It may well just be me at Christmas time.
I’ve posted pictures of my Christmas tree over the years. It’s 14 feet tall and plastic. My daughter, Vanessa, persuaded me to stop using real trees about a decade ago and I must admit plastic ones are easier cause the lights are already attached (but I add some red heart-shaped lights). It’s also easy to put up but the decorating part takes 2 days each way…2 days to put up and 2 days to take down and this Holiday I’ll be on my own to do it…with a very tall ladder.

Still, I’m going to do it. I decided today. I’ll start the day after Thanksgiving. I mean, if I’m going to do it I might as well have it up a full month.

My squirrel can see the tree through the window. She’s quite fat now. We’re talking liposuction fat. Should I stop feeding her? There are squirrel experts among you that’s why I’m asking. BTW, when I’m late putting peanuts (in their shells) in her feeder, she comes onto my porch and looks through the window for me.

Most of my time these days is spent writing climate articles and my opening for our weekly virtual Fire Drill Fridays and reading. I read about a book a week. I stop everything around 6pm, watch the Rachel Maddow show and then scroll around for shows to watch. I’ve pretty much scraped the bottom of the barrel watching things I never thought I’d see. I won’t name names. But last night, the new season of “The Crown” started and it’s really good. Also, a multi-parter on Showtime about Ronald Reagan which tells the real story of his rise and the effect he had on American politics. Finally the truth!

I did it myself. It took 2 days. I put the TV music station on a listened to cool jazz. My college music.

The Kraken is a gigantic sea monster from Scandinavian folklore that rises up from the ocean to devour its enemies. It's also become an internet meme representing a sprawling, unsubstantiated set of claims that purport to outline the case for widespread fraud in the US presidential election.

Pro-Trump groups including QAnon conspiracy theorists have amplified the idea under the hashtag #ReleaseTheKraken, and it's being widely shared by those supporting the legal campaign to challenge the election results.

Lawyer Sidney Powell - who was until recently part of Donald Trump's legal team and is now acting independently - has described the case she was mounting as a "Kraken" that, when released, would destroy the case for Democrat Joe Biden having won the US presidency.

However, once the documents, almost 200 pages of them, were released, it became clear they consisted predominantly of conspiracy theories and unfounded allegations that have already been widely debunked. Some of these claims have already been rejected in court cases, while others - such as accusations that voting machines are part of a plot originating under former Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez - are not backed up with any credible evidence. Ms Powell did not respond to a BBC request for comment.

Hundreds have been killed and tens of thousands forced to flee their homes in Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous country, as federal troops battle rebels in the northern Tigray region.

The Guardian's Jason Burke explains what sparked the conflict, why it threatens to destabilise the Horn of Africa – and examines how the prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, the continent's youngest leader, has gone from winning a Nobel peace prize to presiding over a bloody conflict against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF)

Could Tigray conflict turn Ethiopia into a 'Libya of east Africa'?

When a truck hauling potassium hydroxide crashed into a jackknifed truck on the Brent Spence Bridge at 2:45 a.m. Wednesday, the driver didn't have time to grab the hazmat paperwork before jumping out of the vehicle, according to 911 calls.

Driver's 911 calls from the crash on the northbound deck of Brent Spence Bridge describe moments of chaos as they try to distance themselves from the crash.

The Old Dominion semi driver who crashed into a jackknifed truck tells dispatchers that he's carrying Hazmat but does not know what it was.
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The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said a commercial motor vehicle truck jackknifed for an unknown reason before being struck by the Old Dominion truck carrying potassium hydroxide crashed into it. Emergency management personnel said 400 gallons of diesel fuel was the main cause of the fire. The fire, which burned for two hours, burned at up to 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit, investigators said.

The Brent Spence Bridge is closed until further notice and inspections could take days.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Wednesday's fiery crash on the Brent Spence Bridge should be an impetus for Ohio and Kentucky coming together to get the long-promised expansion project completed. Beshear said that inspectors made it on to the bridge Thursday morning to begin an examination of the damage the collision between two trucks caused.

Beshear told Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky residents to prepare for its primary river crossing to be closed into December. "We are looking at weeks, perhaps more than a month," Beshear said Thursday. "We have repairs that will take weeks to execute."

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Nov. 12, 2020) – Today, Gov. Andy Beshear and Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) Secretary Jim Gray provided a public update on the progress of an emergency project to repair and reopen the fire-damaged Brent Spence Bridge between Covington and Cincinnati, Ohio.

The bridge, which carries Interstate Highways 71 and 75 across the Ohio River, was closed to traffic in the wake of a crash early Wednesday morning involving two commercial motor vehicles that sparked an intense fire. Crews worked through the night, Wednesday into Thursday, to clear the bridge of debris and allow access to a corps of about 20 inspectors and engineers.

“Everyone recognizes the importance of the Brent Spence Bridge and the entire I-71 and I-75 corridor. We are committed – fully committed – to reopening this bridge as quickly as we can, provided it is fully safe for everyone that would cross it,” the Governor said. “I want to emphasize our need for patience and also planning for your personal and business disruption that’s going to be occurring for at least the next several weeks. We need a little patience as well until we can give you an official timeline.”

Secretary Gray spent Thursday at the bridge and offered this assessment of damage and the challenge ahead.

“We are taking vigorous steps with the most talented engineers in order to assess the damage and get the bridge reopened to traffic,” Secretary Gray said. “But we know under fully the best case, we have repairs that will take weeks to execute. So, it is important that our businesses, our commercial traffic and residents prepare for this.”