Firestorm

    Day and night had long since blurred together. At this point we were only delaying the inevitable and conceded our house to the flames. We tried to leave town on the main road going east but abandoned vehicles blocked the way. Upon returning to town we went to the visitor’s center where emergency services were shuttling people out on buses. Seating was limited and most of the buses had already left. Instead we joined a convoy of private vehicles heading out on the bus route. Our car had to be abandoned when a tree fell in front of us. Just as well for once we stepped out the tires erupted into flames. It was misery.

We pulled our jackets up to shield our heads from the flames that licked at us from both sides of the road. As we walked I noticed an ember alight on my finger, yet I couldn’t feel it burn. I couldn’t even feel my sweat. Was I sweating? The soot coating my skin felt dry. I tried rubbing some off between my fingers and with it came the outer layer of skin. I felt no pain. I looked beyond my hands and saw that the bottom of my shoes had melted away. I had been walking barefoot on the asphalt for some time. Feeling nauseous from heat stroke, I vomited. Now my stomach rumbled with hunger.

After walking for what felt like an eternity our group emerged from the blaze into a clear blue sky, as far as I could tell. With my eyes cloudy as egg whites I could only see silhouettes against a nondescript background. I raised my hands in a vain attempt to wipe my eyes clear and felt the skin on my arms split open. I held them straight out to avoid any more damage.

    Eventually I could hear people talking in the distance. I couldn't understand what they were saying. I called out to them but with all of the smoke I had inhaled I could only get out a hoarse groan. I reached out for help and shambled over to them.

    Finally I was close enough to hear what the voices were saying. “There’s nothin' we can do for 'em, boys, 'cept send 'em back to God", said a voice in a country drawl, "Make it quick for 'em and aim for the head.”

Photo(s) of the Week: Alexei's Jig

Source: Yale University Library
 

Security Theater

     I'll cut to the chase; on Friday, October 22nd we were notified at work that we would have to get fully vaccinated for Covid by February 15, 2022 or be put on unpaid leave until March 17, 2022 at which point we would be fired. We are allowed to seek medical or religious exemptions but there is no chance of that happening in a Godless country like the United States. Frankly I think the entire thing is horseshit.

    Iowa never locked down. In the event it did my employer got themselves labeled as an "essential" company. Did I get hazard pay? No. Did I get additional sick leave? No. What I got instead was news in January that my department was being relocated to another state. This, obviously, pissed a bunch of people off and they all quit. When that finally caught up to us by mid-April we were put on permanent overtime varying between 48 and 57 hours per week. We've also been masked since May 11, 2020. I have not worn a mask anywhere outside of work since at least June of this year. And now they're telling us that if we are not fully vaccinated after two goddamned years of this shit we'll be fired.

    It's not all bad though. I've been thinking about looking for a new job recently, preferably one with minimal overtime or least a job I enjoy so the OT is bearable. I guess what they say is true, "When God closes a door, He opens a window".

BlogSpot Graveyard: Bird Hybrids

First post: Friday, January 10, 2014

Last post: Monday, May 8, 2017

    

    As I mentioned in my previous post, Trying to find a source of light from April 2019, one of my hobbies is writing. I began this hobby around the end of my college career in 2012 and one of the first stories I wrote was set on an undiscovered island filled with rare animals and a primitive species of human. While doing research on island and subpolar animals a few years later I came across a BlogSpot called Bird Hybrids. Not only does it show what species can hybridize with each other it also shows photos for each hybrid which is incredibly useful.

    Sadly the most recent blog post is from May 8, 2017. However the blog admin has posted comments after that date:

• 17 October 2017 at 22:04
  
• 23 November 2018 at 16:08
  
• 17 August 2019 at 21:08
  
• 26 July 2017 at 22:59
  
• 5 August 2017 at 16:39
  
• 15 September 2018 at 15:05
  
• 31 March 2019 at 22:17
  
• 3 June 2017 at 21:00
  
• 17 August 2019 at 21:11
  
• 18 November 2019 at 21:37
  
• 25 November 2019 at 11:08
  
• 15 August 2017 at 22:10
  
• 11 December 2017 at 12:26
  
• 11 December 2017 at 12:25
  
• 27 January 2018 at 12:39
  
• 19 February 2018 at 22:06
  
• 23 January 2019 at 22:18
  
• 23 May 2017 at 23:04
  
• 17 August 2019 at 20:58
  
• 18 November 2018 at 07:30
  
• 24 March 2018 at 22:18
  
• 5 June 2017 at 21:48
  
• 5 June 2017 at 21:51
  
• 19 June 2017 at 22:39
  
• 10 January 2020 at 10:36
• 17 August 2019 at 20:51
  
• 18 February 2018 at 09:36
  
• 18 February 2018 at 14:16
  
• 14 December 2017 at 23:45
  
• 12 June 2017 at 23:43
  
• 7 September 2017 at 14:51
  
• 7 September 2017 at 15:44
  
• 13 November 2018 at 17:47
  

    As you can see the admin has posted several comments since the last blog post, most recently on January 10, 2020. In an earlier comment the admin stated that they have been busy and have quite a backlog to clear but that hasn't happened, at least not on Blogger. There is a Twitter profile linked in the sidebar that has been active as recently as October 20, 2021. It seems the author has decided to utilize the more popular social media platform.

Photo of the Week: Romanov's Tower

Tsar Nicholas II chats with other adults while one of his daughters, likely Grand Duchess Olga or Grand Duchess Tatiana, climbs to the top of a small tower.

 Source: Yale University Library

Added new links to the sidebar

Convention of States 

Convention of States - Twitter

Cube root rule

Congressional Apportionment App

It's for your own good

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be "cured" against one's will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.”

    -    C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock: Essays on Theology (Making of Modern Theology)

Photo of the Week: Seesaw Race

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna and Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna in the Finnish skerries.

Source: Album of Tatiana Nikolaevna, 1912-1913

Monarchy and elections Part 1: Koruna Česká

    In any given nation there are numerous political parties. Most are some flavor social democrat or liberal conservative with some communist and ethnic nationalist parties thrown in. Perhaps the most rare of all are the monarchist parties; they are few in number and those that actively participate in politics are rarer still. One of those active parties exists in Czechia and is known as Koruna Česká or Czech Crown (Monarchist Party of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia).

    Koruna Česká is running in the 2021 Czech legislative election on October 8-9. Read more here.

Photo of the Week: Distress

     The subject of the photo is what I'm going to call Old Timey Hungry Hungry Hippos for lack of knowledge but what I'm going to focus on is Grand Duchess Maria, situated between her father and the man with his back to the camera. While her default expression is a smile, here she seems to be in great distress. Sweet little girl is a bit too emotionally invested in whatever game the adults are playing.

   Source: Album of Alexandra Feodorovna, 1907.