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Weird times (CW for apocalyptic musings)
Apr. 21st, 2026 02:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mificI'm feeling too tired to write properly about this, but here goes. I'm subscribed to NZ National Geographic online magazine, which is a reasonably trustworthy source, and last Friday I learned that NZ only has 18 days of onshore diesel stored. By now I guess it's down to 15 days. No idea if the article is accessible if you don't have a sub, but here's the link.
I've been ruminating in a confused way about that, since Friday. Will it be the start of supply line collapse here, as we're at the far end of that chain, in worldwide terms? Or just a period of restrictions, annoyances and a degree of belt tightening? It'll affect two things massively - transport, and farming. Like, the trucks that bring food and essentials to supermarkets, and deliver groceries to us, and in the longer term, it'll affect the farms growing the food.
Bring an old bastard who's profoundly unfit and who doesn't get out much, there's not a lot I can do for others, except maybe to help my immediate neighbours in some way. And I vacillate between vague prepping notions, nihilism, and thinking it'll turn out to be nothing after all. But I read apocafics, so I wonder. I mean, my car's petrol tank is fairly full and I use it only occasionally, but if it runs out will there still be buses? Which doubtless run on diesel. And if petrol gets harder to come by will people start stealing it, like, siphoning it off from cars parked outside like mine is, close to the road?
The fuel crisis expert guy in the article, Nathan Surendran, recommends talking to neighbours to prepare, but I'd definitely feel weird if I did that. At this point, anyway, when things alternate between feeling totally normal or like we're all fiddling while Rome burns. Or doesn't burn, due to the lack of diesel.
Guess I'll get an extra grocery delivery in, and make sure I have seeds in case I need to clear my garden beds of flowers and plant veggies more seriously. And I did unearth my camping gas stove and lamp in the last "cyclone", but I think we'll have power, as most of our grid runs on hydroelectricity (with the parts to repair the power stations probably delivered by diesel-powered trucks).
Well, we'll see if this is anything. Covid was fast. A week or three of worrying reports then (for us, here) whammo, lockdown. It felt surreal at the time. This is like that pre-Covid prodromal period with some signs and warnings cropping up but no one here taking it seriously, mostly. And our government now is largely shits and idiots, not a decent crisis leader like Jacinta, who actually listened to experts.
I'll keep fiddling, and let you know how it goes.
I've been ruminating in a confused way about that, since Friday. Will it be the start of supply line collapse here, as we're at the far end of that chain, in worldwide terms? Or just a period of restrictions, annoyances and a degree of belt tightening? It'll affect two things massively - transport, and farming. Like, the trucks that bring food and essentials to supermarkets, and deliver groceries to us, and in the longer term, it'll affect the farms growing the food.
Bring an old bastard who's profoundly unfit and who doesn't get out much, there's not a lot I can do for others, except maybe to help my immediate neighbours in some way. And I vacillate between vague prepping notions, nihilism, and thinking it'll turn out to be nothing after all. But I read apocafics, so I wonder. I mean, my car's petrol tank is fairly full and I use it only occasionally, but if it runs out will there still be buses? Which doubtless run on diesel. And if petrol gets harder to come by will people start stealing it, like, siphoning it off from cars parked outside like mine is, close to the road?
The fuel crisis expert guy in the article, Nathan Surendran, recommends talking to neighbours to prepare, but I'd definitely feel weird if I did that. At this point, anyway, when things alternate between feeling totally normal or like we're all fiddling while Rome burns. Or doesn't burn, due to the lack of diesel.
Guess I'll get an extra grocery delivery in, and make sure I have seeds in case I need to clear my garden beds of flowers and plant veggies more seriously. And I did unearth my camping gas stove and lamp in the last "cyclone", but I think we'll have power, as most of our grid runs on hydroelectricity (with the parts to repair the power stations probably delivered by diesel-powered trucks).
Well, we'll see if this is anything. Covid was fast. A week or three of worrying reports then (for us, here) whammo, lockdown. It felt surreal at the time. This is like that pre-Covid prodromal period with some signs and warnings cropping up but no one here taking it seriously, mostly. And our government now is largely shits and idiots, not a decent crisis leader like Jacinta, who actually listened to experts.
I'll keep fiddling, and let you know how it goes.
Cards and Pigeons
Apr. 19th, 2026 08:51 pmalobearWe played two new games with some friends on Friday night!
Flip 7 is a push-your-luck card game, where each player gets dealt a new card each round, until they either decide to stop or get eliminated. The cards are numbered 0-12, with the higher numbers being more frequent. Your score in each round is the sum of the numbers on the cards you have - but you get eliminated if you get a card that matches one you already have. There are special cards that either benefit you or cause problems, to add extra layers and randomness to the proceedings. We played several times and it was a lot of fun, even though I came last or second to last in every game.
Oh My Pigeons, on the other hand, is a very annoying game, where you have a piece of cardboard that can seat a certain number of pigeons. You have a hand of cards, which give you actions to obtain additional pigeons or steal them from other players - or swap boards with people. There's also a mechanic by which you can flick a die towards another player's board to knock their pigeons off. It's almost impossible to keep you pigeons for more than a couple of rounds, which makes it very difficult to win - which is achieved by filling your board with pigeons. There were some amusing moments, but it was largely just irritating.
Flip 7 is a push-your-luck card game, where each player gets dealt a new card each round, until they either decide to stop or get eliminated. The cards are numbered 0-12, with the higher numbers being more frequent. Your score in each round is the sum of the numbers on the cards you have - but you get eliminated if you get a card that matches one you already have. There are special cards that either benefit you or cause problems, to add extra layers and randomness to the proceedings. We played several times and it was a lot of fun, even though I came last or second to last in every game.
Oh My Pigeons, on the other hand, is a very annoying game, where you have a piece of cardboard that can seat a certain number of pigeons. You have a hand of cards, which give you actions to obtain additional pigeons or steal them from other players - or swap boards with people. There's also a mechanic by which you can flick a die towards another player's board to knock their pigeons off. It's almost impossible to keep you pigeons for more than a couple of rounds, which makes it very difficult to win - which is achieved by filling your board with pigeons. There were some amusing moments, but it was largely just irritating.
Good Omens 3 Trailer icons
Apr. 19th, 2026 10:59 ammagnavox_23*Spoilers, natch* These will be under a cut until the 'season' airs next month.
Are you excite? I am excite... *g*
Are you excite? I am excite... *g*
Whistledown Woman
Apr. 18th, 2026 10:16 pmalobearWhistledown Woman by Josephine Cox was another random selection from my local station free book exchange - the blurb on the back made it sound like it might be my kind of book (young woman discovers previously unknown secrets about her family history) but the tortured, overblown prose, egregious use of exclamation marks in the narrative, and uncomfortably problematic romance referenced in the first few pages had me giving up on it very early on.
The Last Kingdom
Apr. 18th, 2026 09:47 pmalobearThe Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell was randomly on my e-reader for some reason so I thought I'd give it a try, but it wasn't for me! Very spare writing, very action-focused ('this happened, then this happened, then this happened' - as well as battles and torture and women as spoils of war), very little emotional connection to the first-person protagonist. Not my thing so I didn't get very far with it.
The Essex Serpent
Apr. 18th, 2026 08:23 pmalobearThe Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry was another book I randomly picked up at my local station free book exchange, having heard about it on reading retreats but never been interested enough to seek it out. I'm very glad I decided to give it a try, though, because it's excellent!
It's about a young widow who travels to Essex after the death of her husband, in search of fossils, but she finds a lot more than she bargained for in the deep connections she forges with the local pastor and his family, while the village is in the thrall of superstition and fear around rumours of a malevolent serpent frequenting the nearby waterways.
The writing is exquisite - generally lovely, but with frequent images and turns of phrase that cut deep. The character portraits are layered and extremely well observed, and the leisurely pace was a welcome requirement (I had to slow down to appreciate it properly).
The story took some unexpected and satisfying turns - though the ending was a bit nebulous.
It's about a young widow who travels to Essex after the death of her husband, in search of fossils, but she finds a lot more than she bargained for in the deep connections she forges with the local pastor and his family, while the village is in the thrall of superstition and fear around rumours of a malevolent serpent frequenting the nearby waterways.
The writing is exquisite - generally lovely, but with frequent images and turns of phrase that cut deep. The character portraits are layered and extremely well observed, and the leisurely pace was a welcome requirement (I had to slow down to appreciate it properly).
The story took some unexpected and satisfying turns - though the ending was a bit nebulous.
First Time Caller
Apr. 18th, 2026 11:03 amalobearFirst Time Caller by BK Borison has been on my radar for a while - I'm not generally a massive fan of contemporary romance books, but this was recommended by a fair few BookTubers I like, saying it might appeal to people who don't read a lot of romance - and it did!
I liked the radio show setup, the unconventional family dynamics, and both protagonists were engaging. It had two great audiobook narrators, which definitely helped, and also largely avoided the worst of the romance tropes that usually really annoy me.
So, overall, a fun and satisfying read.
I liked the radio show setup, the unconventional family dynamics, and both protagonists were engaging. It had two great audiobook narrators, which definitely helped, and also largely avoided the worst of the romance tropes that usually really annoy me.
So, overall, a fun and satisfying read.
