Leia the Puppy

The house is now puppy ready.  Not all of it, just the areas where Leia is to be allowed.  Actually, we think it is puppy perfect.  We have a barrier that we will need, but it tips over.  We are hoping to fix that!

12 Puppies and Us

Have been watching 12 Puppies and Us today.  We have tried to get the children to watch it, but they do not have the stamina for an hour of learning about dogs.  Which is worrying as we are to get a dog later this year.

They are in bed right now and my wife and I are watching Only Connect.  She has managed to do quite well on this while I have need the answers explained to me.

And finally, I am not sure if this is less or more humiliating, my Instagram account was hacked and loads of spam was posted.  The worst bit was that they got more comments than my normal posts! 

Pokémon GO and trading

Time has been good for trading.  Niantic have increased the distance at which we can trade until the end of month.  And due to COVID, meeting up to trade a Pokémon can carry risk, though this can be done in a socially distanced manner.  Saying that, it has been nice trading from my living room, but I need to be clear about what I am after.

These are the Pokémon that I am missing from my Pokédex

352 - Kecleon

369 - Relicanth

417 - Pachirisu 

455 - Carnivine

476 - Probopass (I do not have a high CP Nosepass with good scores to evolve one)

479 - Rotom

489 - Phione (but I am not sure that this is not available at all)

490 - Manaphy 

511 - Pansage

512 - Simisage

515 - Panour

516 - Simipour

517 - Munna

518 - Musharna

528 - Swoobat (I have yet to get a high CP Woobat with good scores)

538 - Throh

542 - Leavanny

551 - Sandile

552 - Krokorok

553 - Krookodile

556 - Maractus

561 - Sigilyph

570 - Zorua 

571 - Zoroark

582 - Vanillite

583 - Vanillish

584 - Vanilluxe

592 - Frillish

593 - Jellicent

602 - Tynamo

603 - Eelektrik

604 - Eelektross

615 - Cryogonal 

619 - Mienfoo

620 - Mienshao

621 - Druddigon 

626 - Bouffalant

631 - Heatmor

636 - Larvesta

637 - Volcarona

647 - Keldeo

648 - Meloetta 

865 - SirFetch’d

I will see if I can get time to see what other Pokémon I need at a later date.

Learning from racism

Yesterday two of our friends popped round to have a chat in our driveway.  It was very socially distanced, but it was nice to see and talk to friends.  One thing discussed was the outcry over the advert that Sainsbury's have had this Christmas because it features a family who are all black.  We agreed on two things.  It is right for this advert to be shown.  And Sainsbury's have already let shoppers who disagree with inclusivity know that they can always shop elsewhere. 

And this brings me onto an issue that has come up in the aftermath of the elections in the USA. Notably racism in US politics.  I know that Donald Trump does not mean to sound racist, but he has, an example being his comments on a Judge, American by birth.  

One of the allegations was that, when working with his father, the company he ran employed a racist housing policy, aiming to exclude black people.  While some have argued that this was the action of his father, and that he should not be held accountable for that, he was named in the court papers with his father.  

The other allegation is that the Democrats are the party of racism.  They were, and my daughter has been learning about this during this term at her school.  But now, the Republicans are the party that White Nationalists flock to.  Yes, there have been KKK members in the Democratic Party and one that is mentioned is Robert Byrd.  But what people forget that that he renounced racism and worked towards bringing about civil rights for Americans that were not dependent on skin colour.  Just like Johnny Lee Clary.   

Global warming and my children

 

I think my children may not care too much about climate change.  Last night, the lights were left on downstairs, though hey tried to pin the blame for that on me.  Tonight, one left all the lights on as well as the television.

At least this time the child accepted the blame.

Up!

Our family film today was Up!  My daughter watched it aged about 3 or 4 and both loved and was upset by it.  We watched it as this film changed my view of dogs, and getting a dog, I thought it would be a good idea to watch it.

We were in tears soon after it started, but loved Dug the dog.  I am not sure it if will help them with Leia, our dog to be, and we will never know, but it was great to watch.

My wife has continued to be amazing with her drive to organise the house to be ready before Leia arrives. The amount of productivity she has with this is exhausting.  But she is just amazing and while knackered, is still slogging on.

Trump and the US election

Donald Trump is fighting for the election.  It appears that the strategy is that he is aware that he cannot win if states certify the results of the voters.  If he is able to keep the result in doubt, then he may be able to stop the presidency being awarded to Joe Biden when the Electoral College meets.  If this happens, then the decision as to who is to be president is made in the US House of Representatives, there the Republicans have a lead.

I am sure that this is the justification for not working towards a peaceful transition of power.  But to be fair, Trump never said he would allow this anyway.

If Trump does get away with this, it means that the legitimacy of the US to comment on the democratic processes in other nations will be harmed further.  I say further, as the US does have a history of ignoring the democratic will of other nations electorates.