After almost no driving since getting a license, I've completed five runs to the border. Full load both ways, carrying food and supplies my brother organized one way and people back. Three, aunt and her daughters, will be staying with us for the time being. Well, 'aunt'; we settled on it because even if there is a name for "great-grandfather's sister's granddaughter," nobody cares. Bro hired one of them already to accelerate what little paperwork they might need later on, but they're already on the social services. The rest I brought had other families to take them. It's our drop in the sea. It's not well there, obviously. Already I've seen too many idiot nationalists protesting against 'immigration,' concentrating near areas for refugees. Provoking, assaulting, others exploiting. Human thrash, all of them. Because I have no idea what news comes your way, just don't let it distract you from who the real dirtbags are or what a simultaneous humanitarian catastrophe and effort are happening. Yes, I know, most of you are much savvier in politics than I am, but same most of you have repeatedly proven themselves at obsessing with whatever topic du jour mildly turned your head. And if you think this is insulting or exaggerating, hold onto your pants -- three years ago, if someone tweeted Trump wipes with his left, you could bet there'd be a thread about whether or not he pets the #whiterabbit with it. Don't lose perspective. Don't let it become some blasé gossip shit in a month. I'll be going into other topics now. In part because of exhaustion, both physical and topical. When time is dense with events, it's gonna be either major themes only or a flood of information, and nobody's in the mood for the latter. Made me appreciate truckers even more, though. Also, because the car is a 20-year-old piece of shit VW Golf I bought in December for $200 to learn car repairs/maintenance, it's short of a miracle it hadn't died a single time. Also also, it's a good thing that at my current job, you can excuse any work delays with "yeah, so the maths got more complex than expected, will have to derive it algebraically instead." In my experience, it can buy up to three weeks. I did my postdoc interview during a refueling break. It probably went poorly, though the interviewers seemed impressed when I corrected their article misquote from memory and answered both versions of the question. Them nagging me about why we didn't reschedule visibly pissed me off, and if this will cost me the job, good riddance. What the fuck do you think would be different apart from smart-casual attire? Once driving became routine, the monotony of it settled. Played a D&D game by phone twice, which was crazy, but it was a boost of energy that couldn't have come at a better time. One of the TBA characters from the last time is a rogue, who is such an over-the-top gothy edgelord he'd make Tim Burton cream his laced-up pantaloons in a blink. The ranger player had to postpone again, but she's working for the Ministry of the Interior, and it's hard for a better excuse. I don't know if I have it in me to do this more than once. The car isn't taking it well, and I sure as hell can't keep going like that more than a week. There's desire to help, and there's practicality. Instead, I'm seriously considering volunteering to IT security groups our gov organizes, but between dual citizenship and police record, I suspect my prospective clearance level is somewhere between LOL and "don't bother." Now I'm going back to sleeping it off. Leaving you with this fun chess puzzle for all levels and ages. White moves, checkmate in two.
I know you probably feel like you're just doing what feels right, but you're a saint. I can only feel helplessness all the way across the Atlantic. I have yet to find a charity whose express purpose is buying small arms ammunition, but I'm going to keep looking.
f7+ Kf8. o̶u̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶c̶h̶e̶c̶k̶m̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶s̶e̶q̶u̶e̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶e̶i̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶w̶a̶y̶.̶ longer checkmate sequence, miscalculated here. OK, here's the solution: Rh8+ forces Kxh8 (all other fields are defended by White, this is the only move King has left. the additional reason you have to put pressure on opponent is that Black has the abovementioned checkmate in one waiting.) f6# (h7 and g8 are defended by pawns, Bishop puts the check, Black has no way to hide or capture) What's happening here is called deflection: you sacrifice a piece but force the opponent to a disadvantageous position.
That doesn't rule out the NGO scene, which would probably be better for future advancement from a Machiavellian standpoint.Instead, I'm seriously considering volunteering to IT security groups our gov organizes, but between dual citizenship and police record, I suspect my prospective clearance level is somewhere between LOL and "don't bother."
My partner of almost 10 years moved to Canada from Ukraine when he was 14. His dad and many cousins still live there. I've been there 3 times, and loved every visit. Once in 2014 with the Khreschatik still a mess with tires and army tents after the Maidan protests. That trip showed me the strength, resilience, convictions and nationalism on these people. By some strange life circumstances, I've gone to a tiny Ukrainian sleep away camp since I was 7, singing the Ukrainian hymn twice a day and learning songs. That's actually where I met my current partner, when I came back as a young adult to be a camp counsellor. And where I met who I consider my best friend Vlad, amazing artist that we do fun build projects at the dacha with. The camp has been cancelled the past 2 years because of Covid, I don't know if we'll ever bring it back since it's all on our shoulders at the moment. I'm personally only tangentially Ukrainian, from my mom's mother's side - but we don't know very much about it since she was an orphan. My mom still has cousins there on the Belorussian border. Needless to say it's been a hard week, it's a people close and dear to my heart. War sucks, Putin Huilo, Slava Ukraini, Smert' Voroham 😡
One of my COVID discoveries was my great-grandmother's photo albums. The family legend was that she was the nasty woman who disowned her daughter for dating a goy; the real problem was she died, and then my grandfather's father died, and then my mother was born, and then WWII started, leaving my Jewish grandmother in an antisemitic hive with an estranged father, a brother at war and two young children. So she let my grandfather gaslight the kids into thinking it was the Jews who were racist. I'm a quarter Belarusian Jew. My mother is half Belarusian Jew. And a dead ringer for her grandmother; the resemblance is uncanny. There are, of course, very few Belarusian Jews left. They were expelled, exterminated or otherwise invited to leave; based on the documents my crew bailed on The Pale about 20 years prior to the (fictional) events of Fiddler on the Roof. My grandmother died 30 years ago. I wish I could have asked about... so many things. What I know is the gaslighting is so severe that my family simultaneously argues for my great-great grandfather's Judaism while simultaneously insisting he paid someone else for their name so that he could escape military service and emigrate. When I pointed out that military service at the time was mostly about exterminating jews, not putting them in uniform, I was met with stony silence. What I have? Is a proud history of Americans who ended up in Texas when they assed out of their Alabama plantation when their slaves were emancipated. A proud history of Americans who ended up in Boston when they were assed out of their New York manner home when their slaves were emancipated. I found out the other day that the Muscovite wife of a friend of mine went to college there because their degree program was better than Kiev's. That's as close as I have to a connection with Ukraine. Other than a family history that's nothing but photographs, letters, and a pieced-together history against everything I ever grew up with. But I know there were a handful of these in amongst the christmas decorations, my mother had no idea where they came from, and they all got thrown away before I turned ten.
I am having a root canal on Monday. Lots of dental pain. No fun. The world is in a state. I miss my grandparents. The Ukrainians are badass.
The timbre of the bells made it hard for me to tell whether this was written in F major or (the relative) D minor. An appropriate ambiguity, in the current moment. Keep creating :)!
I have friends in Ukraine, and a friend with a Ukranian wife whose family is still there. I am invested. In other news, I did my Annual Performance Review for 2021, and in every single metric and measure far exceeded my goals. So I gave myself a glowing write-up and a rating of "Outstanding", which I have never done before. My manager just completed their half of the assessment and rated me "Below Acceptable". In his review of my performance he claimed multiple of my ideas and achievements for himself, dating all the way back to 2019. He also said I don't appreciate our products, because I point out their flaws. Well dude, my job is literally to take a long list of customer-supplied requirements and measure them up against our products, and then sell them our products as the answer to their needs. If the customer is expressing needs our products don't deliver on, that's not my fucking problem, is it? My rebuttal to my annual review - with receipts going back to 2017, showing the projects I have been responsible for that came to fruition last year, and made last year so epic - is up to 9 pages now, and will be the basis for my legal action against my employer. And hey - in other news, my second interview in two days went well! The company wants to hire within the next two weeks, and I have one more interview coming up. The only constant is change...
The local Rojava solidarity network has temporarily switched over to supporting Ukraine resistance. Today, two ambulances are leaving for Ukraine with protective gear and equipment for ten comrades, 600 IFAKs and some other requested items that will be picked up on the way. Hopefully it will get there in time. The refugee support network that was started in 2015 is also getting ready to scale back up again, for when/if it's needed. Hoping for a quick peace.
Video today confirming the An-225 has been destroyed. I'd always wanted to see it fly.