Cataclysmic Events

It seems to me that I had some difficulty finding sleep in the latter evening yesterday because of not having eaten anything since midday, but of course sleep did come.

I never set my cellphone alarm, but I was able to rise just ahead of 6 a.m. ─ I had never intended to rise early for any sort of walk. Instead, I only planned on a token exercise session out in the backyard tool shed once a strong instant coffee and some time up did their work.

Either my youngest stepson had today off work, or else he had not gone to bed. Whatever the case, his den area was later to be in darkness mid-morning. Normally on Tuesdays he has to go and work in the office rather than here at home, but when that is the case he leaves here around 8 a.m. (it seems to me).

My wife quite surprised me by stirring about in her bedroom around 7 a.m., seeming to be doing some arranging. Then she soon enough emerged, and at my observation that it was early, she sleepily explained that she was no longer able to sleep.

The poor thing. She was to get busy in the kitchen mopping the floor after taking out the garbage and the recycling to the wheelie bins outside. I had yet to exercise, so it was during that time that I visited the backyard tool shed for an essential duplication of the previous two mornings when I went out there. That is, just a single pull-up or chin-up in the six sets I tackled: two sets of regular pull-ups, two sets of chin-ups, and two sets of pull-ups between the two bars of the metal kids' ladder that I have spread across rafters and which is all I have to do those exercises with.

I held the hang of the final pull-up for a 50-count. Then I forced my damaged right leg to participate in 25 full-range flat-footed assisted squats ─ at least two of those squats were actually unassisted.

My brother emerged from his bedroom ─ maybe around 8:15 - 8:20 a.m. Around 9 a.m. he came here to me at my bedside computer for assistance in renewing his Canadian Dental Care Plan coverage, but the letter instructions led us to directions that he required a My Service Canada Account (MSCA), which he does not (insofar as I know, for I would have had to help him sign up for one).

In looking at how he would need to sign up for a My Service Canada Account (MSCA), he balked. He decided that the telephone helpline with a lengthy wait time would be preferable, and that was where we left it.

But I see now that there may be another means ─ we can visit that tomorrow to check it out. He is presently away social drinking, and is unlikely to return home in any state to be useful.

Anyway, it was around 9:20 a.m. when we got together for some morning T.V., by which time he was weary of regular programming and thus invited me to put our Android TV Box to work.

I led us off with a 1⅓-hour (1:18:55) video uploaded yesterday to YouTube's Redacted channel: BREAKING! "We talked for 2 hours!" Trump and Putin hold peace talks, war finally over? | Redacted.

My dear wife was to leave for her full day of work at the Thai restaurant where she is employed part-time ─ I could only sincerely wish her to bear up and not become over-tired. I made a wee prayer to that effect, for I do love the girl.

The Redacted video was followed by a 28-minute (28:35) video uploaded September 21, 2013, to YouTube's The Best Film Archives channel: Payoff in the Pacific | PART 2 | World War 2 Documentary | 1944-1945.

This 1960 US Army documentary presents the US military operations in the Pacific during World War 2, from island hopping victories to the Japanese surrender aboard the Battleship Missouri (1944-1945).

We had watched the first part of this documentary two mornings ago.

We also watched the little less than half of the documentary that we broke from yesterday morning. At 50 minutes (50:49), it had been published July 21, 2019, to BitChute's Adaneth channel ─ and it was a superb reenactment of how it must have been for quite a number of different victims: Pompeii | The Last Day.

A 2003 BBC Docu-drama. The highest ever rated history documentary on the BBC at the time of its release.

On 24 August AD 79, the sleeping giant Mount Vesuvius erupted with horrifying force, destroying the prosperous Roman cities Pompeii and Herculaneum. Their inhabitants were subjected to 24 hours of untold horror. Four million tonnes of pumice, rock and ash rained on the towns, suffocating the life out of the cities, and burying those who had been unable to flee.

Pompeii - The Last Day recreates that momentous day, and shows first hand the horror of Pompeii's last hours. Factual characters based on historical and forensic evidence unearthed in Pompeii and Herculaneum, as well as extracts from Gauis Plinius Monor's account of the disaster, help bring to life one of the most notorious disasters in history.

Using stunning visual effects, the film recreates each stage of the 24 hour eruption and explores the devastating impact on the main characters; Julius Polybius, wealthy baker and aspiring politician; Stephanus, a cloth worker and social climber and his wife Fortunata Celadus the celebrity gladiator; Pliny the elder, in charge of the rescue mission; and, finally, Pliny the younger, who documents the horrors of the tragedy.

Correction: The narrator says that "there is no word for Vulcano in Latin because they have not seen anything like this before."  He is wrong about the word, because Vulcan is the god of fire, including the fire of volcanoes, deserts, metalworking, and the forge in ancient Roman religion and myth. The Vulcanalia was the annual festival held August 23 in his honor. Sure they didn't know about the Volcano as rupture, thought they did have earthquakes, but the word volcano is derived from the name of Vulcano, whose name in turn comes from Vulcan, the god of fire in Roman mythology.

We never finished the next video I tuned in ─ it happened to be an episode of one of the evening T.V. series that we had been following together.

Due to this episode coming up on the flash or thumb drive that the previous video had been downloaded onto, I withheld saying aught to my brother about terminating our evening T.V.-watching, since he clearly prefers catering to Bev's interests ─ I have not watched any evening T.V. with him since May 5, so I had intended to let him know that our evening 'togetherness' was done because I was going to start watching our shows on my own in the latter afternoon.

I will now wait until after we finish watching the episode this morning that we suspended so that my brother could return to his bedroom for some rest.

As it happens, watching any T.V. shows in the latter afternoon is far harder than I anticipated. Here it is 7:25 p.m. and I am still at work on this blog post, for Pete's sake!

At least late in the afternoon and into the early evening I got in a good session of what I hope are therapeutic stress-challenges for my damaged right leg, as well as some isometrics for my upper body.

I am here going to take a break from this post. I have supped, and now I am going to brush the ol' choppers before I tune in a show here on my bedside computer ─ it won't be one of the shows my brother and I follow in common.

Incidentally, Bev a few minutes back brought me a letter I had received in today's mail. This was the first time she and I exchanged any conversation in four or maybe even five days.

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With my brother still absent around 8:15 p.m., I shut myself into my bedroom and tuned in Superman & Lois ─ episode 11 ("A Brief Reminiscence In-Between Cataclysmic Events") of the first season.

It was a very good episode ─ I found the first half or so that told the story of Clark Kent's beginnings and his coming to know of Lois Lane to be remarkably endearing and touching.

However, I am getting dreadfully sick of his villainous half-brother "Tal-Rho". And this is something I exceedingly hate about so many of these super-hero series ─ that is, how a super-villain gets to be so damned tiresome episode after tedious and dissatisfying episode.

This is how series lose viewership, but it seems that the fools involved in producing them never learn or understand. Tal-Rho was initially novel; but I have grown sick of looking at the smug and arrogant prick and do not brook seeing the character much longer. I detest him, and find that he causes me such negativity that I can countenance dropping the series if he continues.

I want a final end to him.

I held myself to one can of Cariboo Malt (7.9% alcohol).

Regardless, if interested, my flawless source for the episode was this GOOJARA.to link.

The episode finished barely ahead of 9 p.m. A peek downstairs revealed my brother passed out in his favourite chair, another successful outcome for his inner drunkard.

On other topics, I had my early afternoon nap today, which is usual.

I should also mention that we had an unexpectedly sunny day, but I noticed by mid-evening that there appeared to be clouding. Then around 9:15 p.m. I could hear a fairly brief patter of rain on the car port roof outside my open bedroom window.

I think that's enough for today. I am going to publish this and soon be to bed ─ it is presently 9:44 p.m.