– Thankfully, I couldn’t get into my email yesterday. (Thankfully because I probably could not have functioned at work last night if I had gotten the news.)

Roger French is no longer “among the living” in this gawd-awful environment.

—Thing is,  I’m hearing some stupid, nasty, judgmental comments about the way he checked out. And, while Roger wasn’t exactly a model citizen according to most idiots’ standards, he certainly was a unique and valuable (if quirky) member of the human race. He had a system of values that did not always align perfectly with my own, but everybody in southern Vermont knew that if they messed with Roger’s family, they would  probably live just long enough to regret that, deeply.

& He was probably worth at least ten of the sort of people who are sitting back and passing judgment here.

— Have a better life on the other side, Roger-

—————Jim

I’m not sure the conversation means a heck of a lot, but I always appreciate these visits and my cousin Glenn has shown me some very interesting places on the other side when he’s come around, (Thanks!)

—————Jim

If you hear a politician mouth the words “Jobs”, “National Security”, “Freedom” or “Leadership” you might as well dial them out because the chances are at just about 100% that whatever follows will be pure and utter “bullship”.

—————Jim

-6˚C / + 21˚F @ 4:00 ayem.

Yesterday (2/9…Feb 9) was Aud’s birthday. ( and Chiara’s). Today is Richard’s (Galdrian). Tomorrow it’s Pammmmmmm, & Joanne and Jennifer Annisiton? (sp?).

Then the 12th is Charles McCauley (Senior)’s birfday.

I have more to say,

but, like usual…

I sat down at the computer-

and my brain went blank.

—————Jim

or listen to me whine about the weirder side effects of this schnarr.

-yeah,

Talk to ya later-

—————Jim

—Now, if I could only remember what I was going to write here….

—grin

————— Jim

Um,

Interesting news about the future?–

Earth may hit a fork in the road in the near future. The “New Heaven and New Earth” theory:

Many of the more altruistic and ethical, moral people among us will move to the “New Earth”- move into a phase of existance that looks like ‘here’ but is actually a slightly higher dimension.

The greedy and power crazy will stay on the “Old Earth” and go through all sorts of trials and tribulations that the New Earth will not have to experience.

—More later,

—–Jim

Schnarr, the new software requires that you restart your computer now.

Call it a security update, nobody will question it. hell, you don’t want those evil hackers to take over your computer, so let us do it. (we’re your firends in the secret government, we’ve taken over your life and you answer to us. and we answer to no one. bwa hahahahahahhahhahahahaha-)

—–Not Jim (grin)

((And then Safari aborted the restart, because it absolutely had to remind me that I had more than one page open in safari and how could I possibly think I should let those close?))

“Civilization” by Sid Meier, (I’m most familiar with II and IV) is a game that fascinates and really bugs me.

The basic premis of the game is that all civilizations, all national leaders, are psychotic. It’s an eye-opener to have Mahatma Gandhi decide that he should hurl a ’sneak attack’ of Nuclear missiles at several of your cities because you won’t convert to Christianity.

I’ve gasped at messages that “Lincoln adopts Slavery”.

Having a “Great Spy” born in one of your city who turns out to be Ethyl Rosenberg is a heart breaker. I mean we have learned lately that (1) the trial was a sham; and (2) the US had already sold nuclear secrets to the soviets. So the Rosenbergs were scape goats and martyrs who were brutally butchered so ice holes could gain and maintain political power and continue lying to us.

Grumble grumble.

But anyway. the game has such beautiful potential, but there are times when I want to grab everyone on the development team (one at a time, in a very dark alley) and growl, “You think you’re bloody clever, don’t you-” and shred their minds with visions of anything they’d spent time and emotion developing being torn apart and ravaged in front of them…. jerks.)

So why do I play it? Why do people who have been murdered, and worse- reincarnate on earth to try again? Because we have a truly indomitable spirit? because we can’t believe that a just and loving God could let us suffer intense injustice at the hands of others? Are we infernally optimistic or stupidly gullible?

Or maybe because I still harbour dreams of creating my own game, and want to see where they went wrong, and what they got right?

—–I don’t know.

—–Jim

I think it got up around 24˚C, (78˚F?) and then it cooled when some intense rain came ripping through during the evening.

We had our electricity cut off from something like 9 am to 1 pm (I think it was more like 1:30 PM, when the electricity came back, but the clock had a 9 volt battery, back up- and it gained at least fifteen minutes while the lights were out.

But anyway, I tried to get the Morning Glories that Cathi planted beside the front porch, and I thought it came out fairly close to what I think it actually looks like.

-Um, yeah, well- It was a nice enough day.

—–Jim