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The coming weeks will be one of the best times ever for wrestling with God or tussling with Fate or grappling with karma. Why do I say that? Because you're likely to emerge triumphant! That's right, you lucky, plucky contender. More than I've seen in a long time, you have the potential to draw on the crafty power and unruly wisdom and resilient compassion you would need to be an unambiguous winner. A winner of what? You tell me. What dilemma would you most like to resolve? What test would you most like to ace? At what game would you most like to be victorious? Now is the time.

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I caught my subconscious in a lie this morning when my sleep cycle was coming to a close.  Maybe I ought to trade it in on a new model.

Sabrina*Online wrapped up this month as an ongoing webcomic. Eric Schwartz promises that more is coming.

This is the penultimate strip.  The final strip isn't exactly family reading.

I forget when it was, but I was in a heraldry group with somebody I'm somewhat distantly related to, and we got into a discussion about the symbols on his family coat of arms.  They are called pheons and they are arrowheads as they were in the Middle Ages.  Because of this being so definitive a weapon of war, the pheon has been a frequent symbol in military insignia, and it led me to look for insignia like these for one of my wargaming armies, in the interest of setting their character traits.

The two images above are courtesy of the Pentagon's Institute of Heraldry.  The units are the 128th Aviation Brigade and the 158th Infantry Brigade of the U.S. Army.  They are both training formations in the Deep South of the U.S. (Fort Rucker and Camp Shelby, respectively).

Some species of weeds become even more robust and entrenched as they develop resistances to the pesticides that are designed to eradicate them. This is one example of how fighting a problem can make the problem worse -- especially if you attack too furiously or use the wrong weapons. I invite you to consider the possibility that this might be a useful metaphor for you to contemplate in the coming weeks. Your desire to solve a knotty dilemma or shed a bad influence is admirable. Just make sure you choose a strategy that actually works.

This summer there has been a mice infestation here at Rather Manor.  We don't know how many of them there are, but their droppings are firm evidence of their movements around the premises.

Dad found one of them dead this morning.  It had drowned in the kitchen wash basin.  I'd had a moral dilemma about buying poison baits to use against the mice, partly because of fear of the possible impact on the surrounding wildlife.  I guess this might be a sign to let stupidity take care of its own.

FP

https://www.kashi.com/our-foods/cold-cereal/kashi-golean-crisp-cinnamon-crumble-cereal

Got a big box of the above cereal a few days ago and am trying it out.  It's a lot less sugary than what I've usually been eating for breakfasts.

Looking through my archives here I realize that I've been a fan of Flames of War for almost ten years now but have only actually PLAYED it ONCE.  (It was a demo of Team Yankee last year, as you might recall.)

I'd love to put together an army, but I'm more in sticker shock than I am enthused.  That and I tend to think outside the limits of the rulebooks, if history gives me an excuse.

Last year in the After-Holidays Sales, I got a bunch of Phantom jets as "Air Support", and I'll give them a repaint soon.  But that "special ingredient" set what I want to do with the companies I want to build:

* U.S. Army Reserve/National Guard Company (I haven't decided on Armor, Airborne or Airmobile, but I wanted them to be less modern than the regular forces--still stuck with battle bowler helmets and Vietnam-era equipment.)

* French D.O.T. [Defense Ops, Territorial Army] Armored Car Company (Found this in an old publication.  A second-line, rapid reaction unit that would have been in action if the Warsaw Pact invaded the West.)

* Rest of the West Company (A scratch force of Dutch/Belgian/Luxembourger/Dane units.)

Of all the forbidden fruits that you fantasize about, which one is your favorite? Among the intriguing places you consider to be outside of your comfort zone, which might inspire you to redefine the meaning of "comfort"? The coming weeks will be a favorable time to reconfigure your relationship with these potential catalysts. And while you're out on the frontier dreaming of fun experiments, you might also want to flirt with other wild cards and strange attractors. Life is in the mood to tickle you with useful surprises.

That first sentence reminded me of an entry I wrote in 2008:

I regularly travel back through time from the year 2036 so as to be here with you. It's tough to be away from the thrilling transformations that are underway there. But it's in a good cause. The bedraggled era that you live in needs frequent doses of the vigorous optimism that's so widespread in 2036, and I'm happy to disseminate it. Why am I confessing this? Because I suspect you now have an extra talent for gazing into the unknown and exploring undiscovered possibilities. You also have an unprecedented power to set definite intentions about the life you want to be living in the future. Who will you be five years from today? Ten years? Twenty years? Be brave. Be visionary. Be precise.

Twenty years from now (assuming I survive these times) I'll be sixty nine, the same age my dad was the year I had my last regular paying job.  In theory I'd be enjoying retirement but I still don't have a career to provide me one.  I'm screwed.

Do you remember that turning point when you came to a fork in the road of your destiny at a moment when your personal power wasn't strong? And do you recall how you couldn't muster the potency to make the most courageous choice, but instead headed in the direction that seemed easier? Well, here's some intriguing news: Your journey has delivered you, via a convoluted route, to a place not too far from that original fork in the road. It's possible you could return there and revisit the options -- which are now more mature and meaningful -- with greater authority. Trust your exuberance.

I find that difficult to believe.  If I had been "courageous", I would have found a way to stay in Florida, where I would have had a better possibility of starting a career.  Granted, I'm only here in Tennessee because of my love for my parents and my hope to see them well.

To condense a lot of happenstances into something more undestandable:

* My car's brakes were inspected a couple weeks ago.  There's still some horrible noise coming from the rear, but the problem I'd had was for the most part fixed.

* Dad traded in the Cadillac for a Camry--and two weeks later got in an accident with it.  On Wednesday I'll take it to the repair shop for him.

* We were planning on a trip up north to coincide with Dad's high school class reunion, but that may not happen if our money situation has a big crimp in it.

FP

Aphorist James Guida contemplates the good results that can come from not imposing expectations on the raw reality that's on its way. "Not to count chickens before they're hatched," he muses, "or eggs before they're laid, chickens who might possibly lay eggs, birds who from afar might be confused with chickens." I recommend this strategy for you in the coming weeks, Sagittarius. Experiment with the pleasure of being wide open to surprises. Cultivate a mood of welcoming one-of-a-kind people, things, and events. Be so empty you have ample room to accommodate an influx of new dispensations. As James Guida concludes: "Not to count or think of chickens."

Breakfast, lunch and dinner of champions.

Moonshine is on Injured Reserve; the brakes again.  They haven't gotten completely unreliable but there were times in my drive today that I had to push the pedal all the way to the firewall.  I also had a couple very close calls/narrowly avoided collisions with other vehicles.  So the car is going to stay in the carport till I can get it to our mechanic.

Meanwhile, if I have to go anywhere I'll borrow Dad's Nissan pickup truck.