Covid

Apparently Covid is still a thing.  I've a friend here who I hadn't heard from for a few months.  So I got in touch, and found out that he has been waylaid by some quite serious Covid symptoms for some time now.  He caught the virus, was recovering, but then it hit him hard again.  That's tough.  And not just on his physical health, but also his mental health.  He's about my age, and arguably in better shape than me - we used to play ping pong a lot at work before he quit his job.  Although I don't know for sure, I'm fairly sure he would have had his Covid vaccinations.  So that is a kind of reminder that the virus is still out there wrecking havoc with people's lives.

Work Solitude Goodbye

My cubicle situation at work was good.  It was quiet with no neighbors to disturb me.  Today was my first time in the office since my car troubles, and my situation has entirely changed.  Now I have a new cube neighbor.  Someone who has - inexplicably - converted from fully remote to office-based.  Chinese, obviously.  And I feel like she has totally invaded my space.  Even though she hasn't really, but it feels like she has because I had a good thing going, and now I don't.  Of all the free cubes in the office, she had to choose the one next to me.  We will see how it goes - if she doesn't come in on most days that I do, and vice versa, then we should be fine.

Car Repairs

Took my car in today to get it fixed.  Based on my internet searches, feared how much it was going to cost.  Maybe a couple of thousand dollars.  This was the final total:

Phew!  My problems are apparently a known issue with my car, and so there was a specific extended warranty that covers the cost of these repairs.  So all today cost me was a day off work, as I was stuck at the service center bored out of my mind for nearly 8 hours.  At least I brought a book to read, and at least it was sunny so I was able to go out for a couple of walks, but still an excruciatingly long amount of time to wait.   

Runaway Zebra

In unusual news, apparently 4 zebras escaped into the Washington countryside after the driver who was transporting them stopped to secure his trailer off I-90 east of Seattle.  3 of the zebras were captured, but one remains loose.  And it has managed to elude capture for 48 hours now.  Nice.  The area where the zebra escaped is close to a lot of hiking trails - so that would make for quite an interesting wildlife encounter and a great photo.  

Neighbor Noise

I finally broke.  I couldn't take being continuously disturbed by the noise of my neighbor using his backhoe (JCB).  I've absolutely no idea what he's doing with it - looks like he's just shoveling dirt from one spot to another.  I've recorded 10 days this month where it has bothered me.  Yes, I'm oversensitive to noise - but I don't think this was unreasonable to complain about.  So I wrote a note.  I'll save a face-to-face confrontation as a second resort.  Spent a long time composing the note - trying to strike that compromise between being polite and being direct.  Finally happy with the wording, I dropped it in his mailbox on Saturday (under the watchful eye of another neighbor who probably thought I was stealing his mail or something).  Accompanied with the note was some information on the laws regarding outdoor burning, another of my pet peeves with this guy.  A few weeks ago I filed a complaint with the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency about his likely illegal outdoor burning, but they rather unhelpfully called back and told me I should call 911.  Which I definitely wouldn't do as this does not constitute an emergency.  Anyway, he was both using his JCB and had a fire going when I dropped the note off, and was shocked by the strong smell of smoke.  At least I don't live close enough to experience that, but I would be really surprised if another neighbor hasn't said anything - I've recorded 10+ days this month of outdoor burning.  So, let's see what kind of hornet's nest I've stirred up or whether it doesn't make a jot of difference.  Nothing promising so far, I've heard the JCB both yesterday and this morning, and he had another fire going yesterday.  Perhaps he hasn't read the note yet.  Perhaps it is just my wishful thinking that he hasn't read the note yet.  But I'm happy to have finally said something and to at least have made them aware that there is a problem, even if they don't act on it.  The next few weeks will be interesting, and we'll go from there.      

Trail Cam Update

I don't know why my trail camera stopped working, but it appears to be okay now.  Just from the last week:

Sports Music

You know that stupid darts anthem that you see all those drunken fools dancing and singing "Oi Oi Oi" to?

Well, I thought it was exclusive to darts.  But, shockingly, I've heard it a few times now during the ice hockey playoffs.  Is it also becoming a North American sports theme?  How unexpected.  Mind you, I'm fairly sure I've heard American stadiums still playing Gary Glitter's Rock 'N' Roll (Part 2) so their judgement on good taste is questionable at best.