The war goes on

The two sides held a meeting today. I'm not sure what they talked about but I can tell you that this is what the two sides looked like:

This is just my opinion but I think the Russians look like movie "mobsters" at a sit-down and the Ukrainians look like soldiers attempting to end a war.

And speaking of Russia, this is what the airspace in Europe looked like at 7:00 this morning:

The few planes you see in Russian airspace are either Russian or Chinese. Everyone else is staying the hell out of there. Even FedEx said they will not fly into Russian airspace.

So if you are a Russian awaiting for your free overnight Prime delivery of your new track suit, you're shit out of luck. You can thank Psycho Putin.

⧫
Speaking of Russia, I decided to go through the logs on my webserver looking for my little Russian friend. So far I've only shown you is activity that resulted in a successful connection to my webserver.

When he makes a successful connections, all he sees is a page that basically says there is nothing there for him to see.

Searching through today's log files shows that he has been trying all kinds of things:

Gotta give the guy credit, he is persistent.

⧫
The Bruins will play the Kings at 10:30 tonight.

They are still one point ahead of the Capitals in the wild card race but the Kings are a pretty damned good team.

Guess I'll know where things stand tomorrow morning.

⧫
I discovered that my DVR decided the Storage Wars marathon that was run over the weekend was worthy of recording. That means I have hours of Storage Wars along with a bunch of Gold Rush's

Guess you know what I'll be watching this evening. While I do that, you can do these:

• Key phrase in this story: He told the judge he didn’t regret his actions and would do it again.



• Feel free to wonder around without a mask if you want.



• I really hope that someone will be televising minor league games.



• Do not let them suck on your lumps.

Now they want to talk

The media is reporting that someone from Russia wants to meet with someone from Ukraine on the border of Belarus and Ukraine. It should be noted the Belarus is a Russian-controlled state. It's where Russia staged some of its massive military buildup prior to the invasion. The Ukrainians might be crazy but I doubt they'll walk into Belarus, a Russian enclave, to discuss the Russian invasion.

I find it interesting that all of a sudden the Russians want to talk. Did they think the Ukrainians were going to roll over and surrender when the first Russian tanks rolled over the border? Did they think this little war of their was going to last a day or two and then everyone would go about their business while they built a new government in Ukraine?

Add to that the fact that Putin has placed his nuclear forces on high alert and I can't help but wonder if maybe his inner-circle is trying to minimize his involvement and get Russia out of the sticky mess he's put them in.

I also hope that cooler heads have control over the nuclear weapons because if that asshole has access to the launch codes, we're all in a world of hurt.

By the way, not only are the citizens of Ukraine pissed off, they are well-trained. Note the trigger discipline being displayed in this picture

I would not mess with those people.

⧫
In case you are interested, my little friend from Russia is still poking my server:

Maybe I'll modify the code to download an executable to him next time he visits. Nothing bad or nasty, just attention-grabbing. Maybe a picture of Putin dressed as a drag queen. I hear that anyone in Russia found with that image on their computer gets a stern talking to by the police.

⧫
Not much else to prattle on about so let's just get to the links:

• Speaking of nutcases, Krazy Kim continues his assault on the ocean.



• Man, they got world records for anything.



• You know you are really hated when the most neutral country on the planet is sending arms to help defeat you.



• It seems the Irish have a festival for everything.



• Australia: What you incorrectly think won't kill ya, probably kills ya.



• Someone needs to assassinate Putin right now.

Python, PHP and SQL

You would think that at my age I would be done learning new things.

You would be wrong.

When I took that old, run-down Dell computer and installed ubuntu server on it, I created a monster.

I turned it into a SQL server, a webserver, a video monitor and a VPN. At some point, I removed the VPN and put that on a Raspberry pi that was also running ubuntu server. Eventually I turned off the video system all together because I didn't have enough RPis to provide the video feeds. That left the Dell box to be a webserver and a SQL server.

Now that everything is working, I'm teaching myself SQL and PHP to do interesting things with the webserver. I'm also teaching myself python so I can access the databases and process the data from my laptop.

More importantly, I'm forcing my brain to become active and hopefully avoid the whole, "Bah! You kids and your fancy-shmancy computer phones! Why, when I was your age we had analog brick phones and we were happy with them, con-sarn-it."

⧫
Putin is continuing his push to overthrow the government of Ukraine and take over the country but it appears that the Ukrainians have a different plan.

There is a lot of "stuff" on the internet about the war and when I look at it, I assume that 55% of it is propaganda from the Russians, 25% of it is bullshit being foisted on us by "influencers" looking for views that will kick up their ad revenue and 15% of it is lies by assholes who think they are being funny. That means 5% of it is legitimate information coming from individuals directly involved in this war.

Taking that 5% and pouring through it reveals that Russia is probably going to defeat the Ukrainians in much the same way we defeated the Vietnamese. They will defeat the army but the citizens will turn into gorilla fighters.

It is also beginning to look like the Russian Air Force has been given a directive to begin bombing the city of Kyiv and other major cities in an effort to demoralize the populace. If that happens, the you can expect that every nation on the planet will condemn Putin and classify him as a terrorist.

What worries me is that he has nuclear weapons at his disposal and it looks like he might be willing to use them.

If that happens, all bets are off.

⧫
The Bruins are taking on the Sharks at 10:00 tonight.

The Bruins are currently one point behind the Capitals in the wild card race. If they win tonight and pick up the two points, they will jump into first place in the wild card.

I'll know tomorrow if they are the wild card team or still a wanna-be.

⧫
I'm watching bad television and falling asleep early because there is no good television and I'm tired.

While I play around with python and SQL, you can check these out:

• Only in Florida.



• Better than the lowest use.



• So does this mean he can eat through his nose?

Snowy day

I woke up at 5:30 this morning and found there was about an inch of snow on the ground. By 7:30, there was about 6 inches. I went out and got the driveway cleared so the vet could get to work.

I went back out around 11:00 after the snow stopped & the rain started and got the driveway cleared, again. There was probably 8 to 10 inches of snow and The Beast ripped through without a care in the world.

By 3:00, the rain had knocked the snow down to a depth of about 4 inches.

If the temps drop into the teens tonight, that 4 inches of water-filled snow is going to freeze solid.

I feel bad for anyone that didn't get their driveway cleared. It's gonna be a bear trying to pull in or out of it for the next several days.

⧫
I'm pretty sure that Putin has bitten off more than he can chew.

The Ukrainian military is putting up a hell of a fight and the government is giving free AK-47 to all its citizens. That means that not only does the Russian military have to deal with a tenacious military, they have to deal with gorilla tactics being used by the civilians.

I'm guessing Putin didn't do any research on the 10 year debacle in Afghanistan that the Soviets had to deal with back in the 80s.

⧫
Speaking of Russia and its decision to attack people, there is a lot of noise on the internet from Russia. They are in the process of scanning the entire internet looking for thing to attack. They are particularly interested in NATO-aligned nations and that includes the U.S.

I have said that I started a small webserver on my network so I can exchange large files with people. Well, that server has been scanned 19 times since Feb 21 from one particular IP address:

That IP address comes back to a company in Russia

My little machine is not a registered device, it has no domain name and its not serving any data but that one guy in Russia discovered it the other day and he keeps poking it.

If your wondering what he's looking for, the answer is a hole in my defenses. He is looking for a way in so he can take control of that machine and use it in whatever cyber attack he is planning.

⧫
The Bruins won last night but I didn't know that until this morning. If they win tomorrow, I won't know about it until Sunday. As I've said before, 10:00pm games suck...

Here are today's links:

• I'm gonna need at least five times that amount of money.



• Canada says nyet to vodka.



• Is this a bad thing?



• Key entry from our favorite police log: "12:47 p.m. A poodle and a hound ran off together."



• Oh Canada.

I'm almost done with my experiment.

Nothing to say today

I stopped for beverages with some boys and now I'm going to bed early.

⧫
Here are some links:

• Researchers: Contributing to the betterment of our society or being outwitted by birds...



• Northampton: Solving the tough crimes.



• Key phrase in this story from Pennsylvania: :The horse-drawn buggy was being driven so recklessly the wheels were throwing sparks..."



• Only in Florida.

I know, it's not much of an experiment but it's still an experiment.

I am once again sans hair

Got the old head shorn this afternoon and now I am once again without hair.

Just in time for the predicted snowfall on Friday. So far, the weather dweebs are predicting anywhere between 2 and 12 inches of snow.

I have a hat and a snowblower so I guess I'm ready for whatever we end up with.

⧫
As is often the case, I got a crappy nights sleep last night so I'm going to end this spewage, eat some dinner and then nod off watching bad television.

You can do whatever you want.

• Australia is expanding into Denmark.



• Researchers: Contributing to the betterment of our society or a complete waste of perfectly good oxygen?



• He's right about one thing - men will never understand women.



• Explosively Ejaculating to Death would be a fantastic name for a 1950's porno/horror movie mashup.



• Australia: What doesn't kill ya, scares the crap out of you.



• If you can only watch one video about ice fishing, make it this video.

Busy day

Today was one of those days that flew by simply because I was busy.

I spent the morning & some of the afternoon working and then I had to go to campus to conduct some business there. After that it was home and now I'm trying to figure out what to make for dinner.

What does all that mean to you? Nothing, actually. It doesn't mean a damn thing to you.

⧫ Looks like Biden finally got his wish and Putin has started rolling into Ukraine. I guess he declared two provinces in Ukraine as new nations and sent Russian "peacekeepers" in to help set up the new governments.

Look, I don't know what Russia has against Ukraine and I certainly don't know if the people living in the brand new "nations" are happy to have Russian peacekeeping troops running around shooting everybody but I do know that Biden is probably really happy that he can now say, "See! See! I told you it was going to happen!"

I just hope he doesn't decide to send any more American troops into the region and start World War III.

⧫ I just checked the Bruins schedule for the next week and it looks like I won't be watching any hockey.

They are scheduled to play on Thu@10:00pm, Sat@10:00pm, Mon@10:30pm, Tue@10:00pm and Thu@9:00pm.

Those times are past my bedtime.

⧫ While I consider my dinner options, you can consider these:

• Apparently Idaho is the most boring state in the union.



• Heads up everybody: March 1st is National Pancake Day.



• College students....



• Only in Florida.

The experiment continues...

Gotta love CraigsList

CraigsList is a macrocosm of our society and sometimes I like to puruse the "Free Items" listings. I'm always fascinated by what people try to give away.

Today I found this little gem:

So if you ever wanted to own a nearly dead cactus, now is your chance.

⧫
Trump has just put out his very own social media platform called, now don't be shocked by this, "truth social".

This guy loves the sound of his own voice and now he has his very own social media platform where no one can censor him for telling his followers things like, Inject some disinfectant into yourself to kill the virus or creating new words like "Covfefe".

I'm sure that a lot of people will sign up for accounts on his new social media platform. I'm also sure he will make money off those people because if there is one thing I know about trump, he's a snake oil salesman who has convinced certain members of the public they should give him their rapt attention and all their money.

Trump is the modern equivalent of Professor Harold Hill but without the musical prowess.

⧫
I missed today's hockey game since it was on at 1:00. Boston managed to beat the Avalanche 5-1 so they picked up two points.

Trust me, those points are needed. There are 32 games left in the season and they need the wins.

⧫
I'm going to get depressed and watch the news.

While I do that, you can do these:

• I've built a good many tree forts in my day and I can assure you, this is not a tree fort.



• The problem is not marijuana. The problem is the test. You can test positive for weed a month after using it. Hell, you can test positive for it a few days after just being exposed to the smoke.



• Key phrase in this story: "It all started in the year 2000, when our Founder, Richard Black, was enjoying a few cold ones with his engineer friend Manuel Medina."

I'm still running an experiment.

Taxes are almost done

Well, technically, my taxes are done. Not only are they done, they've been electronically filed with the appropriate federal and state entities.

After that I sat for a bit with my daughter while she did her taxes. She is perfectly capable of doing her taxes but she learned from her dad that having a second set of eyeballs looking at the tax forms can prevent any weirdness from happening in the future.

Next up will be an attempt at doing my mother-in-law's taxes. I say attempt because her situation changed quite a bit in 2021 and I'm not entirely sure I have the chops to complete her taxes while remaining within the bounds of "legality". We'll see how that goes.

For the record, you would think the government would make it easier for the average guy to do his/her taxes. To be honest with you, why do I have to purchase special software to file my taxes? It should be free for us (all of us, not just the underpaid) to file our taxes.

By the way, we did not have to pay any additional taxes this year. It appears we have our withholding dialed in nicely.

⧫
Today is Day 32 of Goofy Joe's "Any Day Now" tour. A quick check of all the news sites reveals:

Nope, no war yet.

This has been an update on Goofy Joe's "Any Day Now" tour.

⧫
Well, the Olympics are officially over with now and that means I am left with hockey as my sport to watch.

I really hope the Bruins start winning more than losing or I'm going to have to think about picking a soccer team to watch.

I don't want to watch soccer...

⧫
While I decide what to watch, you can decide if you want to visit these links:

• If you are still using a cell phone from the 1990s, you are gonna have a problem.



• Some people are morons.



• Jesus Christ, what the hell is wrong with our society. When I was 14 years old, every girl I knew worked as a babysitter.



• This sounds awful.



• Key phrase in this story: "She performs aerobics while watching TV news and regularly enjoys a glass of red wine.



• Australia: What doesn't try to kill ya is pretty damned weird.
  (Yes, I am aware that "bum-breathing punk turtles" would be a great name for a 1990s shitty high school band)

Ignore this link. I'm running an experiment.

No luck

I'm still trying to figure out what relationship the United States has with Ukraine? I can find no mention of a "mutual defense treaty" like we have with the NATO nations. I can't find any "mutual aid agreement" either.

Why are we involved? What makes us the worlds police?

Young American men and women are being sent over there and they will be in harms way. Putin is waving his nukes around like they were world series pennant.

What is Bidens end game in all of this?

⧫
I lied yesterday when I said I've about had it with the Olympics.

I ended up watching a women's curling match between Sweden and Great Britain. It was a pretty good match and Great Britain ended up winning.

They will play Japan this evening in the gold medal match.

⧫
I'm going to toss some steaks on the grill and make dinner.

While I do that, you can enjoy these links:

• This is actually a very good question.



• This is a smart move for the Steelers.



• Where are they going to go?



• Do you know why the houses in Florida don't have basements? Because they would flood.



• Turn your sound on.

He's a fool

Time once again for another episode of "What Did Goofy Joe Say Today"

The White House said, "He expects Russia to invade Ukraine in the next several days"

Goofy Joe was suppossed to address the nation at 4:00 this afternoon but here we are at 4:55 and this is the live stream from the White House:

As I've been saying all along, he's going to get us into a shooting war in Eastern Europe. The last time that happened, they called it a "World War" and nukes hadn't been invented.

⧫
The Bruins shit the bed last night and gave up a lead to lose the game.

They are still in second place in the wildcard but if they keep playing the way they've been playing, that will change in the next week. And not in a good way...

⧫
Still news from the baseball geniuses.

Spring training was scheduled to start five days ago. One week from today, the Red Sox were scheduled to play their traditional opening game against the Northeastern University Huskies.

This is why I stopped watching baseball back in the 80s and again in the 90s: Overpaid Athletes and Robber Baron Owners arguing over how to divvy up the billions of dollars they get from a game that children play every day.

I hate this part of the MLB.

⧫
I've about had it with the Olympics. Maybe I'll see what Netflix has to offer.

You can visit these if you want:

• Only in Florida.



• Also only in Florida.



• It would have been funnier if one of them had said, "Hey, pull my finger!"



• Australia: What doesn't try to kill ya, just wants to take a nap with you and maybe kill you in your sleep.

Oops

I forgot to post yesterday.

Let's see if we can make up for it today
⧫
Time once again for another episode of "What Did Goofy Joe Say Today!":

On day 29 of his "any day now" tour, Goofy joe decided to mix it up and instead of saying "any day now", he said, "The threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine was very high."

He did not have anything to say about 6,000 US troops he recently moved into the region, the 8,500 National Guardsmen he just put on high-alert, the hundreds of F-15, F-16, F-22 and support aircraft he moved into the region or the impact his proposed sanctions will have on the US economy.

He also did not have anything to say about his plan to get American citizens out of harm's way but I guess he's taking the same path he took when he left Afghanistan. He's just gonna leave them there to fend for themselves.

This has been another episode of "What Did Goofy Joe Say (or not say) Today".

⧫
As for the Bruins, they lost the other night but it took the Rangers 9 rounds of a shootout to do it.

The Bruins held a one point lead through all three periods of the game and I was all set to go to bed when they gave up a goal to the Rangers in the third to tie the game. This forced me to complain loudly and then whine incessantly while the OT period and shootout were going on.

In the end, the Rangers were able to slip the puck past Sawyman and win the game.

Tonight is the Islanders. I'm really hoping for a win tonight. I'm also hoping for a game that ends in a win after only 3 periods of play.

No more of this overtime crap.

⧫
While I go get chinese food and settle in to watch some hockey (and olympics), you can check these out:

• It would be a terrible blow to seventh grade boys all over America if they changed the name.



• The Dutch: Don't mess with them.



• As Kermit the Frog once said, "I want you to turn left if you come to a fork in the road.



• You might say that the folks of upstate New York are a little different than the rest of us. You would be right.



• It's not just any average emu, it's a mystery emu...



• Meet Benjamin Steidinger, the newest member of the A-Team.

They need a win

The Bruins are in New York to play the Rangers this evening and they really need to win this game.

The Rangers are playing some pretty good hockey and they'll be a hard team to beat. If the Bruins can win tonight, not only will they pick up two points, they'll get a nice confidence boost.

With the recent retirement of Rask, they could really use a confidence boost.

⧫
Let's see what Goofy Joe has to say today:

Biden acknowledged the likelihood that U.S. and allied sanctions on Russia in retaliation for an invasion of Ukraine would have significant blowback on the American economy, including possible price hikes and disruption to the nation’s energy supply.

So not only is this idiot about to get us into a shooting war in Eastern Europe, he's going to do it by crushing our already staggered economy.

At this rate, Trump won't even have to campaign to get elected.

We are so screwed.

⧫
I will be watching hockey this evening while occasionally switching over to Olympics stuff.

Here are some links that might entertain you:

• I'm pretty sure I saw this skit on the Benny Hill Show.



• Wait till he hits that "16 year old growth spurt" thing that boys go through.



• Ouch.



• Tyson is not the brightest guy in the world but he did indeed once say, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth."



• Either that stuff is really expensive or that's a shitload of panties and bras.

The Movie Stars won

It was a pretty good Superb Owl with both teams putting on a hell of a defensive show. The Rams won but I didn't really care. Neither team was on my list of "must watch".

The commercials weren't all that great. I did liked the one with Eugene Levy but that's more because I like Eugene Levy.

There are now 5 days left in the Olympics and when the games end, I will be stuck watching my DVRs and the rare Bruins game (Seven games between now and March 1st). I was hoping the MLB/MLBPA lockout/strike would be over with by now and NESN would be showing some spring training games but I guess that isn't going to happen anytime soon.

⧫
Time for an update on the situation in the White House:

According to my research, the White House has been saying that Russia will invade Ukraine "any day now" since January 18th.

That is 26 days of "any day now".

As I said back on February 1st, Putin is playing Goofy Joe like a worn-out fiddle.

⧫
There is nothing being shown on the Olympics that I am interested in watching so I'm thinking this evening may be a youtube kind of evening.

While I hunt for interesting videos, you can click here:

• I bet a dollar that he'll announce a law suit in the next few days.



• I would guess that no one is shocked by this.



• I love these kind of stories because send them to all my friends who are germophobes.



• Attention guys: If you ever get yourself a girlfriend, don't be moving into your shed.

It Superb Owl Sunday

I will be watching the Los Angeles Movie Actors play the Cincinnati Flatlanders at 6:30 this evening.

I'm betting the Flatlanders win.

⧫
While I do that, you can visit these links:

• He probably won't burn anymore books.



• Key phrase in this story: "And what he told me was that when he lay on his back, his balls would cover his anus and create an airlock and that's why he snores."



• Key entry from our favorite police log: "6:22 p.m. A woman who had smoked marijuana and cigarettes, and drank a lot of coffee, thought she was in a trance."



• Imagine having a car radio that only receives NPR.

The Bruins need help

They were in Ottawa to take on the Senators this afternoon and they won but not by much. And this was against a team that is 20 points behind them in the standings.

The Bruins should have run all over the Senators but with Bergeron out injured and Marchand out on suspension, they've lost two guys who move the puck well. Pasternak and Hall are capable of scoring goals but only when someone gets them the puck.

But, despite my negative ramblings, they are still holding their own in the wildcard. They are in second place, only 4 points behind the Capitals.

⧫
In Olympics news, the US women and men lost their curling matches today. The men lost to Norway and the women lost to Great Britain.

This evening I will be watching bobsled, skeleton and downhill slopestyle.

⧫
While I watch sportings, you can visit links:

• Let me interpret the following statement for you: "He also said there are things that they cannot publicly say at this time". That is another way of saying, "We are hoping this all blows over and you people forget it ever happened".



• It's not much, but it's a start.



• Why is the student not in jail?



• Apparently you can once again go to Canada if you want.



• Someone has finally identified my problem: I got too much stuff in my brain.



• This is actually a pretty good use of Barry Manilow songs.

The Bruins fell apart.

The Hurricanes showed up and beat the crap out of the Bruins last night. The final score was 6-0 but that doesn't even tell the whole story.

Bergeron and Marchand were both out and it showed. No one stepped up and worked the ice like those two usually do.

I spent most of the night watching the half pipe, women's slalom and curling because every time I flipped on the hockey game, I got pissed off.

Tonight will be curling, snow cross and bobsled.

⧫
In baseball news, the league announced today that they have reached an agreement with the players on one thing - the designated hitter.

Effective this season (if they ever have one), there will be a DH in the National League. This means no more requirement for the pitcher to bat. I'm not saying that pitchers won't bat but now the NL is just like the AL.

It also means that all those aging baseball players looking to extend their careers by becoming a DH are no longer limited to the 15 teams in the American League. That will change the dynamics a bit. I also means that the Red Sox will probably lose J.D. Martinez after this season.

I'm still hoping they come to an agreement soon and at some point I get to see the Red Sox playing baseball.

⧫
There is a big hoorah going on in the media about Trump flushing papers down the toilet.

No evidence that it happened, just a big hoorah.

Look, I get it. The guy is an asshole but the media needs to stop making shit up. There are plenty of things he's done that they can beat him up over but until someone produces clear-cut evidence that he committed a crime, stop saying he may have committed a crime.

You all sound like idiots. Even if it turns out he did flush papers down the toilet, you still sound like idiots.

⧫
While I watch Olympics, you can click on these:

• Goofy Joe and his ilk have been saying this for the last month. We now have 6,000 troops and a bunch of F-15s over there. Normal people call that "throwing gasoline on a fire"



• Didn't they make a movie about this?



• If I go to England, I'll bring my own food.



• Sucks to be her.



• This is the most redneck thing I have ever seen.



• I kinda like the smell of french fires.

Luge relay is on my list

Luge relay is a four-person team event that is on my list of sports to watch.

It starts with a female luger. She pushes off and screams down the ice to the end were, at full speed, she takes her hands off the sled and reaches up to slap a thing hanging over the track. That sends a signal back to the beginning of the track where...

A male luger pushes off and screams down the same track to the end where, at full speed, he takes his hands off the sled and reaches up to slap the thing hanging over the track. Once again, the signal is sent back to the beginning of the track where...

Two guys on one sled, one laying on top of the other, push off and scream down the track. When they reach the end, the guy on top reaches up to slap the thing, ending their race and marking their time.

Holy crap, those people are going fast. I'm talking about speeds in excess of 80 mph and they are just inches above the ice. Then, to take their hands off the sled to reach up and slap at a target while going 80 mph is an act of madness.

I love it and I want to do it!

⧫
So once again I stayed up too late last night watching sports. I watched the snow cross and didn't go to bed until well after my bedtime. Then I woke up several times during the night because, well, I'm old.

I'll be doing the channel-flipping thing again tonight because there is Bruins hockey, downhill skiing, skeleton and curling.

While I'm doing all that, you can do these:

• The already outrageously high price of a car is about to get even higher.



• It's the old, "I'm late for a party, dude" defense.



• This is why I always pee before I leave the bar.



• Seems that the mayor of Hudson, Ohio is a complete whack-job.



• Presenting this episodes Brilliant Criminal of the Month.



• Some people have too much free time.

Local kids

This is Paula Moltzan of Charlemont, MA

This is Emily Sweeney of Suffield, CT

Be proud of these local girls. They both did good.

⧫
I'ver been trying to figure out what is going on with MLB but there is no information. Both sides keep accusing the other side of being stubborn and not negotiating.

What I have discovered is that since the major league teams are not allowed to cut deals with MLB players, they are spending a lot of time building up their minor league teams. This means that the MiLB may be fielding some great teams this year.

I'm thinking maybe I should look into getting tickets to the Worcester Red Sox. They might be playing some pretty good baseball...

⧫
Once again, I stayed up too late watching the Olympics.

I'm going to make this short and get right to the links:

• Whale Boners would be a fantastic name for a 1980s porno movie.



• These are the people who are on the road with you...



• Maybe he is Mick Jagger...
  How would you know? The guy is like 100 years old by now.



• Oops.

I stayed up too late

The men's super-G was on last night and I ended up watching it until 11:00. I wanted to see how the kid from Vermont, Cochran, did. He took a silver which is pretty damned good for a kid who grew up on the banks of the Winooski in Richmond, Vermont.

For those of you not familiar with that particular area of Vermont, take 91 north to 89. Take 89 north until you are in the middle of nowhere and every little town you see looks like something out of a Rockwell painting. If you see the whale tails, you've gone too far.

⧫
My tv viewing for tonight is going to be screwed up.

The Bruins are playing the Penguins at 7:00.
Luge is on at 7:00.
Half pipe is on at 8:30.
Slalom is on at 9:15.

I'm guessing I'll be doing the channel flipping thing, along with some internet streaming this evening

⧫
Here are some links:

• Key phrase in this story: "100 per cent proof of intelligent life."



• Only in Florida.



• "The Great Florida Leaf Blowing and Stabbing Mystery" would be a great name for an Agatha Christie novel.



• After taking the beatings I took in 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade, I don't feel bad for her.



• The price of a trout dinner just went up.

I have a suggestion

The biathlon is an interesting sport that could be so much more interesting.

I think they should replace the .22 caliber rifles with BB guns. Then they should replace the small metal targets with the competitors.

Hear me out.

Instead of lining up on one side of the range, they line up on alternate sides of the range and they shoot BBs at each other! They could wear protective headgear but no protective body gear. Trust me, get hit with five BBs fired from an air rifle and the last thing you're going to want to do is cross-country ski for a few kilometers.

That's the kind of guy I am; always coming up with ideas on how to make our world a little better...

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I will be spending my evening watching the sportings of the Olympics. Tonight will be men's alpine skiing and maybe some curling.

While I do all that, you can do this:

• In a world filled with stupid ways to die, you can add this one to the list.



• I always said Trump is a pretty sneaky/sleazy guy.



• Guys being guys.



• Speaking of guys being guys...



• Someone told me that the weed they have today is a lot more potent than the weed we had when I was young.



• Deer: The morons of the forest.

I discovered Olympic streaming

They keep saying that the Olympics are streaming on Peacock but they fail to tell you they are also streaming on a website.

If you go to nbcolympics.com and pick a stream to watch, you will be told something to the effect of, "Your free pass is good for 30 minutes". If you look somewhere on the right side of the screen, you'll notice a link that says something like, "Click here to log on with your service provider". Click that and you'll be presented with a bunch of cable companies.

In my case, I picked Spectrum, logged in and I have full access to all of the NBC streams.

I have been watching ski jumping, curling, biathlon and luge. Bobsled and skeleton start later this week.

Oh, and the streaming seems to have less talking head blather than the network broadcast.

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Goofy Joe is set on getting us into a shooting war. He's already sent 3,000 troops into the area and no one can tell me those troops aren't in harms way.

Then, to throw a little gasoline onto the smoldering embers, he keeps saying that Russia is going to invade any day now. I believe he's been saying that for at least 3 weeks.

I just hope he doesn't send my nephews or any of my children's friends over there.

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I'm going to watch some more Olympics.

You can check these out if you want:

• He should have retired two or three years ago.



• Just another reason I don't go on cruises.



• Only in Florida.



• Of course he does.



• You know things are getting bad when you have to go to two stores to find ketchup.

Back to three cars

The car sale transaction was completed without a hitch this afternoon and we are once again a three-car family.

Having four cars isn't really a big deal for us because when we had our driveway replaced several years ago we added a "third lane", if you will, to the outside. It's deep enough to hold two cars while still allowing the two cars in the garage plenty of room to pull in or out.

Now it's just my car in that outdoor parking space and the ladies cars are comfortably protected inside our garage.

I'm nice that way.

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NBC should not be allowed to cover the Olympics anymore.

They spend more time telling me about how "Thelma Lou had to overcome the recent death of her favorite hamster" or the ever-popular "Igor Leftski has a hangnail that is making it difficult for him to compete" or my personal favorite, "He is a four-time olympian who should win gol... Oooo, that's gonna leave a mark.... Well, guess he won't be in the medal contention this year".

I watch the Olympics to see the competition, not because I like listening to some unknown dweeb who is sitting in a room in New York, pretending that he's right there slope-side, watching the ski jumpers fly through the air.

Show me the damned short track, the curling, the luge, etc...

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I'm going to continue watching the curling mixed-doubles match between USA and Canada. It's currently tied 2-2. It's a very exciting match.

You can click on these if you want:

• This is going to make a huge splash.



• Big deal. I've got at least two living in the woods behind my house. We see them all the time.



• Key phrase in this story: "...he’s currently on a church trip."



• Uh, I saw a bobcat this fall in East Longmeadow. I wouldn't pick one up and carry it around. Those things are big. Like labrador retriever big...



• Key phrase in this story: "...released from hospital a week later, sadly sans superpowers."



• Here's your Naked Guy In The News story.

Best possible solution

So the owner of the garage where we get our cars fixed called and made a decent offer on the dead/dying car. I told him it doesn't have plates anymore and he said, "Pfffttt, no big deal. I've got repair plates!"

So tomorrow at some point, he weill gather up his repair plates and come get the car. He informed me that he will be spending his evenings repairing the car and then selling it. I personally think that is the best possible outcome. The car will get new life, someone will buy a reliable car for a good price and he will make a few bucks off his labor.

Sometimes you're the bug, sometimes you're the windshield. In this case, everyone is the windshield. There is no bug.

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Speaking of cars, the weather and roads stayed just good enough for us to make the run up to the dealership so my daughter could pick up her shiny new car. The drive home got a bit sporty at a few spots but we beat the icy stuff and made it home just as the freezing crap started coating the roads.

She is a very happy new car owner.

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I found this and thought it was pretty funny.

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Update on the not-so-top-secret project:

All is well. The doctors have been very happy with the fact they can finish up their work at home instead of sitting at the clinic until 10:00 at night doing paperwork.

There is still one glitch and that will be fixed soon.

The clinic has a very common IP subnet. So common in fact that it is the same as my home subnet and pretty much everyone else on the planet. The problem is you can't route traffic between two networks that have the same IP subnet. The vpn and the routers have no idea where to send the traffic.

Since their primary vendor has installed a lot of internet-connected gear on their network, changing their subnet would require a lot of work on the vendors part. Instead, I changed my subnet and my daughter has been happily finishing her day from home instead of sitting in the clinic until all hours.

Now I need to change the other doc's home network. She has been connecting to her cell phone hotspot, starting the vpn and connecting to the clinic. That's gonna burn through a lot of data really fast and it's kinda slow. As soon as the opportunity avails itself, I will change her home subnet and she will enjoy the benefits of a high-speed vpn connection.

This has been your update on the not-so-top-secret project

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I'm going to go down into my basement and vacuum up the puddle that formed there this afternoon. Then I'm going to watch some olympic sportings.

You can see if these links are of interest to you:

• Key phrase in this story from Australia: "Steve is great at keeping me more alert when I drive."



• I call bullshit. I've gotten swarmed by mosquitos when I was wearing a white t-shirt.



• File this under the heading of Guys Being Guys.



• Good safety tip: If someone tells you to swallow battery acid, don't listen to them.



• Only in Florida.

I'm not a car guy

I have a car in my garage that is no longer being used as a car. I need to dispose of said car but I have no ideas how to dispose of a dead car.

I talked to the guys that do all the work on our cars and the owner of the place expressed interest in buying it from us. The problem is I may have no way to get it to him because effective tomorrow, it is no longer registered.

I did find an auto junkyard that claimed they will come pick it up but I haven't contacted them yet.

The last time I had a dead / dying car that needed to be disposed of was back in 1978. I drove the car over to a junkyard, leaving a trail of oil and black smoke, and they gave me money for it. I thought it was a hell of a deal for eveyone except the folks behind me on Page Blvd.

I suspect things have changed since 1978 but I'm hoping for a similar solution tomorrow, minus the trail of oil and smoke. I want this car out of my garage so my daughter can put her new car in there.

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Goofy Joe is in New York City to talk about his favorite subject, "gun violence".

We, as a society, are going to continue to see a rise in violence as long as our "leaders" continue to blame guns. Guns are not violent. People are violent. And it's going to continue until our alleged "leaders" step up and say, 'Hey, this is a problem. People are behaving like animals. We need to start removing those animals from our society so the rest of us can live our lives in peace."

Stop blaming guns for the fact our "leaders" condone rioting, accuse the police of being evil and treat every who doesn't think like them as idiots. Those attitudes lead people to believe they can behave like animals.

To my friends and family in the law enforcement world, I got your back. As a matter of fact, a lot of people I know have your back. If I am around and you are attacked, I'm getting involved. I'm stepping in and helping you. In the meantime, keep your head on a swivel and wear your vest.

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The US v. Finland women's hockey game is on now. It is followed by Canada v. Switzerland mixed doubles curling. I'm hoping to stay awake through most of that.

Here are todays links:

• Key entry from our favorite police log: "4:22 a.m. A woman wanted to know why dispatch wasn’t doing anything about the people committing crimes against humanity.



• I'm not sure what I find more incredulous: The fact they are bringing guns to the "funfair" or the fact the taliban is allowing something called the "funfair" to go on at all.



• Dale Paul Melvin appears to have difficulty understanding.



• It's the old Dale Earnhardt defense.



• One thing about covid is that it appears to be raising the collective intellect of our society.



• Yes alcohol was involved. Lots of alcohol.

I like long lunches

I had lunch today with a friend I haven't seen in two years. We sat down at 11:45 and didn't leave the restaurant until 2:10.

He's a retired FBI agent whose specilty was digital forensics. In other words, his job was to catch bad people doing bad things via their computers and the internet. He's an interesting guy with a lot of interesting stories.

Now I need to set something up with my retired buddies. It's been more than a year since we got together and it's well past time we sat down to bitch about being old and crotchety.

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As for the rest of my day, I spent my afternoon and evening at a car dealership with my daughter.

As I said on Monday, her car experienced a problem. Turns out that problem was its death.

So on Monday and Tuesday she drove my car to work. Today I drove her to work and when she was done, I picked her up and we went to the dealership.

She is now the proud owner of a car that she found on the dealer website and that she really wanted. Apparently as soon as new cars arrive on the dealership lots, they are bought so when she spotted this one, we had to go immediately.

She will pick it up on Friday and once again be a happy car owner. Also, I will be happy because I will once again have my car back.

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Now you know why this is late and why it is short.

On the upside of things, I am currently sitting comfortably on my couch watch mixed-doubles curling.

While I enjoy that, you can enjoy these few links:

• This is a terrible idea and it will probably turn out badly for all concerned



• Why are they “furious”? This is what our world is like now. She should have been fired because, simply out, if anyone other than a liberal black female had said that, they would have been fired. From what I understand about that show, every panelist on it would have been front-and-center in the line to pick out their pitchforks and torches if some conservative white guy had said that...



• The Small Dog thinks the arrival of the UPS truck is the apocalypse and she lets me know with much gusto and volume.

Some web services are a pain in the ass

I have a small web server running in my basement that I use to share large files with non-technical folks. The perfect example is sending a picture to my 85 year old aunt. Email sucks because most email platforms won't allow large files. The easiest way to do it is to send her a link that she can click on. The way she gets the picture and I don't have to spend a half hour on the phone explaining how to log into a service or create an account somewhere.

As a coworker used to say when something difficult went off without a hitch, "Easy Peezy, Lemon Squeezy"

For the record, I never understood what lemons being squeezed had to do with configuring a router or moving a huge application into production but she always liked saying that so I just nodded and said, "Uh, okay... Whatever... Look, we're done early, let's go get a beer.".

But back to the web server.

I installed PHP on the server and for some god-forsaken reason, the download of PHP included Apache. I was not aware of that and when Apache suddenly started running on my server, the web server application I use started failing. Seems Apache grabbed on to port 80 and prevented my service from binding to it.

For those of you that don't know about Apache, let me enlighten you by simply telling you to do a google search for log4j vulnerability.

It took me a bit of research to find out what happened but once I found it, I deleted all remnants of that highly-vulnerable Apache crap off my server, restarted my preferred web service and all was good in my world.

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The Bruins are playing the Kraken at 7:00 this evening and I'm hoping to watch at least 2 periods. I'm also hoping to watch a Bruins victory...

While I do that, you can see if these are any good:

• Looks like the good people of New Jersey won't know when winter is going to end.



• Another reason I don't go to Golden Corral.



• Only in Florida.



• Key lie in this story: "There are simply no words to express our deep regret and disappointment."



• Is it just me or does anyone else think Putin is playing Goofy Joe like a worn-out fiddle?



• Contraband Bologna would be a fantastic name for a 1990s grunge band.