Facial Hair Update

The last day of the month = the last day with this mustache.  Thank god.  First thing tomorrow it's getting shaved off, and that can't come soon enough.  I'm so self-conscious about it now that it's started to affect my desire to leave the house without wearing a mask.  I think it looks stupid and doesn't suit me at all, and I'm never growing one again.  All the ridicule I've received from friends and family have obviously not influenced my decision.  At all....  My inability to grow a nice thick mustache is also a significant influencing factor.  As, I suspect, is the fact that my dad had a mustache - that is some deep psychology that I have absolutely no interest in examining further right now.  

Guilty Pleasure

There is one TV show that I am ashamed to say that I continue to watch if there is nothing better on or if I want something on while most of my concentration is directed elsewhere.  And that is The Big Bang Theory.  I think apart from the last few seasons, I've probably seen every episode at least once - and probably most of them numerous times.  The earlier seasons - before the introduction of Bernadette and Amy - are by far the best, and the later seasons - when everyone is just phoning it in and collecting their huge paychecks - are by far the worst.  Now that the show is syndicated, it is aired on so many channels that almost any time of day you're guaranteed to find it.  If I'm going to be totally honest, it does have some truly funny moments - but for the most part it is utter trash.    Yet I continue to put it on.  What is wrong with me?  That was a rhetorical question.

It's On Again

Oh no.  Opened the curtains this morning, looked outside, and what was the first thing I saw?  Something that fills me with apprehension and dread.  The source of a lot of time and trouble.  A battle that has already been won once, but apparently not the war.  Yep, it was a big ole molehill.  The first new one since traps were successfully deployed earlier this year.  Oh joy, now we've got to deal with this all over again.    

Relic

I recently received something that I ordered over a year ago, and it might be my favorite 007 relic so far.

Yes, an actual Golden Gun that you can put together.  It ticks all the boxes - iconic, limited edition, already sold out, and looks good.  I probably overpaid, whatever.    

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all!  A time for millions of Americans to travel and congregate in large gatherings, despite all pandemic advice to the contrary, and inevitably cause an even higher spike in cases.  And for what?  To celebrate the pilgrims coming to America only to kill all the Native Americans with smallpox or guns.  It's always nice to have a few official days off work - but not exactly a big deal when you're generally not overwhelmed with work anyway.  But today has not got off to a good start.  I fancied having a proper Thanksgiving meal today, but I didn't fancy having to cook it.  So I pre-ordered a meal from a local restaurant, and was due to pick it up this lunchtime.  But then got an e-mail this morning saying that my order had not gone through.  No explanation as to why, and the link in the e-mail to re-submit my order didn't work.  Great.  Fortunately I was able to submit a new order from their website that did seem to work - though now I am having a Thanksgiving evening meal rather than a lunchtime meal since my old pickup time was no longer available.  It had better be worth it.  I'm already worried about being charged twice.  If I decide to do the same thing for a Christmas dinner, then I might try somewhere else.       

Plumbing

My DIY skills were put to the test today, with mixed success.  I noticed that my shower was leaking a little bit, and I had a spare shower head set from my previous abode - so decided to replace one with the other.  After initially making things worse, I realized I was missing a rubber washer and duly found one and fixed the issue - it's amazing how such a small little thing can make a huge amount of difference.   I think I have a better pressure shower now that doesn't leak, and was feeling very pleased with myself.  So decided to try to fix another issue for myself.  Pride comes before a fall.  And for such a small thing - I wanted to try to fix the washing liquid dispenser built into the kitchen sink, that doesn't actually dispense washing up liquid.  And in fact, I have made this worse.  I can't seem to fix the dispenser - the mechanism is probably clogged up with years of use and needs to be replaced.  And now the whole fixture is loose in the sink and I'm totally unable to tighten it up - I need a wrench that I don't have or a second person to help.  Time to call my landlord I think (after Thanksgiving - don't exactly want to take him away from his family for Thanksgiving for something so insignificant).

Proof

This little guy lingered on my feeder yesterday for a good 20 minutes, so I took the opportunity to snap a quick shot to prove that he really does exist.  I didn't want to get too close in case I scared him off, but apparently I need to get a phone with a better camera, or at least a better zoom....!

Songs of the Week #33

Note the plural in the title of this post - I had difficulty choosing just the one tune, so I've plumped for 3 instead.  A special birthday selection for someone who reads this blog and who likes their guitar loud and iconic.  Here are 3 classic riffs from the "unholy trinity" of heavy metal.  

Football (American)

I'm not watching nearly as much American Football as I used to - but I did catch some of the Sunday night game featuring the Raiders.  And it was weird.  Not the Los Angeles Raiders.  Not the Oakland Raiders.  But the Las Vegas Raiders.  Yes, now Las Vegas has a football team and San Diego does not.  It just doesn't feel right.  No fireworks today - but not because Seattle lost.  They actually played on Thursday night (don't even get me started on why a Thursday and not say a Saturday night).  And, sure enough, someone set off some fireworks after they won then.  I think Seattle will make the playoffs, but I think they will get torched by one of the better teams - their defense is porous to say the least.         

Legacy

I think we all knew that, as Edward Norton succinctly put it, Trump is a whiny bitch.  So I am not in the least bit surprised that he has yet to concede defeat.  I don't know, and I don't care, if it is because he is stupid enough to actually believe that he won the election or if it is because he is pig-headed enough to refuse to accept that he lost.  But when it starts to compromise things like national security or the timeline for the eventual roll out of the vaccine, then that is a serious point of concern.  It is not so much Trump that concerns me - since we wouldn't and didn't expect any different.  It's the people that enable his behavior to go on that really annoy me.  In particular, the Republican Party.  As Trump continues to lose all these ridiculous lawsuits, and make all these unsubstantiated and dangerous claims about voter fraud and other such nonsense - the Republican Party's lack of response is deafening.  And really regrettable - it undermines democracy, and continues to empower large swatches of the American population to refuse to accept the legitimate results of the election.  I have serious worries about what kind of unrest there might be when Biden is eventually sworn in.  I think the media also have a roll to play in this - Trump shouldn't be allowed to continue to have a Twitter account, and media shouldn't continue to report on Trump if he has nothing legitimate to say - which he doesn't.  Take away his headlines and you take away his lies.  This should be a time of celebration as we look forward to a new presidency after an extremely divisive and tumultuous last 4 years - but instead I continue to be profoundly depressed at how low American politics has become.      

Visitor

I had an intruder come up to my house this week.  As we made eye contact through the kitchen window, I don't know who was more surprised. 

Insurance

Well, apparently my dental insurance doesn't pay for everything.  I just received a letter from my dentists saying that I owe then $400, because it looks like I maxed out my insurance and I have to pay out-of-pocket for the remaining balance.  Which is disappointing, to say the least.  Do I blame myself for not checking what my annual maximum was that my insurance will pay?  Do I blame the dentists for not actually letting me know what the real cost of all the dental services I received would be to me?  Yes and yes.  I guess I won't be going to the dentists again this year.  Let's hope no one punches me in the mouth.  Like if we're fighting over the last pack of toilet rolls in the supermarket.  Yes, once again there is a shortage - unbelievable.         

Song of the Week #32

This week, a Motown classic.  Whose lyrics, nearly 50 years after it's initial release, are still terrifyingly pertinent.

Corporate Speak

I had to skip out of a meeting at work this afternoon.  I just couldn't take it.  It was about "leadership commitments" - and just full of absolute BS.  You know, all those kind of HR buzzwords and statements that are supposed to improve our "corporate culture".  I probably shouldn't share this, but these are the 5 commitments that have been newly introduced and imposed on us: "I am bold in aspiration and agile in execution", "I care and make time for people", "I listen, speak openly, and explain the 'why'", "I trust others and myself to make sound decisions" and "I own the impact of my words and actions".  I lasted 10 minutes, and as soon as they started talking about splitting us up into small breakout groups I was done.  If it was one of those meetings where you could just kind of zone out while they prattle on about all this nonsense, then that would be fine.  But if they actually want me to contribute to some sort of small group discussion - then nope I'm out of here.  I hate any sort of interactive meeting like this, especially on a topic that I don't find interesting or useful - you can't teach an old new tricks, and I'm an old dog at this stage of my working life.  It's just so fake and as I get older it gets increasingly more difficult to hide my disdain at change.  There might be some repercussions with my dropping out of the meeting - after all, my boss is one of the presenters!  Our 1-1 later this week could get a bit awkward.  Hmmm, I might have to go with the "Oh no, my internet connection suddenly dropped" excuse...    

Jigsaw #1

Yes, it has come to this - completion of not just any old boring jigsaw, but a 3d one.

I must confess that I have owned this puzzle for a while now so this is not my first time putting it together.  But I forgot how challenging it is and how big the end product is (so big that the top of the spire is not in focus in the photo!).   

Restrictions

As the virus continues to surge in the US, and the lack of federal response is utterly shameful, states are having to pass their own restrictions.  And our State Governor just announced a load of new restrictions today - notably a ban on most kinds of indoor social gatherings such as dining, and an occupancy limit on most retail stores.  I guess this means I might need to start going to the grocery store early again!  I hope this doesn't result in panic-buying of toilet paper and suchlike again.  I don't think so.  These restrictions aren't as dramatic as the ones we had earlier in the year - but frankly I think they should be as the rate of infection is much higher than before.  And I have absolutely no doubts that most Americans will blatantly flout these rules as friends and families gather together to celebrate Thanksgiving soon, and then Christmas.  I think things will get a lot worse before they get better again.      

Regional Transit Authority Tax

I moaned about this last year, and I'm going to moan about it this year, but it's time to renew the license plates on my car and the fee is still absolutely outrageous.  And it's all due to this "regional transit authority tax" - essentially I'm contributing to the light rail extension that is being built around Greater Seattle that I'm probably never going to use.  It's a great idea - but the transit centers will have wildly inadequate parking (as they do now), rendering them utterly useless for most people - including me.  So so stupid.  The only way the extension affects me is that all the construction causes road closures/delays that messes up the traffic.  But anyway, coming back to the tax - you're supposed to pay 1.1% of what your car is worth when you renew your license.  But the way in which they calculate this is notoriously inaccurate - it's based on some sort of depreciation schedule that does in no way actually reflect how much your car is worth.  For example, I'm paying a $173.00 tax, so that evaluates my car as worth about $15,700.  I know for a fact that it is worth something nearer to $13,000 (from a car vehicle report that I regularly receive).  That difference is not insignificant.  What a rip off.  What makes it worse is that last year an initiative was put to the vote and passed for capping the car tab fee at $30 (something I would probably have voted in favor of as well).  But first it was blocked in the courts and then ruled unconstitutional.  So the voter-approved measure never got implemented - what a disgrace.  I appreciate that we need to pay something for road maintenance and suchlike, but I'm not happy about having to pay for these huge and expensive and questionable mass transit projects (that I suspect will do absolutely nothing to help the increasingly worse traffic here).  The light rail from the airport to downtown is already a total bust - hardly anybody uses it - so do we really expect things to be any different when the service is extended to other areas?  I'll answer that - nope.    

WTF WFH

For the first time, it really crossed my mind that I would consider working from home permanently.  We got notified today that we are now required to work from home until April.  So that will be an entire year stuck at home.  And with the way things are going in the US (don't even get me started on the political situation here which we all saw coming but which is still despicable, and which is only hindering the pandemic response), I think going back to the office in April is extremely optimistic.  Hopefully at some point next year we will be allowed to go back to the office, but we will probably be given the choice not to.  Which is why I wonder whether further down the line we might be given the choice to permanently work from home.  Which is something I would consider now - unthinkable 9 months ago.  And if I was to do it I would definitely move - somewhere by the coast and somewhere I could own a dog.  I did pop into the office today (probably my last time for a very long while) to pick up a package - a package that I ordered over a year ago, which is why it got delivered to the office (and the contents of which I'm sure I'll blog about in the future).  But the office just seems so alien to me - quiet, nobody there (at least on my floor), and very unwelcoming.  And the neighborhood has changed - I took the opportunity to grab a sandwich for lunch at a place near work that I used to go to regularly (once or twice a week).  And it is totally different - it has undergone refurbishment, and what used to be a cheap and expansive sandwich selection in the deli there has been replaced by a limited and vastly more expensive choice.  Extremely disappointing - and even when office workers start to come back to the area, I don't see it getting any better.  Another place to cross off my list - my lunch choices should I ever return to the office have started to become very limited.          

Car Service

A good day, I was able to cross another thing off my to-do list - something that was long overdue.  And that was getting my car serviced.  There doesn't seem to be much wrong with my car - not too much of a surprise since it's getting so little use at the moment - but I still feel I got ripped off.  Might be time to start going to an independent mechanic rather than a dealer.  I don't know whether this is entirely due to the pandemic, but the wait time to get an appointment (3 weeks) and the wait time for the actual appointment (they said 1 hour, I was there for about 3 hours) were absolutely horrendous.  Especially as waiting in the customer lounge there was a nightmare.  It was full of old people chattering away - not all of whom seemed to be waiting for their car.  It was very weird, like they just meet there every day to get some free coffee and catch up on their day's gossip.  And let's just say that their ability to social distance and keep their masks on was "inconsistent".  As soon as they started talking politics and disparaging Biden, I was out of there.       

Glasses

I've been wearing my new glasses for a few weeks now, and I have some thoughts on them.  This is my first time with photochromic lenses, and I don't like them.  For example, I went for a neighborhood walk this afternoon, and the lenses darkened even though it was a grey and overcast day.  I don't like seeing the world through this filter when it is totally unnecessary.  I think I'm just going to get some prescription sunglasses instead in the future.  This is also my first time with progressive lenses, and they have taken a lot of getting used to.  There are still occasions when it take me a while to focus on things properly.  And as for the glasses themselves, I worry that they don't fit properly because they often slide down my nose - but then all glasses I've ever owned have tended to do that, so I suspect that has more to do with my nose than the actual glasses.  However, I still feel like the frames are a bit cheap - I'm not sure if they're going to last, and I think I should have got a better brand.  I suspect I might end up wearing the glasses that I've just ordered online - even though they were cheaper and were only intended as backup.  But they are not photochromic, not progressive and may even look a bit better.  We shall see...

Song of the Week #31

I hadn't heard this song for over 25 years, which is kind of sad because I actually really like the band - and several of their other hits appear on various compilation albums I had (have?) on cassette.  Maybe if my music taste had evolved a few years before it actually did, I would really be into them - their chilled out dance vibe is very much in my wheelhouse.  And I did my research - fun fact, a Palace player is name-checked in the song because the lead singer is a Palace fan.

Attacked

One of my backyard hummingbirds may be getting too big for his britches.  I had refilled the feeder, and just as I stepped out my backdoor to return it the hummingbird starting hovering in front of my face, easily within arm's reach.  And then he decided to land on the feeder whilst I was still holding it and before I even had a chance to hang it back on it's stand.  Either he was very hungry, or he is not shy any more.  I'm saying he - which is very presumptuous of me.  And a quick google search reveals that it may actually be a she.  It was the bigger of the 2 hummingbirds that regularly frequent my feeder - I assume they are a couple - and the other one is a lot smaller and lot more skittish.  I guess by the fact that they're still here means that they are here to stay and are not migrating anywhere.  I'd like to get of photo of them, so I'll have to think about how to do that without scaring them away.   

Facial Hair

It seems to be a no-brainer to participate in Movember this year.  Since I'm wearing my mask most of the time when I interact with people, I can easily hide my pathetic facial hair growth.  I haven't shaved above my upper lip since the start of the month, but it's not exactly grown in yet - it looks more like something a Hispanic teenage boy would have.  And I hate it - it will get shaved off as soon as the month ends.  But outside my home, it will be rarely seen.  I've even just ordered some face masks to wear whilst exercising - I'm increasingly self-conscious about not having a face mask when I'm out hiking and I encounter other people on a trail who about 90% of the time have their mask on as they pass me.  I don't think it's necessary when the trails are often wide enough to accommodate both of us, but wearing a face mask is such a political statement here and I don't want to be seen as one of "those" people.       

Lockdown

There's no lockdown here (despite Washington State posting it's highest covid infection rates this week - over 1750 new cases today).  So what better time to go out for a dine in experience for what felt like the first time in months - and indeed was my first time in months.  Despite the increasing number of cases, Washington state actually loosened it's dining in restrictions last month.  It went from something like 5 people per table who had to come from the household, to 6 people per table regardless of household.  So I met up with some friends and colleagues (and ex-colleagues) for the first time in ages.  It was at a clubhouse attached to a golf course - I didn't join them for a round, I'm nowhere near ready for that - and fortunately there was hardly anybody there when we met up in mid-afternoon, so didn't feel particularly risky.  Good to catch up with my friends, and glad that everybody seems to be doing well.  God knows when the next time I'll be able to do something like this will be, particularly if the infection rates continue to get worse.      

Country Before Party

Blah blah blah, election, blah blah blah, time to put his big boy pants on, blah blah blah, an obese turtle on his back flailing in the hot sun, realizing his time is over, blah blah blah.  I'm sure you're as sick of all this as I am, and just want it over.  But Trump will cling onto power with his greasy little fingers for as long as he possibly can.  What a sore loser.  It's absolutely shameful the way his presidency is going down - and it's absolutely shameful that so many of the Republican Party continue to support, encourage and echo the baseless and dangerous rantings of this lunatic.  I think it's inevitable that one day I will become a US citizen, and have the right to vote here.  And when I do, I'm never going to vote for the Republican Party.  Never ever.  That is my stone cold promise right here right now.  I don't care if I increasingly lean right politically as I get older, it is just wildly irresponsible to challenge voting and democracy in the way they have in this election.  I just watched Biden's speech tonight, where he got about as close to declaring victory as he could without actually saying it - I obviously expect absolutely no reaction from Trump on that.  I think Biden is saying the right things about trying to bring the country together - even though I think that will be absolutely impossible to do while you have the likes of Fox News, conservative radio, Russian influence operations and QAnon - and in a nice touch someone nearby set off some fireworks after the speech.  I was hoping I might hear some fireworks on Tuesday night, but better late than never.

Song of the Week #30

Whilst there are people protesting to count every vote and people protesting to stop the counting, life must go on.  This week's song was written by David Bowie - and once you know that then there is no unhearing that in this classic.

Reaction

Although nothing has been confirmed yet, it seems like Biden has won the Presidency (which is good) but Republicans have retained the Senate (which is bad).  Some thoughts:

- My final prediction was spot on, though I take no comfort from that.

- The people who do the polling in the US should be ashamed of themselves.  For the second election in a row, they were shockingly so far off the mark.

- I had allowed a little bit of pre-election optimism to creep in, which was quickly crushed.  Never again, and never trust the American people.

- I see Trump has already submitted loads of lawsuits to challenge some of the vote counts.  What else would you expect from this thin-skinned asshole - he'll never concede defeat, even when he was legitimately defeated.

- Trump actually got more votes than he did in 2016, which is astounding to me.  I just don't understand the American psyche and how you could vote for him.  The government's lack of response to the pandemic resulting in thousand upon thousands of needless deaths should alone have condemned this government to have been crushed in a landslide.  I just don't get it.

- And the fact that so many Republican senators were re-elected is equally astounding to me.  Despite being vastly outspent, despite the outrageousness of confirming that Supreme Court judge in the week before the election, despite being a truly ghastly bunch of sycophants and weasels.  Unbelievable.  It means that if Biden wins the presidency, his ability to actually make much-needed changes is going to be significantly curtailed.

- In some ways, I guess in this shittiest of shit years that we should be grateful at all that Trump is seemingly going to be defeated - despite everything he's tried to stop that e.g. voter suppression, voter intimidation, Russian influence (which is still undoubtedly a thing), entirely false accusations of corruption and vote rigging, undermining counts, I'm sure a bunch of court challenges to come.

Now we have the joys of watching the results being challenged and dragged out in the courts for weeks and months to come.  Joy.  The day that Trump is not in the headlines will be a very happy one.  

Election Night

I'm writing this about 7 pm, I've turned off my phone, this will be the only time I go on the internet, and I shall not be watching any news tonight.  I have absolutely no intention of following the election results - if the early signs were good, I would have considered watching Fox News to enjoy their discomfort and unhappiness.  But alas, the very early signs were not promising, so I just cannot go through the agony of watching any of it.  I'll read the headlines tomorrow morning.   I thought I would spend the evening watching some DVR recordings, but there seems to be a bit of a pattern to some of the stuff I have been recording, none of which makes for appealing viewing tonight.  These are all genuine things I have on my DVR:

-  Agents of Chaos, a documentary about Russian interference in the 2016 election

- The Comey Rule, a drama about the former FBI director who got fired by Trump

- The Perfect Weapon, a documentary about cyber conflict

- 537 Votes, a documentary about the 2000 US election

- American Selfie: One Nation Shoots Itself, a documentary about the current state of America

- The Soul of America, a documentary comparing the current state of America to it's past

- The Campaigns That Made History, a documentary about historically important political contests

- Cats, the 2019 film based on the musical which I've already tried to watch twice and had to stop on both occasions because it was atrocious

Tense

A short post, I'm way too tense to compose something when so much is on the line tomorrow.  It feels like the future of the world is at stake.  The best result, Biden wins in a landslide and Democrats win control of the Senate.  The worst result, a repeat of 2016.  My final prediction - it will be a close one and somewhere between the two (and possibly nothing gets decided tomorrow).

Hates

A couple of my pet hates seem to have got worse since the start of the pandemic - and that is the amount of trash being thrown out by passing cars on the road at the bottom of my driveway, and the amount of cars speeding on that stretch of the road.  I think because I'm spending so much time at home, I'm a lot more attuned to the sound of cars going too fast.  And I'm almost OCD about checking whether any new trash has appeared near the bottom of the driveway since the day before.  The kind of trash varies - most commonly its fast food trash or empty cans of beer or energy drinks, but I've also come across rolled up newspapers that haven't been delivered, mail that looks as though it's been stolen, used masks, vehicle documentation, etc.  I'll go out and pick up the trash if need be - with my gloves and picker, it looks like I'm doing community service!  But since there aren't any sidewalks down there, at least it should make the cars slow down if they see me.  Though sometimes they don't, and if they pass too close to me then I will gesticulate at them (sometimes with 1 finger).