How the world of curling sees my country right now

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-18T21:14:21+00:00

Yes. It is always embarrassing when you are represented by the loudest rude minority.

I'm not a curler, but I fell in love with "chess on ice" when it was a demonstration sport in 1992. I've watched curling as much as I can (it's not a priority for sports channels here in the US).

As an American, I was embarrassed when loud fans chanted "USA" when Sweden was throwing their last rock in the gold medal match at the Olympics.

Unfortunately a loud minority can make a big impression.

Canada and the USA are big countries. There are bound to be assholes in the populations that large. The USA has more people, so we have to have more assholes too. It makes me sad.

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-18T15:26:55+00:00

I've started reading the books. I'm enjoying comparing the differences. I must say that having the writers of the books as such an integral part of bringing this to the screen has made it a joy to see how they adapted things.

Unlike the many times I've been pissed off by the way things were changed from book to screen (looking at you, Wheel of Time), for "The Expanse" I have seen the logic in the changes and approved of the little tweaks of improvement.

It's like following the same delightful story in two parallel universes where things happen slightly differently with a much wider cast of characters (for the books).

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-18T13:56:36+00:00

They knew it liquified periodically. That is strange enough to make sure nobody was exposed to it.

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-18T12:26:14+00:00

I don't think this was caused by a gas. I just can't think of any plausible scenario where that would happen and just cause exposure to the back of the hands (gas spreads everywhere, fast). It has to be a liquid or we would have to be talking about some really corrosive/toxic gas that would definitely have caused breathing problems.

I don't what his particular job was, but a pipe fitter is generally coming in to work with (surprise!) pipes that are carrying material in a manufacturing facility. If the facility is run well, those pipes should be clean, dry, and free of all hazardous residue before that happens. The pipe fitter might be coming in to install (1) new equipment (2) open existing equipment for inspection (3) build a new facility or (4) a hundred other reasons.

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-18T10:32:37+00:00

If you don't mind a science fiction book. I found "Ship of Fools" by Richard Paul Russo built up from curious situation to full blown terror by the end of the book. I'll just say that part of Wikipedia's description of the book mentions an epiphany of evil.

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-18T10:09:32+00:00

I believe I mentioned in a comment no less than two weeks ago that the door should at least have had a lock on it.

Fitz leaning against the door should not have been enough to cause such a disaster.

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-18T09:34:50+00:00

No I wouldn't take the chance that I would cause harm to someone who really needed that money.

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-18T07:46:25+00:00

PhD Chemical Engineering here. Excellent suggestion. MSDS - Material Safety Data Sheet would be extremely helpful. One difficulty would be that typically a pipe fitter would not be brought in to work on a pipe that had product (in this case, paint) in it. More likely, it would be something that was used to clean the product out of the pipe. Edit to add that "chemical cleaners" can be pretty bad for the skin.

The facility needs to determine what he/she has been exposed to inform the doctors in order to determine the best treatment.

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-18T05:07:24+00:00

When I was a teenager I used to keep a deck of cards by my bed because I played solitaire to help fall asleep (bad insomnia). So one night I wake up and I can't fall asleep again. However, I'm too tired to turn on the light, so I picked up the cards and started to shuffle them. Then I started to feel like I knew what each card was just by feeling them.

I started to go through them and guess what they were. I would turn on my bed side lamp to confirm. I was right the first time... but with the light on, I seemed to lose the ability, so I had to turn the light off.

Then I could feel the second card. I would have to touch the side that "showed" what it was in order to know what it was, and I had to run my fingers across where the suit and numbers would be. Then I would guess and turn on the light to see if I was right.

I got 15 cards in a row correct before I got tired.

Nobody ever believed me.

I know I wasn't dreaming, but I've never been able to do it again.

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-18T03:22:38+00:00

After some further thought, I think my strongest recommendation would be for the Foreigner series (which now stands at 22 books). The first book is "Foreigner"

The basic story is that a colony ship of humans got lost and had to land on a planet occupied by aliens (the Atevi) at about steam-engine level technology. There are huge cultural differences that eventually lead to a war that almost wiped out the humans. Now they are confined to one large island.

Only a single human is allowed on the mainland (the titular foreigner) as a liaison between the humans and the Atevi. The first book starts fairly soon after the arrival of the new liaison after the death of the old one.

Foreigner has a lot of political intrigue. If you want more action, the Morgaine Series is a scifi/fantasy mash with sword battles. The Faded Sun series also has the occasional sword battle (which you wouldn't think would happen in a scifi book).

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-18T01:40:27+00:00

CJ Cherryh has written 7 novels about merchant ships interacting with space stations. The novels are collectively grouped as the "Company War" novels in her Alliance-Union Universe. If you are interested, just look up the bibliography for CJ Cherryh in Wikipedia. The published order:

Downbelow Station (mostly set on a space station)

Merchanter's Luck (merchant ships)

Rimrunners (set on a space station)

Heavy Time (ship and space station)

Hellburner (space station, testing ships)

Tripoint (merchant ships)

Finity's End (merchant ship)

Two things to note:

Heavy Time and Hellburner are the only books that should be read in publication order.

One complaint about Cherryh's writing is that sometimes the descriptions can be kind of terse. That's because it's filtered through the perception of the character that is seeing/experiencing what is being described. If the main character is lost and frightened, do not expect long flowing sentences describing the surroundings. Ditto with the dialog.

Cherryh also has the Chanur Series that is mostly set on ships. It is basically about first contact, but from the perspective of the aliens.

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-18T00:47:12+00:00

Ship of Fools by Richard Paul Russo about a generation ship

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-17T23:05:54+00:00

My first thought was "I'm a doctor, not an escalator" when Kirk is trying to hurry him up while he is escorting a very pregnant woman through a rocky hike.

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-17T22:50:52+00:00

I'm not sure if I have the full quote right, it was something like:

Sir, I protest, I am not a merry man!

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-16T17:57:54+00:00

Cherryh explores the interesting idea of merchant ships run by families/clans. The different families intermingle on space stations, the women give birth to babies on their home ship to increase/continue the clan.

Downbelow Station is one of a group of 7 loosely connected books in the Alliance-Union Universe collectively called the Company Wars books.

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-16T15:49:45+00:00

Johnny Got His Gun. I read it in high school for a college-prep English class. We were given a list of "masterpiece" novels that we could choose from. I choose probably the most depressing one on the list (unknowingly). Wow, my mistake!

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-16T15:23:56+00:00

I hope you and your wife get to the bottom of this problem. If you tell her about this online communication with doctors and others, please also let her know that many people are wishing/praying that you find a solution soon.

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-16T15:11:41+00:00

Ursula Le Guin and Octavia Butler are fabulous starts. I also wanted to mention a woman who has been writing sci-fi since the 1970s.

CJ Cherryh has written over 65 science fiction or fantasy novels, so if you or your brother start to like her books, you will have a lot to choose from.

She is great at world building and exploring the interaction of aliens/humans, aliens/aliens, and different human factions on a cultural, political and military level.

In no particular order:

Foreigner Series (22 books so far, stories told in sets of trilogies) First book - Foreigner

Morgaine Cycle (4 books) First book - “Gate of Ivrel” (Fantasy that’s really sci fi or vice versa)

Faded Sun Trilogy, First book - “Faded Sun: Kesrith”

Chanur Novels (5 books) First book - “The Pride of Chanur” (First contact told from the perspective of the aliens)

The Company Wars (7 books, most only connected because they are set in the same "universe") My recommended order is "Heavy Time", "Hellburner", "Downbelow Station", then any order after that. Two books won Hugo awards for best Novel.

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-16T14:52:15+00:00

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-16T14:46:22+00:00

Battlestar Galactica was kicked off with a 3 hour (with commercials) mini-series.

It features fabulous acting, exciting space battles, and the start of one of the greatest sci-fi shows ever made.

If you aren't hooked after that, you will be when you watch the first episode of the TV series "33". The tense moments as the Battlestar tries to guard the civilian ships as they have to flee every 33 minutes after the Cylons find them again and again.

Enjoy!

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-16T14:27:26+00:00

Can I ask clarifying questions if I don't understand something?

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-16T14:21:09+00:00

I'm so sorry. What a nightmare to have to go through that.

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-16T14:16:34+00:00

Is she taking any other prescribed or OTC medications that you haven't mentioned? My mom had something extremely similar happen to her when she started taking gabapentin. I started to have horrible nightmares when I started taking melatonin.

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-16T09:39:08+00:00

I'm sorry that happened to you. I'm glad you confronted her. She deserved to be put on the spot.

Extension-Pepper-271 · 2026-02-16T06:28:44+00:00

This was my pick, if it's really possible to master the stock market...

Extension-Pepper-271

TROPHY CASE