Year of the Rope

There was to be no evening walk yesterday. Oh, I did make the attempt; but I only needed to go a short distance along the alleyway beside our home to recognize how seriously sensitive my left foot's plantar fasciitis (or whatever else is wrong with it) was after the short walk early that morning.

What the ℋℯ𝓁𝓁 am I going to do? I need my long walks again!

Once my brother got back home from his daily social drinking, I had both of the shows already lined up that we were to watch.

First was Vera ─ season or series 14's episode one ("Inside"). Something notable for me was almost immediately recognizing supporting actor Kevin Whately as a retired somewhat bad cop ─ Kevin had played good detective Lewis for many, many years. Heck, he had grown old in the role!

And I just now discovered that only one episode of that wonderful series Vera remains. We did not realize this last night ─ I wonder if it would have helped my brother retain consciousness? He had passed out for a short time at least once in its early going, but he was dead gone in the late stage of the episode and missed out on its conclusion.

He asked me about it during the next show I had tuned in and was playing, but he had his chance ─ I refuse to detail events he missed because he is so intent of drinking himself into oblivion. If I remember tomorrow morning, I will let him know when he is sober again that we only have one remaining episode and that what he missed last night might have some relevance to the final episode.

There is a Vera special, but I am unsure if we'll watch that. Possibly I will see about recording it for us to watch some morning when he is sober.

My brother was still passed out well into the next show I tuned in ─ Bergerac. This time it was the first season's or series' episode five ("See You in Moscow"). After he regained consciousness, it took him a bit of time to become aware that we were not still watching Vera.

Due to having a wretched time finding proper and not misfiled episodes via the streaming apps I tend to use, I did not even bother and instead watched it via a browser app at this OK.ru link. I see now that it is also available at this Archive.org link.

While I watched the episode, I had familiarity of a one-time brief appearance by a guest actor whom I could not quite identify; I see now that it was Anthony Head whom I first became aware of in the old fun T.V. series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

My brother called it a night after Bergerac because he was to be getting picked up this morning by his pregnant 31-year-old daughter Rene who was coming here from her Washington State home to apply for a new Canadian passport ─ he would be her guarantor.

My wife had come home last evening while my brother was deeply unconscious, and even her bustling about in the kitchen and loud interactions with her two sons failed to pull him from his stupor.

This morning I rose shortly after 8 a.m., by which time my brother was already gone ─ Rene had shown up around 7:45 a.m.

I waited until just after 9 a.m. before going downstairs to boil water for a mug of instant coffee and to watch a video. Technically at nearly 1¾ hours (1:43:43), it had been published January 15 to Rumble's A Warrior Calls channel: 2025 YEAR OF THE ROPE / USA & CANADA ENEMY WITHIN EXPOSED.

It had been almost a month since Christopher James Pritchard's previous video after which he took some time off, and nothing has changed ─ the same constant nonsense about how he's going to be hanging the corrupt once he gets the armed backing to preside in a court.

My wife emerged from her bedroom shortly after 9:30 a.m. to hurriedly ready for her second full consecutive workday, and she was away soon past 10 a.m.

I jumped my way through some of the video; then with well under a half hour remaining, I noticed a mystery vehicle pull slowly into the driveway ─ my brother was back much earlier than I expected, for I was almost certain it would take into the afternoon before Rene was finally through the application process.

And to my surprise, he apparently encouraged her to come into the house (I guess she needed use of the bathroom), so I finally got to see and talk with her after maybe a decade or more. In fact, she was here until nearly noon ─ so over an hour, I would venture.

She even got to speak with both of my stepsons, whom she hadn't seen since they were schoolboys. The eldest proved to be delightfully engaging ─ I had no idea that he was so comfortable making small talk for so very long, for he probably held court for a half hour before finally begging off and leaving to visit the gym.

He truly impressed me.

His younger brother was locked up with his computer working from home for a bank's credit card section, so he never had that amount of liberty. He was still tied up when my niece finally got away on her drive back to the States.

My wife is going to be most sorry to have missed out on seeing Rene.

The day has been largely sunny again. For the past couple of days, I believe that our backyard has never really thawed out from nighttime freezes.

As much as I would like to get out tomorrow evening for some local grocery shopping, I am planning on an early a.m. walk over to the elementary school playground about three blocks away to try and have some exercise there. I am expecting that the equipment is going to be too frosted for any kind of ease where pull-ups and chin-ups are concerned, for I might have to bring along ski-type gloves that are not going to allow much of a grip ─ a repetition or two as a set will probably be all that they will sustain.

Whatever the case, I will want to be getting up overnight at 3:30 a.m. to ready and go. Therefore, I shan't be sitting up this evening until too late.

Early in the evening I took the occasion to watch Batwoman ─ episode eight ("Trust Destiny") of season three. This is another of those D.C. series I can hardly wait to be done with ─ it has absolutely nothing to do with any kind of reality, so it is impossible to identify with anyone.

But I think I have extended this post as far as I care to. It is 7:48 p.m., so I might as well be done to free myself up for any early arrival home of my brother from his daily social drinking.