With only 30 days, I should expect that November would pass by all too quickly. Somehow, it still took me by surprise. ​Perhaps taking part in my first overseas trip had something to do with it.

This was a month of some great TV shows. We finished up the current seasons of Andor, Wednesday, and The Great British Bake-Off (as well as its holiday episodes). All of them are worth watching if you enjoy their genres. Willow (the TV show) started today, but we have not seen it yet; meanwhile, Janelle and I are making our way through season 6 of Outlander. Aside from that, I don't think that there are any shows of interest on the horizon.

I attended my first DDF tournament (in Chugiak), albeit without a team. I enjoyed the experience nonetheless. We have another one coming up this week, and I have three whole students coming with me this time. 

Election Day came and went with results that surprised some and validated others. I was happy to see my friend, Jesse Bjorkman, win his position to the state senate. Thankfully, the results were solid enough that complaints about the ranked choice voting system have largely fizzled out.

I crossed the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans to arrive in Madrid, Spain. While there, I learned a great deal about traveling--especially with a tour group. I saw fantastic sights while spending time with excellent people. The actual travel, however, was not nearly as much fun.

I returned home to find that Soldotna has been hit with a series of illnesses that have left a surprising large number of people feeling terrible for a surprisingly long amount of time. There were hints of it just before I left, but I was fortunate (and possibly vaccinated) enough to avoid it both before and after the trip. It looks like the Thanksgiving break may have given us the pause that we needed--at least, at the school.

Our StarLink system arrived. Unfortunately, the arm to attach it to the house was on a slower path to get here, so I couldn't put the dish into an optimal position. However, that arm arrived today, and Connor and I were up on the ladder putting it into what is a much better placement. I'm waiting for the system to fully calibrate, but the initial signs have been positive. 

I was a bit let down by the movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. 

We had a pleasant Thanksgiving, found some good deals during Black Friday, and switched over our decorations from fall to winter.

I managed to finish a video game which I mostly enjoyed as well as planned out my birthday marathon of Batman movies (BiM BaM).

I feel like November was a good month that largely lived up to my expectations. I have high hopes for December as well.

Last year, I switched from my original plan to watch the Batman movies with Keaton through Bale to watching all of the Spider-Man movies in (well-deserved) anticipation of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Without Katrina, who was the main supporter of watching the Batman films, I don't really have the desire to watch the first four films on that agenda. However, I have been wanting the watch the Nolan trilogy in a single marathon ever since The Dark Knight Rises came out (ten years ago).

I've also been leaning towards shorter marathon runs, even though this one in no slouch at nearly eight hours. This will make for a more leisurely start to my birthday while also ending the marathon just as Janelle gets home (or even before she does) so that she isn't bothered by it. It will also leave Friday evening open for those who want to watch the films, but still do things on Friday nights.  

The tentative schedule is as follows:

Friday, December 23, 2022
9:30 AM - 11:50 PM Batman Begins (2h 20m)
12:00 PM - 2:35 PM The Dark Knight (2h 32m)
2:45 PM - 5:30 PM The Dark Knight Rises (2h 44m)

We don't have to like the same things. While I certainly like sharing some of my favorite stories, movies, games, or shows with other people, it is fine if we have different tastes. The world would be a rather bland place if everyone liked the same things in the same measure. Actually, that would make dating extremely awkward.

I can understand why people might not like Andor (or why the might not even know about it). I was hesitant about the idea of a Star Wars prequel show about a supporting character who dies at the end of the not-so-popular (but still excellent) movie Rogue One. It's a Star Wars show without lightsabers or the Force. However, I found it deeply compelling, and I am eager to see the next season--when it comes out in a couple of years.

Nor to I begrudge people who love Black Panther: Wakanda Forever even though I have liked it less every time I have thought about it. My anticipation for this movie was probably too high. I still love the first teaser trailer that was released for it. However, the movie did not have the same meticulous timing that I had come to expect. In fact, there were large sections of the movie that felt like they didn't go anywhere--or worse, didn't belong at all. Still, I can understand why people would enjoy watching it too. It was not a bad movie; it just felt like it was less than it should have been (a complaint that I've had for every Phase 4 movie with the exception of Spider-Man: No Way Home). 

Certainly, I might question someone's tastes if they are radically different than my own. Still, I also think that this is one of the things that makes our world so marvelous: As similar as so much of our world seems to be, every piece of it still manages to be unique.

As our pastor pointed out, today not only marks the beginning of a new liturgical year, but it also starts the longest period of Advent that we can have due to Christmas arriving on a Sunday. During this time, we prepare for Christmas not just in the commercialized sense of things, but in ways that ready our lives for a season of celebration due to the arrival of Jesus. As such, it is appropriate to spend this time in an effort to be more charitable, compassionate, merciful, and forgiving towards others--and towards ourselves. This is the time to set aside gripes and grudges as we look for ways to find common ground with one another. 

For us, it means that the Advent wreath is back on the table, and the Wandering Wisemen (spelled that way on Facebook) are back with daily Facebook updates on their adventures. If you're not certain what I'm talking about, someone created a less-creepy, Christian version of "elf-on-a-shelf" that has Playmobil characters of Balthazar, Melchior, Gaspar, and their faithful camel, Hezekiah, journey around everyday objects as they head towards Epiphany (no, their journey doesn't end on Christmas). It will bring an extra bit of joy to my morning for the next 40 days. 

We had done the same thing (with a similar set of figures) through our house last year (and perhaps the year before, but I'm doubting my memory). It's fun to find new places for them to explore. Rowen is starting to get a little too old for it, but I might check to make certain that they are on the move this year anyway.

Meanwhile, our lights have been switched from our fall orange to the multicolor holiday lights of the season. Connor decided to innovate by attaching a hook to the end of a wooden pole rather than bring the ladder inside this year. It ended up being surprisingly effective and considerably less stressful. Our kittens have been entranced by both the lights and the process of setting them up. I hope that they do not hurt themselves or get destructive with our decorations.

I have to admit to being a bit obsessed with our new StarLink system. I keep checking the app on my phone to see if the system is up or down (it is frequently down) and what speeds it is running when it is up. So far, the highest speed that I've seen is 210 MPS for the download and 50 MPS for the upload. However, it is much more frequently sitting at about 50 MPS download and 5 MPS upload speeds--when it's online. Unfortunately, we clearly still need it in a more elevated position to reduce the amount that the house is obstructing it.

To that end, after D&D today and before the sun set, I pulled out the ladder and tested a couple of locations that I was hoping would work. I should note that the fact that I was willing to climb a ladder (let alone when it was only 5 degrees Fahrenheit outside) should alone demonstrate how obsessed that I have become. Sadly, the top of our arctic entryway still has too much obstruction from the house. I tried getting readings from a several angles and ladder placements, but despite there being significantly fewer obstructions than its current location, the app still noted that we should find a better location. This is a bit frustrating because anywhere higher might get a better signal, but will be considerably more difficult to check if any problems arrive. 

Ideally, we would place it on the rafter at the highest peak of the gable for optimal lack of obstructions. However, that is three stories up (our second floor has a vaulted ceiling) and thus beyond both the reach of my ladder and my tolerance for heights. This means that we will likely attach it to the lower end of the rafter (away from the end of the roof so that the snow won't plow it over) on the side of the house by the dog yard and thus farthest from any trees. This will push the limits of both my ladder and my fear of heights. Thankfully, I have a couple more days to screw my courage to its sticking place as the arm that I need to attach has those couple days to arrive.

As is, I already hooked up PS5 to the StarLink's Wi-Fi as a type of test. Connor convinced me to upgrade one of my favorite games (Ghost of Tsushima) to the PS5 director's cut. On our "normal" Wi-Fi, the download was set to take 23 hours--while pretty much stopping all other Internet activities. After about half an hour on StarLink, it said that it only had 4 hours of download remaining according to Connor--I'm not the only one who's been a bit obsessed. Granted, the system has been "searching" with no downloading for the past 25 minutes, so we will see if the game is ready in the morning or not. 

I really want this to work.

With everyone except Trevor having set their alarms for around 4 AM, we had a nice early start to our morning, but we still did not rush to get to Freddy's for its 5 AM opening, opting to wait for some of the dust to clear first. Aside from a sale on Nest thermostats and a nice-looking Boba Fett t-shirt, the only real item of interest at Freddy's was the Starbucks coffee that Connor and I got. From there, we left for my annual review of Walmart where I was hoping that there was still a LEGO Lambda class shuttle left for sale. I was surprised to find not only that but that they had Eldin Ring and Far Cry 6 on sale for $35. We picked up a couple more games that the boys wanted and a copy of Elvis before heading home.

The Nest thermostats proved to be more of a problem than I anticipated. I had already installed one before, so I didn't think that there would be an issue, but these would not let me skip adding a common wire connection. Now, I have to wait for an adaptor to ship to us before I can continue with the installation. My problems were compounded by the merging of the Nest and Google Home apps, especially when I initially signed in with the wrong account. At least that problem will be fixed when I next try to install them. I should note that whatever I did somehow mitigated the overheating issue we've been dealing with for the past few days.

Connor then had his 3V3 fundraising tournament, so we spent several hours at the SoHi gym. He even scored a few points and his team won two games (against the same team of girls), but they were eliminated from the bracket before the semifinals. It was clear that he and the other players were having a lot of fun. 

We arrived home to find that our Starlink dish had been delivered. Sadly, we are still waiting on the ethernet adaptor to connect it to our current WiFi system and the wall mount that we need to give it an unobscured view of the sky. As is, it is sitting too close to the house and too low to the ground (despite our putting it on top of a table) to get a consistent signal. It ran the best when I put it out in the middle of the driveway, but that's not even a short-term solution (except to prove that it COULD connect). We've waited a while just to get this, but I think that these next few days (the mount doesn't arrive until Tuesday) will turn out to be the most agonizing. Let's just say that I've spent a LOT of time checking the Starlink app today. 

Janelle orchestrated are marvelous Thanksgiving dinner once again. We stayed up late the night before--going to bed just before midnight--to make let her amazing dark chocolate meringue pie sit long enough before putting it into the refrigerator to cool. Thus, I had real difficulties waking up and getting out of bed.

For a couple of hours while Janelle was performing her magic, the boys and I shoveled our driveway. It was one of the more difficult times we've had shoveling as we've had alternating snow, melting, and ice rain in the past several days with a hard freeze (in the single digits Fahrenheit) this morning. Thus, we were pushing through multiple layers of snow and ice.

The dinner, as I mentioned, was marvelous. We then capped the dinner with a piece of that amazing pie. I know that I shouldn't overeat at any time, but meals like this one make holding to such a goal nigh impossible. 

We rewatched the season finale of Andor as entertainment since Trevor hadn't seen it. It's been an amazing series, and I'm quite looking forward to seeing what they will do in its second, and final, season. I know that it might not be everyone's favorite, but it is mine. 

I also finished playing the 2021 Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy game. My full review is on the review section of my blog. It was worth playing, especially considering that I bought it on a great sale during last year's Black Friday shopping.

Speaking of which, I need to go to bed soon so that I can get up early tomorrow. I hope that everyone had a happy Thanksgiving.

I do not want to bury the lede, so I want to start by saying congratulations to Jesse Bjorkman who officially won his election to the Alaska Senate in District D (my district) today. He was ahead in the first round, but had not passed 50% of the vote. Thus, he had to wait until today's ranked choice tabulation to officially push him well over that mark. It was a clear win, and one that is well-deserved.

Due to the vast distances involved, Alaska does not truly certify its votes until two weeks after a statewide election--although, races are often called sooner. However, even with the ranked choice voting system (which I still do not like), today only verified the outcomes that most informed people expected. In general, Alaska's election this year was yet another indication that most voters are weary of the demagoguery of election deniers and the ridiculousness of hyper-partisan politicians. In particular, it seemed that Alaskans rebuked the idea of puppet candidates who had immediately hitched their wagons to national politics when they announced their campaigns instead of standing for Alaskans.

Despite the propaganda, ranked choice did not make a huge difference in the races. Out of twelve races that went to ranked choice tabulation, only three changed who had the lead from the initial count. In House District 11, a Democrat was ahead of two Republicans with over 45% of the vote (7 points ahead). After the ranked choice round dropped the lower scoring Republican, nearly all of those votes went to the other Republican candidate. A nearly identical process happened in House District 15, except that the Democrat had 46% of the vote initially. In House District 18, the fortunes of the parties reversed, with the Republican originally leading with 44% of the vote. Had the normal primary system taken place, the results would have likely been the same.

I'm just glad to be done with political ads for a while. 

I've been spending the past hour or so trying to figure out room and group arrangements for the upcoming Rome and Athens trip. In doing so, I am trying to keep people's preferences in mind, but also made some arrangements based on suggestions given during my Madrid training tour. I really want this trip to go well--and I believe that it will go well--but I worry about missing something, or even causing issues due to overanalyzing everything. 

I also have plenty of time until the trip starts, so I shouldn't be stressing over this too much right now--especially since I've stayed up longer than I wanted to.

Yep. That's what I need. I'm sending this to my chaperones as is, and I'm going to bed.

I just finished sending out some emails for my Spring Break trip to Rome and Athens. We have a major deadline coming up on Wednesday, and I wanted to make certain everyone was getting their information in. There have been a couple of organizational hiccups, but hopefully everything will work out. However, this had me thinking about other upcoming events. 

One is this upcoming Black Friday. Although I have lost much of my excitement for the event, I am a person who tends to hold to tradition, so I still plan on heading out in the early morning hours to see what deals I can find at Freddy's and my once-a-year visit to Walmart. I've looked at their ads, and a few items look interesting, but I will need to see what's actually there. Meanwhile, Rowen has already expressed his desire to go with me. We will see if Connor wants to get up that early or not.

Another is the DDF tournament next week Friday and Saturday. I'm actually bringing my own team this time! Although, we do plan on hitching a ride with the Homer group and staying with them for the night. I have to enter my students into the categories that they chose by Wednesday, but several of them have not completely decided what they are going to do. I really want this to go well.

Even though it's a ways out there, the last one (for this posting, anyway) is my upcoming birthday movie marathon. While there are many options (an Andor season 1 through Rogue One movie, anyone? How about Harry Potter? The Disney musicals from the 90s? Firefly?), I'm currently leaning towards keeping it relatively simple and watching the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight trilogy. We will have to see.

In today's Gospel, we meet St. Dismas, often called the "good thief" or the "penitent thief"--and arguably the first saint of the Catholic Church even though we are not certain of his actual name. In his brief appearance, he bears the makings of any good Christian. First, he stops the other thief from taunting (with perhaps a hint of cajoling) Jesus, thus demonstrating his compassion for other people. Then, he openly confesses his sins and demonstrates his repentance for them, thus acknowledging his weakness and demonstrating his desire to do better. Finally, he recognizes the authority and kingship of Jesus, thus demonstrating his belief in Jesus and His power. Unlike the other thief, he does not asked to be saved, but simply asks to be remembered by Jesus.

In these ways, St. Dismas unknowingly follows Christ's ideology: to love God, to love others, and to love one's self. In doing so, he is promised by Jesus that he will be in Paradise with Him that very day. There was no secret handshake, no magical phrase, no spiritual mysticism required for his salvation. Whatever life he might have led before, it was his adoption of the ideology of Jesus' teachings--even at the day of his death--that brings him redemption. 

I find this quite comforting--not so much for my own salvation (of which I might spend too much of my time concerned about) but for the salvation of others--particularly those who might also be unwittingly following the ideology presented by our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. 

One of my favorite Star Wars villains comes from Timothy Zahn's book series that started with Heir to the Empire: Grand Admiral Thrawn. Those books were removed from the Star Wars canon when Disney purchased Lucasfilm; however, Thrawn returned to canon in the cartoon Rebels. Currently, I'm reading the first book in a new trilogy that follows Thrawn as he rises in power within the Empire. 

One of Thrawn's character quirks is his obsession with art. In his study of a planet's art, he is able to understand its inhabitants and their motivations to levels that allow him to predict how they will respond in negotiations and in battle--almost like Sherlock Holmes is able to piece together a crime using the minute details that he observes. In a couple of occasions, Thrawn uses his knowledge of other characters' personal art collections to anticipate their actions well before they've even decided them. 

This made me wonder what Thrawn might make of me based off of the art which I have on display. At first, I thought about the art on display in most of our house, much of which are family pictures, and the fact that I have not picked out much of it--there is definitely insight to be found there. Then I thought about the few things which I have hanging on the walls of my office. There is more of me on display there--certainly, my doctoral diploma and my plaque for "Fiddler on the Roof" provide a particular insight. However, then I realized that the collection of toys and trinkets around me would certainly constitute "art" from Thrawn's (or any) perspective. Here, perhaps, what I have on display and where it is placed is even more telling about the inner workings of my mind.

I didn't find my own examination of my art collection as particularly flattering. It certainly indicates a childish mentality. The large amount of Transformers suggest an enjoyment of secret puzzles, but puzzles that have relatively simple solutions. The prominence and number of Star Wars toys show my obsession with space and adventure--but in comfortably fantastic means. There are a great deal of idealistic qualities to what is on display. In multiple places the dichotomy of good and evil stand side-by-side (especially with the Star Wars toys). 

I suppose I do view the world more as an ideal than in its gritty reality. I wonder if it's because that's how I would prefer the world to be, or if it's because this simply makes understanding the world easier for me. I'm certain that Thrawn would see even more. 

Over a year ago, I put down the deposit for a Starlink system. Since then, I've been receiving regular disappointments as I check the site to see if there were any status updates. Meanwhile, I've read reports about various concerns about Starlink underperforming from its promises and instituting data caps in some areas, articles about each nutty thing that Elon Musk has done, and messages about increases in the service price. 

However, I was still ecstatic to receive an email yesterday from Starlink that said my system was ready and that I had seven days to confirm my order. I confirmed it within the hour and purchased two additional items from the shop: a mount to place the dish on the gable of my roof and an ethernet adapter so that we can connect the system to our current WiFi network. Even though I was then informed (by two sources) that some people in our local area have been having problems connecting to the satellites, I remain optimistic.

I am not the only one at my house who is ready for faster Internet. Today, our system struggled to pull up a single episode of Andor. Earlier, Trevor was yelling at Connor for hogging the bandwidth only to discover that Connor was napping at the time with all of his systems off. 

​This had better work. 

I arrived back from Spain to discover that a large number of my students are out sick while many others are in sick. A significant number of students used last week's free-write to talk about how they have been hit harder with their current sickness than they can ever remember. One student came in today and told me that he hit 105 a couple of days ago--his hottest fever ever. Others have talked about being entirely comatose for multiple days in a row. 

According to the students, this started with someone on the wrestling team--who were significantly wiped out before a tournament--and then ran through the cast of the musical last week--to the point that the assistant director was standing in for multiple parts during the last show. A couple of my students pointed the blame at specific students who came to school sick, coughing and sneezing constantly. Whatever the source(s), it's clear that students are not following the recommendations to mitigate the spread of these sorts of respiratory illness.

As most people are not testing for COVID, I don't know if that is what is going around, or if it is a strong flu, or a bit of both. As selfish as it is to say, I am quite glad that I didn't catch this bug before my Madrid trip. Hopefully (and especially considering that I'm updated on the COVID and flu vaccinations), we can sidestep it entirely.  

Stay healthy out there.