Net

I said I wouldn't do this until I retire, but stuck at home I need my distractions.  So yes, my long journey to becoming a golfing douchebag has started:

Noise Sensitivity

I'm sensitive to noise when I'm in the office - from the sounds of people thumping their keyboards, to overhearing loud conversations (particularly if they're in Chinese) to people having their phone volumes too high or god forbid using the speaker, and so on.  So naturally, when I'm working from home then I start to become overly sensitive to the noises around me here.  This might be the sound of one of my neighbor's sons (who must in his 20's?) - who clearly plays of lot of those multiplayer video games because I often hear him shouting into his headset or whatever.  Then I've got my landlord and his sons, who are always tinkering around with their cars so you frequently hear the sound of engines revving and so on.  Both of these I can live with.  However, this week has been bad because we have a new sound - and it's my least favorite sound - construction noise.  It looks like they're going full steam ahead on refurbishing the rundown house next door.  And it's hell.  I'm not the only person I know having to deal with construction noise at the moment, so you have my full sympathy.  It looks like they're working on the roof at the moment - and to a certain degree I could get used to the sound of banging and sawing.  But those aren't the most annoying sounds.  No, those are the sounds of an air compressor or generator that they seem to leave on a lot more than they actually need to - and when I can't hear that, then the sound of some godawful Mexican music.  At a party-level type volume.  It is infuriatingly annoying, and I'm not sure what to do about it.  I can minimize the noise inside my house by not having the windows open that face that way - not ideal when we're going through a heatwave at the moment.  I can adjust my schedule so that I'm not home as much when they're working - e.g. going for morning or lunchtime walks.  If it gets bad, can I even consider going into the office to work?  I've got absolutely no idea how long this noise is going to last for.  And then of course, can I go over there and say something to them?  What do I say - do you mind awfully if you keep the noise down when you're slaving away on the roof for less than minimum wage?  If the construction guys even speak English.  I don't think it's too much just to ask them to only use the air compressor/generator when they need to (and move it somewhere so that the sound doesn't reach me so easily) and to turn the music down.  But even getting to their house is a problem - when I drive past their driveway, it always seems to be flooded, and my landlord says that they have some severe plumbing problems there (I think he made a low-ball offer on the house and lot, but didn't get it).  So let's see if it continues through into next week.  I simply think it's impossible to find the peace and quiet that I want wherever I live.           

Song of the Week #16

I feel like the quality of my blog posts has really dropped off recently - sorry about that.  At least I can go back to the well here.  This is an interesting selection - a very student-friendly song that came out when I was a student, yet I have absolutely no recollection of it at the time.  Perhaps it is just too American (though I wouldn't be surprised if the sarcasm was lost on most Americans) - I do not think it cracked the UK charts at all.

Filling

Last dentist trip of the year today, hopefully, and last filling.  My mouth is so sore.  I need to get myself my own can of nitrous oxide - very relaxing.  At least until they inject the numbing agent, pry open your jaw with a mouth guard, then prod and drill with their instruments of torture.  Whilst you are totally helpless.  I heard some horrific drilling sounds coming from another room, I feel sorry for whoever that was.  I think you have to be a sadist to become a dentist. 

Triple Header

I didn't know what to do with myself today as I'm so used to having football games on the telly as I'm working from home.  But now the season has finished, I have to come up with an alternative plan.  How about not having the telly on at all?  No, don't be stupid.  I don't know if this will be a regular thing, but today I had a trio of great films on in the background - Shawshank Redemption, Stand by Me and Speed.  Not really my choice, but I happened to notice they were on while I was channel-hopping.  The problem was that these films are so good that you just end up watching them, and don't get any work done.  Doesn't matter how many times I've seen them - especially Shawshank Redemption, which always seems to be on - it's simply impossible to not just stop what you're doing and watch them, especially when you know a great scene is about to come up.  Therefore, I need to come up with some background films - films that you don't need to concentrate on, but provide a welcome distraction from your computer monitor when needed.  A great example - Airplane.  I need to identify more films like this.     

Small Pleasures

I experienced momentary pleasure today when I had a banana that was just the perfect ripeness - not too hard and not too soft.  The only reason it entered my consciousness is because it happens so rarely.  I don't know why this is - probably because I leave my bananas out and don't refrigerate them at all.  But people who refrigerate bananas right after they buy them when they're unripe, well they are just wrong.   

Saturday

Tired, irritable, listless - it feels like a workday rather than the weekend.  Every day feels like every other day - I'm struggling with the passage of time at the moment.  I need a weekend away.

Man vs Animal

An update on the various conflicts I am currently having with nature:

Moles

- I think I can officially declare victory!  The mole was captured by one of the scissor traps.  Just the one mole - but there haven't been any new molehills since.  Fingers crossed, this particular war is over.  Thank god.  The yard definitely shows the scars of battle - that's impressive work by the little bugger if he (or she) was the only one to do all this.

Insects

- My goodness me, with the amount of insect bites I have you'd think I'd have developed some kind of super power.  But no, just a lot of discomfort and irritation.  Last night, I got a big bite right in the middle of my chest.  How the hell did that happen?  I think the only time I wasn't wearing a t-shirt was when I had a shower.  Unbelievable.

Crows

- Well, this is an interesting one.  I have a new secret weapon, and since I deployed it I haven't had any issues with crows waking me up by making a load of noise right outside my bedroom window.  Say hello to Histor (congratulations if you get my obscure 90's TV reference!):

Apparently, the crows don't like this when I leave it out!  However, I'm not sure if it's politically insensitive of me to hang the crow up like its been lynched...

 

Play Ball

Of all the sports that have restarted without an audience, there is one that I really don't care if, how and when it restarted.  But here we are, America's national game - baseball - started today.  It will be a shortened season, with probably a load of temporary rule changes not unlike football.  And not unlike football, I suspect a lot of these temporary rules will become permanent.  In football, I think water breaks will become permanent - and eventually be extended so that a football game consists of quarters rather than halves - cynically better for including more advertising in tv coverage.  In baseball, one of the big discrepancies between NL and AL teams is the use of a designated hitter - and one of the rule changes for this season was that all teams now have to use one.  I also wouldn't be surprised if this became permanent.  I really should be more invested in baseball - my team, the San Diego Padres, are better than they have been for a while (though I still suspect they won't make the playoffs, for the 14th year in a row).  But no, baseball will still be an interminably boring sport to watch.

Some more late breaking sports news - the new Seattle NHL team was named today.  And they might have the best team name in all of American sports.  I shall be cheering on the Seattle Kraken beginning next year.  RELEASE THE KRAKEN etc etc.       

Song of the Week #15

I need to chill out, with some classic chill out.  Brings back good memories of falling asleep to Big Sonic Chill on 94.9 in San Diego - best radio show ever.

Comet 2

Took some photographs of the night sky using my phone, just to prove that I have been stargazing.  Here is the Big Dipper, with Comet Neowise just below it (or behind the tree):

But fortunately I was able to move around and get a close-up:

Hot

Hottest day of the year so far today, and being stuck inside in front of a computer without nearly enough air circulation does not make for ideal working conditions.  This is where I miss the office and the office air-conditioning.  However, my discomfort was tempered by the fact that we got a $75 gift voucher today in lieu of our canceled annual "ice cream social" at work.  I am more than happy to oblige by getting $75 worth of ice cream. 

Comet

We've had some clear skies over the last week, so for a few nights I've been trying to catch a glimpse of Comet Neowise a few hours after sunset.  Well I say "try", but what I really mean is stepping outside my front door and pointing my phone at the sky using a stargazing app.  And I still have absolutely no idea where the comet is - the app doesn't seem to want to tell me without making me pay for an upgrade, which I'm never going to do.  So, for the sake of argument, I'll just say that I saw it - though I suspect it is closer to the horizon where my view is obscured by trees.  And I also suspect that the comet is entirely underwhelming when viewed by the naked eye.  I'll make more of an effort to get a decent view of it next time (in 6800 years time).

Defeat

I'm not officially declaring victory to the moles, but for sure they are winning.  I tapped out of the war quite a few weeks ago, and left it to my landlord.  And he has been putting down these scissor traps to no available.  And how do I know they have not been working?  Because new molehills keep on continuing to pop up all over my yard - there may be over 30 molehills now.  Some have been trampled down, I noticed the other day that my landlord had the hose out and was trying to flood them out - but that hasn't seemed to stop them either.  And these moles (or more likely the singular mole) seems to be particularly active and exploratory - the little sod has 3 sides of my house covered and if I had any sort of lawn it would be ruined.  But I am distracted by my fight with the family (?) of 4 crows who continue to make a racket and distract me from work and sleep.  I clearly don't have love for all the natural world.     

WFH

We got official word today that we will be required to work from home until the end of the year now.  Not a total surprise, but kind of early to make that decision.  Gives you an idea of how optimistic management are that the pandemic is going to be contained in the US any time soon.  Naturally, I hate working from home and so I hate this news.  But it's not like I can do anything about it - other than try to get used to working from home (which has been tough for the last few weeks when I've had so little actual work to do).  Also makes you wonder what the chances are that all the kids are going to go back to school after summer - something the federal government is insisting upon.  Expect a lot of conflict on that front in the months ahead. 

Time

The less said about Palace's abysmal end of season form, the better.  With the quick turnaround, doesn't bode well for next season.

Instead, let me mention something unusual that I noticed today.  I was using my work laptop, and totally accidentally happened to notice that the time on my laptop was about 8 minutes slower than it should have been.  How long has it been like this?  Have I been inexcusably late for loads of online meetings because I'm going off the time on my laptop?  Nobody has said anything, and I haven't noticed meetings already started before I join.  And most unusually, when I went into the laptop settings the option to automatically sync time was not selected - I don't think this is the default, and I certainly didn't change this setting.  So how how did I lose these 8 minutes, and when?  Those damn Russian hackers are just getting petty now.     

Travel

Been thinking a lot about travel recently.  How long will it be until I start commuting to work again?  With the way things are going in the US, might not be this year.  I’m hardly putting any miles on my car – I keep on getting emails telling me a car service is overdue, but I’ve not been getting any service due warnings on my dashboard yet.  How comfortable am I going on road trips and staying at hotels and living off takeouts?  Not very.  Maybe Airbnb is a better option, but even then how clean are those places kept?  And when will I be able to travel by plane comfortably again?  Could be a considerable amount of time, and then what is the experience going to be like?  I don’t want someone sitting close to me, I’m accepting but not keen with having to wear a mask for the entire duration of say a long flight back to the UK, and what other hoops will we have to jump through?  And how expensive is flying going to be when it eventually comes back?  It’s all a mystery.  If anything, this period of isolation and introspection has made me keen to see more of the world when we do get back to some semblance of normality.  I lost the travel bug a long time ago, but I think I would like to try to get it back – at least a little bit.  I’m always going to be limited by the number of vacation days we get in the US – but I’ve been accumulating these for a while now, and I get an extra week’s vacation when I hit my 5 year anniversary in a few months’ time, so travel starts to become more feasible.  There are a lot of places I would like to go to, and I don’t want to leave everything until too late in my life – though my lack of physical conditioning does limit how adventurous I can be.  Are there destinations I would be willing to go by myself?  Can I find a travel companion to go to other places?  Would I even consider organized tours (unless no choice, I am very reluctant) or a cruise (never – apart from maybe to Antarctica)?  This feels like a classic case of my having to reluctantly step out of my comfort zone to do something that is ultimately more rewarding.  But not any time soon…

Song of the Week #14

The Pacific NW has produced a lot of good music over the years, and this band is definitely up there.  Their debut album also came out close to when I first moved to Seattle, so they do hold an extra little bit of significance to me.

Fore

The ultimate sign I am getting old.  I promised myself I wouldn't take up golf until retirement.  And then last week, a friend gave me a set of old irons and some balls.  And then this week, I ordered a practice net and felt mat - so I guess I'm going to be setting that up in the yard soon and starting to hit some balls.  Yikes - next thing you know, I'm going to be one of those old guys at an exclusive golf club who holds everyone up as they take about 50 shots on each hole (and that's with blatant cheating), who wears absolutely hideous golf outfits, hates seeing women or black people in the clubhouse or on the course, and passionately votes for Trump.  Oh lordy. 

Things Breaking

It is proving to be one of those days.  It started with my electric shaver.  The cleaning unit for the shaver sits next to my sink, and I somehow contrived to knock it off the sink and break it.  And spill the cleaning fluid everywhere, which is the kind of toxic acid that will probably stain the bathroom tiles now.  Then playing Mario Kart on the Switch this morning was a nightmare - the internet connection was pretty horrible and kept on crashing the online game, and then my controllers stopped working properly.  Still don't know if they are broken or something else - because when I restarted the system, they seemed to work again.  Weird.  And then as I was using the dryer later, heard a bang like a gunshot and the dryer stopped working.  And judging from the unpleasant burning smell emanating from it, I think it is kaput.  It's still early evening as I'm writing this, so let's see what else will break before the end of the day...   

Tired

This is my second attempt at writing a post.  I started writing about the fact that I saw my first attack ad against Joe Biden this week (just 115 days until the election... and undoubtedly this is going to be a nasty and fractious fight).  I started writing about the fact that I caught a bit of a stock-car race on telly today and saw one of the drivers had a Trump 2020 paint job, which was quite shocking.  I started writing about the startling display of corruption that happened late yesterday when Trump commuted the sentence of his longtime friend - no coincidence that this same friend was convicted of lying to Congress and witness tampering as part of the Russian investigation.  But I just got tired and despondent writing about this - mainly because despite the countless failings of the Trump presidency, not the least of which is the unmitigated disaster that is their handling of the pandemic, I STILL think he is going to win re-election.  Such is my disillusionment and distrust of the American people.  Prove me wrong.  I do not plan to write any more political posts until the election, unless there is something truly newsworthy or outlandish that I have to comment on.  But I just can't deal with the day-to-day debacle that is the Trump presidency - it's too exhausting and depressing.

Relic

I was cleaning out the inside of my car today, and finally disposed of what felt like a relic from a bygone era.  Yes, I got rid of my TomTom navigation device.  Something I haven't used for years, really since the advent of navigating via smartphone.  And it was such an old device, that I don't think it was even able to receive updates any more due to memory limitations.  But it served me well on many a road trip.  And so I will kind of miss it, in the same way that I miss having a CD player in my car.  But hey, as technology moves on so must I.   

Work?

A weird week at work.  I was busy on Monday, and I've had absolutely nothing to do the last 3 days.  I mean literally nothing.  It's one of those rare times when I am grateful to be working from home, where there are distractions such as chores and telly to occupy my time - with just a regular check on my inbox in case something comes up.  If I was in the office, I would just be bored senseless surfing the internet or watching YouTube videos.  At least at home, I'm bored senseless watching a crappy football game (oh Tottenham, why did you hire Mourinho?  You've made a team known for attractive football utterly turgid) or doing tiresome housework.  I've got a bit lazy with going out for regular walks - so that's something I need to fix.  Really I've got lazy with my whole lifestyle at the moment - as a consequence of being stuck at home by myself most of the time.  It's a bad scenario for someone like me who is prone to developing bad habits - and so it's important for me to make more of an effort to get out when I can, or to more healthily occupy my time.   

Song of the Week #13

As promised last week, the best sax in pop music.  Too obvious.

Footy Update

Well, 4 defeats in a row – so much for Palace’s hopes of finishing in the top 10.  I’m just glad that we’ve accumulated enough points to hopefully avoid a relegation scrap.  At least the performance against Chelsea was good, and we managed to find the net.  This was one of the few games that was actually decent to watch – with the lack of crowds, some of the games have been real duds.  So as much as I like the games being spread out during the week – and they are great to have on in the background whilst I’m working – unfortunately most of them have not been worth it.  The lack of atmosphere has sometimes resulted in a lack of intensity – and without the intensity, the game really suffers.  I don’t know, was finishing off this season worth it?  Definitely if you were a Liverpool fan – the thought of them being denied the title was hilarious.  And if you were to get relegated, I think you’d be really pissed off with the circumstances.  But I’m glad for any sports right now – certainly whilst still without any of the big American sports returning yet.  Hence why I’ve also been watching an inordinate amount of Aussie rules football recently.  I’ve added watching a live game of this on my bucket list. 

America the Not So Beautiful

There is still so much of the US that I want to explore and see.  However, there is also so much of the US that I am not in the least bit interested in going to.  Here are 5 cities on that list:

- Detroit
- Philadelphia
- Miami
- New Orleans
- Cleveland

Aromatherapy

It seems that whatever was making my bedroom stink of a moldy/rotten smell has gone - thank god.  I still have no idea what it is.  I am convinced that it was something on the outside of the house just outside my bedroom window, like mold/moss or similar.  My landlord reckons it was coming from a dilapidated house a few lots over, which it looks like some people are starting to restore (construction noise alert...).  But the fact that it comes and goes seasonally around the same time of year would suggest that it is some kind of pollen or spore that just really disagrees with my sense of smell.  Either way, it didn't stop me from splashing out loads of money on various things to try to fix the issue - whether it be mold remover, scented candles, potpourri, or various air fresheners.  But perhaps my best purchase was an air diffuser, because I'm still using it even though the stink has long gone.  I feel like I'm only just starting to learn and experiment with the different scented oils you can use in these things - some of which can be quite therapeutic, and hopefully will help me sleep better.  I'm liking peppermint, orange, grapefruit, even lavender - a scent that can be totally disgusting and overpowering in a plug-in air freshener - isn't bad.     

Fourth of July

An interesting Fourth of July this year - what with all the big fireworks displays having been cancelled.  Unfortunately, I think this is going to mean lots of people setting off fireworks in their own backyards.  I've been hearing them for a few nights now (and during the day - which is just stupid and pointless), and I think it's going to be absolutely terrible tonight - even though their legality in our neighborhood is extremely questionable.  And on top of this, my landlord/neighbor is having a big party.  The music started at around midday, and I imagine is going to last until well past midnight.  At least they warned me - and invited me - but I have no desire to join their large gathering - where I suspect no one will be wearing masks or practicing social distancing.  Especially because I think their kids - along with all their kid's friends - are there, which is a recipe for spreading the virus.  Instead went out for a walk this afternoon, and I'm going to try to get up early tomorrow to go for another walk - when hopefully there won't be so many people on the trails.   

Blitzkreig

Oh my god, the mole or moles in my yard have gone crazy this last week.  Another 10 molehills have popped up in the last few days alone - it's got so bad that I ran out of poison pellets twice this week, not that they seem to be making a jot of difference.  The ultimate insult was where my landlord put down a scissor trap.  A couple of massive molehills have appeared either side of the trap - almost like the mole knew the trap was there and is taking the piss.  There does seem to be quite a comprehensive network of tunnels in my yard, which apparently also extends into my landlord's yard.  It's shocking - this is by far the worst I've seen it.  I am clearly losing the war - and I might need to change tactics.  I've been thinking about getting an air gun to deal with some annoyingly loud crows waking me up in the early hours with their incessant cawing, maybe I also need to start hunting moles?  Not that I've ever seen a live one. 

Passing the Time

I have become quite addicted to geoguessr.com.  There is a certain sense of satisfaction in being able to work out exactly where you are based on a Google Maps view (after about 1/2 hour scrolling about trying to find clues!).  Check it out if you've got some spare time - you can sign-up for free.   

Punchable Faces

I want to talk about punchable faces.  These are the faces of random famous people who for indiscernible, or discernible, reasons I just want to punch.  These are sometimes obvious - consider Trump, Mitch McConnell, Sean Hannity, etc.  Some are less obvious - a long-term one of mine is Gary Lineker, who is probably a perfectly nice guy but I would like nothing more than to punch him in the face.  But I kind of wonder how unique this phenomenon is - are the same people that I think have punchable faces the sample people that you think have punchable faces?  Do you even think that people have punchable faces?  What attributes makes a punchable face?  I'd say it's not necessarily a physical thing, but some attribute of the person in mind.  Smugness is a notable factor for me.  But sometimes it's more of a mystery.  Consider the following recent example I encountered:

Yes, he's an Aussie Rules football player - which probably means that no one reading this has any clue who he is.  But to me, he totally has a punchable face - is that a hint of smugness I detect?  What do you think?