Here and Now...What's Happening?

[Mike]

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=barWV7RWkq0

[Vangelo]

This teacher went viral after calmly and brilliantly questioning a student who called JK Rowling a “bigot." Now he's been fired.
source: 

NTB Staff
May 14, 2024 · NottheBee.com

Here is yet another example of why our educational system is in such a sorry state.

Back in February, high school teacher Warren Smith went viral after being asked by a student: "Do you still like [J.K. Rowling's] work, despite her bigoted opinions?"

The conversation that followed was a masterclass in the Socratic method and critical thinking. In it, he asked a series of questions that forced the student to think critically about the assumptions he was making.

Here is the brilliant exchange.

The video has been viewed on X alone over 45 million times. 

This week, he revealed he was fired:

I've devoted four years of my life to this school, and yesterday it was like being a character in a video game and just being deleted like you were never there.

According to Smith, he wasn't given a clear reason that he was fired, although he seems to believe it was because of the public interviews he did after his video went viral. He also revealed the school took his computer, which contained several projects and books he had been working on for years.

The positive response on X was overwhelming:

It seems apparent that this school couldn't handle a teacher who encouraged students to question approved narratives, but we have a feeling that Warren Smith has a brighter future ahead of him. 

[ulli]

Driving people into herd consciousness is another either-or tactic of the aspiring rulers.

Critical thinking is seen as a menace.

I started to become suspicious when decades ago it became sort of mandatory to always use the word “we” instead of “I”.

Individuality is now verboten.

My favorite beef is with the idea that patriotism is at war with globalism.

If I were ever be given the chance to start a religion, or get a chance at global dictatorship the word “both” would be incorporated in my campaign slogan.

Hey, let’s all play world dictator for a week or so, and see what great ideas we can generate.

[RunningDeer]

Posted by Marianne (here)
Welcome back, dear Pauler!
Your kind of energy is needed here and now.
I’m so glad to hear from you again on Avalon.

Thank you, Marianne. (insert blushing smilie)
With heart,
Paula

Posted by Harmony (here)
So very glad you are well Paula, we missed you here, but it is good you are progressing on your journey. Do pop in and update us when you can, or let us know any special "things" you are noticing.

Thank you, Harmony. Below is a hodgepodge of some of my experiences and what I’m doing to assist the changes.

I’m experiencing many of the physical symptoms that others share across the internet. Mind chatter comes and goes. Poor sleep, headaches, and muscle aches for a short time and then all disappear.

I’m also experiencing a quick turn around in the healing process. What would’ve taken a week or two to heal such as a bruise or cut, it’s gone in a day or two (ish). Another is how creative ways present themselves to simplify what I’ve otherwise done for years.

I got whacked hard during the April 23-24th spring the quadruple solar flare+scorpio full moon. I jotted this down in my journal: "chest pains”, erratic heart beat, body aches, vomited and chilled to the bone, and then it ended as fast as it began.

A few ways that help in my day to day are: deep breathing, go with the flow, stay in the moment and sit in silence. I continue to experiment with detox options and alternative health approaches such as Methylene Blue and MaryRuth Organics Vitamin C Drops added into the MB+water. (see the Thomas Levy, MD, JD work on Mitochondrial Reboot material.)

In terms of using technology, I’ve only skipped seven days since December 8th with the “LifePro Sauna Blanket for Detoxification - Portable Far Infrared Sauna for Home Detox Calm Your Body and Mind”. I use it for 35-45 minutes at the 167 degrees or 172 degrees setting. It has an automatic shut-off. This routine may change now that summer is here.

Here are a few of my research notes and snippets on the benefits of sauna therapy from the video below and from elsewhere:

“…frequent sauna use is associated with a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, a lower risk of sudden, cardiac death or lower risk of coronary heart disease, a lower risk of stroke, lower risk of dementia, and of Alzheimer's disease…”

“…people that use the sauna 2 to 3 times a week are about 22% less likely to die from sudden cardiac death compared to people that only use this one time a week. People that use it 4 to 7 times a week are 63% less likely to die from sudden cardiac death compared to people that use us on a one time per week.”

“…there’s also a very interesting aspect of it which is sauna use is essentially mimicking, moderate aerobic, cardiovascular exercise, and so a lot of the same physiological responses that happen when your exercising. For example, your heart rate elevate while you're exercising, you elevate your core body temperature you get hot you start to sweat.”

“… the other thing is that there's there seems to be really profound effects on the brain. And I don't think all the mechanisms have been teased out just yet we can certainly dive into some details, but there's obviously a very strong link between cardiovascular health and brain function. Having proper blood flow with the brain is very important for for lowering dementia risk…”

***********************

Summary: Sauna therapy also does something really clever. It causes us to release heat shock proteins. Damage proteins speed up the aging process so we want to do as much as we can to repair them and help make replacements. Heat shock proteins can;

1. prevent a buildup of damage proteins,
2. accelerate aging symptoms,
3. activate repair to slow down the aging process.

Pronounce: apoptosis (apa toe sis)

Define: A type of cell death in which a series of molecular steps in a cell lead to its death. This is one method the body uses to get rid of unneeded or abnormal (potential cancer) cells.

Define: What is the role of heat shock proteins?

HSPs are widely distributed in cells and participate in a variety of cellular processes to keep cell integrity, maintain protein homeostasis, and response to stresses. They also participate in regulation of cell cycle, apoptosis, signal transduction, and other physiological processes.

Are heat shock proteins good for you?

Heat shock proteins support a healthy immune system, and ensure damaged body cells die when they should, a process defective in cancer. In one study on depression, 60% of people receiving infrared heat treatment reported their symptoms of depression improved.

How do you trigger heat shock proteins?

Production of high levels of heat shock proteins can also be triggered by exposure to different kinds of environmental stress conditions, such as infection, inflammation, exercise, exposure of the cell to harmful materials (ethanol, arsenic, and trace metals, among many others), ultraviolet light, starvation, hypoxia…

***********************

Article Quote:

Whole body heat therapy through sauna, bathing, can induce what they described as profound physiological effects.

By raising our core temperature, we activate our thermal regulating pathways through the hypothalamus in the brain which controls our hormone system, and it leads to:

1. an increase in our heart rate
2. causes our blood vessel to dilate
3. send our sweat glands into action

And this has a multiple physical benefits, similar to exercise, including:

1. improving cardiovascular fitness and function
2. lowering blood pressure
3. helps to regulate blood sugar levels by increasing insulin sensitivity

The heat warms up our muscles and joints, helping reduce inflammation and aids in muscle recovery because when you warm up a sore joint or tired muscle, your blood vessels, get bigger, allowing more blood, oxygen and nutrients to be delivered to the injured tissues.

Sauna therapy also does something really really clever. It causes us to release heat shock proteins. We know damage proteins speed up the aging process and so we want to do as much as we can to repair them and help make replacements. Heat shock proteins can help the body do exactly that and prevent a buildup of damage proteins, accelerate aging symptoms, and instead activate repair to slow down the aging process.

Heat also increases the production of endorphins which improve:

1. our mood
2. support better sleep
3. support the immune system too
* These are just some of the benefits.

Sauna Benefits Deep Dive and Optimal Use with
Dr. Rhonda Patrick & MedCram

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=RWkv9ad7zvc

Topics covered:
00:00:00 - Intro to Saunas and Rhonda Patrick
00:01:04 - Summary of sauna health benefits (lowers dementia, cardiovascular, depression risk, etc.)
00:07:09 - A review article vs primary research and Dr. Jari Laukkanen
00:07:58 - More on cardiovascular benefits of sauna
00:10:48 - Does sauna use lower hypertension risk?
00:11:56 - Sauna use may improve fitness and endurance
00:14:48 - Can sauna use lower Alzheimers and dementia risk?
00:16:43 - What are heat shock proteins?
00:19:18 - Dr. Patrick's research on amyloid-beta 42 / heat shock proteins
00:20:30 - How Rhonda Patrick became interested in Saunas
00:22:20 - Endorphins, opiate receptors, depression, and sauna use
00:26:36 - Sauna associated with lower inflammatory markers
00:27:14 - Interleukin 6 (IL-6) and sauna use
00:29:20 - Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neuroplasticity
00:32:01 - More cellular repair mechanisms (NRF2) and hormesis
00:34:00 - Eustress and intermittent fasting
00:37:38 - Sauna and muscle atrophy
00:39:54 - Excretion of heavy metals and toxins through sweat
00:41:58 - Heart rate variability and sauna use
00:43:30 - Sauna mimics moderate-intensity exercise
00:47:32 - What Rhonda Patrick does in the sauna
00:49:22 - Countries / cultures utilizing hyperthermia
00:51:34 - Infrared sauna benefits vs. traditional Finnish sauna (and waon therapy)
00:55:39 - Details about Rhonda Patrick's sauna routine (temp., duration, dry vs. humid etc.)
01:01:43 - Utilizing sauna to extend a workout
01:02:33 - Can a long hot shower or bath mimic sauna benefits?
01:03:27 - Hydration before and after sauna bathing
01:04:36 - Cold exposure after sauna use?
01:06:24 - How to tell if in the sauna for too long?
01:08:10 - Contraindications/people who shouldn't use sauna
01:12:28 - Continuous glucose monitors and sauna
01:14:25 - Limitations of current sauna research
01:18:06 - More on Finland and saunas
01:18:50 - More on heat shock proteins
01:19:46 - Closing thoughts

[Harmony]

Thanks so much Paula for sharing how you have been feeling with the unusual energies we have had to deal with in the past couple of months, and some great ideas to improve health. I hadn't really understood just how heat proteins activated can affect our systems and the long term benefits , wow

[RunningDeer]

Industrial vs Food Grade - I recently learned not all baking soda products are the same. (Info by Dr. Jane Ruby.)

Arm & Hammer and other big corporate brands are industrial grade and contain aluminum. I purchased one that is aluminum free, and non-GMO. I use it to alkalize the body. Arm & Hammer was always too strong and harsh to use as a toothpaste. This food grade product is mild and refreshing.

Baking Soda By Unpretentious Baker,
Aluminum-Free, Non-GMO, Pure Sodium Bicarbonate

Dr. Jane Ruby:
1/2 teaspoon in four or five ounces of water before bedtime. I recommend Baking Soda By Unpretentious Baker because it is aluminum free, small batch, non-GMO, very clean. Mix a 1/2 teaspoon in four or five ounces of water before bedtime to reset for the next day, and I get the best sleep of my life.

***************

Q&A Snippets:

Baking soda is an alkaline substance that can neutralize excess stomach acid. In small amounts, it provides temporary relief from indigestion and works in a similar way to over-the-counter (OTC) indigestion remedies.

How does baking soda detox the body?

While changing up your diet to add in healthier, natural foods can help reduce the ramification to some degree, the neutralization process that is created by baking soda can also detox your body from the outside in, diminishing more pronounced acid levels and leading to a more regulated, balanced pH level within the body.

Why do kidney doctors prescribe sodium bicarbonate?

Sodium bicarbonate is prescribed for people with kidney disease who develop metabolic acidosis, or a buildup of too much acid in the body. The medication can help reduce acid levels in the body, restore pH balance, and potentially slow the progression of CKD.

What are the benefits of drinking baking soda for inflammation?

The study's authors suggest baking soda causes an anti-inflammatory response. They also suggest baking soda may cause macrophages, a type of immune cell, to stop boosting inflammation and, conversely, start reducing it.

For the coffee drinkers.

Coffee is naturally acidic, which can sometimes cause gastrointestinal discomfort for some people. Adding a pinch of baking soda to brewed coffee can help neutralize some of the acidity, making it gentler on the stomach. This can be particularly useful for people suffering from acid reflux or a sensitive stomach.

[ThePythonicCow]

Posted by RunningDeer (here)
Industrial vs Food Grade - I recently learned not all baking soda products are the same. (Info by Dr. Jane Ruby.)

Arm & Hammer and other big corporate brands are industrial grade and contain aluminum.

My understanding is that baking soda does not contain aluminum. It's always just sodium bicarbonate.

Rather it's double acting baking powder that contains both baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and typically an aluminum acid such as sodium aluminum phosphate and sodium aluminum sulfate.

I use a lot of baking soda (mostly in my water, along with other salts and minerals, not for baking, mind you) and buy the biggest, most economical, bulk bags I can find. So far as I know, there's no significance between baking soda's, other than price per ounce and the quality of marketing on the label.

[ThePythonicCow]

Posted by ThePythonicCow (here)
Rather it's double acting baking powder that contains both baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and typically an aluminum acid such as sodium aluminum phosphate and sodium aluminum sulfate.

Dang - take a listen to the following expose by Clif High on the damage aluminum does to the mind and memory formation, and whatever one of these soda's or powder's does have aluminum will be on your personal ban list forever. The harmfulness of aluminum was exploited by the MKUltra program, and subsequently aluminum was spread in chem-trails.

• Defend your hippo! (Bitchute) -- "Hippo" as in hippocampus

Even if they aren't spreading chem-trails over one's own skies, I'd guess that we're still at risk from aluminum spread over wherever our foods are grown.

[RunningDeer]

Posted by ThePythonicCow (here)

Posted by ThePythonicCow (here)
Rather it's double acting baking powder that contains both baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and typically an aluminum acid such as sodium aluminum phosphate and sodium aluminum sulfate.

Dang - take a listen to the following expose by Clif High on the damage aluminum does to the mind and memory formation, and whatever one of these soda's or powder's does have aluminum will be on your personal ban list forever. The harmfulness of aluminum was exploited by the MKUltra program, and subsequently aluminum was spread in chem-trails.

• Defend your hippo! (Bitchute) -- "Hippo" as in hippocampus

Even if they aren't spreading chem-trails over one's own skies, I'd guess that we're still at risk from aluminum spread over wherever our foods are grown.

Oh no, not baking soda again, Paula!

BTW: Defend your hippo! is worth the watch. The topic of chemtrails and aluminum comes in at 26 minutes. (video added below)

The chemtrails, the covid-jab era changed my perspective on which companies are paid off to tweak the product for nefarious gain. Which is why if for no other reason than peace of mind, my go to product is “Unpretentious Baker, Aluminum-Free, Non-GMO, Pure Sodium Bicarbonate”. (post above) I’ll use up my Arm & Hammer stash to clean my toilet.

Is Bob's Red Mill baking soda aluminum-free?

Bob's Red Mill packages baking soda mined from the earth. Like most products that we sell, our baking soda is minimally processed and a product of nature with nothing added and nothing taken out. There may be naturally occurring traces of aluminum in our baking soda.

**************

Clif also put out an audio Detox Aluminum - protect your hippo! I made a partial transcript on how to detox/chelate aluminum oxide out of the body:

Aluminum is not a heavy metal. So heavy metal techniques will not work. They work half assed but because some of the aluminum will actually bind with some of the heavy metals in the body.

About aluminum oxide and the chelation of it out of the body. Aluminum is not a heavy metal. So heavy metal techniques will not work. They work half assed but because some of the aluminum will actually bind with some of the heavy metals in the body.

The best way to get at aluminum is through the electrically active supplements that you can take. So vitamin C and vitamin E, and to a lesser extent vitamin A. And vitamin A would actually aid the extraction of aluminum in the area of the eyes and so on. But the vitamin E and C or highly electrically active in different ways. So almost all vitamins are left hand molecules. Vitamin E is a right hand molecule.

The best way to do aluminum detox in my opinion is to use vitamin E that's derived from wheat germ oil or use the oil itself. And then you have to do another component of this, which is the you have to take a pectin; apple pectin, modified citrus pectin and it doesn't really matter much. But you need to get some pectin through your gut so that the aluminum that's bound up with the vitamins will end up being excreted. Otherwise it'll just sit in your gut. It'll eventually break down again and the aluminum will recirculate.

So not a good situation because aluminum is not like heavy metal. Once it's deactivated so to speak in terms of ionic potential, whatever it has that has done that, it's bound to it and it'll be treated as inert. If the stuff that it's bound to is not repellent to the body to the point that the body wants to excrete it, it'll just sit there.

So things like lead if you get them bound up with stuff like IP6 or something, the body wants to get rid of them at that stage. It doesn't consider them to be a neutral substance.

The vitamin C that's bound to aluminum or vitamin E bound to aluminum or considered neutral substances, more or less by the body and there's no real active mechanism to get rid of them unless you provide pectin in the gut. If you use modified citrus pectin, it's modified because they take these long, pectin molecules and chunk it all up to an appropriate size that it can actually interact with the blood and the blood plasma and also draw out these materials that way.

Now if you use IP6 to do this, it's a good chelator but be advised it also takes out copper and zinc and iron so you'll have to especially if you're male, but everybody, you'll have to supplement copper and zinc. And there's no real need to supplement iron in our society. And if you do, you can cause yourself issues because too much iron can cause cancer. Hemochromatosis is the name of it. It is a condition. It's not a disease per se. There is a genetic predisposition but again it's not a disease.

There are other things you can do. For instance, if you eat noncommercial bread, made your own bread with flour that didn't contain aluminum, you could eat a lot of bread and flush your gut that way. The pectin is easier in my opinion and more thorough because of the nature of the molecule. So you need to do that periodically. That periodic aspect of it has to be nearly continuous. The periodicity of it should be low cycle.

**************

DEFEND YOUR HIPPO!

May 18, 2024
source
Your Hippo is under attack!
Defend him or die trying!
There is no alternative!

The Index = theindex.website

Source: https://www.bitchute.com/video/MLmgIXFwwxng

[ThePythonicCow]

Posted by RunningDeer (here)
Oh no, not baking soda again, Paula!

Hmmm ... if my baking soda posts continue to provoke such fine and informative responses, maybe I should post more of them

Nah - we're in total agreement - aluminum in our air, food or body sucks.

(and thanks for the transcript and proper video posting of some of Clif's aluminum comments)

[RunningDeer]

..........
Thank you, Paul.

Posted by ThePythonicCow (here)

Posted by RunningDeer (here)
Oh no, not baking soda again, Paula!

Hmmm ... if my baking soda posts continue to provoke such fine and informative responses, maybe I should post more of them

Nah - we're in total agreement - aluminum in our air, food or body sucks.

(and thanks for the transcript and proper video posting of some of Clif's aluminum comments)

[Bill Ryan]

A little local thing that I witnessed yesterday that I thought maybe I should share.

I was driving down a busy highway, in a residential district but still a dual carriageway (a 4-lane highway), and suddenly there was a bottleneck in the traffic. I saw there was a new-ish car stopped right there in the fast lane with its flashers on.

I assumed it was a breakdown or an accident, and as I got closer I saw there were 3 large military-age men close to and under the car. At first sight, they could have instantly passed for Venezuelan gang members.

But as I slowly drove by, I saw what was happening. They were all scrambling around trying to grab the tiniest kitten that had somehow found its way on to the highway. It was clearly in mortal danger, and was terrified, hiding under their car.

Then as I pulled away, I then saw that one of them had successfully dropped his soft hoodie jacket over the kitten to save it. The three men were triumphant.

It was a modern-day Aesop's Fable. Don't judge a book by its cover — or a bunch of young guys by their shaved heads, muscles and tattoos.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
A little local thing that I witnessed yesterday that I thought maybe I should share.

And another.

First, here's Gerald Celente talking to Mike Adams in this video published a few days ago. At 33:30 he shows Adams a photo, printed in a book, of his parents' wedding in 1934.





It's hard to see any detail, but Celente explains that what the photo shows is that even in the deep depths of the Depression, when his family barely had a thing, they were still able to turn out in the most elegant style for the very special occasion. The point he was making was about dignity and pride even among the very poorest people — something that's barely evident anywhere now.

Fast forward to today, when I was driving down a rural road about 10 miles from the city here. I saw several dozen local people, men, women and children, in separate small groups but all walking in the same direction, just impeccably dressed. Every one of them looked beautiful.

The women were wearing lovely decorated hats and colorful dresses, the men had sharp suits and polished shoes, and the children looked smart and perfectly groomed. They'd not have looked out of place in a line buying tickets for a Saturday evening Broadway show.

But these were the simplest rural farmers, just as poor if not poorer than anyone in the US 1930s Depression. When I see these folks usually, they're dressed in drab but practical working clothes that often look like they've not been washed in a month. None of them had a car, or else they'd not be walking, taking the risk of everything being ruined if there was a sudden heavy shower of rain. It was impressive and heartwarming to see.

These are honest country folk (and there are many hundreds of thousands of those in Ecuador) who might have a few cows, sheep and chickens, and grow their own veggies to sell for a few $$ in small stalls by the road. They live in small ramshackle houses that sometimes look just like small barns fit for animals, but they're healthy and happy and just work as hard as they can without complaint. Some of those are local to me here, and I see them often. They're good people.

And when they do wash their clothes, they do so in the local rivers. This is a common, customary thing. Subsistence farmers can't afford things like washing machines.

Yet here they were looking just as elegant as Gerald Celente's parents in 1934. It was clearly a very special day for them, a once-in-a-year thing, maybe a wedding, or just possibly a funeral — but I do have to say, everyone did look extremely happy.

[wondering]

Bill, Do you know where they were going or what they were celebrating? I'm so curious.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by wondering (here)
Bill, Do you know where they were going or what they were celebrating? I'm so curious.

Dear Diane! I wish I knew. The time was 1.30 pm, and it was Thursday, so they weren't going to a normal Church service. I do suspect it was a wedding, or maybe (given the time of day) a wedding reception following a private ceremony. It struck me quite strongly because I'd never actually seen that kind of beautiful smart elegance in a bunch of poor farming folk walking down a regular rural road.

[RunningDeer]

“If it’s not going to matter in five years, then don't spend more than five minutes being upset about it.”

A portrait on someone's wall. (1 minute)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=tDZ2PAmYYEU

[RunningDeer]

[RunningDeer]

What’s your alternative? (14 minutes)

“Become someone who can't be used. The only way these entities will leave your loved ones alone is to make it not worth their while to come into your loved ones and ride them to get you.”

"They pull it out of the blue. It could be your children. This could be a dog. It's gonna be your parents. That's a favorite one. This is gonna be a lover. This is gonna be a partner. It's gonna be a boss. It's someone you work with closely. They do something that hooks you. Some behavior. Some comments. Some thing. And there's you. You try everything. You get hooked. You fly off the handle. You go to a spiral. “How how could they possibly do that to me.?”

“There’s a way that entities operate and I mean, we can see it playing out in the physical once once I lay it out, you'll get it. You'll get an idea of what I'm talking about. There’s this thing that goes on where someone very close to you will get used to hook you or get you or trigger you or whatever fancy word you want to use. But they'll be used and it'll come out of the blue usually unless it's a concerted attack, they find a chink in your armor and they're just gonna keep hammering it.”

“There's no way that everyone in your inner circle knows how to deal with this sh!t. Let alone knows the difference between their own voice internally and the voice of one of these other things. They’re just not gonna know. So there's nothing you can do except don't swallow the hook. That’s it. You're not going to emotionally engage with this. You're gonna engage with it. You're gonna be there. Imagine your child. You’re gonna be there. You’re gonna pay attention to them. You talk to them. See their point of view. You explain your point of view, but probably not too much because they're not gonna listen to it. But you're not gonna try and argue. You're not gonna try and stop them. You're not gonna climb on the roller coaster. You are going to be emotionally and energetically neutral.”

“I'm saying do not emotionally or energetically engage with this behavior. Especially when it comes through someone in your inner circle. Don't walk off. Don’t disengage. That won't work. That's an avoidance tactic. You need to get close, like the fighters say like the boxers say, “You need to grab their bell buckle get in close.” And be neutral.

…the reason I say be neutral around this is because the alternative to not being neutral and still riding the emotional roller coaster and getting hooked and thinking they're serious, I'm thinking they mean it and taking it personally, these entities will continue to use the person you love.”

“…but your only real option is to stop buying bullish!t. Because when you do that then that piece on the board is ineffective against you. It can't use it. What is the point of them manipulating a piece on the game board if it has no bite? It can't get you. It's a waste of energy and these things hate to waste energy. They steal everything. They count every single scrap of energy because they stole it and they can't make their own. So they're freaked out all the time about running out.”

• Hamish Bartholomaeus

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=YCatc2YdTR0

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

I've been away and offline for about a week. I was so touched by all the messages of concern for my absence... (oh wait, that was just a dream).

At long last it was time to build my new PC. Now I'm up and running again (hurrah!) but sorry Linux users, in the end it just had to be Windows 11. Not out of the box Windows though, I used a handy little program called NTLite to forensically edit the ISO, hence removing the bloatware and just about all tracking and telemetry services I could find. Windows 11 is now super-streamlined, and works like a charm.

Over the years I've built many machines, for myself and others, but this was the oddest build yet. I enlisted the company (and assistance) of a dear friend who I worked with in IT many years ago. Only hitch was, these days he lives off-grid in the sticks. No problem, said I, consider this a chance to get away for a couple of days and have myself a mini adventure. So off I set on the three hour drive to deepest Cornwall. I little realised how 'off-grid' he actually was...



He was limited to gas and battery power (arghh!). That wasn't going to work at all. Fortunately, we managed to borrow a generator from a neighbour, and finagle a 240v converter.

Surrounded by beer bottles and crammed into a tiny corner we soon embarked on this tricky, and quite epic, build.



And being good old England it rained of course. It rained a lot. At one point, water was dripping from the skylight and into the area we were working on the motherboard (if not for the beer I might have been a tad more terrified!)

When darkness fell and we could work no more, and as the rain hammered down on our flimsy tin roof, we cleared a space to eat pizza and play cribbage until the thin morning light.

Beers were consumed, laughs were had. At the end of it all a sparking new system emerged, one I'd been needing for a long time.

I do plan a return visit to my dear, dear friend, who lives in a field in a hard to get to (but beautiful) corner of Cornwall -- but next time computers won't be on the agenda. Who knows, I may even get to see the sea!

[RunningDeer]

Posted by Mark (Star Mariner) (here)
I've been away and offline for about a week. I was so touched by all the messages of concern for my absence... (oh wait, that was just a dream).

You were missed, Mark. Welcome back.

30 Times People Had Such Horrible Computers... [more here]