The First Friday of 2026

Good morning, Stroock's Books autists and shabbat shalom. For some reason today feels like Saturday and we almost began Saturday Updates.

A very light dusting of snow is on the ground.

The new furnace continues functioning optimally. It gets on temperature, shuts down for a few minutes and restarts. The air blows warmer and stronger than the air from the previous furnace. 

The low tech thermostat is a blessing, a revelation, really. 

Lemme tell you people about the old thermostat. It was a smart thermostat, because everything now has to be done from one's phone. The screen activated with a touch, or if one walked past. Within were dozens of bells and whistles for setting temperature, scheduling when the furnace or AC would come on, and a lot of other gizmos we don't want. The old thermostat was the very definition of nuisance tech. It won't be missed. 

The AC condenser goes next, right? Probably. 

DOGE report: we've been enjoying taking things easy this Christmas break. Still, we're making some progress on the Thatcher's War MS. We've been writing Protestant terrorist scenes. But they kind of take away from the flow of the novel. We like the concept.  But as the president in Star Trek VI said, just because one can do a thing does not mean one must do that thing.

Also, we've been reading up on the Ulster Defence Association. All books about Northern Irish paramilitary organizations tell the same story be they IRA (Original or Provo), ILF, UVF, UFF, UDA. Terry, Donal, Jimmy, and Roy formed their paramilitary group because they feared the other guys two blocks over. While one learns the contours of these organizations, specifics about their inner workings are at best vague, and very often lacking all together. Well, obviously because many of these groups are still around and theoretically on the hook for their crimes. Members tend to shut up about who did what.

So the author gets bogged down in describing the increasing lethality and brutality of said organization. Kneecapings, kidnappings, 'get a Taig, any Taig' murders, nihilistic bombings, etc etc. To quote Taylor Swift now, 'It's exhausting'. We just don't feel like slogging through yet another book about the Troubles to put together a rough outline of the UDA only to have some reviewer write, 'Everyone knows the East Belfast brigade had two battalions, not three.' So we'll be keeping things about UDA, UVF, UFF, etc etc a little vague ourselves. 

The Protestant terrorist attacks all take place in the Republic. They include mortaring an Irish army base, bombing a night club in Cork, and another bombing (haven't worked out the details yet), in Dublin. Don't believe the Prods could/would do it? Look up the Miami Showband, speaking of brutal and nihilistic Protestant violence.   

Also, we began reading the first short story in the fifth nuke novel. So far, so good.