As of yesterday the UK rules for owning and flying a drone in the UK changed.

Previously I only required an operators id to fly my Dji Mini 4 pro because it came in at 249g. Getting an operators id wasn’t hard as long as you had the pennies to pay for it you could get it. The only hassle about it, if you can call it that, is it needs renewing each year. The operators id needs displaying somewhere on the drone itself.

As of yesterday to fly my drone I needed to also have a flyer id. To get a flyer id you need to take a forty question multiple choice test. Which is free to take, and you can take as many times as you like until you get a pass (which is 30 out 40 questions right). This flyer id is valid for five years.

So on New Year’s Eve I took the online test and passed first time (34/40). It’s not as impressive as it sounds. You can refer to the drone code as it’s called during the test. In fact they actively encourage it. One thing I did like at the end was for the ones you got wrong it gives the correct answer.

I will also need from the start of 2028 make sure that my drone transmits a remote id. Technically drones transmitting a remote id kicks in from yesterday too. However “legacy” drones have a transition period before they have to. My drone falls into this “legacy” area.

I’ve looked into if my drone can be upgraded in some way to do this and the answer is technically yes. It can do it now if I use the enhanced batteries with it. Which I think I may have.

Another new requirement as of yesterday is if flying at night the drone has to have a flashing green light on it. Which I believe mine has but when using the camera it may switch off. I need to investigate this more.

I haven’t done much with my drone. But I want to. And the plan is to. Like my Dji action 4 camera I want to do more with them. However I’m not sure how I’m going to use them because I want to avoid using, or falling back on the tropes and cliches currently in vogue with outdoor videos. I’ll leave my subconscious to ponder that one for me in the background.

It’s been a rough couple of days as we work through the grieving process. Nico for such a small dog has left such an enormous hole behind.

But even while grieving and having much needed emotional support cuddles with the rest of the little monsters, I have bought another game.

The majority of my game purchases these days are ones of opportunity.

I belong to a UK board gaming facebook group that not only chats about games but also allows the selling and buying of games.

It has been known that on a daily basis for members of the group to post collections or games they no longer have room for or want for sale to those of us who don’t have enough games.

It’s these listings that I usually buy from these days, especially if it’s a game I’ve been after for a while.

One such purchase of opportunity from this group has been another copy of Dark Moon.

Dark Moon started life as a streamlined, dice version of Battlestar Galactica. Naturally being an ip licensed to FFG it was never going to see the light of day with that theme. Not unless FFG picked up the game. Which they didn’t. So it got released as Dark Moon by Stronghold.

Stronghold did release an expansion for the game that I never bought at the time. Then over the years the game and expansion fell out of print. Which made it harder to find a copy of the expansion when I remembered to look for it.

Which brings me to this purchase.

The seller was not only selling the core game but also the expansion. They couldn’t be separated because they were in one box. However at the price being asked I didn’t mind. Getting the expansion separately would easily cost me the asking price if not more on eBay (if it was available).

So I snapped it up.

This sort of opportunity was how I ended up with Discworld Ankh-Morpork.

Obviously I do pre-order stuff (mainly expansions these days) or buy stuff I come across via reviews. But those later ones I also count as purchases of opportunity because they were unplanned.

I’m hoping this sort of serendipity will eventually get me the Fallout expansion New California (at a reasonable price).

It’s taken a day or two for me to write this post.

Last Thursday, early Friday morning the news broke that Ace Frehley, the original lead guitarist and founding member of KISS passed away.

Like the passing of Diogo Jota earlier in the year, the news of his passing hit me pretty hard.

I’ve been a KISS fan since 1982 when I first heard them round my best friend Kevin’s house. The album he played to me was Love Gun.

KISS were my first gig (De Montfort Hall, Leicester 1983). Ace had left by then, KISS had taken the make up off, and Vinnie Vincent was on lead guitar. Eric Carr had his drum set on the tank turret that was a left over from the creatures tour.

It wasn’t until March 1988, a month after the passing of my grandad that I had what can only be described as a three day high! It started off attending a record signing by Ace at a record store in Kingston Upon Thames. I drove there with a friend that I was studying with at Brighton Poly.

This signing and the gig two days later were the first Ace had here in the UK playing as a solo artist since leaving KISS.

So after queuing for an age I finally got to briefly meet Ace and the rest of Frehleys Comets, and get his ep signed. My friend kindly got a copy signed for my brother.

After the signing I headed back east and home.

As I said two days later myself, my brother, my best friend Kevin, and our childhood partner in crime Ginette drove down to the Hammersmith Odeon to see Ace play live.

It was a magical three days, I was on a natural high. Not only had I met my hero. But I’d seen him play in his only UK gig.

Jump forward to 1996 at my local in Guildford they had a fancy dress party (I think for Halloween). I went as Ace from the Dressed to Kill album.

As the photo below shows with the wig I made a pretty good Ace.

It took me an age to put the make up on.

The lazy part was I could get away with wearing a suit, and didn’t have to try and recreate one of Ace’s stage outfits.

There is another photo (full length) but I’ve been unable to locate it.

In 1996 I went by myself to see KISS headline Donington as part of the reunion tour. At the time it was the only UK reunion tour, but they announced further UK dates at the concert.

I was front and centre for this one. There was no way I was going to move from my spot. If I needed to answer the call of nature I was more than prepared to pee my pants. Luckily I didn’t need to go. Somehow my bladder held out for an incredibly long time.

This was a dream come true. The original KISS lineup in full makeup. And I was front row for it.

I then saw them with Kate at Wembley full makeup up, I think that was the Psycho Circus tour. And that was without Peter on the drums.

I feel lucky that I got to see the original line up in make up. Plus see and meet Ace as a solo artist.

Ace was my favourite member of KISS. A hero of mine.

Ace bought so much joy to my life. Gave me probably one of my most memorable life moments. Yes meeting him in 1988 was that impactful.

I hope his friends and family are finding some comfort from the outpouring of love from fans.

RIP Space Ace.