Happy New Year

... and a Happy New Decade!

I'm writing this early, because there is a wind advisory tonight and I wouldn't be surprised if I lose power.  We haven't really had a proper windstorm this winter yet.  There is even talk of canceling the fireworks at the Space Needle.  Must be serious.  New Year resolutions - exercise, healthy eating, blah blah blah. 

Virgin America

I haven't talked about my flight home, which might have been the worst flight I've ever experienced between London and Seattle.  It started with Heathrow.  I had checked in online, but chose to get my boarding pass printed at the airport.  Only the machine for some reason insisted on wanting me to scan my green card, but refused to accept it.  So I had to queue up for ages at the customer service desk in order just to print my boarding pass, something I could have done at home the day before.  Then you have to go to yet another machine just to check bags in for the flight - which this time refused to accept my boarding pass when I tried to scan that in.  This is also the first time I've ever had to print my own labels and put them onto my checked baggage and then put that luggage onto the carousel that goes round the back myself - which I think is a disgraceful lack of customer service.  Then the terminal itself was an overcrowded hellhole.  And then things got worse on the flight.  The food was really bad - and didn't seem to match the menu that had been handed out earlier.  I was supposed to get chicken casserole - what I actually got was definitely not casserole.  And I got no sleep on the flight - why do so many people take babies on such a long flight?  And I had all kinds of problems with my entertainment system - which is a nightmare for a 10 hour flight.  Apparently I wasn't the only one, because about halfway through the flight they just turned off the entertainment system for everyone.  Not a lot of happy campers.  As for the premium economy section - there were loads of empty seats.  Which probably meant loads of empty seats in business - but absolutely no suggestion of getting an upgrade.  And I had the misfortune of sitting next to a German guy - who had somehow managed to pre-order his food choices and who was absolutely not going to change seats.  I made the choice to stay where I was by the window, but I think in retrospect that was the wrong decision.  Given the choice between the window seat and an aisle seat with an empty seat next to it, in the future I'll think I'll always take the seat with no one next to me.  So all in all, was thoroughly unimpressed with Virgin America.  They may have their flaws, but I think I'll stick with BA for this route in the future. 

Hot Water

Something always seems to happen to my house when I go away for a while.  Last time I went to the UK, I came back to find one of the glass panels on my front door cracked - I think due to a stone that had been spat out by the lawn mower when my landlord cut my grass.  This time, I had a bath this morning and I didn't have any hot water afterwards.  And the water tank was making a weird noise.  Fortunately my landlord came round quickly and was able to fix it, some kind of water pressure issue.  But he found something else - apparently my washing machine wasn't getting any cold water.  I'm surprised I didn't notice that before.  These kind of things make me glad that I don't own my own house- I wouldn't have a clue about how to deal with these issues other than calling in an expensive contractor or repair person. 

First thing I notice ...

... when I got back home this afternoon.  Molehills.  The little buggers have been busy in my absence.  Like they knew.  So, so tired - but myself and all the things I brought back with me seem to have survived the long journey back.  Judging by how soaked my post was that had been sitting in my mailbox for a couple of weeks, I think I've missed a lot of rain.

The Big Smoke

London.  You may be dirty, crowded and expensive, but I still think you might be my favorite city in the world.  So much to see and do, so much history, great food, so easy to get around, no language barriers, a melting pot of people and cultures.  I love going for walks in the city, where you discover these quiet and interesting neighborhoods just off the beaten path - and more history on one of these walks than any American city can ever offer.  A few photos from this time around: 

Differences Between the US and the UK: #10

#10 Greggs

And the trifecta of foods I had to have when I came back was completed earlier this week with a visit to Greggs.  Not exactly difficult, since they seem to be everywhere.  But not in America, where I sorely miss them.  So any chance to get a warm, savory sausage roll I will take.  America is sadly lacking any equivalent to Greggs - is this an opportunity missed?  I don't know - despite the massive popularity of a show like the Great British Bake Off in the US, I simply haven't seen anywhere with cheap British type savory pastries like sausage rolls, which is such a shame because they don't know what they're missing.  So I shall just have to enjoy them when I'm here - much to the chagrin of snobbish relatives. 

Differences Between the US and the UK: #9

#9: it's Christmas, so I have to say family.

Skype may be good, but nothing beats quality face-to-face interaction and interaction over a longer period of time.  Outside of work, I live a relatively solitary life in the US - so I really welcome the opportunity to see friends and family on the all too rare occasions I'm back in the UK.  I love spending time with my niece and nephew - particularly at the age they are when Christmas is so exciting, and I can be the fun uncle.  And despite the arguments, the many things that drive me crazy, and the increasing signs of getting old, it's been great to spend time with my parents.  So I am grateful for everyone who I have seen and especially everyone who has hosted me.  I hope I can return the favor in the future if you ever want to visit or happen to be in the Pacific NW.   

Have yourself a ...

... merry little Christmas!

Sorry, wish I could do better than this, the first image that came up in my Google search.

Differences Between the US and the UK: #8

#8: Television

OK, American TV has its flaws - I'm thinking of the number of adverts (especially for pharmaceutical products), and how all the swearing and sex has to be taken out of films (though gratuitous and graphic violence is totally okay).  But British TV, oh my.  It really stinks, and seems to have got worse.  I made the mistake of catching some Saturday evening telly - reality, light entertainment and quiz shows.  Absolutely awful stuff.  Add in soaps, the news and these dreadful antique-hunting shows - and that is 90% of the BBC schedule right there.  What may be popular is definitely not better.  Yes, you still get the occasional flashy costume drama, police drama or comedy that is worth your time, but these are increasingly rare.  I haven't made any effort to look at the listings over the festive period.  And to be honest, even some of the "funny" shows I haven't found particularly funny - there is a certain "Radio 4" type of comedy that I don't like in my podcasts, that I apparently also don't like in my TV shows.  I'll stick to the classic BBC Christmas specials thank you - even if some of them have aged really badly. 

Differences Between the US and the UK: #7

#7 Pantomimes

For the first time in probably about 35 years, I went to see a panto this week.

I'm glad I went, because it's a quintessential British experience - the fairy tale and song and dance for the kids, the cheeky jokes and innuendo for the adults.  I don't think Americans would get it, at all.  They would definitely not classify all of it as "family entertainment", particularly with significant drag and some quite ribald jokes.  At least this one featured a little bit above the real bottom of the barrel minor celebrities you normally get - including a CBE doing her first panto.  An interesting little tidbit I've just come across is that apparently the good fairy always enters from the left, and the villain from the right - so pay attention to that next time.  Now I need to balance this out with a quintessential American experience next year - I think it might be time to finally go to a rodeo (rather that than Monster Jam). 

Differences Between the US and the UK: #6

#6: Internet speed

Even for the most non-internet savvy people, I would consider this unacceptable.  It's been a long time since I experienced such a lag just waiting for a website to load (and indeed to download photos to this blog), and streaming anything at this speed is not even feasible.  Was it this bad when I was back before?  Possibly, but it seems noticeably worse this time around.  But I'm going to guess that nothing will be done about it - and if it doesn't bother the people who pay for this service, then perhaps it is fine?  Personally, I think it is a rip-off - and I think it explains why our Skype calls have been so lacking in call quality.

Differences Between the US and the UK: #5

#5: Onion bhajis followed by chicken tikka masala.  Photo omitted due to (a) being too hungry to remember to take a photo, and (b) because this is not an Instagram account where I take photos of every single meal I have. 

Differences Between the US and the UK: #4

#4: Local museums with more history than anything even the best American museums can offer (e.g. Milestones - Hampshire's museum of living history!)

Differences Between the US and the UK: #3

#3: Interesting local architecture (case in point - "The Pepperpot")

Differences Between the US and the UK: #2

#2: Proper fish 'n' chips

Differences Between the US and the UK: #1

#1 Random historical plaques

Post-flight Post

After a fairly uneventful flight back, I'm back in Blighty!  Seeing some of the London landmarks from the sliver of my airplane window warmed my cockles. 

The flight had the potential to be a nightmare - no upgrade, and boarded to find some parents with two babies in their laps in the seats immediately behind me.  Worst case scenario.  But fortunately didn't have to tolerate the smells, the sounds and the seat kicking for long, as they moved somewhere else after takeoff and I took the opportunity to grab their seats so I had a bit more space.  This is the first time I've flown Virgin Atlantic and I had high expectations, but I can honestly say I didn't think they were much better than British Airways.  The food, the service, etc was almost identical.  But at least they weren't delayed, whereas it looked like the BA flight at around the same time out of Seattle was.  And I surprisingly got some decent sleep on the plane - even more surprising considering the film I watched onboard before nodding off was Midsommar.  Recommended - very Wicker Man-ish.

Pre-flight Post

A quick morning entry before I head to the airport this afternoon.  This flight is kind of odd - I booked it through Delta but it's a Virgin Atlantic flight.  I checked in on the Delta website yesterday evening, but it said to go to the Virgin Atlantic website for checked bags.  I need to print a boarding pass then check in my bags when I get to the airport, so do I go to the Delta desk or the Virgin Atlantic desk?  Jeez, it's not clear at all.  Well as long as I get to the airport in plenty of time, I shouldn't have any problems wherever I need to go.  But given I have a seat assignment when I checked in, I doubt I'm getting an upgrade.  Which is disappointing, but then I've probably been spoilt in the past by upgrades so my expectations are unfairly raised.

BJ

I’ll keep my election result thoughts to a minimum.  I haven’t been following it much – I have grown weary of politics, on both sides of the Atlantic – but the people have spoken, and the results are clear.  As much as I dislike Boris Johnson, I equally dislike Jeremy Corbyn and the Lib Dems were never even given a fair shake.  This was really a disaster for the Labour Party – it was an election they should never have agreed to, led by an unelectable leader, and even then should’ve and could've done so much better than they actually did.  This is what happens when you take the party too far to the left, and an important lesson for the Democratic Party in the US because I think exactly the same thing could happen here next year.  But at least the uncertainty over Brexit is resolved, with the UK definitely leaving the EU in January now.  Maybe not on optimal terms, but it is happening.  And I think we can expect a stronger push for Scottish independence – which could make things interesting.  And I see the exchange rate momentarily surged – but quickly jumped down, currently about $1.33 to 1 pound.  That is something I’ll definitely keep an eye on over the next year – that is going to drop when the UK leaves the EU, making your hard-earned pounds worth considerably less.

Charley Horse

I was in bed this morning, moving around trying to get comfortable, and kicked out at my duvet and experienced a sudden, sharp pain in my calf muscle.  I think I have experienced “a charley horse” – a muscle cramp or spasm resulting in a tight muscle.  This isn’t the first time – however, very inopportune timing when I have a 10 hour flight to look forward to in the next few days.  It makes sense that this is the kind of pain you get from dehydration, as I haven’t been drinking as much water as I should for the last few days – and taking a diuretic as part of my blood pressure medication only makes things worse.  So I think I shall be consuming a lot of orange squash when I’m back (definitely one of the things I miss most here).  What with this and some back pain I’ve been experiencing recently, I think my body has finally given up…

Company Gift

We got a company gift today, not so much for the holiday as for some drug launch.  So expectations were low.  And sure enough, it was one of the things we've received numerous times in the past - a bag, this time a sling bag rather than a rucksack.  But wait a second, the bag is quite heavy - what do we have inside?  Too heavy for some of the other usual items we get - an item of clothing or a water bottle.  How exciting.  So what is it?  And .... it's a survival kit.  WTF.  Yes, some "essential survival tools should the need ever arise" including a tent, a blanket, drinking water, and energy bars.  Plus a solar-powered battery charger.  So, something I'm going to stick in a cupboard and probably never touch again.  Great.  Or am I just a total ingrate?  Yes.

Temptation

For some reason, our department budget for Christmas decorations has exponentially increased this year.  I came back to my desk to find the filing cabinet outside my cube, which previously just had some spare cleaning supplies on it, adorned like this:

So now I have to spend all day looking at all these candy canes and chocolate.  Must resist the temptation to eat everything… 3 more days to go.

Cursed

A 3-time "first loser" this year.  Not going to dwell on this one - desperately disappointed and trying not to just type a load of cuss words.  This was my best chance of finally being a winner, and I blew it and in agonizing fashion.  I won't come this close again.  Now I'm dwelling on it.  Won the first game, lost the second game, and was up in the third and final game, but tightened up (as is sadly the norm for me) and quickly lost it.  And I wasn't even playing my nemesis who always beats me - this was someone else who I normally beat when we have a friendly game.  Goddamn it.  I suck.  It's never going to happen is it.  Perennial loser.

Trim

Well, I finally conceded to peer and family pressure and got a haircut today.  My hair had gone from "academic" to "hippie" - so thought I'd better get it cut before I head back to the UK.  Didn't really know what to ask for - but knew I wanted it short.  What I got is some sort of crew cut - 2 round the back and sides and I think "2 fingers length" on top - at least, that it was the Vietnamese (?) barber motioned.  I think it's called an "Ivy League".  Still deciding whether I like it - but I think I do, because it's still long enough on top to somewhat hide my thinning hair.  But with so much hair gone, I feel exposed now.  I can expect some snarky comments from colleagues at work tomorrow. 

Thermostat

I've been having issues with my bedroom thermostat since I moved into my place.  The problem is that it is an antiquated manual wire thermostat - which is impossible to control the temperature on.  My bedroom either ends up too hot or too cold, no matter what I try to set it at - extremely annoying, and probably affecting my quality of sleep.  But no more.  After a few comments to my landlord, and then some more complaining, he replaced it with a digital and programmable thermostat - just like the one I have downstairs.  Hurrah, so much better.  But still not ideal - one of the few things I really don't like about this house is the lack of central heating, and most of the rooms still have manual temperature control - either on thermostats or on the actual heater.  But I'll take that any day over the joys of sharing a wall with a noisy neighbor.

FB

I see these adverts for things like Portal and Oculus Drift.  And then in little text underneath the product name I see “from facebook”.  Nope.  That’s a hard no.  I will never buy these products.  NEVER.  I hate Facebook, I hate what it stands for, I hate it’s invasion of privacy and abuse of personal data, I hate it’s selling out to extremism and fake news, and I refuse to buy anything from them.  It’s exactly the same reason I will never buy a Tesla.  I think I have a Facebook account – but I haven’t been on it for years, and I think I created it just to get in touch with an old manager for a reference a long time ago.  I think I deleted my original account, but Facebook didn't like that so it’s probably still out there somewhere – once it turned into a popularity contest decided by the number of Facebook friends you had, I was done.  And that was in the early days – that is just the tiny tip of the iceberg of things wrong with it now.  This is why my online presence is restricted to just this blog that get’s a handful of views, plus the occasional spam comment, but at least I have full control of the content.

Junk

The next phase of Operation Improve Living Space was completed today.  I got my old sofa (plus old mattress and old/unused exercise bike) taken away by a junk removal company.  I can’t tell whether I got ripped off – the amount I got charged was a lot higher than I was expecting from their website, but seemed more in line with what other junk removal companies were quoting.  I probably should have shopped around more…for 5 minutes of work to carry those items into their truck, seemed like an awfully inflated amount – even if they charge by how much space your stuff takes in the truck, which I think they do, it still seemed a lot when those items really don’t add up to much.  Whatever, it’s done now.  I’ve had that sofa for about 12 years, so not sorry to see it go – the reclining mechanism was broken on one side, it sagged, it was stained, it had bits of metal sticking out of it that easily caught on and ripped your clothes.  Frankly, I don’t know why it has taken me so long to get rid of it – it ended up looking like the kind of sofa you see in a crack house.  So, what’s next?  Need to move my tv into the other room.  Need to decide if I am going to try to squeeze in all my new furniture into this room.  Need to buy some new floor lamps.  Need to buy a dining room set to go where the tv used to be.  Need to buy a new, and bigger and better, tv.  Maybe also need to buy a decent soundbar – been giving a lot of thought to replacing my 7.2 surround sound setup, which just has too many speakers and too many wires for negligibly better sound quality.  It seems like I’ve already spent my annual bonus.

Impulsiveness

The joy of something getting delivered today that you had ordered impulsively over 6 months ago and almost forgotten about.

Then the dawning realization that you’ve horribly overspent on something that you’re probably never going to watch, is maybe not as “limited” as you’d like to think, and which appears to be very poorly constructed.  A sad way to commemorate the end of “TV’s Golden Age” or “TV monoculture” (I didn’t coin this term, but I appreciate it), and probably also the last boxset I ever purchase (until Succession wraps up).  Now, and especially now with the recent addition of Apple TV+ and Disney+, we are in the era of the Streaming Wars – and I do not like it one bit.

Dry

Washington State just had its driest November in 43 years – much cooler and sunnier than normal, and totally going against the climate change models which suggest that our region should be warmer and wetter in November than the norm.  But I think this is just a sign of the times, where unusual weather is the standard – this one wasn’t particularly extreme, but we should expect extreme weather in the future.  We’ll probably have a horrible start to the new year just to make up for this aberration.  But maybe not, since we had such bad weather last winter.  Who knows, you just need to be prepared for the worse.

Palace back up to 5th place?  At least for the moment.  Nice.  And I pay for Amazon Prime – at least the US version of it – so maybe I could even have streamed the game live if I wasn’t so busy at work?!  It’s all very tight in that middle two thirds of the table – but if we can keep this up (and with games against Watford and Brighton coming up, then not at all beyond the realms of possibility) then we’ll have absolutely no battle with relegation this year.  Which will be a pleasant surprise.  My fear is that if Zaha leaves in the transfer window, that could be the spark for a terrible run of form.  But I remain optimistic for this season for the time being.

Christmas Spirit

For the first time forever, I don't have an advent calendar this December.  It didn't even cross my mind.  Admittedly, it's not such a big deal here compared to the UK and I don't remember even encountering any for sale at my usual haunts - but still, I surprise myself by missing the opportunity to treat myself to a chocolate every day.  And now we are past Thanksgiving, the gaudy Christmas decorations have started to come out in force.  And I see some real eyesores on my commute home.  I haven't put any decorations up yet, and I'll probably only go minimal this year since I won't be here for most of it.  Yep, I'm already over Christmas.  At least only 9 more days of work to go now for me this year.   

Food Addictions

I seem to go through these periods where I become addicted to a certain type of food.  And I can't get enough of it.  Case in point - over the last couple of weeks, I've become totally addicted to creme caramel.  Don't ask me why - I don't know - but I love this dessert and I have to have it almost daily.  It's a good job that my addiction only goes so far as food, and that I don't smoke, I don't do drugs and I don't gamble - otherwise my life could have gone in a totally different direction.

Black Friday

As it is every year, black friday is just a crock of sh*t.  None of the stuff that is actually any good or that I actually want is ever for sale.  I bought a new iPod Touch for my music collection - with a "massive" saving of $10.  The only silver lining was that I ordered it from somewhere that I didn't have to pay sales tax.  And I got a new ping pong paddle at a 10% discount.  Though I have contrived to do my back in again, so I don't know when I'll be able to next play (hopefully my back will be better in a few weeks' time, because I'm not sure a long flight is going to do it any favors).  I also want to get a new Chromebook, but none of the ones that I wanted were for sale.  I'll check again on Cyber Monday, but I strongly suspect that it will be same story.  The only ones that I see for sale are older models, ones not highly rated, or the wrong size.  What a swizz.   

Invasion of Privacy

A couple of guys showed up at my door today to ask about buying the property.  Or my neighbor's property, I wasn't really sure.  Either way, I feigned ignorance/stupidity and they went on their way.  But on reflection, I should have told them to piss off.  They actually drove up my driveway to knock on my door.  That is some cheek, and a massive invasion of privacy.  Nosy f*ckers.  It is one thing to walk up to somebody's front door, but quite another to drive up to it.  The more I think about it, the more I get angry about it.  I should have told them, plainly, that nothing was for sale here and to sling their hook.  They were probably just a couple of chancers after a quick flip.  They didn't look as though they were casing my joint, which would be the other reason for going up my driveway.  I actually get mail on an almost weekly basis asking about buying this property - I don't know whether these are the same people sending that, but that looked to be just some junk mail that went out to everyone.  Perhaps not.  Worse, these people might have been looking to buy some land to build something new, and the last thing I want is more construction noise in my vicinity.  There is already some construction going on a little way down the hill from where I am, and the noise carries.  And it's ruined the neighborhood near where I work.

Election Ad

We're still just about a year away from the US presidential election, and we don't yet know who will be the Democratic presidential challenger.  Yet today, whilst spending my Thanksgiving Day binge-watching a load of telly, I encountered my first election ad - and it was maybe for someone you might not expect.  It wasn't for Trump.  It wasn't even for one of the Democrats who has appeared in a debate yet.  It was for someone who entered the race late.  And the ad wasn't so much about the candidate as it was against Trump.  The ad was for Mike Bloomberg.  The guy isn't exactly short of money, so not much of a surprise that he can afford to start airing ads so early.  But I'm not really sure who this ad is for - all I know is that I am already suffering from election fatigue and we still have an awful long way to go.   

Storms

I forgot to mention, it snowed earlier this week.  My location was right in the weather convergence zone that affects our region – so 5 miles north or 5 miles south of my home, the weather was absolutely fine.  Where I was, we had hail, thunder and some snow overnight.  Not enough to settle on the roads – but still, ominous sign for the winter ahead.  Currently, things are a bit more interesting further south on the West Coast:

That storm is going to slam into the Oregon/California border and cause havoc over Thanksgiving (100 mph winds - yikes).  On top of all the bad weather across the rest of the US, unfortunate timing for the busiest travel days of the year.  It is just going to be a cold Thanksgiving for me.

Daemons

Just watching His Dark Materials, and I was wondering what form my daemon would take.  The external manifestation of a person's inner-self - in the form of an animal.  The irony of it, given my current war with them, is that it is probably a mole.  A boring and solitary animal - it seems to fit the bill.

Sofas

My living room set got delivered today.

The good news - they look good, they feel comfortable.

The bad news - I think I bought too many pieces (a 3-seat reclining sofa, a 2-seat reclining loveseat, and a 1-seat rocking recliner) because they were bigger than I thought and don't all easily fit into my room as I hoped.  So I am going to have to give some serious thought as to how to arrange everything.  Also, one of the recliners on the end of my sofa had a bit of a problem and was catching on the frame.  I didn't want to go through the time and effort of getting the sofa replaced, so came up with a nice fix - I bought a metal file today and filed a notch into my sofa frame so that the reclining bit no longer catches.  Ingenious (at least until my sofa frame breaks, but hopefully that won't happen anytime soon!) 

Podcast Recommendation

It's been a long time since I found a podcast that makes me actually laugh out load - but I found one this week.  Gossipmongers.  And it's British.  I find it the audio equivalent of peak Viz humour.  Highly recommended, though caution should be exercised if you're listening to it at work as I did and struggled to contain my laughter in an open work environment - a serious faux pas.

Lights

Now that the days are short, I'm reminded of how much I dislike driving in the dark.  And a lot of is due to the glare from car headlights.  It seems that every day, there is at least one idiot driving on the freeway with full beams on.  But it's not just that - because I have a small car, I am regularly blinded by dipped headlights from cars bigger than mine.  And then there are the advances in "headlight technology" which makes the lights on modern cars extremely bright and extremely blinding.  The advent of self-driving cars can't come soon enough for this time of year.

A List

10 People I hate (non-politicians):


Elon Musk

Stephen A Smith

Dean Spanos

Lea Michele

BJ Novak

Tyler Perry

Jenny McCarthy

Tim Allen

Sean “Sticks” Larkin

Jimmy Fallon


Didn’t want to stick to the obvious, and maybe some people not familiar to a UK audience, though some of these are fairly universally disliked – but as I came up with this list, absolutely positive that I’ve missed out a load more people that I really truly hate (and I had to drop some others just to cut this down to 10).  I need to keep track for a future blog...

The Old Hood

Recently I happened to drive through the neighborhood – Greenwood – where I used to live.  Kind of interesting to see how much it has changed, and how much it hasn’t changed.  It always had a big turnover of businesses – particularly bars/restaurants – and that still seems to be the case.  A couple of ones are still there from when I lived there (5/6 years ago?!), and a lot more new/closed down/renamed places.  I miss the burrito place I used to go to all the time – I need to go back there at some point.  Glad to see the worst supermarket I’ve ever been to that was extremely convenient but extremely rundown has closed.  However, the late night bar/restaurant that was immediately opposite where I lived and gave me fits with the noise emanating from there at closing time, particularly on Fridays and Saturdays, is still there – though under a different name.  A quick internet search shows that this place is now open 24 hours at weekend – noise all night long, yikes glad I don’t live there now.  Was kind of curious to see whether the price of the apartment I rented there had exponentially increased – but  pleasantly surprised to see that it wasn’t as high as I thought it would be, about the same as what I’m paying where I am now.  Though I’d much rather be where I am now than where I was.  But as Seattle grows, this is definitely a neighborhood that has, and will continue to, become increasingly gentrified – as indicated by several newer (and certainly more expensive) apartment buildings that have opened since I lived there.

Forgive me for stating the obvious on another matter, but Mourinho in place of Pochettino is a serious step down – I don’t know what Tottenham are thinking.

Busy Day

I got a new toilet installed at home today.  And I gave my first presentation at work for what seems like an incredibly long time, if ever - just a small audience, but it seemed to go well.  That's all (just got very busy at work, as I knew I would, in the lead up to Thanksgiving - so the quality of my blogs will invariably drop off).

Malice at the Palace

Today is the 15 year anniversary of the “The Malice at the Palace”.  I was living in the US when this happened, and I remember it quite vividly – I don’t imagine I was watching the game live because I was no fan of basketball then, but I must have seen the “highlights” afterwards on ESPN or whatever.  And I’ve definitely seen several documentaries about it since.  It was crazy.  But I don’t imagine that many people from the UK have even heard of it – so I definitely recommend doing an internet search and checking the video out.  It is the American equivalent of when Eric Cantona kung fu-kicked that Palace fan.  Shocking, but iconic.

Talking about brawls, I see that the first UK election debate occurred today.  I bet that was scintillating stuff.  I read a BBC article which included the insightful conclusion that left "most Labour voters thinking Jeremy Corbyn won, most Conservative voters thinking Boris Johnson won".  Well done - great journalism.  I do think it is an absolute disgrace that other parties were not included in the debate – why should the British public have to choose between these 2 fools.

Ping Pong Update

I liken my current ping pong form to the England national squad.  Ease through the qualifying stage against mediocre opposition, but things are a lot different when it comes to the knockout stages and the big boys.  I qualified easily for the quarter-finals of my work ping pong tournament (Advanced bracket) today, with dominant victories over a couple of folks.  Playing well – I think I’ve got a very good shot of going all the way if I can maintain this form.  However, that was lunchtime and I played again in the late afternoon in a friendly against some superior opposition (and potential future tournament match-up) and I absolutely sucked.  Inconsistency continues to be my Achilles heel.  I still don’t know when the finals are going to be held – I strongly suspect it will be once I’m back in the UK, so all of this will be for nothing.  Which would be typical for my luck.

Around the World

Reminiscing.

Impeachment

I’m not going to comment about the impeachment inquiry, now it’s in it’s public phase – I think most people are already tired and bored of it now, and it seems that the news will quickly move on.  I think it’s beyond clear that Trump abused his presidential powers to get a foreign power to dig up dirt on a political rival.  I don’t need to watch all the testimonies to know this.  Is it an impeachable offence though?  Personally I think it is, others disagree.  I think Trump will just bluster his way through it as “fake news” and a “witch hunt”, and it really won’t make much difference on whether people like him or hate him.  I don’t think he will ever be impeached – he will never get enough Senate votes for that – so this is really a rather pointless spectacle.  Which is the last thing the Democrats need on top of their ridiculous presidential primary – which seems to have a bunch of new people joining the race even now, which only makes them look weaker.  For sure, if Bernie Saunders or Elizabeth Warren win the primary, then it is almost certain that Trump will win a second term.  The Democrat Party is leaning too left, which might satisfy their core base but will not win them those oh so important swing states.

Self-eval

The self-evaluation for our annual performance review was due today, and I decided to talk myself up this year.  Our performance is rated on a 5-point scale – Below Expectations, Improvement Needed, Achieved, Exceeded and Exceptional.  I normally give myself an Exceeded rating, which then gets rounded down to Achieved when combined with my manager review and standardized across the department.  This time, I gave myself Exceptional.  I don’t know in my heart of hearts whether I would honestly rank myself that highly (“performance of this caliber is unique”, “clearly and consistently demonstrated exceptional accomplishments in all major areas of responsibility”, “recognized as a role model and a positive example for others”, “a level of performance that is seldom equaled by others”), but I think this has been my best year in this job (certainly since I rejoined) and at the least I want an overall Exceeded rating when it inevitably gets rounded down.  I believe a better rating does mean a better bonus – so that’s something as well.

A Lunchtime Walk

I haven't posted any photos for a while, so here are a few from a lunchtime walk to Portage Bay near work.

"News"

A message to news websites:


 I DON”T CARE IF SOME C-LIST “CELEBRITY” I’VE NEVER HEARD OF HAS GOT ANOTHER GODDAMNED TATTOO.

DON’T PAY SO MUCH ATTENTION TO POLLS.  People do not respond to a public poll in the same way that they act in private.  Polls do not accurately reflect the entire populace.  There is too much statistical uncertainty in polls.  Do not trust them.     


Thank you for your time.

Competition

Well, I might not get a better chance.  We have another ping pong tournament coming up before the end of the year – and I found out today that my nemesis, the guy who beat me in my last singles final and who I’ve never beaten in tournament play, is injured and has had to withdraw.  Suddenly the tournament is wide open.  And although my form is spotty at best, there are probably 3 of us who can win and I think I might be the favorite by a hair.  My greatest fear – I don’t know when the games are being played, and I really hope that the finals don’t take place in the week that I’m back in the UK.  That would be a cruel and ironic twist.

 I didn’t watch much of the Seahawks game last night – but I knew who won, because fireworks started going off (even though they are illegal).  Yes, feel free to celebrate a Seahawks overtime win in a crazy back-and-forth game – but fireworks, really?  This was a regular season game, and there are still many more important games ahead – and the Seahawks are still behind the 49ers.  Get a grip.

Poppy Etiquette

Questions.  Which side are you supposed to wear your poppy on?  And what position should the poppy leaf be in?  Totally by coincidence, or good intuition, I seemed to have followed the internet consensus.  That is, wearing my poppy over my heart and with the leaf in a 11 o'clock position.  Though, as the British Legion quite rightly say, the best way to wear one is with pride.  And since no one in the US wears a poppy, I am proud to wear mine.

Football

A big weekend of football:

- Seattle Sounders won the MLS Title for the 2nd time in 4 years.  I caught a bit of the game, but couldn't watch it for long because the quality of football is risible.  I don't think they even play to the level of the Championship in England .

- Is the Premier League a one-horse race now?  No, I still think Liverpool have a collapse in them.  I think they were very lucky against Man City, who should have had a penalty before Liverpool's first goal.

- It's going to be interesting to see if Leicester and Chelsea can keep up their form as well.  Leicester actually look better than they did when they shocked the world and won the whole thing a few seasons ago.  And Chelsea have kind of crept up under the radar - actually quite surprised that Frank Lampard seems to have done a good job so far with such a young squad.

- As for Palace, I'll be glad when this string of tough fixtures is finally over with - Man City, Arsenal, Leicester, Chelsea, and Liverpool coming up.  I think our season is going to rest on how we do in December and January.

- And let's not forget about "American" football, where the Seattle Seahawks have a huge Monday night game against division rivals and unbeaten San Francisco 49ers.  Because the Monday night game starts early evening West Coast time, that should mean a lot of people working from home tomorrow and a much more pleasant commute.

Strike Two

Comcast is up to it's old tricks again.  After dropping Cinemax from my package earlier this year, now it looks like it's dropping Starz at the end of the year.  This is Comcast's second strike.  A third strike, and I am definitely cutting the cord.  And then I'll just satisfy my viewing needs exclusively through internet streaming services.  When I get a new telly, I might cut the cord anyway.  We shall see.  For sure, I need to go to one of the Comcast stores (better that than a phone call) and threaten them with cord-cutting and watch them suddenly offer discounts to significantly reduce my bill (at the least I should change my package - since, ridiculously, it currently includes a phone line that I don't use, and I don't even have a phone plugged in).

Expenses

Looks like it’s going to be an expensive Black Friday for me this year.  I’ve got a long list of things I want to get, including: a new table tennis paddle, a new Chromebook, a new iPod Touch, a shorter pool cue (a drawback of moving my pool table upstairs is that I have less space around the table now).  That’s not even including all the living room upgrades I need to get – new sofa set, new dining room table and chairs, new television, new lights, new desk, etc.  I’ve actually ordered a new sofa set yesterday – although I might have saved some money if I waited a bit for the proper sales, I couldn’t be sure and I wanted to get it delivered before I came back to the UK for Christmas.  Let’s hope it does.  And what an ordeal it was deciding what to go for.  I got overwhelmed by indecision as I looked at thousands of sofas online.  My general philosophy is if I want to buy something like this then I just plump for the first one I find that I like and not give it a second thought.  I made the mistake this time of looking at lots of different ones on different websites, all of which had their pros and cons and left me paralyzed with indecision at having to choose between them.  In the end, stuck to one website and finally settled on a set (sofa, loveseat, chair – all reclining, a feature I really wanted.  I did come across a set named “Hertfordshire”, which seemed apt since that is my birth county, but it wasn’t reclining so I had to say no).  The set I chose will probably be nothing like I imagine from the photos and description on the website and I might come to regret my decision, but I’m committed now so I can’t worry about it.  As long as it’s comfortable then I don’t really care too much about how it looks and I’m good.  But I won’t get rid of my old and battered current sofa just yet.

Spoiler

I keep on seeing trailers for this film Last Christmas that is coming out tomorrow - and I already hate it.  Like really, REALLY hate it.  Clearly going for the Four Weddings and a Funeral, Richard Curtis vibe - it looks awful, and there is literally zero chance I will watch this.  So let me spoil the film for you - I know the "twist".  And it is as ridiculous as you would imagine.  So, this is a major spoiler alert to stop reading if you don't want to know the twist.  You have been warned.  Here goes.  The male romantic lead is a ghost.  For the love of god, you can't make this sh*t up.   

Election Day

It was election day yesterday, and although not the big one there were still plenty of initiatives and local/state elections being held.  The most newsworthy one that came out of our region was that an initiative to cut most car tabs in our state to $30 looks like it is going to pass.  This is huge – this is where the money comes from to pay for road paving and these huge transportation and infrastructure projects.  It doesn’t surprise me that this initiative passed – I’ve got to renew my car tabs this month and the bill is outrageous, nearly $300.  I think the state overreached in tacking on such a huge “regional transit authority tax” (nearly 2/3 of my bill) to the amount we have to pay, and so people rebelled by backing this measure.  I think we all still want well maintained roads and good public transport options, and I think we are prepared to pay more on our car tabs to achieve that – but not at the amount they are currently adding.  What is interesting is that they clearly spent a lot of money on ads to oppose this initiative – I saw plenty of them on tv – but it still wasn’t enough to make voters change their mind.  So now we can expect some kind of transportation crisis in our state – let’s hope we don’t a have bad winter that reduces our roads to a pot-holed disaster. 

Drill

As I arrived at the work garage this morning, the fire alarm was going off.  Which made things awkward.  As I was driving into the garage, everybody else was exiting the building for a fire drill.  That will teach me for arriving late – but that is no surprise for a Tuesday, which is increasingly becoming the worst commute day of the week.  But I couldn’t exactly park on the street or anywhere else, because there simply aren’t any free spaces at that time.  I’m sure if it wasn’t a drill, the parking garage gate wouldn’t have opened for me.  But I knew it was a drill because I could see the fire marshals with their colored bibs and clipboards.  Seems a rather pointless exercise when people routinely work from home now, but whatever.  I guess it is prudent since our building does have lab space on the ground floor, and so there might be some rather explosive materials stored there.

Making Plans for Nigel

I know we’re still several weeks away from the General Election, but I’m already struck – even all the way over here – by how much press Nigel Farage seems to be getting.  This guy is a pompous ass, his party is something of an irrelevance in an election like this, and he is not worthy of any coverage whatsoever.  Yet I’ve seen his ugly mug on the UK news websites plenty recently – whether it’s trying to form a pact with Boris, or proclaiming he will destroy Labour.  He might filter some votes away from the Tories, but not enough to make any difference and so his extremist views should just be ignored and certainly not publicized.  Sadly, I have read that he supports Crystal Palace – he seems more like a Millwall type.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

Let's have a quick look at my scheduled DVR recordings for the week ahead, and pick out a few highlights:

Sunday: quite a lot of recordings, but probably the big one is Watchmen.  I like it so far, can't say I love it yet, but the potential is there.

Monday: ooh, I see I've already set up to record the first episode of His Dark Materials.  This has had a lot of hype, so has me intrigued.  I think this is a co-production between BBC and HBO, so it might already have aired in the UK.

Tuesday: only 1 recording, and it is for Treadstone - an action thriller set in the same universe as the Bourne films.  Maybe not as good as it sounds.

Wednesday: one of the better new network shows airs on Wednesday, Stumptown.  And its set in the Pacific NW (but Portland rather than Seattle).

Thursday: a rare Australian import, Mr Inbetween, is airing on Thursdays  Very dark comedy, very "Australian", and I'm surprised it's on here but glad it is because I enjoy it.

Friday and Saturday: nothing.  If a show isn't doing well, networks often burn off their episodes on Friday or Saturday - such is the low regard those days are held in.  Ironically, all the streaming services debut their shows on Friday.  There's a couple of Amazon shows - Jack Ryan and Goliath - that I need to catch up on.

 

Progress

I'm not going to mention the Rugby World Cup final, other than saying that I'm glad I didn't stay up until 4 am to watch that.  I'm not going to mention the moles, which seem to have engaged in an all out blitz on not just me but all my neighbors - I'm seeing molehills in all my immediate neighbors' yards as well as mine.  Instead, I'm going to mention that Operation Improve Living Space is proceeding nicely - the pool table is now upstairs in my 3rd bedroom, so I can finally look into buying a new living room set.  Which is long overdue.  Now the question is do I take a gamble and order a set online, sight unseen, rather than going to a store where I can see what I'm buying and test it out?  Tough choice, but I did it successfully with my mattress so I don't see why I can't do it with a sofa.   

Nationals

So the Washington Nationals won the baseball “World” Series this week, their first ever.  I was fairly indifferent about who won between the Nationals or the Houston Astros, but a couple of things swung my support to the Nationals.  Nothing to do with the team, but all to do with the fans.  The first being when Donald Trump attended a game in Washington, the Nationals fans booed and jeered him loudly and chanted Lock Him Up when he was announced on the public address system.  Hilarious.  The second being in the same game, a couple of models sitting behind home plate flashed their breasts at one of the opposition pitchers.  That got them banned indefinitely from all baseball stadiums – but a nice stunt.  So how do the Nationals team reward their fans?  It was announced today that the team is going to visit the White House next week.  This, despite other championship winning teams (notably in basketball) refusing to go.  Considering some of the National’s biggest stars are minorities, and considering how vocal their own fans were against Trump in Game 5, it makes that decision very questionable.  I hope that most of them excuse themselves from attending – sending a clear message that it is no longer an honor to be feted at the White House by this presidency.

Garden Wars II

As I was heading out this morning, noticed an irregular shape on the yard.  Went and had a closer look, and sure enough there was a great big molehill.  And a brief inspection of the rest of the yard revealed a few more little mounds – hidden beneath the many, many leaves.  Yep, they’re back – the devious little blighters have apparently been busy under the cover of darkness and under all the leaves that coat my yard at this time of year.  And so we are at war again.  What is extremely disappointing is that I have these solar-powered mole repellent stakes planted around – which are supposed to send out sonic waves and vibrations to scare away these pests.  Fat lot of good they have seemed to do – that looks to be $50 down the drain.  Time to bring out the big guns – I’ve just ordered some more mole poison from Amazon.  Prepare for shock and awe you little b’stards.  I'm turning into Bill Murray from Caddyshack.

Jeremy

Great, I did not want to come back to the UK in the immediate aftermath of another general election.  I’m shocked Labour agreed to it – there are only 2 possible scenarios that come out of this election.  Either Boris Johnson wins a majority, or absolutely nothing changes.  I see NO chance of Labour winning, not with Jeremy Corbyn in charge.  If Boris wins, and wins big, then Brexit will happen and it will be a disaster.  If nothing changes, then Brexit will remain up in the air and it will be a disaster.  Nothing good will come out of this – so why agree to it.  This should be an election about Brexit, but I suspect both Labour and Tories will focus on everything apart from Brexit.  Therefore, I hope the Liberal Democrats do well if they campaign explicitly on remaining.  But they won’t do well, because the Murdoch newspapers will not give them a fair shake.  Interesting aside – Wikipedia does not allow Daily Mail to be used as a source for their website because it is too unreliable.  Both the US and the UK could do with a sensible and centrist third party – but there is about as much chance of that happening as there is of me voting.  Which is low, because I don’t think I’m even on the electoral register, and I’m not sure I’ve ever been

Always the Bridesmaid, ...

... never the bride.

Grunge

I was thinking about putting together a Seattle music playlist - mostly, but not exclusively, grunge.  Nirvana might be the most well known band, but is this the best song?

Coaster

The monster/monstrosity is complete and operational:

... despite my having a suspiciously large number of bricks left over after I thought I followed the instructions for putting it together.

Swing Low Sweet Chariot

Wow.  This is what I felt when the final whistle blew:

That was one of the most intense, most physical rugby games I've ever watched.  Not live - I couldn't stay up for the 1 am start (it might be different for the final),  But the margin of victory actually should have been higher, such was the domination and missed chances for England.  Perfect tactics - we won the game on territory and line speed.  So, so unexpected - we humbled the All Blacks and made them look like a decidedly mediocre team.  And I didn't see that coming.  I never thought I'd say this, but now my only worry is that we used up all our intensity and reserves on the semi-final and don't have much left for the final.

Mystery

We had our annual Benefits Fair at work this week – which is basically a presentation and discussion about some of the changes to employee benefits offered by my company in the year ahead, plus a good opportunity to pick up some freebies from the various vendors that we use for things like savings, insurance, healthcare, etc.  Sadly, very few quality freebies this year – so I wasn’t really able to pick up anything more useful than some pens and some post-it notes, plus a cover thing to put over your webcam that I might actually use, and I don’t even have anything decent to pass on to my nephew and niece, which is disappointing for when I come back to the UK over Christmas.  However, I did pick this up and I have absolutely no idea what it is.  Any ideas?

It is rubber and quite flexible, and that is about all I can tell you.  My best, and only, guess is that you use it to tidy up earbud headphone cables or suchlike by looping the cord round where those circles are – at least that is the only thing I can see myself using it for.  But perhaps I’m missing a lot more practical use for it.

Schmolitics

I used to think politics was boring, and didn’t pay much attention to it.  Boy oh boy, those were the good ole days.  We have the US – riddled by partisanship, corruption, anger, incompetency and one of the most petty, temperamental, racist, sexist, idiotic, ill-intentioned presidents (and administrations) ever, plus one of the major political parties shockingly and inexplicably willing to go on this wild and ridiculous roller coaster ride with him.  Slowly but surely they are eroding American values and destroying America “the Beautiful”.  And then you have the UK – stuck in this Brexit hole that it dug for itself, both major parties having leaders that nobody really likes or trusts, unable or unwilling to leave the EU under agreeable terms due to a referendum that was held without facts, and ruining whatever respectability the country had left on the world stage.  In a mire of indecisiveness, the country is being led into the great unknown of EU independence on a journey that no one really knows the path to and no one really wants to make.  I’m a STRONG proponent for having another referendum – I like to think that the populace is better informed about exactly what the consequences are of leaving the EU, and are able to make a more informed vote than they did however long ago it was.  And if you still feel that the UK should leave the EU, then shame on you.  I liken you to the halfwits that continue to support Trump, no matter how un-American he has proven himself to be.  As a species, the last few years have shown just how much we absolutely suck.

Colo(u)r

It was a rare morning without rain today - so snapped a quick photo of the nice autumnal colors just off my back patio.  I don't think the photo does it justice.

Work Whinge

How do I tell this to my manager politely?  I worked my guts out over the summer, I’ve sacrificed some much needed vacation days, I’ve worked weekends.  Yet, I have not received any sort of recognition of acknowledgement of my hard work.  I’m really pissed off about this – I think I deserve a “value at work award”, and one with a decent monetary reward attached it.  I’ve earned it, and I deserve it.  I have implied as much – I asked whether the key contractor I’ve worked with on a lot of this could get one, and sold his efforts hard, knowing full well that he couldn’t get one because he isn’t a full time employee.  And for all the good work he did, I did the same and more.  So where’s my reward?  I bet if I was Chinese I would have got a reward by now.  I think I need to flat out confront my manager about this (maybe not the if I was Chinese bit).  Another interview today, another Chinese applicant.  They seem to churn these people out like a factory line – almost identical education and experience to the previous person I interviewed.  Another perfectly pleasant person, it would just be nice to have a wider variety of personalities and character in my department – and some people who I would actually see and hangout with outside work.  Fat chance of that.  I think I’ve got lunch with the next candidate, also Chinese, next week which is going to be fun for a whole hour with our cultural disconnect and with probably very little in common – at least it will be a free lunch.

NBC Sports Sucks

Although their Premier League coverage is exceptional, NBC Sports rugby coverage has a long way to go.  First of all, make sure that your TV listings actually match what you're going to air.  All 4 quarter finals appeared in the listings over the weekend either live or as a full match replay.  In reality, it was only 2 matches shown twice - so the listings were wrong.  And, if you can believe this, they also showed a replay of Wasps versus London Irish instead of one of the other quarter finals.  Which is ridiculous, and frustrating.  And why the hell have they started the English domestic league before the World Cup has finished?  Beggars belief.  At least England was one of the matches they did air, but I missed the Wales-France match.  And the NBC Sports online highlights of the game were absolutely abysmal - didn't even show the critical French red card.  I think whoever they have editing the highlights has never even seen a rugby game before.  I have no idea if they're going to air one or both of the semis, or even the final.  But I fear the worst.  But obviously pleased with the England result - even if the final score was a bit flattering.  But lets be honest, they're going to be absolutely blown out by the All Blacks in the semi-finals.  I don't think it's even going to be close - the All Blacks are looking too good.   

Another Sign

Today, I did something I've never done before as an adult.  I wore a body warmer vest.  Don't worry I didn't actually buy a vest - it was a freebie from work that's been hanging on my coat hook for years.  Still, I am officially old now.   

Truth

Yep, this came up on my homepage - and the picture seemed to go remarkably well with the caption, given a certain breed of dog that used to be the family pet....!

Another work event

Although all the upper management of our company has been overhauled, we continue to do these occasional “celebrity” events at work.  And this week was another one – and it featured an interview with Malala Yousafzai.  Of particular note, this one was held in one of our UK offices (Stockley Park, which I don’t really know where it is apart from somewhere near Heathrow) which suggests that my company’s UK presence is bigger than I thought it actually was – I think we also have an office in Cambridge.  And it just goes to show that even Nobel Peace Prize winners can be corporate sellouts (I wonder how much she was paid for this gig).  Obviously I don’t doubt her credentials as a documentarian, assassination survivor and now activist – but my oh my this interview was so boring that I stopped watching after about 10 minutes.  Perhaps because I knew more of her story from her UK presence than your typical American.  Perhaps because the interviewer, who was some uppity UK employee with a double-barreled surname whom I’d never heard of, was awful.  Perhaps because I am a selfish and unsympathetic jerk.  But now I’m kind of interested to watch her interview by David Letterman in his Netflix show last year – to see if it is any better.  She strikes me as the kind of person who is better communicating by actions rather than by speech. 

Goldbach's Conjecture

Every even number (greater than 2) is the sum of 2 prime numbers.

This has yet to be proved.  Since 1742.  Good luck.

Billions of Bilious Blue Blistering Barnacles

I’m not one for graphic novels – the nearest I’ve come to reading one is The Adventures of Tintin when I was considerably younger.  However, I would consider giving Watchmen – generally acknowledged as the greatest graphic novel of all time - a go.  And obviously this has nothing to do with the fact that the new Watchmen series is about to debut on HBO – the early reviews of which are promising.  Which reminds me, now that Game of Thrones has finished on telly I can make a start on the books which have been sitting collecting dust on my bookshelf for years.

Garden Lights

Once upon a time, I used to have some solar-powered garden lights.  When the days get shorter, and it gets darker earlier, it can be difficult to see the entrance-way to my driveway and also stay on the driveway up to my house.  So I lined the driveway with these lights - and they helped, illuminating the way home.  But then things started to go wrong.  Some of them stopped working - not particularly surprising, considering they were cheap Chinese imports.  Some of them got destroyed - either by animals, or I suspect that my landlord's son ran over a couple of them when he was cutting the grass.  And some have just flat out disappeared - would someone really go as low to steal these cheap and crappy things from the bottom of my driveway.  Yep.  After all, they don't seem to have any qualms about throwing fast-food litter on my driveway.  So now I have no lights, and the sun is setting earlier and earlier and it's getting darker and darker by the time I get home - and I nearly missed my driveway entrance this evening.  So I have just bought some new lights.  Let's see how long these ones last. 

Sails Out, Nails Out

Since it aired it’s season 2 finale yesterday evening, let me once again wax lyrical about Succession.  It is just a brilliant show that more people should be watching.  I’m going to say that even after only 2 seasons, it has already cracked my top 10 of favorite TV shows ever.  And if we have a couple more seasons just as good as Season 2, then I think this could easily be a top 5 or even a top 3 show.  Everything – the characters, the plot, the dialogue, the pacing, the acting, the cinematography – is fantastic, especially for the outstanding 2nd season just concluded.  For the last 10 weeks, it has been by far the program I’ve most looked forward to watching, and the one that I most look forward to reading about on the internet afterwards (mainly for the mutual love of the show, particularly by TV critics).  I’m going to desperately miss it until the 3rd season.  I don’t think it’s coincidence that this happens to be an American show with a British creator – and a British creator with some great comedy chops (a writer on The Thick Of It, creator of Peep Show).  Which makes the humor on Succession extremely dark and extremely scathing, extremely beneficial for a show that is as much drama as comedy.  A lot of critics have described it as Shakespearean – which I’m OK with, better that than Game of Thrones, which it has also been compared to and which I consider this to be altogether better rounded and satisfying.  I thought Game of Thrones might be the last box set I ever get – maybe not now.  If you’re a betting man, put some money down on Succession winning a lot of awards next year. 

Sellout

After the latest iPhone software update caused horrendous battery drainage issues on my phone - for example, my battery went from 100% to 7% in just the time it took me to commute from my home into the office on Friday - I decided to give in and I've shelled out on an iPhone 11.  That will teach me to upgrade the software without preparing for the worst - after all, this is not the first time this has happened.  There were obviously cheaper alternatives - such as keeping my current phone, and waiting for the next software update which will probably fix the issues - but this was the push I needed to upgrade my phone, something I was long overdue doing  (I currently have a 6s - so there have been 5 iPhone releases since then, so by modern standards it was a virtual brick).

A brief one

I don't care how unhealthy it is, I miss Greggs.  I really need to learn how to bake sausage rolls for myself.

Interviewer

It’s been quite a long time since I’ve had to do this, but I had to interview someone today.  Admittedly it wasn’t just me, I was one of about 8 or 9 people, so I had to make the most of my 30 minute slot.  Do I go hard with some unusual questions (if you were an animal, what would you be?), or do I just lob out some easy ones for the candidate to put away (describe your strengths and weaknesses).  Tough one, as I had already formed some opinions just based on the CV.  If I was the hiring manager, I wouldn’t have brought him in for face-to-face interviews.  I wouldn’t have even given him a phone interview.  His CV was riddled with grammatical errors – a classic example of Chinglish.  However most of the people interviewing him are Chinese, including the hiring manager, so I suspect my opinion doesn’t hold much sway.  So I just went for some standard questions, nothing that wouldn’t result in a decent response with the slightest bit of preparation.  For me, this was mostly about testing his communication skills – if his written English wasn’t great, how would his spoken English be.  And could he handle my accent.  And how did it go?  Well, when e-mailing my completed interview assessment form to the hiring manager – my accompanying e-mail quite simply and bluntly said “I don’t think I can recommend him for a senior position.”.  It wasn’t so much the communication skills, which were perfectly adequate, as it was the elusiveness of his answers – no specifics and no details, I think hiding a major lack of experience for the level he was applying at that his CV maybe didn't make clear enough.  I think the open position must have got posted recently because we’ve got quite a few people coming in over the next few weeks, so expect this will be the first of many similar interviews.

Hagibis

Rugby World Cup Organizers: I know, let’s hold the next World Cup in Japan.  It’s a great idea to hold it somewhere outside the rugby powerhouses of the world.  When?  Why, what better time to hold it than right at the peak of typhoon season when there is absolutely no chance of massive disruption to the tournament.  What’s that, why don’t we make contingency plans like playing the game at a different stadium or a different day to avoid any cancelled games due to weather?  No, no, no that would be far too sensible and fair to the teams that had a chance to not get knocked out of the tournament.

The England-France game wasn’t going to be aired here anyway, so I don’t mind too much.  Also gives us the advantage of being able to rest our players before the quarter-final.  Which doesn’t seem fair.  Now we’ve got no excuses for not beating Australia or whoever we play next. 

And it would be remiss of me not to mention the shameful spectacle of US soldiers pulling out of North Syria so that Turkey can attack the US-allied Kurds – apparently justifiable by Trump because the Kurds did not fight alongside the US in WW2.  Bewildering.  That is blood on Trump’s hands, and he thinks he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize.  <Category A swear word deleted>

Under Construction

Yep, I'm at it again.  And I've got absolutely no space for this one once it's finished.

Rent vs Buy

I've been thinking a lot recently about wanting to own my first home.  But after doing some internet searching over the weekend, I'm having second thoughts.  The simple fact is that I don't think I can afford the kind of home I want.  I maybe need to lower my expectations - that might mean something smaller, something older, or something a lot further out.  I don't know how enthusiastic I am with compromising, when I'm relatively happy with where I'm renting now (despite it's faults - but then I'm almost guaranteed to find something to complain about wherever I live!).  So I think I'm going to stay put for the time being.  But this is still quite dispiriting.  The perils of being single with only one income.  And the perils of living in an area of the US where the cost of living and the cost of housing has skyrocketed over the last decade.  Maybe for the best, as I think I'm totally inadequately prepared for owning my own home - having no DIY skills, no electrical skills, no plumbing skills, and generally no maintenance skills whatsoever.   

Tired

It's only Monday, and I'm already tired and fed up with work for the week.  This doesn't bode well for a constructive and enjoyable week ahead.  I really need a holiday.  Christmas can't come soon enough, but hopefully I can take some time off before then as I think I really need it.  Somewhere to get away from the increasingly dark and miserable fall days in the Pacific Northwest - Hawaii maybe?

The Circus

Out of all the news I consume - there is one program that inevitably results in the most expletives coming out of my potty mouth, including a number of Category A swear words.  And that is the Showtime series The Circus.  Because they cover both sides of the political news of the week, the show includes clips and interviews with Trump and/or his supporters.  And it drives me absolutely crazy how mad and delusional and frankly morally repugnant these people are.  It makes me sick, it makes me angry, and it makes me nervous for the future of the US and the future of the world.  I'm sure I've probably written more or less this exact same blog before, but no matter how low Trump goes nothing seems to change.  And that is probably the most worrying thing of all.

Maradona

Watched a great documentary on Maradona this week, focusing mostly on his time playing for Napoli.  As the documentary quite correctly pointed out, you either love the guy or hate him.  I definitely lie in the latter camp - if we consider the 1986 World Cup quarter-final, his cheating will always eclipse his genius.  But the documentary was a fascinating insight into a troubled genius - and someone who was clearly taken advantage of.  I kind of knew about the drugs and women - certainly after the 1994 World Cup manic goal celebration.  But I didn't know much about his time in Italy and particularly about the 1990 World Cup in Italy, where Argentina beat Italy in the semi-finals in Napoli - turning an entire country against him.  What also struck me - and perhaps this is just the quality of the footage - but all the players seem so much older back then than they do now.  Has the game really changed that much?   
PS 4th place!!!  I don't think many people saw that coming.  How long will it last?  (Spoiler - not long)

Soda

One of the perks of my job is free soda - I don't think they even offer that at our headquarters.  And despite the dubious health qualities of soda, they continue to offer it.  But this week, a new soda appeared that I'd never seen before - a brand called Jones.  And it is good.  Some quick internet research reveals that it's a Seattle beverage company.  Yet I'd never seen or heard of it ever before.  I don't know whether it will be a regular choice going forward - I'm sure Coca Cola and Pepsi will have something to say about that - but it is nice to have, at least temporarily, some choices outside of big beverage.

Hair

Still no haircut.  My hair is continuing to grow into an unruly mess, at least the hair that hasn’t fallen out yet.  If I was to have the sides cut, I think I would have a magnificent mullet.  Though my hair does tend to curl up at the back rather than really growing long – so maybe not the absolute best.  But yes, I’m still shedding hair at an alarming rate – and it is definitely increasingly thinning on top now.  Maybe I need to keep my hair short – thereby making the thinness less noticeable.  I don’t know.  I probably need to see a stylist or someone who can recommend something – I won’t get that if I keep on going to the same Vietnamese barbers I always do.

Douchebag

Yet unbelievably, given everything that has happened and is happening, my money is still on Trump winning a second term.  Never underestimate the stupidity of the American people.

Mariners

They said it would be cold this week, and boy they weren’t wrong.  Although I’ve resisted so far, it might be time to start turning on my heating – it was SO cold last night and this morning.  But not as cold as Saturday night, when I went to see the Seattle Mariners play.  Good job I brought some layers with me, because it was utterly freezing sitting in the stands.  It was the last weekend of the regular season – and our company has corporate sponsorship or something with the Oakland Athletics, who were the team playing the Mariners, so we got free tickets.  And on level 2 – which I think is some kind of corporate level because we have our own concessions, nicer toilets and what seemed to be wider and better padded seats.  No executive suite for us though!  Baseball still sucks however, and this game was about as meaningless as it could be (Mariners have one of the worst records, the A’s were already guaranteed a wildcard spot in the playoffs).  And, to be frank, it was an awful game – it finished 1-0 to the A’s.  One solo home run, and that was the entire scoring for the game.  It seemed to be a really poorly attended – maybe a third full at best, with next to no atmosphere, and it looked like most of our company’s allocation never showed up.  And a lot less people left by the end of the game – I certainly didn’t stay to the end.  I didn’t like the location of the seats either – down past the first base line, too far along to get any foul balls heading in our direction and really difficult to actually see strikes and balls and so on from where we were (judge for yourself from the photos).  There was a TV you could watch, but it was on a slight delay so it was really disorienting.  I think perhaps the highlight was the national anthem – which was a guitar version of The Star-Spangled Banner performed by Pearl Jam, one of Seattle’s finest.  I did promise myself I would try one of the food delicacies that the stadium is known for – and I’ve included a photo of it below – grasshoppers!  Not worth it – tasted “dusty” for want of a better word  That was definitely a strikeout.

Football Has-Beens

I recorded Man Utd versus Arsenal, and watched it when I got home tonight.  I say watched, when what I really mean is fast-forwarded because it was an awful game.  I mean, truly dreadful and totally devoid of any quality.  It just goes to show how far apart Liverpool and Man City are from everyone else.  I frankly think both Man Utd and Arsenal might even struggle to make the top 6.  It was shockingly poor for 2 teams that used to be real giants of the game.  They have both got a long, long way to go if they think they can challenge for the title again.  How the mighty have fallen.  And because I hate both clubs, this brings me great joy.

More rugby

So, what matches did the ingenious folks in charge of NBC Sports decide to air this weekend from the Rugby World Cup?  Japan vs Ireland?  Nope.  Australia vs Wales?  Nope.  We got Argentina vs Tonga on Friday, and Scotland vs Samoa tonight.  And that's it.  Great.  And I don't see any more England games being aired as I do a quick search of the TV listings in the weeks ahead.  Really great.  I might have to consider alternative means to watch the games (VPN?).  It's not helping that the official extended highlights of the games provided by NBC Sports are absolutely dreadful - half the time taken up by conversions, kick attempts, replays and pre-match stuff and very little actual "rugby", not good when the highlights are only 10 minutes long.  I despair.