deegee

As a 53 year old man, I’ve watched this “special military mission” these past 11 months and always thought that it had potential to escalate due to the characters and history of all concerned directly and on the sidelines. I was half looking forward (a year ago) to a decade of proper work then maybe a gig in Asda or B&Q to finance my alcoholic habit in older age. Guess I’ll be in a modern day Dads Army by summertime the way it looks at the moment.

I am between jobs so went off to Tenerife for a cracking 11 nights holiday, coming home a couple of days ago for Christmas. Opened the door to find my house flooded, kitchen ruined and emergency plumber battered holes in the bathroom walls the following morning to stop the leak! I’ll be out of house for a month or so at least, so Christmas lunch was reconvened to an Indian restaurant yesterday which was actually a nice change. Im at the other half’s house and last night was pleasant evening with her family and today was mostly making buffet earlier this afternoon and watching football on the telly, whilst she was out tonight, so all good. Thankfully the worst parts of Christmas were avoided during my holiday; excesses of consumerism, stressful shopping etc, but next time I’ll remember to put heating on the blooming timer!

In the same way I really cannot be bothered with New Year and the “forced fun” and expectation of having the time of your life, when it’s usually a long night in the house regurgitating the same Hogmanay format & chat you have every year with the same family folk, or you go out to the freezing cold to pay a fortune to see a few fireworks and shake hands with folk who’d happily walk past you any other time of the year.

Yip. You can imagine if Russia wasn’t a nuclear power that their military bases on the Ukraine and other NATO borders would already be ablaze and resemble Baghdad/ Kabul from 15-20 years ago. The sinking the Russian fleet is the ultimate non nuclear option (and hands Crimea to Ukraine on a plate), so I’m guessing some serious hardware getting shifted to the border and/ or loaned to Ukraine as a show of strength, as a final reminder what might be around the corner for what’s left of the Russian forces.

It’s a bit different from WW2 when we converted factories (already making industrial stuff like cars or machinery) to produce tanks and bullets. It’ll be a hard push converting “modern day workplaces” like call centres and the work force who prefer to take selfies of their skinny lattes than get their hands dirty making bombs.

You’d think, since the heads of CIA and the Russian security services met this week (and probably have an open line somewhere via some embassy officials), that Moscow have been very clearly told that every single piece of Russian military hardware has a target on it and will be wiped out if there are any more shenanigans.

I’ve been saying since this whole shit- show started in February that former Soviet (occupied) countries like Poland and the Czechs etc will be itching to have a nibble at the Russians. Hopefully I’m wrong but the US will need to keep a lid on the Poles going balls deep and getting involved, or else we probably are looking at WW3, rather than this de facto war where we are pushing back via the Ukrainian army.

I though Ross County had a reasonable game plan which they nearly carried off, and could have had a point on another day. Their subs had a couple of chances late on and I personally enjoy the intensity of a tighter match than a routine 5-0 drubbing tbh. Having said that, it was enjoyable to see the reaction of the team and fans after the penalty for County. The referee and VAR were an utter joke all afternoon though.

To be fair, she did/ does have a nice rack in a bikini and has strong “milf vibes”. Whereas Hancock is pure and simply a tit of a man.

I watched The Omen last night on BBC Scotland. Much like a couple of comments above, I’ve not rewatched it in years (decades, probably) and whilst the special effects are “ of their time”, the actual story, creepy vibes and tension made it a right scary watch tbh.

What’s worse, in my view, are the parents who allow their children to have a sedentary, mind- numbing experience in restaurants by watching iPads and phones for the entire duration of the visit, rather than having the benefit and learning skills of a social experience and interaction with the other members of the table. Having said that, it’s hardly the kids’ fault if (99% of the time) it is slobbish, thick, lazy parents showing these table manners by example!

That’s Leicester City kicking off poppy season for professional football. Card display of poppies, last post and ubiquitous wreaths laid by Brendan and Pep. It is the last home game for Leicester before Remembrance Sunday/ Armistice Day, so presumably that means every club gets to do their poppy thing over next few weeks. Each to their own, but I preferred the modest minute’s silence and personal quiet reflection at 11am on Remembrance Sunday than this annual competition.

We really do seem to be creeping to an all-on WW3, with no pretence of NATO involvement. If US/ NATO go in properly, Russia will be obliterated in days.

I had the heating on for an hour or so on Friday and had it on one night early in the week too; had to give in to the chill. I’ll be taking on a 2nd job probably by March to repay this extravagance but no way am I freezing. A year or so ago, I’d have thought nothing of setting the timer for heating to come on an hour before I got up in the morning and probably had it set to be on an hour at teatime. Need to be a wee bit more prudent for now, until I see how the bills look.

Despite the scorn on here, a fried egg is superb in a roll, on top of either sausage, bacon, haggis or black pudding; whatever is the preference of the day. if I’m having a plate of breakfast, I’d probably prefer the eggs scrambled, made with a splash of milk, some butter and usual salt and pepper

Barrhead Travel just sent me this text in relation to an in-store “Cruise Event” this coming Saturday morning… ”As we observe our national period of mourning and Her Majesty the Queen's upcoming funeral, our 17th Sept in-store cruise event will be postponed. Details of new date to follow. Please contact your local Barrhead Travel branch if you need any support. Thank you”. It’s gone full virtue signalling bonkers with these shops and restaurants all shutting and cancelling, just to look good and “caring”.

Putting aside the carry on and adherence to a plan “London Bridge is Down” that was probably formulated and semi relevant in 1975, what on earth has caused the coppers or authorities to move the Rangers Napoli game forward by 24hrs? They have a static coffin and site to protect until approx early afternoon on Tuesday yet the whole of Police Scotland can’t mange a game of football 40 miles away? Don’t get me started too on the Rangers board placing a wreath at the statue of a (living) former player at their stadium to respect the Queen! I’d 100% agree it would be more respectful if it was at the City Chambers formal memorial to HM Queen but not at the doorsteps of their ground.

If I was leading Ukraine’s army or government, I’d be asking for repatriation of all the soldiers taken (from the siege of Mariupol, for example) as well as the many reported civilians moved out when the Russians invaded. Then I’d be seeking compensation for the destruction and repairs needed to rebuild cities, villages and schools etc. Maybe after all that, I’d possibly consider sitting down and discussing a future amnesty and end of combat action against the Russians.

It’s actually fascinating and newsworthy to watch, for the first time ever broadcast, the proclamation of the new King. All the formalities and gathering of prime ministers etc is quite interesting. Charles approving and agreeing to Penny Mourdant’s job description in effect! What I’m weary of is the relentless non- news coverage on rolling news programmes. The usual types of grief- tourists and show offs with families on breakfast tv this morning, coming for the 2nd day in a row with their kids for a day out and hopefully get on the telly. The coverage will ramp up even more from tomorrow when the Queen moves to Edinburgh then London next.

We’ve had far too much bitter petty tribalism in past few years. Sometimes you have to be better than that and acknowledge how exceptionally well Rangers have performed in Europe in last 2-3 years. I’ve had a season ticket for around 30years at Celtic but I (probably a minority of one lol) think it is good Rangers have qualified and handed PSV their arse on a plate tonight.

*whisper it* as a Celtic fan, I thought Rangers fully deserved to win the tie and it is good for the standing of Scottish football to have both teams at the highest level.

Thanks and I take and agree with your point. So, from my point of ignorance (always worked in non unionised private sector), do you agree a sum figure of around £1500-2000 would be the best way to lift lower paid staff and give more direct support to the most needy? I’ve not followed this too closely but seen this plan on a recent post (I think this is the English plan?) and on the face of it, it sounds a good idea and targets the poorer staff but still gives something to everyone on a higher salary.

The only flaw with dumping a load of additional money into a council (or any public sector body) is that you’ll not get the money flowing directly to improve wages of existing staff. Instead they would probably create a whole new department to administrate this, thereby soaking up a lot of the cash before it hits pay packets.

After reading this last night, I went to the butchers today and had liver for dinner. Served with fried onion, bacon lardons, creamy mash, green veg and a lashing of gravy! I also bought a ham hock to make soup this week, since it feels more like late October than August today. The liver, ham hock and some butchers sausages will definitely make a good few meals and only cost just over a tenner.

I haven’t read the rest of the thread but it was a sticky/ stuffy match. Hearts were poor in first hour of the game. I sit behind the goal and was amazed how Hearts defence went missing when Kyogo scored. Well taken goal though. Hearts definitely improved with their subs and their team looked stronger but without much real direct threat up front. It was a good enough match, I prefer competitive games rather than 4,5-0 drubbings and I’m surprised Hearts were so meek in first half as they should be more confident when playing Celtic and Rangers. I’ll take the 3 points and move on. Good weekend for results.