Hankerings

My current hankering - some decent fish 'n' chips.  There's plenty of places that do fish 'n' chips here, but they're nowhere near as good as what you get at any half decent takeaway in the UK.  The chips are generally more like fries rather than proper chips, which is a real disappointment.  And the fish isn't the same - more like fish fingers (or fish sticks, as they like to call them here) rather than fried with a delicious batter.  I think I'm going to try some from a local Irish restaurant this week - they got good online reviews.  However, just by looking at a photo of them I can tell that they're not going to entirely satisfy my craving.  But they will have to do, at least until I'm next back in the UK (who knows when that will be...).    

Sundays ...

... are 10 times more enjoyable when you know you don't have to work on Monday.

Season End

I watched the Champion's League final today - can't say I'm particularly happy that Chelsea won, but quite hilarious how flat Manchester City's performance was.  At least this game was a lot more watchable than the Europa League final, which despite the epic penalty shootout was an absolutely turgid game.  The Big 6 can suck it.  I fear these kind of uninspiring performances by English club teams, and particularly the English players in these teams, are going to be similar to the uninspiring performance by our national side in the upcoming European Championship.  I can't say I'm in any way excited by this competition - I'm not even anxious, I just don't really care.  It's less than 2 weeks until the tournament starts, and I don't think I've seen any promos for it here yet.  I'm not even sure what channel it's going to be on.  Hopefully it's not all on a streaming platform that I don't subscribe to (like ESPN+), as the games will make for perfect background telly during the day while I'm working from home.       

No Masks

I went to Walmart yesterday, and it was the first store I've been to in over a year without a mask mandate - and it was totally unsettling.  I'd say about 1/2 the people wore masks (including me, even though I'm fully vaccinated) and the other 1/2 did not.  And there is NO way that all those people who weren't wearing masks were fully vaccinated.  Absolutely no way.  This is the same Walmart where I've actually seen people wearing "Make America Great Again" baseball caps, so these are the same people who are bound to be anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers.  So this makes my wearing a mask totally redundant - no matter the false sense of protection that I feel it gives me.  It will take a lot of getting used to - and I doubt I will stop wearing my mask inside any indoor space open to the non-mask wearing public just yet - but is definitely a positive sign for our gradual return to "normality".   

"Snow"

We don't get cicadas in Washington state, so we don't get to experience the billions of them emerging after 17 years like in other parts of the US.  Like a biblical swarm of locusts.  However, we do have cottonwood trees and it's that time of the year when they release their seeds EVERYWHERE.  I mean, it's crazy - there is so much of it around that it looks like snow.  Snowflakes floating around in the air, and snow piled up on the ground.  Fortunately we had some heavy rain today, so I think that has helped clean things up.  And fortunately this stuff doesn't usually hang around for too long.  But I'm so clueless that I couldn't even tell you which trees are the cottonwoods releasing all this fluff.  But there must be a lot of them near where I live.

Under Pressure

I've not been feeling great for the last few weeks, and I think it's due to suffering from elevated blood pressure.  I e-mailed my clinic, and got an appointment yesterday.  So I went in and got checked out and they agreed that my symptoms - notably, I've been suffering from a lingering headache, which among other things has caused a lot of sleepless nights recently - is probably due to my blood pressure, so I asked if I could switch up my blood pressure medication.  As we were checking my current medication, I was shocked by the realization that I was not taking the correct medication since my last appointment (which was, I think, all the way back in January).  I was under the distinct impression that I was only supposed to be taking one new medication, but apparently I was also supposed to continue taking one of the other medications that I had stopped taking.  No wonder my blood pressure has sky rocketed.  And also confirmed my fears about the competency of my doctor - this was a potentially serious miscommunication - so time to find a new doctor.  But hopefully now that I'm taking the right medication that I might actually start to feel a bit better.   

Song of the Week #59

There's been approximately a million covers of this song, but I think this is the original (the Bananarama version most definitely is not).  Classic psychedelic rock.

Hummingbird Update

I reckon I could post daily entries solely about the hummingbirds, there is a lot of action going on out there.  In fact so much so that I think I'm going to get a second feeder.  The 2 hummingbirds that I had seen before and who I hoped would be a breeding pair are definitely not a breeding pair - at least judging by the female chasing off the male when they arrive at the feeder at the same time.  And over the weekend, I saw a lot more than just the 2 hummingbirds in the vicinity.  At one point, there were 6 hummingbirds all trying to get to the feeder, chasing and fighting each other all over the place and making a surprising amount of noise for such small little things.  Although their markings were different, they were similar enough for me to think that they are all the same species.  And I think there is a dominant female now, who is prone to either being on the feeder or chirping away in the tree by the feeder, and if another bird shows up then they immediately go after them.  But this female is a little shy around me, so when I'm nearby then the male will tend to sneak in and get it's fill.  They are getting through an amazing amount of sugar water - I normally change it every 2 weeks or so, and there's always some still left in the feeder.  I filled it up on Friday and by Sunday the feeder was empty.  The greedy so and so's.      

Palace

14th place.  That's about right, though I'm disappointed that Newcastle finished above us.  Seemed like a particularly underwhelming season - perhaps because we'd secured enough points to enable our season to kind of peter out.  But I'm definitely worried about what's next - got to find a new manager, got to sort our squad out, and need to do all of this in a hurry before we get left with just the dregs.  I fear next season could be a real struggle.  

Fail

I bought some new automatic toilet cleaners - you know the type that you hang on the toilet rim - and after cleaning my bathrooms today I decided to employ them.  What a mistake.  These ones I got are a different brand to the ones I normally get - but I assumed they would smell the same.  Wrong.  Once I took the wrapper off these things, they stink.  Like really stink.  Not the lemon scent that is indicated on the packet, but a really strong chemical smell.  Like the smell of urinal cakes.  And even though I've already thrown them away, now my entire house smells like a pub toilet.  Now I need to do some serious airing out of my house tomorrow.      

Incentivization

I predict more and more states here offering bigger and better incentives for people to go and get vaccinated.  And I hate it.  Why reward these people who have delayed getting a vaccination for whatever reason?  It's fundamentally wrong to me.  It's people who are already fully vaccinated, and got vaccinated as soon as they could, that should be rewarded.  So I hope and expect that any incentives offered to people to get vaccinated now are also offered to those who are already vaccinated.  But of course that won't happen, because the world isn't fair like that.  So annoying.  I don't know if they're offering any big incentives in our state yet - I've heard about other states offering things like entry into a lottery, cash, free beer etc.  I do know that you can get a free doughnut from Krispy Kreme every day if you show your completed vaccination card - but I haven't capitalized on that offer yet (mainly because I don't know if there is a Krispy Kreme near where I live).  Oregon has just unveiled a $1 million lottery for vaccinated people - let's hope they do something similar here (and because we're super competitive with our neighbor state, let's make ours a $2 million lottery).    

Greenwood

For some reason, I've developed a hankering to check out the Greenwood neighborhood where I first lived in Seattle.  Apparently it has changed a lot from when I was there (which was a good 7? years ago) - new construction, new places to eat and drink, probably a lot more traffic.  It changed an awful lot even in the time that I lived there, so I'm curious to check it out now because it's probably changed exponentially more.  I also really miss the burritos from a place down there that I used to go to every week - I hope it survived the pandemic.  I haven't found a better local burrito (though they don't hold a candle to the ones I used to get in San Diego - which I REALLY miss).  I love me some burritos - definitely up there as one of my favorite foods.

Song of the Week #58

You're not going to like every tune I post in this blog, but even I think this one is an absolute stinker.  I don't know how the human brain works, but somehow some synapses up there must have short-circuited whilst I was in the shower this week and quite bizarrely this song re-entered my consciousness from whatever memory dungeon I had locked it up in.  Unbelievable.  My apologies for sharing this atrocity.

Yardlife

I didn't hear any crows at all this morning - perhaps because it wasn't sunny - but that didn't stop me waking up at sunrise, because we had a power outage late last night (very strange, it wasn't like it was very windy or any other extreme weather going on) and I was worried about that (eventually it did come on again later in the morning, thank god otherwise I might have had to go into the office).  I have no doubts that the crows will come back to torment me again sooner or later, and even when they're not there now I'm imagining I can hear them.  Jeez.  But I've been able to spend more time assessing the hummingbirds - they're not shy about feeding from the feeder even if I'm sitting or standing really close by.  And they are a pair of Anna's Hummingbirds - a male one with a gorgeous pink face and a more green metallic looking female.  Hopefully they are a breeding pair - would love to see some baby hummingbirds.  And talking about babies, look at what I saw on my yard as I was leaving my driveway at lunchtime:

Yep, that ugly looking creature is a baby possum.  I had seen some broken bird eggs on that part of the yard just a few days earlier, so now I think I know who caused that.   

Pick-me-up

A rough day, which begun with another unwanted but unsurprising 5.30am wake-up call by our black feathery friends.  So, I need cheering up - perhaps this simple combination of imagery and music will help.

A Nemesis Returns

Not happy.  As if I wasn't sleeping badly enough anyway, now I have another problem to contend with.  And it is one I've had to deal with before.  It has been a sunny and hot weekend, so I slept with my windows open last night.  And after staying up late to watch a movie, I went to bed late around 1.30am and was promptly woken up at 5.30am this morning by an absolute racket being made by a bunch of crows.  Loud enough to jolt me awake even though I had ear plugs in and had taken a sleeping aid before going to bed.  And I never got back to sleep.  What's the collective noun - a murder of crows?  My god, I want so much to murder these f*ckers.  And as I write this, I can still hear them cawing away.  I don't know how many of them there are, maybe only a couple.  Doesn't matter.  Doesn't change the fact that they are noisy as hell.  Apparently stomping around menacingly outside, throwing sticks, and hurling various obscenities at them doesn't make a jot of difference.  It's driving me absolutely crazy.  And I need to deal with this - when it eventually gets hot enough that I need to put the portable air conditioner in my bedroom, then my window has to be open for the exhaust pipe.  It's even hotter today, so I'm sleeping with my windows open again tonight.  I have no doubt I'll be woken up early again tomorrow.  Fun times.      

This weekend ...

 ... I shall mostly be wearing shorts.  Nice!

(2 Fast Show references in such a short entry - impressive work)

CDC Guidance

So, the CDC recently issued guidelines that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks in most indoor settings.  A seemingly great announcement that indicates the beginning of the end of the pandemic.  Or, in my humble opinion, an obvious politically motivated announcement that is only going to create major confusion and conflict.  For starters, there is absolutely no obvious way to tell who has been vaccinated and who has not been vaccinated - and do we really expect the 50% of Americans who haven't received a first dose to "honor" the guidance and keep their masks on?  I highly doubt it.  And then we have the question of where and who is going to enforce these guidelines?  Some places are going to still insist on people wearing masks, some are not and this is going to cause mass confusion and a lot of trouble.  With still such a huge proportion of the population not vaccinated, I want to continue wearing a mask in any setting where I'm close to people.  But I'm sure some people will not, regardless of risk or whether they're vaccinated.  I think Walmart today announced that you no longer need to wear a mask to shop there - but of all the places where unvaccinated people are most likely to be, this would be right up there.  So I will definitely continue wearing a mask to shop there.  Besides, if Washington State still has a mask mandate then wouldn't that have priority over any store guidance?  The only feasible way I see of this guideline working is if there is an obviously visible way we can identify people who have been vaccinated and who have not.  Perhaps we could use an armband, with a Star of David on it...     

Humanity

I have some advice to share - if you do not want to be totally dismayed by humanity, then I don't recommend watching YouTube compilation videos of Karens, anti-maskers and other public freakouts.  They really are the worst.  If there is one trait that I really loathe, and one that is sadly present in an awful lot of Americans, it is entitlement.  And craziness. 

Dispiriting

I still hold a lot of grudges from when I quit my job at this company the first time.  And it is especially dispiriting to see what has happened to some of the key players from that time.  A reminder - I asked for a leave of absence, which was initially granted to me and then was rescinded, so I quit.  My manager at the time - the person who I think was primarily responsible for the rescindment - is now head of the department.  The person who took over my role - and who I subsequently found out requested and was granted a leave of absence of their own - just got promoted to Director.  Other colleagues who were at or below my level are now at or above my level (including my current manager).  I was clearly the big loser - and a lot of other people capitalized off it.  And I haven't even mentioned the financial impact of quitting rather than taking a leave of absence - a not insignificant amount.  I'm not going to lie, it makes me feel bitter and angry.  Which isn't fair.  After all, I made the decision to quit and to come back to work again for this company.  I don't regret quitting - I was desperately unhappy with the job at the time.  And I don't regret rejoining - for the most part, it has worked out well.  My regret is thinking what could have been if I had been allowed a leave of absence rather than quit.  But hey, I have many regrets in my life - I wish I wouldn't dwell on so many of them, but I can't help myself.

Song of the Week #57

Another one from what seems to be my favorite genre for selecting songs from - 70's rock.  The difference here - a female lead singer, and the fact that they come from Seattle.  And despite them being in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and this particular song having over 57 million views on YouTube, this was only a recent discovery.

Insomnia

I am having some real issues sleeping recently - I can't remember the last time I had a decent night's sleep.  My pattern seems to be going to sleep late, waking up early (when it's still dark outside) and being totally unable to go back to sleep.  Then during the day, my concentration wanes and I am prone to dozing off (as I did watching some of the football over lunchtime today).  There are many possible causes of this - stress, diet, exercise, health, blue screen, all of the above.  But if this situation doesn't improve soon, then I need to do something more radical about it.  Since marijuana has been legalized here, maybe I should make the most of that - after all, it does induce a state of relaxation that I crave right now.  I also sometimes hear adverts for CBD during podcasts, which is tempting to try as well.  But for the moment, I think I'm going to try to start playing Ring Fit Adventure before I go to bed, in the hope that it tires me out enough to achieve a good night's sleep.   

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers that read this blog!  The fact that Mother's Day is on an entirely different day here than it is in the UK is totally inexplicable to me.  And after a quick look on Wikipedia, it appears that Mother's Day varies across the world - but for most countries it is today.  Therefore the UK is in the wrong.  You should demand change.   

Nectar

I did a little experiment with my hummingbird feeder today.  I changed the level of dilution in the sugar water that I put into the feeder, and made it stronger.  The result - I saw more action today at my feeder than I have for the entire last few weeks.  Admittedly, I was probably paying more attention to it than I have before, so maybe it didn't really make much difference.  I'm trying to work out how many actual birds are using the feeder.  Hummingbirds are extremely territorial, so I'd be surprised if you'd see more than one.  I think there were actually 2 today, because later on I saw them fighting above the feeder - a brief but violent clash, with the victor claiming the feeder as their territory.  No sharing here - nature can be cruel.  

Podcasts

I still listen to a lot of podcasts - though my listening patterns have definitely changed over the last year.  One thing that hasn't changed is that I still prefer comedy podcasts over any other genre.  However, I now skew more towards American shows and away from UK ones.  As my tastes evolve, so does which podcasts I subscribe to - it's a mixture of new shows and old favorites.  Some podcasts that I had subscribed to for a very long time have grown stale, other new ones have popped up from podcasters and comedians that I like who have had nothing better to do during the pandemic.  Because I'm not doing nearly as much driving, the amount of content I consume has definitely decreased.  But conversely, I've started subscribing to some video podcasts - something I had previously avoided.  They are good to have on one monitor in my home office whilst I'm doing work on the other.  Or, more accurately, I'm watching the video podcast but my online work status appears as active, so giving the impression that I am doing work!  

Habitat at Home

So I was enjoying watching some deer saunter past my window yesterday, when I noticed a commotion in one of the trees next to my house.  The crows were particularly agitated.  This is the same tree which I've seen raccoons go up, so I was thinking these pesky critters might be back.  So I waited for the deer to go through into my neighbor's yard, and then took a closer look at the tree.

Curse my iPhone and it's crappy camera, you can't really see in the photo what I saw firsthand.  But it wasn't raccoons.  That brown object in the shade by the trunk in the middle of photograph is actually a big-ass owl.  It's not the first bird of prey I've seen near my house, but it is the first owl.  I'm not an expert on the local species, but it was big, brown and had noticeable ear tufts - so I suspect <consults internet> it was a great horned owl.  Which is kind of cool.

Song of the Week #56

I've plumped for a band that are known in the US as a one-hit wonder and in many ways are the most British of all British bands.  I think I've got their Greatest Hits on cassette somewhere.

2nd Dose

I am fully vaccinated!  Well, strictly speaking, I will be fully vaccinated in 2 weeks time once the microchips and whatever alien technology they've included in the vaccine have had a chance to do their thing.  A bit too early to tell whether I'm experiencing any side affects.  I feel awful today, but I felt awful before I got the injection so I can't blame it on that.  The main reaction from my first dose was a sore arm for a few days, but I also experienced a bit of fatigue.  Let's see how I feel tomorrow.  It would definitely be a bad time to experience a worse bout of fatigue - I am quite busy with work this week.  It seemed like the vaccination site was a bit busier this time than it was last time.  This was surprising - I just got an e-mail from them yesterday saying that they had about 7000 free appointments over the next week.  Generally, I think the urgency to get vaccinated has evaporated here in the US - the people most susceptible to the virus have already got vaccinated, and everyone else is indifferent to it (or, for a large population of the US, will refuse to get vaccinated for "political" reasons).  It will be interesting to see how long it will take for the infection rates to come down to a safe level.  I fear it could be a lot longer than they hope, unless they come up with a better strategy for dealing with these holdouts.         

Another Jigsaw

Another one in the books:

This is an American made puzzle, so I was particularly struck by what images they chose to include as UK highlights.  Seems like a disproportionately high number of London and Scotland images, some major confusion between Ireland, Northern Ireland and what constitutes part of the UK - something that I have encountered many times before in the US - and an alarming number of places that I don't even recognize let alone have never visited.  But definitely got me thinking - what obvious things did they miss out on this puzzle?  A couple of locales that immediately sprung to mind were Oxford and the Lake District.  But I'm sure there's plenty more.  

Hooligans

Classy scenes at Old Trafford today.  Manchester United fans are so fickle that I think they were protesting as much about Man City winning the title than about the ownership. 

R2-D2

It's been a while, but here's the latest Lego model I've ordered:

Yes, a Lego R2-D2 - a new set that has just been released this weekend for Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you).  I got it last night about an hour after it became available.  And although it's on backorder, I'm glad I was able to put my order through last night because it's out of stock today.  So this might end up being more of an investment than an actual build - we shall see.  But currently, I would say that jigsaws are my preferred method for de-stressing rather than Lego building.