another year goes by..

 haven't looked at this blog for a while - nothing has really changed, the world is in much the same state as before. The current occupant of the White House in Washington DC is even more obnoxious than the last time - the Americans are welcome to him and his nasty offsiders; we certauinly don't want him near here..

a tidy up...

 fixed the reading list. just finished ArduStep 1.1 PCB and sent gerbers to JLCPCB in downtown Shenzen - Board dimensions are an issue had to fix up the the gerber files again, I suspect KICAD is a bit wobbly with board margins in the PCB editor, I have not been able to make them stick on the PCB editor page.

Now on Amoxocillin and prednisolone tablets to clear the opportunistic bugs and bronchitis...first day I have felt vaguely human for a week or so!

and yet another years flies by..

 Ukraine is still fighting off the Russians with some small successes; Israel vs Hamas/Hezbollah/Iran etc is still going; the Palestinians are at the bottom of this pile-on.

Survived the radiation treatment with side effects, more explorations (colonoscopy/cystoscopy etc) have not found anything; still feel like crap most days..

moved domain hosting to Newsprout; it's OK, will update stuff eventually.

Another year passes

 The Russians are still trying to conquer Ukraine, not having much success. The floors are finished and the kitchen reno's are done..(Hooray!) Renumbered our boxen after relinquishing our /24 netblock back to APNIC - getting very expensive. Been irradiated for 8 weeks over Xmas/NewYear for prostate cancer, still feel under the weather, maybe it's just getting older..

Stuff happens...

 A while since anything was posted here... The Ukraine war is still going, COVID is still with us, we are surrounded by mud and sticky clay after having a major underpinning project started (still got the kitchen floor to be taken up and new stumps, bearers and joists fitted).

Could be worse - living in parts of NSW where it floods a lot...

 

just 3 days...

next Saturday, many people [if they haven't pre-voted] will troop off to their nearest polling place (usually a local primary school with enthusiastic sellers of 'democracy sausages', tea and coffee and cakes/scones/etc). After being offered how-to-vote papers of various hues by candidates volunteers, they will then get their name crossed off the paper hardcopy of the electoral roll, be issued with a small white paper and a very long green paper and make their way to a free cardboard space to peruse and put numbers on the bits of paper. After a quick check to make sure all the boxes are marked correctly, the pieces of paper are folded up and placed into the Ballot Boxes provided (cardboard held together with cable ties!).

They then trundle off to do the saturday shopping or pick up kids or goto the footy..

After 6 pm local time (1800hrs), the big job of counting up the ballots commences...

It seems an odd way to select the people who want to run the country for the next 3 years, but it works well enough for us... [voting is compulsory in Oz] 

Russia doesn't belong in Ukraine

 I never thought that I would see this in my lifetime.. Vladimir Putin is treating the West with contempt with his dream of "Greater Russia" and is relying on weak responses from the EU, NATO and the US /UK. Now the Russians have actively invaded a neighbouring country, Ukraine with an eye to creating a 1500 km. buffer zone between the Russian Federation and the EU/NATO.

A misstep by any major nuclear power or other major entity would start WW3..Then it's Goodnight Vienna..