Hummingbirds

Kind of sad today.  I had to deal with another hummingbird death.  This was one that regularly used the feeder outside my kitchen window.  I knew something was wrong because yesterday I had seen it perched on the feeder looking a bit worse for wear - it's feathers were messed up and it was breathing heavily.  I went outside to have a closer look, and it didn't fly away - which is unusual.  My first thought was this was a good opportunity to take a photo of a hummingbird, so I went inside to fetch my phone and returned outside.  But this time the bird flew into the nearby tree, so I assumed it was just a bit tired and everything was okay again.  But later in the day as I was topping up the water in my feeders, I noticed the same hummingbird on the ground underneath the feeder.  It did not look in a good state.  It was alive, but barely.  Didn't know what to do.  Should I try to help it, or should I put it out of its suffering.  I picked it up with the plan of taking it to the feeder.  And that's when I noticed it had a leech or a slug attached underneath it.  Not good.  I removed it, but there was blood.  Yikes.  The bird was still alive, but not for long. I wonder if I could have done better - I don't think I could have done anything to save it, but I wonder if I could have eased it's suffering earlier.  The moral of the story - don't ask me to make any end of life decisions.  But on the bright side, just this evening I saw a different hummingbird using that same feeder outside my kitchen window.  Hummingbirds are extremely territorial, so it didn't take long for another one to claim this feeder. 

England 2-1 Norway (aet)

I should feel elated when England win a World Cup quarter-final.  But nope, that is not the emotion I feel.  Instead, it is a sense of exhaustion and relief.  Much like the match against Mexico, they don't make it easy do they.  Another tense and nervy win.  And this one included quite a lot of luck.  We were largely outplayed, they hit the crossbar, our goal should never have counted since the ball hit an overhead wire in the lead up, and there were a number of dodgy officiating decisions that went our way.  But we somehow did it - helped by the fact that we have one or two superstars that can make the difference, such as Bellingham.  I think the conditions didn't exactly help make this a free-flowing match - why you have to hold a quarter-final in a hot, humid, outdoor stadium rather than one of the many air-conditioned indoor stadiums I don't know.  I suspect there is politics and corruption at play again.  It feels like of all the World Cup quarter-finalists, we are the ones that have had to travel the most and play in the worst conditions.  

Trail Cam June-July

A few of the more interesting photos captured by my trail cam over the last 3 weeks or so.  No bears, but lots of birdlife, something small that may be an opossum (something I have seen before in my yard, but never photographed), a coyote that appears to have caught something big (maybe a chicken - since I know some neighbors have them in their yards) and a pair of raccoons that were apparently going up my driveway this morning. 

The Bayeux Tapestry

I note that the British Museum is soon going to have the Bayeux Tapestry available to view in an exhibition.  That is something I would like to see.  Unfortunately I don't think I will.  It appears that all tickets are already sold out this year.  Which is kind of annoying, to say the least (not that I would be around much to see it!).  Maybe I can still get tickets for next year, but realistically the only time I could go is very early January.  I fear I will miss out.  And although I'm considering it, I'm not even sure whether it is worth becoming a member of the museum just to increase my odds of getting a ticket.  Oh well, there are thousands of other important historical artifacts that I should probably try to see instead.      

Rest Day

What's this... no football today?  It feels like the first time in an absolute age.  Without the distraction, I did find I had a much more productive day of work.  What is interesting is that with the World Cup going on, I have totally neglected to follow any other sports.  For example, I have absolutely no idea what is going on in Wimbledon.  When I checked this evening, I was shocked to see some British guy I've never heard of in the semi-finals.  What have I missed? 

Fiber Internet

Some good news today.  I found out that I can now get fiber internet installed at my place.  This wasn't the case last week.  I phoned up to check availability, and they said they'd look into it.  I guess they did, and now it seems like it's a possibility.  Though they never got back to me to let me know, which seems like an oversight.  Nonetheless, I will definitely get it installed - probably right after my trip back to the UK.  It will be so good to finally drop my cable company - who I've had so many problems with over the years, and who I pay way too much to, and who I hate.       

USA vs Belgium As It Happened

Pre-game: I have decided I want Belgium to win.  It's an absolute disgrace that Trump got involved to get that US player's red card rescinded.  Stinks of corruption at the highest level.  I don't care whether he deserved the red card or not in the first place, that's not the point.  This is yet another example of one of my biggest fears about this World Cup - that politics will get involved.  Just like the Somalian referee getting denied entry into the US.  This is about the integrity of the game.  In much the same way that there should be a third political party in the US but there never will be, there should be a legitimate challenger to FIFA in hosting the World Cup.

Quarter-time: Damn hydration breaks (though, in fairness, they have probably helped England).  Some random thoughts.  Lumen Field (Seattle Stadium) normally has artificial turf, and the grass on this pitch looks artificial.  But I haven't read about any player complaints about the surface, so I assume it is OK.  Belgium deserving the lead - they have looked the better team.  The US have looked nervous.  And I don't think they are anywhere near as good as all the US pundits and coverage would suggest.  It comes across as arrogance, and Belgium had already been overlooked before the game started - even though I think this game is a toss-up.  

Half-time: apparently the US are the only team I've seen at the World Cup that are actually a free-kick threat.  But didn't take long for Belgium to respond.  The US defense looks very shaky.  The presence of Chris Richards reminds me that there are so many Crystal Palace players, both former and present, at this World Cup,  This fact has even come up in US commentary at times.  Nice.  It seems like a weird atmosphere in the crowd.  Almost a disbelief that they're losing.  It's where having a passionate, knowledgeable and natural fan base is lacking.  These are mostly fair weather fans, especially knowing how much many of these people paid for their tickets.  Ludicrously expensive.  Fox persists in using Alexi Lalas in their studio analysis of the game at half-time - even though everyone hates him.  But then what do you expect from Fox who are also trying to shove James Cordon's post-show down our throats, even though everyone hates him as well.    

Three-quarter time: soft, soft goal to concede.  Don't see the US coming back now.  To be honest, grown a little bored of the game, and got distracted by my iPhone.  My friend was downtown today, and said that the bars were the most crowded he has ever seen.  And he has lived in Seattle all his life.  I think I'm at an age where uncomfortably watching a game in a packed pub doesn't appeal to me in the same way it used to.  I'd much rather watch the game in front of the telly with a small group of friends.  I think what this game needs is a bit more edge.  The problem is that neither of these teams excel at the dark arts.  As much as I hate them, they are part of the game - and a big part of why Argentina are so good.  It also made the France-Paraguay game a lot more interesting than it should have been!

Full-time.  Wa-wa!  Goodbye USA.  You were not good today.  Be interesting to see the reaction.  Someone will take the blame - probably the manager.  And I'm also curious what happens after all the US hype has evaporated.  This could be a big blow to "soccer"'s popularity in the US - the US people don't like losing.  Even though they had absolutely no realistic chance of winning the World Cup.  Seattle will now be known as the location of one of the biggest failures in US soccer history.  I say Trump and FIFA should be blamed.  After all, they gave Belgium more motivation than a team talk could ever do.