Netfoot

A strategy which you yourself reminded us has been going on for the last 36 seasons - a strategy which has been near-universally panned throughout that entire time. Some people believe it makes for a worse show, and I happen to be one of those persons.

Exactly so. It makes the "Race" part of The Amazing Race irrelevant. It just becomes The Amazing Popularity Contest.

From memory, so perhaps not 100% accurate: In Season 32, teams were sent into a (salt?) mine to perform a challenge. Five teams formed an alliance while in the mine (hence the name, but also sometimes the "Mine Five"). It ruined the remainder of the season and resulted in so many complaints and negative reaction from the viewers, there was a real fear that TAR would be cancelled. TPTB promised that steps would be taken to ensure that this would be curtailed.

Back when I was working down in Cattlewash, I used to take my lunch with me every day. Nothing major, but a couple snacks. A pack of peanuts, an apple, some Teatime biscuits, or whatever. I bought a little container to put this stuff in, alongside my bottles of ice. After watching a movie, I jumped up to go on Garden Patrol. But I immediately felt the need to pee. I had to stop and hold on four times on my way to the bathroom, but was able to hold it until I got there, so I didn't pee myself. Afterwards, grabbing a torch, I went out to do the Patrol. And found this: I flung it at Mo's head. Of course, I missed. I don't actually want to hit him with it. What I want to do is take him back to the Ark and leave him there! Every day, he steals something. Sometimes half a dozen things. If he can manage it, he destroys whatever he steals. No matter what sort of punishment - a serious talking to, spanx - it makes no difference. He will steal the same item tomorrow. How he hasn't destroyed my Crocs yet I don't know. And since a replacement pair is over $100, when he eventually does, I will be barefoot unless I want to clump about in steel-toed boots. He wakes me up, sometimes 10 times a night. He won't just sleep at night like any other dog. If he eats too much grass and decides to puke, he holds it long enough to run in from outside and puke either on a piece of carpet or in the bed. No, never on the easy-to-clean tiles. Now, there is a way to deal with adding like this. You have to break him. You beat him unmercifully, every day, whether you have a reason or not. Eventually he has no spirit left. He is too scared to come when you call him and too scared to run when you go to him. He ceases to be any use to himself or anyone else. This is not the dog I want. I want a dog with character and spirit and intelligence. A dog that is a companion. One who you will give your food to when he is hungry, because you don't want him to do without. I do not need a dog who is nothing but a pain in my ass every hour of every day, day after day. I got enough troubles dealing with right now. Mo just doesn't want to be part of the household. He doesn't want to coexist. He wants he's whims catered to, food provided, and otherwise to do what ever he wants. I am just his servant and personal chef. I fetch him water, give him my food to eat after he's eaten his own, and rub his tummy from time to time, or get a double-kick in my arse if I fail in that duty. Watched a comic-book / superhero movie tonight. I usually avoid them because they are such crap. They say the later ones are rubbish but the early ones are good. No. The early ones are crap too. And the reason is that the comic-books they are based on are all rubbish. The only comic-book character worth one damn is Batman. Because he isn't a super-anything. If it's based on a comic-book, it's crap. Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. Not much to be said, is there? I'm told that David Gilmour became a bit of an asshole in his old age, but hey! Cooked a pot of rice with tinned vegetables, pumpkin and corned beef for lunch. Mo and I split that. It wasn't bad. Mo had scrambled eggs for dinner. I had a cup of coffee. Started reading Burning Chrome last night. Got halfway before potting the lights out. Don't plan to read that late tonight. Fortunately, there is a nice, cool breeze in the window. Gusty. I hope it continues throughout the night. But with any luck, there will not be any rain to accompany it. If it rains, the breeze will blow it in on me! Uh-oh! Doni detect a bit of moisture on the breeze? Yes! Gotta go and see if I can find Mo and get him inside before he is soaked to the skin and covered in mud! BRB.... Of course, he wouldn't come when I whistled because he knew he'd done wrong. I had to get dressed and go fetch him. He has a little bump under the fur near his collar. So I took his collar off to get a better look. It's a little scratch or cut that is healing up. But the funny thing is, Mo hates it when you take his collar off. He just can't tolerate anybody stealing it from him. Even for a minute. Anyway, the breeze continues but the sprinkle did not become anything more than the few drops I felt. Of course, the night is young. Battery is at 15% so time to post and put this on charge.

No. Because I spent an entire week waiting on this episode and then Amber single-handedly turned it into a steaming pile of crap. It isn't because I wanted Danny & Angie (or anyone else in particular) to be eliminated. It's because I wanted Danny, Angie and everybody else to run their own race. Yes, this sort of crap has been going on for far too long and I was of the understanding that after the "Mine Alliance" a few seasons ago almost got TAR kicked off the air for good, that steps were going to be taken to minimize that sort of crap in future. If you like contestants playing the social game I suggest the next time you go on a reality show you go on the one called Survivor instead.

Three days I've been trying without success. But I've only just noticed something. Here is another view of the white switch and a little fragment of the crumbled, green button, over to the right. But look what is circled in red: On the left, there is another button/switch operated by the same pedal. You can see a (fortunately intact) black button and a silver switch body which is parallel to and in the same alignment as the white switch on the right. The actual switch itself is smaller and looks like some type of silvery metal, prolly aluminum. I think the function of this switch is to prevent you from changing out of Park without putting your foot on the brake. You want to change from Park to Drive (or Reverse) you must put your foot on the brake. This switch will detect whether you have done so and if not, you can't come out of Park. If I'm right (and I'm pretty sure I am) then it's a good thing this isn't the one that failee failed. Because at least the car can be used, albeit with the brake lights on. After three days of not being able to figure out how to keep the brake pedal pressed, a friend said "Brick." I will try that tomorrow because right now I'm knackered. Again.

I just wish they would stop giving him a pulpit from which to preach. I'm tired of hearing him explain how wonderful he is. Just let the manulipulative shit run his race.

Earlier today I made two liters of iced coffee. Mild iced coffee. Left it in the fridge to chill. After Garden Patrol, rather than my usual hot mug, I had a glass of the iced coffee. It was what we call moreish! So actually, I had two glasses. Another Day In Paradise by Phil Collins. Watched a dumb movie. Can't remember the name. All I do remember is that 1) it had the word Moon in the title. (Dark Moon? Summer Moon?) And 2) there was no mention of the moon any time during the movie, nor was there even a momentary glimpse of the moon. I had cheese and guava jelly sandwiches for lunch. Dinner was ramen noodles with some crispy-fried pork of (let us say) questionable freshness. Mo had chow both meals and of course, levied tax on my meals as well. Since I've kept very quiet all day I've not experienced any dizziness or wobblies until a few minutes ago when I set off for my shower. And even then it was only a slight swoon, requiring me to put my shoulder against the wall in the passage and slide along it on my way to the shower. I was able to walk back again without any difficulty. It's a little cooler tonight than the last couple. But the breeze in the window can come or go at any time so who knows what will occur between now and morming? Mo was snoozing near the front door but as soon as he saw me get up and head towards the shower, he took off outdoors. He did pay me a momentary visit once I was in bed, but he has gone out again. I will read until I start to fall off to sleep and then I will let him know I'm locking up and give him a chance to decide: in or out. Annoying as it is to have him barking (loudly) under the window 8-10 times a night, I'm not going to keep getting up to let him in and then back out again, all night long. If he's in and he wants to go out, I'll let him out. But if he chooses to go out, then he's out. At least until I am prepared to open the door and leave it open, which is dawn or thereabouts. My book is close to finished but I have several others in a stack waiting. I have two more Bill Gibson's right here (not Neuromancer, alas!) and a bunch of others besides. I wish Mo would come and give me just a little cuddle. He can be a very cuddly baby when he wants to be. Even when he is lying on his back, wriggling about, making yelpy noises and kicking with his two back legs at once. Or lying alongside my leg and chewing my toes. Or just curling up between my shoulder blades. Speaking of which, he has just put in an appearance. So I guess sometimes if you wish hard enough.... Anyway, I will stop here and spend some time with him until he decides that there is a dry leaf in the yard that requires his attention. ETA: before I could finish posting, he was gone again.

Not ideal, I will admit. But consider that this was filmed during the epidemic and they had to finesse transportation by hiring an aeroplane (which they have not shown so far, but we are aware is happening "behind the scenes") and may have had difficulty finding countries where they were welcome. Also, they would have to be comfortable that if, despite precautions, a racer became ill, the country they happened to be in would be in a position to provide medical aid to a standard that TPTB found acceptable. The country where I live (like many, I think) decided that there were not enough ventilators. A number of ventilators were ordered, paid for and sent. Unfortunately, when they reached Miami and before they could be put on a ship, they were stolen confiscated by the authorities for use by those who deserved a better chance of survival that the third world peasants who actually owned the ventilators. We already know what the next season will be (because we saw it already as S35) and that the next season will be one of the best for a long, long while (my opinion, at least). So, I can forgive much of what I am seeing that I don't like, because I realize that it's an aberration forced upon TPTB by unavoidable external factors. However poorly the season turns out, I'm glad they tried and didn't simply elect to skip a year.

I've thought of it... But the door is steel-clad so adding a doggie-door would be difficult. I'd have to build a complete replacement door with doggie-access, and replace the existing door with it. If it were my house, I would consider this, but as it stands I'd have to get the approval of my landlord. And he is the least approachable idiot I know.

Slept well last night, with no cramps. Just after posting yesterday, Mo insisted on being let out. No problem. But a dozen times during the night, he was under the window barking to be let in again! I ignored him. I wanted to let him in and get some snuggles, but every now and again he has to be told that he can't go back and forth as much as he wants. I won't force him to be inside if he wants out, but what he really wants is to be able to come in for a few minutes every so often, spy out the window to see who needs to be dealt with, and run back out again. I wouldn't mind if he came and went all night long, but not if it means I have to keep getting up repeatedly to let him out and then to let him back in and then to let him back out again..... Mind you, the barking under the window does disturb my night's sleep, but at least I didn't have to get out of bed and traipse through the dark to the front door. ETA: I did have a brief attack of reflux during the night, but I repositioned my pillows and all was well thereafter.

Yesterday was a bad day. It started of OK but went down hill fast. Last night was one of the worst I remember. Today wasn't too bad. I was tired from lack of sleep but cramps were minimal and mostly in my hands. Which is no fun, but manageable. So I was weak and tired all day but I had a good, long nap without cramps and I feel better for it. Still weak but not so tired as before. Been thinking about the button for the van's brakes. The main problem is that it's small, round, slippery and has a tendency to go flying and then get lost. And when trying to manipulate it into position, your fingers get in the way. So I thought about this: A piece of stiff card with the appropriate size hole punched in it and a split at the end. It should be a little easier to manipulate into place. Once in place, I can pull the card out. It should tear away, and if a fragment or two remains behind, it won't stop the button/switch from operating as expected. Tomorrow, I will give it a try. If I still can't get it into place, I will fetch out the ignition spanners and slacken the switch retaining nut. Leaf And Stream by Wishbone Ash. This band and this album (Argus) were popular when I was a little nipper. Like to hear the old, nostalgic stuff now and again! Dinner was the remainder of the penne from lunch. It tasted fine then, but less so when I had the leftovers. I really can't figure it out. A really tasty meal these days is so rare that food is becoming little more than fuel. But I keep thinking how roti or chips or pizza would be great and if I engineer such a meal, I do enjoy it. But maybe it's just anticipation fulfillment I'm enjoying? So the house is secure, I've had my shower and I'm lying in bed with no sign (so far) of cramps. I managed 1½ pages this afternoon before my nap so I will read more now and douse the lights when tiredness tells me it's time. Mo was here a while ago (helping me drink a glass of milk) but he has now wandered off. Prolly lying on the tiles in the passage. He will come for a snuggle when the lights go off, and periodically during the night. But he does move around as he sees fit and cool tiles are probably more attractive than warm bedclothes these days. It's another still night with no breeze in the window to help the old box fan. But that can change at any moment. Right, I will call it quits now.

Six hours in bed last night with every muscle from hip to toe in both legs (plus both hands) being twisted with cramp. I got no sleep and gave up trying two hours before the alarm. When I finally got out of bed the leg cramps mostly went away, but the cramped hands remain even now. Those leg muscles though, are sore from being under constant tension all night. I stopped stooped down to grab Mo's bowl and couldn't straighten my legs to stand back up without assistance from my arms. By nine o'clock I was half asleep at my desk. I made penne for lunch, with fresh tomato, cucumber, onion and cheese. Bully beef provided the meaty component. Mo didn't seem too impressed but I ate mine well enough. There is some left so I guess I will have that for dinner and Mo can have chow. I'm exhausted and have not gone back at the van today, although I've given it some thought. Right now I have decided to attempt a nap and I've been lying in bed several minutes without my limbs indicating they want to act unbidden. I'm going to post this and try to read a bit. Will be lucky to finish a page, far less a chapter. But what I really need is some shut-eye.

Thankfully, this is true, and exacerbated in our minds by the out-of-order release. Hopefully we will see less of this in subsequent seasons. No, I am describing a team that has all the required skills to be sitting on an island somewhere shit-talking their fellows. What I'd prefer is a team that has the required skills for racing around the world. I my be wrong but I think Danny spent the last decade dreaming about getting his face on camera. I don't think you could or should necessarily ban the utterance of a friendly, helpful word now and again. But the "You just lie here and take a nap while I do your challenge for you!" type of type of alliance ruins the show for viewers who think that The Amazing Race is the best "reality show" ever devised and that Survivor is the worst. LOL! Are you seeing anyone? Maybe we could have coffee.....

Today deteriorated fast. I had to drive right across town, with every single traffic light stuck on red and every intersection blocked by four motorists threatening to kill each other. Then I had to drive back again... I'm knotted with cramp in both feet and shins, both hands and (a new one) both hips, plus my stomach. Trying to fix that brake light took it out of me big-time. On Garden Patrol I could only walk 12 steps before stabbing back pain made me pause to give it a chance to fade. We had a slow Patrol tonight! And I brought back a couple dozen real burrs. Not sweethearts. I'd post a photo but the forum isn't allowing that option for some reason. (OK, saved and re-edited to get the photo in.) Showering was also a chore. My right hand and right thigh are hurting and I can hardly type a word. Sometimes a simple word requires 15-20 corrections. My eyes are in full blinky mode. I've already taken a couple of Panadol and maybe the aches & pains are fading, but it's hard to tell for sure Thinking about how to get that button into place. I could use the jack to push the brake pedal down hard but what would I jack against? Only the bottom of the steering wheel comes to mind. And I don't want to break it. Yes, steering wheels are strong but it is something to consider. Maybe I should just slacken the nut on the switch and re-tighten it after fitting the button. If I don't move the nut on the other side the switch should go right back into it's original position. Eight Days A Week by The Beatles. Trying to remember which of the Fab Four's albums this is from but I'm blanking. I could look it up, but don't want this post to get black-holed before I can post it. Mo was a trooper today so I added an entire tin of tuna to his chow for dinner and he didn't hesitate. I had cutters for dinner. Egg, cheese, cucumber and actual tomato. $2.20 per tomato. You have to buy "plum" tomatoes whether you want them or not, because they sell for more so the farmers won't grow any other kind. The cutters were nice enough but by rights should have tasted better. My taste buds playing up again? Hot again tonight. But after I posted last night we had a short, sweet shower of rain (then Assault By A Wet Dog) and the night was pleasantly cool thereafter. Now I have two cramps in each leg (instep & shin) and both hands knotted with cramps of their own. Don't know how I'm going to get to sleep with all that going on, but I will start by posting this now. Now there is an ache working it's way up my spine.....

Only if you conclude that TAR has become a popularity contest and is no longer a race. Only if you accept that you aren't physically fit and can't drive stick but you should still win because you Mean Girled the talented teams out early by manipulating an alliance of dumb-asses.

Went out to buy bread and some other items and when I got back to the van I noticed the brake lights on. Opening the driver's door, I saw a pile of green, plastic chips on the carpet. Uh-oh! I've heard of this before! There is a switch that is part of the Toyota brake pedal assembly that controls the brake lights. The little plastic actuator button will eventually perish with age and crumble to dust. With the button missing the switch turns on the brake lights and they won't go off. I drove to the mechanic who took one look and confirmed my suspension and gave me a replacement button FOC! Here is my brake light, a pile of green plastic chips that is all that's left of the old button and above that, a new, black replacement. (The chips may not look green in the red brake light but trust me!) And here is the upper brake pedal assembly, under the steering wheel and dash. You should be able to see a little, green fragment of the original button and immediately above that, the white switch. (To get into position to take this photograph you need to have your spine surgically removed and both legs broken.) With the pedal pressed a gap opens under the white switch, exposing a little hole in the steel bracket. The nipple on the button should be snapped into that hole, so when the pedal is released the button comes up, presses the white switch and turns off the brake lights. Mo is too little to press the brake pedal. I don't have the strength in my hand to press it down far enough. I've tried and tried and I'm now exhausted, and can't continue. The button had escaped my grip and been flung away by the brake pedal return spring at least half a dozen times. When this happens, I have to crawl out of the bottom of the car and search high and low to find it. I just don't have the strength to keep trying right now, and the light is failing. But if I don't do something, the brake lights will be on until I do. Placing my hand on the red brake light lens, it is already very hot. Because it's been on for a couple hours now. To wait until tomorrow will have those brake lights burning all night and by morning my battery will be toast. So I got a scrap of wood and wedged it in place of the button. The lights went out. No drain on the battery. First time I press the pedal the scrap of wood will fall out and I'll be back to square one. But at least I can relax until tomorrow when I have better light. And maybe in the mean time I can have a brain wave and think of a clever way to get this problem solved. And yes, I could get a spanner and slacken the nut that holds the switch, which would allow me to snap the button into place with ease. But then I'd have to reset and test, readjust and test, reposition and test the switch to make sure it was properly set up and was operating the brake lights like it should. If possible I'd like to avoid that. But we will see what happens in the morning.

One... Two... Three!

Well, after nearly a week waiting, we finally got test results today. Too high. So in accordance with Dr. Kristi's instructions, I stop all warfarin for three days then restart at ⅔ the previous dosage. We check again in 2 weeks and tweak as necessary. I'll keep you informed if anything interesting happens. Has an idea for a different lunch today. Minced beef & onion fried up with potatoes, carrots, cucumber, plantain and tomato sauce. Leave the lot stewing away until it's all good and then chow down. It was bad. The potatoes wouldn't cook. Everything else was pretty much mush by time the potatoes were starting to soften. And it didn't taste very good. (Although that fault might be in my mouth and not in the pan!) I had some for lunch and tried to have some more for dinner but I couldn't face it. But Mo loved it! And I'm glad because I didn't like the prospect of throwing it out. So he had some for lunch and some for dinner and with what I managed to get down, we finished it off. Today has been a dizzy day but nowhere near as bad as yesterday. And tomorrow is Friday, Dr. Jacinto's day to be at QEH but I have not heard anything from her or her staff so I won't be going. Cat Stevens sings Peace Train. When I was young this guy was very popular, and this track is from that era. I understand he had some sort of (re)defining moment and changed direction in his career/life. It would be selfish to wish he had continued on a path that suited me, so I will just enjoy the music from his earlier life and wish him well. Reading Count Zero by Bill Gibson. Went looking for Neuromancer, which was his breakout novel, but couldn't find it. If I said Gibson was the father of cyberpunk there would be plenty of people who disagreed, but I think if he was not it's sire, he undoubtedly had much to do with popularizing it. I've also got Burning Chrome and Mona Lisa Overdrive here, and I hope to find a few more to besides. It's another warm night and the fan is getting no support from the window. I will end my hot shower with cold water and hope that helps a bit. According to my phone it's 29°C (84°F) at a quarter to eleven at night! Think I will have to go out tomorrow, to pick up a few essentials. To be honest, I've been avoiding leaving home the last couple of days because of the dizzys. When people see you staggering around in public the usual presumption is that you're drunk. That actually happened a few weeks ago when I ran I to an old friend in the supermarket. Hadn't seen her in years and was so glad to be able to touch base again. But it was at the end of a very tiring day and I was not operating normally by then. She was so sure I was drunk she wouldn't talk to me. So I guess she still thinks I was drunk because I never had a chance to put her straight. While removing sweethearts from Mo's fur this evening, I discovered a little cut on his neck that was healing up. It always distresses me to find something like that which I was previously unaware of. How did it happen? Why wasn't I there to prevent it from happening? I feel like I'm guilty of neglecting him. Going to read for a while and then go for that shower. I'm hungry because my dinner was not nice so I only ate a little of it. Unfortunately I can't be bothered to try to find anything else to eat in the kitchen. There is bread, a few eggs, some cheese... I could make a couple sandwiches, but I just can't be bothered to get out of bed right now. Far less make the effort to fry eggs, slice cheese and all that. Or I could cook ramen again. But I was already nodding off in my chair at six this evening. I don't have any butter, mayo, PB&J or anything I could put on Eclipse biscuits. So, no late snacks tonight. Even if I did go and make myself something, it would probably taste like iron filings anyway....

I won't say they did wrong. I will say that the challenge designer did a poor job by not foreseeing a flaw in the challenge rules that allowed teams to take advantage. Didn't we have something similar a season or two ago? About counting coins? Or exchanging coin denominations?

Put it in a landfill, probably...

PT/INR results just in: PT (should be between 9.4 and 12.5): 39.1 INR (should be between 2.0 and 3.0): 3.53 So a change of dosage and another $45 test in two weeks time.

"There is no Air Conditioning in the race car!" No shit, Sherlock! No Cup Holders either! "He is well rounded!" Yah, it's a Bubble Suit! I didn't like the race rules that allowed a team to monopolize the beef answer stations. You should have to vacate the station if you get it wrong, because otherwise you could just keep guessing and guessing until eventually you fluke a correct answer, while simply denying all other teams a chance. Laying out the tiles for the race circuit: How can so many teams think that the circuit was made up of roads that didn't connect together?!?? I think I could have got that challenge correct without ever seeing the circuit in the first place, because the tiles would probably only fit together one way! (Yes, I recognize they only had three minutes, but that doesn't explain why they were wasting time trying layouts that did not have a contiguous track circuit.) Who do I want to go home more? The "Boyfriends" or "Mother & Son" I wonder? Hard choice. I mean, I don't want to watch Danny kill his mother so he can grin on TV some more, but then Ricky & Cesar are just BAF. (Boring As Fuk.) Honestly, I love this show, but despite the fabulous settings and good challenges, this season is degenerating into one of the least entertaining in the history of the race.

Pointing out the obvious (and telling everyone to do what they should already know to do) is the sole purpose of Jubal on this show. The show-runners should fire him and use the money to hire more agents who have a purpose that extends beyond shouting "All right people! Let's get up on his GPS/ Social Media/ LoJack... Oh, you did it already? Well, why does the show need me, if you can do your job without being told?" And we wear slick, all-black outfits wherever we go, emblazoned with the FBI logo in 1,200 point script! Just so as not to draw attention to ourselves! Four highly trained FBI agents fire 194 rounds each (with Ben Cartwright's pistol because I didn't see much in the way of reloading) and all they hit was a couple donuts. I think they need more range-time.

Nearly fell twice between bed and shower! Why so unsteady today? It isn't always this bad...