Early Doors

I am not sleeping well at the moment, and I think it is giving me headaches.  I had another restless night last night – which at least didn’t mean I had any problems getting into work early today as planned.  Nothing more annoying than an 8 am teleconference local time (courtesy of European team members) – which means either taking the call at home and leaving for work late, or leaving for work early – and now I have these meetings fortnightly.  In order to avoid the awful traffic (which just seems to be getting worse), that means leaving really early – so I got up about 5.45 and left home about 6.15 this morning in order to beat the worst of it.  Hate it.  The traffic situation in and around Seattle is just ridiculous, and absolutely zero signs or indications that it’s going to get anything but worse.  Interesting recent article in the Seattle Times (don’t even get me started about the fact that most of their online content is only available via paid subscription now, so I was fortunate to read this as my “last free article”) about why so many longtime Washingtonians are leaving the Seattle area – fed up with congestion, costs and gentrification.  I’m not even a longtime resident and I’m fed up with it.   

DVR Decisions

Once again my DVR is close to full, and I need to make some tough sacrifices to clear some space - not that there is usually much worth recording over the Christmas period, but I will be away from home for 3 weeks so I fear the worst with automatic recordings.  So, what do I lose?  I've got a number of films sitting there for months that I haven't got round to watching yet - Inherent Vice, It Follows, Crimson Peak, Revolutionary Road, 45 Years, Carol, Eddie the Eagle, and most recently Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice.  Or do I drop one of the TV series that I desperately need to catch up on: Season 4 of The Americans (which came highly rated and which I really don't want to delete), Season 2 of Mr. Robot (apparently not as good as Season 1, but still good) or Season 1 of Gomorrah (a rare non-English language show on American TV, so can't be bad).  Tough choices.  I might have to try to binge watch as much as I can in the next few weeks!

Harassment Awareness and Prevention

As a manager now (albeit only a manager of contractors), I had to complete an online course in “Preventing Workplace Harassment” today.  Yes, I had to be told that harassment is bad.  The course was about as awful as you imagine – full of those kind of HR videos that you saw on The Office (both UK and US versions) with poor actors and ridiculous/hilarious workplace scenarios (the funniest being the workplace relationship breakups).  This particular course was for some reason presented as a news story/talk show – it was truly cringe-worthy.  Naturally the course took ages to get through – what a complete waste of time.  I found it particularly controversial in saying it was not recommended that a manager accept a friend request from an employee – I disagree and don’t see an issue with that.  The timing of this course (I think/hope it was rolled out to everyone rather than specifically to me for something I’ve said or done!) seemed suspiciously coincidental with the upcoming change in presidency – President-elect Trump after all is almost definitely guilty of sexual harassment plus has made all other kinds of bigoted statements on religion and race, and is a clear bully.  Arguably – actually inarguably – I have been a victim of sexual harassment in the workplace in the past: someone has pinched my ass in the workplace before.  I could have made a big deal of it, but I didn’t since it was right when I had first moved to the US and didn’t want to create any undue trouble.  In the unlikely event it happened now, I would make a huge stink about it.  So perhaps the course has worked!

The Eagles

Who has the worst record in all 4 divisions of the Football League in the calendar year of 2016?  Why, Crystal Palace of course - worse than even York City or Dagenham & Redbridge, both of whom got relegated from the Football League at the end of last season.  I was worried at the start of this season about how they might struggle, and sadly I've been proved correct - currently in the midst of a 6-game losing streak and only outside the relegation zone on goal difference.  Frankly, I'm surprised not to hear that Alan Pardew got sacked today after yesterday's debacle.  That game was on TV yesterday - I started watching another game after Palace went 3-1 down, then I switched back after they brought it back to 3-3 then 4-3 up, then switched again after it became 4-4 and I missed them eventually losing 5-4.  A great game for the neutral, a tragic game for a Palace supporter.  There is a Welsh guy and big Swansea supporter who works in my office, so I'm going to have to endure a load of ridicule on Monday.  Maybe switching my allegiance to Palace was a mistake!

Spencer Island Natural Wildlife Reserve

In a rare break from the wet weather, I was able to enjoy a walk yesterday - I went to Spencer Island (only really an island because it's in an estuary).  A flat, 4-mile hike - not taxing, and really quite pleasant despite the proximity of a waste treatment facility.  Lots of bird life here - I think I annoyed quite a few birdwatchers by disturbing a load of ducks at least twice by making too much noise!  It's kind of weird that half of the island is the nature reserve, and the other half is set aside for hunting - so the same ducks are both photographed and shot at.

Star Spangled Banner

I can't decide which is my favorite rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, Aretha Franklin's amazing and mesmerizing version before a Thanksgiving game yesterday (it's the first time I think I've ever stopped and paid attention to a national anthem before a game, including the Superbowl)

Or Bleeding Gum Murphy's equally long version from The Simpsons:

Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving!  I had a vague notion of driving up to Canada for Thanksgiving (since Canadian Thanksgiving is on a different date to American Thanksgiving), but the bad weather put that to bed.  So instead I'm enjoying my time away from work by watching TV and doing chores.  I've not even been outside today because it has been raining all day.  Exciting huh!  I didn't even have any turkey today, but I did go for a Thanksgiving lunch yesterday because we were allowed to leave work early (I still count it, even though it was to a Sichuan Chinese restaurant - no turkey, but the food was damn good!).

Kitchenware

Should I be worried about what my knife set and newly purchased (if impractically small) cutting board say about me?

Thou doth protest too much, methinks

I signed the petition asking the Royal Family to pay for the 369 million pound Buckingham Palace refurbishment themselves: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/make-royals-pay-for-palace-renovation. 

It’s a disgrace that taxpayers have to cough up for this, so I strongly approve of the petition.  I suspect I will be signing a lot of similar online petitions, and maybe even physically joining some protests, once Trump takes office – in particular, his views on global warming and climate change (supposedly a hoax instigated by the Chinese) are profoundly disturbing, although unsurprisingly he has tried to backtrack recently on some of his more ridiculous statements and promises (“Lock her up” would seem to be a redundant rallying call now).  I still expect a LOT of protesting against the presidency over the next 4 years, on all manner of issues.

Missing Issue

I don’t think it is coincidence that the only issue of TIME magazine that has never been delivered to me – something I’ve subscribed to now for some 5 years without any prior problems – is the issue with the cover of Donald Trump celebrating winning the election.  I’m sure there are probably burnt copies of these issues somewhere with the charred visage of Donald Trump – thanks liberal Washington.  And, unsurprisingly, the customer service to try to report this non-delivery was about as customer friendly as a kick in the teeth.  I couldn’t report it online, because it didn’t like the fact that the date on the front of the issue was “in the future” – even though it was today’s date, and should have been delivered over a week ago.  Then, when I phoned customer service it was all automated and didn’t allow me to report this missing issue at all – saying that I was a “new subscriber” and that my first issue to be delivered would be the Dec 12 issue, which is just flat out wrong.  Finally, after choosing some less than obvious menu choices from the customer service number, I finally actually spoke to a real person (who I suspect was in some call center in India) and arranged to get a replacement issue sent to me that won’t arrive for 7-10 days – so most of the news in it will be outdated.  Great.  I’ll probably just end up going out and buying the issue from the supermarket or bookstore in the next few days instead.  At least that gives me the excuse to go for a decent lunchtime walk to downtown!  At least if it isn’t raining.   

The gift that keeps on giving

I'm liking Lego a lot at the moment.  They still haven't contacted me or charged me again on the duplicate order they sent me, so it looks like I've snagged a freebie and not inexpensive Lego set.  And then I got an e-mail this week saying that I'd won a sweepstake and won a limited edition Star Wars Lego set.  Nice!  That's two of my favorite works - limited and edition.  If and when I actually get it, that will not be getting unboxed!

College Football

Whereas Sunday is for the NFL, Saturday is for college football.  Personally, I couldn't give a monkeys about college football.  But here in Seattle, the UW (University of Washington) Huskies team is doing quite well - they are currently ranked 6th in the country.  You really want to be in the top 4 to qualify for the college playoffs, and they were ranked 4th until they lost last weekend to the USC (University of Southern California) Trojans, a rival in the Pac-12 (Pacific athletic conference) where they play.  Next Friday is the Apple Cup, an intra-state annual match up between the Huskies and the Washington State University Cougars.  I probably won't be watching.

Guilty Pleasure

Hooray – my case of the just released new set of James Bond Trading Cards got delivered today.  This is definitely my relatively new (and increasingly expensive) guilty pleasure.  Let’s see what autographs of obscure and random actors playing very minor roles in the James Bond film universe I get this time…!

That's 009 from Octopussy - YESSSSSS!

OOO

In an unexpected development, I had to work from home today.  Our office in Seattle was without power due to an "emergency power pole repair".  I have no idea what constitutes an emergency, but undoubtedly all the new construction and new buildings in the vicinity of my office had something to do with it.  As if the increase in traffic and lack of parking isn't already an issue - I think this is symbolic of the many problems facing Seattle, which has started to become a victim of its own success and an increasingly crowded, expensive and problematic place to live.

This wasn't the first time I was out of the office this week - a few days ago I took an extended lunch break to go out and watch Dr Strange in Imax.  I haven't done this for a while, but I'm not averse to taking a break from work in this manner - and I have no problems with it whatsoever, for the sake of my sanity.  It was a pretty good film, a bit formulaic but worth watching on the big screen.  

Performance Review

My least favorite time of year at the moment at work – performance reviews.  I’m not ambitious and I’m not good at selling myself in my performance review, so I never come across as worthy and as valued as I really am.  Especially since I am reluctant to use corporate speak and buzzwords that they seem to particularly love in the States.  Over the years, this has probably meant losing out on all manner of salary increases, promotions and bonuses.  This year is going to be particularly tough, since I have been so underused that I don’t have much to draw on to prove my competency and value to my new manager.  But with hindsight I tried to word my objectives at the start of the year to be a bit ambiguous and open-ended, so I should at least be able to say that I didn’t fail on any of my goals.  I don’t have high expectations for a big salary bump (even though I think I should because I got screwed over last year), and certainly do not want nor expect a promotion.  The big thing is that I have to provide feedback on my manager – so I’m caught between providing “safe” feedback or providing some honest feedback.  I might go for honest, since I am unhappy at work and I do want something to change.  I’ll probably just end up stirring a hornet’s nest, but whatever!

Come Again Another Day

November is a notoriously grey and miserable month in the NW, so I will try to post some photos on the rare occasion there is some better weather and I’m able to get out and about a bit.  That wasn’t the case today, but here is a nice sunset over Lake Union close to work from last week.

No Spoilers Here

The problem with reading too much internet and fan theories about one of your favorite TV programs is that it can spoil twists.  And so it proved last night, with Westworld’s big reveal at the end of yesterday’s episode being something that had been long been predicted and theorized online.  Although it was still terrific, I think it would have been so much better had I not known it was coming (although it may not have been a total surprise, since the clues were there and the seeds of doubt were already sowed).  There is also another established and well known fan theory that hasn’t been confirmed or denied yet, and so it wouldn’t be a shock if that was proved correct as well.  Still, I am finding Westworld to be must-watch TV – and glad to hear that it has got renewed for a second season (although might be a while until that comes out).  I’m looking forward to Anthony Hopkins going full sinister Hannibal Lecter in the remaining episodes this season. 

Movember

I think Movember is still a thing - growing a mustache during the month of November to raise awareness of cancer - but I haven't noticed that many people around sporting mustaches recently.  It's something over the last couple of years that I've been toying with participating in, but then it slips my mind and I end up shaving sometime at the start of the month before I remember, kind of defeating the object.  My facial hair growth is patchy at best (and increasingly grey, much to my chagrin), but I think I could grow some sort of mustache - even though it wouldn't be particularly well styled, and I don't think it's a good look on me.  Maybe next year.    

Stuff I've got loads of

I have 2 things that I will never ever need to buy again over the rest of my life - soap and pens.  I have accumulated hotel soaps for about 15 years now, and have just this year started to use them.  And I have accumulated pens for even longer - I've still got some pens that I think I've had for over 30 years.  Is that weird?  I can't even tell any more.

The 5 Stages of Grief

The last 72 hours:

1) Denial – no, this can’t be happening can it?
2) Anger – do I blame the Russians, the FBI, white male Americans, Bernie supporters?
3) Bargaining – is this the wake-up call American politics need?
4) Depression – oh god, the world is going to go down the toilet.
5) Acceptance – it’s real.  Let’s see what he actually does before really passing judgement

The horror, the horror

At some point last year, I said that if Trump became President then I would leave the US.  Never did I think that was a real possibility.  Well, here we are.  The unbelievable, the unfathomable has happened.  I, probably like 49% of the American population, are in absolute shock.  What just happened?  What is going to happen now?  How has an openly sexist, racist, xenophobic blowhard actually won the presidency?  Is this an America I want to live in?  I’m doing my best to hold off on profanity in this blog entry (apologies for the last one), but WTF?  There is also a serious sense of deja vu what with Brexit.  So many things I could talk about: a divided nation, Obama’s legacy, climate/environmental impact, polling prediction failures, interesting stock price developments.  I don’t know where to start, but it won’t be now whilst I still digest the new world we live in.   

Post-Election Thoughts

President Trump?!  Oh fuck.

Pre-Election Thoughts

Since we won’t find out the results of the election until late today, I’m going to hold off my judgement for the moment.  Instead, some miscellaneous pre-election thoughts:

-          I have never voted.  Ever.  For anything.  Am I embarrassed or ashamed by this?  No.  I am happy to have exercised my democratic right not to vote – and I’ve never been in a position to vote where my vote would actually be meaningful and make a difference.

-          I think only 2 people have come out of this protracted and nasty election fight really well – and that is Barack and Michelle Obama.  This time last year, I would have said that Obama had over-promised and underachieved on his presidency.  In many ways I still believe this, but I no longer believe it is his fault – the blame has to go entirely on the (Republican majority) US Congress and Senate.  Barack has come out of the election as presidential, trustworthy and a decent guy (no wonder his approval ratings are as high as they’ve ever been), and I think some of Michelle’s speeches have been some of the best of the campaign.

-          The very fact that Nigel Farage supports Trump, and has even appeared on stage with him, speaks volumes.  What reprehensible people they both are.

-          My prediction – a Hillary win, but a lot closer than she or anyone else might have thought or hoped.  The polling here, much like in the UK for Brexit, has proven to be fascinating and fascinatingly bad – so much variability and false conclusions.  I do think a lot of people are embarrassed to vote for Trump, so they won’t say so in a poll, but they might actually vote for him when it comes down to it.  But surely enough Americans recognize what a blowhard this guy is?  I sure hope so.  I guess you’ll know by the time you read this. 

OCD

Is this a weird thing to do?  I’m slowly and meticulously documenting all my belongings room by room.  It’s strange to be compiling a list of everything from the mundane through the junk through to the stuff that has some sentimental value.  Why am I doing this?  Really, it was a way to decide what to keep and what to ditch when I move – whether that is local or eventually somewhere more significant (international not being out of the question if Trump wins!).  I also seem to have accumulated a lot of things over the years without really getting rid of all that much (classic hoarder symptoms!), so I wanted to know exactly what I have.  For example, why have I still got 3 printers!?  I guess there is also an interesting story of my life to be made from my belongings – though it might be a bit of a sad story!  What has become clear is that I should probably spend a lot more on better quality basics, and a lot less on impulse buys – I’ve always favored functional over aesthetic, but I’m now in a position where I can afford to upgrade a lot of my belongings.  I think on some level I’ve always held back on this until I lived somewhere nicer that is worthy of nicer furniture and furnishings.  If I’m going to move next year, which I hope and expect to do, then perhaps this is the perfect time to start this process.  Moving, upgrading my furniture, new car – next year could prove to be a costly one! 

Daylight Savings

Finally, our clocks went back one hour this morning.  Can't say I'm a fan - it now means that the sun sets around 4.45 here, which is way too early.  I think it will come down to around 4.20 around the winter solstice.  I'm one of the many people who thinks having to change the clocks twice a year is just stupid and pointless - I'm with Arizona, the only continental state not to observe Daylight Saving Hours.

I hate my car

I'm suffering from a serious fogging issue with my car at the moment.  Every time it rains and I park outside, when I return to the car and drive off after a couple of minutes my car REALLY fogs up on the inside windows.  Its happened a few times, and its really dangerous because I can't see anything through the windows and I've had to pull over and wait until it clears.  This hasn't happened before and I'm not really sure what the issue is - clearly I've got too much moisture in my car, but whether I've got some kind of leak letting water in or whether the AC and/or demister is not working I don't know.  But it's a real pain.  I'm experimenting with the climate controls in my car to see if there is a quick fix that I just haven't been using properly (e.g. cranking up the temperature and AC), but nothing is really working.  I suspect I'll schedule a car service this week to get it looked at - my ongoing transmission issues seem to be getting worse as well (major shuddering when accelerating from stationary, where it doesn't seem as though the automatic transmission is engaging the low gear properly), so it looks like my plan of getting a new car next year is a go.

Way of the Dragon

Did you know – Bruce Lee is buried in Seattle.  And so is his son Brandon Lee.  The cemetery is a long (and uphill) lunchtime walk away from where I work, perfect for a nice day and when I’m not busy.

World Series

The World Series wrapped up yesterday with the Chicago Cubs winning for the first time in 108 years, and finally breaking the Billy Goat Curse.  By all accounts, it was a series for the ages – 2 franchises steeped in history, 2 franchises who hadn’t won the World Series for a long time (Cleveland Indians last won in 1948), a 7 game series (it is best of 7) that went back and forth wildly between 2 closely matched teams, the 7^th game going to extra innings, an opportune rain break just before extra innings that might have completely changed the momentum, heroics with the bat and ball by a bunch of journeymen.  Unfortunately, one big issue with all this – it’s baseball.  And baseball sucks.  So I hardly watched any of the World Series, and although I don’t mind that Chicago finally broke its long drought (and I bet a certain Steve Bartman is very relieved by that – look it up knuckleheads) I really don’t care that much.  Of the big 4 sports in the US, I have really gone off baseball (my ranking is probably NFL > NBA > NHL > MLB) – I certainly don’t bother watching it on TV, where it is just too slow.  At least you can easily go watch the Seattle Mariners play if you want to, much easier to get tickets for a baseball game than for the Seattle Seahawks.  But I haven’t been to see a game live for a long time, and not many times at all in Seattle - actually I think the last stadium I’ve been to see a game was Fenway Park in Boston and that was several years ago.  Perhaps if my team the San Diego Padres suddenly and unlikely became a good team again (they haven’t made the playoffs for years), then my interest might be drawn back into the game again – but as it is, I don’t like it for so many reasons: I don’t like the biased and weighted coverage of the older franchises at the expense of the newer franchises, I don’t like the repetition, slowness and minimal amount of actual action in the game, and I don’t like the way the drug scandals in baseball have kind of been swept under the rug and none of the cheats properly outed and punished.  American sports writers can try to romanticize baseball as much as they want, but it’s no surprise to me that the passion for “America’s national pastime” is waning.      

Less than 1 week to the Apocalypse

Unbelievably, the possibility that Trump wins the election has still not disappeared.  The suspiciously timed release of more Clinton e-mails and notice of further investigation does not do her any favors, and has conveniently taken all the coverage away from some of the outrageous statements and claims still being made by Trump.  I’m worried.  It’s a very similar situation to Brexit, where I think the people who will definitely vote (predominantly older and white) are the ones who will vote for Trump, whereas the apathetic people (younger, culturally diverse) are the ones who will vote for Clinton.  I can easily see a scenario where turnout is lower than expected, and so somehow Trump scrapes home.  I hope not, but it is a very real possibility.  And obviously he has been sowing all the seeds for not accepting the result, so this could get very messy.  Apparently, Washington State has a 98% chance of voting for Clinton – so not exactly a battleground state here!  As with all presidential elections, it seems that certain swing states will decide the election – so the future of the US is in the hands of people from places like Florida and Nevada.  That’s a scary thought.  Of course, it’s not just about the presidency – I think the Senate race is a lot closer, with the Democrats having a chance of winning back the Senate.  All of this makes the next few weeks very interesting, with the future of the country and/or another 4 years of political gridlock at stake.  Regardless of the results, this election year has been a disgrace and an embarrassment for American politics that I think everyone will be glad to move on from.  But I suspect we won’t be able to, with Republicans probably digging their feet in with regards things like nominating a Supreme Court justice.  I don’t think Hillary’s presidency is going to be smooth sailing to say the least.  I can’t even fathom how awful Trump’s presidency could be.  This is going to be a tense last week of campaigning.

Halloween

Halloween yesterday.  Even by American standards, this is a ridiculously over the top day of excess – think pets being dressed up in elaborate outfits, inordinate amounts of candy (“sweets”) being consumed, millions of pumpkins sold and wasted each year.  Halloween might have pagan or Christian roots, but at least in America it is most definitely an overly commercial and secular event – and the billions being spent on it each year seem particularly wasteful.  Being the miserly curmudgeon I am, I refuse to engage in it.  So no costumes, no engaging with trick and treaters, no bobbing for apples, no parties (not that I get invited to any anyway!).  I’m certainly not giving anything to the ghastly little monsters that live round here and made so much noise over the summer –fortunately I think I avoided them because by the time I got home it was pouring rain and I wasn’t disturbed.  I just stayed in and got annoyed by so many TV shows only having lazy Halloween special episodes this week – for example, I’ve always thought that the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episodes were among the worse they have to offer.