Netfoot

Oh. That. Well, like I said, it's going to get tedious.

Cases of seasickness continue to skyrocket. The last reported number of active cases is 860% that of the highest we experienced at the height of last year's lockdown. We have a nightly curfew, restaurants are take-away or delivery only, the rum-shops are closed again, and we're back to shopping alphabetically. We have not been locked down again, at least not yet. But the PM has asked the public to self-isolate as much as possible. All for "fourteen days to flatten the curve". How did this happen so suddenly? Well, it seems a tourista arrived, was tested and placed in lockdown for the 48 hours (I think), but decided that they didn't need to follow directives... so they sneaked out and went to a bar. The door security at the bar was a moonlighting prison guard. He and his buddy (another prison guard) then went on a bus-crawl. Now, how a bus-crawl works is, everyone gets on a bus, and the bus drives to a bar. Everyone gets off, mobs the bar, has a drink, then gets back on the bus, which heads off to another bar. This cycle repeats until everyone on the bus is paralytic. And in this particular case, everyone was also positive for seasickness. As well as half the staff and regular patrons on a dozen or more bars. So, within the space of a couple of days, you suddenly have a huge increase in +ve test results. And to just make things better, the two prison guards manage to infect the entire population of the prison, including inmates, guards, and civilian workers. Meanwhile, the tourista decided that to avoid any trouble with the law, they will flee the island, and heads for the airport. Because obviously, infecting an entire jumbo jet full of unsuspecting passengers is preferable to sticking around to face the consequences of their actions. Fortunately, they were picked up by the cops before they could make their escape. So, my question to you is: What punishment should the local judiciary impose upon them? Seriously, I'd like to hear what people think. (Legally, the death penalty is on the table, but is unlikely to be seriously considered by anyone, especially me.) In other news, I couldn't find a table-top stove to buy. So I'm still making do with half a burner, and hoping the thing doesn't explode in my face when I'm cooking my lunch. I can get any stove I want, essentially free. I've been accumulating points on a rewards card, and now have nearly $2,400 worth, so essentially any stove I like is mine, free for the asking. But I have to get it into my kitchen, and the way this crappy house is built, if I'm not careful to buy a stove small enough, I'll have to take the roof off and lower it in with a crane! And I never use the oven, so if I buy a "real" stove (as my niece calls it), half the stove will be wasted. Unless I start baking cookies and bread and lasagna and otherwise preparing (and eating) food that my doctor wouldn't approve of. I lost all the weight I gained over Christmas (about 5lb.) then I mysteriously put it back on again within the last 3 days. It's back off again now, thank goodness. I have a weigh-in tomorrow morning, so all I have to do is eat nothing but wind-pies until then, and hope it doesn't mysteriously come back again. Tomorrow is also my day for alphabetic shopping. Which is good, because I need $356 worth of meds from the pharmacy. But not steroids! Because, I'm off the steroids! I thought I'd feel so much better when that happened. And I do, from an objective standpoint, but subjectively, I feel exactly the same. Which is a pity, because I paid big bucks to have open thoracic surgery to make it happen. Anyway, we'll start on the Immunosuppressants next, but (I'm told) not immediately.

I'm not entirely sure what the "new direction" is. In other news, if this episode is indicative of the remainder of the season, it will be a very tedious watch.

I wasn't complaining about your choice of forum; this was the best place for your post, I think. Just opining that while it might be an interesting idea, I doubt it would be the solution to all TAR's problems.

It's an interesting idea. I'd be pleased to watch this or any close variation. But I don't see how this is a 'fix' for TAR. I'd call it a 'gimmick', maybe. Interesting for sure, but no solution for TAR's core issues. A variation: You say the leg must be a NEL for both casts. But instead, I say they 'eliminate' both intersected teams that arrive at the mat last. So, there is an elimination from both the USA and CAN races. However, the 'eliminated' teams get 'adopted' by the other race. So the eliminated USA team bids Phil adieu, goes with Jon to the Canadian Pitstop and continues the TAR Canada race. Meanwhile the eliminated CAN team says farewell to Jon, goes with Phil to the USA pitstop and continues the TAR USA race. The net effect would be as a NEL in that both races end the leg with the same number of teams as it started. But the introduction of a new team we know nothing about, who might be devils or angels, who we now have to get to know... And there may be opportunities to show a little footage from the other race. Phil: "Your former race-mates Billy-Jo and Jilly-Bo reached the mat in Istanbul, to place 2nd in the 8th leg of their race!" accompanied by a few seconds of suitable footage from the other race. You could even arrange a joint finale, with racers from both teams running up to side-by-side platforms, or a common, shared platform. Possibly after performing the same challenge. And there is nothing to prevent them from having multiple 'adoption' episodes in one race. How many NEL legs is normal, anyway? Three? There is plenty of room for weird and wonderful 'gimmicks' in your basic idea. I still wouldn't call it a 'fix', but I do think it might be very interesting. Possible issues: A TAR CAN team eliminated from the chance at a $¼M CAD will probably be glad to find themselves now racing for $1M USD prize on TAR USA. But vice versa? Dunno. I don't know how far afield TAR CAN racers go. I know they do leave Canada, but how often and for how long? TAR USA teams would only be in a position to visit Canada right after the start, or just before the finale. Neither of which would be ideal for this type of intersection/adoption, because there would be too many or too few teams left at those times.

They should have asked Kiefer Sutherland to take the part.

Correct. God and his machine arrive to solve the case. At the eleventh hour. Every episode.

SO... all that season-finale drama cleared up in ½ an episode. Didn't see that coming. No sir! Yeah. Stupid and predictable.

Welp... I went out this morning expecting things to be complete comess. So much so I told Bud he had to stay home "on guard". He has a very sad face he uses when he hears those words, but I didn't want him trapped in the car while I stood in line for hours and hours! Filled up the car and also a spare 5 Gal. can at the gas station, and bought a spare 25 lb. cylinder of gas for the stove. $200+ for that lot. Actually, the stove itself has been on it's last legs for months, so if things are open tomorrow, I will buy a replacement stove. It's just a cheap table-top unit. At least I hope it's going to be cheap cheap... On to PriceSmart expecting it to be jammed to the max, but it was quiet! Filled up my basket with food and there were several cashiers with no customers, so out of there in a jiffy, for only $600+ buckeroos! Next: The supermarket for what I couldn't get at PriceSmart. Apparently, yesterday there were very, very long lines (around the block) just to get in, plus extra long lines at the cashier! Today... nothing! Walked straight in, picked up what I wanted, waited in line for a cashier for all of 1 minute, and home again, onbly only $400+ the poorer! In total I was gone for less than 2 hours, and poor Budweiser could easily have come for, and enjoyed, the drive! Meanwhile, I was sent this photo of the guys flying at the cliff yesterday! Jim is standing dangerously close to the edge, where the rocks are particularly trippy. And it's easy to fall over there, when you are looking up! As everyone usually is, when flying. Yes, that is the same greeny shirt featured as a spec in the previous photo. We've considered having the area leveled, and a safety rail installed, along with a couple strategically positioned benches. Our conclusions are that within the first week of doing so, either 1) the railing and benches will disappear for ever; or 2) a couple paros would take up residence on the benches, and we would lose the ability to use the site. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ So, tomorrow I go looking for a counter-top stove I can afford, Thursday I see one of my doctors and hope he reduces my steroids to zero, the following Tuesday is the pharmacy, and then I don't have to come out again until the 9th of February when I have a blood test. Lovely lockdowns. Whoopee. When will Trump's vaccine reach me?

Damn! And damn! And damn! 1) Went to the cliff yesterday. Switched on the transmitter and... couldn't find the programming for the Ahi! Searched all the model memories, but not found. Must have accidentally deleted the memory while working on the Sonic. Dumbass had to sit and watch the others fly. 2) So, this morning, in a hurry, I reprogrammed the model from scratch! Got to the cliff and it was blowing a storm. Threw the Ahi off... and it rolled onto it's back and the more I tried to correct, the worse it got. It crashed into a large patch of grass... finding the only rock in the entire patch. Second attempt went similarly. Dumbass sat down to figure out what was wrong... and noticed that the ailerons were reversed. This wasn't due to mis-connected servos, but due to bad programming this morning. And with the ailerons reversed, it meant when I corrected the programming, the snap-flaps and airbrake were now reversed, and they had to be flipped as well. Anyway, I got a good flight, but it was very windy, to the point that I decided to abandon my plans for tuning and perfecting the settings. I just flew it as it was. Airbrake is something else. Pull the airbrakes on and the airplane goes from horizontal to a vertical upline in an instant! Anyhow, we can fix that easily enough. We had two "mishaps", unfortunately the same guy both times. Here he is, recovering one of them. (Click and zoom to see him. He's there, I promise!) No photos of the Ahi, I'm afraid. Oh, and 3) Halitosis has gone crazy! The worst number we ever had at the height of last year's lockdown was 56 active cases. It was down to 16 as of 3 weeks ago. But by yesterday, it spiked up to 69! And in the last 24 hours another 194 cases were detected. The litany of stupid actions that brought this about is too much to mention. Anyway, having just about finished all the lock-down supplies I had laid in previously, it looks like we will get locked down again within the next two or three days. I have little in the way of food, I just spend the last of my emergency cash today, and my 5 gallon can of gasoline is empty. Not to mention I fed Bud the last of the bag of chow this morning, and there are only 7 cans of food for him left in the house. Monday & Tuesday have been declared public holidays, a nightly curfew is in effect from last night. I hope to be able to lay in some supplies tomorrow, but I understand the lines were incredibly long from today, so tomorrow might be unworkable. Here's hoping I can stock up a bit before the hammer falls and we get fully locked down. Rumours say Wednesday, but who knows?

Hair of the dog? Shoot! I'll bring the whole dog!

Happy New Year, everybody! Reports are circulating that the Caribbean will be struck by a freak wind storm of near-hurricane level force. Accvording According to the Met. Office, In fact, there is a SMALL CRAFT WARNING and HIGH SURF ADVISORY in effect, but there is no rain expected, and the winds will be high, but NOT as high as Tropical Depression levels, far less Tropical Storm or Hurricane force. There might be some EPIC gliding at the cliff, tho... if the guys recover from last night soon enough...

What the belters are unhappy about is NOT that they live in vacuum / low-grav environments. That environment is where they want to live. They just hate to have to deal with the 'inners' they believe to be inimical to their way of life. So, if they found a suitable Ring System, they could move there and have no 'inners' to deal with. They could just continue to live in their preferred low-grav / vacuum environment, beholden to none, dependent upon none. The Ring and the Ring Systems are an opportunity for belters as much as anyone else. So for TBS to imply that they are of no use to belters is just rubbish. It's confirmation that he isn't after a better life for belters. He just wants to kill 'inners'.

The USA-centric Season 8 has been widely condemned but for me, this was due to the different format (family of four, instead of teams of two not-necessarily family). The fact that it was set in the USA wasn't a problem for me; as a non-American, the USA is as exotic as many other countries they might have gone to. And I wonder how much the absence of Airport Drama contributed to the difference, and therefore dislike, of the season? The same Airport Drama we don't get nowadays anyway? So, in short, if they did an all-USA series I'd be more than OK with it. Better than no series at all for one? two? more? ...years to come. Hell, they could even bring back the Weavers! (Running! Ducking! Laughing!)

I have to disagree. Belters live happily in this system, with planets that present a gravity well. They could easily do the same in another system, such as a Ring World, if they chose to. They would need to select a system with a large asteroid belt (or two) and simply ignore the planets. They would have their own system where they could live howsoever suited them, free from the influence of any 'inners'. The Ring and the Ring Worlds is/are at least as valuable to the belter community as it is to anyone else. No, the problem with TBS and the belters is the same we see in real life with every group with a cause that turns to violence for fulfillment. They quickly come to enjoy the violence more than they desire the fulfillment of their cause. TBS isn't really interested in getting better conditions for the belters. He just wants to blow shit up!

Want to bet she ends up shooting him in the head? I'm with you on this.

They could still 'emigrate' to a new system via the ring. They just need to identify one that has a large asteroid belt. They could continue to live in low-gravity non-planetary environments, and at the same time be beyond the influence of the 'inners' they eschew. In fact, they could probably move more easily than anyone else, since they could take their entire living environments with them whole and intact.

I tend to agree, but so much has happened in 2020, who knows what can be accomplished in the early months of 2021? Perhaps they can pull a rabbit out of a hat late in '21 and finish the season. Not likely, but not impossible. In any case I'm sure they won't do anything dangerously precipitate. I just hope they don't start production again, and have to stop because somewhere along the route they encounter a fast-occurring medical situation. Like a sudden, unexpected lockdown! Or a new regulation about how many can ride in a taxi at one time. Or something unexpected, sudden and race-critical. A second halt to the season would probably be a death-knell.

To continue, they would have to recall all the not-eliminated-so-far racers. To introduce new racers, they would essentially have to be given a 'free ride' to leg #4, not having had to avoid elimination three times, like the returnees. This could be considered unfair. Not to mention, the challenges and tasks that had been arranged and scheduled might not be available any more. So they will probably have to redesign the race completely. But to scrap the three episodes they have "in the can" will be to throw out what ever value those episodes might have. Given that these episodes have been expensed and paid for, I'm sure they'd prefer not 6to throw them out. It is possible they will air the first three episodes, and then, acknowledging the effect of CV19, have a re-start for an abridged, 9-episode race, with as many of the original teams as possible, and introduce new teams to fill any blanks. But I don't think that is likely. I believe they will have to do a full restart from scratch. But I'm curious to see what structural changes they will incorporate, in an effort to get the Race running again with the least delay.

Elimination seems a little harsh, but a penalty would certainly be OK with me. You can eliminate U-Turns entirely, if you ask me. But if you are going to have U-Turns you can't remove the pictures of teams that have gone ahead. If you do so, you will tell racers who is behind them, and eliminate the case where they guess wrong and unwittingly U-Turn someone who has already passed. It does eliminate the deliberate "burning" of U-Turns, but U-Turns are inherently antagonistic / aggressive / spiteful, so I'd just eliminate them entirely. Or make them random, or self-inflicted. Roll a dice and if you roll a six, you just U-Turned yourself. Nobody can target you with the U-Turn, and you can't blame anyone else, because you did it to yourself. Difficult. If a crowd gathers and some random stranger in the crows decides to be "helpful", it's hard to penalize the team they helped. I see where you're trying to get to, but this needs some thought. The linear tasks are definitely a problem. Especially ones where you have to go down a water slide and the team ahead of you is chucking a wobbler and holding you back. Tasks are best where people come in, get started, discover they have a knack for it, and finish before teams that have been there for a while and are still struggling. Worse, tasks where the racers have to stand and watch someone do something tricky, before they get their next clue. Example I've repeatedly pointed out from S32: "Watch some guy knock a clue out of a tree with a blowpipe." Why not: "Observe how it's done, then do it yourself!" That might have shaken up the running order quite a bit, and it isn't a task your alliance-mates can give you the answer to! More of these little challenges should make alliances less useful, and be more interesting for the viewer! I know there is a formula: Plane ride; 1 Roadblock; 1 Detour; Pitstop. Would it really hurt to add a few extra mini-challenges along the way?

Videos. Noisy! So bewares your ears! One, two, three!

Well, Buddy and I decided to go out, and it payed off. I got ma a slice of Bajan Great Cake and two minced pies! Dr. K would not approve, so ... Shhh! Also, while out of the house, I met up with a couple of friends at out our local slope. And some model aviation took place! The photos are sorta small, taken with somebody's cellphone. But that's better than nothing, which is what you usually get if you try to do it yourself while simultaneously flying! I also got three short (30-secondish) cellphone videos but I don't think I can post them here? So, I'd have to post them online and place links to them here, if anyone is interested. Again, not stunning quality, and very much wind-noisy, but they show her in flight. If you can keep track of her... First impressions? She's fast. And even on the lowest rates, she is extremely agile. For example, at the lowest rates, bang on full rudder and she yaws 180°! Then promptly stalls and plummets out of the sky, forcing you to catch her quick, before she ends up in the rocks! Some tweaking will be required. Rolls are far from axial, which some aileron differential may fix (online research need). And there is a significant pitch change when you apply airbrake, which will require (as expected) some elevator be mixed in to compensate. It's actually already set up, but the percentage is currently set to 0%. So I'll add a couple points each flight until the pitch change is negligible. But fast and agile! Yummy!

Survivor has a single, secluded venue to worry about. They can test everyone, and ensure that only green-lit contestants and staff enter their controlled arena. TAR... not so much.

Or compare it with the discovery and colonization of the "new world". The first to go were those who were the most adventurous or those who had nothing to lose and a better life to gain. I agree that the wealthy elites would be in no hurry to get on board the Olive Blossom. But this also implies that The Belt will diminish and fall on hard times as Mars has begun to do. Belters can seek a better life in the "new worlds" (plural) rather than squabble over the crumbs that fall from the tables of Earth and Mars. Marco's plan for The Belt to become the new power in the system are meaningless.

Me too! Got an Ahi glider burning a hole in my pocket! Meanwhile, I decided to repair the tiny blemish on the wing of the yellow Sonic, which resulted from the cartwheel maneuver. It isn't really much damage and if the aircraft was a bit older I might just ignore it completely. But since she is nice and new, I used a #26 surgical scalpel (They come sterile, which is good for when I inevitably cut myself.) to carefully remove the yellow covering film in the vicinity of the wound. After carving away the damaged balsa, I got a small piece from the scrap bin and glued it into place. I left it long so as to have a handle to work with. A razor saw will remove the excess length when the glue dries. Some whittling and sanding and the shape of the wingtip is largely restored. Normally I'd use a filler and sand to perfection, but for a $75 beater model, I couldn't be bothered. So, with some scraps of covering literally picked up off the floor, I heated up my covering irons and bonded the film into place, to give a nice, waterproof wingtip again. Not exactly perfection, but more than good enough for my purposes: You'd have to go looking for the patch to even know it was there. I reamed a new 9x6 prop so it would fit on the engine shaft, balanced it, painted the tips and re-balanced it. With the engine running, props spin so fast they can't be seen. If your prop is invisible you risk sticking some part of your anatomy into it... and that hurts a lot! Painting the tips in a light colour causes a ghostly circle to appear when the prop spins. This encourages you to keep your hands away. BTW, a 9x6 prop is 9" in diameter (from tip to tip) and has a 6" pitch. The blades are angled, which pulls it forward when it turns. A 6" pitch means that the angle is such that in perfect circumstances (which never actually occur) the prop will be pulled forward 6" with each rotation. So at 10,000 rpm, which is by no means fast for these engines, the prop - and therefore the plane it is attached to - will in theory, move forward at 56.8 miles per hour. The new 3½" nose wheel is attached to the nose leg, but it seems to be a little tight. I will get an 11/64" drill bit on Monday and see if I can't free that up just a little bit. The reprogramming of the radio should be simple since I am using a much simpler setup than I did for the Ahi. No snap-flap, no airbrake, etc. Not at first, anyway. And my new fuel pump is sitting in Florida, with a status of "Assigned to next flight". Did I mention that my 20 year old electric fuel pump fried when I tried to use it? Well that gave me the excuse for buying a new, hand-driven pump to replace it. The 'next flight' is Tuesday. Then customs and blah, blah, blah... I'll have it next weekend if I'm lucky!