Sunday, January 29, 2023

Random Musings on a Cold Sunny Sunday

 Ukraine got its tanks. Finally. Over 300 main battle tanks (MBT) have been promised to Ukraine. Many of them Leopard II which will take Ukrainian tank crews about a week to master Whether they get enough of them in time, master the training, and establish the logistics to launch their long anticipated counter offensive before the Russians launch their offensive is the question. Negotiations are fast tracked for F16s and other fighters as well as long range ATACMS missiles which will complete the AFU strike capability. While the Russians keep hammering at Bakhmut with the regular army reportedly taking over for the wiped up Wagner Group, Ukraine keeps inching towards Kreminna in Luhansk to fully cut supply lines from the northeast. Ukraine continues to attack along the Zaporizhzhia front, hitting the usual high value sites with HIMARS and artillery, while Russia launches missiles and drones against civilian targets. 

I will not comment too much on Canadian politics other than to say the 4 conservative governments in AB, SK, MB and ON are doing their utmost to destroy publicly funded education, health care, and social services. The intent is to privatize them to the greatest extent possible to the benefit of their wealthy friends and donors. Ford was elected in Ontario because no one came out to vote. Alberta has an alternative with experience in Notley's NDP, waiting for an election to be called, Why Moe is popular in Saskatchewan is beyond me but he may well win the next election too. 

My grandson, Grayden, will be 6 months old on Feb 3rd. At least with social media I can keep up with him even if I cant actually hold him. He sits by himself and is eating real food, stuffs his bare feet into his mouth. Has not quite mastered rolling over. He is the smilingest kid ever. Hard to catch him without a smile. 

Morning smiles

Look what I found

A dear friend of ours celebrated her 99th birthday this afternoon. We had planned to go but our landlord was supposed to come by to fix a cabinet drawer in our kitchen. We told our friend we would come to her 100th party instead. I'm sure she will be there.

And we are still waiting for the repair people. I'd fix it myself but cannot figure out how to release the drawer from the glides. There is a fancy apparatus at the far end of the glide but I don't want to break it by forcing it. I do not fit well in the cupboard space under the drawer. Emailed the manufacturer but of course have heard nothing back. I never understand why they even have email for general inquiries as they are consistently ignored.

The end of the drawer glide.

Our back door does not open into our back yard, so we had to take Lucky out on a leash and then shut the gate and let him go. I built a moveable fence across the walk so now he can run out when he wants. Except of course he wants us to go out with him to keep him company. He will run to the front and bark at people, then run to the back and bark just because. Best if someone is on the street and in the alley at the same time. He races back and forth. Sometimes he even remembers why he is out there and does his business. When he wants outside he will bring a stuffed toy to take with him, which he usually forgets. A dog training video I saw said all dogs have ADHD. The need a job to keep focused. If you don't give them one, they will make their own. Lucky's job is to bark at every sound and movement, lunge at big vehicles and people. He never bites. And when we get visitors, he will settle down and accept them. If we aren't around he will be the friendliest dog you ever saw.

The front fence/gate

Back gate

Tanya is using my older Dell computer with Windows 10. She works in Russian language which a friend switched it to last spring; I work in English. She showed me how to switch languages back and forth and I spent two days cleaning it up for her. Uninstalled Malware Bytes which speeded it up a great deal. I used it for years and thought it was good. Apparently not. I installed something with the dumb name of Restoro (https://www.restoro.com/) which I have been using to keep my computer clean and operating at capacity. It works quite well. Takes about 30 minutes to do a clean up and then a reboot to finish the job by deleting all the garbage. It took about 6 hours to reboot and works like a dream. Will reboot now in about 2 minutes.

Tomorrow cold or not, I have to walk Lucky. 


14 comments:

  1. I live in a conservatives area in United States. Oh to be young like your grandson and put your feet up to one mouth. I'm not that flexible.
    Coffee is on and stay safe

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    1. Living in a city at least allows me to associate with people who are progressive. Yes, youthful flexibility is a wonderful thing. Old age stiffens the joints

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  2. Let's hope those Leopard tanks make a big difference in Ukraine. Your grandson Grayden is a real cutie-patootie!

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    1. I worry that the Leopard II tanks will take to long to accumulate any numbers. Also as they come from different countries they will have different characteristics creating Logistical problems. Much like the variations in 155 mm howitzers that come from different countries.
      I talked to my son last night. They just moved to a new and larger house. Grayden has not stopped looking around.

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  3. Grayden is gorgeous, but you know that.
    I do hope the tanks arrive and are mastered in time.
    Sadly conservative governments the world over are doing their very best to destroy publically funded healthcare, education and social services. Which is one of the reasons that it will be a very snowy day in hell before I vote for them.

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    1. I do not know what is driving this lurch to the extreme right all over the world. Fear of what? Losing the advantages of the patriarchy as people wake up to the harm it does?

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  4. Thank you for all of that information! That grandson is adorable. My granddaughter is many miles away from me....and thanks the internet I have watched her grow...for the past 10 years...but it is so much better to spend real time with her! She will be in double digits this year...those 10 have gone so fast...I hope I am still around for her the next 10.

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    1. Having your granddaughter far away must be hard and I hope you do get to see her face to face too as well as via social media. We hope to go to Edmonton in March sometime if we can get a dog sitter for Lucky

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  5. I can't tell from your photo, but if it's a 'soft-close' drawer glide, the release mechanism might not be at the back where you're looking for it. Instead, pull out the drawer and check the channel that's attached to the side of the drawer itself. Inside the channel, just in front of where the two glide channels overlap, there's sometimes a flat plastic mechanism tucked between the channels. The mechanism pivots up/down inside the channel to release the drawer. (Although by now you've probably gotten it fixed anyway.)

    Sounds like Lucky is enjoying his new domain! :-)

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    1. I hoped someone would have some ideas and should have known you might know. Yes, it is a soft close drawer. See your email for detailed pictures. If I were 30 and 120 lbs I might be able to fit in the cabinet and fix it.

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  6. As you know we have the same problem here with the 'Republican for the rich party.' For decades they have wanted to privatize all government programs that benefit middle and struggling Americans.
    We had a German Shepherd for years and loved her. She was the smartest dog I have ever owned. She was tolerant of people when they would visit; but people would often take liberties with her and try to pet her and in one case a woman actually put her face face-to-face with her. I was always worried that she would react to unwanted attention.
    We lived in a house without water and I had to carry water from a stream behind the house. During the winter I would hook her to a sled and she would haul two five gallon jugs of water to the house for me.
    We really miss her.
    But now we have moved on to cats.
    the Ol'Buzzard

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    1. A great deal of Canadian Conservative ideology and tactics are exported from America. Along with money to make it happen.
      Lucky is very intelligent and needs training but we are not good trainers. He would love to learn to pull a sleigh. He is bored which is why he gets into trouble.
      Our cats are doing so well with the people staying at our house. The wife just sent us pictures again today. The windows were blown out of their apartment in Kharkiv so her husband went back to board up the openings.

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  7. Lovely to have a real live baby in the family.... happy 6 month birthday to Grayden! I survived the weekend visit from my large grand-dog, but have to admit that after he was picked up on Sunday afternoon, the first thing I did was get the vacuum cleaner fired up. He's a VERY hairy dog. I could knit a whole new dog with what he left behind.
    I wonder how long it will take to get all those promised tanks to where they can be of use.

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    1. Good question about the tanks. Tanya and I plan to go to Edmonton in March to see Grayden. The woman (she might be 32) who owns the house has offered to look after Lucky while we are away. They have a mutual love for each other.
      German shepherds are supposed to shed but once we got all the loose hair combed out, he has not shed since. The vet was quite pleased with his coat and skin condition, so we must be doing something right.

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