Nicaragua, Ireland, Space...Whatever

Happy Friday, Stroock's Books Kibbutzim, and Shabbat Shalom. 

We actually did a semipolitical post on FB yesterday, which we almost never do. Nixon's the one! Blog Will, FB Will, and Substack Will are different enemies. Where these entities to combine, Will would rile the earth, and his son the galaxy. 

Yankee spring is in full effect. Temps are 36 degrees at this moment. This weekend we'll get the yard ship-shape and Bristol fashion.

New Jersey reservoirs are busting; busting! Precipitation is still down 10-15 percent though. 

Out of nowhere we had a random gout attack last night. We were sitting on the couch and felt our left foot seizing up. At first we thought the pain was due to post-gym muscle tension. Then we asked if the pain was gout related. Stroock's Law: if one has to ask if it's gout, it's gout. We hit the gout with a cherry juice cocktail and a couple of colchicine pills. The gout is nuked and only some residual soreness remains.  

We haven't shaved since leaving for Key West. Why not?

We got back on twitter the day before yesterday just to check something out. After checking out that thing we remained on twitter. This was a mistake. We knew a lot more and were unhappier for it. We deleted our twitter. 

We just don't feel we need the minute-by-minute Israeli updates anymore. In truth, we're of the opinion that it's time for the Israelis to wrap things up - on all fronts.  'When are they going to stop?' we were asked a year and a half ago. Only fools think Israel and the United States haven't badly hurt Iran and its proxies. 

The Gaza deadline is tonight, BTW. More war in Gaza? So we shall see. 

The Israeli public seems dissatisfied with the war. Israel polls remain all over the place - as they have for at least a year. Netanyahu will still have the best shot at forming a coalition. 

Ireland is in revolt over fuel prices and the cost of living. We've seen this kind of thing before (Canada, the Netherlands) and don't hold out much hope. The state, the apparatus, Angkor, will prevail. 

DOGE report.

Excellent work yesterday.

We think we've figured out what our Soviet cosmonauts aboard Salyut do. 

Plenty of progress with World War 1990: The Managua Campaign. We're showing Contra (FDN) progress down the Nueva Segovia River Valley, without getting bogged down in tactical engagements. No more Derrys!

Ceased on a Thursday

Good morning! Right now here in northern New Jersey the temperature is 23 degrees F. Happy Yankee spring to Stroock's Books reader(s), you frigid few. 

Yesterday we had a cigar, our first in 30 days. It was glorious. That's four this year, we're well behind last year's pace. We' had ten by July 1st, according to this blog. Keep it up. 

Well, the new AC compressor and coils are installed. After replacing the furnace last December we have a brand new HVAC system [Congratulations-Ed]. We have a new condenser pump to. The old one worked perfectly but was a decade old. We haven't heard the pump going off yet, we find this mildly concerning. There aren't any puddles of water in the utility room so we guess things are fine. 

The leader of this blog's Confederate Contingent* warned against getting a heat pump, saying people he knows with a heat pump report problems. Exactly. New tech, man. Another example, the technicians  were warned that the system uses a new kind of refrigerant which is, 'slightly flammable'. What was wrong with the old refrigerant?  

So Israel delivered a massive parting (or Parthian if you know your history) shot upon Hezbollah. Did this derail the ceasefire? Maybe. Was there ever really a ceasefire? We dunno. We do know we held off on extoling Trump's virtues yesterday, didn't we? Smart of us, no? [Excuse me while I slow clap-Ed]. Hormuz remains closed. Most of the Israeli press is severely down on the Iran war. 

Doge Report.

We wrote another scene in World War 1990: The Managua Campaign. So we did a little research and it turns out that we need to take the Honduran Army seriously. So noted. 

We read through the Soviet cosmonaut story and are generally pleased. But we still don't know how it ends. We've written now four short stories, pithy, of about 3,000 words, which is fine. Maybe we should be thinking of a 10,000 word tent pole story. Upon this idea, we shall dwell. 

*Heh, Happy Appomattox Day (southern ladies will dress in black as etiquette dictates). You people may win the College Football National Championship, but we won the war.

General Post for Midweek

Good day, Reader(s) of Stroock's Books. 

Four days in a row at the gym. We feel based. 

The new AC unit is going in today. We got 12 years out of the old unit, 12 years. A decade plus is the standard for AC units now. Why press our luck? Is piece of mind worth all that money? Yes, we believe it is. 

Interestingly they kept trying to talk us into a heat pump to supplement the furnace and AC. The heat pump would be free, mind you, paid for by PSE&G. They explained to us how the heat pump works and sent us a link to a promotional brochure. Frankly the brochure struck us as the plumbing and heating version of a pharmaceutical advert. We did a lot of our own research. The heat pump is interesting, but there are too many bells and whistles, too much new tech which seems to require a careful hand, and a fuse box upgrade to boot. We don't want a new thing to worry about. We passed. 

A ceasefire, if you can keep it. The seems like a good thing. The US and Israel don't pummel Iran for two weeks and Iran opens the Strait of Hormuz. Negotiations to make the ceasefire permanent shall proceed. Exit question has the Iranian political wing gained the upper hand against the IRGC?

We don't know what Trump was planning for Iran, but we bet it was cool. We admit to being disappointed in not seeing it. Still, at some point one runs into the Gaza problem, diminishing returns. After a while one is just bouncing the rubble. 

Oh, the IDF is still fighting in Lebanon. 

The media, Dems, etc etc are saying many dumb things today. Like Arabs, they don't understand the difference between victory and defeat. 

DOGE report.

We awoke this morning not quite knowing what we're going to do with World War 1990: the Managua Campaign, after having finished one scene and edited another. Ah! There we go!

Yesterday we finished the little boy nuke story. Today we're going to think about and work on the Soviet cosmonaut story.  

Will Gets Duned in Florida

Haaaaaaahahahahah. We're talking to somebody today about replacing the AC unit. Who wants to let money just sit around in a bank account? We don't.* And we're writing a check with a number that has a comma in it. 

Good afternoon stalwart reader(s) of Stroock's Books. 

So we've been off Twitter for, what, three weeks? The only thing we miss are the Iran War posts. Regular media just doesn't give us the kind of detail we crave. We're not going back though. We can't. We won't.

Notes on a vacation...

Flying down to Florida we watched Dune Part I. Flying back to Florida we watched Dune Part II.  

We mention this because we don't feel like writing about Key West today, and also we've watched the trailer for Dune Part III a couple of times....and we're kind of meh about it. 

Anywho, we enjoyed viewing the films (again) in this manner. They're both comfort movies for us now. We did a Dune week, didn't we? Ah, we did a Dune 2000 week.  A really good Dune Part III would make Denis Villeneuve's Dune the equal of Lord of the Rings, no?

Anyway, we stayed at the Hyatt Beach House on Key West's northeastern shore, just over the bridge onto the island. We had a lovely, expansive two-bedroom suite which was nice after single hotel rooms for four nights. The suite had an enclosed porch overlooking the pool, where we took dinner and coffee. At all times we were quite comfortable. 

We enjoyed the pool thoroughly after each day's activities. On the west end of the pool lies a small, sandy beach with a tiny swimming area. The swimming area is really for getting one's feet wet. One soaks up the sun here and enjoys the sunset. The Hyatt has a dock into the bay from which we got some nice pictures. Here also lies a tiki hut style bar where we enjoyed sandwiches and beer during sunset. The beach and dock area are lovely at night. 

A thought we had on Key West while driving back last Friday. When one lives in Key West, one lives in Key West [Oh, profound-Ed]. By which we mean, Key west is a midsized American city in the middle of the ocean. The Florida mainland is two plus hours away. There's no popping over to Miami or the nearest town to pick something up. Key West is the nearest town. 

So,109 years ago yesterday the United States entered the Great War. We plugged Pershing in Command on our FB and Substack. Nothing. 

DOGE Report.

Kindle Select pages read of World War 1990: Ireland are climbing. This is good.  

We wrote a Juan Pablo Caridad scene in World War 1990: The Managua Campaign. We'll edit it today and write another. 

We worked on two nuke short stories. Ah, we finished our little boy home alone short story. 

*Good thing, actually, because we probably need a new car this year too. In case you couldn't tell, and some of our critics can't, the dolts, we're being ironic. 

Will Becomes Florida Man, III D

Happy Monday, Stroock's Books stalwarts. 

As we write this the temp is 39 degrees. Welcome to Yankee spring. 

So last night the IAF took out the IRGC intel chief. And during Passover too. Most excellent, but what's victory look like and how is victory achieved? 

Also, not one US Navy vessel should be patrolling the Strait of Hormuz. Why should the US Navy stick its neck into Hormuz? The United States doesn't get much oil out of the Persian Gulf. If the Euros won't do patrol Hormuz, fek 'em.

Notes on a Vacation, Key Largo...

We motored out into the Keys and overnighted in a pleasant cottage at Sunset Cove Beach Resort on the Gulf of America side of the Florida Keys. Seriously, we saw plenty of Gulf of America signs. People down there are taking the Gulf of America thing seriously. Sunset Cover had a pier, a few small beaches and plenty of Adirondack chairs from which one could enjoy the scenery and sun. Sunset Cove also has several cats. The cats are friendly and expect plenty of attention from the guests. They also chase the lizards up trees. 

In the late afternoon we kayaked in the warm, blue water, past many anchored boats and yachts and enjoyed the sunlight. The water was calm but the wind came from the south, making for a tough paddle back in shore. The next morning we kayaked again. Sadly we saw no fancy aquatic life on either expedition. 

That evening we had an excellent dinner next door at Snooks Bayside Restaurant, which we saw from the water while kayaking. We dined outside in the breeze and watched the sun approach the horizon. 

Snooks had a 30-minute wait to be seated. The women folk went to the sandal store next door. We hit the bar and drank a very meh Forida Keys IPA. IPA is IPA wherever one goes. 

On to Key West.

DOGE Report.

We read through the nuke short story again. Fixed it up but didn't finish it. This is a story about a little boy left home alone (in the 70s, absolutely plausible). We just don't know how the story ends.

We read through the two post Battle of Los Banos chapters again and are thinking about how the invasion begins. This includes some minor actions in the south and east by Milpista Indians. We might have the New Jersey slam targets in the south on her way to the northern front. We'll see. 

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 4/5/26...

...and beyond!

Good morning, Stroock's Books reader(s), wherever you are. And Happy Easter to our Christian friends, except the C of E types. Reminder, my fellow Hebrews: Christ is King is a lot better than Allah Akbar. 

Yesterday we had our first real spring day here at home, which was nice. 

We got our downed pilot back. Halleluiah. Sounds like a remarkable rescue operation. On this morning it seems the US military is the most remarkable organization on the planet. 

DOGE Report. 

So...we made World War 1990: Ireland available on Kindle Select and now it's climbing back up the Amazon alternate history rankings, #74 as of this morning. Right now, we feel like an evil genius.

We did a lot of good work on the nuke short story we wanted to finish yesterday. Alas we didn't finish it. Tentative title for the 5th nuke novel: The Fourth Day. What do we think? The 5th nuke novel is 26,000 words. 

We looked at World War 1990: The Managua Campaign for the first time in six weeks. We read through two post-Battle of Los Banos chapters, the reaction and the what are we going to do chapters. They needed work and need work but are overall fine. World War 1990: The Managua Campaign is 31,000 words. 

Which brings us to Will's Good Idea for the Week of 4/5/26: Tactical...we're working on Managua this month, Thatcher's War be damned. We'll also be finishing the four unfinished nuke novel short stories. 

Moving on to Will's Good Idea for the Week of 4/5/26: Strategic....walking the Streets of Key West, we realized we're getting older, have a lot of good ideas, and want to get on with them. To that end, we're thinking we'd like to wrap up the World War 1990 series by the time we turn 55. That's two and a half years from now, two and a quarter, really. What's left? Esercito Italiano, Saddam's War, Election '92. The Grognard really wants us to write Battle of the GIUK Gap. But at the moment we've no desire to fall back into World War III. Memorial Day is seven weeks away. That's when we'll see where we stand for writing a Summer Sneak In novel....so maybe. 

Saturday Updates or Will Becomes Florida Man Part Deux

Good morning, Stroock's Books weekenders and Happy Saturday.  

So our new most trusted plumbing/heating/cooling company wants $723 to replace the motherboard in our AC unit. That's better than we thought. However, that unit is 12 years old. Time to replace it? That'll cost...considerably more. Lord, the money's been flying out the window lately and we just got back from an expensive vacation. The Stroock Northern Strategic Direction will need some work this summer.  And there's always the unforeseen. 

Notes on a vacation...South Beach. 

We stayed at The Breakwater on Ocean Drive in South Beach. Due click through as the website shows one the hotel and the street and night, really capturing the area's feel. The Breakwater is a neo-classic art-deco style hotel with lots of twists and turns and nooks. The Holiday Inn this ain't. What we're saying is The Breakwater has lots of character. The room was cool and comfortable. 

The streets of South Beach were filled with all kinds of people. Lots of tourists, lots of locals. One heard plenty of Spanish. The Breakwater, and South Beach in general work very hard to recreate Olde Miami. One see's a lot of black and white photos of fabulous people poolside or at the night club laughing and drinking mojitos. One also hears a lot of, heck we don't know what to call it, that Spanish language brass band music. It all sounds the same to our uninformed ear. But it's not unpleasant and ads to the vibe. There's also the steady thump of club and EDM music at night, which is not pleasant. 

At night South Beach is a cacophony of light and sound and people having a good time. A wonderful breeze comes off the water. Cops are everywhere, like South Beach is cracking down on a crime wave. And we don't mean one cop walking a beat. We mean four cops riding a souped-up golf cart, every couple of blocks. 

Those establishments that aren't hotels are restaurants. Hosts and hostesses wait by menu boards, greet the tourist and try coax them inside to dine. Our first night we ate outside at a pleasant Cuban restaurant. The Cuban pasta dishes are excellent, the host was friendly and attentive. We ate wonderful breakfasts at one of the Breakwater's three restaurants. 

We've long lamented that we don't seem to enjoy drinking the way we used to. But at South Beach we had a beer or two even every night. Usually something lite like a Modelo or Moretti which we discovered at sidewalk Italian restaurant. 

During the day those people go to the beach in far to revealing bathing suits. Those bathing suits also reveal horrible looking tattoos. Many of the men wear speedos. It's sometimes a Latin thing, it's sometimes a Euro thing, it's sometimes a well you know, thing. Which is fine.

The actual beach is wide with white sand. The water is a beautiful turquoise, punctuated by seaweed. For the record there is virtually no seaweed on the Jersey shore. One sees three or four great ships at anchor off the beach or steaming into or out of port. Which is kind of neat.

One smells a lot of weed at the beach and on the street. 

Overall, the South Beach vibe is Latin and fabulous. We enjoyed South Beach very much. 

On to Key Largo...

The Things.

Yesterday we finished the nuke novel story we wanted to finish yesterday. We'll try to finish another story today. 

We'll have some thoughts about other Things tomorrow.