The Stories and Novels By Derek Ward
You may have noticed a new look to the blog. This was not done by choice. WordPress had this big banner having to do with an issue with my current version of PHP. Addressing it broke the theme I was using. At least The Brother got the blog back up.
Maybe it’s time to go looking for a new theme.
Track has the storm hitting the east coast as a Cat 3 and then coming across the state. This will be the first major storm since The Wife and I moved in together. My estimate is that Dorian will quickly degrade down to a Cat 1 or TS by the time it gets to us. That means bugging in instead of evacuation. Which is good because I don’t want to crate up all the cats.
My commute home is normally about an hour. Monday it was three hours. I was grumbly about how long it took me to get home all Monday night and into Tuesday morning.
Then this came across my newsfeed. If the article isn’t updated, the toddler passed away last night.
I’m going to shut the fuck up now.
We’re getting into the two busiest months at the day job. Plus, I’m competing for Toastmasters.
Blogging will be light and sporadic.
Working on Toastmasters speech.
Per Miguel’s prompting, I sat down and watched Cajun Navy. The Wife deferred due to both her hatred of storms and seeing animals in distress. She’s a soft heart, which is something I need in my life.
Watching people, regular people, travel over a thousand miles for the chance of rescuing someone, refreshes my general optimism in people. Particularly when they say “fuck you” to the authorities and still go out there. You say my certified lifeguard son can’t go save people because he’s not 18? Fine, we’ll go where you’re not.
One point made is that the people they rescue haven’t evacuated because they’re just stupid (not to say there aren’t stupid mixed in). These folks often don’t have the wherewithal to evacuate. It’s hard to leave when you don’t have a car or a place to go. Something to keep in mind when watching the news.
In my county, the local government is putting them to work.
Interesting concept, but I don’t know if we’ll ever find out if it’s truly effective. It is a government program after all.
Tam makes a comment on a post and I go from ten views to forty! Welcome everyone!
I’m feeling fatigued with politics and even economics. Not really inspired to write or comment today.
The Army’s looking for a new helo to replace the venerable Blackhawk.
Bell Helicopter is submitting its V-280 Valor tilt-rotor.
Sikorsky And Boeing have their SB-1 Defiant.
https://youtu.be/N–dMwrRhog
Personally, I think the Defiant would fill the Blackhawk role better because of its smaller rotor-print. I can see a Defiant getting into the places troops need helos. I could see a tilt-rotor taking the heavy-lift role, such as the Chinook and the Sea Stallion.
The Army is also looking for a new scout bird. War Is Boring has a look at one of the proposals. The pick kind of looks like a Russian take on the old RAH-66 Commanchero prototype.