We don't have the flu....yet

Yawn...Happy Thursday, Stroock's Books readers. 

Yesterday we were finally able to relax a little. But we admit a sense of melancholy falling upon us. 

Mrs. S and the girls are off to Indiana today to visit family, leaving us alone for ten days to worry and stew. We approach the next week with [Great fear and trepidation?-Ed] great fear and trepidation.

Middle Daughter's childhood BFF took us for a drive around the block. We gripped the door handle the entire time. Then they went for froyo.  

Cargo ships and oil tankers are transiting Hormuz and the Iranians are pissed about it. And look at that, oil has dropped below 70 quid a barrel. This blog suspects lifting the blockade helps America in the short term more than it helps Iran. Victor Davis Hanson is always right.

Will's sports wrap. Our mother's ancestral soccer team lost 3 nil to Brazil. Last night the Phillies came back with two out in the top of the ninth, after doing so in spectacular fashion the night before. That's baseball, Susan, as the late Mr. John Sterling used to say. 

DOGE report.

We read through and did a lot of work on the BAOR story. Some narrative inconsistencies remain. Sometimes the signalman tells General Tuzo he has a message. Sometimes it's the battalion sergeant. Not a huge deal, but why the difference? 

We wrote a new scene and edited a couple of scenes and pondered what scenes must needs be next in World War 1990: Thatcher's War. 

Our grognard mailed us - yes mailed - some notes for the Dublin attack; autistic weirdo. Paranoia strikes deep, it was once sung. and we looked upon the envelope with [Not great fear and trepidation again?-Ed] great fear and trepidation again. Should we have refused delivery? That clip is exactly how we approached the letter, which contained nothing but a piece of notebook paper upon which the grognard had written notes in incredibly neat and small letters. Everything was fine, no white powder or anything. [That's what he wants you to think-Ed]. We'll be on the lookout for flu-like symptoms. 

Or 3.6 Rontgen

Good morning, gentle reader(s) of Stroock's Books, and happy midweek. 

We got quite a lot of rain these last few days. Good. New Jersey needed the rain. 

As we write this the temps are a cool 62 degrees. 

Related...Europe is going through a bad heatwave. Dear Euros, one 800 BTU window AC unit will keep an entire floor comfortable. Pro tip: install the unit in the window by the stairs to keep the upstairs from overheating. 

Kinda related...oil is trading at around 71 quid this morning. Falling oil prices are helping Trump more than lifting the blockade is helping the Iranian economy. 

So we got our MRI results back, 3 PI-RAD. In English that means the MRI was inconclusive. At first we were offput by the result. Miffed even. But then we realized the doctor looked at the MRI and didn't say, 'Oh my god! Look at that tumor!' Rather, the MRI found no conclusive evidence of a tumor. Then we did a little research, and it seems 3 PI-RAD translates to a 20% chance of cancer. Or to put it another way, there's an 80% chance our PSA 12 level was caused by something else, like exercise related inflammation.

We have a follow up next week. They'll probably want to do a biopsy. Ick. 

In the meantime, let's just try to relax* and enjoy the early summer. Breath....

We've no insights into yesterday's NY primary elections, other than we're glad Mamdani's cronies won. So glad. These are the Democrats. 

DOGE report.

We were kinda all over the place yesterday but we got some things done. We had to drive one kid to her summer internship and another to her friend's house 15 minutes away. 

We're breaking through on the DEW Line story idea. 

We read through the BAOR story. 

*Situations like this trigger feelings 52 years in the making, sometimes. Let's just say we've learned to be wary of people in authority claiming that we just need to do one more thing and everything will be fine. See for example and also....

Title Held Upon Request

We had some big summer storms yesterday. More are expected today. Good. We could use the rain. 

Right now the temps are a cool 68 degrees and not expect to rise past the mid-70s. 

So Paramount + keeps glitching on us before shutting down and restarting. We tried all the tricks. Nuthin'.

And the MRI doctor is on vacay. Our 12 PSA means we've a 50-70 percent chance of being positive, they say. 

Coincidentally the facility that performed the MRI sent us a bill yesterday. We threw it out. They don't get paid till we get answers. 

We were not necessarily in the best mood yesterday evening.  

Let's just try to relax today and not be so doomy. It's late June, that sweet spot between school ending and the summer beginning in earnest. Of course this time a year ago we were fighting the AC Wars with Gold Medal Service, the bastards*. Maybe angst is the new early summer standard. 

DOGE report.

We wrote a prod terrorist scene and the scene were Lt. McDavid is put in charge of an ad-hoc squadron of gun trucks. 

We did a lot of thinkin' about the 5th nuke novel. We even had an idea or two. DEW Line story taking shape? Maybe. How about an electronics nerd who likes baseball cards? And he's from Cincinnati.

*If there's one thing Will knows how to do, it's hold a grudge [So we'll see-Ed]. We're still pissed off about things that happened 30 years ago. 

The Second to Last Monday in June

Good afternoon, Stroock's Books reader(s) and welcome to a new week. 

We await MRI results.

Our sojourn across the Hudson was a moderate success. [Moderate?-Ed]. The sojourn wasn't unsuccessful. Our nephew thought the stereo we got for our 13th birthday 40 years ago was cool (it is very cool) and swiped it. Why not? 

And so, Keir Starmer, the worst Prime Minister since Rishi Sunak, announces his resignation. He'll be replaced by...oh, who cares? Britain is lost. We suppose Starmer's resignation is progress of a sorts. But the next guy will be just as bad. 

What Will's Watching I: we haven't watched The Simpsons in nigh on 25 years. We began season-2 episode-1 last night, and were bored.

What Will's Watching II: We renewed our Paramount + subscription last night. The rest of the house seemed pleased. We'll be watching a few dramas (Tulsa King, Landman) and Star Trek ToS.

DOGE report.

We organized the oncoming World War 1990: Thatcher's War chapters. We'll write a few scenes today. 

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 6/21/26

Good Sunday morn, Stroock's Books reader(s) and happy Father's Day. We've three teenage girls, all academic standouts who do plenty of extra-curricular activities and enjoy dance. In a week of great discomfort and disappointment, we take solace in that. 

We went out to dinner last night with our dear neighbors and will sojourn across the dread Hudson River today for lunch with our dad. Today is also his 80th birthday. The whole fam damily is gonna be there.

In Britian, Kier Starmer is going to resign, they say. This won't do no good. Britian still sucks. Starmer is the worst PM since Rishi Sunak. Whatever, we don't care about Britain anymore. Baaaah! We swipe the air and go make more coffee. 

Iran has closed down Hormuz again. This is the choice Trump made. The president, the US and the world will live with this choice until Trump makes another new choice. 

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 6/21/26...

We need an RUC cracking down on the various Prod para groups chapter. We need to write several scenes updating readers on several characters; the Irish Rangers, David McDavid, etc etc... 

Saturday Updates

We did not have a good week, what with medical issues and current events. And when we don't sleep well now we need a couple of days to recover. We spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening tired and in a bad mood. 

Will's sports wrap. Okay despite being scientifically proven to raise estrogen levels, we've been watching some World Cup. At least the US beat those Kangaroo eaters yesterday. But after watching a couple of matches, we're at least 10 percent gayer. We kid....we kid. 

Okay, seriously, we're enjoying the World Cup, it all seems like good fun. Despite being half an hour from the Meadowlands, we haven't run into any foreign tourists. There are plenty of hotels around here, so they must be about. Still, seen any confused Euros anyone driving on the wrong side of the road or anything like that. 

The Things. 

We wrote a couple of scenes in World War 1990: Thatcher's War. We've got, we think, two chapters left to write. Two and a half. These are the final Dublin assault. And we think we'd like to do a chapter on paramilitary and terrorist violence. Also and RUC crackdown on the Prods.

We wrote the Suez story in the 5th nuke novel. We need more stories. 

Creatively, not a bad week at all. 

Down a Friday but not Doom

Good morning, Stroock's Books Kibbutzim, and Shabbat Shalom. 

That was some gout attack yesterday. While the gout is flushed out, the ankle is still sore, and will remain so today.

Nothing yet on the MRI.

Last day of school yesterday for Youngest Daughter.

We're trying to lighten up, relax and enjoy summer. 

We're also trying to learn to stop worrying and love the MoU. Over at Hot Air, The Counterargument to My Pessimism on Iran. Trump's playing for time, they say.  It is a compelling argument by two sensible men. We urge reader(s) to click over. 

That gout attack was stress related, and half of the stress was from worrying about the war.*

On the bright side, Israel kicked the ever living crap out of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, even Iran. Israel is much safer than it was on October 7th. 

Even brighter, oil prices are down 40 quid from their peak a few months ago. This will help the economy, and improve vastly GOP prospects this fall. 

*The other half being worrying about the appointment: getting there, the staff forgetting to send directions, the results, etc etc.