A well known quote on statistics goes: "He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination". A perfect recent example:
I suspect this "poll" consisted of interviewing 1 person who happened to be a Trump-supporting MAGA imbecile.
I was just watching a YouTube video of a very excitable Australian cleaning drains, and it dawned on me that perhaps I'm watching way too much inane online content. I seriously need to cut back - and watch a film or read a book instead. Sadly when it comes to self-improvement, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
I might as well write something else, just to make up for the one I missed yesterday. But for the last few weeks I've been doing something I don't think I've ever done before. I've been consistently sleeping through my alarm. Which is weird. I think this is partly due to the clocks going forward, but my sleep patterns have also slightly shifted so that I'm going to bed later and waking up later. I thought that when you get older you're supposed to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier - so I have no idea why I'm doing the opposite. But I don't like it. I feel like it might be a reflection of my stressed out state of mind, or my very sedentary lifestyle. I need to get into healthier habits - in particular exercising more regularly. Maybe the lack of exercise is causing me to be less tired in the evening. But even if I go to bed late, I think I'm still getting good quality sleep. So it's not like I'm suffering from lack of sleep. Weird.
Just noticed I didn't write a blog yesterday, and I nearly went to bed today without doing another. I don't really have much to say and I don't really have much motivation to write anything. Perhaps I'm just saying that because it's so late. Perhaps it's also because I'm still incredibly busy and stressed out with work. I'd hoped things might have eased up a bit, but nope.
I completed my tax return today, earning a bit of a refund which is nice. However since I've been making estimated tax payments throughout the year, this is maybe not as good as it sounds. All I know for sure is that (a) rather than complete the tax return myself using tax software, next year I think I'm going to pay a little bit extra for someone else to do it for me, and (b) I decided to celebrate completing my tax return by ordering a pizza from the local pizzeria. I was already wary about how expensive it was (the prices have maybe doubled in the last few years), but the quality seems to have gone significantly downhill as well, so I don't think I'll be eating from there again.
I realized I hadn't checked my trail cam for a few months, so here are the highlights. Lots of deer action - no surprise since I've also been seeing them often for myself when I look or go outside.
Despite the clocks having gone forward and it almost being spring, look what I woke up to this morning:
This is the view from my bedroom windows. It's quite unusual to have our first lowland snow of the winter so late in the year. And boy was it coming down thick and heavy. Fortunately it was warm enough that it didn't really stick to the roads or driveway.