Coyotes

I haven't talked much about my new lodgings - mainly because I'm reluctant to say, to the surprise of absolutely nobody, that I'm not particularly happy here.  Regardless, it is still a significant step up from where I was before so I can't complain too much!  It is a balance of the pros (like I currently have an adorable baby rabbit living under my porch) to the cons (I don't know if this is because I have a septic tank, but the house has some very strange and not particularly pleasant smells).  I was also speaking to my landlord the other day, and I was somewhat shocked to find out that he got woken up last week by the sound of coyotes outside my house.  Considering how poorly I'm sleeping at the moment, I'm surprised (and disappointed) that I didn't hear them myself.  So apparently there are coyotes in the vicinity - though I won't worry about it as much as the neighborhood cats and rabbits!  I guess they sound like dogs, so I don't know if I would even have paid it any attention if I had heard them, but good to know and hopefully I will get a chance to hear (and see) them myself.

Only 17 Days To Go!

Hell yes!

Currently on my IM profile at work: "Chaos isn't a pit.  Chaos is a ladder.  Many who try to climb it fail and never get to try again.  The fall breaks them.  And some are given a chance to climb, but they refuse.  They cling to the realm or the gods or love... illusions.  Only the ladder is real.  The climb is all there is."

First Game of Thrones prediction: The Great War will not be between the living and the dead, it will be between Littlefinger and the Spider.

The White Princess

I just finished binge watching The White Princess - about the aftermath of the Battle of Bosworth Field and the start of the reign of Henry VII.  It's not exactly a period of history that I'm overly familiar with, but perhaps one of the biggest understatements in television history is the text at the end of each episode before the credits roll: "Some historical events and characters have been altered in the film for dramatic purposes".  No sh*t Sherlock!  A quick check of Wikipedia reveals that almost nothing in the series happened in reality (although Wikipedia is not exactly the most reliable source of historical facts either).  I guess this was why it was a drama on Starz (a premium cable channel) rather than The History Channel.

Risk vs Reward

I dabbled on ebay today - there was a box of James Bond trading cards that I was interested in.  Normally these boxes are sealed, but this one was not - very suspicious, although the seller claimed that all the packets inside the box were present.  In this particular box, you are supposed to get one autograph card and one relic card.  But what guarantee was there of getting these when the box was unsealed?  So I still put in a bid, but nowhere near as high as what I paid to get a similar sealed box in a previous auction.  And I consequently lost.  But I don't feel too bad about it.  How exciting is my life?!

Just Resting My Eyelids

I reached a new low at work today.  I think this might be the first time I’ve ever done this, but I fell asleep at my desk this morning.  I had my headset on and was listening to a presentation being given during a teleconference – it was so boring and spoken with a monotone delivery that I could feel myself nodding off a few times, and I think I must have fallen asleep briefly because I woke up with a start when I heard myself snore, or at least breathe very heavily.  I hope I didn’t make too much of a sound, that is awfully embarrassing and I dread to think what the people in adjacent cubes must think of me.  Yikes.  In the past I’ve driven away from the office to somewhere quieter to take a nap in my car, but this is a whole new level of shame and embarrassment and lack of professionalism.  A sad reflection of how I feel about work at the moment….  

Hot

Really unpleasantly hot day here today - maybe got in the 90's and definitely hottest day of the year so far.  Reminds me so much of summer days in Austin, Texas where it just gets too hot to do anything after about mid-morning.  So naturally, I did nothing much today - probably for the best as I haven't been feeling great recently.  I even took a sick day last week, so appreciate the rest (even though it is far too hot to be able to get a decent night's sleep).  Staying up well into the early hours to watch the start of the Lions vs All Blacks game probably wasn't the best idea either - and that was a waste of time with a very non-competitive game.  To be honest, just pleasantly surprised to find out that it was even aired here.

Lack of Recognition

It’s been nearly 2 years since I returned to my company and my job, and in that time I have earned just one certificate of thanks.  Over the same duration, it seems like everyone around me has earned multiple certificates of thanks and value at work awards.  These all come with financial rewards (not insignificant – a value at work award can be worth $1000), so it is extremely disconcerting that I don’t seem to have been recognized and rewarded as much as a lot of my colleagues.  And it says a lot about either how inconsistently these awards are dished out by different managers, or how poorly I have been utilized since coming back (or how poor my performance has been?!  I think not.)  I do think it is suspicious that a lot of my Chinese colleagues – with Chinese managers – appear to have accumulated a lot of these rewards, whereas people like me have not.  And it says a lot about my poor relationship with my manager.  I had  a meeting with my manager’s manager last week, and did express a lot of my concerns (most of which he was aware of, because I had expressed those same concerns in performance review feedback at the end of last year).  And encouragingly, he raised the prospect of my changing groups and manager if things don’t get better rather than me.  I don’t think things will get better, so I hope my situation will finally change for the better later this year.  Though I fear too little and too late to make me want to stay in Seattle.

Gasworks Park

I know you’ve had some hot weather in the UK, but the SW of the States has also been suffering from extreme heat.  This hot weather has eventually reached us – to the extent that the Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for Seattle this weekend (somewhat scuppering my plans for any long hikes).  I took advantage of the nice weather yesterday to go for a rare mid-week evening walk from work to Gasworks Park.  For a park that can actually be seen from our office, it is a surprisingly long walk around Lake Union to get there – about 55 minutes one-way – and my legs are feeling it a bit today (as is my sunburnt skin!).  But the views of the Seattle skyline are, as always, great (though I still seek the perfect photo from here - which is sunset on a Wednesday [which is when there are a lot of boats on the water] with a floating plane taking off),

Traffic Abuse

When the traffic is bad, which tends to be from about 6 am to 9 pm nowadays, there is a traffic light that operates to regulate the frequency of when cars go onto the freeway.  Next to this is a separate car pool lane that has no traffic light.  What this means is that whilst I’m stuck in the queue waiting at the traffic light to turn green (1 car at a time) , all these cars in the car pool lane are able to zoom right past without stopping.  This morning, whilst stuck in this queue, I counted about 5 cars which only looked to have single occupants that sped past in the car pool lane.  I have the impression that the police do not check this infraction.  I’ve seen photos of people trying to take advantage of this by, for example, putting a mannequin in the passenger seat – but I don’t think these are recent photos.  This is just one freeway entrance of many, so how police enforce this must be impossible.  Surely it wouldn’t cost much to put up cameras?  You could easily use infrared or heat sensors to check the occupancy of cars in this lane.  There are enough bad drivers on the road that we don’t need people also wantonly breaking the rules.  And then to top off my morning commute, someone made the incredibly stupid decision to do some roadwork during rush hour on one of the two lanes that make up the freeway exit that I take, so there was also a queue to exit the freeway that backed up, dangerously, onto the freeway.  This is just maddening – why are they doing this work during peak traffic time?  Absolutely idiotic.  So my commute took longer than it should have, was as infuriating as it could be (I haven’t even mentioned the number of times I shouted obscenities or gesticulated at other drivers cutting me up or lane weaving in traffic – but that is so commonplace now that I don’t even think about it), and once again I was late into work.  Generally I don’t mind driving – I like taking road trips – but I have grown to absolutely loathe driving around Seattle.

Where's Waldo?

See if you can spot me in this photo for my company’s 30th anniversary of us in the Seattle office.  Clue – I’m one of the few looking directly at the drone that the camera was mounted on (and squinting into the sun).  The funniest thing was watching a flock of crows in a nearby tree unsure whether to consider the drone a threat and to attack it or not.

McGregor vs Mayweather

So the much rumored and much anticipated match between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather Jr is going ahead (at least for the moment).  A boxing match between a boxer and a non-boxer.  Why somebody would want to pay $100 to watch a pay per view bout that will probably last less than 1 round is beyond me.  Why somebody would want to pay thousands of dollars to watch the bout in person is ludicrous.  Yet the 100 million dollar purses that each fighter is getting for the match suggests that they are banking on a lot of people watching. Of course, money has absolutely nothing to do with this mismatch even being agreed upon in the first place.  What a farce.

"Money, get away. Get a good job with good pay and you're okay."

I’ve left this late, but I spent most of today updating the address and phone number on my profile for all manner of financial institutions where I have some money or other institutions where I have an account.  What a nightmare.  These things should be straightforward, but they are not and take so much time to do.  Most of them I can’t just do online – so then I have to navigate phone menus, tolerate long waiting times, and then deal with clueless customer reps.  It’s kind of ridiculous that on more than one website they have to send me a security code in order to update my phone number – but they want to send the security code to my old phone number that I want to update and no longer have.  Stupid.  One of the other institutions even requires me to notarize a change of address form – what a pain in the ass.  Hopefully I can pop into one of my bank’s local branches and do it there – I think that’s what I’ve had to do before.  My finances are all over the place, I should really invest in a good financial adviser – I certainly need to get my finances in order if I ever decide to apply for a mortgage (I hope this day will come eventually!).

Let It All Out

(1) Are Tears For Fears the best band from the 80's?

(2) Do I dance like in this video?  Or do I wish I danced like that?

TV Update

It's not looking like a particularly great summer of television, but let's have a look to see what new shows or new series I currently have lined up for recording on my DVR:

Grantchester

Preacher

The Great British Baking Show

The Tunnel: Sabotage

Prime Suspect: Tennison

Broadchurch

Snowfall

GAME OF THRONES

That is a sorry selection, with a disproportionately large number of already aired British shows.  Disappointing.  Hopefully some better ones come along in July.

Belinda Blinked

With Father’s Day this weekend, it seems apt that I’m currently addicted to the podcast “My Dad Wrote A Porno”.  It might be the funniest thing I’ve heard in absolutely ages.  The podcast has been around for a couple of years, but I’ve only just started listening to it and in just a few days I’ve already got through over 20 episodes.  It’s hilarious and I struggle to contain my laughter whilst listening to it on my iPod at work – I don’t know (or care) how I look to people passing my cube as I sit there smiling and regularly putting my hand over my mouth to stifle my laughter.  I’m not getting a lot of work done!  I wish I worked in the pots and pans industry.

Flora

It's a gray, wet and miserable day - in June no less - so here are a few colorful photos of some flora in my new yard:

Wings

Not too long ago if I wanted to fly direct from Seattle to London my only choice, for better or worse, was British Airways.  Now, there are 3 choices.  In addition to British Airways, we now have Virgin Atlantic operating a service (and I think using the new Dreamliner airplane no less) and later this year Norwegian Air are also starting a direct route to Gatwick.  This is hopefully good – with some competition should come some cheaper flights (though not sure I would want to endure a 10 hour flight in the economy section of Norwegian Air, no matter how much cheaper it might be).  And I don’t trust the airlines not to work together to keep the cost of flights artificially inflated.  It also says a lot about the growth of Seattle – over the last few years, Delta have made Seattle a hub (they are partners with Virgin Atlantic) and we apparently have one of the fastest growing airports in the world and the largest covered parking garage in North America (13,000 spots! – I tend to use a cheaper offsite parking lot).  Of course, this all means horrendous traffic, horrendous queues for security, and horrendous crowding in the terminals – I would especially recommend staying well clear of the airport on those dreadful peak travel times (like 4th July and Thanksgiving weekends).  I haven't decided on the trips I'm going to make this year, but I will travel to San Francisco at least once for work, so that will mean enduring the stresses of economy air travel...    

Work Pressure

On our internal work website, today there was an article about a new drug application being submitted just 21 days after data unblinding.  That is an impressive turnaround, but I think it was a mistake to publicize it because it raises the expectation of us being able to complete this kind of turnaround on all future submissions.  What is worse is that my specific function – statistical programming – was featured heavily in the article, and we are the group that is probably put under most pressure to achieve this quick a turnaround.  We are the ones that have to produce submission-ready datasets, tables, listings and figures, validate all these things, and then provide all the accompanying documentation, using the final data at unblinding.  To deliver the outputs in 10 days, as stated in the article,  towards a submission that probably involves several studies, given the amount of data involved, I would suggest is just not feasible.  Yes, we can do a certain amount of programming in advance, but to really understand the data, identify data issues, and achieve a level of quality to your work needs more time.  As many team members naively think outside of our function, we do not just press a button which magically provides all the output – it takes a lot of programs, a lot of resource, a lot of time, a certain level of detail and scrutiny, and is complex – which is why we get paid good money to do our job.  I’m thankful to not be part of the team that worked on this submission – I bet those 10 days between unblinding and delivering the output were absolutely horrendous and stressful for all those involved, and they probably had zero opportunity to actually look at the data.  No wonder the retention rate in our department is so poor, and this is exactly the kind of pressure that was the reason I left this job before.

Work Doodles

I keep a stack of paper by my computer at work, which I use to doodle on and make notes.  Currently, the top sheet has in large capital letters WHATEVER written on it.  That can’t be good.

Ginkgo Petrified Forest via Snoqualmie Falls

Took a drive over the Cascades to Central Washington today.  On the way, stopped at Snoqualmie Falls - a popular tourist attraction, and familiar as the waterfall in the opening credits for Twin Peaks.  I think it was just a bit misty in the early morning hours rather than a particularly strong flow, though certainly not bad.

And then headed to Ginkgo Petrified Forest in Central Washington.  Once you drive over the Cascades into Central Washington, it's like you're in a different world.  Generally nicer (and hotter) weather, lots of farmland, lots of space, and lots of pro-Trump signs.  Love the desert landscape of Ginkgo Petrified Forest, hated the fact that the trail map didn't match the actual trails so my hike ended up being twice as long as it really should have as I kept on going the wrong way.  Naturally there is no comparison between here and the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona which I've been to a couple of times.  There, the views are amazing and the actual petrified wood is abundant and in the open.  Here, it is generally underground and the few exposed pieces are under these massive cages to presumably stop people stealing them.  I'm not sure whether the long drive was worth it, but reminds me that I need to escape Western Washington more often than I do.

Escocia 2 - 2 Inglaterra

There was only one channel here showing the England-Scotland game, and it was Univision - the Spanish-language station.  So I watched the game in Spanish.  This was all I heard four times, three of those in that crazy last 5 minutes:

Eth. Eth. Eth. Eth. Eth. Eth. Eth. Eth.  Boutros Boutros-Ghali.  Eth. Eth. Eth. Eth. Eth. Eth. Eth. Eth. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAL. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. <Insert surname>.  Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol.

I hope to watch more games like this.  Why the hell are we playing an international after the season has ended?  And not even a friendly, an actual World Cup qualifier.  Ridiculous.  I couldn't give a monkeys about the actual result - it's not like England have any chance of winning the World Cup next year, even if they qualify.

Theresa the Appeaser

This is what happens when you cozy up to Trump.  Or perhaps when Russia wasn’t allowed to interfere.  First an unnecessary referendum, now an unnecessary election, and perhaps predictably the result is a political mess and the country left in shambles.  Why Theresa May hasn’t resigned yet is beyond me – she essentially lost the election in losing the majority.  The types of headlines we are getting here: “Britain in Disarray”, “Britain Will Pay for Theresa May’s Election Gamble”, “UK Election Manages to Make Brexit Even Harder”, “Pound Sinks Amid New Variables on Exiting EU” – and these are all just from the New York Times.  The “surprise” result (was it a surprise?  Some of the articles I read implied that May ran a terrible campaign whereas Corbyn did not) has unfortunately taken away some of the headlines here resulting from fired FBI Director James Comey’s testimony and some of his extremely disturbing revelations about Trump’s presidency.  Trump comes across like an untrustworthy The Godfather with people forced to pledge their fealty to him.  The only winners this week – Russia and China.

My New Axe

Just received my Donic Ovtcharov Carbospeed blade with Donic Bluefire M1 Turbo rubber.  Hopefully 130 bucks well spent on a pro paddle!  I should be unbeatable at ping pong now (unfortunately my aggressive playing style means that I am wearing out rubber on my previous paddles at an exorbitant rate, so no idea how long this one will last!).  However, I am prone to losing focus, tightening up and getting frustrated when I miss some easy points – so with my weak mental game, I will always be beatable.  Very reflective of my wildly fluctuating and inconsistent game – from the sublime to the ridiculous, sometimes just in the span of a couple of points.

An election?!

There has been absolutely zero coverage of the British election in American media.  I mean absolutely nothing.  The average literate American might know who Theresa May is.  Nobody here would have a clue who Jeremy Corbyn is.  And as for the Liberal Democrats, I don’t even know who their leader is.  It says a lot about how meaningful this election is, and unfortunately how other recent events have eclipsed it.  I think more Americans probably know who Sadiq Khan is than Jeremy Corbyn – thanks mostly to Trump’s baiting.  And I think more Americans would recognize Boris Johnson as that ridiculous buffoon during the London Olympics, or even Nigel Farage as Trump’s British buddy, over Jeremy Corbyn.  And the vast majority of Americans have absolutely no idea that there is an election in Britain going on tomorrow.  Given that, it’s impossible for me to make any solid predictions – I might stick my neck out and guess the Conservatives to win!  By how much is the question – if only the Labour Party had a more mainstream leader and manifesto, this might actually be a competitive election (Britain needs a charismatic leader like Justin Trudeau or Emmanuel Macron).  But when the only coverage I’ve seen here about Jeremy Corbyn is that he got an endorsement from Bernie Saunders, that says a lot.  This should be another chance, possibly the last chance, to do something about Brexit – but my impression is that people have sadly settled on the inevitability of Brexit, and if anything the election will only strengthen Theresa May’s impossible negotiating position.  What a sad state of affairs for a once proud nation.

Ikea

This bench is absolutely perfect for my porch area – some storage for gloves/hats/scarfs and somewhere to sit to put my shoes on.  Just my luck that it’s not in stock at the local Ikea store (nor the next nearest one in Portland) and an unavailable expected delivery date.  Typical.  Thanks Ikea and your reasonably priced furniture (I still plan to get a couple of bookcases).  If only you also did reclining sofas…  Let’s see if I can find a similar “entryway bench” (which is the American? search term I’ve discovered I need for this item of furniture) elsewhere.

Bittersweet

Look what I acquired recently...

Opinion: With his London tweets, Trump embarrasses himself - and America - once again

These are not my words, but I want to copy an opinion piece below I read this morning that I wholeheartedly agree with.  I'll just add that Trump using these horrific new London attacks to promote his Muslim travel and, unbelievably, American lack of gun control is appalling, shameful and ignorant.  I dread to think just how much worse incidents like this could be if the UK had the same gun "control" as the US.

The stoic determination and decency of the British people and their leaders was on full display in the hours after the latest horrific terrorist rampage. The Brits fought back, launching drinking glasses and chairs at the savages who attacked them. The police acted with lightning-fast precision, killing the three assailants within eight minutes of the emergency call. And, God bless him, a man returned to the bar where he experienced Saturday's horror -- to pay his bill and tip. Civilization is not going to be driven out of Britain by three, or three hundred, killers.

Meanwhile, and it pains me to write this, our president acted like a clod, a heartless and dull-witted thug in sending out a series of tweets. He -- commander in chief and leader of the free world -- first retweeted an unverified, unofficial Drudge headline about the unfolding terrorist attack. Then he aimed to bolster his Muslim travel ban (which is not supposed to be a Muslim travel ban).

"We need to be smart, vigilant and tough," he tweeted. "We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!" (Aside from the inappropriateness of President Donald Trump's tweet, he fails to grasp that the courts in these cases are reaffirming the our rights against an overreaching, discriminatory edict.)

After receiving blowback for that obnoxious missive, he tweeted out, "Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the U. K., we will be there - WE ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS!" But then he decided to slam the mayor of the city attacked, who had calmly warned his fellow Londoners: "Londoners will see an increased police presence today and over the course of the next few days. There's no reason to be alarmed."

Trump took the second part out of context and responded viciously, "At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is 'no reason to be alarmed!'" (The mayor, of course, was telling them not to be alarmed by the heightened police presence.) Trump was not done, however, inanely tweeting, "Do you notice we are not having a gun debate right now? That's because they used knives and a truck!"

One is prompted to ask if he is off his rocker. But this is vintage Trump -- impulsive and cruel, without an ounce of class or human decency. His behavior no longer surprises us, but it should offend and disturb us, first, that he remains the face and voice of America in the world and, second, that his fans hoot and holler, seeing this as inconsequential or acceptable conduct. We wound up with this president because millions of Republicans could not prioritize character, decency and overall fitness to serve over their mundane and frankly petty partisan wish list (28 percent top marginal tax rate!). Self-appointed religious leaders fail to see that this soullessness -- not the dreaded liberal elite who insist on saying "Happy Holidays" or refuse to countenance discrimination against gay customers -- is a threat to the moral fiber of a democracy that requires a modicum of common sense and human decency to function.

Sure, Trump's policies and rhetoric are incoherent and based on a tower of lies. Far worse, however, is his appalling character, which accelerates the erosion of democratic norms and social cohesion a diverse democracy requires. In instances like this, those who would lecture us on President Barack Obama's under-appreciation of America's unique place in human history or proclaim that they simply had to vote for Trump because Hillary Clinton was some sort of monster are exposed as fools or hypocrites or both.

The London attacks bring out the best in Britain and in Western leaders on the European continent; it brings out the worst in Trump and his followers. The former protect the soul of Western civilization; the latter drive a stake through the animating ideas that make America special.

Stanley Cup

We are well into the Stanley Cup finals at the moment - the best looking trophy in sports.  Nashville Predators versus Pittsburgh Penguins.  That's ice hockey for those not in the know.  I don't really have a strong preference either way as to who I want to win - I don't like the Pittsburgh Steelers (that's American Football), so I guess that transfers to not liking the Penguins as well.  And apparently Trump thinks Pittsburgh is more important than Paris (even though it voted strongly Democrat in the election).  But I was shocked to notice that Nashville has a black ice hockey player.  I don't think I've ever seen one before.  It's almost as rare as seeing a black person watching a golf tournament.  But I think all sports should have the tradition of not shaving during the playoffs - it's good to see that many players have as bad a playoff beard as I would have.

Belly Of The Beast

We had a ping pong tournament today.  My company versus Facebook.  It was supposed to be a mismatch – they have 3000 employees in Seattle, we have 200.  Yet we managed to win 3-2 – including a tournament-winning glorious lop-sided victory for yours truly.  To be honest, it wasn’t their best set of players – their 2 best players were WAY better than any of us, but we were able to handle the others quite comfortably.  Then to crown the victory, we ate at the Facebook cafeteria.  One of the many perks of going to their office – free food.  It wasn’t quite the extreme Silicon Valley-esque work environment I was expecting, instead just Ikea type furnishings mostly populated by young and male employees.  But to make up for working long and tough hours they do have a lot of benefits – as well as free food, I saw a laundry service, haircuts, I’m sure they probably also have a gym and dog-sitting service.  But their presence in Seattle, along with Amazon and a load of new buildings currently going up for Google, is why the traffic and cost-of-living is atrocious and only going to get worse.  I’m not a Facebook fan – I think I deleted my original account a long time ago, and might have only logged in once or twice since to look up somebody.  And of course, they are one of the many guilty parties for distributing fake news.  So I wouldn’t want to work there – but happy to eat their free food and whip their asses at ping pong!  

Reject The Future

So, Trump officially withdrew the US from the Paris climate agreement today.  A sad, sad day.  I don’t need to repeat all the criticism and protest already voiced, suffice to say that the symbolism is telling and that IMHO it’s an extremely irresponsible and extremely shameful decision.  Trump has done a lot of dubious things since assuming the presidency, and this might be the worse.  Expect this to be a big deal when it comes to protests and future campaign talking points – this is clearly a policy mistake, but I hope it is also a political mistake.  And an absolute disgrace.  As Neil deGrasse Tyson put it (if you don’t know who he is, the best comparison I can come up with is a non-eccentric American version of Patrick Moore) in one of the better tweets I saw “If I and my advisors had never learned what Science is or how & why it works, then I’d consider pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord too.”.  That about sums it up – Trump is listening to people like his Vice President, who doesn’t even want evolution taught as fact but as theory.