Planting

For Christmas, we received two plants. a Poinsettia and an Ardisia Credata. Now, it's the middle of March, and they are still alive. I hope to keep the growing, so I thought it was time to transplant them to larger pots.

We had to go to Auchan to buy some frozen and dried fruits for morning smoothies. I thought I would check out the gardening section for two bigger pots and buy the extra soil I would need. 5 liters bags were less than $1, so I bought two of them. It was just the amount I needed.

The original pot with the Poinsettia was a clay pot, but the Ardisia was plastic. I took the Poinsettia out of its pot and broke it into smaller pieces. Then I put half of the pieces into the new pots to help with water drainage. They both look happier now.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine;

1.  Russia has launched dozens of missiles and hundreds of drones at Ukraine’s largest oil refinery in an effort to cripple the country’s fuel supply, Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said during a speech in Ukraine’s parliament.

Speaking in the Verkhovna Rada, Shmyhal said the Kremenchuk oil refinery alone had been targeted by 69 missiles and around 260 drones since the start of Russia’s campaign against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

“Russia is trying to destroy Ukraine’s energy sector with thousands of missiles and drones, including our oil refining industry,” he said.

 Despite the attacks, Ukraine has managed to stabilize fuel supplies through increased imports, he added.

2.  A spat over huge EU defense loans has erupted into trench warfare between Poland’s pro-European government and nationalist president.

The fiery row over multi-billion-euro plans to beef up its military is unprecedented in a country where there is usually consensus on defense. 

With war raging in neighboring Ukraine, and Russia and Belarus just across the border, frontline Poland has upped its defense budget to 4.8 percent of its GDP, one of the highest in NATO. 

The government is counting on nearly 44 billion euros in European loans from the Security Action For Europe (SAFE) scheme, which it says is a big win for Poland, set to get nearly a third of the total 150-billion-euro pot.

The deal has already passed through parliament, but nationalist President Karol Nawrocki – who could veto it – arguing it will allow Brussels to exert undue pressure on Warsaw through monitoring how funds will be allocated. 

 But the plan is backed by 52 percent of Poles, with only 35 against it, according to a poll by Poland’s Centre for Public Opinion Research. Sources-Kyiv Post

Time & Drones

So, I got a late start. I should write these blog posts in the afternoon, but I'm usually busy until night. Then, at night, when Joan is in bed, I get distracted by something I read, and I have to respond to it. Before I know it, it's past the midnight deadline for the particular blogging program. I've been missing too many writing sessions over the last several months, or I'm just getting tired of writing.

I'm so damn involved with resistance groups against the Trump administration that it takes valuable time away from my learning Spanish.  Now that I've started putting all of my 6,427 blogs from the last 20 years in Poland in chronological order, I'm missing too many writings. So much to do, too little time.

Meanwhile, Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine now has “cards” after the United States asked Kyiv to help protect American military bases in the Middle East from Iranian drones.

Speaking in an interview with Irish blogger Caolan Robertson released on Wednesday, March 11, Zelensky was asked whether Ukraine now has leverage in negotiations.

“Do you think Ukraine has the cards now?” the interviewer asked.

“I don’t know, you tell me,” Zelensky replied. “I think yes. But I think that we had them.”

“It’s like a good player,” he continued. “You can have good cards, but it’s not important to show everybody that you have these cards.”

“I think that a year ago we had them. I didn’t show them. But now everybody understands that we have,” he said.

On Monday, Zelensky said Ukraine has sent drone specialists and interceptor drones to help defend US military bases in Jordan from Iranian drone attacks. Zelensky said that the United States requested assistance last week and that a Ukrainian team departed the following day.

 dfgbnhmjn

Nice day & taxes.

Today was another lovely day, so I took Joan to Citadela Park for a nice Cruise around, looking at the people. Being Sunday, there were many people in the park, lots of grandparents with children, and other people. We spent about 2 hours there, and then, because she hasn't been out for a few days, I took her to Cafe Locum for coffee and chesto.

Several of the cafes already have their tables out, even though the official opening day for outside cafes isn't until April 1st. However, with the nice weather we have been having, it's only natural that the cafes are opening up.

After we were done having her coffee, took her for another Cruise down the Main Street of the city. The Main Street was renovated a few years ago and looks exceptionally nice. There is much more room for pedestrians, and they have newly planted trees everywhere.

Yesterday, after correcting a few mistakes in the United States tax forms, I was able to email the forms back to the country. Fortunately, or unfortunately, since our income is so low, we don't owe any money to the government. However, we also don't get any refund.

The next step is to scan our Polish tax forms and send them to cousin Andrzej to complete and send in. Usually, we do get some amount of refund..

Slow progress.

I've been spending way too much time with Gemini putting all 6,427 blogs in chronological order, As of today, I have only gotten to the first half of 2013. The program that Pawel wrote to do that, does it.

However, there is a character limit in Gemini, so the most I can do is one month at a time. I average about 30 blogs per month and each one needs spelling, grammar, separation of paragraphs, eliminate bar lines between blogs, specific font sizes for datelines and text checked.

I gave Gemini a set or guidelines to follow, but during any month, it can alter what it pays attention to. Therefore, I still have to check every month before I add to the continuation of my project. The goal is to have one printable, continuous story of our life here. I already have 250 pages with12 more years to go. Call me crazy for doing it, but on a pen drive, it might be of values to any relative who wants it. Call it an Expats History of Life in Poland. 

We had a good day. I filed our U.S. via email and Joan and I spent 1 1/2 hours, sunning ourselves in Solacki Park. It was a good day to do that and watch the people going by. The of the day,  is was James Taylor, Billy Joel, and Paul Simon concerts watching. A night of only music. 

 

 

Moon, Party & Haircuts.

I looked at a full moon tonight, and it reminded me of the party we had at our house on New Year's Eve many years ago. The moon was full that night. With snow everywhere on the ground, it was a perfect night to go skiing. We had about 14 guests, and of course, all of them knew how to ski. It wasn't downhill skiing, it was cross-country skiing. About 1:00 a.m., we all put on our skis and left the house. There wasn't any Trail to follow, so it was a random ski to wherever we wanted to go. I think it lasted about an hour and a half, and then we returned home. It was a great New Year's Eve party. Something I will never forget.

Now, at my age and, of course, given the location, there isn't much opportunity to do much cross-country skiing. It's really a pity. Back then, cross-country skiing was a necessity. Since the house I built was located off the main dirt road, it was necessary to park my truck on the side of the main road and then ski to my house.

Now I live in a concrete world, with underground parking, so it's very convenient to get from the car to the elevator, and then up to the floor we live on. I really miss living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

I made a mistake today, and didn't know it until it was too late. At 12:45, I put Joan's shoes on, put her coat on her, and drove to the salon for our haircuts. Our appointment was for 1:30. After I finished parking the car, putting down in the wheelchair, and going to the salon across the street, the receptionist came out to greet us. However, she informed me that our appointment wasn't until Thursday. Of course, I was somewhat shocked, but did not disagree with her. I thanked her and said we would return on Thursday. I really don't know how I could have made that mistake.

When I got back home, I checked my schedule, and it said Tuesday, 1:30 hair appointment. Somehow, I must have written on the wrong day.

Kaczynski Library, House, Monument

We have lived here 18 years and passed the building where the Raczynski Library is but have never been in it. Today, I remedied that.

Count Edward Raczyński, (April 2, 1786 in Poznan– died January 20, 1845) in Zaniemysl) was a Polish conservative politician, protector of arts, founder of the Raczyński Library and the first aqueduct in Poznan, who also contributed to nature conservation in Rogalin (Oaks of Rogalin).

His son, Edward Raczynski(1891-1993), was a Polish aristocrat, diplomat, politician and the President of Poland in exile.

During the Second World War, the building was demolished with explosives by the Nazi German troops, and nearly all of the library's books (90%) were destroyed in the resulting fire, except for the special collections looted earlier by Nazi Germany.  In 1953, the library was rebuilt according to the project by Janina Czarnecka. In 1994, the library was in possession of around 252,000 books.

Between 2010 and 2013, a new wing of the library was constructed, which helped to better display the library's collections. It was officially opened on 1 July 2013 and covers an area of 11,000 square meters and was co-financed by European Union funds.

Now, the interior is very modern.  Upon entering, you have the option of going up or down. Good news is, if you are disabled, there is a chair lift to each floor.

Going down takes you to the cloakroom to leave your coat or bags with an attendant. There is also a community hangout area.

If you decide to go up, you will find a huge collection of books on different topics as well as a floor with computers you may use. 

After that, I passed by a large old house that, for many years, was neglected and falling apart. Someone of corparation bought it, and now it's been completely renovated. I had to take pictures. 

This house sits across from the monument. God, Honor, Fatherland (Bog, Honoru, Ojczyna). It is the motto of the Polish Army. It is dedicated to many soldiers who died for their country. 

Blog

I've made a count of how many blogs I have written since I started in September of 2006. The total was a little overwhelming. 6,426. That is a large number. I have saved the text of every one of thcould.m to pen drives and to Proton Drive, so I wouldn't lose them. The problem has always been that when I look at a particular month, they are in reverse chronological order.

Several months ago, I asked my IT specialist friend, Pawel, if he could write a program to put them in the right order, with the first blog on top and then the following blogs. During his free time, he worked on it for about two months and developed a usable program. Thank you, Pawel.

However, when it did the reversal, it did not maintain paragraph separation, check spelling, grammar, or punctuation. That meant I had to go through every blog and do that. It was tedious, and after a month and a half, I stopped.

Last week, thinking about how I could accomplish those tasks and decided to see what Gemini could do with a set of guidelines the missing tasks. 

Project Notes: The Poland Memoirs

• Current Narrative Date: Through February 20, 2026.

• Next Milestone: Cousin Kazia’s visit and the "Four Soups" lesson.

• Total Estimated Pages: ~300–350 pages.

• Core Goal: Transforming 20 years of blog archives into a cohesive 300-page book.

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Printing & Formatting Rules (For OpenOffice Compatibility)

To ensure the text pastes correctly as "Default" style with proper spacing and bolding, I will continue to use the following structure:

1. Date/Header: Bolded at the start of each entry (e.g., Monday, September 3, 2007 - First Month!).

2. Paragraph Spacing: A full double-space between every paragraph to prevent "Text Body" merging.

3. Clean Text: No special AI-generated summaries or bulleted lists unless requested.

4. No Code Blocks: Standard text only, as code blocks often force a fixed-width font (like Courier) in OpenOffice.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

I gave Gemini 25 blogs to run through the program and checked them all. The tasks were all completed, and I was satisfied with the result. So, I've decided to continue on with Gemini doing the tasks. One year takes about two hours to complete. With 23 years x 2, I hope to be done within one week. Am I crazy? "Still crazy, after all these years. I'm still crazy, after all these years"-P.Simon

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Strolling.

Karolina came today. It was such a lovely day, she decided to take Joan outside for a little stroll before she helped her shower and wash her hair. As you can tell by the picture, Karolina was taking no chance that Joan might get cold. When I came back, Karolina said it was about a 40 minutes stroll, not too far.

I didn't really have anything important to take care of during my free two hours, so I called my friend, Michal, and met him for a coffee in the center of town. The meeting lasted for an hour, and then I had to head back home. 

For dinner, I made an avocado, tomato, blue cheese and pasta salad. I also prepared tomorrow's dinner soup, Zucchini. We will have it with a salad and fresh bread.  

Taxes 2025

I had to go to the bank today because yesterday I received one form for filing our Polish taxes. The problem is I should have three more. I sent a message about it, but being an impatient person, I decided a bank trip would be faster. It wasn't.

When I asked to speak to the person who handles our accounts, I was taken into a room to wait. I waited, and waited and waited. Finally, after twenty minutes, a lady came in.  She asked me if I had an appointment, and she replied my agent was in another meeting now. She could have told me twenty minutes ago. 

Aggravated, I told the receptionist to have the lady call me, and I left the bank. Nothing accomplished.

I suppose I should have known better, but I've gone to the bank before and was usually met within ten minutes. The bank seems to have a rotating staff for lower level clients. Maybe, it's because the bank is being sold to another company.

 

 

Joan, Books, Ukraine

Karolina arrived around 1:30 PM to help Joan shower and was her hair. After that, she applied finger nail Polish and Joan was happy.

I'm glad I made the decision for Karolina to attend to Joan's hygiene needs and for Paige to come twice a week for three hours to sit with her. I felt we both needed a break from each other, and it gives Joan a chance to talk with two women instead of just me.

Today, I just put gas in the car and then sat in Solacki Park for an hour listening to the audiobook of Big Sur by Jack Kerouac. His writings had a big influence in my life and I still like reading at different time. It's much easier to have the read to me by an audiobook.

Like Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving, I enjoy rereads,

Meanwhile, Ukraine.

One of Australia’s most highly valued defense firms is helping Ukrainian soldiers knock Russian drones off the battlefield, riding a surge in military spending by Western governments with tech combating the weapon of the future.

From the trenches of Ukraine to the Red Sea and the cartel wars of South and Central America, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are an ubiquitous part of modern conflict conducting surveillance, taking airports offline, dropping deadly payloads, and carrying out so-called “kamikaze” strikes.

Shares in the Sydney-based DroneShield– whose tech was originally conceived as a high-tech mosquito swatter– soared over 300 percent in the last year on hopes that it is uniquely positioned to profit from the wars of the 21st century.

_______________________________________________________________________________ 

President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out any withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the eastern Donbas region as part of a potential peace agreement with Russia, insisting Kyiv will not abandon what he described as its “real defending line.”

In an interview with Kyodo News in Kyiv, Zelensky rejected Moscow’s demand that Ukrainian forces pull back from the region, where some of the heaviest fighting of the full-scale war has taken place.
“We can’t withdraw from our territory. It’s our real defending line,” he said, as negotiations with Russia continue.

 Zelensky stressed that Ukraine is prepared for genuine compromises to achieve peace – but not at the expense of its independence or sovereignty.

“We are ready to talk about compromises with the United States. But not to receive ultimatums from the Russians again and again. They are the aggressor. Everyone has recognized this. This has not changed,” he said. Source-Kyiv Post

Not happy.

Another young cousin is very happy now, after graduating from high-school. She just received her acceptance letter to Clemson University, where she applied. Congratulations to her. She is a fine gymnast, and I'm sure she will be a great addition to their team.

Back at home, Joan's hygienist gave us another late call, cancelling her visit today. It made me a little angry because I had two things I had to take care of outside the house, and it would have been easier to do it by myself. Instead, I had to change Joan into warmer clothing, and take her with me. The problem was both tasks were on the second or third floor of buildings without an elevator. Consequently, Joan had to wait in the parked car each time I went in. Oh, well, such is our life now.

Revolut.

 I sold some small stocks we had in Revolut and wanted the money transferred to my bank. It has been several months since I did that, and I couldn't make the transfer on my cell. I tried a few different approaches, but they didn't work. I gave up and called my friend, the IT specialist.

I explained my problem, and he said to come over. He lives on the opposite side of the city. I didn't see any need to take my laptop.

After a half-hour drive, I reached his flat. He tried for 30 minutes to transfer the money with no success. The password would not be accepted. He asked me if I remembered it. I laughed and told him there are so many passwords for each different app that I didn't. He said we need to go to my laptop.

Half an hour later we were at my laptop. He checked my password, successfully made the transfer. He looked at my cell, and now it was accepting the same password. Go figure,

Half an hour passed as I returned him to his flat.

That is how I spent my 3-hour break today. 

The guitar.

Feels like Saturday. But then, everyday does when you're retired. I would have said Sunday, but during a life, Sunday was the day before you had to go back to school, or back to work. Neither were something I looked forward to, except for university.

Attending the School of Music at DePaul University in Chicago was something I looked forward to each weekday. The only thing about it, I didn't like was getting up early to take a train to Chicago and lugging 2 guitars, one classical, and one jazz guitar. The classical was light enough, the electric one not.

That was mainly because I had a gem of a jazz guitar. It was a yellow, 1936 Gibson wide-bodied guitar that I, miraculously, came across and bought.

It happened because I was working in a small music store that sold guitar and also had lessons there.

One evening, an elderly woman came into the store with her granddaughter, who, I guess, was about 10 years old. She wanted to buy a guitar for her. I told the lady, for the girl's age, I would recommend a nylon-string guitar because it would be easier on her fingers just starting out. I showed her two models and the girl made the decision.

The grandmother said she had an old guitar in her closet that her husband had bought that year. A few years later he went to WWII and never returned. I asked her if she knew the brand name of it, and she said it started with a G. My heart leaped, and I asked if it was Gibson. She said yes.

I told her my story of music school and how much I loved playing guitar. Before she left, I asked her if she would bring it for me to see, and she did the next day.

As soon as she walked through the door and I saw the metal case it was in, I knew it was old.

The case was not the standard colors for the present year. Instead, it was yellow with two orange wide-stripes across the top of the case. I picked it up, it was heavy, and placed it on top of a table to open.

Inside, this beautiful antique guitar still rested in it's allotted space of deep-red velvet. None of the other velvet had a mark on it. The strings were a little rusty, as well as the tuning keys. I played a short tune on it after I tuned the strings and holding the strings down, even rusty, were like putting your fingers down through a soft stick of butter. I was in love.

I told the lady to call Gibson, give them the visible serial number inside the sound hole, and they could estimate the value. Not only that, but I said it would be much, much more than she paid yesterday.

Then, I reiterated my love of guitar, music school, and said I would love owning that beautiful instrument. However, I only had $150 in my bank and couldn't afford the real value of it.

She shocked me when she said I could have it for$100 and to keep the $50 in the bank. I asked her why she would sell it for that little money when it was worth so much more. She said she would rather know that someone loved it as much as her husband did, and she knew I would.

The next day I called Gibson, gave them the serial number, and they told me it was a 1936 ES-150, hollow-body guitar, And it was mine! 

 

 

Missing guitarist.

Many years ago, I made the acquaintance of another guitar player, Robert Savage. At that time, we both had girlfriends who were very close. It was only natural that, at some point in time, we would meet. From time to time, we would meet and talk about the usual thing, music.

Eventually, our lives drew us apart, and we lost track of each other. Several months ago, for the heck of it, I did a Facebook search and found him. Ialso found some videos of him playing on YouTube. Of course, I sent him several messages to which he didn't respond.

Last week, I was surprised when I finally got a response. We set up a time to video-chat this past Saturday, and we did. It was great, like those past years just disappeared. Naturally, we both explained what had happened to us during those missing years, and we agreed to keep in video touch more often. It was a good night.

Meanwhile, here in Poland, I did the weekly food shopping. Total cost $48.50. Dinners will be Potato & Bacon Soup, Avocado, Tomato & Blue Cheese Pasta Salad, Skillet Lemon Chicken with Potatoes & Spinach, Hungarian Chili, Pizza, and Roasted Chicken Thighs, Potatoes, and Greek Salad. The soup is for 2 days. Joan made the menu, and I did the shopping.

Tonight we watched a good video about Hungary on YouTube. We've been there twice, but there is still so much more to see. I hope we will be able to.

Crucial-end.

After realizing that my crucial external drives had to be sent to Hungary instead of the United States, I went back to the post office and asked them if they were sending packages to Hungary. Actually, I didn't ask them because I had written all of my questions into a translator and had them before me in Polish. I showed it to the lady, and she smiled as she read the translation. It was probably because the translation was understandable, but not in proper Polish.

She told me that yes, they were sending packages to Hungary. My second question was, "Do you have a bubble pack mailer that I can buy?" She opened a drawer and produced it.

My final question was, "How much does it cost to mail it? She replied that it depended on whether or not I wanted to receive proof of delivery. I told her that yes, I did, and she said take the mailer and the form you need to fill out, and bring it back when you are done.

Because my handwriting is so bad, when I got home, I asked Karolina, who was here, to please fill out this form for me. She did it, and now on Monday, I will take it and mail it to Hungary. I won't know the cost until I do that. Nevertheless, I'm pleased that I've accomplished this much due to my persistence.

Meanwhile, Ukraine.

Since early January, Ukrainian drone and artillery forces have attacked regional energy generation and public heating infrastructure in the western Russian region of Belgorod in a month-long bombardment campaign that has forced local authorities to call for mass evacuations.

The raids mixing domestically developed kamikaze aircraft with NATO state-manufactured long-range artillery – rockets or missiles have hit Belgorod targets at least six times with complex attacks. Most of the region’s major power and heating facilities have been struck repeatedly.

Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, in Wednesday’s public comments, called the state of power and heating deliveries in the region home to some 1.4 million people “extremely difficult, critical, and prolonged.” In public announcements, Gladkov over the weekend called the situation with power and heating in Belgorod “almost catastrophic.”

Crucial problem still.

 Following up on my story about my external drive problem, I contacted FedEx to see what it would cost to send my Crucial Drive back to them as required. It was to be sent back to Hungary, and once they received it, they would send me a new Drive.

I've already mentioned that the Polish post office cannot send packages to the United States. I assumed that was the case also for Hungary, but I'm not sure.

Anyway, there were four different prices to send a packet by FedEx to hungry ranging from 1,700 to 81 PLN. The economy one was the cheapest, and that's the one I wanted. It didn't matter that it would take a week or two for them to return the new product to me.

So, today I went to the nearest FedEx office to send the drive to Hungary. The people were very helpful, and they filled out the required documents that I needed. When it was all done, I asked what the cost was going to be. The clerk said he didn't know, and I wouldn't know until I looked at my own account and saw what the payment was.

Back at home, I checked my account, and there was nothing written in. I then spoke to someone on chat to find out the cost. After 10 or 15 minutes, the person came back and said the cost was 671 PLN. I told her that was outrageous, and that I could buy a new Drive for much less money. Of course, I didn't find that out until I was home. I told her I refused to pay that cost and wanted to cancel my shipment. Naturally, she gave me another website to go to to do that, but it was unable to tell me. Finally, after three tries, I asked to speak to a human being. I had to do that three times before someone actually spoke. I told her what had happened and that I wanted to cancel my order. Unfortunately, she could not understand much of what I said.

My next step was to call Gabriela and ask her to call the FedEx office, explain what I told her, and tell them to cancel the order. Gabriella did that and said she was waiting now for an email to be sent to her with the cancellation information.

So, tomorrow I have to go back to FedEx and get the defective CD. This whole process took about 3 hours. It was a total waste of time.

Ukraine & shopping

 Gabriela returned today after two weeks to sit with Joan while I did the weekly food shopping. I take advantage of that and go at 11:00 instead of 06:30. I stay up way to late at night, and sometimes I only get 3-5 hours of sleep. That's not good for my health.

It only takes me 45 minutes to do the complete shopping, and then I stop for a cup of coffee. I don't really like coffee like some people, but it gives me a chance to just sit and observe my surroundings, and the people.

The total cost for this week's food was $46. That covers dinners of Paprikas, Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs and Vegetables, Slow Cooker Chicken Breasts, Potatoes and Salad, Scalloped Potatoes with Ham and Salad, Garlic Soup with Egg and Croutons, and Pizza. That's the menu for this week.

 Meanwhile, Ukraine.

A  new "white list" from SpaceX is shutting off Russia's illicit access to Starlink's satellite internet across the front line.

Shortly before 3:00 a.m. Kyiv time on Feb. 5, Elon Musk retweeted a new guide from Ukraine's Digital Transformation Ministry for registering a Starlink terminal within Ukraine.

Subsequently, a series of alarmed Russian social media posts indicate that Starlink terminals were disconnecting en masse along the front.

Three Ukrainian commanders, speaking to the Kyiv Independent on the condition of anonymity, reported intercepting messages from Russian forces complaining about Starlink terminals failing in large numbers.

Serhiy "Flash" Beskrestnov, a longtime commentator on electronic warfare more recently appointed as advisor to Defense Minister Mykhaylo Fedorov, said the "enemy at the front doesn't have a problem, the enemy has a catastrophe." 

Russian milbloggers reacted in despair to the news. "This will hit harder than anywhere at our front line assault groups, for example, in Kupiansk," a popular Russian propaganda channel wrote. "They will be deprived of any chance of connection with the wider world, alas."

"They have been cut off completely. Potentially, it will mean their activity will drop while they find alternative means of communication." Petro, a drone commander in the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade fighting near Zaporizhzhia, told the Kyiv Independent.-Source-Kyiv Independent

Backups.

A few years ago, after a computer crash, I began backing up all my data on USB drives or external hard drives. Now I have two Crucial X9 Pro drives, each with 2 terabytes of storage, so I have two places to save everything. My IT friend told me it would be good if I started putting my important data in the Cloud. For the last year, I've been saving data to the Proton Cloud, but I also want to have a hard copy in my hand of the data. Maybe that's just paranoia. Because my friend tells me this cloud has many servers all over the world, and my data is stored on all of them. That way, if one server goes down, there are plenty of others that still hold my data.

Last week, my second Crucial drive was no longer functioning. It was still under warranty, so I wrote to Crucial, and told them about my problem. They said the best thing to do was to send it back to them with my proof of purchase.

I looked through all of my files for that proof of purchase, but I couldn't find it anywhere.

I wrote back to them, after looking through my bank statement from 2024, and found out I purchased it  on March 8th, 2024. The lady I spoke with said that without any proof of purchase  it might be a big problem to replace it. She said she would do what she could and talk to her supervisor.

I told her that they should have a record of it since it is a large corporation. 

Later that same day, she wrote back to me and said she did find the purchase and said it wouldn't be a problem to replace it. However, they no longer manufacture the X9, so they will be sending me the newest drive. Now, it's just waiting until it arrives.

Czarzasty remarks.

Yesterday evening while still out on diplomatic travels, the Polish PM, Donald Tusk, took to social media to speak to the U.S. ambassador to Poland, Tom Rose, after he had chosen this medium to announce breaking off contact with Włodzimierz Czarzasty, the Speaker of Parliament.
 

The reason given was receiving Speaker's explanation of why he will not support the second campaign for the Nobel Peace Prize for Donald Trump, despite U.S. soliciting it along with Israel, as "insults" towards the American president "who's done so much for the Polish nation," as Mr. Rose had written. He'd also suggested that Speaker Czarzasty is "a serious impediment" to positive relations between the countries.
 

"Mr. Ambassador Rose, allies should respect, not lecture, each other," Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "At least this is how we, here in Poland, understand partnership," he added.
 

Speaker Czarzasty himself responded via social media since, saying that "in keeping with his values, he had defended Polish soldiers on foreign missions and opposed Trump’s Nobel nomination," alluding to Trump's disparaging comments on America's allies' sacrifices. Source-Radio Poland
 

He added that he held "constant respect for the United States as a key partner for Poland," but, though he regretted Rose’s statement, he would not change his position "on issues fundament

2 changes

I told a cousin of mine in Michigan, that I would put together a pen drive out of the research I have done and send it to her. I just wanted someone else in my extended family to have a copy of it for the future. So, I put it in a nice little box, wrapped it up very nicely, and took it to our local post office to mail it out. That was when I received a surprise. The postal Clerk behind the class wall in for me that they were no longer able to send packages to the United States.

Of course, I asked her why, and she explained that it was due to the changes Trump had made in border security, which meant we could no longer send packages to the United States. The only thing we can send our documents. Naturally, it pissed me off that he has had such a negative effect on many countries, not only Poland. My only alternative is to see if FedEx or UPS is still shipping packages to the United States. I'd rather doubt it.

Okay, that took up the first hour of my 2-hour break today.

In the second hour, I had to get a scan made of our voter registration in the United States and send it back to the clerk at the county where we are registered. I went back to the shop where I always go only to find out it was no longer a shoe repair shop that also gets scanning, but now it was a key production place, and all they did was make keys. That presented a problem for me, because I had a limited amount of time to search for a new place, a new copy shop, or as they call it in Poland, Kesero.

Using my cell phone, I was able to locate one very close to where we live, so I immediately drove there. It's in a little shop on Main Street called Dabrowskiego. From the ground level, you have to walk down five steps, and that's where the shop is. I had to have two papers scanned, the total cost was about one and a half cents. Very affordable and close to the house, so that was a plus.

Another cold day

Yes, it was another cold day. Not quite as cold as yesterday, because we did have some sunshine, but still too cold to take Joan outside. So, we spent the day inside with Joan watching old TV series, while I caught up on my family archives.

I'm at the end of my family research that I started over 20 years ago. It's hard to believe it's been that long, but nevertheless, it is. I'm very satisfied with everything I've found out, and I hope it will someday be useful to one of my younger relatives if they should be interested in their family history. I have it documented back to 17 80. I haven't been able to go further back because, before that time, very few records were kept of what they called the peasants. Usually, if someone was working for a noble in his Palace, only his name was in a record and not much else.

Unfortunately, now I'm caught up with this struggle in the United States and the idiot they currently have for a president. I work, via the Internet, with a few groups back there who are trying to curtail some of the damage he is inflicting on the country I was born in. I know most of it doesn't have a real effect on me, or Joan, but it does have an effect on the adult children, and probably even more in the future on grandchildren. That is why I am so involved. It just makes me Furious.

Other News

 The Divided States isn't the only country with problems with its government.

A mass rally in support of Czech President Petr Pavel took place in Prague, drawing tens of thousands of people to the city’s central square. According to estimates, attendance reached up to 90,000 participants.

The demonstration was sparked by an escalating conflict between the president and the government led by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš.

President Pavel has consistently called for active support of Ukraine and backing its integration into the European Union.

In contrast, Prime Minister Babiš, leader of the ANO party, argues for halting weapons and aircraft supplies to Kyiv and prioritizing domestic issues.

The dispute also extends to disagreements over ministerial appointments and the country’s broader security strategy.

Meanwhile:

Elon Musk called Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski a “drooling imbecile” on Wednesday after Sikorski shared a report from the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) showing that Russian forces are increasingly using Starlink satellites to guide drone attacks on Ukraine.

According to ISW, Russian forces are equipping drones – including BM-35, Shahed, and Molniya models – with Starlink systems to extend their range and accuracy.

Starlink-equipped drones can strike most of Ukraine and reach parts of Moldova, Poland, Romania, and Lithuania when launched from Russian-controlled territory.

After reposting the report, Sikorski tweeted: “Hey, big man, @elonmusk, why don’t you stop the Russians from using Starlinks to target Ukrainian cities? Making money on war crimes may damage your brand.”Source-Kyiv  Post

A majority of Ukrainians oppose handing over the eastern Donbas territory to Russia in exchange for promises of peace, and the number of Ukrainians ready to fight the Kremlin “as long as is necessary” is increasing, a major public opinion published on Monday found.

Slightly more than half – 52 percent – of respondents “categorically reject” the idea of transferring title to Ukraine’s Donbas region to Russia in exchange for security guarantees, while 40 percent are willing to consider it, according to findings published by the Ukrainian political research group Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).

The prevailing view across Ukrainian society that the country would not be made safer by meeting Russian demands to give the Kremlin Ukraine’s Luhansk and Donetsk regions – approximately 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory and population – where the front is stable and has not changed for months, KIIS Executive Director Anton Hrushetsky said in a statement.

Sadness.

 We can't imagine what this poor little girl is going through. Her eyes look like they have no future to see.

I can't believe the world has let this go on for four years. Talk, talk, talk. Meet, meet, meet. But never any real action to stop this insane murdering of men, women, and especially.................children. It makes me ashamed to be a human being. God made a mistake puting humans on this planet.

Good News.

 At least, some good news today from the U.S. A Federal judge slammed the door on Trump's voter suppression scheme. "The president gets no say." Another day, another trump power grab smacked down by the Constitution. 

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly didn’t hedge or mince words. She reminded Trump of a basic civics lesson he’s spent years trying to erase: the President has no authority over election rules. None. Nada. Zero. Zilch.

We should all be sending her a thank-you note.

I read today that Putin considers Lithuania and Poland to be the biggest threats to Russia. They are bigger than the United States. With Trump in power, that seems to make sense. Guess it's time to finish packing our "GO" bag. The German border is a two hour drive.

Shutdown & Ukraine

Today is Shutdown day in the U.S. I've seen videos with massive crowds in major cities. I hope that smaller cities are participating as well.

It's been a tougher time the last three days at home. Joan has had some hallucinations of things that never happened, and it takes all of my energy to try to help her see that. This dementia is really incredible. The way it works on different parts of the brain.

Most of the snow is gone now, so it's just gray and cloudy daily. It's really quite boring.

Last night, I had a problem with one of my external drives. No matter what I tried, it didn't fix the problem. In desperation, I told my problem to Gemini(AI). After an hour of instructions, it seemed to work until I tried to copy a file into it, and then it froze. I will have to bother my IT friend next week.

Meanwhile, Ukraine.

Trump said Putin agreed to a 7-day stoppage in the war. However, Putin said it will be only 2 days.    

(Then he will return to killing civilians) 

Rough week.

 Last week was difficult. In Minneapolis, where a cousin lives, Trump's Gestapo(ICE) murdered two Americans. That was horrible enough.

For me, it wasn't as terrible as that, but it was a different kind of difficult week. My 3 caregivers for Joan all cancelled their visits, so I had no breaks during the week. I didn't realize how much I look forward to those 3-hour breaks. I know Joan is safe while they are with her, and that does relieve some daily pressure on me. I'm frankly surprised I went 5 years without them.

Being a caregiver is nothing I would wish on anyone.

Meanwhile, Ukraine.

Today's top story: Russia has yet to use Iranian missiles in its war on Ukraine

Iran gave hundreds of its missiles to Russia as a gift to help in its war on Ukraine. So far, they've been plagued by failure to launch.

Ukrainian intelligence told the Kyiv Independent on Jan. 26 that of the over 350 Fath-360 missiles that Iran has given Russia, none have come down on Ukraine.

Those dormant Fath missiles contrast with Russia's use of North Korea ballistic missiles, widely seen as shoddy but reportedly improved thanks to Russian assistance. Russia's seeming disinterest in Iran-supplied Faths could be seen a passive indictment of a missile program that Iran has invested in heavily. Source-Kyiv Independent

Russia will continue to be a threat to central and eastern Europe regardless of its political system, Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki said during a meeting with his Lithuanian and Ukrainian counterparts on Sunday.

The three leaders gathered in Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, to mark the anniversary of the outbreak of the 1863 January Uprising against Russian rule. Source-Kyiv Post

History Leson.

2 DEAD IN MINNEAPOLIS 

"4 DEAD IN OHIO"

May 4, 1970 Kent State

Shopping, Walkout & Indiana University.

Food shopping today, and I spent $49 for the week ahead. I thought it might be less, but I was wrong. Prices are still on the rise.

Today was the Women's March Walkout in many locations in the U.S.  It will be interesting to see what the result will be.

Not a good sign from Joan. She is starting to forget who I am. I knew this was coming, and I have to deal with it. 

Well, Indiana completed the miracle today. They beat Miami to win the NCAA football championship. Last year, they were considered the worst team in the league. I'm very happy for them, and their quarterback who won the coveted Heisman Trophy for best player in the league.. 

Clouds & Ukraine Party

 Tonight, I was sitting on the balcony, looking at the few stars in the dark sky, when a long, thin, horizontal cloud stretched across the horizon. I kept watching it, and it faded in and faded out in different areas. I suppose it was because a little heavier cloud was passing over it and blotted it out. Clouds are always interesting to watch, especially in the daytime when there are many different forms of clouds. I like to watch when the bigger, heavier cloud passes over a smaller one and partly blocks it out. Of course, when I look at clouds, I always think of the song by Joni Mitchell of the same name, Clouds.

In the afternoon, we watched the second game of the NFL football playoff games in which our favorite team, the Chicago Bears, was a contestant. Unfortunately, the result was not what we hoped for, and they lost in overtime. We are hoping that tomorrow we will have better luck with the NCAA College football championship game when Indiana plays against Miami. Coming from Indiana, my hopes are high that they will finally win a championship. I think the last time they wanted was in 1945. That is a long time to wait for another championship.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, a party!

Music blasts from speakers and lights strobe in the dark as revellers, clad in puffer jackets and bobble hats, brave Kyiv’s freezing cold at an outdoor party despite blackouts triggered by Russian strikes.
Moscow has been pummelling Ukraine’s power grid with drones and missiles, plunging millions into darkness and cold as temperatures dip as low as -20C.

“People are tired of sitting without power, feeling sad... It’s a psychological burden on everyone’s mental health,” Olena Shvydka, who threw the street party with the support of her neighbours, told AFP.
“Now we’re letting off some steam, so to speak.”

Across the country, around 58,000 workers were racing to restore power, with additional crews deployed to the capital where, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the situation was “extremely tough”.

“In our community chat, we decided to do something to support the general spirit of our residential complex,” Yevgeniy, Shvydka’s neighbour, told AFP.
“Despite the very difficult situation, people want to hold on and celebrate. And they are waiting for victory no matter what,” said Yevgeniy, a retired military officer who did not give his full name.

“These kinds of gatherings provide some kind of civilised resistance to the force that is being directed at us -— rockets, explosions, flashes. It unites us,” Pankratova said.
The loudspeakers started blasting Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life”.
Hands in the air, the revellers belted out the rock anthem’s lyrics.

“It is impossible to defeat these people,” Yevgeniy said, looking around the party.“The situation is very difficult -- but the people are invincible.”

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