Pre-order

Yep, there was absolutely no chance I wasn't going to pre-order this (no matter the cost, and boy it isn't cheap!):

Labor Day Weekend

It's a miracle - I can actually enjoy the long Labor Day weekend!  At least until Tuesday where a ton of work waits for me.  Nothing planned for the weekend - I would have liked to have gone somewhere like Crater Lake, but just too many people visiting the big attractions on this the last weekend of summer.  And my friend who I lost a bet with is in town.  I said Tiger Woods would never win another major, he did, and know I owe that friend a $500 bottle of wine.  Which sucks.  I expect him to cash that in this weekend.  I better at least get a glass of decent wine out of it!

Cartoons

The Trump presidency has been a gold mine for cartoonists.

Mercenary

I didn't know this could be done.  Someone in my department left their job without telling anyone.  One day they were at work, the next they had gone.  No farewell lunch, no card, no goodbye e-mail, and I only found out because the IT guy told me they were asked to disable his account.  Possibly he told his fellow Chinese colleagues, but not anyone else – it didn’t help that his manager was not based here.  This was an interesting case – this guy had left before, but came back less than a year later because the job he moved to sucked.  Sound familiar?!  I don’t know how long he was back, but it feels like less than a year before he moved on again.  To god knows where (though since there are only 2 companies similar to our one in the area, and he already tried one of them, I can probably guess).  This is classic mercenary behavior – he’d better enjoy the new job, because I don’t think he’ll have a 3rd opportunity to come back again.  I sure as hell wouldn’t welcome him back with open arms again.  I won’t particularly miss him – he came back at a higher level than me, and a higher level than he deserved to be.  But this is a sad reflection of my lack of ambition and how much out of the loop I am nowadays on office gossip and the various comings and goings. 

Busy

A recap of the last few days.  Went into the office on Saturday.  Went into the office on Sunday.  So busy Monday I didn't even have time for lunch.  Today, left the office very late.  I think any aspirations I had for improved diet and exercise will have to be temporarily delayed.  We've got the long Labor Day weekend coming up, and I desperately hope I don't have to work during that - I need a break, I need some relaxation, and I need some quality hiking time.  So much for a healthy work-life balance.  Hopefully this won't last. 

Office Space

From a recent Q&A from some facilities person at our company:

There has been talk about the company moving toward more of an "open space" office design standard. Can you help shed some light on the direction the company is heading with regard to its workspaces?
What we are aiming to do goes beyond open space. We're rolling out a new workspace design that delivers a balance between open, collaborative spaces, flexible focus areas and some traditional offices. We are evolving our space standards to meet the changing needs of the organization and our employees.

What is beyond open space?  Are we all going to end up working by standing up outside with just our laptop and no desk or personal space at all?  This is truly disturbing.  I hate open spaces at work – it’s bad enough working in a cube.  Now if I have to see my neighbors all the time as well as hear them all the time, I despair.  I suspect there will be a lot of pushback to this.  Personally, I’m very traditionalist when it comes to my workspace – I want my own space to personalize as I see fit, and I want privacy so that no one apart from me can see my screen (which obviously has nothing to do with the fact that I’m on the internet all the time, at least when I’m not busy).  Ideally I want a window office.  I’m one of the few people on my floor who doesn’t have one of those adjustable desks that allow you to work sitting or standing – call me old-fashioned.  I’ve heard about other companies in our industry who basically have no designated spaces – you take whatever space is free when you get into the office.  This sounds like an absolute nightmare – and allows for absolutely no personalization and I imagine no sense of belonging.  There are times when collaboration and communication are important, there are more times when you have to hunker down and get on with your job.  An open space doesn’t allow for that.  I don’t even know why so much time and effort is spent on the workplace – in 5 or 10 years times we’re probably all going to be telecommuting and working from home.

Shawshank Redemption

Damn, it's a good film.  Happened to come across it channel-hopping, and now have to watch it to the end - for the umpteenth time - despite the ads and the US TV editing for language.   And despite owning it on DVD.

Soccer

A historic win for Palace - first time beating Man United for a very long time, and finally hitting the back of the net this season.  By all accounts quite lucky - a missed penalty, they probably should have had about 3 more penalties, and a classic smash and grab.  But we'll take it.  But that's not what I want to mention.  I happened to catch some of the Cascadia Cup last night - Seattle vs Portland in MLS, the biggest rivalry in US soccer.  We're not talking high quality football here, but at least there is some passion to this game.  But a certain issue struck me as I was watching.  I took a photo of my TV screen during the game, what do you see?

Yes, that is an awful lot of green.  Seattle in green.  Portland in green.  The surface (maybe artificial?  I know Seattle play on an artificial surface at home) is green.  Very bizarre - surprised they let that happen.  Seattle won by the way - but who cares.

Summer Picnic

Today was our company summer picnic - held at the usual place on the shores of Lake Sammamish; an event that takes up most of the day and is an absolute pain in the ass to get to and from.  I worked from home today - though I use the word "worked" loosely in this respect because I struggle to get stuff done at home, and also because I plan to go into the office over the weekend - and it still took 45 minutes to get there and back.  Bellevue traffic is just as bad as Seattle.  That's a lot of effort just to grab a mediocre meal, a free giveaway (which was a giant inflatable pool ring that I'll probably never use) and lots of uncomfortable small talk.  I don't know why I bother!  At least I managed to show some expertise at some of the carnival games.  Not looking forward to this weekend - an awful lot of work I'd like to get done before a deadline next Friday.  The next week (plus the following 2 weeks until the next deadline, plus probably the 2 weeks after that for ad-hocs and other unplanned work) are going to be hell.   

Subconscious

The mind is a mystery.  I was having a shower this morning, and then I twigged what I was inexplicably humming during my shower:

How and why that got into my subconscious I have no idea.  Harold.  You dirty old man.  Etc etc.  Classic. 

Bond 25, Title

"No Time to Die".  Initial thoughts on the title - disappointingly generic and rather dull.  After the Danny Boyle debacle, this is not boding well.

Mystery

What the hell - I've just started watching one of my recordings on my DVR, and it's playing with Spanish audio.  And I've just gone to the actual channel on my telly, and yes it's in Spanish.  It seems to be the only channel doing this.  Weird.  I didn't change any settings or anything - I have absolutely no idea how this happened.  Took me about half and hour to find the right option to fix it.  Fun times - I think Comcast are just playing with me.   

Busy

Don’t expect any stunning content in these blog posts for the next 4 weeks, at least, as I am super busy at work.  I’ve got 2 deadlines which are going to keep me incredibly occupied, and I was finally able to start working on them today – should have been weeks sooner, but naturally I was waiting for someone else to provide me the information I needed to start.  This is probably going to be the busiest I’ll be since rejoining this company – and will be a good test of how I handle the pressure and stress.  I’m relatively confident I'll be fine - been there, done it, learnt the lessons.  Let’s see… 

Resolutions

I always get kind of reflective around my birthday, and a little bit maudlin - so what better time (other than New Year) to make some resolutions.  I'm not going to share them here - the usual ones about health and exercise and diet and so on - but I hope they make some difference.  Though they probably won't.

Wrong

There are many things wrong with the current Republican Party, but this idiotic Twitter exchange between Senators would seem appropriate:

Fighting in Sports

The good:

Ice hockey (any sport with “sanctioned” fighting has my seal of approval)

Basketball (recommend you check out the Malice at the Palace)

Australian-rules Football (recommend you check out the Battle of Britain)

Rugby (though a disproportionate number of dirty plays)

The bad:

Baseball (just a lot of pushing and shoving)

Football (prima donnas)

American Football (you can’t fight properly wearing a helmet)

Cricket (needs more fighting)

Turncoat

Definition of turncoat:

This is actually quite funny if you know who he is (good luck with that if you're in the UK!).

Cards

My new YouTube addiction – watching boxes of baseball trading cards being opened, on the lookout for “autos”, “relics”, “rookie cards” and other hits.  This is wrong on all sorts of levels, but I somehow find it kind of relaxing to watch, and share in the joy when some expensive and rare card is found  – and I like the sense of community.  All this, despite (a) not particularly enjoying baseball (though I might be going to see the Mariners play at some point next month), (b) not knowing who any of the best players are currently (therefore not knowing which cards might actually be worth something in years to come), and (c) not owning any baseball trading cards of my own, apart from those I picked up on a family trip to California in the early 90’s.  And those cards are worthless – I checked - apparently that period of time is notorious for terrible and overproduced sets.  I’m almost tempted to buy some baseball cards of my own – but the only sets I would be interested in retail for ridiculous amounts of money.  And I spend too much as it is on James Bond cards - it’s a shame that they are just too niche.  This is when I think about the Panini and Garbage Pail Kids stickers, plus the many PG Tips cards, I collected as a youth and wonder how much (or how little) they are worth now.  But that’s not the point, there is definitely some kind of nostalgic appeal to me for card collecting going on here.

Scotch Football

Wasn't there a time when Rangers and Celtic were going to join the Premier League?  Or at least the lower tiers of the English League.  I bet they wish they made more of an effort/compromise to do so now.  As by far the best team in Scotland - Celtic, champions for the last 8 seasons - got knocked out of the Champions League qualifying by the footballing juggernaut that is CFR Cluj.  A team I've never heard of before, that apparently are the reigning Romanian champions.  You have no chance of seeing any of that Premier League, or indeed Champions League, money now.  Sad.

TV Recommendations

A good couple of days for TV.  Yesterday was the first episode of the second season of Succession - arguably the best show on TV right now.  And tonight we have the first episodes of the second seasons of The Terror - this time set in a Japanese internment camp rather than the Arctic - and Lodge 49 - maybe the most offbeat and under the radar show on TV right now.

Subtle

I've been in the US now for most of the last 15 or so years, and it took me until last week to notice this subtle difference between the US and the UK when someone pointed it out to me.  In the US, it is normal for you to push switches up (such as a light switch) to turn something on, and down to turn something off.  Whereas in the UK, it's the opposite.  Boom - mind blown.  I have no idea where this difference originates from - probably the same place that decides which side of the road to drive on.

Brain Freeze

Well, this is embarrassing/depressing/disturbing.  I'm sitting at home typing this around 9 pm, and it has suddenly dawned on me that I had a ticket for a summer concert tonight.  Absolutely slipped my mind until just now - and far too late to make my way there now.  Admittedly I bought the ticket a long time ago, but no excuse.  Who was I going to see?  Actually was more interested in the supporting act than the main act.  The main act was Elvis Costello - someone who I am a little bit indifferent to, but I think would've been good to see live.  But the supporting act I was really looking forward to seeing was Blondie - classic and one of my favorites.  But alas it is not to be.  I don't know what state the concert grounds would have been - it was being held outside at some amphitheater attached to a winery, but it's been raining most of the day - sometimes heavy and stormy - so I imagine it was a bit of a mud bath.  But still, I would have gone if I had remembered earlier in the day.  So that sucks.     

Appropriate Response

Yes, this seems like an appropriate expression when posing for a photo op with a recently orphaned baby whose parents were murdered shielding the baby from a mass shooter who spouted your rhetoric.  Classy.

Comforter-in-Chief

Good for some of the shooting victims in El Paso refusing to meet Trump at his not totally politically-motivated visit.  I think however I would have gone a different route.  If god forbid I was in the same situation, I would’ve requested to meet him 1-1 just so that I could spit in his face and tell him in no uncertain terms what I think of him.  My respect for Beto O’Rourke – the Democratic presidential candidate from El Paso – has also grown more with his statements and actions after the tragedy.  I already liked him before, and I like him even more now – seems like a decent and straight-talking guy (I think his use of some naughty swear words was totally justified) – I don’t think he is experienced enough to win the Democratic nomination this time around, but I do think he will have a bigger role to play in the Democratic party and the government in the years ahead.  As for Trump, what an abomination.  It is one thing to read prepared statements about unity from a teleprompter (statements prepared by someone else I hasten to add) when the real indication of what he thinks can be found in his twitter feed which continues to attack or criticize one thing or another.  He has, and continues to, stoke division and animosity, and I personally think he has blood on his hands.  He maybe the least empathetic person I have ever seen.

Work Update

A work update – busy, busy, busy.  Going to be like this for the next few months sadly – I had a desire to take a week off in September once kids go back to school, but my boss has already told me that I should postpone this until October.  Which sucks.  Hopefully I can still visit Crater Lake in Oregon, which was my plan – unfortunately Crater Lake is (quoting from their website) “one of the snowiest inhabited places in the USA”, and checking dates I see that most of the seasonal road closures start around October/November.  So I might have to make some different plans.  What else at work…. had my mid-year review recently – and it was good.  I didn’t give it much attention – having just got a promotion, it’s going to be a while until I get another one.  But it is satisfying to finally have a manager who recognizes my abilities and my value – and I do feel more important and more appreciated than I have for a while.  And, if I’m going to be honest, I’m quite enjoying the work at the moment.  Yes at times it is pressurized and stressful, but I am staying on top of it and it does feel surprisingly rewarding when I know I’m doing a good job.  And although I’m busy, it’s not constant and I haven’t crossed over that line into feeling overwhelmed.  I think that’s something I’m very careful about nowadays.  What is also interesting is something my manager mentioned offhandedly during my review, and that is my reluctance to work extra hours beyond the standard 40 hour week.  Is that a reputation I have now – someone who doesn’t put in the same effort as others do?  That doesn’t paint me in a particularly good light – perhaps there is some truth to it (understatement?!), but I will work long hours on those few occasions when it is required.  But frankly I don’t feel I have to because I can do my job more quickly and more effectively than most of my colleagues, negating my need to put in all these extra hours – so I think this is an extremely unfair characterization.  I have an inkling that I mentioned my reluctance to work evenings and weekends to one of my Chinese colleagues, and apparently that got shared around the “Chinese community” in my function at work.  Great, you can’t trust anyone here – I don’t think this is intentionally malicious office politics, but I think my “non-Chinese”-ness is always going to mean I’m going to be scrutinized more carefully.

10 Predictions

Thank god football is returning this weekend, finally putting to an end this bleak sports vacuum of the last couple of weeks.  Some predictions:

1. Man City will pip Liverpool to the title again, and no new teams will break into the top 6
2. One of Frank Lampard or Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will not be a manager next season
3. The relegation battle will go down to the final weekend, and the following teams will be relegated: Sheff Utd, Norwich, Brighton
4. VAR will still result in major controversy
5. English sides will not dominate European football this year
6. Due to the closeness of the races at the top and bottom of the league, the most amount of money ever will be spent on vastly overrated players in this season’s January transfer window
7. Harry Kane will experience a major injury and Tottenham will fade at the end of the season, yet again
8. Everton will flatter to deceive, yet again
9. Newcastle will have a surprisingly good season under Steve Bruce (but he’ll get fired next season)
10. Palace will be one of the lowest-scoring teams in the league

Photography

As I was sorting though some photos that I had downloaded onto my computer over the weekend, I was wondering why I bothered.  Once I’ve deleted the duplicates and crappy shots, I’ll probably never look at them again.  I think of all the photos that I’ve taken over the last 5/10 years, and they’re just sitting unseen on either my current laptop, my old laptop or an external hard drive (at least I remembered to copy them onto that from various even older computers).  And as I read stories about, or even actually see, various tourist locations being ruined by “Instagram Influencers” or selfie-takes, I despair.  I think I am guilty of taking too many photos – and I think it does ruin my enjoyment and experience of wherever I am and whatever I’m doing, particularly places new and exotic.  So I think I will make a conscious effort to cut down.  The problem is that the cameras on smart phones are so advanced now that you don’t need a dedicated camera any more.  I hardly ever use mine now – it is just so easy, too easy, to pull out your phone and take a quick photo that is of perfectly acceptable quality.  My god, you can even make a feature film using just your phone.  I think I can honestly say I preferred life before smartphones – from the art of photography to the printing out of driving directions to the lack of distraction via social media, texts, news alerts, mobile games, etc.  I’m increasingly turning into a technophobe.

Trends

First Queen, then Elton John, Motley Crue, the Beatles, Bruce Springsteen.  Does the film industry have no original ideas any more?  Talk about jumping on a bandwagon.  I expect a lot more decidedly average movies based on or loosely connected to some more classic (or not so classic in the case of Motley Crue) musical acts in the next year or two.  Sad. 

Gun Control

America needs it, America will never get it.  Nuff said.

Blue Angels

I did have a blog lined up about my hair loss, but it's just too depressing - at least for me - so instead here is the briefest of brief video of some Blue Angels flying over my office today.

2 Photos

I haven't been taking a lot of photos recently, but here are a few from today.

A distant view of the Olympics from a lunchtime walk from work - not sure if its clear in the photo, but some really interesting lenticular cloud formations over the mountains.

Then a view from my kitchen window as I was making my dinner this evening.