Radiant_sir_radiant

Yes, I'm aware of that. I just hope Vladimir is, too. At any rate he cannot be allowed to hold the whole world* hostage by playing chicken with unsubstantiated threats. The sooner he is stopped the better.

(* Except for China and his other buddies he's scared of, of course. Which is somewhat ironic, considering how young Communist China used to be such a fan of the USSR, which in turn treated its poor and underdeveloped neighbour with so thinly veiled contempt. How the tables have turned...)

Putin has effectively vowed (and for the better part of three years also attempted) to slaughter them anyway. To them the threat of nukes just translates to "if you don't stop fighting back while I try to kill you, I will try to kill you even harder!" That certainly wouldn't stop me, that's for sure.

I'm very glad that nothing important depends on my opinion on this and I can freely theoretize and rant, but I doubt Putin would use nukes so easily. At his core he's still a coward, and he has to know that the 'West' couldn't afford to not react to Russia nuking a European country.

Having said that, even if the threat of Russia using nukes were very real, it shouldn't weaken our resolve to support Ukraine and put a stop to Russia's aggression. Because no matter the circumstances, people like Putin cannot be allowed to have any way of forcing the world to stand back and let them commit crimes at will.
Throughout history, appeasement has never worked in anybody's favour except the aggressor's. If it turns out that a nuclear retaliatory strike in response to a Russian nuclear attack on another country really is what it takes to stop Putin, then so be it. It can't be worse in the long term than letting him just take whatever he wants. In that case I just wish we could get this over with already.

I was thinking about something like this (link to evil employee-exploiting megacorp ahead - booo!): J1772 to NEMA 5-15 adapter in tandem with a 110-240V to 27.6V power supply with a bit of oomph (like this, provided we're talking about lead batteries) should give you access to several charge points in most towns. Assuming that I'm not missing a problem that's obvious to you.

Is there a way for us to exchange small pieces of information in private? No promises but I might be able to help you out with the hardware.

If a mains connection would help bridge the gap, couldn't you get one of those Type-1 adaptors and plug in on an EV charging point every now and then?
I'm aware that that's not how you're supposed to use a charger, but under the hood it's simple enough and should get you access to a 120 resp. 240 volt socket pretty much anywhere.

No argument there, sadly.

AFAIK chalets and similar small residences are exempt. The law applies mostly to 'normal' houses.
You have family in Switzerland?

What I thought my life would be and where it landed are opposed.

"We set out to change the world... and ended up changing ourselves."
"What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing."

What happens after six days?

FWIW, I enjoy your posts here (even though I don't read them all - not because they're not well-written, but because I severely limit my exposure to political news and discussions as a form of self-care). That's a rather insignificant statement as far as it concerns your search for a purpose, but it comes with a money-back guarantee, so at the very least there's that.

I'd also have liked to PM you to ask if there's anything I could do for you from halfway around the globe, but Lemmy still seems ill-equipped to facilitate private conversations. I'm serious about it though.

I'm currently alternating between the normal holiday stress, the anxiety that comes with watching the world going to hell, and being grateful for having it so good.

A while ago I have picked up the habit of regularly reminding myself how privileged I am in many aspects, and this has made me an immensely more grateful (and also more humble) person. I've also found new ways to be more mindful both towards myself and others in the process.

At the same time the whole world seems to go crazy around us. This week another European country close to us has recommended that people stock up on cash in case of 'infrastructure failure' due to hybrid warfare or other acts of sabotage.

We're Swiss so by law our basement has a small shelter made of 35cm (a foot and a bit) of reinforced concrete. Ours is filled with food and water, medical supplies, uninterruptible power (it's also used as a server room) and camping supplies. Funny enough that's less of a prepper thing and more of a "there's enough space down here and stuff doesn't get in the way" situation, but I find myself spending more time down there lately because it's oddly comforting.

My rescue dog has been dreaming a lot lately, and I suspect many of these dreams are nightmares; she used to have these regularly when she moved in with us three years ago. I wonder if she's picking up unusual vibes from me or it's something entirely in her own head.

On a more positive note: the holidays ahead promise to be mostly peaceful, and so far most people in my extended family seem to remember our mutual no-presents pact. What more could one ask for?

What scares me (living in a comparatively sane country) is that even though on most levels I'm fully aware that this is actually happening right now, a part of my mind keeps insisting that the thought of any of this being real is an absolutely ridiculous idea. It just seems way too dystopian to have anything in common with reality.

All the strength and luck to those who find themselves in the same situation as the author(s).

Depending on mood and company, sorted from "aww" to "eww":

• Love, Actually
• A Nightmare Before Christmas
• Die Hard
• Santa's Slay
• The Last Christmas in the Universe (La última navidad del universo)

In principle it makes sense to give various electrical things in your house a way to talk to each other. For example we have a PV system with a small battery, a boiler connected to the central oil heating with a supplemental electrical heating coil and a wallbox. Before any excess sun is pushed back into the grid, our house will first charge the battery, heat our water (saving oil) and ask the car if it would like to be topped up. Additionally there are several smart power meters to keep an eye on the grid and various parts of the house. In theory we could also tell our washing machine to prefer homemade electricity, though when we want our laundry done we want it done now, so that's not going to happen.

These are all systems from different manufacturers and need a LAN connection to talk to each other, and in some cases get other parts to do certain things in order for the system to work.
In our case that network segment is isolated from the internet, though that requires some above-average skills and dedication. Most PV owners just want a nice app with lots of shiny diagrams and can't be arsed to set up their own IT infrastructure. Most manufacturers want the dumbest possible devices connected to a cloud solution because a) it moves most things that could break (buggy software) from the customer's premises to them (never mind what happens if/when their cloud breaks), b) it makes it very easy for their app to access all data, c) it gives them a copy of the data, and d) it lets them sell you subscriptions.

So in a nutshell, it's the same problem as everywhere a computer is involved - until after something really bad has happened, security is just that annoying thing that doesn't add any value but makes things more expensive and more complicated for everyone involved.