For my generation of British people, the terrorists were home-grown. How quickly we have forgotten about the Provisional IRA.
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Apropos
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Congratulations USA, even here it feels like a weight has been lifted…
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yes it will be nice to have adult professionals running our country again .
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The smooth inauguration was nice. But COVID is still doing bonkers here (we’re the #1 county for new cases in the state that’s #2) and even though our numbers are way worse than they were back in October our school district is already talking about full re-opening “since teachers now qualify for vaccinations” even though we haven’t had enough vaccine to actually get them vaccinated.
On the upside…a friend who spent 9 days in the hospital on O2 with covid was finally released and is feeling a lot better.
Oh, and found out I need $10-$20k worth of plumbing work done as my 60 year old sewer line is falling apart.
And my 3 month quest to find psychiatric help for my daughter is still basically just getting me “Sorry, we don’t see anyone under 12” or “Sorry we aren’t actually accepting new patients”. I did finally find one option…but it’s in CA and my insurance won’t cover them 
So…that’s extra fun.
Also frustrated that I haven’t been able to get anything musical out of my synths since October - they’re working fine…just…anything I do just sounds like noise to me right now
Oh well. At least the new soldering iron I ordered because I sounded like a decent update to my beloved TS-100 shipped quicker than I expected and should be here in a day or two so that will be nice and should help cheer me up a bit.
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The season finale was worth the wait. The new President’s great grandfather gave a long speech, people sang songs, then the President came to the podium in her yellow greatcoat and her red pillbox hat, her beautiful face shining with joy, and she performed a beautiful poem she wrote herself, riffing on Hamilton and Lincoln and King. People cried. Then the President’s great grandfather, who seems to be her chief of staff or something, gave all her new staff a good talking to, to make sure they treated people with respect. No more trolling on Twitter.
Hail to the Chief, President Amanda Gorman.
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yeah she did kinda steal the show didn’t she . in a good way , not like the last narcissist in chief we had.
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She was Epic, A ray of hope. Joe seems genuine but all these coffin dodging Presidents need replaced by vibrant, liberated, passionate (youngerish) people…
I have been battling the last fortnight, my line manager has been off with CV for 2 weeks and probably another to go. Doing my work, fielding what comes my way of his, making sure our team is ok and on top “onboarding” a contractor… Had to cancel 6 days holiday, which is my first BOOKED days since october 2019… HeyHo., Actualy been through worse times and survived them,
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Well, our house is feeling more positive and revitalized than it has in a long time. Welcomed a new family member from the local shelter:
Baxter is a 1-2 year old Border Collie who’s previous owner surrendered him because…well…because he’s a border collie and they realized they don’t have the time and energy to keep up with a BC.
He seems to fit right in here. He spent most of the ride home with his head in my daughters lap. He definitely needs some more training…which I think will be good for both him and my daughter 
He’s sleeping in her room tonight and she told him a bedtime story about chasing sheep…he was alseep before her 
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Border Collie is my local breed 
… Make me feel at home wherever I see one.
It’s what I would have if I had time for a dog, but I have no time.
Rob
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My dog Milo is a border collie. I forgot there is a pets thread. I should probably post over there at some point.
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It surprises me sometimes how far they have spread from our little Fells in the north of England…
Then again, it does not…
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I totally forgot there was an actual pets thread
Still feel like he fits here since adopting him has changed the mood in our house so much. My daughter said “I’m not alone anymore!” when he came home and is finally sounding optimistic about the future.
It’s also uncanny how much he reminds me of our old dog who passed 5 years ago. She was a Keeshound mutt:
They look a lot alike and they have similar temperments…but there are also some big differences. She was 10lbs heavier but he’s taller and longer. So he’s bigger…but lighter. I got her as a 3month old pup and she hadn’t had time to learn any bad habits yet:
She was also a lot lower energy and more mellow
Baxter is a good boy, and seems really smart - but his previous owners didn’t do much if any training so he’s got some bad habits we’re going to have to break him of. And we’ll have to find more activities for him to use his energy on. But that’s part of why I wanted to get a new dog. So my daughter can learn about training them and hopefully get herself more activity as well
It was fun watching him try to herd our fish last night and get frustrated when they wouldn’t respond to his glare 
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They are smart dogs for sure.
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Top tip if you plan remaining engaged with life and cling desperately to sanity.
Never give in and agree to score someone else’s work … if it’s for Jazz Guitar!
Just spent my few conscious hours today wrangling fekin’ flat 9 sharp 11 chords over what I’ll be charitable and call a “novel” bass line with all the smoothness of gait of a pirate minus his peg leg. Oh and a key change as subtle as a bowl of car keys at dinner party.
I am done with fekin’ jazz for today! You never see Sam worried his white keys won’t mesh with the other white keys oh no!
My mood, like far too many of the grips I’ve had to write up today, is somewhat diminished.
But hey, don’t hate jazz, just don’t write it down. Ever!!
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Had a root canal today. That is all. o_o
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I looked at my Calendar last night, for the first time in 3 weeks I have an almost clear day today, it’s been virtually back to back calls all day every day ( my line manager is still off, hopefully back on the quiet next week)… It has kept me very busy, stepped up to do things (management know none of my prior history ) and it’s been appreciated me filling in.
So today, I am going to take it easy and do some catching up on things. Take those 10 min breaks we are supposed to be doing…
Been trying to get a bit healthier too over the last few weeks, walking 5 miles a day, cutting down on the wine and eating a bit better. Not feeling physicaly better but it’s probably helping my mind…
We also had a “Session” at work to reflect, I mainly turn up to listen and support the others that turn up. This time it turned into a “Whinge” session, which was actual really good for the people splurging. I am fairly used to adversity…
There are bright things on the horizon.
And this place keeps me interested in something creative 
Rob
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I am not a fan of going to the dentist, partly because the Hygienist just tells you how bad your doing. But also because my childhood dentist was apparently doing un-necessary fillings and other work.
I don’t know what a Root Canal involves, I don’t want to! The only thing I want to do with a Canal is pilot a narrow boat.
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Narrow canal boats are sooo british 
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Interesting fact if you did not know, Birmingham ( The real UK one ) has more miles of canal than Venice
…
We do have wider canals and wider boats, but the mainstay is the inland narrow network. There was only ever a couple in my County and neither exist anymore ( almost )…
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