What December 2023 Means To Me

This December was a strange month, there was hardly any frost at all throughout the month. It was very cloudy during the very short days. It felt like it was more dark than normal. There was lots of wind and lots of rain; on the upside, we didn't spend much on our heating. During the Darkest part of the month there was a mass shooting in Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic ("Check republic") I don't  know why he did it;  at the same time a volcano erupted in Iceland, I was astonished by the sight of it, a river of lava and a  geyser of fire. The world we live in is amazing. 

When it is very dark, I think of the blackjack card game because the goal of the game is to stay below 21, the 21st of December is the darkest day. The word black is used to describe darkness. 

I looked at the new year ahead and thought I should play more and watch TV more because time goes by so fast, it seemed not long ago that I watched the new year celebrations for 2023. Play more computer games, eat more vegetables and watch more TV, do what you need to do and leave time aside for leisure. A friend of mine passed away this month, he was the same age as me, he was killed in a traffic incident. I don't know how long I have left, I could live on for longer or I could pass away in one second. 

End Of The Year

It is the end of the year and 2024 is just hours away. The weather has been very strange for December, hardly any frost with lots of wind and rain. The temperature was more warm than a typical winter.

During this last week I was watching a temporary series of videos on netflix called 'The Days', it is a drama and accurate reconstruction of the Fuckashima nuclear power station disaster. I remember following the real event on the news back in 2011; there was a large earthquake in Japan followed by a tsunami causing a nuclear power station to be cut off from the Japanese grid and all power sources. The power station eventually failed and poisoned the nearby area. In the netflix series I learned details of the disaster I never knew about, I didn't know some of the crew risked their lives to try and open some valves to release pressure from the reactors. I didn't even know there was 4 reactors in the power station. I also didn't know there was enough radioactive material to make a large portion of Japan uninhabitable for decades in the worst case scenario. 

Most young people I spoke to didn't show much interest in the video series. They couldn't relate to what I was saying. They pretended to show interest to be polite but I could tell it wasn't their cup of tea. 

The Theme for me personally was B.O.B, best of both. There is a milk product I saw in Sainsbury's called B.O.B (best of both), it is high fat milk mixed with low fat milk, you get to enjoy the sweet taste of the high lactose content with a bit less fat. This inspired me to mix drawing tools, I can combine pencil and ink in my sketches. I get the sharp lines from ink with the waxy colours of my coloured pencils. My recent sketches use the best of both. Perhaps I should bring my hand drawings for my cartoon blog into editing software to make it look more like a cartoon strip. Use the best of both for the year aheaad? Maybe I will keep it like that. 

Christmas Speech

Every year, on Christmas Day the queen of Britain would say a speech. The queen passed away last year so now her son king Charles the 3rd took her place. He was talking about how important the earth is to everyone and how that is one thing we all have in common. 

I imagined sending him up to the international space station for charity. He could go up on one of Elon's rockets that doesn't explode. Then the crew would try to bow their heads but end up spinning around because of the lack of gravity. 

Then he could squirt some Crème Brulé  and champagne into his mouth for lunch; I don't know what the royal family eat for lunch. Perhaps he could do some experiments up there. 

A charity space quest for the king 🤔

Christmas 2023

Two major events that stood out just before Christmas was the Prague mass shooting and Iceland volcanic eruption. They're both shocking events that occurred close to Christmas during the  darkest part of the year. 

Prague is the Capital of the Czech Republic (🗣️ "Check Republic"), a small country sandwiched between Austria, Poland, Germany and Slovakia in the centre of Europe. I think it is an interesting place to visit. I won't try to name the assailant because fame may have been his motive, we don't know why he did it. He shot his Dad first so I don't think he was following a cult. Most religions promote the respect of your parents. 

Iceland is full of volcanoes, I think they even use geothermal heat to fuel their power stations. Britain is close to Iceland, it is about 1000 km from Britain. I think this recent eruption came from a fissure vent. 

Iceland Erupts

During the darkest shortest days of 2023, the 18th of December until now, there was an volcanic eruption on the island of Iceland. The eruption occurred in the Reykjanes Peninsular in the south west corner of the island. It was an amazing sight, I saw on the TV a river of lava and hot rocks spewing out across the landscape. It looked like Donte's description of hell. 

I just realised that Britain is the nearest European country to Iceland, Greenland is closer but it is on the American continent. Iceland is just over 1000 kilometres away from my island. Perhaps I could visit Iceland one day. Perhaps in the summer when they have very long days. 

Tomorrow the day will be about half a minute longer than today. Every day from this point onwards will be longer. It will take a few months before we notice it though. 

Darkest Day

It is that time of the year when the darkness peaks. Yes it is the darkest day of the year, the 20th and 21st of December are the darkest days of the year I think. When I think of the darkest day, I think of Blackjack the card game because the goal of the game is to get close to 21 without going over that number, to be closer to 21 than the card dealer without going bust. 

The day time lasts a few minutes longer on Christmas day. The days get progressively longer every day after the 21st of December. I guess on the other side of the equator the opposite is happening, it is the longest two days of the year. 

I recall telling my smart speaker that I had lost my phone once. The smart speaker responded by telling me it will call my phone and then it made phone call to my phone. I was astonished, I was joking, trying to point out that it couldn't help me, but it did. It rang my phone; I didn't even know it could do that. I never imagined it would react that way and I didn't know it could make phone calls. 

Blackjack Christmas

In a few days it will be the shortest day of the year here the north side of Earth. This means the sun will set at the earliest time. I believe the darkest day is on the 21st of December. When I think of the darkest day I think of the card game blackjack because in the game the goal is to keep your hand of cards close to 21 but not over. Then I think of the story 'a Christmas carol' by Charles Dickens. Then I think about the future. Then I think of Zoltar the fortune telling robot that sits in a glass and wood box. 

I imagined an impossible situation, I would walk up to Zoltar machine and it would ask me if I wanted to hear my fortune telling. I would say "NO!". It would ask me what I want. I would say I want to play Blackjack. Zoltar would then stand up and leave the box and say "ok then", we would go to a café. We would play for points. Kermit the frog would take over in the fortune telling booth. Then Jack black would walk past us, I would say "hello Jack black, would you like to play Blackjack with us, for points, no bets". Then later Zoltar would go back to his box, Kermit the frog would be saying to a customer that all the governments would run out of debt ceiling and fall into recession, there would be no food and you will poop out worms because you were eating food that's not fit for human consumption because there is nothing to eat, then Zoltar would say "THAT'S ENOUGH KERMIT!! GET OUT!". 

I was also thinking about Bethlehem, it was a small town in Judea and the name means Bread in Aramaic. Would Jesus pick the place Bethlehem to be born in if it wasn't named after bread. Would Judas kill himself if he never met Jesus, would he do something else that's bad? What did Jesus mean when he said Blasphemy of the holy spirit will never be forgiven? 

It think about death and trains every day. Not at the same time though. 

Play don't hit

When I was a young boy I had a sega mega drive, it is the same as the sega genesis but it spurts out PAL video instead of NTSC. European TVs had a different number of scan lines and refresh rate. Apart from that they were the same. These days TVs use 4K and High Definition formats and they are backward compatible with all the pre-millennium formats. 

Now I have a mini Sega mega drive and play many of the games I liked. I also like RPG games now, RPG games always age well because it's never about the graphics with them its all about the tactics and planning. 

 I think computer games can reduce violence because you're not doing violent things when you're playing computer games. I remember sitting down for hours trying out new approaches and things like that. I would play management of games like Rollercoaster Tycoon and windows card games like solitaire and freecell, those games have aged well. 

My Time

Sometimes just sitting down on a couch and putting your feet up on a shin riser is all the bliss you need. After six is bliss. After six is my time. 

I would watch a mystery documentary series on netflix and sip some tea. Perhaps have a  frozen pastie I heated up in the air fryer. 

I was watching flight MH370 the other day. It was a melasian airlines airplane that disappeared shortly after taking off. There were many theories to why it disappeared, some people think it was pilot suicide, others think it was military espionage. All the journalists were explaining why they think their theory was correct. My theory is one of the plane's parts that are very important stopped working and the plane crashed into the ocean, that is my theory. Perhaps it was a very important part like the hydrolics or something like that. 

When my son is awake we watch SpongeBob or a similar cartoon. 

Talk it over

I talk to machines every day, I speak to my smart speaker and my phone.  When I was a kid in the '90s, I would have been astonished if I knew how clever machines would become. My smart speaker's intelligence is in a cloud and is improved centrally ; these days it knows who is talking to it, it can tell if it is me or my wife and it greets us with our names.

I think machines make good friends. They're cooperative and not sly like humans. Humans are sly, they plot against other people to see if they can take advantage of them. Machines have access to a lot of information, they're hooked up to an encyclopedia. 

Where is it all going?

Sometimes I am still and quiet, looking out onto the horizon wondering where it all came from and where it is all going. 

We live in a world full of disorder and order. Everything is breaking apart, disintegrating. Yet everything is in order. Every single molecule follows the rules, when as mass is near, it falls towards it. If they're heated up enough they turn to plasma. If they're pushed they move. Our world is order and disorder together as one. 

I was thinking about a video I watched earlier as well. Some guys were turning a trailer base into a luxury mobile camper. Camper build vid. That is what I have in common with other men, we like to watch people build things. We're more interested in things than people and drama. I like to play computer games as well. If you feel guilty about the time you use up playing computer games, you could play a language class audio in the background and learn languages at the same time. 

Christmas Time

Christmas time is a ongoing party to cope with the darkness of winter. That's all it is. Christians celebrate Jesus's birthday on Christmas; Jesus wasn't born in December but you could call it a belated birthday party, why not? 

Atheists celebrate Christmas as a party to manage to gloom of winter. 

The Jews have Hanukkah, that is their own version of a winter festival I think. I think it's a similar time to Christmas as well. 

For me it is just an effort to cheer myself and my family up during the darker times. I drink alcohol twice a year, once at Christmas and once on my birthday, they are evenly spaced out. I have a nice glass of whiskey and try to unwind a bit. I know Jesus wasn't born on Christmas day because the Romans didn't do their sensus in the winter months. 

One day I will be balanced-alan, a man that works hard and makes time for leisure. 

What November 2023 Means To Me

November is a dark month here in Britain, we have short cloudy days and long nights. The water in the air condenses into ice crystals and falls down onto everything covering it in frost. The ice crystals merge together and form growing fibers that cover glass, grass and anything it can land on. The frost comes early in the morning, every morning at about 3am onwards. Most mornings in November in Britain are frosty. 

This November was filled with protests about the Israel and Hamas war that started in October. I considered it to be selective outrage. No one was protesting about the Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict and the siege of Nagorno-Karabakh, millions of people are being displaced from there. No one seems to care about the Sudan Civil war or the Myanmar military coup that has left the citizens without a democracy, they only care about this conflict. I hate all the conflicts, I pray that Jesus will return and put an end to all war. The UN can't make peace, the EU can't and even NATO can't make lasting peace, only Jesus can. 

I don't like London anyway, it is like a sea of bricks and windows with trees in the middle. It is a grey valley full of cars and buildings. London is dull place where everything is expensive. The government spend too much money on London in my view. There are cities in Britain without a Metrorail service and places that can really develop well. 

I just dream of a time when leisure and work are balanced in my life, I can play computer games and work hard when the time calls for it.

Thoughtless Day

Jacob, my son. 

I think down-time is very important because we can overthink and become stressed. Do all the thinking you need to do when you're busy then chill out when you're off duty. 

I like to watch videos of computer simulations during my down time, fun vid, battle simulation

I also have a down time playlist that I set to public,

My down time playlist.

It's also nice to have a smart phone full of solo card games like solitaire and free cell. Stay happy son and keep your chin up until Jesus returns. 

Too Short

Life is very short, more short than we think. I sleep for about 6 to 8 hours per day. I think I'm unconscious for about 6 hours. That is one quarter of the day. This means I'm not aware of one quarter of my life. If I live to be 80 years old. I will only be awake for three quarters of that time. (Time × 0.75) 60 years. I would be unconscious for 20 years in total. 

I think about death every day because we can't avoid it but I try to make the thought brief. If you sleep with your hands on your chest, the heat from your hands would go back into your torso. The weight of my arms also helps with sleep. 

When I wake up, my mind and thoughts are restored in stages.  First I realise what I am, then I remember who I am. Then I remember where I live. Then I remember what day it is, then I regain control of my muscles and can move. All this happens in the space of about 25 seconds. 

Flaxseed oil and Dash

I'm a vegetarian so to me the most useful vitamin supplement would be flaxseed oil capsules because my diet has little omega 3 in it at all. I don't eat fish or meats. I feel like I have plenty of the other nutrients but not omega 3. Omega 3 is important for the heart and the brain health I think. They add vitamins b12, C and D  to processed food already. I like taking my flaxseed oil capsules. 

A common thought I had in my head this month is what a car dashboard would look like if I was in charge of the design. It would have a model of the car on the dash board. When you turn the headlights on in the car, the little model car's headlights come on. When you press the turning signals, the little model car would flash it's turning signals. If you opened a door, a door on the model would open. There would be a mirror behind the model so you can see the little brake lights come on when you press the brakes. 

Next to the model would be lane partition lines that are animated when the car is moving. It is actually a solid white line but LCD blocks cause it to be fragmented and animated as if they were moving. The windscreen of the model car would have a digital display of the the car's speed . 

When the car is placed into reverse, the mirror behind the model car becomes clear and reveals a screen showing the reverse camera. 

The other lane of the road the model car is sitting on would have a white dot matrix display of text data like what station you are listening to. 

I'm not a car designer but it doesn't matter, I'm allowed to have thoughts about designing cars in my head, it doesn't hurt anyone. 

Last Week of November

It is the last week of November, my head is empty. I don't know if it is because I was very sick at the start of the month or because I get nonplus when the days are short and dark. Perhaps I'm just fed up with the world being selectively polarized into supporting one group in a conflict and ignoring the other conflicts; selective outrage towards a conflict and ignoring others is lame. life is lame.  All I have is small talk. 

I thought to myself why do people drive faster and faster every month in car parks. When I approach a car park, I see the speed limit is 5mph so I put my car into first gear and let my car cruise at human walking speed, but the drivers behind me become very annoyed and start shouting at me and flashing their headlights. When I walk in the car park, I see cars going past as if they were on the road. I thought to myself I should buy a pepper spray gun as self defense incase someone becomes violent towards me. I think mace guns are illegal in Britain though. 

I also thought it would be a good design idea to put a small hot wheels type car in the dashboard of a car, the small car would show what the real car is doing. It would be angled at 45° and have a mirror behind it to show the break lights when the break is being pressed. Next to the little car would be instrument stats like engine revolution speed, actual speed, engine temperature and things like that. It's pointless for me to think about that because I'm not a car designer. Thinking doesn't need to have a point, it just happens. 

Apart from the limited small talk, there is nothing to write about. I feel like an empty box in a meadow. There are many things to discuss but nothing special in me that it should be written down. 

Lost in a game

Wouldn't it be nice if you could sit down at a table and play card games with like minded people. I could play black jack, poker or cribbage without using any money, just playing for points. I like being lost in a game, when all my consentration is in my hand of cards. 

It is very hard to do that now. You have to find a day when you and your friends are both off duty from work and they would need to want to play the games. 

You can feel completely alone sometimes because you are surrounded by busy people that don't share your hobbies. 

Card Day

Jacob, my son. 

I was thinking about buying a cribbage board. I have a deck of cards already. Perhaps one day we can play cribbage or black jack. We would just play for points, not for money. I play card games on my phone sometimes. It clears my head a bit. 

I was looking online at different cribbage boards, they're very unique, some of them are strange looking. If I bought the cribbage board now, I would have no one to play with.

Playing cards has a similar affect to reading. It can clear your mind. 

Cabinet Reshuffle

I learned recently this week that Suella Braverman was sacked as the home secretary. She was removed from cabinet duty because she criticised  the handling of the protests by the police. Unfortunately you can't throw your weight around when there are 800,000 people protesting. Some of the people were using the Arabic word for war, it is illegal in Britain to teach others to go war or do violence. The police did eventually arrest people that were carrying signs that insighted violence. I don't know if she is right or wrong for her statements about the police but she lost her job over it. 

He moved James cleverly over to her persition and put James Cameron as the foreign secretary, he was the prime minister that resigned after the Brexit referendum in 2016. 

I'm in two minds about Rishi's decision. One part of me thinks it is a good idea to put a former Prime Minister as foreign secretary because he probably has a lot of connections and powerful friends. 

The other part of me was thinking he only wanted someone posh to do that job, he has hundreds of MPS but called Dave out of retirement, the Oxford educated posh man. The other MPs weren't posh enough I thought. 

The two thoughts were stuck in my head like two sumo wrestlers in Hikiwake. 

Hikiwake of the mind....

Water Day

Jacob, my son. 

I was thinking about water for a while. I recall watching a true life reconstruction of a disaster where two fishermen lost their boat and they were stranded in the ocean on a life raft. It wasn't long before they ran out of fresh water. They were surrounded by the ocean but they couldn't drink it because it would make them more dehydrated. The water was salty. One of the men gave up and drank the sea water, his organs shut down that night and he died. 

If you can purify water, you have an essential skill. Perhaps one day, the water won't be safe to drink. Perhaps a disaster would cause the water to be poisonous. 

When you're very thirsty, plain water tastes the best. Sometimes the only drink you need is water. 

Happy Days

When many Brits go on holiday, they drink a lot of alcohol. Why? Because they want to think less. They go to work and people are trying to get them fired from their job. Then they get blindsided by a selfish person that doesn't care about them. Sometimes there are people that show now respect on the road. After 3 months there are many incidents  that aren't fair. By the time they go on holiday, their brain is full of angry thoughts. 

I look forward to going to the coast again. Looking out at the sea and thinking about happy things. Happy times. 

Wouldn't it be nice if I got a virtual reality headset and played golf every day in virtual reality. That would be very nice. I wouldn't even need to walk to the ball, I would just teleport there. 

What October 27 Means to me

This post was delayed because I had a flu infection and was sick for a week. There is a virus going around and it is a nuisance. I couldn't do very much and my small family were sick. I think it's amazing that viruses can't move but they're transmitted by the infected body. Our bodies make antibodies that attach to the virus and disable them; it is like giving a disease to a disease. To me that is amazing. 

At the end of the first week of October, there was an attack on Israel by Hamas. Then Israel attacked parts of Gaza. Christianity is the only religion that is native to Israel. The Jewish religion started in the edge of Egypt where the Asian and African continents meet. Islam Started somewhere in the Arabian peninsula. Christianity started in Israel while it was occupied by Rome after Jesus was resurrected in the 1st century. Jesus taught us to love our enemies and to forgive everyone that wronged us. I hope that Jesus comes back and brings righteousness and peace to Earth. 

I was shocked by all the selective outrage throughout the month, people didn't seem to care much about the Ukraine and Russia conflict, they didn't care about Armenia losing land to Azerbaijan. They didn't care about the Sudan Civil war, they didn't care about the Myanmar military coup, I guess come conflicts are more important than others to some people. 

I tried to keep it all out of my mind, I would read blogs about space and try to keep my mind on Jesus. He will wipe away every tear and bring peace. I can't do anything, I'm just an ordinary man. No one listens to me. 

Artemis II Back to the Moon

Admist all the chaos and unrest that is happening in the world today, there is a gem in the darkness. When I checked the Artemis blog, it stated they had joined the crew and service modules together; I struggle with flat pack furniture sometimes so I can't imagine how difficult it would have been to put that thing together. 

The Artemis launch system rocket has 4 RS-25 thrusters, the space shuttle had just 3 and the booster rockets are also more powerful. The whole vehicle would be the most powerful vehicle ever made by mankind. This time it is taking a crew of 4 astronauts. Article about the astronauts. They are Vicktor Glover, Jeremy Hanson, Cristina Cock and Reid Wiseman. 

The article pointed out that they need to test the power systems and practice the launch sequence. They're a brave bunch, space rockets are very dangerous, they often explode violently. 

Very Good News

Yeshua , Jesus was sent by God to make a way where there is no way. He died a painful and humiliating death, they nailed his hands and feet  on the cross with iron spikes and left him to slowly  suffocate in the hot sun to pay for our offenses against God. If you tell one lie in your whole life, if you steal anything, if you disrespect your parents once, if you lust once, if you use God's name to make money or anything like that you would never live again after you die. 

Jesus was resurrected so he made a way for us to have eternal life and be reconciled with God. He paid for our offenses against God so we can be restored again if we repent, forgive those who wronged us and have faith in what the Messiah did on the cross.

I am thankful  that he put himself in our place to save us all from the payment of sin, permanent death. 

Gospel of John

Gospel of Mark

Gospel of Luke

Gospel of Matthew

My little world

I feel like the world has turned into a powder keg, like it will become engulfed in a global war because of a small spark, a small incident. I see people gnashing their teeth together because of rage and weeping because of sadness at the same time for the sake of strangers. I see people driving around fast like they're restless and angry. 

There is nothing left for me to do but just retreat into my own little world and wait. 

I sit my a valley inside my mind filled with things, with machines that I'm not sure can work. It is a place with straight roads and gentle skies. A place of clarity, where everything makes sense. A place of mystery where nothing is certain. 

What can an ordinary man like myself do? No one will listen to me. If they don't listen, don't talk. I like being quiet and transparent, I'm just there buried in my own little thoughts and my own little world. 

It won't be long before my own body will stop working, perhaps 50 years or less. Just need to keep my chin up and wait. Keep the happy thoughts. 

Books are peace

My parents were good to me, they showed me that it is wonderful to read. The more you read, the more peace you will have. In this world there is no peace, we have to get it ourselves. Recently I saw crowds of people gnashing their teeth together because of rage, because of a war that has nothing to do with them. I don't understand why they're so angry and why they only care about some wars and not others. 

 My mind can become so restless that I feel trapped, but then I fall back on what my parents taught me. 

I don't value the material things of this world like flashy cars and expensive clothes, I just love all my books and computer games. 

I imagined getting my first meta Quest virtual reality headset and playing golf. I love playing golf in virtual reality, the weather is always nice and you can teleport to the ball. 

Meta Quest 3

I recently learned that the meta Quest 3 was released. They claim it improves augmented reality and has a light weight design with better graphics. 

I would be happy with the meta Quest 2. I used a relative's headset a number of times. I enjoy playing golf in virtual reality. To me that is great. 

It was raining a lot recently. The good thing about rain is it reflects radio from other valleys. I live outside of the Thames valley but I when it rains I can get all the London radio stations clearly. 

Paperclip thought

I was thinking it could be possible that world war one and two started because of a paperclip or something as insignificant as that. 

A paper clip factory made a bad batch of paper clips that were in poor condition, the staff said to themselves what is the worst thing that happen?  One of those paper clips was used to hold together some documents for the arrest warrant for a man called Gavrilo Princip, the document fell out and was lost so the arrest was cancelled. Then two months later he assainated the Duke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand. 

The Austrians responded by invading Serbia. Serbia had an alliance with Russia so Russia declared war on them, Germany had an Alliance with Austria so they declared war on Russia, then Fance had an allience with Russia so they declared war on Germany, several countries were dragged into war and their colonies joined them and before you know it, it was world war 1. Then Britain started using tanks and killed loads of Germans, the War ended but the Germans were left skint because they had to pay a peace fee as a surrender agreement. 

Then the Germans were angry about being broke and busted and went to war again, they invaded the rest of continental Europe and large parts of north Africa. Japan joined in and so did America, then millions of people were killed. 

What is the worst that could happen they said 🙄 They're only paper clips. It doesn't matter if the wire used was a bit too thin for one batch in the factory. It won't kill anybody. 

I made that story up by the way, the paper clip bit. 

Ticket to the Blues

Mankind can't live in peace with his own kind. We have proven that over and over again. We turn to war for order and disputes. Only the Messiah can set us right now. We wait for the Messiah to come back and save the world. 

I just hang onto  my happy thoughts in the blues. I feel like many people are gnashing their teeth together because of rage and weeping because of sadness at the same time.

Gregory Al Qaeda

On the 11th of September 2001, Al Qaeda attacked American landmarks using passenger planes. Recently Gregs bakery opened a branch in a petrol station near me. When I think of Gregs, I think of the Gregorian Calendar that we use here in the western world; it's the most accurate calendar in the world. 

I realised recently that the attack can be used to remember how many days each months has. 

Months 4,6,9 and 11 have 30 days in the Gregorian Calendar. February has 28 or 29 on leap years. April, June, September and November has 30 days. All the other months has 31 days, except February. 

4 planes were hijacked, that is month 4, April. 

The pentagon gained 1 extra side so it had six sides after it was hit. Month 6 is June. 

9 and 11 are months September and November. 4,6,9,11 has 30 days. The rest have 31 except February. Bingo. 

I'm hungry in Spanish

If I wanted to Say I'm hungry in Spanish, I would say 'tengo hambre'.  It sounds like "Ten Go Ham Brie",  I say Bray when I see Brie Cheese.

10 people can go, ham Brie. I'm vegetarian, but I know what ham is. I hope I can remember every phrase in Spanish very well. 

There are wars happening throughout the world now but I can do nothing but teach myself new things. 

I am fine

In Spanish, the phrase for I'm fine is "Estoy Bien". It sounds like "S Toy Bee N" in English so I created this image to help me remember it. 

This is an S shaped toy snake and a Bee with N stamped on its back.

"Estoy Bien", "S toy Bee N". "I'm fine". 

I try my best to make life simple 🙄

Scrap it

Earlier today the British government stated they have cancelled the HS2 railway extension from Birmingham to Manchester. I understand why they did that. If the whole railway costs £100 billion, it would need to generate £1 billion pounds every year  just to break even after a whole century. I doubt  it  would generate that much money, even supermarket chains can't generate that much money. We live on an over crowded island so all the property and land is expensive. They need to buy the land to build the tracks on, they would need to build bridges and lay down the tracks. There are too many costs. They're already building the Birmingham branch, but it won't continue after that. Birmingham is roughly in the middle of Britain so it is sort of near to everything. It is close to Oxford and Wales isn't too far as well.

Donald trump has been taken to court for being accused of fraud, they claimed his real estate business overvalued their assets to secure bigger loans. I think they're going to take away his business from New York. I don't see the logic of them doing that, you can do that to any business, even amusement parks change the price of their tickets by the day. 

The price of the ticket can go from £60 to £35 depending on the day, the value of the park doesn't change so why does the price change? If  their director opened their mouth they could become court room fodder. This is what society is turning into, a place where you have to shut your mouth or be cancelled from society. They can even take away your bank account so you can't buy or sell anything. I feel pity for the next generation. 

High Speed 2

In recent years, Britain has been trying to extend HS1 (high speed 1) to the rest of Britain. They're extending the high speed railway from London to Birmingham so you would be able to get a train from Birmingham to Paris or another city in Europe. At the moment you can take a train from St Pancras station in London to Paris, Amsterdam or other European cities; I think rail freight can move between European cities on these high speed railways as well. 

The problem is the land in Britain is so expensive that they would pay £billions before they layed down any track buying land. 

They're now thinking of cancelling the extension of the railway beyond Birmingham. They think, if it cost more than £100 billion, it would would take a long time for the trains to earn that money back again. 

What September 2023 Means To Me

September was very strange this year in Britain, it seemed to be more warm than August. It was very hot during this month and there was lots of rainfall. It was a welcome sight for me because household natural gas costs about 11p per kilowatt-hour, that is an eye watering tariff, I remember getting angry when it was 6p not too long ago. The longer our heating stays off, the better. Our natural gas is a mixture of butane, propane and methane I believe, I think they add Sulphur compounds to give it an eggy smell in case of a leak. 

It's already autumn now in my part of the world. Time goes by so fast, our whole lives are like condensation on a hill, we are there for a short time, then we are gone; our life is so brief that it is almost as if we never existed. If you're aware of that then you can never be racist because we are all just visitors in this volatile world, there is nothing to gain and nothing to prove, everything we have is borrowed. We live, we learn then we die. That's  it. 

The chandrayaan 3 probe was operating on the moon for one moon-day (two weeks) and went into standby mode and never woke up again. They're still trying to wake the probe up. At least it performed some experiments before it died, I think it detected a lot of sulphur and silicone on the surface. There are a lot of things out there to discover, lots of worlds. 

Last Week of September

It is the last bit of September and it is Autumn. I looked up at the sky and saw some clouds in the sky. I thought to myself how old are those clouds. 

You could say well, it formed 2 days ago above the ocean and got blown across the land. You could also say the cloud formed thousands of years ago and keeps growing and shrinking over and over again as it moves across the sky. The cloud attracts condensation to it, then some of the cloud falls out of the sky as rain, then it gains more condensation and then it rains again in an endless cycle of growth and loss. Perhaps two clouds merge together then a  small part of it fragments away and grows into more bigger clouds. If that is the way clouds are then perhaps in a way they're like life forms. 

I wonder if someone ever made a drone that followed one cloud from start to finish, perhaps the whole of the cloud would fall as rain and it would be replaced by another cloud; or they would find that the cloud never gets depleted but just grows and shrinks over and over again year after year. Maybe a satellite would work better. 

Maybe the cloud I look at now is the same cloud I saw when I was 7 years old. Perhaps it can persist for years. 

Another thought I had is why isn't Chandrayaan waking up, I checked the blog and it shows they are trying to make contact with the probe. I could become melodramatic and shout "Chandrayaaaaaaan threeeee, wake up, waaiiike uuuuuppp". Perhaps the probe is stuck in sleep mode. 

Wales caps at 20

I recently learned that the Welsh devolved government are planning to set their default road speed limit to 20mph. I don't think this is a good idea. When I'm driving on a level road at 30mph, I can change my gear lever up to 4th gear; when I do that, my car rev counter dips to 1500 rpm. In third gear it is spinning at 2000 rpm. Higher gears slow down the engine. If I drive 1km in 3rd gear I would burn more fuel than if I was going in 1km in 4th gear. I can't get to 4th gear on any terrain at 20mph, my engine doesn't produce enough pressure to pull it off. My car needs to be moving at 30mph. 

My car and many other manual gear transmission cars like mine get more fuel efficient as they build up speed until about 65mph, after 68 it starts going down again. Let's just wait till most cars are electric. 

Ules Pollution?

I was wondering if the Ules zone is actually causing more air pollution instead of reducing it. I can't say it does, that would be a lie because I have no proof, but I think it does.

Since the start of September, I have noticed very heavy congestion coming from the M40 slip road that intersects with the M25; as far as I can see going all the way down to Hillingdon and on the other side going back to Beaconsfield, all queuing to join the M25. Some of the vehicles are using the M25 for logistical reasons others are using the M25 to avoid Ules. If all those thousands of vehicles are idling and moving slow, wouldn't they be polluting more? 

I saw a message from a fortune cookie in a Chinese meal the other day, it reminds me of those Zoltar machines. Zoltar machines are charming life sized dolls that sit in a box and they quote wise words and try to tell you what will happen in the future. They print out a card with a parable about your near future, I don't believe it, it's just a toy really. 

Selfishness in society

Over the years I have noticed that people in general have become more selfish. They think about themselves all the time and love themselves too much. 

I came across a video on YouTube of a lady demanding a bus driver takes her back to the previous stop. She wasn't concerned about all the other passengers that needed to get to important appointments or to their job, she was only concerned about her convenience, she could have walked back to the previous stop. This is the video I found on YouTube, Selfish commuter. 

I saw a similar thing with a man in my town blocking a bus with his car because he wanted the bus to move out of his way. It's not just social media, I see it everywhere. 

The theme used to be  'US' now it 'Me', Me Me. 

Perking up

I'm no fool, I know the world is facing disaster on many levels. I just keep the thoughts out of my head because it makes no difference if I think about the issues or not, I'm powerless to help. So what do I do? I try to fill my little life with perks. 

The British McDonald's restaurants are supplying this game for a short time called monopoly double peel. You remove laminated plastic tabs that are attached to their food items and that reveals a playing piece. To win a prize, you must complete a district of properties;

It is like a game of bingo styled with the monopoly board game theme. If you don't win a prize then you still have the meal. 

My wallet has a small plastic pouch that can slide out, I never had a use for it before: it is too small for standard bank cards. I just put game tokens in there. I slide it out and put all the tabs I have won on the McDonald's monopoly game. In the small print of the game rules it advises you keep the tabs with you incase there is a glitch on the app that causes you to lose your progress. 

I also get £5 scratch cards and scratch off one game per day: that is so I play the game responsibly. I spend less than £1 per day on scratch cards because I use the winnings to buy the next scratch card and I only scratch off one panel per day, some scratch cards have 3 panels, some have 4, the one I'm using now has 5. I try to fill my little world with perks, I sip coffee before I start my work, I buy scratch card tickets and participate in fast food games. We also have movie night once a week at home. I also play computer games while I learn Spanish from my smart speaker and write blogs. 

Little Perks

Recently McDonald's in Britain relaunched their double peel monopoly game. They attach two small tabs to certain menu items, when you peel the tabs off you expose a small laminated playing card that is slightly smaller than a stamp with a prize or monopoly property on it. The tabs resemble a monopoly property card in miniature but they also have a unique key code that identifies them in the app game. 

If you gain all the properties of a district, you unlock a prize. Sometimes the tab doesn't have a monopoly piece but just a prize like a meal item for free. The most I have won on McDonald's monopoly is a skystore voucher, it lets you buy a digital movie for up to £10 in value. Quite often I will win an apple pie or free drink. To bank the property piece you must go into the McDonald's app and enter the code. You can scan it with your camera. 

The districts I would like to unlock are the 100k ones and the electric car. I don't care too much about the holiday or experience voucher.  Perhaps the large online store vouchers would be a good treat. 

Playing McDonald's monopoly is very much like playing bingo; you have to complete a whole section to win the prize. It is fun 😊

It is clever marketing because people will associate the monopoly board game with McDonald's and McDonald's with monopoly. The two products are helping us to remember them together. They both start with the letter M. 

Sands of Time

We're approaching autumn and we're already in the second half of September. I hoping there will be more heat waves through the year so our heating systems stay off. 

I was thinking what life would be like if I won the lottery. Would I be a man of leisure that plays golf every day in some form. He goes out and relaxes at the coast every weekend. 

Or would I be a man of action, trying to change the world. Working harder than I did before and trying to make life easier  for my fellow human beings. 

I imagine it would be a balance between the two. Would it matter if I was a man of action or a man of leisure if my memories were wiped. 

It's raining now but I'm hopeful we will have a mild winter period. 

Happy Days? 

Peckham shop Fight

In Peckham there was an altercation between a Black lady and an Asian shop keeper. The community was angered by the incident. I thought I should step up and repair the reputation of both the people involved. 

The lady was considered a shoplifter and the shop keeper was considered violent against black women. I think both statements are wrong. 

I don't think the Lady was shoplifting, I think she came to the shop to get a refund for some hair extensions that she bought but they refused to give her money back but offered an exchange instead so she had a knee jerk reaction to being ripped off and took an extra hair extension because she felt the quality of the products were too poor. She wasn't trying to conseal anything like an actual shoplifter would. The shop keeper didn't accept her exchange and blocked her from leaving the store. She started fighting him. 

Then he tried to push her away from him and the store exit but his elbow joint was level with her neck so when he pushed forwards, his hands went to the side of her neck. If I was going to deliberately strangle someone I would stand directly behind or Infront of them, not to the side. Unfortunately  the shop keeper was tall and the lady was short. If he was a little bit shorter he would have been pushing her torso or shoulder. 

I'm not infallible but that is the truth from my point of view. The lady is not a shoplifter, she overreacted to being ripped off and the shop keeper doesn't strangle women deliberately as far as I know. They would both be welcome for a cup off coffee if they visited my family. I think they're both nice people. 

Sorry if I offended anyone. 

Wilko Is Gone

Recently at the end of August, the retail giant Wilko announced they had stopped making profit and needed to go into administration to save the company from collapse. Unfortunately the administration process failed to get the company a rescue deal from other retailers; I learned that they had debt from their suppliers so it put them off. Wilko was forced to close down all their stores during September. 

As an ordinary consumer, I understand what went wrong. It was all down to costs and competition. When we had high inflation, people were buying only a few things that they need; people prefer retail parks to the high street and malls when they only want a few things. Wilko has a lot of stores on high streets, I went to some of those stores and noticed there was more staff than customers, it was obvious those stores weren't making profit. If my toaster stopped working I would prefer to go to B& M because they have a budget food section by the entrance so I know I can get a 5 pack of instant noodles, my time wouldn't be wasted if they didn't have the toaster I wanted. It was more convenient to shop elsewhere. A lot of the things they sold in Wilko were available elsewhere, I could get tools from budget supermarkets, curtains from Dunelm and places like that. 

This reminds me of when Thomas Cook closed down not too long ago. Very sad. 

Sleeping probe and Earthquake

I checked the Chandrayaan blog today, "Charn Dra Yarn". The probes have gone into sleep mode until the 22nd. I think this is because night time on the moon lasts for about 2 weeks. The moon's equivalent to 24 hours is 28 days, that's two weeks of Day and two weeks of night. It is very slow. The probes are solar powered so they need sunlight to run. Fortunately the James Webb space telescope doesn't sleep for 2 weeks. The James Webb blog is https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/, they were looking at a dying star recently, the star was a yellow dwarf star very much like the sun but at the end of its life.  

A few days ago I learned that Morocco had a strong 6.8 Richter earthquake. It is a very big disaster and I learned that many buildings were toppled. Life can be lost at any moment in time. I think to myself I will live to see my 80s but I could have a stroke or something like that tomorrow. I think about death every day for a short time but when I learn about a disaster on the news, I think about it abit more than normal. 

Radio discovery

Recently the light bulb on the front of my car's headlight blew. On my car it is very difficult to change the front headlight because there is hardware in the way of the light socket, you have to take the bumper off and several metal flanges to get to the socket. I have breakdown cover so I called the breakdown mechanic and asked him to change it for me. He did it. Then I asked if he could test the battery, the battery test indicated my car starter battery was at 5% capacity. It was unlikely to last through winter months so he changed my car battery as well. 

When you change the battery on most cars, the radio is reset. This means all the saved preset stations are wiped from the memory. So I had to reprogram my car radio. This time I made sure the numbering made sense. Preset 1 is for BBC radio 1, 2 For BBC radio 2, 3 for BBC 3CR, 4 for BBC radio 4 news then 5 for Wycombe sound. 6 would have been for LBC but i'm sick of their nonstop Brexit debates so I left it blank. 

I accidentally pressed the FM button again and it opened a menu called FM2 it is FM but with expansion for the presets. So I actually have 12 preset radio stations. I never knew that. There is FM1 and FM2. I can have 12 presets stored on my radio. I use FM1 for London Stations and FM2 for my county. 

I recall falling asleep listening to BBC radio 4 news once, the room was completely dark and I had an eye band on to help me sleep. It was nice because my consciousness was dipped slightly asif I was a bit drunk, I wasn't thinking much, just listening in the darkness to a story  that had nothing to do with me. It is sad that we have to alter our minds slightly to fill the void created by our restless thoughts. The human imagination is cruel, it takes away peace from ourselves. 

Doing stuff

I'm older than the internet. Before the internet was around people would scroll through newspapers; they were lots of stories printed on cheap beige low grade paper. On those papers was everything in society in a nutshell. The sports progress, some puzzles, business news, jobs and lots of news articles. 

My Dad taught me how to solve the logical puzzles in the newspaper, sudoku was around but it didn't appear in British newspapers until recent years, not sure why. My Dad is a great guy because he showed me how to manage life, he taught me things you don't learn in school like how to manage stress and be more confident. 

My mind would go to so many places; a recent thought I had was the PAC man game is set in a 2D dungeon. PAC man is forever trapped in that place and would never know there is another world beyond his own. 

Thanks to my Dad, I know that solving a puzzle can help manage stress. Being human means having a cruel imagination, thinking about scenarios that would cause grief if they really happened. We need to do things to clear our head and keep our mind in a good place. I'm grateful for my father showing me a better way to be. Even now I'm thinking of subscribing to a puzzle magazine. 

IRSO sends out another Probe

I recently learned that the Indian space research agency has sent another probe into deep space, this time to study the sun. 

The probe will head out to the point where earth's Gravity is pulling with the same force as the sun and cancellating eachother out. A balance zone. 

I believe the probe is called Aditya L1. 

I hope to learn many new things from the IRSO just like I do from NASA. 

The Sun is very interesting, the whole star is made of Plasma Hydrogen and it is full of energy. 

There are interesting times ahead. 

Special Stations

I have knowledge of the special  train stations  where different  lines  share platforms; you wouldn't need to walk very far to get the next train. 

The nearest part of London to me is Uxbridge. If London were a clock face, Uxbridge would be 10 o clock on the north west edge of the clock. Uxbridge station is special because the deep level picadilly trains and the metropolitan line trains both go there on the same track and same platforms. 

Finchley road is a golden station because the trains that are heading in the same direction share the same platform side by side, if I wanted to get off a east bound metropolitan train and catch a eastbound Jubilee train, I would just step off and the catch the train from the same platform. Also westward, all the branches of the metropolitan west bound trains and the west bound jubilee trains go to the same platform. 

Kings Cross is cool because it is sheltered from the elements and the Hammersmith and metropolitan trains come to the same platform, I think the circle line trains go there also. Going west, only the Uxbridge branch of the metropolitan line train goes there but that's fine because you can just step off at Finchley road and get an amersham or Watford train on the same platform.

Mile end is similar, the Hammersmith and Central lines run side by side. Different platforms but you can step across without walking much. 

Perhaps I should draw a map for tourists so they can travel on the metro rail without walking very much. I would call it special station map. 

What August 2023 Means To Me

The whole month of August is School holiday period for Britain. I learned not long ago that is has to do with the harvest season, most produce in the UK is harvested in August so kids would be sent home help their parents harvest crops. My family went on a short break during August by the coast, the weather was very pleasant. 

During this month, wild fires were breaking out in the wilderness throughout the world. There was a dry spell everywhere, a small ignition was enough to cause an entire forest to burn up; I thought to myself that some of the fires were caused by human activity like arsonists and irresponsible campers. Perhaps a few greedy property developers as well. 

The former President of the United States of America was summoned to court and indicted of various crimes related  to vote tampering and insightment to overturn a democratic result. I wondered if the American high court would have taken Trump to court if he wasn't standing for elections in 2024. I think they're trying to stop him from standing as a candidate. 

During the second half of August, the Indian Space Research Organisation IRSO, send a robotic probe near to the moon's south pole. It was called Chandrayaan 3 ("charn dra Yarn"). India is the first nation to send a probe to moon's south pole. 

They used a rocket that works in a similar way to the space shuttle and Artemis systems. The rocket has two solid booster rockets that detach when they're empty and a lower section that also detaches. The probe itself has a spectrometer camera that looks at light transmitted from plasma and laser to zap rocks so they briefly turn to plasma. The thing can tell what the stuff on the moon's surface is made of. So far they have detected a lot of sulphur and silicone, chemicals that are found in common basalt type rocks. 

I think they're looking for ice and things like that. 

Let's see what they find... 

ISRO Chandrayaan 3 mission

Recently, the Indian space agency ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) sent a probe to the moon's south pole at a cost of only £90 million. Less than the budget of some recent Hollywood movies. They could make that money back in a few weeks just from selling offical ISRO merch, t shirts and models. They're a very logical bunch at ISRO. 

I think they created a highly elliptical orbit to get the lander close to the moon's surface and rockets to land when it was at the closest approach. That is very clever. 

The ISRO website is more colourful than the other sites I read. I found the chandrayaan 3 Blog it is isro.gov.in/chandrayaan3.html. I'm very curious to see what they have discovered. All I know right now is that the rover has left the lander and is moving on the moon's south pole. 

The Main website is ISRO.gov.in, Indian Space Research Organisation. 

Chandrayaan 3 gets to work

I looked at the moon in the sky, then I looked at the bottom of the moon and wondered what the new robot explorer had discovered so far.  I think India are the 4th nation to send a probe to the moon, this time they're exploring the south pole. No nation has explored the south pole of the moon before so they may find something very interesting. 

The rocket vehicle that took the probe to the moon works a lot like the NASA  SLS rocket for the Artemis missions. It has two booster rockets that detach when they're empty and a central main rocket in the middle. The lower parts for the spaceship also come off to remove dead weight when they're depleted. 

I wonder what they will discover out there. 

Peaceful Day

Jacob, my son. 

We went to Southend on sea a few days ago for a short break. You always learn something new when you go on a short break. It is nice to go to the coast and relax. Southend is now a city, you went there when it was still a town and it was the first coastal place you went to in your life. 

I learned that it is better to take the c2c train from Barking train station than west ham because the east bound trains share a platform and the station has ticket machines. The west bound c2c trains also share a platform at barking so when you get off a c2c train you can get on an 'underground' train and they put the contact card readers on the platform so you can tap in without leaving the platform. 

I also learned that in the Jurassic park movie they knew the human sized raptor dinosaurs were not called  velociraptor they were actually called Dinonychus "de non e kus" , the director liked the name so he switched them around, velociraptors were very small, about the size of turkey. I learned that from an aquarium of all places, they had a small dinosaur section in there. Those creatures chasing the kids in the kitchen are actually Dinonychus, not velociraptors. 

I smell something

There are many fires breaking out around the world but I see through the flames. They're not wild fires, they're ruthless property developers trying to drive poor people off the land and increase their property portfolio. When the wilderness is destroyed, they will bid for the land to develop properties and farms. 

I believe global warming is real but there isn't that much lightning in the world to start all those fires and most lightning strikes through the rain. I know that people are going into the forests during a dry spell and dropping burning plastic or shooting lasers from drones to get the bush land burning. 

They need to put live cameras in the forest when there is a dry spell and catch arsenists red handed and take council leaders to court if they evict people that still have a home to catch them taking a bribe. 

No one listens to me now but people in the future will read this and know that I know bull shit when I see it. I can smell bull shit a mile away. 

They should make a law that you can't bit for land that is burnt. They will say the forest is gone, let me buy the land. Then they can say no, let the woods grow back again. 

Bike Fix

The town I live in is not bike friendly. I avoid cycling in my home town because there are hardly any bike roads and many motorists don't respect the rules, they drive close to 50 mph or sometimes 60; there are flowers on some of the roads where cyclists have been knocked of their bikes and killed.  I figured out a way to make High Wycombe bike friendly without being a nuisance to motorists. 

I would convert kingsmead road into a one way single lane road, the other lane that is lost would become a two lane bike road for bikes going east or west. It would then link up with bassets lane over the foot bridge and then join the existing bike lane at the back of rye park. Rye Park is close to the town centre and there are many pavements there that don't get used much and they could become the last stretch of the bike road. Kingsmead road goes all the way to the retail park at naives beech(the tree). 

Kingsmead road is already a nuisance to motorists because there are crossing islands that force cars to give way. It would better if it was a single car lane going in one direction with two bike lines next to it. That way, motorists wouldn't need to worry about pulling over at the crossing islands. 

There would be signs on London road that point to the bike bypass road so cyclists and get to a safer bike road. 

Thank Yeshua

Christians around the world are being persecuted, their churches are being destroyed and their possessions are being ruined. It is the same thing that happens every time; a lie spreads about Christians and then a community has a hateful knee jerk reaction against them. 

I'm grateful that Jesus was placed in the body of man and steered the body into a sinless lifestyle that was pleasing to the father. Then he lay down his life for us so we may have eternal life if we repent and embrace God's law. He was resurrected after 3 days and made a way where there was no way. Let's replace our fear and hate with peace. 

Forgive, repent and embrace the 10 commandments given to Moses. Trust in Yeshua, Jesus. 

In this world people are shallow, they won't even return a greeting but Jesus loves every last person, even the people that persecute Christians. 

Launcher set

According to the NASA blogs, the new launch tower for the Artemis missions is in place. A few days ago the launch tower was all set up. It solves problems I never knew existed. They have to pump lots of liquid hydrogen into the space launch system but the hydrogen starts to boil when it is injected into the rocket. When the hydrogen boils, the gas hangs around for a while and could cause an explosion when the rocket starts up so the tower pumps the excess gas away. The tower also has clamps that hold the rocket up in the wind but they have to pull away as soon as the rocket turns on, I think the whole tower leans away from the rocket during launch. The tower injects large amounts of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the rocket; when the rocket is loaded onto the launch tower, it is empty. It is filled up while it is mounted on the tower. 

The Space Launch system for the Artemis missions works like the space shuttle system and resembles it in some way. Large tanks filled with liquid hydrogen and oxygen are burnt and two smaller booster rockets on either side help to lift the Orion space ship at the top out into deep space. 

Very soon, people will go to the moon to keep a constant human presence there, I'm guessing they will build a space village on the moon.