This is the only song from the White Stripes that I like. And with a Gate AMV?
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Ward Manor Happenings
Office Happenings – The big upheaval for the Ward household is my returning to the office. This required some shifting of household chores and more careful planning of who needs which car. Of course, they warn us that my team should bring in all of our monitors and docks because it’s not likely we will have those when we get to the office. This is what happens when you make everyone return to the office quickly rather than orderly. In some kind of way, it’s the inverse of when my team was sent out on telework five years ago.
Anywhoo, we get to the office to find that we can’t even get into our assigned offices as we have not been granted access. WTF? It wasn’t until more than a half hour that we were able to get into our offices. The good news? We have actual offices, as well as docks and monitors. The bad? These aren’t our “final” offices, so we can’t lock the doors. Which, considering how things have gone walksies with everyone scrounging for stuff, means all my stuff gets schlepped to the office and back.
I miss my standing desk, my monitors, my bathroom, and mostly, I miss working with The Wife.
Tile Happenings – Mom is having to redo the bathrooms in her house. She also likes and trusts The Wife’s decor style / choices. So, after work, the three of us traipsed down to a local tile store to pick out the necessary floor, wall, and shower stall floor tiles. This could have been a long drawn-out process, but Mom managed to make selections fairly quickly. Of course, it would have helped if we knew how much she needed, but that information was not brought along. I also drove Mom’s Kia Carnival. This is a serious contender for second vehicle if/when The Wife and I start looking.
Birds of Ward Manor
There was a new visitor to the backyard of Ward Manor.
It took me digging through a couple of my bird books and getting on the Audubon app before I found out what it was.
It’s been a nifty new bird after being swarmed by grackles and red-winged blackbirds.
Metal Tuesday – Brother’s Choice – Martriden – Set a Fire in Our Flesh
Since it’s around The Brother’s birthday, I let him choose the tunes.
Sometimes, you don’t need more than an EP to get your point across. And sometimes it takes a while to learn that point.
Martriden are a black metal band from Colorado that when I first hear I thought were OK, but nothing special.
About a year ago I started having this melody run through my head and I could not figure out where it was from. I don’t know how I finally figured out what the song was but it was the final track on Martriden’s self-titled debut EP.
Since then, the EP (and their three full lengths) have gotten more and more plays and I’ve come to really enjoy their music. I really hope they put out more music in the future (their last album was 2015’s Cold and the Silence).
Monday Links
Let’s start with the Reason links.
The Trump administration acts hostile to due process. The right, in general, has become more hostile to the idea.
Plus, it doesn’t help when the administration extorts law firms it doesn’t like. I heard from a podcaster that the silence from the legal community has been deafening. Which is both surprising – since they are supposed to be zealous defenders of peoples’ rights – and unsurprising – given how quickly they buckled the last time a mob came for them in 2020.
Are the Trump tariffs even legal? Probably not. Of course, Congress is such a feckless mob of wannabes that they don’t have the gumption to remind the executive branch of who is supposed to be the preeminent branch.
Colorado passed new gun regulations.
Nuke providers are suing the regulators.
Political violence on the rise as each side embraces the use of force.
Boy is suspended for something on his private social medias. What did he do? He posted a pic of a bunch of soda cans in the shape of a rifle.
On to other stories.
From Politico, the Florida Democratic Senate Leader has left the party – after saying the state party is dead. I fear Florida is marching on to becoming a one-party state, and that isn’t good. One of the reasons Florida succeeded in the nineties and oughts was that it had healthy (sometimes too-healthy) state parties.
From Bearing Arms, a new study looks at armed citizens’ responses to active shooters.
From Voice of San Diego, there’s a wave of bot students enrolling in college to fraudulently get financial aid dollars.
From 404, an AI bot that calls your elderly relatives to chat. Despite the spin on the article, I can see where this could be helpful for certain segments of the elderly population.
From The Verge, Netflix is rolling out dialogue-only subtitles. Maybe if they did a better job of keeping sound levels somewhat consistent, I wouldn’t need to keep using subtitles just to understand what they’re saying.
The Shot Heard ‘Round the World +250
Last weekend was the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which kicked off the American Revolutionary War. In that vein, I’m dropping this here.
Ward Manor Happenings
Kilt Happenings – I recently found some relatively inexpensive kilts in my size, so I ordered a few. These buckle up like the kilt I wore for the wedding last year, which makes them much more comfortable than the snap ones I normally get (e.g., 5.11 kilts). The only downside is that these have no pockets, unlike many of the utility-style kilts I have. So, I found a sporran. At this point, I’m going to be wearing kilts as daily work wear until they send me back to the office. And I’ve already told work that I can’t find where I’m not allowed to wear them – so jeans days will become kilt days.
Civilization Happenings – As most readers know, I play a lot of Civ. Mostly Civ 6, as I just can’t get my head around Civ 7’s major changes. Anywhoo, I had an unusual loss. In turn 2. When my initial settler was killed by a flood.
Tech Upgrades Happenings – The Wife and I looked at our budget and our future needs, and decided to do some tech upgrades. Mainly the big ones were our phones. We went to the Apple Store and upgraded our phones to 16’s. I really needed more space and we both wanted the satellite connectivity. Plus getting more of our stuff on USB-C. Plus wantsies. While we were there, we also upgraded The Wife’s watch. While researching which phone to get, we saw that there was a sale on newer Galaxy Tab 11 inch tablets. These would replace the ancient ones we use while doing the treadmills.
3D Printer Happenings – We are most likely going to rehome the 3D printer. Before that happens, the printer is going BRRR. For me, we found a print for the island from the USS Flagg. That sounds too cool if I’m going to turn a table into a carrier for my various mecha.
Easter Happenings – Ward Manor again hosted the family Easter dinner. In addition to all the setup such a dinner requires, we also hosted our grandniece for a sleepover. The little girl loves running around Ward Manor, exploring all the rooms, playing with the cats, and turning the lightsabers on and off. She’s been asking for another sleepover – the first one being when she and her mother stayed at our place during Milton.
The real fun part was on Easter morning, she looked out the window and said, “There’s a bunny!” At first, I thought she was seeing someone’s decorations, but lo and behold, there was a rabbit going between the houses. So, with some prompting from The Wife and MIL, the Grandniece proceeded to tell everyone she saw “The Easter Bunny’s Helper” all day.
Promise to the Magic Heart – Chapter 2
Among the prominent nations of our world, the Mareians are particularly noteworthy for their commercial acumen. It is indeed a peculiar historical phenomenon that, despite the First Families of Marei eschewing trade as an ignoble pursuit, numerous “Second Families” ascended to prominence by constructing extensive and resilient trade networks. These networks exhibited remarkable fortitude, enduring the calamities of the daemon invasion and the subsequent War of Reclamation, thereby illustrating the enduring nature of commerce. The Mareians imposed their most prolonged trade embargo following the pogroms during the Night of Fire and Blood. This decisive action can be attributed to the systematic extermination of their traders by elven perpetrators. The Mareians collectively resolved to impart a lesson on the consequences of being deprived of legitimate commerce. However, in true Mareian fashion, the official embargo did not entirely deter them from engaging in trade with those possessing the requisite capital. Thus, the Mareians navigated the complex domain of commerce with a pragmatic approach, ensuring the continuity of trade even amidst adversity. This tale underscores the principles of economic resilience and adaptability, traits that have long characterized the Mareian people. – Excerpt from “Wealth and Trade” by Scholar Imini Loc
RIN
Fools Port was notorious in the Mareian Republic for good reasons. With Juniper Bay a mere thirty kilometers to the north, legitimate shippers avoided Fools Port’s unreliable harbor. The tides fluctuated too fast, sandbars appeared out of nowhere, and the strange winds seemed to delight in slamming ships into the shoals. No respectable captain would risk his ship, his sailors, and most importantly, his cargo, to those conditions. Not even the Republican Navy risked its ships in Fools Port. As a result, Fools Port evolved into a haven for those whose cargoes were somewhat less than legal, or those bound for less than legal destinations. As that particular business boomed, the town absorbed smugglers’ culture. Lawmen weren’t welcome, and that went double for any ranger.
As he rode through the town, Rin wore a ranch hand’s green cotton shirt and denim trousers. His uniform was at the bottom of one of his saddlebags. There were enough veterans around that Rin’s worn cavalry boots, wide brimmed hat, and long brown duster wouldn’t draw much notice. Rin didn’t want to wear the duster in the humid heat of Fools Port. It was bad enough in the dry heat of the Badlands, but at least there it had the advantage of keeping the grit from getting everywhere. He needed the long jacket to cover his ranger-issued scimitar and revolver. Those would definitely draw unwanted notice, but Rin wasn’t about to walk those streets without proper weapons.
Rin didn’t have a lot of information on the sorcerer. Demons weren’t very good at distinguishing one human from another. The description Rin managed to pry out of the demon was the sorcerer was taller than Rin, blond hair, and wore a dark cloak over light colored clothing. That was about as good as Rin was ever going to get from a demon. Rin knew where to get more. Rin dismounted in front of one of many identical warehouses clustered around the wharfs. A bell chimed as Rin walked into the warehouse’s front office. The man at the counter looked up and froze as he saw Rin.
“Hello Bruno,” Rin said, casually, “Nice to see you again. How’s business?”
“Who knows you’re here?” Bruno hissed. He quickly drew the drapes on the few windows.
“The rangers know I’m in Fools Port, but not who I was going to see. I didn’t see anyone I recognized coming in, or anyone who looked like they recognized me,” Rin answered.
“Do you know what would happen if she knew you were here, cousin?” Bruno asked.
“Our grandmother hasn’t sent anyone after me since I killed her last thug a couple of years ago,” Rin answered. “I half-hoped she dropped the matter. I’m guessing she hasn’t.” Only his grandmother could make demons seem reasonable. “Sorry, cousin. She’s lashing out at everyone lately. More so than usual, and no one knows why,” Bruno said, finally hugging his cousin. “So, what are you doing in this place? Last I heard, you were out in the Badlands.” Bruno motioned Rin over to the counter and shoved a mug of bitter wine into his cousin’s hands.
“I’m hunting someone. According to my information, my quarry came here to catch a ship,” Rin explained. Bruno arched his eyebrow. He knew better than to get between a ranger and his quarry.
“Why would he catch a ship here if he’s coming from the Badlands? Why didn’t he just go up to Blackstack and grab the railroad? He could have gone anywhere from there,” Bruno said.
“Because he’s heading to the Jeweled Empire,” Rin answered.
“Well, it makes sense to send you,” Bruno said, after a few moments, “You did grow up down there. You even have that nifty necklace they gave you.” At its mention, the medallion pulsed.
“Let’s not discuss that,” Rin answered flatly. Rin didn’t like to think of his years growing up in the Jeweled Lands. He didn’t want to deal with the cold anger down in his gut. He couldn’t let that cloud his judgement. Especially not when he was hunting someone as dangerous as the sorcerer.
“Sorry cousin, I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories,” Bruno said, seeing the dark expression on Rin’s face. “I know. I apologize.” He took a sip of his own wine and smiled at his cousin. Bruno was one of the few members in his father’s family willing to talk with Rin.
“So, what can I do to help you?”
“First, I need to find out what ship my quarry fled on. Then, I’ll need to get passage to follow him down to the Empire,” Rin answered.
“He must be pretty bad for you to hunt him that far,” Bruno mused, “So what’s this guy’s name? I can ask around.” Rin gave his cousin a weak smile.
“I don’t know,” Rin said, “All I know is that he’s taller than me, blond, and was wearing a dark cloak when he left the Badlands.”
“How do you expect me to find someone in this town with just a vague description?” Bruno asked incredulously.
“Granted, there aren’t many blondes who come through here, but there are enough to make it hard to nail down just one.”
“People will remember this man,” Rin answered. The magic released in that kind of ritual stayed with a person, like an almost imperceptible odor. The people in Fools Port tended to be more sensitive than most. They would remember an odd blond man. Maybe Rin would get lucky and find out the sorcerer’s name.
“So, what if he’s already on his way down to the elves?”
“I’ll need you to find me a ship.”