (something long desired for my room). Yes, in an emergency my plan is still to take them out at need, even though it may take a bit more effort. Meantime, no more drafts, water, and other delights coming in through the windows. Suspect many things will be improved as a result.

Only problem is, yesterday was my room, where I work. I tried working upstairs, but for a number of reasons that did not work out well. I’ve also now got to spend several hours cleaning as there is concrete/masonry dust everywhere in my room. Thick layer of such. Really hoping no asbestos or lead in the dust.

Today, the last window on this side is getting replaced. Not far outside the door to my room. Removal involves reciprocating saws, grinders, and more. Not as worried about the dust per se, but it is going to be interesting. Thinking I may go run some errands, and perhaps take my time on them. Came across a Peruvian chicken recipe that sounds wonderful, may see about finding some of the ingredients for it, since only one is truly exotic. Or at least pricing the ingredients.

Meantime, prepare. Stock up as it will be needed no matter what. If you can, stock up a bit on the things imported, like coffee, tea, cocoa, etc. Plastic, tarps, and tape are not a bad idea, particularly if you live close to, or downwind from, a potential target. Sincerely hoping we never need that preparation for that purpose, but one of the best deterrents is preparedness. Once I no longer have to fear a link from Insty costing me an unexpected $100 or more, need to get into that discussion.

More soon.

*****

If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, feel free to hit the tip jar in the upper right or the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo. Getting hit by lightning is not fun, and it is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Hang On

Sadly, Nexcess does not seem to be working out. In fact, they say that two links from Instapundit have depleted my resources for the month. They also appear to imply that all of you coming from Insty are malicious bots (I always did suspect VodkaPundit of being an android…). That they have also told me I MUST have my SEO, IT, and one other team do work on the site IMMEDIATELY per their dictates isn’t good, esp. as I don’t have teams for such.

So, I hate to ask, but feel free to hit the tip jar for this, an unexpected bill, and the usual bills. Thank you, and appreciate all you do for me. Your gifts and prayers have kept me going this far, and are very much appreciated.

*****

If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, feel free to hit the tip jar in the upper right or the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo. Getting hit by lightning is not fun, and it is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Get Me Outa Here

One more reason to get out of here: been up since about 0330 hours when, once again, shots rang out nearby. To my ear, it sounded like the same gun, same area as last time, but no yelling. Just two shots, then about five more. I swear it sounds more like a .380 (.25?) than a 9mm, but after the lightning strike and the loss of upper frequencies completely in one ear (as well as general loss of hearing in both), both my triangulation abilities and my identification are off. Good thing was a neighbor (Marine) heard it too. Despite his calling it in this time, nothing. Saw cops race by in both directions, but none stopping in our area. I’m working hard on a nest egg to get moved, hope to add more to it soon and get out of here.

*****

If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, feel free to hit the tip jar in the upper right or the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo. Getting hit by lightning is not fun, and it is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Schedule Off Today

UPDATE: Visit with the cardiologist went very well. Not only are they happy with where things are (so am I), they also said thanks for getting me the new shoes. Now she wants me to use them even more and start planning what I’m going to do to keep it up if I’m not moved to the SW before winter. Following up on a few things, schedule is going to be wonky for the rest of the day.

*****

Not sure how much, if any, I will get up today. New provider went from ‘hey, we will make this work’ to ‘we demand your SEO, IT, and a couple of other teams do this now’ and apparently implying if not saying the traffic from Insty is most/all malicious bots. Oh, and two links from Insty have exhausted my assigned resources for the month. Back to looking around.

More importantly, I have some routine doctor visits today (joy) that hopefully are pro-forma. Going to run a few errands while out, fuel being what it is I try to drive as little as possible so combining all I can in the trip.

More soon.

*****

If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, feel free to hit the tip jar in the upper right or the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo. Getting hit by lightning is not fun, and it is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.