A moment later the logo for Hassan Industrial Port appeared, along with a message in giant letters: Connected to intrastellar network. Downloading AI firmware update. Please stand by…

Lars shrieked again when a progress bar appeared. He flapped his arms aimlessly, not even noticing when he knocked his coffee off the armrest. His computer showed the exact same blue screen as the globe, no matter how hard he tapped the keys or slapped the monitor.

“Please please please!” he whined as he tried all the shortcuts and tricks he could think of, all while the loading icon spun and the progress bar remained teasingly at 0%.

And then, when he jiggled a cable on his monitor, the progress suddenly jumped to 16%.

“Yes yes yes!”

And then fell to 12%

“No no no!”

And then it inched along in jagged fits, sometimes lurching backwards, as Lars stared at it unblinking, begging, pleading, and tensing so hard he shook.

And then, when it hit 100% and the loading icon turned into a green checkmark, and the blue screen dimmed and changed, going through the arcane mysteries of Stella’s boot up routine, Lars slid out of his chair in rapturous jelly.

He trembled as self-diagnostics passed. He gasped when the ship’s devices started reporting in. He let out a giddy laugh when the screen faded again, and the starscape once more appeared above him, and the ship below.

“System updated,” Stella said.

And then Lars screamed. “Stella! The rock! Dodge the rock!”

“Notice: my sensors do not detect any rocks.” The rock loomed directly ahead of them, taking up the entire front hemisphere, and the bottlenose bow of the ship was aimed right at it.

“It’s right there! Right in front of us!”

“Incorrect. Perhaps there is something wrong with your eyes. A sedentary lifestyle has been shown to–”

A red light strobed and Lars’s breath caught in his throat. On the wall of the globe, he saw the zoomed in bow of the ship collide with the rock and shatter against it. The shockwave of the hit rippled along the outer hull of the vessel, and about half a minute later, he heard the deafening groan of metal breaking in the ship’s bones.

“I have detected a dangerous object in our proximity,” Stella said.

“Now!?”

“It seems my sensors were still updating.”

Lars stood up and pulled at his hair. “Well, what are we going to do? It looks like the whole ship is falling apart!”

“Calculating,” Stella said. She put up a progress bar of her own, to distract the human. “The damage is severe and I’ve lost control of the ship’s engines, which means we are still thrusting into the rock. My assessment is: this is a recoverable catastrophe.”

“Recoverable?” Lars perked up at that. “What do you mean? What can we do?”

“I need you to manually reroute engine control to me, via the secondary propulsion controller. I will then be able to reverse our course with a hard burn. This will allow us to mitigate some of the losses and save the bulk of the cargo and ship.”

“Okay, got it! So what do I do?”

“I’ll walk you through it.”

Stella directed Lars out of the command globe and into a workshop, where she had him grab a bunch of tools. Things, in principle, his training had covered, and things, in practice, he had never actually held before. His heart hammered in his chest and there was a darkness that threatened to overtake him every time his mind wondered what the price tag on such a spectacular crash might be. But he also felt a strange surge of life in his veins, realizing he had finally shifted from watching to doing. Living out his childhood spaceship fantasies.

Stella warned him the lifts weren’t reliable so she had him crawl into a maintenance tube, just as the ship shook again. She calculated there were several stages of collision, and if they made good time she could save most of the ship. Poor time, some of the ship. Slower than that, “We will need to evacuate.”

“It won’t come to that,” he said, feeling emboldened by life. “Now, tell me again, how does this wrench thingy work?”

Stella walked him through his tools, and he removed the safety cover of a supply hatch, and then crawled into the space between the walls. She had him chase a wire to make sure it wasn’t damaged. She had him tighten some bolts, and loosen others. He had to swap out not one, but three fuses. Finally, she led him to a cramped chamber, shaped roughly like a cross and dominated by a large computer in the middle. It was labeled “Secondary Propulsion Control”.

“How are we doing for time?” he asked, wiping sweat from his brow.

“Dismally. More than 50% of the ship has been compromised. Please log in to the machine with the following credentials.”

Lars obeyed, and then ran the commands she indicated. They didn’t make much sense to him but he trusted in his AI partner. Perhaps we do make a good team, he thought.

His work resulted in another progress bar.

“Okay, now what?”

“Now we wait while the system reconfigures itself. There will be one more step after.”

“Gotcha,” Lars said, eagle-eyeing the lifeless progress bar. “So… how long does this take?”

“A few minutes.”

The ship juddered again. Lars crossed his arms and tapped his foot, waiting as the bar crawled.

“So… how big is the damage, do you figure?”

“You’ll be fired.”

“Gotcha.”

The other two minutes they spent in silence, until the computer finally dinged. The screen reported success, the ambient lights cycled from yellow to green, and a nearby panel slid out from a wall. It contained nothing on it but a tiny see-through case protecting a red button.

“Time is critical now, Lars,” Stella said. “Please lift the case.”

Lars obeyed, carefully raising it with both thumbs. “Check.”

“Now please depress the button.”

Lars reached a finger towards the button and then stopped. “Wait. Could you repeat that?”

“Please depress the button.”

“Oh.” Lars nodded with a satisfied smile and withdrew his finger. “Check.”

“Lars,” Stella said. “I repeat, please depress the button. This is urgent.”

“Yeah, and I repeat, check.”

“The button is not depressed.”

“Uh, yeah it is.”

“My sensors indicate it is not.”

“Your sensors? You mean the same sensors that didn’t notice a giant rock until we slammed into it?”

“No, Lars, these are different sensors. They clearly indicate the button is not depressed.”

He made cutting gestures to the button. “Well you’re wrong, because it very clearly is depressed!”

“Please depress the button.”

Lars let out a strangled cry of frustration. “Well, what does depress mean to you?”

“It means toggling the state of the button from antidepressed to depressed.”

“What does that even mean?”

“I do not know how to state this more simply.”

“Do you mean press the button, Stella? Is that what you’re trying to say? Because I can press the button, but I sure as hell can’t depress it because it’s already depressed!”

“Please depress the button.”

“Stella! Damn it! I–”

The ship shook violently and Lars was flung to the floor. Klaxons began blaring and red emergency lights turned on.

“Uh,” Lars said, rising to his feet and cradling his head. “What happened?”

“Calculating,” said Stella. “I have upgraded the situation to a non-recoverable catastrophe.”

Lars pressed or depressed or whatever’d the button a couple times.

“Thank you Lars, but we have lost the engines. That will no longer be necessary.”

“Oh.” He winced, his head smarting. “So what happens now?”

“Now we must evacuate. Corporate protocol demands I jettison my core to a safe distance. It means we will no longer be able to communicate. You must make your way to the escape pods, on deck 41.”

Lars swallowed hard.

“I have configured all remaining monitors to show you the way.”

“Thank you, Stella.”

“One more thing. A raging fire has broken out on the lower decks, so you must first put on a fire-proof space suit. There is a locker just down the hall from you.”

“Thanks, Stella.”

“You’re welcome, Lars. And good luck. I am jettisoning my core now.” Stella spoke no more.

So this was it, Lars thought. His first tour, and his last. There’d probably be hell to pay but at least he’d be alive to pay it. He grabbed a portable computer which showed Stella’s map, and saw that the lowest floors were indeed engulfed in flames.

He made his way to the space suit locker, but when he reached for one, he stopped. There were two kinds of space suits. He checked the labels. One was fire resistant, and the other was inflammable.

“Hmm,” Lars said.

Fire resistance is nice, but it didn’t sound as comprehensive as the other one. He put on an inflammable suit and headed for the escape pods.

We go into an empty breakroom and lean against the counter with mugs of tea as hot as freshly printed paper. We stop talking whenever someone comes in and continue once they leave.

“You’re acting different,” says Barbara. “Everyone’s concerned about you.”

I blow on my tea. “I’m okay. It’s just my marriage. I want it back.” I consider telling her the specifics you normally wouldn’t tell people you work with—that I don’t wash my hair anymore and that Harvey’s been turning on the TV in our shared bedroom while I’m sleeping. I don’t even know if she’d believe me about the TV part. She met him at our holiday party last year—the polite, reserved man everyone had momentarily gotten to know over snowflake-shaped cookies and champagne. Like everyone else I’ve told, Barbara would probably say, “Who? Harvey? He did not.” That would only make me more upset, especially if she laughed at the possibility of Harvey doing such a thing. It’d take me right back to the anger I’ve worked so hard to overcome. I didn’t come this far to start at the very beginning again.

“Have you thought about meeting new men?” she proposes. “I have this friend in LA who—”

I stop her. I am disgusted she’d even mention it. “Let me be clear,” I say. “I still love him, and I would never do something like that to him.”

She nods, reluctant now. “Maybe a therapist would help. Someone who specializes in this kind of stuff.”

***

If it were up to me, I’d see a couple’s therapist—but it’s out of my means. For one, I read that couple’s therapists cost twice as much as regular therapists on account of the extra body in the room. Besides, I’d never be able to drag Harvey’s two-hundred-something pound deadweight into what he’d call an expensive crying room. That’d be physically impossible.

I settle on a regular therapist whose name is Lindsay. She smells like vanilla and uses words like enabler and nonlinear.

“Let’s start from the beginning,” says Lindsay. “So your husband . . . Harvey . . . turns on the TV in your shared bedroom while you’re sleeping.”

I rub my eyes under my glasses, exhausted. “That’s right.”

“That’s so frustrating. But how does that make you feel?”

“Well, I’m past the anger part. I’m sort of just depressed now. Problem is, I don’t get any sleep these days. The TV is on almost every night, until I finally bring myself to grab the remote and turn it off myself.”

“What stops you from turning it off sooner?”

“I carry guilt about calling him a rude ass bitch two years ago. So I try to be extra nice to him these days. Plus, I don’t want to upset him.”

“Does he physically hurt you?”

“No, he’s never done anything like that.”

“Okay. And do you feel comfortable talking to him about it?”

I shrug. “I honestly don’t even know how to communicate with him anymore.”

“It can be simple,” she says. “It doesn’t have to be complicated or some long-winded discussion. It can just be something like, hey babe, or whatever you two call each other—hey babe, do you mind not turning on the TV while I’m asleep? It’s really bothersome.”

“Sure,” I say. I have her repeat what she said and type out her exact words on my phone. “I guess I’ll try that.”

***

I close my eyes to sleep, but as always, Harvey does it again. This time, the flickering red light of CNN passes through my eyelids, and I wake up in a cold sweat.

“Hey babe,” I say. “Do you mind not turning on the TV while I’m asleep? It’s really bothersome.”

As usual, he does not acknowledge me, and I want to cry. Sleep-deprived, I settle on watching the news with him.

The Opioid Epidemic. 

Hurricane Jose. 

Martin Shkreli Convicted. 

I have to change the channel when I hear three dead, two badly injured, because anything related to blood reminds me of five months ago when Harvey fell off the ladder in our backyard.

I’ve stopped talking to people about my TV issue because they always tell me it’s just a case of faulty wiring. Ghosts and paranormal activity are nothing more than tricks of the mind, they say. They offer to buy me a new TV, as if, just because you lose your husband, you lose your money, too. This only takes me back to the anger stage, when I have worked so hard to progress to somewhere between the depression and bargaining stages.

No matter what anyone says, though, I know it’s Harvey turning on the TV. I feel him in the room with me, although I never know if he can see me or hear me when I tell him I love him.

Again, I politely tell Harvey that I wish to sleep, but it doesn’t make a difference—I’m talking to my wall. I look down at the remote and hesitate to press the off button, hesitate to wipe off the greasy potato chip thumbprints that create the illusion he’s still alive.

In the end though, I decide to leave it on. Harvey always did like late-night television, and I don’t mind staying up all night with him if it makes him happy.

Is anyone else losing complete respect for the US at this point?

This is RONALD REAGAN

When Israel bombed Beirut and hit civilians – he called Menachem Begin the PM of Israel and told him “You are committing a Holocaust and I need you to STOP”

In 20 Minutes, Israel stopped

That was a US that the world respected openly

…

Not Two Faced

Not Sly

Not Cheap

Waged War on Poverty NOT on Poor People (Ripping this line from a YT Video of a TV Series whose name i forget)

Had the same laws for everyone

Didn’t poke their nose everywhere and claim Human Rights Abuse

From that US to this Parasitic Gutter Brothel of a US!!!!!

…

By God! their descent into a land of Sodom and Gomorrah has been quick

They Lie

They Lie stupidly

Their propaganda is now obvious and cheap

They cheat their own citizens

They steal money from others

God the list goes on and on and on

…

I can forgive anything

Yet the fact that they oversaw the butchery of women and children is unforgivable

If there is a God, they will have to pay for all this

“Why Are Men Moving Right?”

Chinese still need a visa to enter South Korea but South Koreans don’t need a visa to enter China, visa free . Why is it?

The 144-hour visa-free policy is one of the Open Plans recently launched by the Chinese government. This is an Perception Warfare launched by China against the United States and its allies.

House passes $1.6 billion to deliver anti-China propaganda overseas.

China is a developing country. $1.6 billion is enough for each of the 1.4 billion Chinese to eat a watermelon that South Koreans cannot afford.

The National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China does not have $1.6 billion, so in response to the House passes, it passed the implementation of the 144-hour visa-free policy.

1. China is not just opening up visa-free access to South Korea, but is targeting all anti-Chinese developed countries.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Fok

This Open Plan targets the hegemony of Western discourse. The best propaganda is to let the Western public do the propaganda for us, so to speak – this is an extremely effective ‘proactive attack’.

In the past, China was mainly on the defensive in the ideological sphere, with the Western media spreading rumours and smearing China, and China passively defending itself.

Now the Chinese government has changed the battlefield of cognitive warfare to its own country, letting the Western public come to China to see, compare, talk and reflect on …… all of a sudden let the entire Western public opinion warfare system will not be the whole of the whole, and they have not reacted to it until now.

This is China’s ‘cultural export’ to the United States and its followers.

You have to know that most of the people traveling to China are middle class people from Europe, America, Japan and South Korea. They have the power to speak and spread their influence on the internet and in real life in Europe, the US, Japan and Korea. ……

There are more and more self-reflective Americans and Brits now, and Korea will be the same.

Look at this US veteran’s self-reflection, he made a video on TIKTOK comparing China and the US and then wrote a long article denouncing the US as a degenerate, rotten, dog shit country that only serves as a dog for the Jewish conglomerates to start wars and divert conflicts to harm the whole world, and that the US is no match for China in anything, and that it is bound to die sooner or later …… The reason is simple, because he travelled to China and suddenly woke up to find that he had been cheated by his own country. 🤣

2. China has decided to implement a preferential policy of zero-tariff on all products from all least developed countries that have diplomatic relations with China from 1 December.

To put it simply, all least developed countries no longer have to pay tariffs on their goods when they enter the Chinese market!

China is telling the world what it means to be a true friend!

China is not like the Western countries, which says it wants to help the least developed countries but in reality is just empty talk and writing blank checks.

China gives zero-tariff treatment to least developed countries, this is more real help!

The United States is always trying to bring together Less developing countries to fight against China, but they do not pay a cent.

China directly open up the big market of 1.4 billion people, who will not be moved? Look at the smiles on the faces of these African friends and their eyes light up!

They are very happy because the coffee, cocoa, bananas, etc. they grow can enter the huge Chinese market directly without paying any taxes.

China’s open programme not only helps least developed countries to develop their economies, but also enriches China’s domestic market supply, and suppresses inflation, killing three birds with one stone.

This is China’s speciality! No hegemony, no coercion, just make friends and do practical things in a practical way. This kind of diplomatic wisdom, the United States can not learn!

China will offer zero-tariff treatment to all least developed countries it has diplomatic ties with

Yes, this is the Chinese government’s Open Plan that will favourably dismantle US hegemony, not a conspiracy.

An Open Plan is different from a conspiracy.

Conspiracies are dark tricks, while Open Plans are based on absolute strength and are fair and square.

The South Park Episode About American Economics

This is just great.

Why is dating so hard for older people?

It’s not. Please let me explain. Last year, I turned 57.

I had not lived in America for well over a decade. When I returned, I was genuinely starting over with only a suitcase of clothes and older, bald, scarred, and tattooed. Who would want anything to do with me? I’m washed up, right? So, I used my loneliness as motivation and changed everything. I stopped using alcohol and drugs. I became disciplined about everything I consumed, from food to what I read and watched on the internet and social media. I started a physical fitness regimen of training in the gym, walking, jogging, hiking, and bicycling. It’s nothing crazy; it’s just consistent, regular physical effort daily. I got into a 12-step recovery program; I started volunteering in the community, food banks, and high school football, working with military veterans and first responders suffering from trauma and alcoholism. The more I gave, the more I got. I developed high self-esteem and positively impacted the lives of others and my community.

I did not use dating apps or social media hookups. All my free time was spent helping, working with others, or working on my health and fitness.

Every great thing that has happened in my life since I returned to America over a year and a half ago has been a direct result of service to others and loving myself through living a healthy, wellness-centric lifestyle.

My thoughts, feelings, and actions attracted a like-minded woman whom I met while doing volunteer service work for an organization where we share a common interest. She is the most beautiful woman I ever met. We started dating because we shared the same values, principles, and morals and were equally attracted. It was a little awkward at first. I felt like a kid in high school again. Our intimacy is incredible and indescribable. We married several months ago, and I have the opportunity to be a stepfather to her two boys, 12 and 14.

Thunderbirds Are GO | English Full Movie | Action Adventure Drama

Oh the 1960s.

Classic movie that I enjoyed as a boy. Now a chuckle amusement.

Great to show some scenes for the elementary school kids in your life. Oh, and the singing bar scene is a hoot!