02 September 2022
=================

So, the 9 Euro ticket we had for the last three months is history now, and it
seems it will be at least a few months before our politicians decide to make
something on this line again. At least it showed that people DO use public 
transportation if its cheap. On my way to work today i could observe that the
train seems to be much less populated than the weeks before, but this could 
also be a pure coincidence, so lets see. 

The weather is somewhat weird: A few days ago it was still unimaginable hot and
now it seems we jumped from the height of summer right into autumn, but still
no rain in sight. The autumn feeling outside matches the mood of most of my 
coworkers and friends: Somehow now every discussion turns really fast into one
of those doom-and-gloom "we are heading for collapse" discussions. Its weird 
to realize that i am not the one crank in a group anymore that predicts bad 
things on the horizon... but i am not sure if that is a good sign. 

After spending my day off-work yesterday with cleaning up the house a bit i 
rediscovered a box with books i had stored away a few years ago. In there was
the hard-cover version of S.M. Sterlings "The Domination", its a mix of 
alternative history, retro-futurism and, well, "awesome brutal weirdness" i 
would best describe it. It more or less paints a picture where the american war
for independence went a bit different, slave owners emigrated to south Afric
build a slave empire there, somehow got very rich, subdued later the Nazis and
later won WW3. It is totally political incorrect, portraying a totally
horrifying world and acts of total depravity... but the fascinating thing i
find in this book is that the author is successful in making you sympathize 
with the protagonists - which in part are members of the slave holding society.

If you have a strong stomach it IS a nice and entertaining read... though it is
totally weird sometimes.