So this has not been a fun six days. I came down with some horrible flew like symptoms on Friday, tried to power through on  liquid diet and hit showers/baths and this becomes nonviable Monday when I can't even keep liquid diet down. Head into the free clinic hoping for some pain relief and flu meds but they rush me to the hospital. The hospital does what it does until I start mentioning trouble breathing (always mention trouble  breathing to be skipped up the queue, this is not actually sound medical advice).

So flurry of blood tests later and I may or may not have pancreatic issues (bad), diabetes (worse) and they still can't figure why trying to eat solids causes my lower back to feel like a spike rammed into it. 

But things are under control and I feel better, if not well. Or I will once I get more than 15 minutes of solid sleep/

So a few of you may have noticed that I'm trying to get back into CoH.
And aside from having to rebuild my bind files for Clank Patrol from vague memories and distant hopes, I need to improve my gameplay experience. This might just be having to work the rust off my skills.

What things have made the game better for you?

I already have videot maps. 
Do people hang out on the official Discord server? or a different one?

Thanks in advance for all the help, and the several million inf people have already tossed my way.

Oil Change at 173k.

I now realise how vanishingly rare it is to see cars being worked on by their owners in any capacity.  It used to be a lot more common - especially over the summer - you'd have people doing basic shit and not so basic shit.

It just stopped sometime in the last few years without anyone noticing to the point where being outside doing any sort of work you get people looking at you as if you're some sort of wizard.

Do people actually service cars anymore?

I know I had a neighbour who insisted I had to own the most unreliable piece of junk ever since I was always working on it every few months - while his new BMW never got a drop of oil since it left the factory. "Modern cars don't need servicing realy - it's just a scam"

Suffice to say, BMW didn't honour the warranty when the crank escapes and he's going around badmouthing them to anyone who doesn't want to listen but can't escape.

On Spacebattles the fanfic author Todeswind started talking about the mind boggling collection of memorabilia his Mother has acquired over the years and posted pics of a mess of them.
https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/59110621/

We're talking scripts for Star wars Episodes 1 through 6 signed by the casts, autographed photos from multiple presidents (Lincoln, Grant, Roosevelt), actors (The Rat Pack, 4 Stooges, George Reeves, etc), and more

Southern California rocked by its strongest earthquake in 20 years - a magnitude 6.4 quake, preceded by a magnitude 4.3 quake a half hour earlier.

3 earthquakes registering between 4.5 and 5.6 magnitude detected within minutes of each other off B.C. coast

I hope folks "west of the Rockies" are okay.

MAD Magazine's August issue will be its last.

At least, the last that doesn't re-run old material.

<sigh> End of an era.

The Register: Trump: Huawei ban will be lifted!
US Commerce Dept.: Yeah, about that…

Quote:Staff have reportedly been sent an email reminding them that, under DOC rules, Huawei is still on its prohibited Entity List and chipmakers will still face the "presumption of denial" from agents when looking to sell to them.

...the week in July when we stay in a beach house on Long Beach Island, starting on this Saturday (July 6).  As has been usual for the last ten years or so, the house has wi-fi, and we'll be bringing at least one computer, not to mention all the smartphones, so it's not like I vanish from the board any more, but I figured telling you all about it is something akin to a tradition here.