#and without this baseline point where they started WE WOULDN'T BE WHERE WE ARE TODAY

[the-firebird69]

So he sent it back and he said this they're giving me less it's taking less time to ruin cover and things to get me stuff and things I have the time I have them runs out faster and it's on everything and it's a slow downhill process where housing is getting harder and harder and I'm an actual shelters and it was doing it in cycles and now they're trying to do a slow steady downhill turn and some of them are doing something different but a lot of them are doing that and it's a pattern that's easily recognized and put it all together and we can see what they're saying and doing and they're very evil and need to leave and it works in concert with a Mac proper a lot of them and they're going to have their hands full these people will slowly and eventually realize it but we can't count on them in any way they can't see it at all and they're sitting here deteriorating the entire planet situation it's time to take decisive action on them he went over it this morning and said each and every one of these things has slipped and he's looking at my zigzag tire I said no it's completely obsoleted the bike was fine the tires are fine it's this flood that I couldn't move out because they wouldn't let me have notice and I noticed something they've got them trapped there too and just extorting one person or trying to and they're getting killed and ignore it there's so many of them dying today it's not even funny they're trying to get here and they're blocked and they're dying the ones who are here dying from radiation and getting pulled out on top of it and really they are schmucks and losers we're going out of town on them today but I wrote this up years ago and we've been going by it and it does say what they're up to and they're screaming it okay they're so rude and they need to die we don't need them screaming it at all we can see it in every stupid transaction he tries every stupid thing he tries to do including sleeping you dumb m************ are on him telling us what you're up to it's unnecessary but it is very detrimental to your own cause and we don't need you to do that you're going to die anyways so I guess you've got a point right but now you're going to die faster and a useless death and you're handing is territory and you're handing of cities and we're taking them and keeping you out you show up again we kill you all

Zig Zag

And my father and mother say in their paternal as well he's very helpful and he is. And they're not mad at him in any way but I'll tell you what he's been sitting there saying it and saying it saying they've got me in this downhill thing using me his code to send out about hours and it's angry and he wants everyone to join in with that anger and utilize it and you have to and it's a great way on to get past things that are saying you shouldn't because there are some of that that they do I found out it broke some brakes almost everything and you have to figure out what you can do without causing too many ways and right now we are gearing up and we're going to go in their cities and we're going to decimate a whole bunch of them and with the false flag they're asking for it and Itll draw more jackasses there

Hera

Would I know is your retarded people okay you're gifted and you understand okay we're starting at baseline you're not very bright. You and even bja lots of times are pestering a human being that's me so many times that 100% of you would murder someone on the first day of the same treatment and completely regardless of who they are you are so far out of f****** line it's not funny and you do it to me and you start doing it to each other and you're out there in the rings and the Everglades in Florida and you lost 65 million last night and this morning and earlier yesterday 65 million new leaders and you're not going to do diddly s***. And your wimps and you don't know the math you don't know about the massive fleet of the Empire you don't understand what they're up to and I dumped it over and you still won't get off me or off each other you're a bunch of spoiled little brats and you're going to die spoiled little ignorant brats riding around in your bicycles with your stupid newspaper bag screaming at people stupid s*** you're an embarrassment to people like me who tried to train you you're a humiliating pile of s*** and annoying so you're not going to make it honest to God you're so oblivious you don't even know you're dying from radiation you're supposed to be the mutants who know how to use it and 99% of you are dying here today and it's ridiculous. But let's get off to it again you're retarded and you're not going to understand what I'm saying. Your gifted and you're ignoring code no you're stupid you don't hear to see it most of the time if you start paying attention to it you get in fights this is your problem you're sitting here pestering me thinking that it's okay to do it to people you go around doing it to people they beat you to death. You pester me so many times that you're teaching everybody to do it and people like John remillard did it on purpose this is his method because he thinks he has the AI and he's simply a fool. He was tricked. By David audette AKA JC AKA Jesus Christ and Mary and a whole bunch of them but mostly him because he blew his brains out of his head most of them came out and he was like 70% dead and it's not his fault it's Dave's plan and the Mac proper plan and they got away with it and who the hell knows if he's in his grave if that's his brain it could be a clone and this jackass wouldn't know because he didn't check and his excuses is he couldn't. Other people were there and entombed him and it was a group a mixed group and their excuses they couldn't check but a lot of them admitted the whole time we don't know exactly if it's in the scans are somehow missing and a lot of it is because of jackasses like Trump now here's another vote of confidence in your stupid a****** nature he got moved and when he got moved nobody who knows what happened to the brains now they scan and they know they're still there and they're human and intact their bodies are intact and the right temperature but nobody knows if the brains are switched out and left their bodies in the sands of time like the song says so why don't you get off me stop pestering me because that's a root of a problem and people are trying to help me here and you're disgusting they have to stop you and you keep on sticking your head up and in a few days he'll be outnumbered and other people out there who are yours don't care cuz there's stupid like you so see you later thanks for trying but really why don't you get off the f****** train go somewhere else or sit here and die in radiation

Zues Hera

There's quite a statement and I feel like spewing and stuff but really I'm exhausted from this s*** we're wrong there's so many stupid things we could be doing that aren't stupid they would help or pestering him and pestering him now our pastoring each other and I'm getting hit I don't know what the truth is but the program it says it should be very obvious what the truth is if you use it already you lost it that's one thing people say again this is all this logic that says I don't have it they say they can't detect it and don't hear it and they hear other programs of mine when I'm issuing it and that makes sense and it would be days program in his and the pattern would be different than mine and they heard mine before and can stop it there's a lot of stuff going on a lot of people are saying I don't get it I get it a little and he says why don't you go visit JC and see if you can get it all the way and shut your face cuz right now you're just killing yourself in your own based on somewhat of a guess. He says what if I'm 70% right I could be completely wrong it says why would that be since every other nincompoop like you lost the program that they wrote because they weren't really writing it every single poop

Why would you be different you wouldn't be and your Butterfingers to begin with. And he says that and I agree he wants me to stop pestering him and people are shooting me for it and they've told me every day for two years I still don't get it what he says is after 2 years I've given up on you and he has and he says watches you die and who the f*** cares why would you even care says to me I don't really care too much and it's true. Yeah we're pestoring him yesterday and people paid us back and we got hit

Trump

You don't have your brains towards somewhere and you're not in a robot brain or whatever you thinking Trump who the hell knows you pastored him at the laundromat and you got shot three times and different places in your body and you would not shut up so they hunted you down and beat you up until you stop breathing now this is happening a lot to you you think it's routine or something if you think everyone has this happened to them you go get an ice cream and get beat to death everyday. You have normally stupid you have abnormally stupid and crass and you're going to get your head caved in again cuz you're a big mouth don't even experience people like you and you're sick you're kind of a zombie it's not really your fault I remember saying because your IQ is probably 30 and you're not able to reason through things regular things people can't see it cuz you're a cheat and you're fake it you learned by faking it sometimes but these days it's coming right out of you and your plan should pull you out you're a mess and they don't get it they think they're going to run the whole thing and it's too late so they're going to keep jamming you to us and we're going to keep ruining your life and ripping stuff from you we don't have a choice now and you said it you can't stop you said it a lot for 2 years. And it didn't stop and your group is small and getting smaller by the minute yucky you are getting teeny right now your leadership in these separatist cities and they're probably keep your dumbass in there until you're extinct and it's a safe way to do it with satanists you have probably half of your Force off Island that you had last year now and really it's out of the roughly 29% you have about 9% when it was 18% and you can't figure out what's happening to you for some reason not anybody should know what that is but you don't care cuz you think you have the AI and everybody knows that you don't know for sure at all and you don't have power to make it happen anymore

Thor Freya

We want you to leave you too the moron with the motorcycle is not bja we need you out of here you're liars you're here illegally you don't really have a rental agreement again it's not you and you're using aliasis is not it someone else has it in your squatting and we need you out in your new law and get you out no we need you to get the hell out of here you're stupid and wrong it's not even about the war at all. You pastor him Non-Stop and really now we see the process you pester him and people pester you you pester them and think it's safe you go around pester the s*** out of people like you do him and he turned around and shoot you in the face and your brain comes out the back and little pieces and they dry up in a few hours and they're gone. That's what's happening to you and we don't want you around us you're dangerous because of that you're sick you're a mean f***** and we don't like you I told you you're out and I told you to leave and now you're back it was your dumb camper and your stupid motorcycle if you're here today I'm going to start proceedings I can't stand you anymore you keep disturbing him over and over he's saying he's taking action and he's out there in the midwest taking huge amounts of territory and he's along the perimeter taking stuff and you're a weakling compared to him any day and his guys are 10 20 times stronger than he is I've had enough of seeing people just get smoked without any problem you have to leave just so incompetent and I'm going to request other groups take a look at it I'm going to send it in a letter to mine have you take action or I'm just out of here I got to leave and I should he says and take a break a week or two here and there a few days here and there and I have to it's probably what I have to do and he says that Jason and bja will have to fill in and keeping the little brat in check and my own group or I'm simply going to die from radiation he says and it's true so I'm starting to wake up again and I'm eating more and I see it and people see that I'm in trouble and really it's because of this idiot next door I don't know why I don't know about the radiation now he's sitting there forcing me to stay here

Stan

He's forcing me to stay here so what the f***** is really obtuse he is a f****** moron no I mean it too is iq's very low he's a stupid person I have withstood radiation it's like a hundred times this and what's wrong with you Trump you stupid everybody knows the story now you f****** moron LOL

Zues Hera

I figured out something I really don't know the truth about much and this boy has been exposed to so much radiation and it changed him somehow from his race which should all really could already withstand tons of radiation at the levels were at and we can't at all and I don't know how I'm still alive and he says my brain is deteriorating that's how and with radiation if you have preservatives your brain kind of stays around but after a time it's not going to and the body is not supporting it so I looked at it and I'm not doing good and he says big surprise these levels of radiation will kill lizards and other things that should survive it and they're in holes all day they're hiding from it and we're not just a little bit of soil works we got to get out of this

Trump

Olympus

[mittensmorgul]

Survival of the Fittest rewatch airs today. I have still never forgiven Sera Gamble for putting the words in Dean's mouth that no one cares that Cas is broken. :) I don't care how frustrated Dean was, no wonder Cas doubts where he stands with the Winchesters. I always imagine Cas remembers all of the times Dean made those comments like being called junkless sissy. This is not really a serious complaint, just sharing an observation that Ritchie was right, "Words hurt, Winchester." :) :)

Ooh, if we’re bringing Richie the Incompetent Hunter from 3.04 into things, let’s remember the context in which we’re quoting, because that’s key here:

RICHIE: Oh, man. You should have seen the rack on this broad. Freakin’ tragedy when I had to gank her.DEAN: Whoa, whoa. Wait. Who killed her? If I remember, your ass was toast until I showed up.RICHIE: Oh, I forgot what a comedian this guy was.DEAN: Richie, Richie, know what? I told you then and I’ll tell you again — you’re not cut out for this job. You’re gonna get yourself killed.(RICHIE’s phone rings)RICHIE: (to caller) : Talk to me.(to DEAN): FYI, Winchester — words hurt. (to caller): Yeah? (pause) No, it’s not a good time, babe. Later.DEAN: So you find anything in this town, anyway?RICHIE: Ah, no. I got nothing. Oh, wait a minute. You mean as in demons and whatnot?DEAN: Yeah.RICHIE: No, I got nothing.

There’s the quote in context. We’ve just met Richie, completely distracted by his “sister,” who is clearly a hooker, in a town that’s supposedly overrun with demons that he was theoretically hunting. His first story up there makes us wonder if he’d really had things under control on that previous hunt, but combined with his comment about the physical distraction the succubus provided and the fact that he also has NOTHING on the demons in town but is distracted so easily with the, uh… local entertainment… and the serious way Dean delivered his line about him not being cut out for this job, AND the fact that Dean was right and he DID end up getting himself killed… well… 

There’s also the joking bantering way he delivered that line to Dean about words hurting while he was talking on the phone with yet another woman he was hooking up with… I mean… Dean wasn’t trying to be hurtful, and Richie wasn’t actually hurt by his words. He was trying to be honest. Richie didn’t take his advice, and Dean ended up having to bury him. So take the quote in context.

Just like the quote about 7.23:

CASTIEL: I can’t help. You understand? I can’t. I destroyed… everything, and I will destroy everything again. Can we please just leave it at that?DEAN: No. [He gets up.] No, we can’t.SAM: Dean…DEAN: We can’t leave it. You let these friggin’ things in. So you don’t get to make a sandwich. You don’t get a damned cat. Nobody cares that you’re broken, Cas. Clean up your mess!

Out of context, it sounds awful. But look back at ALL of s7 (and really most of s6 too). What’s the advice that Dean himself got from Frank, and from Bobby, and from Eliot freaking Ness, and pretty much everyone else all season long?

That his personal problems aren’t as important as getting the job done. Paste on a smile and decide to keep doing the job or just give it up. That there was no time for wallowing in his own depression:

Eliot: Boo hoo, cry me a river, ya nancy! Tell me, are all hunters as soft as you in the future?

AND AS AWFUL AS IT WAS, IT KEPT HIM GOING UNTIL THINGS STARTED TO TURN HIS WAY AGAIN.

This… wasn’t a one-off pissy comment from Dean to Cas. Because why had Dean needed to suffer through pretty much everything he did in s7 until Cas came back? Bobby laid it out in 7.02:

Bobby: Course. You just lost one of the best friends you ever had, your brother’s in the bell jar, and purgatory’s most wanted are surfing the sewer lines, but you know, yeah, I get it. You’re fine.

But what was the DIRECT CAUSE of all of this? Cas’s actions in s6. This is why he had such a hard time forgiving Cas at first (which he talked about with Emmanuel in 7.17, before he actually DID extend the olive branch and essentially INSTANTLY forgave Cas for EVERYTHING). But as long as Cas was alive, and there, they could fix things. There was still hope that everything could be made right again.

In 7.21 when Cas first woke up, Dean let himself hope (despite Meg’s warning that he wasn’t quite the same) that Cas would progressively “get better,” because no matter how bad things sometimes got, Cas was still his friend, and still someone he relied on, put his faith in, because Cas had always come back to him… I mean, in the “Playing Sorry” scene, the nature of the board game and the moves they make essentially define the dynamic Dean’s struggling with here.

Dean plays first, and starts talking with Cas, but Cas refuses to engage with his questions at all. Instead he talks about something else entirely at the same time playing the game and knocking Dean’s piece back to the start. But Dean knows that Cas has information that can help begin to put this entire mess to rights. They literally have a tablet in their hands that may hold all the answers, and Cas is ALIVE and AWAKE, and he remembers EVERYTHING… and yet he doesn’t even seem to care ABOUT DEAN AT ALL. One of the things Cas can’t engage with due to his sense of abject guilt over IS DEAN. And what he did to Dean at the end of s6 and in 7.01. In his present state, Cas can’t see any way through to redeeming himself to Dean (which was ALL he wanted in 7.01 before the Leviathans took over).

But all season long, Dean’s been fighting mostly alone (or at least that’s how it felt to him) to try and clean up this mess that he’d tried to stop Cas from making in the first place. And goddammit, take ALL of that, Dean’s frustration from s6 and his desperation and loss throughout s7, mix it in a huge pot and serve it up when he’s so close to the finish line of saving the entire planet, knowing Cas holds the final key to taking Dick down… 

And he knows that CAS knows this. Dean’s spent three episodes trying to be understanding, trying to coddle Cas along, hoping HIS Cas that he knows is still in there somewhere, the one whose dying promise in 7.01 had been to redeem himself to Dean, the one who remembered everything and saved Sam in 7.17, the one Dean told they COULD fix it all if they worked together, the one who cares about humanity so much he stood alone against Heaven to save it.

The one Hester accused DEAN of having broken in the first place in 7.21:

DEAN: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back off. We’re actually trying to clean up one of your angel’s messes! You know that.CASTIEL: He’s right. An angel brought the Leviathan back into this world, and – and they begged him. They begged him not to do it.DEAN: Look, just give us some time, okay? We will take care of your Prophet.HESTER: Why should we give you anything… After everything you have taken from us? The very touch of you corrupts. When Castiel first laid a hand on you in Hell, he was lost! For that, you’re going to pay.HESTER walks towards DEAN.CASTIEL: Please. They’re the ones we were put here to protect.HESTER: No, Castiel.HESTER backhands CASTIEL and he falls to the ground. INAIS and the other MALE ANGEL each hold up two fingers to stop DEAN and SAM from going to CASTIEL’s aid.HESTER: No more madness! [She punches CASTIEL.] No more promises! [She punches CASTIEL again.] No more new Gods! [She punches CASTIEL repeatedly and then holds up an angel knife.]

SHE DIRECTLY BLAMES CAS’S FRIENDSHIP WITH DEAN FOR EVERYTHING. “The very touch of you corrupts.”

Meanwhile, Cas is unable to even talk about his own actions in the first person. He’s doing everything he can to distance himself from his guilt. It’s the only way he’s able to engage with everything he’s feeling guilty about. And now Dean’s just got one more item on his checklist of things to feel like shit about– ruining an angel of the Lord– and not even through his actions or words or deeds, but by the simple fact of his existence. He’s poison.

Yet… he’s still fighting. He’s still swinging, until he just can’t anymore. And some combination of desperation over all of this, after a season where he seriously contemplated just giving up so many times, where he cared so little about himself or the fight or just… anything… Cas’s current state is just the last straw.

Look at what Dean tells Kevin in 7.21 about being “chosen”:

DEAN: Oh, I don’t know, man. What can I say? You’ve been chosen. And it sucks. Believe me. There’s no use asking “why me?” ‘Cause the angels – they don’t care. I think maybe they just don’t have the equipment to care. Seems like when they try, it just… breaks them apart.

THAT line always breaks my heart. Because it’s ABOUT CAS. And Dean’s guilt over what’s happened to Cas. HE feels like it’s entirely his fault that Cas is broken apart now.

Cas had done all of this to protect Dean. ALL of it. Including sacrificing himself to heal Sam in 7.17, which directly resulted in his current state.

And back to 7.23, Cas drops the bombshell on them that the entire garrison of angels is dead or in hiding– including the ones who’d been guarding Kevin Tran– and then veers off topic to talk about monkeys because he doesn’t want to get involved, he doesn’t want to fight, and he certainly doesn’t want to feel his personal guilt for yet another loss (of both the angels from his garrison AND the prophet).

This is also the first time that Dean tells Cas they don’t want him to fight, they’re just worried, and they need the information he has about Kevin in order to try and save him:

CASTIEL: I don’t want to fight.DEAN: No, I’m not – [very calmly] we’re worried.CASTIEL: They took him. He’s alive. I felt such responsibility, but it’s in your hands now.DEAN: Wait. Hold on a freakin’ minute.CASTIEL: I feel much better.

It’s in your hands now. As if that just absolved him of all that responsibility.

And that’s… just not how any of this works.

Plus, after what Crowley said:

CROWLEY: Certainly. Oh, bonus. Meg, I’m gonna scoop you up, take you home, and roast you till you’re jerky. [CASTIEL starts to move towards CROWLEY.] But not… yet. Cas can have you for now. Hilariously, it seems he’d be upset at losing you. And the boys need Cas to get Dick. Don’t they, Cas?CASTIEL: Oh, I – I don’t fight anymore.CROWLEY: Come on. Given the particulars of your enemy, sadly, you’re vital.

CAS IS VITAL. They’d can’t get Dick without him. And from Cas’s reaction to Crowley’s assertion there? Cas knows it. He goes so far to avoid that truth as to make the Solidarity Sandwiches in order to dodge his responsibility AGAIN. Because again, he can’t look them in the eyes when he says it:

SAM: And Cas, why was Crowley so certain that you need to come with us?CASTIEL: Crowley’s wrong. I’ll be waiting right here. But please – accept this sandwich as a gesture of solidarity.

When Sam and Dean show up at Sucrocorp the first time, they discover there are MULTIPLE Leviathans who ALL look like Dick. Their weapon only works once, so they can’t afford to bone the WRONG Dick, and they understand. Cas is the only one who can tell them which is the Real Dick. This is why they need Cas. And CAS KNOWS THIS. Yet he deflects AGAIN.

But WHY is he deflecting? Because just like Dean, who’s believed he was “poison,” and has been reminded of it very recently, Cas believes the same of HIMSELF. This is right in Dean’s personal wheelhouse. DEAN GETS IT. But he’s really got a limited set of tools in his personal emotional tool box for coping with that feeling he knows so well… 

This is also where they finally catch up with Bobby, and finally burn the flask keeping his ghost tethered to the planet, and Cas stands in the shadows witnessing Sam and Dean’s loss (that he also feels responsible for) of the closest thing to a father they had. He begins to realize that Dean and he are of a similar mind here…

CASTIEL: I’m not good luck, Dean.DEAN: Yeah, but you know what? Bottom of the ninth, and you’re the only guy left on the bench… Sorry, but I’d rather have you, cursed or not. And anyway, nut up, all right? We’re all cursed. I seem like good luck to you? [CASTIEL stares at DEAN.] What?CASTIEL: Well, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, but I detect a note of forgiveness.DEAN: Yeah, well, I’m probably gonna die tomorrow, so…CASTIEL: Well, I’ll go with you. And I’ll do my best.

And despite Cas still not being able to forgive HIMSELF, he sees that Dean can’t really forgive himself either… yet they’re both able to forgive each other. It’s a start.

This story isn’t about just one or the other of them. It’s about BOTH of them, feeling the same weight of guilt and failure and loss. It doesn’t work unless you see that from both sides, in context of the gravity of the entire story, and what circumstance has taken from BOTH of them.

Which is why they BOTH ended up in Purgatory.

It’s not Dean “being mean” to Cas. And that one comment that Cas completely understood in context– he KNEW he was actively dodging his responsibility. Which is why I feel really uncomfortable labeling this incarnation of Cas “crazy.” Because he’s not. He’s in abject denial, but he isn’t crazy. The moment they land in Purgatory, he makes sure Dean knows what’s happened and where they are, and then takes off running to keep the Leviathans away from Dean. Perfectly lucid, perfectly aware, and doing the only penance he has left to him– protecting Dean by sacrificing himself.

Which is honestly how we got into this whole mess in the first place. It’s not DEAN’s words that drove him to this point. It’s just what angels DO.

Remember, Cas has been a warrior of Heaven for billions of years, reprogrammed at need to follow orders. His entire existence had been nothing but THIS. His notion of “family” in Heaven was an understanding that he had a purpose and a job and a place because of what he DID, not just because of who he WAS. It’s not even something Cas could truly understand yet– what family means to humans as opposed to what it means to angels.

Cas judged his personal worth on how useful he could be, not on the fact that he was someone Dean just cared about REGARDLESS of how useful he could be to them. Sure, in this case Cas was instrumental in fixing things, but no matter how many times Dean has told him he’s family, that they work better together, Cas still doesn’t have a human frame of reference to understand what that means. He will soon enough… *waves at s9 in the distance*

And wow, okay, I just spent nearly 4 hours on this. Wow. But this is important, this is everything, because this right here is the absolute Stone Number One in the foundation of ALL of Dean and Cas’s future relationship. This guilt on BOTH sides, for very different reasons. This feeling that they’re both poison. That they corrupt everything they touch… THIS pushed BOTH of them to find forgiveness in themselves through finding forgiveness in each other. I mean… without this there would BE NO DESTIEL. I mean… that’s the big picture here.

[ahiijny]

an interesting thing I learned today was that global warming might result in a negative leap second sometime in the future

(admittedly the earth's rotation is affected by lots of complicated factors so it might not be that clear-cut, but anyway)

so you may be thinking 'but leap seconds are like a single second? so short! who's going to notice?'

well tbf the impact from these leap seconds is going to be most strongly felt by high precision things like GPS or NTP servers whatever (and the poor devs who have to maintain the software lol) but leap seconds have historically caused unexpected problems in financial markets and all sorts of websites and servers as well, so...

in any case, I find all this really fascinating and pls bear with me while I nerd out a bit about this :P

so normally speaking, the Earth's rotation should be gradually slowing, because the pull of tides from the Moon and so on (though there are other influences too, like fluid flow in the outer core, the movement of Earth's crust, etc. so it's all very complicated)

until recently, the length of a day has been about on average 1-2 milliseconds longer than 24 hours (note that there are seasonal variations though).

1-2 milliseconds may not seem like much, but it adds up over time!

in fact, it's the job of the IERS to monitor the difference between UTC (universal coordinated time) and earth's rotation angle (UT1), and decide when to insert a leap second to prevent them from drifting too far apart

the current version of UTC (as defined by the ITU) requires the difference between UTC and UT1 to be no greater than 0.9 seconds. The IERS typically inserts a leap second when the difference grows to 0.6 seconds.

HERE'S A GRAPH

see, the difference between UTC and Earth's actual rotation angle keeps drifting. UT1 keeps falling behind UTC, so those vertical lines are every time the IERS inserted a leap second, to bring UTC and UT1 back closer together

since UTC is ticking faster than UT1 bc of Earth's rotation slowing, we typically need to insert positive leap seconds for when UTC gets too far ahead

positive leap seconds take the form of an extra time second 23:59:60, which happens at the same instant UTC everywhere around the world

historically, we've needed to insert a leap second every 1-2 years or so

it's not very regular tho, bc the Earth's rotation can vary in unpredictable ways. Even earthquakes and the filling of the three gorges dam had a detectable effect on the Earth's rotation.

but what's this? if you look back up at the graph above, you may notice that the graph seems to flatten out near the end there. Why's this happening?

here's ANOTHER GRAPH (with tiny text sorry)

the squiggly green line here shows the deviation in length of day relative to a SI day (i.e. 86400 SI seconds). Look for the ±0 ms baseline on the left vertical axis.

in the 1970s Earth's rotation was in the range of 1-2 ms longer than an SI day

but recently the length of a day has been shortening, and in 2020, there were a large number of days where the length of a day was actually slightly less than 86400 SI seconds! (mostly by less than a millisecond, but still)

2020 had 28 of the shortest days on record since 1960, and days in 2021 are predicted to be even shorter (note that the difference is on the order of milliseconds... but stillllll)

this is actually why we haven't seen any leap seconds recently. The previous one was in 2016. In fact this is the first time since 2003 when we will have had a 256 week period without leap seconds

and this in fact might cause some GPS systems to bug out hehe. In the widely used gpsd package, there was a recently reported bug "GPSD time will jump back 1024 weeks at after week=2180 (23-October-2021)". This bug happened bc the code author wrongly assumed that leap seconds would be more frequent :3

and if the Earth continues to speed up like this, the IERS may need to insert a negative leap second at some point in the future, to bring UT1 and UTC back closer together

this would take the form of the UTC clock going from 23:59:57 to 23:59:58 and then skipping directly to 00:00:00.

in the history of UTC there has never been a negative leap second, so needless to say software ppl aren't too excited at the prospect of this happening :3

so what's causing the earth's spinning to unexpectedly speed up?

there's been some research that suggests changes in the density and circulation of ocean temperature rises might result in a net transfer of mass to higher latitudes. but the predicted time deviation doesn't fully explain the changes we currently see

there's also the idea that ice melt results in water running downhill, resulting in a redistribution of mass closer to its axis of rotation

but at the same time, a redistribution of ocean mass to the equatorial latitudes would result in mass going farther away from Earth's axis of rotation

or maybe it's just Earth's crust and magma and stuff doing weird things again, who knows!

the Earth's rotational axis isn't static either; it can shift, and that might also change the effective rotational inertia

it's probably a complicated combination of a whole bunch of factors

but anyway, why do we even have leap seconds?

well the main motivation for leap seconds was when we switched from solar time to atomic time around the 1950s-ish. So before our clocks became accurate enough to tell the difference, we just said "yo, a second is 1/86400 of the time it takes for the sun to go all the around the sky, by definition" and that's good enough! the length of a day can vary by a few milliseconds from year to year but we wouldn't have been able to tell the difference.

but gradually timekeeping precision requirements grew so eventually in 1967 a second was defined to be "9,192,631,770 periods of the something something something caesium atom" which was way more precise and good for atomic clocks but bad for keeping the clocks in sync with the sun

so the concern was without leap seconds our atomic-clock-based timescale would drift relative the sun and then eventually we'd have solar noon when our clocks said midnight and vice versa

I mean, sure, that probably wouldn't happen for thousands for years, but procrastination is bad, ok?

but still admittedly leap seconds are somewhat controversial and there's plenty of Discourse™ about this, esp. in academic circles and stuff, so if any of you into that kind of thing here's one possible starting point :3

anyway some ppl have made some code to make predictions based on IERS bulletin A, so based on the latest Earth rotation measurements as of 29 July 2021, and whole bunch of (and I quote) "very large, probably unjustified assumptions"...

expect a negative leap second in the ballpark of June 2029 :3

[kittystargen3]

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13534569/1/Return-of-the-Survivors

Summary: Alternate Universe- What if Anakin's mother survived and Anakin never went dark side. Padme has the twins on Tatooine and survives. Anakin tries to help the surviving Jedi, while still keeping his family secret. Meanwhile Darth Sidious has been crowned emperor and is going after the remaining Jedi. Rumors have it he's looking for a new apprentice. Anakin gets to be a daddy.

I've posted chapter 69 of Return of the Survivors. I am really excited about where this story is going. Below is a small selection, click one of my links to read more.

Chapter 69 - Detective Skywalker

Anakin turned, appraising the room again.

"What!" Lando stood, flabbergasted.  He was shaking his head, and looking like he might puke.  "No.  No.  No."

Anakin hadn't suspected this Lobot character of anything nefarious before.  The man had a cool aura in the Force.

"Lobot doesn't have a thing against Han," Lando spoke again.  "There's no reason why he would do this." He tried to type a message into his wrist communicator, and waited for a reply that didn't come.  He was frustratingly starting to tap on the device when Anakin suggested another plan.

"Take me to his quarters," Anakin ordered.

Lando looked down and gulped. "L-Lobot doesn't really have quarters."

Luke and Leia both gave him dirty looks.

"I tried.  He insisted it would be a waste of space, since he doesn't sleep.  Lobot hasn't been himself since he had to stop fighting that implant.  He's mostly computer now.  But he wouldn't turn against Han."

"Where does he spend most of his time?" Anakin revised the question.

"Wait! Aren't we going to go after them?" Luke protested.

"Go after them where?" Obi-Wan calmly countered, and Luke deflated.

Anakin knew the best way to help their friend was to figure this mystery out.  And the best place to gather clues is either your suspect's quarters, or his work space.

"Lobot works everywhere, but he spends most of his time in the Central Computer Hub." Lando got up and pointed with his finger.  "It's this way."

***

Anakin followed Lando to a round building in the middle of the city.  He waved at a security droid and the doors all opened for them, one after another.

“This is it.” Lando waved at the last room they entered.  “I know it isn’t much, but like I said, Lobot is a man of few needs.”

Anakin walked in and took in the motherboard in front of him.  The space didn't have any personal effects, and there was no keyboard to access the computer in a normal way.

“Is this how he accesses the main computer?” Obi-Wan asked, referencing a neural interface helmet, attached by wires to one of the only sets of outlets.

Anakin right away ignored the device and looked at the built in screen, which featured computer coding, all in binary.

“Uh, no.  Lobot’s implants connect him to the computer constantly.  I didn’t even know we had one of those, to be honest.”

“Get C3-PO in here,” Anakin ordered.  Luke stepped out of the room and returned a short while later with the golden protocol droid.

“Yes Master.  What may I help you with?” said C3-PO.

Anakin pointed up at a section of the display.  “The coding is changing.  Do you see a pattern, or is it just me?”

“Oh, yes.  The baseline codes are being rewritten.  You either have a virus or a hacker.   I’m glad R2-D2 isn’t here.  He would’ve connected to these computers without thinking, then who knows how he would’ve been affected.”

Lando’s eyes went wide.  “Lobot.  He mentioned something to me today about time missing on his chart, then he told me to ignore it.  I thought it was strange, but I didn’t think...  Wait.  Is this what is affecting Lobot? I know the man’s mind is more computer than human, but could a hacker really be controlling him?”

“There’s one way to find out.” Anakin stepped closer to the neural interface. “Did his implants blend with the computer here fully?”

Obi-Wan looked back and forth between the two of them.  ‘What are you thinking,’ he asked over their bond.  The question was written all over his face as well.

“Yes.  He said once he doesn’t even have to be on Bespin.  The computer here is still constantly feeding him information.”

“Wait!  You’re not really going to…” Obi-Wan protested.

Anakin reached out and held the neural interface.  “I need to see what’s been affecting him.  If it’s a virus, I can learn it’s coding.  That way we can isolate it from out here.  If it is a hacker, I may be able to seal him in one of the subroutines while I’m in there.”

“And what if it attacks you?” Obi-Wan asked.

“I don’t have computerized implants.  They won’t be able to affect me.” Anakin said.  ‘Maybe lock me in a folder, or give my brain a powerful zap just for trying, but we won’t mention that.’

Obi-Wan looked at him as if he could read those last thoughts.  Anakin knew he couldn’t.  His shield’s were up.  After a moment Obi-Wan sighed and nodded.  “Alright.  You’ll go in there.  I’ll have C3-PO continue to monitor the network, and I can communicate anything significant over the bond.”

Anakin nodded, and began to attach the device to his head.  Fortunately this was a newer model neural interface, and wouldn’t require him to shave his head to use it.  He gave Obi-Wan a thumbs up, and he pressed the button to activate it.  Anakin’s vision went white...

[destinationdeadpool]

Disney 2022 Day 3: Hollywood Studios and the Day Kelly Tried to Kill Me.

We had to head home today, so we were up early to pack and load the car before heading to the park. This time, Nathan took pictures of where we left the car so we wouldn't have a repeat of the Epcot incident. While Kelly stopped to get her scooter for the day, the rest of us hauled butt to the back of the park to get in line for Slinky Dog Dash since we weren't able to snag a lightning lane for it. Our plan paid off (along with getting into the park 30 minutes early as resort guests) and we got in line before they'd even opened the ride. We waited maybe 20 minutes. By the time we got off, the wait time was up to 60 minutes so our plan was solid. Andrea and I mobile ordered breakfast Ronto wraps from Galaxy's Edge and ran over there to get them while Kelly and Nathan waited for Woody's Lunchbox to open so they could get lunchbox tarts. After a nutritious space breakfast (complete with space Diet Coke for me and blue milk for Andrea), it was time for our Individual Lightning Lane for Rise of the Resistance. I love that ride so much and the line gets so long, but we waited like 5 minutes. Well worth the extra cost in my opinion.

After we escaped the First Order and crash landed on the rebel base, it was back to Toy Story Land to ride Midway Mania. If you look at the scores, I won this time but my wonderful wife likes to point out that her accuracy was twice mine. What can I say? Sometimes spray and pray is the way to go lol . We got off the ride and were discussing what to do next. I *really* wanted to see the Beauty and the Beast stage show so we were heading over there when it happened. I felt something hit me from behind. Kelly had lost control of the scooter and accidentally run into me. She took a solid chunk out of the back of my heel. I wasn't even going to stop to look until I realized my foot was kinda sliding around in my sandal... sat down on a curb to check and realized I was bleeding pretty good. Andrea and Nathan went to find ice and paper towels and wash out my shoe and in the meantime a nice cast member came over to check on me. The medical team ended up coming over and patching me up, at one point there were like six or seven cast members circled around forming a wall. It made me feel kinda self conscious to be honest, but I appreciated the sentiment. They got Kelly a new scooter and a wheelchair for me. I wasn't gonna accept the chair but then I stood up and realized I could barely walk on my heel. The original cast member who stopped even got us VIP seating for the 1 pm Beauty and the Beast show.

All the drama had made us hungry, so we headed over to Baseline Taphouse for lunch. Andrea and I had some delicious strawberry lemonade while Nathan got an amazing strawberry hibiscus soda. We shared a huge pretzel with some of the best beer cheese I've ever eaten, a charcuterie board with really good cheese and salami and a coffee-rubbed steak puff that was phenomenal. After lunch it was time for dessert. I mean, is it truly a Disney trip without a Mickey Premium Bar?

After our ice cream, it was time for Beauty and the Beast!!! There is a SLIGHT chance I POSSIBLY cried a little bit. I will neither confirm nor deny.

I don't think Nathan was as excited as we were for the show, but hey, we got to sit in the shade under big fans for a half hour. Could have been worse!!!

The show was so good!!! I recommend anyone see it but doubly so if you're a big Beauty and the Beast fan.

After this it was time for our lightning lane for Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway. That ride is so cute and I love it so much! Then, Kelly and Nathan had to get to their Oga's Cantina reservation and Andrea and I headed over to the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. I hadn't seen it since the 90s and this was the first time it had been open since Andrea started coming to Disney World! It holds up surprisingly well.

We met up with Kelly and Nathan again afterwards for a little bit, did a little bit of shopping and then Andrea and I had to go, since our flight left at 7:30.

The trip home was an absolute comedy of errors. I parked the rental car in the wrong place, and had to limp back down and move it to the right spot. We got a wheelchair to get down the concourse and through security which helped immensely, but we couldn't get Andrea's boarding pass pulled up for a bit which was a HUGE pain. Then our flight was delayed. I was getting SUPER nervous because we didn't have that much of a layover in Dallas. We landed in Dallas and OF COURSE our connection was on the other side of the concourse so we had to book it (as much as I could). We literally made it to the gate as the plane started boarding. I was pretty convinced our luggage was NOT going to make it home.

The best part of the trip home was the plane from Dallas to Colorado Springs. It was a newer plane and seemed to take into account that larger people like to fly too. We could actually use our tray tables and didn't need the seatbelt extenders!!! I even managed a bit of a nap. We were home and in our beds by 12:30 am. It was a quick trip but SO much fun. We have a cruise booked in April as well as some park time so stay tuned!!!

[m-dubita-beale-blog]

Sometimes the Holidays get you in your Feelings.........

 Guess i have a thing for getting songs stuck in my head. They do say the best way to get rid of one is to find another to replace it so i guess that’s what i did. Today’s groove invading my personal thought space is an Erykah Badu joint called “Didnt Cha Know” and the baseline is just so infectious you just feel it. Its crazy i watched her recent performance on BET for the Soultrain Awards and it was so good that i started thinking “man i would love to see her live”. literally days later this song pops in my head, so i google her and sure enough she will soon be in San Francisco playing at the Warfield on December 28th which isnt this Friday but the next one. Of course i have to go obviously, ill go alone if i have to but whatever we’re getting off topic its an amazing song give it a listen while i get some bullshit off my chest.                                                        https://youtu.be/9IRKiYlTj5g  (Song of the day)

Damn.........*sigh*                                                                                                              I need a good woman in my life. I wanna want to do all the cute shit together. I wanna do/have “We and Us type shit” together.

      I hope shes fine as fuck. Beautiful, Gorgeous, cute, all the adjectives. I want her to make me have to pause every time i see her just because i need to think to myself “DAMN”, especially without make up on. I don’t really have any unrealistic standards of beauty or anything like that. I just apologetically like what i like and we can get into specifics of what that is another time but If you don’t look at someone and feel proud to be next to them then that’s a problem. I wanna look at her and see possible future outcomes, short or long term i wanna see her and say “i want ALL OF THOSE PROBLEMS”. 

    Don’t get me wrong, attraction is very important, it helps with initial interactions because it holds your attention(Gravitation: F = Gm1m2/r2 ). So much to see, take in, and appreciate. Eyes are the window to the soul and all that shit But its about the vibe as well. Its the same with any other species on planet Earth, large group of the same animals together and one mating call or dance or ritual wont work for everyone but it does for someone. Chemistry is so Real, its the substance in which every friendship(no matter how small) is built upon. like all foundations there are some stronger than others and its a beautiful thing when there’s a connection you can feel and comes with common interests attached to it. 

      Attraction+mutual vibes via conversation and shared experiences leads to increase of chemistry which is a nice recipe for cultivating love for each other as long as both parties aren’t fucking it up. Are all of these things really too much to ask for in 2018? Is it too tall an order? Personally i don’t think so, i don’t feel it is because i have experienced first hand having these things before.......but i kinda, sorta fucked that up. 

    In the back of my mind i have a lingering unpleasant concern. What if that was my chance and i blew it? One thing leads to another your life is changing, its getting harder to imagine life before them, your lives are intertwined in such a symbiotic way and then suddenly things fall apart. Who you once called your best friend you can only call a stranger you used to know. What seemed to be star crossed shined to bright, went supernova and burned itself out until it was no more.(Fuck i really need to stop thinking about my Ex)

  Moving forward i don’t doubt that there will be new women to come into my life and that ill put my past behind me or at least just appreciate it as the learning experience that it is but i cant help but ask the “what if’s”. I find it annoyingly funny the way we have all had a moment where we contemplate a decision we regret but in the exact same breathe we say “well actually you know, if i never did that then these things wouldn't have happened” looking on the bright side at the silver lining. Don’t that be some shit? 

Whatever, point is you can never exaggerate when saying you never truly appreciate something until its gone and if i ever find myself in a position with a fine ass woman who vibes with me to the point where we appreciate and care about each other to the point where we push one another to do better. Genuinely wish success upon each other in whatever form our goals, ambitions, or dreams take and flowers bloom. I will do everything in my power try not to not take her for granted and make that shit work...........who knows, maybe she likes listening to Erykah Badu too.................